"Did I just hear so explosive news?"
Uh.
Nora Scott touched her nose.
"Trending on hot searches?"
"A hundred books?"
"Zero is a woman?"
With each question, Laura Collins took a step inside, her expression growing colder, with a sort of "If I’m going down, I’m taking you with " vibe.
"Ahem," Nora put down her spoon, straightened her jacket, then turned sideways, straightening up, and said with feigned seriousness, "Yes, I am the Zero you worship as a deity."
"..."
Laura was stunned, dumbfounded, shocked.
Speculation was one thing, receiving confirmation was another.
Laura wished a bolt of lightning would strike her dead on the spot.
Following her was Marcus Shaw, who wasn’t as surprised; hearing the news, he had a brief mont of "I knew it" expression, and then nothing more.
Back when that crybaby visited and got upset by Nora, Marcus had vaguely guessed it. But since he wasn’t interested in manga, whether Nora was Zero or not didn’t matter, so he didn’t take it to heart or ask Nora for proof.
After a mont of pause, Laura stared at Nora and asked, "Why didn’t you tell earlier?"
Nora replied frankly, "Afraid you couldn’t handle reality."
She had wanted to confess to Laura, but the Zero in Laura’s heart was so different from Nora, and Nora was reluctant to shatter her beautiful illusion.
"..."
Alright, she really couldn’t accept it.
If it weren’t for the prior buffer of hearing "Zero is a girl," Laura feared she couldn’t converse with her normally at this point.
Damn!
The elder she worshipped was actually a friend beside her?
No wonder...
Zero would recomnd "Eternal Sleep";
Nora liked manga but was indifferent to Zero;
And during the Zero and UU incident, Nora remained calm as if she knew the outco...
Shocked, excited, thrilled, angry—so many emotions that Laura couldn’t decipher which was dominant, rendering her mood inexplicable.
Laura took a deep breath and gritted her teeth, "Do you know I just announced my hermit phase was over?"
"I know."
"Now I’m going back to being a hermit."
"During the New Year..."
Nora planned to console her a bit.
However, before she could finish, Laura interrupted irritably, "During the New Year, can’t you just let relax?"
"Hmm," Nora thought for a mont, then raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "Want to sign an autograph for you?"
"..."
Laura glared, silent.
After a brief pause, she spoke slowly, "A complete set! I want them all! Autographed! No, it needs to be a personalized To signature!"
"I want one too."
Marcus, who had been putting the ingredients back in the kitchen, suddenly appeared at the kitchen door, joining in.
Nora glanced back with confusion, "Why are you stirring things up?"
"..."
Marcus didn’t answer.
He couldn’t admit to Nora that Oliver Scott had a set, and he couldn’t fall behind.
At this mont, Pedro Langley spoke unhurriedly, "She has books in her bedroom; let her finish the porridge first."
Nora shot Pedro a cold look.
Pedro curled his lips into a smile, not taking it too seriously.
*
From Nora’s place, two sets of books were taken unexpectedly.
Online discussions about Zero continued to escalate.
Netizens were almost on their knees.
[Isn’t Zero too high-profile, promoting "Little White Dove" on the military program?]
[Knows female peacekeeping officers, hmmm, there’s been wave after wave of Zero’s news, my insides remain unruffled.]
[A rogue in civilian guise is not enough, finally moving up to the official level? Pleading for the officials to intervene and directly expose their alias.]
[Hahaha. Given this trend, Zero’s next news might be global.]
...
Even though Zero has long occupied the netizens’ attention these past two months, the news about Zero remains fresh and amusing, so the spectators are not bored at all.
Naturally, Zero’s popularity exploded again, with eight out of ten latest forum posts related to him.
There were guesses about Zero’s relationship with the female officer, questions about how Zero transported the books, speculations about Zero’s identity and profession...
In general, this person’s existence is a mystery, and probing from any angle provokes boundless discussions among the endlessly imaginative netizens.
And—
Due to the explosive news on the military channel, Oliver Scott, who originally abandoned all entertainnt to focus on his studies, couldn’t avoid seeing this news amid the bombardnt of diverse information.
Because of the Zero and UU incident, Sophie Scott’s reputation was ruined; she couldn’t attend school or leave the house, and she often faced criticism and reproach from Alma Ferreira, making her situation truly pitiful. Hence, Oliver tried not to pay attention to Zero’s affairs.
But, this intriguing news made him itch for so action, so after pondering briefly, he forwarded the news link to Marcus.
[Oliver Scott]: [Link]
[Oliver Scott]: Did you see the news about God Z on the military channel?
