Shanley pursed his lips. If they didn''t approve, what would Juniper do?


    As his mind raced, footsteps sounded at the door. Juniper appeared, a lollipop in her mouth, her posture radiating azy confidence.


    "Ow—" The man, who had been lying there calmly just a moment before, suddenly contorted his face in pain.


    The subordinate standing by was baffled. That pain certainly came on suddenly.


    "What are you faking?" Juniper tossed the lollipop stick into the trash, her eyes fixed on him as she asked casually, "Are you hungry?"


    "A little," Shanley replied, his handsome face creased in a frown. He didn''t dare lie again. The fact that she was asking if he was hungry meant she still cared, right?


    "If you know you''re hungry, it means you''re not going to die," Juniper said, sinking into a nearby chair and crossing her legs, looking as imperious as a queen surveying her domain.


    Shanley''s smile froze.


    Seeing him flustered was quite satisfying for Juniper, and the corners of her mouth turned up in an unconscious smile.


    "World Hacker Competition starts in five minutes," Juniper said, tossing herptop to him. Her voice was low. "Don''t waste time."


    World Hacker Competition?


    Shanley paused for a few seconds before slowly opening theptop. "Juniper, actually..."


    "Quiet. It''s game time," Juniper cut him off with a cool nce, her eyes narrowing slightly. "And I won''t go easy on you just because you''re injured."


    "Alright."


    Shanley winced as he opened the official website for thepetition. He logged in and entered the interface.


    In theirst match, they had battled


    for several hours without a clear winner. This time, the event was being broadcast live globally, attracting a massive audienc Everyone was specting how long this ultimate showdown would take to produce a champion.


    In another room, the five masters sat in front of theirputers, their eyes glued to the infirmary''s surveince feed Wasn''t the leader of Sigma Network supposed to be incredibly skilled? They wanted to see how long he''dst this time!


    Soon, thepetition officially began. Specter and the leader of Sigma Network entered the match page simultaneously.


    Although Juniper wanted to teach him a lesson, she was still mindful of his injury. She subtly weakened the speed and force of her attacks.


    But to her surprise, she had barely warmed up,unching a tentative probe, when her opponent''s system suddenly copsed.


    "Huh???"


    "The winner of this World Hacker Competition is Specter?"


    "The leader of Sigma Network was defeated by Specter in the first thirty seconds?"


    "Is the leader of Sigma Network possessed, or did he get a substitute to y for him?"


    The five masters had barely settled into their seats before the match was over just like that.


    Tsk. How anticlimactic! The man''s intentions couldn''t have been more obvious.


    "You did that on purpose?" Juniper stared at the notification on her screen, stunned for several seconds before her gaze shifted stiffly to the man.


    "Mhm." Shanley''s tall frame slowly knelt before her. He looked up, his gaze gentle and a slight smile on his lips. "I told you, I''ll give you anything you want. It''s not just onepetition. I''d dly lose to you for the rest of my life."