A rare smile appeared on Erick's previously stern face when he saw Catherine in front of him."You are finally here."Catherine saw that Erick was tied to a pillar and in rags. He was wearing dark clothes, but she could still see the dark brown blood on his clothes.Catherine was indifferent to the scene she was looking at.Her cold eyes stared fixedly at Erick, and there was no trace of empathy in them.It was all Erick's choice that led to such a situation.He had chosen to leave with the guards of the Swanns and not to go with Sean when Sean went to rescue him. He had to bear the consequences the choices brought him, and there was no way back.Catherine just eyed him, waiting for him to speak.Erick knew Catherine must know the truth of his leaving.He had not knitted his brows even once under Jeremy's beating, but now, he looked at Catherine with a long, miserable face."Are you angry?" Erick asked gingerly, scared and nervous.He feared Catherine would say yes because h
Oceanvile was not far from Casier, but Loyalty Academy had deep pockets and arranged a plane for the teams participating in the semi-finals.Branden arrived at Catherine's house early in the morning. When Audrey was in a dazed state to open the door and tried hard to open her eyes to send Catherine to the airport, she saw Branden's tall and imposing figure.Branden reached out his hand, and Audrey automatically handed the suitcase to him without thinking about it.Audrey was hesitant about whether to say something when Catherine stumped out of her room, looking drowsy.Catherine was not surprised to see Branden standing outside the house.The only thing she felt weird about was Branden's good spirits.He had been dealing with the job last night when she was asleep.He got up earlier than she did and was vigorous and energetic. There was no hint of sleepiness on his face.Seeing Audrey yawning constantly, Catherine could not help but frown.Audrey insisted on getting up early a
The school booked the hotel rooms for them. It was a new hotel near the competition venue so that it would be convenient for the students.It was not a luxury hotel but was newly opened, so it was clean and decent.Everyone took their driver's license to check in at the reception, and Ronin offered to help Catherine.But when it was Ronin's turn, the receptionist only handed him one key card.Ronin found it strange and asked, "What's wrong? Why did you only give me one key card? I have two driver's licenses with me. Did you make a mistake?"The receptionist looked at Ronin politely and was respectful to him."Sir, don't worry. Miss Swann's room is quite special. I have asked our manager to come and check in for her. Here's your key card. You can have a rest in your room first."Ronin was confused, wondering why the receptionist said so.Ronin looked back at Catherine and saw her leaning against the back of the sofa. She looked relaxed.Sensing Ronin's gaze, Catherine raised he
The usually quiet and meticulous Arbotte Laboratory suddenly became a hub of activity. It was a world-renowned research facility.While it was just a laboratory, its research projects garnered global attention. Many countries coveted the opportunity to collaborate with this facility.Despite its small size, consisting of only a dozen members, each was a globally recognized genius in their field. The laboratory primarily focused on cutting-edge technology, excelling in physics and chemistry research. Every research achievement from the laboratory had the potential to change the world.However, this laboratory was shrouded in mystery; little was known about its members or location. The only means to obtain information about the laboratory was through two channels. The first was to monitor the sporadic updates on the Arbotte Laboratory's website, which sometimes went without new details for the entire year. The second option was to obtain information through the black market, b
Hearing the strange sound from Rodge Milton, Scott Theo, who was next to him, approached curiously."Rodge, what's wrong?" Scott asked.Rodge couldn't speak and kept his head down.Suddenly, a cold voice came from above his head."Why? Is my appearance frightening?" asked Catherine.Catherine squinted her eyes as she assessed Rodge.She knew that Rodge was surprised because he had seen her face just now.She had come to the lab today and had no intention of hiding her face. If someone saw her, so be it. It was not a big deal. However, Rodge's reaction seemed a bit exaggerated.Rodge scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "No, no, Chief, your appearance isn't frightening at all! I didn't expect..."Scott, who was standing on the side, was getting anxious. "Come on, Rodge, what didn't you expect? Can you please finish your sentence at once? You're making me nervous!" said Scott."I didn't expect you to be so beautiful!" Rodge finally managed to say. "Some more, I've hear
Looking at Catherine's graceful departure, Scott couldn't help but ask with curiosity, "Rodge, how can the chief walk out of the laboratory? Aren't there 108 layers of security measures here?"It was extremely challenging to enter and leave the Arbotte Laboratory.The laboratory had numerous intricate security measures in place. Scott was utterly astonished to see Catherine leaving as if it were nothing.Rodge rolled his eyes silently and could not understand why the team leader had paired him with such a chatterbox. He was on the verge of being annoyed.Amid Scott's ongoing questions, Rodge finally lost his temper and shouted, "Don't you know that the chief herself designed these security measures? She can walk out because she created these mechanisms!"Scott was stunned when those words left Rodge's mouth. It took him a while to process the information.He only knew that the chief was a genius in weapon design, but he had never imagined she was also a genius in creating sec
Unlike before, this time, Catherine Swann's group drew a placement in the second-to-last group.Ronin Oconnor informed Catherine of the drawing results, saying, "Catherine, we're in the second-to-last group, so we have to wait quite a while!"He thought Catherine might be unhappy about it since he knew her temperament very well.They didn't care about their competition placement at all. After all, they were doing their best, and finishing the competition early would allow them to leave sooner.However, to his surprise, Catherine didn't seem upset at all. In fact, her mood was quite lightened up."Just right. We'll be in the back, so I'll take a nap," said Catherine."Catherine, feel free to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time," Ronin said considerately and then shared the drawing results in their WhatsApp group.The others, like Yesenia Duncan, couldn't come in person due to classes. However, they were all waiting eagerly on their phones and ready to watch the competition.
Ronin Oconnor was taken aback momentarily as he looked up and only realized when he saw Branden Duncan ahead."Why is this guy following us everywhere? Isn't it annoying?" Ronin muttered.Bryan gave him a disdainful glance, his face full of disdain. "Kid, are you feeling too safe? Speaking ill of my uncle like that?""I'm not afraid of him!" Ronin protested."Hmph!" Bryan coldly snorted, his tone dripping with disdain. "Sure, you're not afraid."Ronin felt a bit embarrassed. He had wanted to argue back but realized that he was indeed no match for Branden, so he kept silent.However, he was still somewhat unwilling. He approached Catherine and tried to be ingratiating. "Catherine, we rarely come to Oceanvile, and we won the competition. Can't we celebrate together tonight? It's been a while since I had a meal with you."Catherine had been staying in her apartment lately and enjoying the meals Branden had personally cooked for her. Thus, it had indeed been a while since she had ea