"Phoebe." The Pope lowered his head, his eyes dim and unclear, "You are our best nun. In this battle with the witch, you must be prepared to play the role of a spiritual symbol. Don't let the people blindly believe in Jeon Bora. She has extraordinary power to deceive people. You must defeat her."

"Afterwards, I will allow you to go to the island."

"But I'm not an adult yet, can I go there?" Phoebe asked innocently, with a puzzled tone, "Aren't only adult nuns allowed to go to the Castle in the Sky?"

Looking at Phoebe's pure and beautiful appearance, the Pope smiled meaningfully: "There are exceptions."

"The last special queen left the island temporarily due to some matters, and there happened to be a vacant position for you. You must take over her job and continue to perform the duties of a nun on the island, purifying the impure desires of everyone who comes to the island. You seem to have the potential, so I will allow you to go to the island early."

Phoebe blinked and smiled: "Then I thank the Pope in advance?"

Not noticing Phoebe's questioning tone, the Pope nodded complacently, then waved his hand and said, "You go down first. I will tell the Bishop who is accompanying you about the details. Now I will discuss other matters with him first."

Phoebe saluted and stepped back.

After Phoebe left, the Pope's expression quickly darkened. "Has the male eel continued to produce more?"

"No." The bishop shook his head with a look of fear. "At first, the female eel we stole continued to produce female eels, but later, gradually, there were one or two male eels among ten thousand. We were very happy at first, because these male eels could mate with all the female eels, unlike before when there was only one male eel that could mate. This would speed up the production. At that time, we asked all the women to hand over the eels they could not digest, that is, male eels, to the Holy See, saying that we would deal with them, but in fact we released these male eels into waters everywhere."

"Soon, we ushered in the eel explosion period. At this time, the production rate of eels was actually out of control. Eels were everywhere. In some people, eels would come out when they turned on the tap. The Vatican originally wanted to stop the eel project, but because of this situation, the people at that time became more dependent on and trusted the Vatican for proposing the eel solution. Not only did they receive a large amount of eel bones every day after each household digested them, but the reputation and income were getting higher and higher. So the Pope at that time acquiesced to the continuation of the eel project."

The bishop swallowed his saliva and said, "But later on, when the first witch appeared, the Pope was also frightened. He really wanted to suspend the plan, but then Jeon Bora showed up."

"As soon as she appeared, she attracted the attention of all the people. She called on the people not to blindly let women swallow eels, but to find other ways, and was willing to come out and solve everyone's problems first. Soon she formed the Holy Maiden Patrol. At that time, the Holy Maiden Patrol was a spontaneous organization independent of the Holy See. It solved problems quickly. The leader, Jeon Bora, had a sharp and people-friendly attitude. Gradually, people were more willing to go to Jeon Bora to solve their problems than to the Holy See. The power of the Holy See gradually weakened. After Jeon Bora hinted twice that she wanted to take over her Holy Maiden Patrol but was rejected, the Pope at the time was angry and increased the release of male eels."

"Under these circumstances, witches began to appear in large numbers, and the Vatican launched a witch trial. However, Jeon Bora did not agree with this trial. She clearly opposed it and stood on the opposite side of the Vatican."

"But in the later period, there were more and more eels and witches, and the people who had been under the protection of the Saint Patrol finally lost control and turned to the Vatican. At this time, you seized the right opportunity and successfully tried Jeon Bora. After Jeon Bora was tried and defected, the country was finally completely under the control of the Vatican, and even the Saint Patrol was incorporated into the Vatican."

"We finally stopped Project Eel, but, but..."

The Pope added grimly, "But the production of male eels is completely out of control."

The bishop nodded with trembling eyes: "Yes! Now the male eels collected from all over the country to prepare for the witches' indigestion have been able to fill up the pool under the Sky City Prison, and this number is still rising continuously. We have no idea how many wild male eels there are in the wild..."

"This male eel is, but..." The bishop couldn't help but shudder and cried out in despair, "But it needs our intestinal fluid to dissolve, Your Holiness!"

"Shut up!" The Pope interrupted the bishop's scream fiercely, "Don't I know?! Otherwise, why would I hide these male eels on the Sky Island and separate them from the female eels?!"

The bishop shuddered at the shouting, paused for a moment, and then quickly whispered, "Why are there more and more male eels? Weren't all the eels produced before female?"

