Chapter 278

Aria Bennett didn’t hold back in praising Ronan Caldwell’s performance, and the others nodded in agreement.

A faint smile appeared on Ronan’s handsome face. "Getting praised by you, Aria, is sweeter than honey."

He knew full well that Aria’s skills far surpassed his own.

When he was cracking the code earlier, he had appeared calm and composed, but his palms were sweating.

Thankfully, Aria had subtly given him a crucial hint during her explanation.

Otherwise, it would have taken him at least two more hours to solve it.

Aria’s eyes curved into crescents. "So my praise is that effective? I’ll have to compliment you more often then."

Miles Sutton immediately leaned in. "Hey, we need praise too!"

"Yeah, yeah, we’ve got our strong points too," Ezra Vaughn and Declan Ross chimed in, not wanting to be left out.

Aria agreed readily. "Fine, I’ll make sure to point out your good sides from now on."

Compliments were free, after all.

She pointed at the metal box. "Now hurry up and see what’s inside."

Only then did the group remember their main objective and crowded around. "Right, right—let’s check the clue."

Ronan opened the box, and a beam of light projected into the air.

A virtual panel materialized midair, text appearing line by line.

Aria reacted instantly, pulling out her phone to start recording.

The others: "..." That move was downright brilliant.

Their first instinct had been to activate their watches’ audio recording function.

Who would’ve guessed the clue would be displayed as text this time?

Their watches could only record sound, not video—leaving them staring helplessly.

Aria’s reflexes were just unreal.

Miles lowered his voice. "Where did you even get a phone?"

Aria replied casually, "Found it on the street earlier. Figured even without a signal, other functions might come in handy."

"And it did." She had a habit of collecting anything potentially useful.

Miles and the others exchanged glances before giving her a thumbs-up. "Aria, you never disappoint."

"This clue’s gonna sell for good money," they muttered excitedly, rubbing their hands together.

Aria blinked. "Keep it to yourselves."

They immediately mimed zipping their lips. "Got it!"

[LMAO Aria’s move was next-level]

[The others were completely caught off guard—who would’ve thought a phone could be used like that?]

[I wondered why she picked it up earlier—she was playing 4D chess]

[Organizers: We’ve been outsmarted]

[Aria’s on a mission to break the game at this point]

The live chat was in stitches, a stark contrast to the streams from other countries, which were flooded with complaints.

Back home, the higher-ups watching the broadcast were thoroughly pleased with Aria’s performance.

Once the panel vanished, Ronan summarized, "The clue says the apocalypse was man-made."

"Someone deliberately released the zombie virus and triggered mutations in plants and animals."

"Our mission is to find that person and retrieve either the virus formula or an antidote."

"The catch? This is a prerequisite for the main quest."

"If we fail this, all our previous points become void."

Ezra frowned. "That’s way too difficult."

Miles sighed. "Finding the mastermind among so many people? Like finding a needle in a haystack."

Declan groaned. "The organizers are ruthless—this is insane."

Ronan mused, "The real problem is we have no other leads."

Miles wailed, "How are we supposed to finish this in a month?"

Ezra gave a bitter laugh. "Is this even playable?"

But Aria was practically glowing with excitement. "That’s what makes it fun. Too easy would be boring."

"If anyone could do it, why call it Hell Mode?"

It had been ages since she’d faced a challenge this thrilling.

Miles and the others: "..." They felt personally attacked.

Miles couldn’t help saying, "Aria, if other teams heard that, they’d want to punch you."

Declan added, "Seriously, don’t say that in front of them—it’s instant hate magnet."

If Aria weren’t so pretty, even they might’ve been tempted to throw hands.

Not that they were actually dumb—they just paled in comparison to these two.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Sounds like you’re talking about yourselves."

Miles quickly waved his hands. "No way, you’re our treasure."

The others hurried to agree. "Yeah, yeah, we’re always on your side."

The last thing they wanted was to get wrecked by Aria before the real challenge even began.