Chapter 233: Chapter 233

In front of Penson’s dazzling high-tech, what they call advanced technology is nothing but child’s play. It’s laughable that they even dared to challenge us?

There’s no need for the host to announce the result anymore, they know it full well—they lost.

They lost without a shred of dignity left, and Paige Sterling completely crushed them.

The team’s leader sighed, stood up, and walked to the microphone, saying, "I apologize for my previous remarks. It was my short-sightedness, stuck in a bubble, with impressions of Veridia that linger decades behind, leading to misunderstandings. During this visit to Veridia, I’ve witnessed the growth and development of the country. I’m happy that your nation possesses such talent; surely, you are as well..."

It was a subtle way of admitting their own inferiority.

The audience erupted in cheers.

Just when they thought Paige Sterling had reached her peak, she brought yet another pinnacle, constantly surprising them. Naturally, they were proud and grateful to have such talent in their country.

After the competition ended, those who watched the battle eagerly expressed their thoughts online. At that moment, not just Veridia, but the whole world was discussing Veridian mecha, with scenes akin to movie special effects, leaving countless people in awe.

Without Veridian mecha, the foreign team’s mecha indeed would have garnered much attention. After all, at the current level of technology, achieving such mecha is already remarkable. However, compared to Veridia’s, their team’s work seemed like child’s play.

Those high school students showcasing the mecha also became internet celebrities, dubbed as lucky individuals by netizens.

Imagine being chosen by Paige Sterling in their lifetime, becoming the first batch to test the mecha. This experience is something they could boast about for a lifetime.

With the emergence of the mecha, Paige Sterling’s status not only garnered national attention but also caught the eye of foreign powers.

Having one Paige Sterling equates to having technology decades, if not hundreds of years, more advanced than other countries. How could it not be enviable?

So, at this time, various nations discreetly offered Paige Sterling olive branches, tempting her to immigrate to their countries with increasingly generous offers.

Paige Sterling naturally refused.

This matter was discussed online by netizens for a while.

"Hahaha, my God Sterling is so patriotic; how could she immigrate? And you want to poach her? Dream on..."

The key point is that domestically, Paige Sterling isn’t treated poorly at all. She has no reason to bear the stigma of immigration.

But some people are persistent, using all sorts of schemes, only to realize that against someone with steadfast determination, no method worked, so they just had to give up.

Meanwhile, within the country, Paige Sterling became busier with her university lectures, as the university specifically established an independent college and program for her, appointing her as the... dean.

Many courses she could let her research staff teach, but some courses required her presence.

As a result, she seemed even busier, spending most of her time either in the lab or at the university.

She felt guilty towards Mr. Hawthorne for this, not knowing when he started frequently appearing in her classrooms.

As long as she taught, Mr. Hawthorne’s presence was guaranteed.

Everyone knew that she and Julian Hawthorne were a couple now, with Julian’s constant closeness being pointed out as secretly displaying affection.

Mr. Hawthorne’s willingness to sacrifice his own time to accompany her work touched Paige greatly.

She felt that in a relationship, she couldn’t always let Mr. Hawthorne accommodate her, and she should also accommodate him in some respects.

With the current level of technological development, what she could research was already quite limited. Many things she could teach others, so more people could discover and research together...

So Paige Sterling freed up quite a bit of time in the lab, allowing more time to be spent with Mr. Hawthorne.

Julian Hawthorne noticed every change Paige made for him.

He wanted to say that she didn’t need to change anything for him.

Yet, he couldn’t help but feel secretly pleased about the changes she made for him.

After the mecha competition, Burt Chambers seemed to have completely become Paige Sterling’s biggest fan. As more people admired Paige, he felt a crisis about his position as her number one follower, always feeling as if there were rebellious individuals trying to usurp his place, keeping him on high alert.

Some even came to bribe Burt Chambers, trying to get him to introduce them to Paige to become her followers.

His face showed a big "Ha," as if saying, "You want me to introduce you so you can take my place? Dream on!"

But things weren’t as pleasant for Skylar Hughes.

She had painstakingly secured a project proposal that was decent enough to garner a company’s interest, awaiting the moment to rely on this project to rise and prove she had more capability and foresight than Paige Sterling.

In the end, her project did make money, making her quite happy, and she even planned a celebration, hiring online trolls to hype her dual talent and beauty persona. But, her moment was easily overshadowed by Paige Sterling’s mecha team.

Their spotlight was so strong it felt like a level eight typhoon had passed through, with almost no room left on the trending topics for anyone else, outshining even entertainment industry stars, let alone Skylar Hughes.

One could imagine how foul Skylar’s mood was.

As soon as she opened her phone, she was nearly overwhelmed with articles and news praising Paige Sterling—such as how she brought glory to the country, how she’s a goddess of the era.

She wondered whether Paige even deserved those titles.

The higher Paige stood, the more glorious she appeared, the more Skylar resented her.

Especially considering... Paige was with Julian Hawthorne!

She had already warned Paige that Julian was the man she fancied, but Paige still took Julian away.

Everything that was hers, Paige took away, completely disregarding any sisterly affection.

Since it was , why should she be courteous to Paige?

Even though she knew deep inside that the gap between her and Paige had long since widened, she might not even qualify to compete with her.

But how can one know without trying?

As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the harder the fall, right?

Even if she couldn’t reach Paige’s height, she would fight tooth and nail to drag her down!

And achieving this wasn’t too hard, as long as she was willing to bear the cost.

Skylar Hughes didn’t have many cards to play against Paige Sterling, with Yvette Hughes being one of them—after all, Yvette was Paige’s stepmother. With some manipulation, she could bring Paige to ruin.

Even if it meant hurting Yvette, she wouldn’t hesitate, for Yvette never treated her as a biological daughter.

But this was her last resort, only to be used when absolutely necessary, and she wouldn’t exploit this unless it came to the crunch.

So, for now, Skylar could only use some online public opinion to defame Paige.

Just that she wouldn’t personally step out to be the focal point.

Paige knew of a researcher, who was somewhat famous online, who couldn’t stand her, frequently expressing opinions against her. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝔫𝔢𝔱

He thought Paige was too young and restless, needing better honing, and shouldn’t be so high-profile.

He also believed Paige linked her technological work to earning money, even profiting from the state, corrupting the purity of science, and was unworthy of being called a scientist...

In short, there were many things he couldn’t stand about Paige, and he voiced them boldly each time.

But the outcome of voicing them was always getting berated by netizens.

Using her alternate account, Skylar Hughes sent him a private message.