Zoe Pierce looked up at Erin Xavier again.

’Hmm...’

’Looking at him now, it doesn’t seem so strange that he’d be the one to say something like that.’

Erin Xavier was harder to read than any woman; you could never guess what he was really thinking.

One second he’d be all smiles with you, and the next, his expression would flip completely.

And what Erin Xavier was thinking was indeed different from what Zoe Pierce imagined.

This was completely different from watching her run drills on the field. That was a controlled environment. Besides, based on Zoe Pierce’s poor physical fitness, they were just having her train so she wouldn’t look so fragile.

The weather in the forest, however, was completely unpredictable. Zoe Pierce could have made a better choice, but she chose a path no one would have expected or taken. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

She had stubbornly shouldered it all alone and hadn’t shown a single trace of delicateness, even now.

Erin Xavier suddenly touched his forehead, leaving Zoe Pierce bewildered. She looked at him in confusion.

"I think there might be something wrong with me," he muttered, only adding to her confusion.

Erin just felt like he was going crazy. ’Isn’t it a good thing that Zoe Pierce isn’t like other Omegas? So why would I suddenly think it would be fine if she were a little more delicate?’

’Crazy. I must be crazy.’

Erin Xavier shook his head and started walking toward the supply crate. He had only taken two steps when his eyes met Ethan Grant’s.

He froze for a second. Just as he was about to praise Ethan Grant for holding on and not getting eliminated, he watched as Ethan’s eyes rolled back in his head and his body suddenly pitched backward.

’Hey, hey, hey!’

’Is this guy trying to pull a scam?’

Erin Xavier instantly grabbed Ethan Grant’s shoulders to keep him from falling. He couldn’t help but curse silently, but before he could say anything else, he felt Ethan’s chaotic spiritual power.

He had long since exhausted all his spiritual power. If this continued, the instructor who just left would probably be back in less than five minutes.

He frowned instantly. "Where’s the Omega from Ethan Grant’s team?"

"He’s probably the only one left on his team," Miles Sherman replied. He’d been sure of it the moment he saw Ethan Grant with his teammates earlier.

Under the current circumstances, very few teams would dare to split up their Alphas.

"No way, he couldn’t save a single one?" Erin Xavier said in disbelief.

’Are we just going to stand by and watch Ethan Grant get eliminated?’

There was one other option right in front of them—Zoe Pierce—but Erin Xavier’s attitude was as stubborn as it had been from the start. There was no way he would let Zoe soothe someone else again.

If he had to choose, then let Ethan Grant be eliminated. It wouldn’t make a difference to them, anyway.

He seemed remarkably cold-blooded in that moment. Zoe Pierce, on the other hand, immediately thought of the White Mallow Flowers.

She took out the last of the White Mallow Flowers from her Space Button. Nathan Lockwood reached out and took them, adding a rare, sardonic comment, "Using them all on him."

Zoe Pierce also found it a little absurd.

The White Mallow Flowers that Ethan Grant had led them to pick were all being used on Ethan Grant himself. They hadn’t used a single one.

Faced with this situation, Zoe Pierce couldn’t help but find Ethan Grant’s luck truly astonishing.

’Seriously, how can one person be so unlucky and so lucky at the same time?’

The White Mallow Flowers were already a bit dehydrated, and their effect was greatly diminished compared to before. Still, using all of them managed to stabilize Ethan Grant, and his spiritual power stopped deteriorating.

They carried Ethan Grant over to the fire, and after a short while, he woke up.

Finding himself waking up in front of Miles Sherman and the others, Ethan Grant felt a dazed sense of déjà vu, like he was back at the start of the joint exam, being captured by Nathan Lockwood.

But he quickly came to his senses. The bitter and familiar taste in his mouth told him exactly what he had been fed again.

Ruffling his hair, he could only say, "Thanks."

This time, he didn’t shamelessly ask for Zoe Pierce to soothe him.

Nathan Lockwood and the others glanced at him, but it was Erin Xavier who asked, "Are you going to go on your own, or are you sticking with us?"

Ethan Grant gave a bitter smile. "Bro, I’m all alone."

Sticking with Nathan Lockwood’s group was clearly the right move now; on his own, he could run into the same trouble again at any moment.

Seeing that no one spoke up to refuse, Ethan Grant breathed a sigh of relief.

Nathan Lockwood handed the cup he had just picked up to Zoe Pierce. "Drink this."

Zoe Pierce lowered her head and sniffed it. Just from the smell, it seemed like medicine—faintly bitter, but with a hint of sweetness.

She looked up at Nathan Lockwood and asked, "What is this?"

"A preventative potion. Just drink it," Nathan Lockwood said directly.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on her again. Zoe Pierce tensed up, then raised the cup and slowly drank.

It was a little bitter, but not too bad. She finished it in a few gulps.

She deliberately held up the empty cup for them to see. As expected, everyone’s expressions relaxed slightly.

Zoe Pierce, however, had become extremely interested in her Space Button. ’Is this some kind of treasure chest? How does it have everything? From blankets to medicine, it provides a perfectly comfortable environment for an Omega from every possible angle.’

She rummaged through it again and, sure enough, found a few more things whose purpose she didn’t even know.

She was a bit dumbfounded.

She put everything back again.

The rain was still pattering down, though it had lessened considerably. The fat raindrops had turned into a fine drizzle, making the night seem much more serene.

Zoe Pierce was still concerned about the state of their spirit seas, but she had learned her lesson this time. She didn’t say anything out loud. Instead, she waited until she saw Chase Shaw and Miles Sherman sitting beside her, then seized the opportunity, grabbing one of each of their hands.

Both of them could have dodged, but seeing that it was Zoe Pierce, they froze in place.

Neither of them moved, allowing her to get a firm grip.

Nathan Lockwood’s and Erin Xavier’s gazes fell on her two hands.

"Zoe Pierce, what are you doing?" If she had only grabbed one of their hands, Erin Xavier wouldn’t have said anything.

Zoe Pierce had thought at least one of them might pull away. She had done it just to increase the odds of catching at least one of them, but unexpectedly, neither of them dodged.

"Soothing," she said, offering a single-word explanation. After assessing Chase Shaw’s and Miles Sherman’s spiritual power, she first began to organize Chase’s.

Both men’s body temperatures were higher than hers.

Even though she had just been warming herself by the fire until her body was thoroughly warm, she still couldn’t compare to their natural advantage.

She couldn’t soothe two people at once yet, so she could only prioritize the one in worse condition.

Miles Sherman looked down at the hand Zoe Pierce was holding. No spiritual power was flowing through it. Her small, soft hand, which felt as if it had no bones, was grasping his own, which was clearly much larger than hers.

His fingers twitched slightly. If he wanted to, he could flip his palm and capture her hand in his.

"All done." Zoe Pierce let go of Chase Shaw’s hand and turned her attention to Miles Sherman. Noticing his gaze fixed on her hand, she thought he felt awkward because she had been holding it this whole time without doing anything, and she hastily explained.

"I was afraid you guys would refuse me again, so in my haste I just..."

Miles Sherman’s voice was low. "It’s fine."