The Pope also fell into a strange silence.

Yes, weren't all the eels produced at the beginning female? How come male eels suddenly started to be produced in large numbers?

the other end.

The night was silent, everyone curled up on the ground and fell into a deep sleep. The full moon hung low in the sky, but was half blocked by a huge island.

Bai Liu was sitting on the top floor. He looked at the island and narrowed his eyes.

"You come up alone, are you planning to talk to Jiayi about something?" Tang Erda was not asleep yet. He and Bai Liu were used to keeping watch for others. The first night in the game was usually when they stayed up and others slept, so when he saw Bai Liu coming up, he followed him up too.

Tang Erda sat down next to Bai Liu and tilted his head to look at him: "You are still worried about Jiayi, right?"

After all, this was the first time I took on the authority of a tactician, and it was such a crucial game.

"No, she is more thoughtful and steady than me." Bai Liu shook his head. He looked up at the island and said calmly, "I'm thinking about something else."

"What's the matter?" Tang Er asked.

"Jiayi just told me that the witch told her that most of the polluted eels are female eels. The witch can't digest male eels, but male eels are rare." Bai Liu thought thoughtfully, "Any organism has a tendency to over-reproduce. In a species that has already over-reproduced, it is rare for females to outnumber males so much. Generally, there are more males than females."

"If a species' mission is to reproduce, then in the early stages, it will indeed produce a large number of females. But when the number of females reaches a certain number, the situation will be reversed, and the species will start to produce a large number of males. This is the only way to achieve the goal of over-reproduction."

Tang Erda was a little confused. He asked hesitantly, "You mean... there are still a lot of male eels that witches can't digest, right?"

"Well, this is my personal guess." Bai Liu paused, "Any monster has its corresponding weakness and way of destruction. This is the setting of this game. I was actually thinking that if the witch's digestive juices can't destroy male eels, then according to the symmetry setting of this game, the one who can digest male eels should be..."

Tang Erda said slowly: "Male digestive fluid."

Bai Liu smiled: "Bingo, that's what I thought. And I thought something even worse. I thought it might be intestinal fluid."

Tang Er felt a chill run down his spine. He looked at Bai Liu's wicked smile and helplessly rubbed his forehead: "I finally understand why you brought me here to say this to me. Mu Sicheng would be so scared that he would cover his butt and jump up when he heard your guess."

“Why do you guess it’s intestinal fluid?”

"Because if the liquid that men can digest eels is also saliva, then it is impossible that it has not been discovered under this circumstance." Bai Liu held his chin and said lazily, "Now the eels are so abundant that they need to smuggle women from abroad to solve the problem, but ordinary civilian families cannot afford the price of purchasing the services of witches in reserve, and because of large-scale witch trials, many families have no women left."

"In such extreme and desperate situations, some men will imitate the witches and swallow the eels in an attempt to digest them."

"Among the people we rescued downstairs, at least two had been treated this way. They had strange scratches on the corners of their mouths, and they were still fresh."

"If the hypothesis that male digestive juices can digest eels is true, then at least the upper digestive tract, which is easy for ordinary people to experiment, is unlikely, otherwise the situation of witches would not be so one-sided. Then I think the lower digestive tract, which is relatively more difficult to experiment or rarely thought of, is more likely."

“The intestines.”

"Jiayi and I have the same guess, but she currently doesn't have a suitable candidate for the experiment, so she can't come to the most accurate conclusion. In order to avoid being misled, she has not yet informed the witch of her conclusion." Bai Liu glanced at Tang Er, "So our mission tomorrow, in addition to saving the witch on trial, is another mission."

Bai Liu smiled and said, "——That is to capture a priest from the Vatican jury and use him as an experiment for Jiayi."

Tang Erda, who was sweating profusely, let out a long sigh: "That's no problem!"

He was scared to death! When Bai Liu glanced at him just now, he thought Bai Liu was going to say that since they were short of people, why don't you go over and do the experiment for Jiayi? It's not like this person can't do such a thing!

On the other side, the Papal Palace.

The smile on Phoebe's face disappeared in an instant as she walked out of the main hall, and turned into a bored expression. She walked quickly through the garden, and before arriving at the convent hall, she looked at the ladder to her right that led directly to the island, and her gaze paused silently.

The ladder was shrouded in a layer of silver-blue light. She had tried to climb it twice when she came here, but gained nothing except losing 17 points of blood - just like what the Pope said, without the key, no one could climb up.

