Miles Sherman and Nathan Lockwood surreptitiously glanced toward Zoe Pierce on the rock.

Zoe Pierce looked down at Erin Xavier, who was holding his hands out to her. She swallowed nervously. It felt a little strange. If she jumped down like this, she would inevitably be caught in Erin’s arms.

But she had other options.

Zoe was about to refuse, planning to climb down from the side, when she noticed Erin seemed to be getting impatient.

He clicked his tongue.

Then, she watched as he took a few steps back, leaped up, and grabbed onto the irregular edge of the rock.

He easily vaulted up the nearly two-meter-high boulder.

Zoe took a step back, afraid she’d be knocked over by Erin. His target was clearly her; after flipping up from below, he strode right up to her.

Although he had a baby face, his height and build were no longer those of a child. With a pull of his long arm, Zoe found herself yanked into his embrace, her hand enveloped in his.

’This is kind of like how I tried to grab that Omega just now,’ she thought wryly, just as Erin spoke.

"I told you to come down, but you wouldn’t, so forget it. I came up myself." Erin pouted. "What are you hiding for? That guy’s spiritual power is really annoying."

That sense of irritation was getting on his nerves.

Erin seemed to see nothing wrong with what he’d done, holding Zoe in a somewhat intimate embrace in broad daylight, in front of everyone.

It was Zoe who, upon seeing everyone’s expressions, felt that something was off.

She gave Erin a push and pulled out of his arms, letting him hold just her hand.

Erin’s brow twitched. He was about to ask Zoe what she was doing, moving so far away.

"You’ll give people the wrong idea acting like this." Fortunately, Zoe knew what Erin was thinking and explained first.

Erin’s light brown eyes narrowed. "What wrong idea? Isn’t this just normal comforting?"

This was a perfect example.

Zoe’s spiritual power flowed into his spirit sea to soothe it as she said, "Have you forgotten what you said to me about Chase before?"

Back then, he’d even called her amazing.

He was doing almost the exact same thing, yet now he was applying a double standard.

Besides, Erin’s condition was clearly different from Chase’s back then. Erin was perfectly lucid, whereas Chase had not been.

Erin instantly recalled the situation she was referring to.

’What’s the big deal? If Chase can hug her, why can’t I?’

But the words died on his lips when he remembered Miles’s warning, so he kept quiet.

There were still outsiders from the First Military Academy around, and it could easily cause a misunderstanding.

He grumbled reluctantly, clearly displeased with Zoe for pulling away.

The Zoe he knew now wasn’t the same Zoe he had just met. He was certain that she didn’t have any ulterior motives anymore.

Her mind was probably completely occupied with getting stronger; she had no time to think about men.

Seeing his defiant yet grumbling expression, Zoe felt a little like laughing.

At times like this, she found the placated Erin to be a bit cute. He truly had a likable face, and this slightly pouty, arrogant look wasn’t annoying at all.

Her spiritual power leisurely combed through his spirit sea as her gaze drifted down to Holden Hayes and Chase Shaw below.

The fight between them had reached a white-hot intensity. Without Miles joining in, Chase and Holden Hayes were locked in a fierce battle.

The booming impacts against the giant trees were enough to make one tremble, as if the trunks might snap at any moment. Startled birds shrieked and scattered in all directions.

Chase looked like an insurmountable mountain. He was nearly a full head taller than Holden Hayes and had a broader frame, making it seem like Chase had the upper hand.

"Zoe Pierce, where are you looking?" Erin’s voice pulled Zoe’s attention back to him. "Is it that interesting?"

"It’s a rare sight. Two S-Class Alphas fighting." Moreover, their spiritual power types seemed nearly identical.

It was obvious that Miles and the others were also waiting for Chase and Holden Hayes to finish.

The outcome was actually already clear: the First Military Academy had lost. Even if Holden Hayes managed to defeat Chase, he would still have to face Erin, Miles, and even Nathan Lockwood.

Once Miles used his ability, Holden Hayes would have no chance of escape.

But they were giving Chase and Holden Hayes time.

Erin lost interest after just a few glances. "Chase will definitely win."

Zoe was a little surprised. From what she could see, Chase only had a slight advantage.

"Because Chase always gets stronger the longer he fights. That’s just how he is." In a battle of endurance, only Miles could keep up with him; even Erin couldn’t.

He added, "What do you mean, ’rare’? If you want to see two S-Class Alphas fight on our team, isn’t that easy?"

All four of them were S-Class. What was so difficult about it?

Because they could see the four of them fight anytime, but fights against others were rare.

She then added, "But I watched you and Miles fight Victor Vance, too. I watched very carefully."

Their combat moves were fluid and spectacular to watch, with every blow landing solidly. It felt like watching a martial arts film from Earth, but with a twist—it was cleaner, more fantastical, because of the addition of spiritual power.

That shut Erin up completely.

"Fine, you’ve got good taste. Go on and watch." The soothing of his spirit sea was mostly complete, but Erin was still holding Zoe’s hand.

’The place that had felt a little uncomfortable just now is now perfectly fine. The previous comforting must not have been thorough enough. This is much better.’

Zoe didn’t notice. The consequence of splitting her focus was that the spiritual power comforting was slower, but Erin wasn’t in any hurry and didn’t remind her, content to just hold her hand.

「Live-Stream Chat」

"Erin Xavier totally has a thing for Zoe Pierce! Ahh! Why is he holding her hand and not letting go!"

"Does he think he’s being subtle? No way, right?"

"I’m not gonna say who was grinning from ear to ear just because Zoe Pierce glanced at him yesterday."

"That’s not it, Erin has always been like this. He hates Omegas more than anyone."

"I checked the Federal Military Academy forums, and the most common thing I saw was Omegas hating on Erin Xavier. Here’s the link: http://fed......"

"In a corner no one cares about: Chase Shaw and Holden Hayes are having a really high-level fight. Why is everyone focused on Erin and Zoe!"

Some people who clicked the link and returned were now looking at the current scene with uncertainty.

The forum was filled with accusations from Omegas, making Erin look like a scumbag Alpha.

The forum posts all said that Erin seemed to be the gentlest and most approachable person on the team at first, but once you got close, he was also the first to turn cold and disavow you.

All the Omegas who had previously been with Miles Sherman’s squad and were watching this scene felt no jealousy toward Zoe Pierce.

Instead, they were all shouting for Zoe to wake up. They had been deceived by Erin back then, thinking he was the most approachable and well-behaved Alpha on the team.

As soon as they started to get unconsciously close to Erin, he would look at them with impatience and tell them to stay away.

The most vicious line was: "Have you never seen an Alpha before? How disgusting."