The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 93

Chapter 93

“But she’s just a kid! A regular student, nothing more!” they thought to themselves, disbelief flickering across their minds.

Realizing how absurd their suspicions had become, they quickly snapped back to reality, shaking their heads in quiet self-reproach.

“Maybe we’re just overthinking this,” they admitted inwardly, chastising themselves for jumping to conclusions.

“Comparing a teenage girl to seasoned war veterans? What were we even thinking?” the thought echoed in their minds, tinged with a hint of embarrassment.

“Seriously, what’s with the know-it-all attitude?” one of the women standing beside Violet sneered at Nova, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Acting like you’re some kind of expert around here…”

The woman’s lips curled into a mocking smile as she added, “So you’re just another spoiled trust fund brat, huh? Playing innocent now, but suddenly you want to act all high and mighty?”

“Let’s see if you can back up all that talk, princess. We’ll be watching!” she taunted, her voice laced with derision.

Violet shoved her hands deep into her pockets, leaned in with a cocky, streetwise swagger, and let out a loud, derisive laugh before strutting away confidently.

Her three followers followed closely behind, stepping forward as the woman stationed by the selection officer called out their names, leading them into the shed without hesitation.

Violet’s group was the first to enter the enclosed space.

With a sharp hiss, a massive screen descended from the top of a cargo container directly in front of Nova, illuminating the dim surroundings.

Nova’s eyes fixed on the unfolding display, revealing a room entirely sealed off by thick iron walls, cold and unyielding.

The scene portrayed a chamber boxed in on all sides, the iron walls looming with a sense of impenetrable heaviness.

At the center of the room sat a customized bomb, ominous and forbidding.

Mounted on the device was a digital timer, its countdown ticking down in bold, glaring numbers: 5:00.

Moments later, Violet and her team appeared on the screen, entering the chamber shown.

As soon as the timer started, Violet’s crew sprang into action without hesitation, moving swiftly to defuse the bomb.

“That’s a 98-7 model timer bomb,” Nova commented, a sly smile tugging at her lips as she studied the screen. “Detonator’s on top—honestly, this thing’s pretty outdated.”

Oliver’s eyes widened in surprise. “You actually know what kind of bomb that is?” he blurted, utterly stunned.

He stared at her, jaw practically dropping, clearly amazed.

“Yeah, I’ve always been interested in weapons,” Nova replied calmly, her voice steady. “So when it comes to bombs, I naturally know my way around them.”

She glanced at him with a matter-of-fact expression.

Oliver nodded, impressed. “So that’s it… Didn’t expect a girl to be into this kind of thing. Not many bomb fanatics around these days.”

He grinned mischievously. “Hey, once this competition’s over, how about I teach you how to defuse one? Bet you’d be into that, right?”

Before Nova could respond, Andrew chuckled and shook his head. “Bro, give it a rest. Don’t turn Nova into a troublemaker—she’s a girl! Who in their right mind would let her handle bombs?”

“Bombs are way too risky for girls, you know!” he joked, lightening the mood.

Andrew’s teasing helped ease the tension, and the whole team began to relax, the earlier anxiety melting away as camaraderie filled the air.

On the big screen, Violet’s team worked with lightning speed—they cracked open the bomb’s casing, sifted through the tangled mess of wires, and zeroed in on the detonator.

In movies, defusing bombs often boils down to choosing between red, blue, or yellow wires—cut one and hope for the best.

But in reality, no sane bomb maker would waste time painting wires in bright colors—unless they were bored out of their minds.

Cutting a single wire doesn’t magically disarm a bomb; real bombs are rigged with all sorts of traps and secondary triggers hidden inside.

Timed bombs especially come with sneaky programming—cutting the wrong wire could trigger a devastating explosion anyway.

The real trick is to locate the detonator connected to the bomb; removing that usually stops the device dead in its tracks.

Nova leaned back, thoroughly entertained as she watched Violet’s team scramble with focused energy, their determination evident.

In the nerve-wracking final seconds, Violet pulled off the impossible—she found the detonator and defused the bomb just in time.

On the screen, Nova saw Violet exhale a shaky breath, wiping sweat from her brow, exhaustion and triumph etched across her face.

With that, the first group cleared the challenge, and a collective sigh of relief swept through the crowd.

Moments later, Violet and her team emerged from the shed.

As they passed Nova’s group, Violet flipped her short, tousled hair and shot Nova a triumphant, knowing smile.

A cocky, self-satisfied smirk played on her lips.

She snorted loudly, unapologetically, dripping with disdain.

“Bet you newbies have no clue how to defuse something this complicated,” she taunted. “Go ahead—show us what you’ve got!”

Inside the room, the moment Oliver, Andrew, and Leanne laid eyes on the timer bomb, terror washed over their faces.

Even Andrew and Leanne—who had only heard of bombs by name and had zero experience defusing them—couldn’t hide their nerves, both shuddering involuntarily.

Oliver’s voice trembled as he stammered, “H-How could this be? Why does our luck have to be this bad?”

“That’s an AK18 series timer bomb—the newest model, only released a couple of years ago,” he continued, dread thick in his voice. “This thing’s a nightmare—the hardest timer bomb anyone’s ever faced.”

“Since it came out, not a single bomb expert has managed to disarm one.”

“I heard last year, one of the world’s top bomb specialists tried to take on the AK18—and ended up atomized in the blast. There wasn’t even a scrap left…”

“We’re totally screwed this time!” Oliver’s words echoed through the speakers, loud and clear for the entire crowd.

Violet’s grin grew wider, smug satisfaction radiating from her as she soaked in their panic.

All her scheming had finally paid off, she thought with a wicked smirk. *I made sure the organizers gave them the nastiest bomb here. Serves them right for trying to challenge me.*

*Messing with me? They must really want to die,* she scoffed silently.

While Oliver, Andrew, and Leanne stood frozen, pale and terrified, Nova remained a stark contrast—calm, collected, and completely unfazed.

Instead of fear, a genuine smile curved her lips, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the challenge before her.

There was only one reason for this reaction.

Two years ago, back when she was still the mercenary known as Bloodforge, Nova had designed and created this very AK18 series timer bomb.

With Andrew, Oliver, and Leanne standing stiffly beside her, and dozens of curious eyes glued to the big screen outside, Nova allowed a small, cocky smile to tug at her lips.

Her voice rang out playful and confident, as if the pressure didn’t exist at all.

“Oh, that’s just the easiest model in the AK series,” Nova declared coolly. “Leave this one to me—I’ll handle it.”