"Spend ''some time'' with me?" The key phrase snapped Juniper out of her rxed state, her expression turning serious.


    "Yeah," Ebony Fox mumbled, forcing a slight smile. “I''m with the Huntsman Institute. It''s...plicated. I can''t just walk away yet."


    "Howplicated?" Juniper''s temper red. "Are they going to hold you captive for the rest of your life?"


    Ebony Fox pressed her lips together, unsure how to exin the situation to her little sister, nor did she want her to know the full truth. It was far moreplex than she could imagine.


    "It''s fine," Ebony Fox said, ruffling her sister''s hair gently. "It''s hot and dusty out here. You should go before you get heatstroke."


    Juniper nodded, watching as her sister walked back toward the training grounds. A momentter, she pulled out her phone and dialed Lue. "Are you free? I need you to look into the Huntsman Institute for me."


    “The Huntsman Institute?" Lue, who had been sound asleep, shot upright in bed, her hair a mess. "Don''t tell me your cover''s blown and they''ve put a hit out on you?"


    After all, the stunt Juniper had pulled was audacious. If Lue were in charge of the Institute, she''d hunt her to the ends of the earth.


    "No," Juniper replied, her voice low and somber. "I think my sister is hiding something from me."


    "Your sister?" Lue scratched at her bird''s nest of hair, her mind still foggy with sleep.


    "It seems the Huntsman Institute won''t let her go," Juniper exined, sitting on her scooter with one long leg propping it up. The sun beat down on her, but an icy chill emanated from her that was far more daunting.


    "I''ve got too much on my te right now, so I need you to handle this. Find out everything." Juniper paused before adding, "Once you have the intel, I''ll make my move."


    "Make your... move?" Lue asked cautiously as she poured herself a ss of water. "What exactly are you nning?"


    "Either blow the Huntsman Institute to kingdome, or hunt down the people holding my sister captive," Juniper answered after a few seconds, her tone chillingly calm.


    Lue choked, spraying water everywhere before bursting intoughter. "Alright, alright, I''ll look into it. Just don''t do anything rash.”


    That little firecracker always


    followed through on her threats, and this was about her precious sister Lue was genuinely worried she d do something reckless. The Huntsman Institute was not an organization to be trifled with.


    The WKL eSports finals were scheduled for the end of the month. Although Juniper hadn''t shown her face to the Neverfall Navigators the asionally watched videos of their practice sessions that Shanley sent over, keeping tabs on their progress.


    "Why did you invest in the Neverfall Navigators?" Juniper was curled up on the sofa,


    her head resting on Shanley''sp as she yed a game on her phone.


    After she had left, the team''s reputation, while still intact, had taken a hit. Severalpanies had colluded to sideline them, hoping to drive their contract price downto rock bottom. But at the critical moment a gamingpany under the Schwartz Group had stepped in and signed them for triple the market rate. And all these years, even when the team''s performance wasn''t ster, the Schwartz Group had never terminated the contract.


    "Hmm?" Shanley, who was about to feed her a piece of fruit, paused. A faint smile touched his lips. “Because of a woman."


    Juniper''s chewing stopped abruptly, a dangerous glint entering her eyes.


    Because of what? A woman? An old me? What the hell was that supposed to


    mean?