Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 247: Chapter 247

"If you're not done hugging the floor, feel free to stay," Zoe joked.
As she spoke, she stretched lazily like nothing had happened at all, and casually walked out. That cocky, nonchalant manner stunned everyone present.
The expected explosion never happened. The bomb squad members watched Zoe's departing figure, then whipped their heads around—only to see the defused bomb, its countdown frozen and wires severed.
All of them widened their eyes in disbelief.
"Who... who is that girl? Did she really defuse the bomb?"
"She just blinked, didn't even check thoroughly, and found the correct wire. Can a teenage girl really do something like that?"
"She was so calm. Her expression didn't even flinch while cutting the wire. Is she just fearless, or does she actually have serious skills?"
The entire bomb squad was stunned. The researchers were equally dumbfounded.
When they finally snapped out of it, they pointed to Zoe and eagerly introduced her, "Of course she's the real deal. Ms. Zoe Evans isn't just anyone—she's a super genius and the future pillar of Clusia!"
Outside, Zoe continued searching for more bombs, while the bomb squad quickly split into teams and began operations in several areas.
Soon, all the bombs in the research base had been defused.
Moments later, a new announcement came through the loudspeakers: "Good news! All unidentified bombs have been completely disarmed. The alarm is now lifted!"
Aside from disarming the first bomb, Zoe had hardly helped with the rest. The bomb squad proved highly capable, and since they handled the job well, Zoe saw no need to draw further attention to herself.
Realizing there was nothing more for her to do, Zoe was ready to leave as soon as the last bomb was dealt with.
Just then, Joyce approached her with a group of researchers and said, "Zoe, now that the professionals are here, why don't you come outside with us and wait for updates?"
Hearing this, everyone around her smiled with the relief of survivors.
But just as Zoe was about to agree, her expression darkened again.
In a low, serious voice, she said, "No... there's still one more."
Joyce was stunned. "One more? One more what?"
Zoe didn't respond. Her expression was tense as she moved toward the source of a sound only she could hear.
Seeing this, the others quickly followed.
"Didn't they say the crisis was over? What is she doing now?"
"Let's follow her and find out."
Zoe returned to the door with the coded lock. She had assumed the bomb squad had already entered and disarmed any devices inside, but now it seemed their detectors weren't foolproof—some bombs had gone undetected.
When the researchers saw Zoe heading back to the same restricted area, they grew anxious and quickly tried to stop her.
"You can't go in there! Zoe, this is our top-level classified room!"
"Yes, even we aren't allowed in without special clearance. Please come back!"
Joyce stepped forward and tried to reason with her. "There's no way a bomb could be in there. The person who planted them wouldn't have access."
Zoe simply replied coldly, "Call the bomb squad."
At that moment, Robert arrived with the bomb squad. "They're here," he announced.
The lead bomb expert frowned slightly upon seeing Zoe. Deep down, he still believed that Zoe's earlier success in defusing the bomb had been pure luck.
After all, he found it hard to believe that a teenage girl could disarm a bomb all by herself.
With that in mind, he removed his helmet and said, "We've already scanned the entire facility. All bombs have been defused. This area is safe—there are no bombs here."
"Oh?" Zoe raised an eyebrow and reached out her hand. "Then please, give me the detector."
No matter how eloquent a teenage girl might be, she surely couldn't pull off anything too elaborate. So the bomb expert didn't make things difficult—he handed the detector over to her directly. He wanted to see what Zoe was up to.
To everyone's surprise, what they saw next was shocking.
Zoe didn't scan the walls. Instead, she carefully aimed the detector at the narrow gap of the door.
When she slowly moved the device across the slit, a faint but sharp alarm suddenly blared—a sound that had gone undetected before, now clear and urgent.
Everyone's faces filled with astonishment, especially the bomb expert who had spoken so confidently just moments before.
"This is impossible!" he exclaimed. "Our team already scanned this area top to bottom. How could there still be a bomb?"
Zoe offered no explanation. She simply tossed the detector back to him and walked straight up to the keypad, beginning to crack the code in front of everyone.
"I'll call our liaison right now and have them give us the password," Joyce said, now realizing how serious the situation was. She pulled out her phone to help.
Meanwhile, Zoe studied the electronic lock carefully. It was a 3x3 grid, requiring numerous possible combinations to unlock.
But for Zoe, this was no challenge. She swiftly began decoding it.
No one paid much attention to her hacking the lock. They focused instead on preparing for the bomb inside.
But then—they all heard a beep.
Ten seconds after Joyce had dialed the number, Zoe had already cracked the code—a code that had stumped some of the world's greatest minds—and the lock popped open in one smooth move.
Joyce hadn't even reached her contact yet. She stood frozen in shock, her phone still ringing with dial tones.
She had no idea just how many more surprises Zoe had in store.
The researchers around her looked at Zoe no longer with simple admiration, but with reverence. To them, she had become a kind of omnipotent goddess.
After Zoe cracked the lock, Joyce stepped forward and used her own ID card to complete the access authorization and open the door for her.
The bomb squad rushed inside—unaware that they were about to face an unprecedented challenge: a cutting-edge bomb, the kind most people had never even seen before.