"Serena, what the hell are you doing?!"
Graves' face turned a violent shade of purple. Furious, he pushed himself up from the sofa, entirely forgetting his shattered leg. "Are you out of your damn mind? Stop right now!"
Serena stood her ground, hands still in her pockets, projecting the aura of a sovereign. "We inspected the Sector F dormitories."
"I believe this competition is of the utmost importance to us contestants."
"This is a matter of national prestige. Therefore, I have unilaterally decided that my team will be requisitioning this house."
The sheer audacity of the statement hung in the air.
It was so staggeringly arrogant that the stunned members of The Board of Arbiters finally snapped out of their daze.
Were the contestants this year actually insane? Raiding the Chief Arbiter's private residence?
One of the arbitrators aggressively stepped forward, his voice booming. "You brats better pick up every single thing you just threw out and drag yourselves out of here!"
"What is wrong with you? This is the Chief Arbiter's private residence! Breaking in, destroying federal property—you are in severe violation of protocol!"
The massive men from The Board of Arbiters cracked their knuckles and stepped forward as a united front.
Six or seven heavily muscled veterans, all standing over six-foot-two, forming a wall of pure intimidation.
The oppressive atmosphere was suffocating. Caleb and the rest of the team instinctively shrank back, but they quickly gritted their teeth and forced themselves to step in front of Serena, trying to shield her with their scrawny frames.
Serena looked at her teammates, who looked like terrified chicks trying to protect a hawk from a pack of wolves.
She let out a soft, amused laugh and gently pushed them aside.
"Violation of protocol?"
She arched an eyebrow and took a slow, deliberate step forward, her long legs closing the distance between her and the wall of muscle.

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