Shanley looked up, his cold gaze sweeping across the room. Although he had shed with Specter many times, he had never seen their face. He only had a vague impression of an older man.


    (Juniper: If only they knew Lue forced me to cosy as one of the old geezers from the base, hence the ''older man'' disguise.)


    Could Specter be in this crowd?


    “Juniper...” Shanley adjusted his mask and gently ced a hand on her waist. “Let''s switch seats."


    “Hmm?” she asked, curious, butplied.


    “Go on, keep ying," he said with a satisfied smile, his tension easing slightly. Now, a pir was on her right, shielding her from view, and he was on her left. If anything happened, he could block her from harm.


    At that exact moment, Juniper received a message from Lue: [That old fox from Sigma Network is near the conference center.]


    Juniper''s fingers froze over her game as her cold eyes scanned the crowd. No one here looked particrly threatening. Was he really here?


    A few minutester, thepetition entered the fourth and final round. Six contestants remained for a Q&A session with the judges, with the highest scorer earning a spot. To ensure fairness, the database contained three different sets of questions.


    The contestants woulde up one by one, while the others waited in a soundproof room.


    The first to go was from Moralia Country. He conveniently drew the first set of questions. As the judges asked, he answered, responding so smoothly it was as if he had memorized the answers beforehand. Out of 20 questions, he answered every single one correctly.


    The audience erupted in apuse, and the judges beamed with satisfaction.


    Juniper narrowed her eyes, a sarcastic smile ying on her lips. She had nced at this guy earlier while waiting for her game to load. He had stumbled through his research presentation less coherently than one of the dogs she kept at her base. Now he was answering these difficult questions wlessly? Who would believe that? The second contestant, from Rustica Country, drew the third set of questions and only answered half of them correctly.


    "So that''s how they''re ying it," Juniper murmured, a smirk gracing her lips. It was clearly rigged. The three contestants from Moralia


    Country would conveniently dr


    sets one, two, and three, while the others were left to chance.


    "Mr. Schwartz, where''s yourptop?" she asked.


    Shanley blinked, momentarily stunned.


    "Right here," he said, opening theptop and cing it on herp. "The password is 0320."


    0320? Juniper''s head snapped up, her expressionplex. That was the anniversary of her grandfather''s death. It was also the day she and Shanley had first met.


    Her heart skipped a beat. She


    quickly looked away, fanning her


    vel


    face as if it were suddenly too hote Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and in less than two minutes, she had breached the


    medical alliance''s database. Without pausing, she spent another few minutes rewriting the second and third sets of questions.


    Shanley watched, impressed. While he wasn''t a medical expert, he knew enough to see that the questions Juniper was creating were moderately difficult but tested


    fundamental knowledge thoroughly.


    Most importantly, they were questions she had never shared with Harold. It was fair.


    The moment she finished, the third contestant took the stage. He walked with his chin held high, radiating a confidence that suggested he already knew he would seed.


    "Please select your questions."


    He ced his hand on the mouse, and after a brief animation, the cursornded on the second set. A huge grin spread across his face. It was in the bag.


    "Please see the first question," a judge announced, ying along with the charade. The test paper opened, and the smiles on all the judges'' faces froze instantly.