But the Pope always holds the scepter, which serves as the key.

This Pope was able to lock Hearts in jail. He must have some special monster settings or buffs. Before she finds out, she'd better not act rashly.

But that doesn't mean she can't move.

"Qi Yifang, the bishop will give me a task later and let me be in charge of some witch trials. Remember, wherever he tells me to go, you and Liu Ji will apply to go to that court." Phoebe ordered Qi Yifang in a cold tone.

Qi Yifang asked doubtfully, "What are you going to do?"

Phoebe looked up at him, her green eyes were emotionless, but with a pure smile on her face. She clasped her hands together and prayed devoutly: "What else can I do? Of course, I will send the people in the court to hell."

"—Isn't this the essential job of a nun?"

Since the Pope cannot be attacked, she will start with the priests at the bottom and see at which level of the Vatican the monsters she can kill are.

Qi Yifang was frightened by Phoebe's laughter, but as a player with league qualities, when he knew that Phoebe had obtained the tactician's authority, he knew that there was only one word left for him to say to Phoebe, which was: "Okay."

"Tomorrow will be a tough battle, have a good rest tonight." Phoebe smiled and waved her hands, "Remember to pray before going to bed, so that the Lord will bless you to sleep well."

Qi Yifang: "...Okay, okay QAQ."

Woohoo, Queen, miss you!

Phoebe returned to the convent. She stood beside her clean white lace bed. The bed was sprinkled with silvery moonlight. She slowly raised her head and looked at the incredibly bright moon outside. The moonlight fell on her long golden curly hair, making it sparkle brightly. Her expression was indifferent and holy. Her emerald green eyes were like emeralds on a laurel wreath, with a layer of hazy halo. She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together on her chest and prayed.

She always prayed while standing, and she never knelt down to anyone. Even when she was praying, no one in the world could make her kneel down, not even God.

"May God bless them..." Phoebe started to say this, but suddenly stopped, and then she shrugged nonchalantly, "Of course you don't have to bless them, I will send them to hell with my own hands."

After she finished speaking, she lay down on the bed, with her head resting squarely in the center of the pillow. There was not a wrinkle on the quilt covering her. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest. This was a very proper way to sleep - this was the way her devout Christian mother taught her to sleep, just like praying.

These were things she once did not understand and found troublesome, but she has gotten used to them.

She has been noticed by her father since she can remember.

Her father looked at her incredulously, and in a rare move, he lifted her up to his knees among a group of boys, took the gun from her tightly grasped hand, and asked her: "Why did you point the gun at your brother? And you loaded the gun? Who taught you to do that?"

What did she say? Something like, "Kill him so I can get the bear he has. It's mine. I've warned him three times, and he still hasn't given it back to me."

"No one taught me, but I saw you use it."

Her father asked the creature who was her brother to return the bear to her, but he just cried and refused to give it back. He even used the bear to wipe his tears. So she grabbed the gun without hesitation and shot the bear in the boy's hand. The huge recoil of the gun dislocated her arm directly, and everyone stood up, including her father.

"What are you doing Phoebe?!" her father looked at her in surprise.

The stupid boy who had stolen her bear grabbed the remains of the bear puppet that was smashed to pieces by the gun, and sat on the ground in fear, peeing all over the floor. She looked at her father and laughed strangely: "He touched the bear, I don't want it anymore, but he can't have it either."

Her father looked into her eyes as if he had seen a monster or a genius. He asked her in amazement, "How do you feel now, Phoebe?"

Phoebe smiled and said, "I feel very happy."

——A pure driving force, the joy of threatening your opponent.

From then on, no one in the Sinchmani family dared to snatch what belonged to her. In order to give her the right to compete as a legitimate heir, her father married her biological mother, a woman of unknown origin, into the Sinchmani family.

The first time the woman saw her, she froze in place.

She stood beside her father, dressed up like a little boy, wearing little boy riding boots, a small jacket, and her blond hair cut only a few centimeters short and tucked into a hat. She only politely saluted her biological mother whom she had never met: "The Sinchmani family welcomes you, mother."

—She looks exactly like her father.

That night, her mother knelt at her bedside and prayed all night. She cried and said, "I'm sorry, I came too late. They turned you into this."

