Zevaney Kingsley merely raised an eyebrow, as if just remembering: "I recall that Group 10’s research direction for this assessment matches theirs?"

"Yes." Nelson Jones chuckled, dismissively saying, "They’re just copying us, overestimating themselves! Everyone knows that having the same research direction is the biggest taboo in group assessments. Generally, the weaker team scores significantly lower than usual. They’re just digging their own grave by colliding with us."

"Don’t say that." Zevaney concealed any emotion in her eyes, smiled pleasantly, and it was unclear whether she was teasing or serious: "This time they have a rookie king joining them, who knows, they might surprise us."

"What surprise? The surprise will probably be coming last again." A round-faced girl chimed in, the same sarcastic girl who previously said everyone in Group 10 was trash.

Zevaney neither refuted nor got angry, she casually flicked her hair and turned away from the lab situation, saying to the few people around her, "I’ll show our experiment results to my tutor and see what he thinks. If he suggests any modifications, we’ll just work a bit harder over the next few days to make this the best it can be."

Once she spoke, everyone naturally agreed with her.

Zevaney knew these people were eager for her to seek help from Nathan Garland, hoping her mentor would oversee the changes. However, she also wanted to score well in December’s group assessment, so since everyone had the same goal, she didn’t mind giving them a nod of approval.

Before leaving, she glanced again at the empty corridor, recalling the girl’s figure mingling with Group 10, and couldn’t help but scoff.

Zevaney tossed her head and walked away without looking back.

In December’s group assessment, victory is hers for sure!

*

In the blink of an eye, it’s the day before the group assessment.

Nathalie Quinlan finished the final checks with Wincent Sullivan and Williansen Barness at 10 PM, confirming the results were accurate.

She was exhausted and said goodbye to Wincent and Williansen, grabbing her coat and heading out of The First Research Institute.

December in Inderia was cold, you could see white mist with every breath.

Near 10 PM, only the streetlights were on outside The First Research Institute, and as Nathalie came out, she saw a black SUV parked at the crossroads.

The person in the car seemed to have seen her.

The car door opened.

Amadeus Yancey stepped out of the car and walked towards her.

From a distance, Nathalie could also see someone sitting in the passenger seat, probably Sadam Vinson.

Before she could clearly see, a scarf was wrapped around her neck, tightly enveloping the exposed skin.

Then a cup of hot milk tea was pressed into her hand.

The man’s voice was gently shallow as he secured her scarf, asking, "Are you cold?"

"Not really." Nathalie looked into his eyes, momentarily dazed, lowered her raven-black eyelashes, and murmured, "I finished."

"Hmm?"

"That research, I finished it." The girl casually repeated.

Amadeus didn’t immediately understand her meaning but soon realized Nathalie was updating him on the research progress, a smile tugging at his lips, his mood brightened as he held her hand walking back, chuckling lowly with a slightly teasing tone, "Nathalie the Goddess, congratulations."

Whenever Nathalie heard him call her ’Nathalie the Goddess’, her heart fluttered with agitation. As she reached the front of the car, the front passenger car window rolled down, revealing Sadam Vinson inside.

Sadam was wrapped in a down jacket, showing a handsome face.

Playfully grinning, he immediately said, "I almost went down to greet you, but that dog Amadeus beat me to it. I didn’t want to interrupt you guys. Nathalie, I’m letting you go."