“The grouping was random, right?” Matt nced over, raising an eyebrow. “It doesn’t matter. You just need to score higher in the individual roundster.”


    Nancy frowned silently. She understood that the individual scores counted toward the overall total.


    However, Ariel had been lucky, ending up in a group with Samson and Elsie, and even managed to snag first ce in this round.


    “High team scores don’t reflect individual ability. They just got lucky and ended up in better groups.”


    Sarah could tell what Nancy was thinking. Her own discontent with Ariel was clear, though she didn’t show it.


    Chad turned and chuckled at that. “Everyone standing here is top–tier in their own right. Ms. Stanton<b>, </b>if you want to talk about individual skills, you might not even match up. What exactly are youining about?”


    If she voiced it, it woulde across as rude. Nancy’s expression darkened, showing some annoyance at Chad’s frankness.


    She instinctively nced around, relieved when her team members weren’t nearby.


    Chad caught on to her thoughts. He snorted and turned toward Ariel.


    Meanwhile, Jayson nced toward a spot not far off before looking at Nancy and saying, “Prepare well for tomorrow.”


    Nancy felt a headacheing on and could only nod absentmindedly.


    At the end of the session, the two groups crossed paths.


    When Nancy looked at Ariel, her gaze was cold, dripping with sarcasm. She didn’t greet her. Instead, she turned on her heel and


    left.


    Jayson was still coordinating with the organizers.


    Matt paused, nced at Ariel, and traced a finger across his nose before saying, “Congrattions.”


    Then he walked off quickly.


    Ariel found it odd. Matt wouldn’t normally say such things.


    The next day would focus on hardware and algorithm optimization under real–time conditions, and the third day would involve applying the contestants‘ own code in live tests. That was the true moment to show their abilities.


    The winning code might be selected for implementation by the government.


    Ariel took a break in her room, then immediately continued coding, showing no sign of letting up.


    Chad didn’t disturb her.


    The next day, even more people showed up. With countless eyes watching, even Ariel couldn’t help but feel some pressure.


    Carlos approached, keeping a straight <b>face</b>. “Do your best. By the way, the judges want to meet you. Go say hello.”


    Only then did Ariel rx a little and quip, “Wouldn’t meeting judges now make me look like I’m trying to curry favor?”


    Carlos shot her a re, waved his hand, and returned to his seat.


    She was just joking. After Carlos left, she took the time to greet a few of <b>the </b>senior figures before turning to prepare.


    Nancy passed by at that moment. She gave Ariel a cold scan. “Today is the individual algorithm test. You can’t ride on your team’s score, Ariel. You’re on your own now.”


    Ariel didn’t even look up, ignoring her entirely.


    Nancy frowned. Ariel’s quiet confidence was something she couldn’t quite understand.


    On stage, Ariel raised her head briefly and spotted Jayson seated directly opposite. Their eyes met for a moment.


    His gaze was calm and steady.


    She diverted her gaze without any reaction.


    During the algorithm optimization trial, Ariel worked methodically. With multiple assessments, the data was almost dizzying.


    Having the entire process projected on the big screen made it an even tougher test of their mental resilience.


    Ariel didn’t rush.


    When the session ended, each dataset was evaluated individually.


    Nancy thought her performance was decent, though she noted two areas needing refinement.


    The judges beganpiling theirprehensive assessments.