Chapter 1045

The Hope Initiative was serving as a brutal warning to everyone else.

The other students were relying on this tournament to secure their futures and launch their careers.

No one was going to risk their own neck for someone else right now.

“Stop p>

A cold, crystalline voice cut through the tension.

The tone was smooth, unhurried, but carried an absolute authority.

It froze Graves in his tracks.

It also stopped Caleb, who had been bending down to pick up the key.

Graves slowly turned around, his eyes locking onto Serena’s stunning, icy features.

He let out a condescending scoff. “You got a problem, competitor p>

“Pick it up,” Serena said, her voice completely flat, her dark, abyssal eyes fixed dead on him.

Graves stared at her, genuinely shocked that she dared to speak to him like that.

He thought he had misheard her. “What did you just say p>

Serena held his gaze, enunciating every single word. “I said, pick up the key p>

Her tone was already bleeding impatience.

The remaining competitors froze in place.

They all stared at Serena in absolute shock.

Over the course of the tournament, they had witnessed exactly how dominant and ruthlessly efficient the captain of The Hope Initiative was.

But they never expected this p>

She was actually confronting the Chief Arbiter?

Was she not terrified that he would completely sabotage her research for the rest of the week?

Graves’s face darkened, contorting into a mask of ugly rage. He let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Who the hell do you think you are, giving me orders p>

He marched aggressively toward her, stopping right in front of the key. Instead of picking it up, he slammed his heavy boot down on it. “Listen to me, little girl. This is my island. I tell you where to sleep, and you sleep there. I threw your key in the dirt. What are you going to do about it? If you’ve got a problem, quit p>

“You… you’re a monster!” Lydia and the boys were vibrating with rage, their faces flushed. “We’re filing a formal complaint p>

“You need a signal for that.” Graves sneered, supremely unbothered. This is a restricted zone.

veernet

on this rock runs through me.

He paused, flashing a vicious grin.

“Of

be, you’re welcome to quite

and go cry to the board

the mainland

back on the m

It was blatantly obvious. The man was doing everything in his power to force them

to forfeit.

“You Lydia choked on her fury, utterly helpless.

Right at that moment.

The corners of Serena’s lips curved into a chilling smile.

“No way to contact the outside world, huh p>

She let out a soft, mocking laugh.

In a flash, her leg snapped out, burying her heel violently into the back of Graves’s knee.

“Argh p>

Graves let out a sharp cry of agony. The leg standing on the key buckled, and he slammed down onto one knee.

Serena didn’t pull back. She kept her

boot planted firmly on his joint p>

applying

coaxed the distinct sound

a sickening of

grinding bone.

“Pick it up p>

Her expression remained effortlessly cold as she looked down at the massive man forced to kneel before her.

Her sheer arrogance and dominance were breathtaking.

The remaining competitors gasped, their eyes wide with sheer terror.

Graves’s face twisted in agony, cold sweat instantly soaking through his shirt.

He opened his mouth, desperate to scream curses at her, ready to unleash hell on this arrogant brat.

But p>

No matter how hard he strained, his massive frame couldn’t break free from the terrifying, crushing weight of her leg.

He was pinned to the ground, entirely paralyzed by the sheer force of a single, slender girl.