"The Xenobeasts have been very active lately, and we’ve already deployed a great deal of manpower to the front lines. We can use this chance to pick out some promising candidates. It’s a win-win."

The speaker was Quentin Ford, who was seated in a plush armchair. He glanced at the live broadcast. "Between the two academies, which one do you favor?"

Quentin Ford’s secretary, Justin Lewis, also glanced at the Intelligent Brain’s screen. "Both sides have S-Class Alpha teams. But with an entire team of S-Class Alphas, the Federal Military Academy has the upper hand for now."

"However, it’s difficult to assess the actual situation at the moment."

After all, there was no telling what might happen.

To prepare his report, Justin Lewis naturally had to familiarize himself with both teams. Without a doubt, the S-Class teams from the two military academies were the most talked-about topic online right now.

Miles Sherman’s team was enjoying even greater popularity, because people don’t just admire the strong—they also admire the beautiful.

Miles Sherman’s team had both strengths, so it was only natural they were getting more attention.

"However, I heard something from a teacher at the Federal Military Academy about Miles Sherman’s team—specifically, about the Omega, Zoe Pierce."

Quentin Ford looked up. It was rare for Justin Lewis to bring up something like this.

"Councilor, this Zoe Pierce recently had an accident and lost her pheromones. Although her glands are still intact, she can no longer smell any pheromones."

"Everyone’s saying she’s practically like one of us Betas."

Quentin Ford said, "Is that so? But from the looks of it, she seems to be adapting quite well."

At least, judging from the current livestream, Zoe Pierce didn’t seem affected at all.

"Not only did she lose her pheromones, but she also has amnesia. However, her soothing spiritual power has increased." Was it a blessing in disguise? No one could say for sure.

"If she had lost her soothing ability as well, I’m afraid we wouldn’t be seeing her here today." Quentin Ford’s lips curved into a slight smile.

"I also heard that after they found out about the Xenobeast experiments, Miles Sherman’s team started training with her. She’s not like other Omegas. She might become one of the highlights of the competition."

Quentin Ford’s expression faltered at the mention of the Xenobeast experiments. After listening, he sighed softly. "Hasn’t the investigation into the Xenobeast experiments turned up anything yet? Samuel King and his team, too... If the students discover anything else during the live broadcast, it’ll be a scandal."

"Not yet. Those four Xenobeasts were all corpses, and the only two people with information committed suicide to silence themselves. The trail went cold; there’s no breakthrough."

"Moreover, the Federal Military Academy deployed teachers and mechanical eyes to conduct a wide-scale sweep, but they haven’t found anything new so far."

Quentin Ford shook his head. "Let them deal with it."

He gave a dismissive wave, having lost interest in the broadcast.

He would meet the eventual winner soon enough.

For now, all this speculation was meaningless to Quentin Ford.

...

"Young Master! Young Master! The Young Miss is on the Intelligent Brain platform!" Mrs. Chambers came scurrying from the main part of the villa toward the study.

When she saw the screen in front of Damien Pierce, her voice trailed off, and she hesitated.

"Ah, Young Master... you’ve already seen."

Damien Pierce had come across it as soon as the livestream started trending.

Zoe Pierce, who had only gotten onto Miles Sherman’s team by sheer dogshit luck, was now firmly in the spotlight.

"Shut up," Damien Pierce said coldly. "Have you learned how to make those dishes I told you to?"

Mrs. Chambers’s face stiffened slightly. "I’ve learned many of them, but there are a few dishes I just can’t get the hang of."

Some of the wording in these recipes was just so tricky.

"A dash," "a pinch."

Her goal wasn’t just for it to taste good; she had to perfectly replicate the flavors the Young Miss loved.

"If you can’t get them right, then keep making them for me until I’m satisfied! The joint exam is only half a month away!" Damien Pierce’s voice kept rising; he had been completely overwhelmed lately.

A buyer who had placed an order earlier had suddenly started wrangling for some reason.

If they had just canceled the order, he could have at least kept the deposit. But they weren’t canceling; they were just haggling, claiming his price was higher than the competition’s and that they were dissatisfied.

On top of that, the Caldwell Family was making trouble for him.

Individually, they were all minor issues, but piled together, they had him at his wit’s end.

Mrs. Chambers looked timid, her shoulders hunched. "Yes... Young Master... I’ll get right on it."

Faint red veins showed in Damien Pierce’s gloomy, bloodshot eyes as he warned, "You had better remember exactly why I hired you."

"Not to come here and gossip!"

"I can see for myself!"

After Damien Pierce berated Mrs. Chambers until she left without daring to raise her head, he sat alone on the sofa, his gaze resting motionlessly on the window.

’I don’t know why... This was something I orchestrated myself.’

’But now I feel like I’m losing control.’

’It’s as if I can’t hold on to Zoe Pierce anymore. She’s like a handful of sand; I think I have a grip on her, but she’s just slipping through my fingers.’

’But Zoe Pierce clearly hasn’t recovered her memories.’

’And I still haven’t found that ledger, that ticking time bomb.’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

’I’ve already seen people in the livestream comments getting curious about Zoe.’

’The internet will act like a crawler, digging up and exposing everything about Zoe and the Pierce Family.’

Damien Pierce grew tense.

His breathing even started to quicken.

After a moment’s thought, he quickly made several calls to scrub their social media presence.

...

Of course, Zoe Pierce was oblivious to the various reactions the livestream was causing.

All the teams in the mountain range were cut off from the network, completely unaware that their every move was being captured by mechanical eyes, then magnified and projected across the entire web.

The resolution was sharp enough to pick out a single strand of hair.

Miles Sherman and Zoe Pierce were pressing forward on foot. Just as Zoe was about to step over a dead log, she suddenly rolled her neck.

"Something’s in the trees."

Her hurried words were brief and to the point, yet they sounded like a casual murmur.

After rolling her neck again, she kept walking forward as if nothing was wrong.

Towering pines mingled with unfamiliar trees, each one standing a good seven or eight meters tall within the forest. The dense green leaves and rising mist provided natural cover, making it difficult to spot whatever was hiding there with the naked eye.

Miles Sherman’s hand came to rest on Zoe Pierce’s back. "Keep walking forward."

As he walked, he asked, "Can you feel it? Is it targeting us?"

Zoe Pierce and Miles Sherman’s expressions were so normal that, judging by their faces alone, they might as well have been having a casual chat.

Zoe Pierce said, "I just have this feeling that something’s been watching us."

Miles Sherman nodded. "Wait."

Usually, when a Xenobeast locks onto its prey like this, it either backs off out of caution or waits for the perfect moment to strike.

Water droplets pattered down from the rustling leaves high above. Miles Sherman’s ears twitched.

A shadow suddenly plummeted from the sky, heading straight for Zoe Pierce.

Miles Sherman’s hand had been on Zoe Pierce’s back the whole time. The instant he saw the Xenobeast’s descending figure, he yanked her back.