"You look exactly like your cold-blooded and cruel father..."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that to you." She placed her hand on her heart and prayed for her devoutly, "The Lord will protect us."

"Mom." Phoebe, who was lying on the bed, spoke coldly, "The Hinchmani family does not believe in gods. We only believe in ourselves. I respect your beliefs, but if you want to pray, you can go back to your room. If it is not enough, I will ask the servants to build a special prayer room for you. If possible, please go back and rest. I have a gun class tomorrow morning."

Her mother knelt beside her bed in silence for a long time, then left in a daze.

After taking her mother back, her life was briefly turbulent. Her mother was truly a very strange woman. She always had unrealistic expectations and wishes, tears and prayers that were incomprehensible, and a delusional yearning for freedom. She talked to herself all day long, saying that she hoped the Lord would destroy the dark family and allow her and her children to regain their freedom.

Many people around her told her that her mother was actually crazy.

But Phoebe doesn't think so. She thinks her mother should be a normal person, but in the Hinchmani family, normal people can't survive.

Just a normal person who is poor and helpless.

When her mother once again begged Phoebe with tears in her eyes to pray with her, Phoebe looked at her mother with her eyes downcast, and very rarely agreed to this thing that would waste her time training in martial arts and firearms.

"Only five minutes," she said calmly, "I can pray with you for five minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday."

Her mother cried with joy and said, "That's enough, that's enough for the child."

She was dressed in a nun's uniform, and when her mother asked her to kneel down and pray, Phoebe coldly refused. Her mother had no choice but to kneel down and pray beside her helplessly.

"Pray that my Phoebe can turn into a bird and escape from here to the free paradise."

Phoebe coldly chanted, "Pray that those idiots will shoot me to death during training today and go to hell."

Phoebe's mother: "..."

After her mother corrected Phoebe's prayers three or four times in vain, Phoebe finally fell in love with this bedtime prayer (?) activity of verbally hurling hell at others. Her mother, who she always thought was weak and incompetent and such a normal person in the Hinchmani family, actually tolerated her such a cursed praying behavior.

Isn't this a desecration of her devout faith? Why didn't he blame her for what she did, but instead just smiled helplessly with his face covered every time he heard her curse?

Finally, she asked. Her mother smiled at her and stroked her hair. “People’s unrealistic belief in gods is a way to escape from their own weakness and incompetence. You are right. Praying is indeed a very weak behavior. No matter how much I pray, I can’t take you away from the Sinchimani family. Under this premise, I can’t blame you because your view is right.”

She asked, “Then why do we need to pray?”

"I'm not praying to God," her mother answered softly, "I'm praying to my soul, to your soul. I'm trying to tell them that even if we have to be trapped here for the rest of our lives, we must have love and hope in our hearts. Whether it's you or me, we must keep our souls as they are, waiting for the day when we can turn into little birds and fly away from here."

"Even if that day is the day of death."

“It’s just a reminder.”

Her mother, dressed in a nun's uniform, knelt devoutly in front of her, closed her eyes and clasped her hands in the moonlight, whispering softly: "I hope my children Phoebe and I can one day get the freedom we want."

She looked at her mother's face, which was pious and almost holy in the moonlight, and for the first time she discovered that this woman possessed a power that she had always ignored.

——A power that is completely different from holding a gun. It is a sense of belief that cannot be destroyed by guns or external forces.

She believed in something, even if it would not come true. It was the first time that Phoebe saw such a strange belief - a weak, tender, yet indestructible belief. She dared to say that even if her father pointed a gun at her mother's head, she would not stop praying for it.

Phoebe had always been taught by her father that the weak could be broken, but at this moment she felt that no one in the Hinchmani family could break the mother she was praying for.

But she should be a weak person, but she is clearly a weak person.

Phoebe doesn't like weaklings.

But she extended her daily prayer time with her mother to fifteen minutes.

Gradually, she grew up, and her advantage among the heirs became more and more obvious. Her father's subordinates, who initially disapproved of her, began to praise her excellence, but they always followed it with "It's a pity that Phoebe is a girl."

Phoebe was almost annoyed by this sentence. She was completely indifferent to it.

But her father would always sigh: "Yes, it would be nice if she was a boy like Daniel."

Daniel is her father's other child, three years older than her. He is another heir that her father favors very much. He has a similar experience to her - he married Daniel's mother as his legal wife, and Daniel, like her, is very similar to their father.

