"Juniper..." Tucker began, wanting to exin that he''d only been harsh with her earlier for her own good, but he quickly pped a hand over his mouth and corrected himself. "Master, I...”


    "Go get your award first," Juniper said calmly, a faint smile on her lips. “We''ll discuss our business back at the hotel."


    Tucker froze, a shiver running down his spine. Was she nning to settle scorester?


    The award ceremonymenced, and the presenter reluctantly handed the trophy to Tucker. "And here is the prize money."


    "Prize money?” Tucker nced down at the check. It was for over two million dors. He hadn''t paid much attention to thepetition details in a long time and hadpletely forgotten about the prize. He never imagined it would be so much. Two million dors... think of all the snacks he could buy.


    “Tucker, have you ever considered joining the World Programming Alliance?" the presenter asked in a low voice after handing him the oversized check. "The sry would be twenty times what you''re making now."


    Twenty times? That was two hundred thousand a month.


    "It sounds tempting," Tucker admitted, clutching his trophy and prize money. He brushed back a lock of his white hair and said earnestly, “But........ my Master is from Orient Country, and so am I. I got intoputer programming to serve my country. Two hundred thousand a month?"


    He looked out at the audience, found Juniper, and gave a cold smile. “If I remember correctly, the Alliance once offered my Master ten million, and she turned you down, didn''t she?"


    The man frowned but said nothing. Miss Null was indeed a tough nut to crack.


    "Instead of always trying to poach people, maybe you should look at your own team and see if they''re working hard enough," Tucker continued. "Not everyone from Orient Country is like you people—willing to do anything for money. When you can''tpete, you resort to nder, and when you''re caught, you just y dumb.”


    With every word Tucker spoke, the presenter''s face grew darker, until he finally couldn''t take it anymore and stormed off the stage.


    "Hmph." Tucker scoffed at his retreating back, his eyes filled with contempt. His Master had integrity, even at her young age. He would never be a traitor.


    After the ceremony ended, Tucker headed offstage with his trophy and ran straight into Byron, who had been trying to sneak away They both stopped and stared at each


    Ox content belongs to


    "I can''t believe you actually won," Byron said, his face as pale as paper and his


    whole demeanor deted, though his tone was still mocking.


    "Yeah,” Tucker retorted with a smirk. “It is surprising. I thought for sure the award would go to you, Byron."


    After all, he had been so full of himself before thepetition.


    "You-" Byron''s lips trembled with anger at the sarcastic jab, his face turning ashen. "Don''t get too cocky. Be careful you don''t fall.”


    "Thanks for your concern, Byron," Tucker shot back, a fire igniting in his chest as he remembered how Byron had given his Master a hard time. "But right now, you should probably worry about yourself."


    With that, Tucker walked away with a cheerful spring in his step, heading toward Juniper.


    Byron stood frozen, watching the smug pair, his hands clenching into tight fists.


    So they won? They think they''re on top of the world? The future is long. They want


    to climb over him that badly? In their dreams!


    Little did he know, the news of


    Tucker''s victory had already spread like wildfire back home, and his name was a trending topic. Even more shockingly, besides Tucker, his student or rather, his


    Master—Juniper was also trending.