The Retired Mercenary's Great Retaliation

"You're in charge of the warehouse's security system, Mr. Walsh. I believe you're well aware of what this number means."

Greg's smile froze. There was panic in his eyes, but he quickly calmed down to deny everything. "That's complete nonsense!" He pointed at me and said to everyone else, "Are you sure you want to listen to him? What does a stockkeeper know about a system's records? Anyone would know how to make up these numbers. It's clear that the problem is with the equipment! Stop trying to stall for time with your nonsense!"

"Are you sure?" I laughed coldly and turned to look at Lynn, who looked taken aback, while ignoring him. "Can you help me with something, Lynn?" My tone was calm.

Lynn was surprised but nodded.

"Can you get your laptop from your car and connect to the warehouse's main security camera via data cable?"

"What are you trying to do?" Lynn looked cautious.

"I'm trying to pull backend records from the system."

"That's impossible!" Greg suddenly screamed. "Backend records can only be viewed with the highest authority’s permission! The only people who have the password are the technicians of this security system model. What does a stockkeeper like him know?!"

Greg's reaction was so extreme that even Tony started to realize something was not right. His dark gaze moved between Greg and me.

Lynn was hesitating. She looked at Greg's emotional outburst and then at my calm demeanor. She clenched her teeth in the end and said, "All right." Lynn turned to run out the door and quickly returned with a pink laptop. She swiftly set up the data cable as per my request.

"Click on the terminal interface," I said, "and make sure the connection parameters are accurate."

Lynn's fingers flew across the keyboard, and very soon, the black operating interface popped up.

"Type in the password now."

I took a deep breath and told her a string of numbers and symbols. After I was done with the last digit, Lynn's finger paused above the 'Enter' key. She looked up at me in shock. She knew this password well.

The first half of the password was the warehouse system's code name, but the second half was her mentor's name. The numbers in the middle were the year her mentor had taken part in designing this system. It was also a hidden code her mentor had mentioned to her in private, which should not have been used as a password.

However, she did not hesitate as she hit the 'Enter' key hard.

A notification appeared instantly on the screen. She was able to access the system. A backend interface not seen before immediately appeared, full of data records. Greg turned ghostly pale.

"Click on the last activity record," I said.

Lynn nodded and clicked on the file. Every line of the record was displayed clearly, and I pointed at the last few records. "Look here. Someone logged into the warehouse system yesterday afternoon at 3.15 PM via a remote maintenance port. The login belongs to an administrator. That person turned off the alarm system in Warehouse 1 and temporarily opened up the back door of the loading dock.

"This was when the item was stolen."

Lynn immediately checked the origin of the login, and her head jerked up the next second. She glared at Greg. "This IP address belongs to the intranet of South City University."

Greg was a visiting professor of South City University.

Everyone in the warehouse immediately turned to look at him.