Chapter 471
Chapter 471:
The engineers in the crowd stared in absolute awe. This was not a memorized PR speech. This was the raw, terrifying power of a true apex intellect.
Carter sat at the VIP judges’ table, leaning back with a quiet, proud smile.
Grayson stared at the woman on the stage. His heart pounded against his ribs. The woman who had spent five years quietly cooking his meals and folding his shirts was now commanding a room full of global geniuses.
Daron’s mouth hung open. “This… this is impossible,” he stammered. “She must have memorized a script p>
𝗥𝘦𝘢d 𝘧r𝗈𝗆 𝘺𝗼𝗎𝘳 рhоnе oո 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗇𝗈𝘷е𝘭𝘴.с𝘰𝗆
Isolde clicked the screen off. The room went dark except for the spotlight on her.
“I am Isolde Carson, Chief Architect of Carson Dynamics,” Isolde said. “Thank you p>
One second of stunned silence.
Then the entire hall exploded.
Hundreds of people jumped to their feet. The applause was deafening — like thunder rolling through the room — ten times louder than the polite clapping Belle had received.
Isolde walked down the stairs and past the InnoTech row without breaking stride.
Belle bit her bottom lip so hard she tasted blood.
Grayson’s eyes followed Isolde all the way to her seat beside Carter Sterling. A crushing, horrifying realization finally broke through him. The first shot of the competition belonged to Carson Dynamics.
But this was only the beginning.
It had been three days since the explosive confrontation at the Nexus Gala. The media was still buzzing about Isolde publicly exposing Mike Ross and humiliating InnoTech’s engineering team. But Isolde had already moved on. She and her team had flown directly to the Aspen Snowmass resort for the final, grueling phase of the Daedalus Gauntlet.
“They are calling you the Lunar Dust Queen on the ISSDC forums,” Harper said, referencing the flawless lunar soil stabilization model Isolde had uploaded to the public servers right after the Gala.
She lay on her stomach on the heated stone lounger, fingers swiping rapidly across a waterproof tablet. Thick, sulfur-scented steam from the resort’s open-air thermal spa curled around them.
Isolde leaned back against the smooth, hot rocks, wearing a thick white bathrobe over her swimsuit. The intense heat flushed her skin red and beaded sweat at her collarbone.
“Let them talk,” Isolde said, keeping her eyes closed beneath a cooling gel eye mask. “The next round is the Mars Colonization simulation. The environmental variables are going to double. I do not care about internet nicknames p>
Harper’s tablet emitted a sharp, blaring ringtone. It was an encrypted video request.
Harper glanced at the caller ID and nearly dropped the device into the bubbling water.
“Isolde,” Harper gasped, her voice tight with panic. “It is the Big Boss. It is Cyrus Sterling p>
Isolde reached up and peeled the gel mask from her face. The cool air bit at her heated skin.
“Answer it,” Isolde said calmly. She sat up straight and pulled the lapels of her bathrobe tighter across her chest. “He is probably calling to check on the budget projections p>
Harper hit the accept button with a trembling finger and propped the tablet on a dry towel, angling the camera toward Isolde.