This similarity can be said to be in personality or in appearance. They both have standard blond hair and blue eyes. When Phoebe cut her hair short and wore men's clothes, the two of them standing together looked like twins, with the same arrogance, indifference and strength.

Of course they never stand together.

Just like the offspring of lions will fight for the food they are fed before they even open their eyes, before they realize that they are siblings, they realize that the other party is a competitor.

"It's almost time to select the heir." Her father patted her on the shoulder. "Phoebe's grades have always been the best. Apart from her gender, she is the most suitable heir."

"I thought about it overnight. If she succeeds in the selection of heirs, then I can basically take over her identity. As for the troublesome issue of gender, I plan to let her dress as a man all the time."

"Always dressed as a man?" A subordinate joked, "What a cruel father! Phoebe hasn't grown yet. How are you going to let her pretend to be a man in the future?"

"What's the big deal?" Her father said casually, "Just bind her breasts. She won't grow any more."

"Phoebe is as cruel as a man, as strong as a man, the only shortcoming is that she is not really a man, but fortunately she is not weak at all, and she will not be unable to bear the pain of binding her breasts."

So that night, Phoebe was given a tight corset. Her mother was standing by and when she lifted the corset, her expression was completely dazed: "What is your father going to do?!"

"You're only ten years old and you're wearing such a tight bra! It will deform your chest!"

"Not today." Phoebe lay in the bed indifferently. She yawned, "I'll wear it when I start to grow."

"No!" Her mother was unusually serious. "You can't wear this! You are a child, you should develop as you should. No one can disrupt your normal growth process!"

"I don't have an obsession with breasts." Phoebe turned lazily and looked at her mother lying on the bed. "It's just an organ. The size doesn't matter. If you have to bind your breasts to win the position of heir, then do it."

"That's not the problem!" her mother retorted sternly, "The problem is that you can win without a bra! Why do you want to wear one?"

"Can you win without a bra?" Phoebe asked in confusion, "My subordinates said that big breasts will keep shaking and affect the speed of drawing the gun, isn't that right?"

"Go to hell, you stupid dogs!" Her mother cursed in front of her for the first time in her life. She explained to Phoebe seriously, "Did anyone tell you that a big penis will affect a man's running speed?"

Phoebe thought about it and stroked her chin. "That's not the case."

Daniel must have grown up, right? He didn't get his crotch stuck when he was running fast.

Her mother asked, "Why does breast size affect the speed of the gun?"

"Why not let tools adapt to the organs that humans already have, and let the organs adapt to the tools invented by humans? Humans can invent different underwear for different genders, so why can't they invent different guns?"

Phoebe paused, looking at her mother who suddenly became furious, and said subtly: "Calm down."

"But my father won't be satisfied if I don't wear this corset." Phoebe said calmly, "He's not dead yet. At least I can't disobey him openly. Of course, let alone you."

Her mother quickly collapsed and looked at Phoebe with tears in her eyes.

After a while, her eyes lit up: "I can modify this corset for you so that you can wear it without being squeezed."

"Would you like to try it on?" Her mother nervously handed it to her after altering it. "Does it still fit?"

Phoebe took the bra, which looked like it hadn't been altered much, paused for a moment, and then put it on: "It's not tight anymore."

She couldn't even breathe when she put it on before, but now she has space to breathe.

Watching her mother stay up late beside her to mend and sew her bra, Phoebe felt...very strange.

She actually didn't care much about it. In her opinion, the inability to develop breasts was really insignificant. Her seemingly gentle and weak mother would get so angry about such a trivial matter, and then try her best to modify her clothes just to give her some time to breathe.

With her strength as a weak person, she could only be given such a small space in the Sinchimani family.

Her mother let out a sigh: "That's good."

Phoebe looked at her and wanted to tell her that it was meaningless for the weak to struggle for such a small gap in the Hinchmanee family, but when she saw her mother kneeling down to pray again, she swallowed the words back.

Her mother knelt at the head of her bed and prayed devoutly: "I hope my child and I can grow up and die freely."

After her mother finished praying and left, Phoebe looked at the moon outside the skylight and wondered, what is freedom?

Phoebe reached out and touched the bra under the pillow. It was loosened a little so that she could continue to grow normally. She stroked the fine stitching on it and thought - is this freedom?

What a fragile freedom.

