Xena sighed. "How do you know so much?"Sophia said, "His mother told him after he called off the engagement last night. He came to find me the next day.""What did he want with you?""He asked for my help in pursuing you," Sophia smiled at her, "Do you still like him?"Xena scoffed, "Do you think I'm that forgetful?"Sophia also sat down, relaxing against the back of the sofa, teasingly looking at her, "It's hard to say. Don't speak too soon."Xena glared at her, sternly asking, "What are you trying to say?"Sophia chuckled, "Before I got together with Elliot, I said I wouldn't be with him even if all the men in the world were dead. But fate works in mysterious ways. We were engaged since childhood, arranged by our grandparents.“He was the older brother I had been searching for, and then we ended up together by accident, persuaded by our grandparents. So, how do you explain that? Sometimes, you just must go with the flow when fate comes knocking. There’s no need to reject it
Black Den Headquarters was in the center of Phoenix. It was a towering skyscraper that symbolized grandeur and magnificence.Sophia and Xena went there early in the morning. They were two of the five mysterious founders of Black Den. They went straight to the 40th-floor conference room after entering the building via a dedicated elevator.When they entered, they saw Liam and Elijah engaged in a heated debate. Everyone here had code names. Andrew's code name was Black Dragon, Xena's code name was Shadow, Sophia's code name was Visage, Liam's code name was Exia, and Elijah's code name was Banshee.Liam was tall and sturdy with dark skin, while Elijah was tall but slightly shorter, with a fair face and scholarly demeanor. The two had nothing better to bet on besides the number of people who could make it past two rounds.Liam said, "The levels Visage designed are a bit difficult. I dare say that no more than thirty people will pass."Elijah said, "Nonsense! These are talents chosen f
Andrew issued his command to the final venue. Fifty people fought alone and had their phones confiscated. They were not allowed to meet or communicate with those who had yet to clear the stage. They also did not know the scores of those who had passed.Therefore, there was no difference between going in first or last. Everyone hoped to go in earlier because every extra minute spent outside was an extra minute of agony. However, the contestants had already determined their order by drawing lots.Mary and Vanessa were number one and eighteen, while Onyx was number forty-eight. When Vanessa heard a mechanical voice announce the start of the finals, she began to panic. Her limbs felt weak, and her breathing became unsteady.‘I-I can’t do it! I’m not ready! I don’t even know what stage I’ll face.’Mary comforted her, "It's okay, just relax and treat it as an experience. We've already stood out among five thousand people. It's okay whether we pass or not. Just keep a calm mind."Vanessa
Sophia and the others did not have time to discuss the tests as they continued to focus on the big screen. The second level was a willpower test. If the challenger persisted for ten minutes, they would pass.Elijah's apprentice, Carter, wore a black hooded cloak and held a hypnotic crystal ball before the challengers. He then demanded them to perform actions based on his instructions. He would hypnotize most after completing the actions.Sophia wanted Elijah to go up himself, but Liam rejected the idea, fearing Elijah would be too harsh.Mary stood before Carter, who asked her to lie down on a makeshift bed. Mary had monitoring devices on her wrists and ankles. If the monitoring device detected her being hypnotized, she would fail to proceed.He approached and placed the crystal ball before her eyes. She said lowly, "Mary, stare at this crystal ball. Imagine yourself in a vast blue sky with the scent of flowers brushing past your nose.“You hear birds chirping above your head and
They were chatting lively while Xena remained silent. Sophia looked at her. "Xena, what are you thinking?"Xena sneered. "So she has always been in the Underworld Palace, not sold off into the mountains. She probably returned to take down the Martinez family and the Carsons. No wonder she went to great lengths to marry Hamish."Sophia frowned. "Could the Underworld Palace be aiming for sole dominance? Will they also target the Inferno Alliance?"Elijah said, "Underworld Palace has already captured many tycoons. It would be good if they also targeted Inferno Alliance. I fear they might join forces against us."Liam said, "So what if they join forces? Their subordinates are elites, and we aren’t weak either."After some thought, Sophia said, "I don't think that’s likely. Underworld Palace acts without principles, which we find unacceptable. Inferno Alliance probably feels the same."She looked at Andrew and said, "Didn't you say you wanted to find an opportunity to cooperate with I
It was already the second lap, but Sophia still had not found a chance to overtake Mary. Liam said, "I think we should let Mary win. It's too dangerous to overtake her."Elijah replied, "If she wins, she can advance. Do we want to let that ticking time bomb in?"Liam responded, "Isn’t it better to have her right under our noses than somewhere we can't see?"Xena interjected, "Her goal is to explore Black Den. Why would we let her in?"Liam suggested, "If necessary, we'll find an excuse to eliminate her."Xena questioned, "What excuse? If she wins, she'll almost have a perfect score to enter. She might even skip the investigation stage. You won't even have the chance to eliminate her."Andrew remained silent, not participating in their discussion. His eyes remained on the monitor. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Wow! That's amazing!"Everyone turned to the monitor, only to find that Sophia had successfully overtaken Mary. The red car now dominated the blue one. Elijah was surprised, "Ho
The machine chimed, "Correct."Sophia was surprised, "Oh, he's pretty good."Liam remarked, "Hey, didn’t he participate in the finals last year?""Oh right, he's excellent with computers," Elijah said, "He’s your apprentice, right?"Sophia nodded. "Yeah, he helped design our Ourea’s Peak game cosmetics."Xena chuckled. "It looks like more participations offer more experience."Everyone laughed, thinking Xena was right because Onyx’s progress in the subsequent challenges went smoothly. Of course, he faced deductions, but they did not hinder his advances.Since the finals were next, Liam asked, “What do you think? Will he choose the individual or competitive mode?”Elijah said, "Probably individual. After all, he'll face Visage if he goes competitive."Xena smiled and looked at Sophia. "But wouldn't it be interesting if he recklessly chose competitive? Will you let him off easy?"Sophia said, "Why would he risk that? He has sixty-five points now, and getting fifteen more should
Ethan and Sophia arrived home simultaneously. Since he had been busy these past few days, she wondered what kept him occupied. Sophia asked, “Did you just get home?”Elliot waved her over and smiled as if something good had happened. “Come here.”Sophia got into the car, asking, "What's up? Where are we going?"Elliot said mysteriously, "I’m taking you to see a show.""What show?""Ethan's.”Sophia’s eyes lit up with excitement. “What, are you guys making a movie or something?”Elliot chuckled. “Kind of. I heard Ethan’s visiting Edmund’s grave and is even bringing a shaman to perform rituals for him.”Sophia laughed. “Are you planning to scare him?”“We’ve planned it all out. I found someone with a similar build as Edmund and prepared a mask for him to wear. We’ll scare Ethan all night with sound and lighting effects. Ethan went to see Scar in prison and probably doesn’t know that you can make such realistic masks.”Sophia chuckled. “Didn’t Ethan visit Janine? He did all the