The canteen erupted in an even louder roar of laughter.

"Hahaha! Her whole team walked out on her!"

"Great job leading the team, Miss Doyle!"

"The Dreamscape Initiative? More like a nightmare. You might as well just disband right now."

An avalanche of mockery crashed over Bianca.

Everyone looked at her with pure disdain, treating her like an absolute clown.

Isabella Lancaster sat beside her, her head bowed so low she didn't dare make a sound.

The remaining teammate curled into himself, looking like he wanted to sink into the floorboards.

Bianca was left standing alone, forced to bear the full weight of their ridicule.

Humiliating.

It was utterly humiliating.

Bianca's eyes turned bloodshot. She whipped her head around and glared viciously at Serena. "Serena Lancaster, this is all your fault! You drove a wedge between us!"

"You're a manipulative snake! You turned them against me, didn't you? I'm going to report you to the officials!"

Serena sat calmly in her seat, never having spared Bianca a single glance.

She continued to eat her lunch slowly, treating the entire dramatic spectacle as if it were incredibly boring.

Hearing Bianca's screeching, Serena leisurely set down her silverware, picked up a napkin to dab her mouth, and spoke in a cool, flat tone. "Report me?"

"You really should."

"But if I were you, I wouldn't waste my energy throwing a tantrum here."

"Do you even realize the magnitude of the mess you're in right now?"

Serena's lips curled into a mocking smirk. "That batch of garbage you forced into the labs yesterday crippled the entire island's power grid. This is a massive international incident that completely derailed a global tournament."

"Instead of yelling at me, you'd better start figuring out how you're going to pay the astronomical restitution and deal with the incoming penalties."

Bianca's face drained of color, her heart skipping a violent beat.

But she stubbornly held her ground. "I... I am the heiress of the Doyle family! I won't face any penalties!"

"Don't think you can turn me into a joke! Just you wait!"

She threw out the threat with manufactured arrogance.

But the moment she turned and scrambled out of the canteen, she looked exactly like a stray dog fleeing for its life.

Unable to withstand the mocking stares any longer, Isabella and the last teammate also bolted from the room.

The canteen broke into laughter once more.

Lydia Brooks was absolutely thrilled, laughing until her sides hurt. She turned to Serena Captain wh kind of penalty do you think she's going to get?"

Serena smirked.

After causing a disaster of this scale, the Doyle family couldn't protect her.

Whether they would even want to try was another question entirely.

Serena didn't have to lift a finger.

Bianca had just single-handedly ruined her own life.

The competitors didn't waste any more time thinking about the drama.

From the very beginning, none of them had ever viewed The Dreamscape Initiative as actual rivals.

After finishing their meals and resting briefly, they headed straight back to the labs. The quiet focus of the island was finally broken around dinnertime by the roar of heavy engines.

Several competitors poked their heads out to see what was happening.

A military defense vessel with restricted access plates had just docked at the pier.

Official Barrett and several other arbiters were already waiting nervously by the water.

A group of men in sharp, dark blue uniforms with gleaming shoulder epaulets marched off the boat. The lethal commanding aura Surrounding them made it instantly clear who they were.

They were high-ranking security regulators.

Judging by how Chief Arbiter Howard Graves was bowing and scraping before them-his back practically bent at a ninety-degree angle they authority vastly. outranked anyone on The Board of Arbiters.

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Whatever Graves was trying to say was ignored.

The security officials forcefully shoved him aside, bypassed the pleasantries, and

marched straight toward the core research zone.

Without a moment's hesitation, they ordered their men to completely surround The Board of Arbiters' dormitory block.