Soon, the heir training was coming. After all the children learned the content of tomorrow's training, they squatted on the spot and cried loudly. The only ones who could keep their composure and say goodbye to their father and leave were her and Daniel.

But she saw Daniel's hand twisting twice as he opened the door, his hands shaking violently, and his apple-green eyes filled with emptiness and gloom - the servant who was about to lift the apple was left to him by his mother, and was one of his most loyal servants and playmates.

Finally, she reached out and helped Daniel open the door.

As she was leaving, she could still hear her father complaining behind her: "These kids are too spoiled. We should end their close relationship sooner rather than later."

"They may be betrayed at any time in the future. If they don't even have the courage to shoot someone close to them, how can they inherit the Sinchimani family?"

The subordinate next to him exclaimed: "Yes, when you found out that your wife had betrayed you, you killed her without any hesitation. You can say that you were very swift and decisive."

"My heir should also have this kind of demeanor." Her father replied lazily, with regret in his voice, "Daniel looks cold-hearted, but he is actually very grateful. In this respect, he is not as good as Phoebe. After I killed his mother, he quarreled with me for a long time."

"I hope he won't let me down again this time and will be as courageous as Phoebe to draw his gun and point it at his mother tomorrow."

Daniel, who was walking in front, paused for a moment. Phoebe clearly saw his fists clenched, and then he left.

Phoebe turned around and went back to her room indifferently. This time she opened the door twice before she finally opened it. It was not because her hands were shaking, but because her palms were sweaty. Phoebe couldn't figure out why they were sweaty. She knew that she was not a person whose hands sweated easily, otherwise she would not be able to hold the gun.

But why?

"You're back." Her mother opened the door and asked carefully and worriedly, "You look so unhappy. What is the content of the succession trial?"

Phoebe looked her in the eyes, and the sweaty feeling in her palms came back. She took a deep breath and told her everything.

But to Phoebe's surprise, her mother was very calm about this. She said: "You have the freedom and ability to fight for the heir. If you want to shoot me, then shoot me."

"No matter what aspect, you are the best child I have ever seen. I believe you will not miss the target."

Phoebe sat on the edge of the bed. Her hands were shaking. "What if I miss?"

"Then I might die." Her mother's voice was as calm as a lake without wind under the moon. She even smiled gracefully when she said this. "But dying in your hands is better than dying in the hands of other members of the Sinchmani family, right?"

"You will see my soul transform into a bird and fly away from here."

"Mom," Phoebe interrupted coldly, "I don't believe in fairy tales."

Her mother sighed regretfully, "Okay."

When praying that night, her mother prayed the same things as always. She rarely stood up, but sat up at the head of the bed, looked at the moon outside the window, closed her eyes, and for the first time truly prayed in her heart:

"God... I hope you can protect me from missing the target tomorrow."

"Of course it doesn't matter if you don't bless me." Phoebe opened her eyes and looked at her mother's face, who was still praying with her eyes closed. Her eyes were sharp and she took a deep breath. "I will definitely not miss."

The next day.

After everyone fired the first shot, the whole place was in chaos. Phoebe's mother half-crouched down, as if she had been shot. Her mind went blank for a moment - she knew clearly that she had hit the apple, so why did she fall down?

Soon, someone came up to report: "A bullet from another child flew over, passed through our vertical barrier, and grazed the lady's arm."

"Do you want to stop for a while?" His father asked her gently, "I'll let her change her position and continue to push the apple."

Her expression was extremely grim, but her chest was heaving violently in the bra - she was grateful for the small space that allowed her to breathe normally in this situation, otherwise she would have suffocated to death due to lack of oxygen.

"For a moment..." She was about to put down the gun and speak when she saw her mother's mouth shape through the scope.

Her mother was half-kneeling on the ground, in a praying posture, with an apple on her head. She looked at her, with tears in her eyes but no fear at all, and said - [Shoot.]

[You will win, you can win, you are a genius. ]

【You won’t miss. 】

"No pause," Phoebe said calmly. "Hold Mom where she is and keep changing the apples. It will be over soon."

She pulled the trigger.

——Just like her previous performance, she didn’t miss a single shot out of ten.

Her father looked at her in awe, as if she were a leader in the making, and sighed, "You're as perfect as a boy, Phoebe."

"That's not a compliment, father." Phoebe put down the gun with a cold expression. She shook her numb hands and looked around. "I am much better than those other boys you mentioned."