Mike patted him on the shoulder. “Come on, we’re just first years. No need to stress work life bnce, remember?”

Larry rolled his eyes. “Says the guy who’s always grinding the hardest.”

Mike just grinned, “Just follow Ms. Saxon’s lead. When she takes a break, you guys can chill too.”

Helen nodded. “That’s what we were nning anyway.”

Mid–July, Cathy messaged Aria. [Aria, the registration deadline is today. Have you decided yet?]

Ana replied, I’m in.]

Cathy, fresh off a training session, grinned as she typed, [Want toe train at the State Security Bureau ahead of time and get a feel for it?]

Aria, [No thanks, I’ve got my own way to train.]

Cathy, [Alrightyi, /iI’ll get you signed up.]

Cathy put her phone away, and the short–haired woman next to her wiped the sweat from her forehead. She said, “Captain, we’re still onebatant short.”

Here were the requirements for the Skills Evaluation. Each team must have 5 to 7 members, including at least onemander, onebatant, one technician, one intelligence officer, and one scout.

Technicians were skilled at hacking systems and repairing all kinds of equipment, but most of them had lowbat ability, making them easy targets for elimination. That was why teams usually had two technicians.

Next are thebatants. The higher the team was overallbat strength, the better their chances of surviving thepetition.

There were fifteen women in the State Security Bureau, but only nine of them signed up for the Skills Evaluation. The other three girls teamed up elsewhere. Cathy’s squad had six women, with two of them being techies.

What they really needed was one more fighter; only then would their odds of winning really go up.

Cathy grinned. “Rx, we’ve already got ourbatant.”

One teammate asked, “So, Cathy, who’d you rope in?”

Cathy called out. “Aria.”

The others were stunned. “Wait, you mean the girl Ms. Langford personally recruited? But she’s never even trained with us.”

“Should we just ask Winifred Chappell instead?” another teammate suggested. “She’s super experienced. She even made the top three inst year’s solo event.” But Winifred wasn’t interested in the Skills Evaluation, so she didn’t sign up.

Cathy shot them a reassuring look. “Aria wasn’t going to join at first. I had to beg her for half the day. Trust me, she’s got this.”

‘If the number one assassin had any issues, that’d be the real surprise,‘ Cathy thought. Even if Aria hadn’t trained in four years, Cathy still had zero doubts about her. Some things were just in her bones; she never lost them.

Not far off, Fabian’s team overheard and came closer. The short guy was the first to speak. “Didn’t think you’d really get Aria. We were just racking our

brains on how to reach her.”

The short–haired girl, Emily, asked, “So you were after her too?”

Fabian replied coolly, “We’re good with just five.” Fabian’s team werest year’s champions.

b12:20 /bSatb, /bb9 /bbAug /b

He was themander, Cathy was thebatant, Gerald was the technician, Bruce handled intelligence, and their scout was ire. All five of them bhad /bseriousbat skills. No other team could reallypete with them.

Cathy and Gerald weren’t big on forming alliances, so Fabian simply picked two other teammates to work with long–term. With three out of five members fromst year’s champion team, their victory this time seemed almost certain.

Thepetition wasn’t just about going solo. Teams often worked together. There would definitely be plenty of teams eager to tear up with them.

Fabian was so confident in their strength that he didn’t even bother filling all seven spots. Cathy raised an eyebrow. “If you’re not inviting Aria, then what do you want with her?”

The short guy grinned. “We’re reaching out to get her in the Skills Evaluation, of course. Gotta see for ourselves what kind of skills Ms. Langford’s handpicked girl really has.”

His name was Weyne Hecht, from Horea–abat specialist who excelled at close–quarters breakouts. Definitely not someone to take lightly.

Cathy gave a fake smile. “No need for you to trouble yourselves.”

Fabian looked at Cathy and reminded her. “Only Aria was specially recruited without an assessment. People will be curious and want to test her.”

He swept his gaze over the six of them. “All of you are female, and with Aria, you’re like walking targets.”