Chapter 229: A Test?
The most suspicious thing was Ollie himself. As the person in charge of the training facility, he knew better than anyone about the ventilation system and security installations here. If he was really releasing poison gas, why hadn't he prepared proper protection for himself first?
Emily directed the trainees in protective measures while quickly analyzing these inconsistencies. Her medical knowledge told her that if this were really nerve gas, people should already be showing symptoms of poisoning by now, but aside from panic, the trainees showed no other abnormalities.
"Emily, what do we do now? All the exits are sealed—are we going to die here?" Alice asked nervously.
Emily said calmly, "Don't panic. Do as I say first. Cover your nose and mouth with damp cloth and try to get to higher ground. Sean, take a few trainees and check the vents—see if we can block them."
She appeared to be organizing protective measures on the surface, but secretly, she was observing the reactions of Ollie and those black-clad figures. Sure enough, when she directed the trainees to block the vents, Ollie didn't really try to stop them—he only made threatening noises.
"It's useless. This poison gas is toxic on skin contact—you can't escape."
But Emily noticed that when he said this, Ollie's gaze wandered, completely unlike what a desperate criminal should look like. Moreover, although those black-clad figures were holding guns, their muzzles were all pointed downward—they weren't really aiming at anyone.
Just then, Emily suddenly remembered a detail from when the children had appeared earlier—that warning look from Charles. That wasn't the panic of a father seeing his children enter a dangerous situation, but more like some kind of tacit communication.
And Emma's unfinished sentence, "Great-grandfather, he..." Combined with the current situation, Emily suddenly had a bold suspicion.
Could this all be an act? A test designed for her?
This thought both shocked and amused her. If this was really the case, then Ollie was certainly generous in his efforts to test her!
But to confirm her suspicion, Emily decided to probe. She deliberately said loudly to the trainees, "Everyone, don't be afraid! If this were real poison gas, someone should be showing symptoms like constricted pupils, drooling, and muscle tremors by now. But I see everyone's fine, which means this isn't poison gas at all!"
After speaking, she stared intently at Ollie's reaction. Sure enough, surprise flashed in Ollie's eyes, then he forced himself to remain calm: "Hmph! Still talking tough when death is at your door!"
But Emily was now basically certain. She suddenly turned around and looked directly at Ollie: "Mr. Ollie Windsor, the performance is about over, isn't it? Why don't you have the children come out for their curtain call, too?"
Ollie froze for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter: "Emily, you really are clever!"
He raised his hand in a signal, and suddenly all the lights in the training facility came on, and the ventilation system stopped spraying smoke. The trainees who had been "poisoned" and "shot" all stood up laughing, and Charles emerged from some corner.
"Emily, you've passed the test!" Charles opened his arms, wanting to embrace her.
But Emily kept a straight face: "So all of this was planned by you? Even the children were part of the act?"
The three children ran out from their hiding places, excitedly surrounding Emily:
"Mommy's so amazing! You figured it out right away!"
"Did we act convincingly?"
"Great-grandfather said if Mommy could see through it, he'd buy us ice cream!"
Emily looked at this whole family, both annoyed and amused: "So you all conspired to deceive me?"
Although Ollie's face bore a smile, his mouth still wouldn't completely soften: "Hmph, don't get too proud. This was just the first test. There are more evaluations waiting for you. Marrying into the Windsor family isn't that easy!"
Emily raised an eyebrow: "How many more tests are there? Why don't you bring them all on at once? I'm in a hurry."
Charles quickly tried to smooth things over: "Great-uncle, Emily has already proven her abilities. Please don't make things difficult for her anymore."
Ollie glared: "This is nothing! Windsor family members must be well-rounded in both literature and martial arts, with both intelligence and courage. This was just the strategic thinking test—there's still the combat test, emotional intelligence test, business acumen test... at least seven or eight more!"
The three children immediately protested when they heard this:
"Great-grandfather's being unfair!"
"Mommy's already really amazing!"
"We want ice cream!"
Ollie, overwhelmed by the children's protests, had no choice but to say, "Fine, fine, fine—ice cream it is! But the testing still has to continue!"
At this point, Charles stepped forward to announce the test results: "Now announcing the evaluation scores. Trainees who performed excellently may continue with subsequent training. Those who performed poorly..."
He coldly surveyed those trainees who had shown wavering loyalty: "Direct dismissal! Windsor Group doesn't need people without principles."
Those trainees immediately looked ashen and slunk away to pack their things.
Kaida stood to the side, utterly embarrassed. She forced herself to maintain composure and walked up to Emily, squeezing out a smile: "Emily, we cooperated pretty well just now, didn't we? I think I acted quite convincingly?"
Emily sneered inwardly. Cooperation? Those knife attacks had been aimed at vital points—if not for her good reflexes, she would have been bleeding by now. And that gun, although it was loaded with blanks, the viciousness with which Kaida had fired was obviously for real.
But Emily maintained her smile on the surface: "Yes, very realistic acting. If I weren't so clever, I might have believed it."
Kaida heard the sarcasm in her words and looked somewhat awkward, but still persisted: "Well, yes, we were all testing you. By the way, there are more tests coming—we should continue cooperating!"
Emily thought contemptuously—only an idiot would continue cooperating with you! Once she passed all the evaluations, she'd return to Obscura Fashion. Who would want to keep playing house here?
But she remained polite on the surface: "Sure, please continue to guide me."
Seeing that Emily didn't expose her, Kaida breathed a sigh of relief and quickly slipped away.
After most people had dispersed, Kaida grew angrier and angrier and went directly to find Kismet to settle accounts.
"Kismet! Come out here!" Kaida kicked open Kismet's lounge door.
Kismet was drinking coffee and was startled: "Kaida? What's gotten into you?"
Kaida knocked away Kismet's coffee cup and angrily demanded, "You told me Emily was just a rookie who could be bullied at will! And what happened? She's got excellent fighting skills, and she's smart too—I'm the one who ended up looking like a fool!"
Kismet looked completely confused. Being taken away had also been part of the operation, and after that, she'd gone back to the lounge to relax. So she was just now learning about Emily's dramatic turnaround from Kaida.
She just couldn't believe that the test scenario she had personally designed to embarrass Emily had instead made her shine.
Kaida grew angrier as she thought about it: "I trusted you way too much! I thought Emily would be easy to bully, but she turned out to be a real handful. Now look—I've thoroughly humiliated myself in front of her!"
Kismet was also deeply frustrated—she hadn't expected this outcome either. Emily was a luxury goods designer—having some self-defense skills was understandable as self-protection awareness, but why did she also know about medical and toxic gas matters?!
Had she been pretending all along?
The two women stared at each other, both feeling deceived by the capabilities Emily had revealed.