Jack wasn't so amused.
His chair scraped loudly against the floor as he leaned forward. "Better than you expected?" he snapped, voice rising. "You're telling me you walked into this meeting without even checking the standings? We've got real-time access for a reason!"
That earned a few sharp nods from around the table.
It wasn't an exaggeration. Every awakened here wore an Association-issued bracelet artifact, a sleek band etched with runes that could pull up live rankings, team performance breakdowns, and sector reports with a click. Most of them had checked it obsessively between fights, between breaks, sometimes even mid-operation.
Kaiden tilted his head slightly but did not answer.
A ripple of irritation spread through the room. A few faces hardened outright. To them, he looked far too careless. Arrogant, even. Like he hadn't taken the competition seriously enough to bother keeping score.
Kaiden noticed the looks he was getting. Of course he did.
