?Chapter 491:


    Ethan blinked, thrown off by the man’s formality. His brows pinched together as he looked him over, confusion flickering in his eyes.


    The man’s tone remained calm and measured. “I bring a congrattory gift on behalf of a certain gentleman. He wishes to congratte you on your victory in thepetition.”


    Ethan stared at him, stunned. A gift? A certain gentleman? Then it clicked. His jaw ckened. Justiceze. It had to be.


    With a curt motion, the man gestured to his entourage. Without a word, they stepped aside and pulled back a thick velvet curtain.


    There it stood — a high-performance mainframe, sheathed in a sleek titanium-silver casing that caught the light like liquid metal. A soft, icy shimmer rolled across its surface, elegant and menacing all at once. Near the bottom corner, a 24K gold emblem gleamed, etched so finely. A matching setup stood beside it — an ultra-wide curved monitor, state-of-the-art refresh rate, nked by a mechanical keyboard, precision mouse, and noise-canceling headset — each one top-tier, wless.


    Ethan took half a step back. His breath caught in his throat. “This… this is…”


    Near the front of the crowd, a student from the elite preparatory program cried out, practically choking on excitement. “Isn’t that the world’s top electronic sports system? They had it on disy at the Wront Tech Museumst month!”


    Another voice jumped in. “Yeah! It’s got AI dynamic input sensing and real-time physiological tracking! The price tag was over a million dors!”


    “No way — only three of those exist in the world! One for show, two for private sale! And even with money, you couldn’t just buy one!”


    “Exactly! People fought tooth and nail trying to get one, and failed! And now someone just gave it to Ethan?!”


    Every student from the three sses of the elite preparatory program snapped toward Ethan. The noise died down, reced by a thick silence. The looks on their faces — shock, disbelief, even a little fear — spoke louder than words.


    . is your storytelling hub


    Sure, everyone knew that his sister was formidable. That alone had been enough to put him on the map. But now this?


    Who the hell was Ethan Watson, really?


    Mnie’s usual entourage, huddled off to the side, looked shaken. Their expressions shifted rapidly, then slid into dread. They began rewriting everything they thought they knew about him.


    Even Mnie, who had once smirked her way through every conversation, had bowed her head and apologized to Ethan in public. Who would be foolish enough to cross him now?


    And it wasn’t just his own strength anymore. Between Maia — his powerhouse of a sister — and now this mysterious backer, he had a wall of untouchables behind him.


    Some of them began to sweat, remembering the things they had said to him. The insults. The mockery. Would Ethane after them now? Would he hold a grudge?


    Ethan heard the whispers, the rising panic cloaked in hushed voices. But he barely registered them — his own heart was hammering like a jackhammer in his chest. Over a million dors? Just for a gift?


    That was equal to the prize money of the entirepetition! His fingers twitched at his side. He could barely breathe. Who did something like this?


    He swallowed hard. Justiceze was no ordinary person. Ethan had known that. But this?


    A grin tried to sneak onto his face.


    Thinking back, he found that it made sense. Justiceze had helped Maia take down those bastards before like it was child’s y. He had stood up for her, protected her, and now this…


    .


    .


    .