"You said it yourself, he's the best, so what does Evelyn need to practice for? No matter how hard he tries, he can't match William Harris." Henry Clark sneered, "Even after Captain Grant gave up, the higher-ups at NSN still didn't, and kept pushing Evelyn. Right now, Evelyn is still losing points in high-ranked national server matches. Why is that?"

David Wright replied dryly, "Why do you think?"

"Because they're anxious. They're making the most of every minute, trying to get Evelyn to learn as much as possible in the limited time he has." Henry Clark squinted at David Wright. "Why do you think the NSN higher-ups are so anxious? And why did Ethan Wood come back to the country at this time?"

David Wright swallowed nervously, "W-why?"

Henry Clark lowered his gaze and said coldly, "Because William Harris is about to leave NSN."

David Wright started coughing in surprise.

"He never really joined NSN. Teaching Evelyn now is just him repaying a favor to Captain Grant, and incidentally giving himself a place to stay at NSN." Henry Clark stood up. "If nothing unexpected happens, William Harris is about to form his own team."

"No way." David Wright stared at Henry Clark in shock and disbelief. "How did you even guess all this?"

Henry Clark turned back and looked David Wright up and down. "No need to act so surprised. If he's going to form a team, he must have already submitted an application to the league. It's normal that I don't know, but you, as a manager, haven't heard a single rumor?"

David Wright instinctively avoided Henry Clark's gaze and gave a dry laugh. "What could I possibly know?"

"If you really don't know anything, then why are you testing me now? And why did you check the stream of me and Evelyn? Three and a half hours of replay—how free are you to watch every minute of me playing with him and feeding?" Henry Clark scrutinized David Wright, exposing the last layer of pretense. "Ethan Wood is an entry fragger. William Harris is forming a new team and still needs an entry fragger. You're worried. You're worried that William Harris has already contacted me, so you used the stream today to sound me out."

Henry Clark shoved his hands in his pockets. "If anything I said is wrong, point it out now and I'll sign a contract to stream sixty hours in a month for you."

Even after being exposed, David Wright wasn't embarrassed. He shook his head and laughed. "Henry Clark, seriously, I just love how smart you are! You're young, usually quiet, but you actually see everything clearly. You're way ahead of your peers in this."

Henry Clark gave a self-deprecating smile and turned to leave.

Already seen through, David Wright didn't feel ashamed and simply pressed on, "Then what about William Harris..."

"Don't worry." Henry Clark gripped the conference room door handle and, after a long pause, said, "From start to finish, he never contacted me."

After leaving the conference room, Henry Clark's fingertips felt a little numb. He took out his Bluetooth earphones from his pocket and put them in, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed for a while. Only after his emotions had completely settled did he return to the training room.

Training continued, and so did the preseason matches.

No matter how heated the online debates had been lately, Henry Clark's performance in matches remained steady. In the next half-month of preseason games, IAC won all four of their matches. Counting the previous win against NSN, IAC was on a five-game winning streak. IAC was far ahead of the other teams, firmly holding first place in the league's preseason standings.

There were two preseason matches each day. Today, in the first half, NSN played against Mad Blade, and in the second half, IAC played against Worker Bee.

Although they weren't facing each other directly, IAC and NSN still had to appear in the same venue at the same time. This time, David Wright's resistance was even stronger than Henry Clark's. From the moment they entered the venue, David Wright was on high alert, sticking close to Henry Clark, refusing any help from staff, doing everything himself, and being wary of everyone—as if he was afraid some staff member would suddenly tear off their friendly mask and reveal themselves as an undercover agent for William Harris, and, while he wasn't paying attention, would sweet-talk Henry Clark into leaving.

Henry Clark watched as David Wright carefully checked the label on his water bottle for hidden notes, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

Henry Clark wanted to reassure David Wright, to tell him not to worry, that he really wasn't lying.

After being back in the country for over half a month, with so many opportunities, but William Harris really, truly, had never contacted him—not even a hint.

IAC's match was in the second half, so there was plenty of time. Henry Clark was half-lying on the sofa in the lounge, his baseball cap pulled low to cover half his face, but he still felt uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, almost compulsively found his earphones and put them on, and finally felt a little more relaxed.

After a while, just as Henry Clark was starting to feel better, he sensed someone rustling around him. Annoyed, he opened his eyes to see David Wright tentatively reaching for his backpack.

Henry Clark took off one earbud and frowned. "What are you doing?"

David Wright immediately pulled his hand back and smiled. "The dried fruit the staff just gave you—I don't know what brand it is. I was worried you wouldn't be used to it, so I wanted to check for you."

Suppressing his irritation, Henry Clark took the dried fruit out of his bag and tossed it on the table, then closed his eyes again.

After checking the dried fruit, David Wright said helplessly, "Don't be mad, you know what I'm worried about. If William Harris says even a little something, you'd definitely go with him. I have to be careful."

Henry Clark lifted his eyelids and said coldly, "If he says even a little something, I'd go with him? Am I that cheap? Do I have the word 'cheap' written on my face?"