Chapter 160 Lucas Was Acting Strange Today

    Lucas shot Samson a nce, his tone calm. “Rumors aren’t reliable.”

    ??

    +10 Free Coins

    Samson chuckled but didn’t push further. He turned back toward the arena, where Baylon bwas /balready seated across from Sloane, eyes steady and locked on her. “Sloane, I’ve been training non–stop this past month. This time, I won’t lose to you.”

    Sloane offered ia /ifaint smile, her voice just asposed. “Please.”

    The moment the match began, Baylon unleashed apletely different attack style from before. His execution was sharper, and his angles far more aggressive. Clearly, during his intense training, he had studied Sloane’s habits closely and crafted specific traps just to counter her.

    His offense was swift and surgical; lines of code shed across the screen like lightning tearing through a night sky.

    Under his assault, Sloane’s defenses faltered–just briefly–and the firstyer of her firewall was breached.

    Sloane raised her eyebrows slightly, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. iDidn’t /iexpect him to level up ithis /iifast/ii, /iihe /iiactually /iifound /iiand /iiexploited /iione /iiof /iimy weak /ipoints in isuch /iia /iishort /itime.

    Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she quickly restructured her defense, her gaze now sharpened with newfound focus.

    Baylon, encouraged by the breakthrough, surged forward with even greater force. But Sloane didn’t give him many openings. She soon stabilized her system and began mounting a counterattack.

    Just then, a btactic /bshed through her mindb–/bsomething she’d seen Team 9 use in theirstpetition. It was a clever strategy, one that not only delivered heavy blows but couldpletely disrupt an opponent’s rhythm in a short burst.

    Sloane’s lips lifted in a subtle smile. She decided to adapt Team 9’s approach to handle Baylon.

    Her fingers danced across the keyboard; lines of code poured onto the screen like a waterfall. Her pace elerated, and her attack angles became increasingly difficult to read.

    In the spectator seats, Lucas suddenly stood olliupb. /b/li/ol

    “That technique…”

    Baylon’s defense began to crumble under her assault. rm messages popped bup /bbinonstop /i/bacross his monitor.

    b7:23 /bFrib, /bbSep /bb5 /b

    Chapter 160 Lucas Was Acting Strange Today

    +10 Free Coins

    Frantic, he scrambled to recover, trying everything he could think of–but it wasn’t enough bto /bhold Sloane back.

    He hadn’t expected the offensive he’d so carefully crafted to be broken iso /icleanly–and bthen /bused to pin him down.

    Sloane stood up, her gaze steady as she looked at him. “Thank you for the match.”

    Baylon let out a wry smile and shook his head. “Sloane, you really are something else. I admit defeat.”

    “Wow!” A cheer erupted across the arena.

    Sloane had done it. She had defeated four challengers on her own and secured the sole open spot on ckhawk’s roster.

    “It’s her,” Lucas murmured as he stared at Sloane, radiant with confidence on stage. Aplicated feeling swelled in his chest–one he couldn’t quite put into words.

    He hadn’t expected that the anonymous forum user he’d casually mentored iall /ithose years ago would turn out to be Sloane.

    Back then, he’d just tossed ia /ifew tips to someone who seemed genuinely passionate about hacking. He had no idea that person was her.

    A small smile tugged at the corner of Lucas’s lips, and a rare softness flickered in his eyes. iFate/i, it ireally is /iisomething /iielse/i.

    “Lucas?” Sloane spotted him after stepping off the stageb, /bsurprise in her voice. “What are you doing here?”

    Lucas looked at her, his lips curling into a soft, gentle smile.

    His ieyes /iwere deep and tender, carrying something hard to define, a quiet emotion that surrounded him like a halo of light, making him seem more captivating than ever.

    Sloane was momentarily dazed by that smile, her heart giving a sudden, unexpected biskip/i/b. iWhat’s /iigoing /ibion/i/bi? /ibiLucas /i/bfeels idifferent /iitoday/i.

    b2/2 /b

    b7:23 /bFrib, /bbSep /bb5 /b