The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Nova’s lips curved into a subtle smile. “That’s truly impressive,” she said, her tone carrying genuine admiration.

The muscular man standing nearby—who hardly resembled a typical student—looked up at Felix with clear reverence. It was obvious he idolized him deeply.

When he overheard Nova praising Felix, his face lit up with pride, and he gave a confident thumbs-up. “You’ve got great taste! Felix really is incredible, isn’t he? Have you thought about joining our team?”

This was exactly why Felix had sought Nova out and spoken so openly with her. He respected her strength and wanted to bring her into their fold.

With the burly man laying everything out so plainly, Felix dropped any remaining pretense and began introducing the other team members to Nova.

He stretched onto his tiptoes and clapped the broad-shouldered man on the back. “This is Dustin Campbell, our team’s powerhouse. We call him Dust.”

“He used to work as an international bodyguard,” Felix continued, “though not for very long. He took a bullet protecting a client, and after that, he retired.”

Dustin offered a shy, almost sheepish grin, his usual tough exterior softened for a moment.

Next, Felix gestured toward the petite girl clutching a worn rabbit doll. “This is Freya Gibson. Evie and I rescued her when we escaped from the assassin organization.”

“She’s an assassin herself, but her training was brief. Her skills are close to those of an average person. We brought her along because the organization is still hunting us.”

“Nova, if you’re an assassin too, you understand how they never forgive deserters. They never let anyone go. We’re constantly in danger.”

Though Nova was a mercenary, she recognized how similar assassins and mercenaries truly were. The difference lay mainly in their affiliations—assassins belonged to secret organizations, while mercenaries worked for private groups.

Many nations lacked the kind of dedicated, united soldiers that Zoria boasted. For example, Machie’s troops were known to desert under fire, running away when things got tough.

Such unreliable forces crumbled like fragile cards, posing no real threat to their enemies.

Because of their own military’s weaknesses, these countries had to spend enormous sums hiring mercenaries from abroad.

From this necessity, the mercenary profession was born—warriors who risked their lives for money.

Zoria, however, was famously called “mercenary forbidden land” because their military was so strong and cohesive, they never needed outside help.

In truth, mercenaries and assassins were cut from the same cloth. Nova knew the assassin’s code inside and out, so she remained silent, quietly acknowledging the bitter reality.

Apart from Nova, Felix’s team consisted of five members. One was a slight, short boy with thick glasses who kept his gaze lowered.

Felix introduced him with a smile. “That’s Isaac Mackay, our expert hacker. He’s pretty shy and doesn’t say much at first, but once he warms up, he can talk your ear off.”

Isaac did indeed suffer from social anxiety, making it difficult for him to interact with strangers.

After getting a general sense of the team’s composition, Nova asked bluntly, “So, you’re inviting me to join?”

She had to admit, this team really did include some hidden talents.

The page displayed headshots of Felix, Evie, and Freya, alongside comments from assassins and mercenaries around the world, resembling a forum thread.

Nova raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. “How do you know the poster is really the one who wants you dead? How can you be sure it’s your former assassin organization?”

Felix remained silent.

Evie answered quietly, “Who else would want to see us dead besides the group we escaped from?”

“Exactly,” Freya murmured, hugging her rabbit doll tightly.

Only the Crimson Web administrators had the ability to trace the poster’s true identity.

But Nova shared a little-known secret. She pointed at the three auto-generated hashtags in the poster’s ID and explained, “Within Crimson Web’s hidden code, three hashtags mean the post was made by an individual.”

“One hashtag indicates a group post—like from a mercenary corps or an assassin organization. So the ones hunting you aren’t an organization. They’re just one person.”

The poster was deliberately masquerading as an organization to mislead others. These coding rules were part of the system Nova had embedded during development, so she understood them perfectly.

Her revelation stunned all five members of the team. None had ever heard of this before—not even from the elite assassins they’d encountered.

Wide-eyed, they all asked in unison, “How do you know Crimson Web’s hidden code?”