Thora's POV: The message was from Harvey. "There's a match at the underground fight club in three days. Are you coming?" Ever since I'd helped Harvey and his crew out of that jam, their group's attitude toward me had obviously improved, and at a strangely rapid pace, we'd become something like buddies. The moment something was happening at the underground fight club, Harvey immediately let me know. I'd been eager to check out that unregulated underground world for a while now. I'd just sent a brief confirmation when Felix's dissatisfied voice cut through the silence. "Thora, I'm still right here, you know." I looked up. "Do you still have something else you need?"Felix rubbed his nose. "Have you gotten your outfit ready for tomorrow night's banquet?" "Why would I need to prepare an outfit? It's just dinner. How formal does it need to be?" He seemed reluctant to leave, looking around for something to talk about. Suddenly, his expression turned serious. "Thora, do you remember Mom?" Seeing his sudden change in demeanor, I asked, "What are you trying to say?" Felix's face grew somewhat grave. He hesitated before speaking. "One day when you weren't home, I'd just gotten out of the shower and was passing by Laurel's room. Her door wasn't closed. I saw her on the phone, and I vaguely heard our mother's name—Diane Talon." After hearing Felix's words, I fell into thought. Laurel wouldn't bring up Diane for no reason. In the original Thora's memories, she'd never voluntarily mentioned that name. Unless there was something fishy going on. But both the original Thora and Felix's memories of their mother only came from photographs. When Felix was just two months old, Diane was gone. The story was that she'd been killed by rampaging Rogues while out. And Laurel had walked through the Greens' doors just three months after Diane's death. I looked toward the door, my brow arching. Looked like things were far more complicated than I'd thought. "Got it. I'll look into this. From now on, don't mention this to anyone at home," I warned seriously. "Okay?" Felix kept pestering me with random chatter for a while longer. Finally, after I promised to play games with him, he reluctantly left.After he left, I didn't immediately log into the game. Instead, I opened my computer to add one final firewall to the encryption system I'd coded. Once that was done, I sent it to Luke. This system incorporated encryption logic from the apocalypse. It wouldn't be easy for him to crack. I smiled, waiting for his response. My first power base was going to start from here. ... Darius's POV: At the Skybound Group Tower. I sat in my office, my fingertip touching the sensor. The blue 3D screen in the air immediately rotated, and the latest special operations combat equipment instantly deconstructed itself. From alloy armor parameters to energy weapon compatibility modules, multiple pages of detailed specifications unfolded clearly. Ever since my meeting with Hugo, my recent work focus had been on overseeing the development of specialized equipment for this unit. But the more I progressed, the more obvious one discrepancy became. Besides requiring all combat gear to be highly matched to team members' wolf spirit ranks and combat styles, the contract had two additional abnormal requirements. It had to withstand radiation levels exceeding 1,000 Sieverts and shield against chaotic lunar energy fluctuations. Standard special operations missions had absolutely no need for this level of protection. My fingertip paused on the "Lunar Energy Shielding" parameter field on the screen, and I suddenly recalled the laboratory's monitoring records. A month ago, the same day I first encountered Thora on that racing mountain road, abnormal energy fluctuations had suddenly appeared above the Astralis Empire's air. Though the fluctuation's intensity had weakened subsequently, it had never completely disappeared. It hung there like a lingering concern. Hugo had only said this unit reports directly to the Lycan King, but hadn't mentioned a word about their mission objective. Combining these abnormal equipment requirements with those undissipated energy fluctuations, a suspicion gradually surfaced in my mind. "Alpha." Just then, my Beta, Carl, came over with a white invitation and a guest list to report. "Tomorrow there will be an Alliance Pack banquet at the Navarro Hotel. This is the invitation the hosts sent over, and the attached page is the list of attending packs." "I'm not going." "Understood."Carl had just turned to leave when my eyes scanning the list suddenly froze. Next to the Silverleaf Pack's emblem, it clearly noted "all members of the Greens." "Wait!" I called him back. "The Greens will be attending?" Carl nodded. "Yes. As Silverleaf Pack is one of Starlance City's core packs, all members of the Greens will be there. The family members from other core packs and representatives from Starlance City's top 10 packs will also attend." Thora's face immediately flashed through my mind, and I thought of the agreement I'd recently reached with Marlon. It needed a public setting to be announced anyway. Tomorrow's Alliance Pack banquet would be the perfect opportunity to make it official. Imagining Thora's possible reaction, I couldn't help but smile. "Get ready. You're coming with me to the Navarro Hotel tomorrow." "Yes, Alpha."