A few minutes later, Marcus Shaw replied.
[Marcus Shaw]: Yeah, I saw it.
[Marcus Shaw]: I even got a set of books.
?
What books?
Oliver Scott was startled and wanted to ask but suddenly saw Marcus Shaw send a picture.
He was taken aback, clicked to open it, and it was a complete set of the Zero comic series with Zero’s autograph on the open title page...
[Oliver Scott]: How did you get it?
[Oliver Scott]: Do you know who he is?
...
No response.
[Oliver Scott]: Hey!
[Oliver Scott]: [Harass] × 100
[Oliver Scott]: [Harass] × 100
...
Half a minute later, Marcus Shaw successfully blocked Oliver Scott, who, in a panic, called him, but... the phone was off!
This bastard was deliberately teasing him!
Grinding his teeth, Oliver Scott threw his phone to the side. Looking at the books on his desk, he suddenly felt uninterested.
"..."
Ahhh!
What’s going on?
Oliver Scott wanted to rush to the alley to find Marcus Shaw and ask the truth, but, being strictly required by Alma Ferreira to stay ho and study, he was helpless, with no way out.
Unable to calm down, Oliver Scott was restless for a while, exhaled, stood up, picked up the water cup on the desk, and planned to go to the living room to get so water.
Scratching his hair, Oliver Scott depressedly opened the door.
The sound drifting from the living room suddenly stopped him in his tracks.
In the living room.
"How long do you plan to live like you’re half dead?" Alma Ferreira’s voice was clearly filled with anger.
Sophie sat on the sofa with her brows lowered, silent.
"Things have co to this point, being negative won’t help. Stop drawing comics, pretend this never happened, and after the winter break, not many people will rember this incident."
"But I..."
Sophie bit her lip, wanting to say sothing but holding back.
As ti passes, things that happen do get forgotten, but since they existed, even a slight trigger will revive mories.
Although online discussions about her and Zero were declining, in friend groups, class groups, family groups, and comic groups, as soon as soone ntioned her na, they would imdiately think of the plagiarism incident.
This incident was like a pillar of sha, firmly nailing her to it, becoming a dark history she couldn’t erase.
Alma Ferreira frowned and scolded her, "What’s the matter, just because of this one thing, you’re not living your life?"
"..."
Sophie reluctantly pressed her lips.
She didn’t want to be like this either...
It’s just that, once a favored daughter of heaven, now she couldn’t lift her head in front of people because of this incident. Every ti she thought about it, she couldn’t accept it, suffocating in anguish.
"You need to think clearly, your father has persuaded your grandfather to announce Nora Scott’s identity on your grandfather’s birthday. From then on, Nora will be the legitimate eldest daughter of the Scott family, and you—"
With every word Alma Ferreira spoke, it pierced Sophie, and after pausing her words, she took a deep breath and suddenly softened her tone, "Sophie, are you willing?"
"I..."
Unwilling.
Of course, unwilling.
What virtue and ability does Nora Scott have to be able to step over her and beco the eldest daughter of the Scott family?
Clearly nothing!
A breath of resentnt stuck in her chest, Sophie suddenly lifted her eyes, and with a sense of powerlessness and frustration, asked softly, "But what can I do?"
"You’re already better than her, she can’t compare to you. She relies on your father’s favor."
"About Dad..." Sophie murmured, "I’ve tried my best."
Alma Ferreira’s eyes flashed with a grim glint and suddenly asked, "Don’t you like Henry Chapman?"
Sophie’s heart moved.
Just the two words "Henry Chapman" were enough to pull at her heart.
"I t Henry Chapman and his mother at a party a few days ago, and I invited them to visit the Scott family after the New Year, and they agreed." Alma Ferreira sat beside Sophie, holding her hand, lightly patting it, and solemnly advised, "Sophie, you need to seize this opportunity."
A glint of light flashed in Sophie’s eyes.
Alma Ferreira continued to gently guide her, "You need to pull yourself together. As long as you can smoothly be with Henry Chapman, with the Chapman Family supporting you, neither your father nor the entire Scott family can do anything to you. In your generation, no one will be more prestigious than you."
"Hmm."
Sophie took a deep breath, nodding heavily.
Henry Chapman...
She didn’t ask for backing, nor prestige.
As long as it was this person, she was willing to do anything.
...
At the study door.
Listening quietly to everything, Oliver Scott hesitated for a mont, ultimately not going to the living room but instead drooping his eyes and turning back to the study with his empty water cup.
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