And all those celebratory headlines back home, cheering for Tucker''s victory? They were all a joke now. Once he was cklisted by the World Programming


    Competition, would he have any future left? His career was likely over!


    The thought of never having to see Tucker at the university again, of having no one stand in his way, filled Byron with glee.


    “Tucker, we''re giving you five minutes,” a judge announced. "You have two minutes left. If you can''t produce any evidence by then, we''ll have to ask you to leave. The awards ceremony needs to continue."


    Tucker clenched his fists, his jaw tight. He looked up at the crowd. "Miss Null has passed away," he said, his voice heavy. "Obviously, I can''t bring her here. But I did not giarize. I will prepare my materials and file an appeal."


    With that, he handed the microphone back to the host and turned to leave.


    Just then, a familiar voice cut through the silence from the audience. "Who says Professor Tucker can''t produce any evidence?"


    Every head in the venue snapped toward the source of the voice. In the packed audience, a girl in a ck hoodie and a baseball cap was slowly getting to her feet. Long hair framed a delicate, pretty chin, and she had a lollipop stick clenched between her teeth.


    "Who is that?"


    "Some kid, making a scene at an event like this?"


    "I think she came with Tucker. Probably trying to defend him."


    "Defend him?” another person scoffed. "What right does she have to speak?"


    "She said she has evidence."


    "Haha, the only evidence is Miss Null, and she''s long dead. What''s this girl going to do, raise her from the grave?"


    Ignoring the murmurs andughter around her, Juniper walked steadily toward the stage. She was stopped by security at the entrance.


    “Juniper, what are you doing?" Tucker called out, his voice trembling. "Don''t do anything rash. Just wait for me in the audience."


    Juniper was a brilliant student in Era University''sputer science department: With her talent, she had a bright future ahead of her. He couldn''t let her ruin it by getting into trouble for his sake. Evidence? What evidence could she possibly have? She''d probably never even heard of Miss Null.


    "How can I not be rash when someone''s trying to steal your trophy?" Juniper tossed the lollipop stick into a nearby trash can and pushed back the brim of her cap, revealing her full face. A smirk yed on her lips. "You earned this. We have to get it back."


    "But..." Tucker started to protest, but sighed in resignation.


    "Hmph." Byron let out a coldugh, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "How touching. A true


    master student bond like they say, the apple doesn''t fall far from the tree."


    Juniper, her back to him, ignored his nonsense.


    "Youngdy, you say you have evidence?” a judge asked, looking her up and down


    with a skeptical, amused expression.


    “That''s right,” Juniper replied without hesitation, facing the panel.


    "And where is this evidence?" the judge pressed, treating her like a child trying to protect an adult from punishment.


    "I am the evidence," Juniper said, lifting her gaze. Her lips moved, and she enunciated each word clearly. "I am Miss Null."