Chapter 3Reborn with a Vengeance

I stared at my phone, the screen a venomous stream of comments from Greg’s fans.

"Tsk tsk, looks like the Leech ran out of material to steal."

"He's been riding Greg's coattails for years. Greg is a god, and Leo's just a rat scurrying in his shadow."

…

I took a deep, shuddering breath, the words blurring together. "It's fine," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "I have another robot. I'll use that one."

I was about to lock myself in the lab again when my phone buzzed. It was Seraphina. I had specifically told her to give me space before the competition.

I stared at her name on the screen, a cold fury rising in my chest. I declined the call and blocked her number.

"I don't believe he can read my mind on this one too," I said to Matt, my jaw set. "This animal-model robot… he can't possibly know about it."

With the grim determination of a man on his last hope, I re-entered the workshop.

This time, I cut the power to the router, severing all connection to the outside world. No hacker on earth could spy on me now.

I carefully retrieved a hidden case from beneath my workbench. Inside was a project I'd poured my soul into for five years—a bio-mimicking drone. It was more powerful and versatile than any humanoid model, designed for reconnaissance in complex terrains. It was only a prototype, and I had never spoken a single word about it to anyone.

Three hours later, the assembly and programming were complete.

I stood back, my heart a mix of pride and anxiety, and looked at the spider-like machine. Its most unique feature was its adaptive structure; it could shift between eighteen different forms to navigate any environment.

Greg could not know. He absolutely could not know.

Taking a final, deep breath, I reconnected to the internet to upload the data. But the connection was lagging. The spinning loading icon on the screen felt like a harbinger of doom. My heart hammered against my ribs.

The upload finally finished. I frantically pulled up Greg’s project page. His robot had changed again.

It was my spider bot. My exact design.

I scanned the parameters, my vision going blurry. They were identical to mine.

And the timestamp on his upload was exactly one minute before mine.

His latest post read: 【Hey everyone, I felt like the competition was getting crowded with humanoid bots. So, I thought I’d switch things up with this new arachnid-inspired model! If you guys like it, maybe I’ll do a giveaway of some miniatures…】

I looked at his smarmy, self-satisfied post and roared, sweeping everything off my workbench in a blind rage.

"HOW? HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? WHY!"

The raw, primal scream tore from my throat. Matt rushed in, saw the spider bot on my screen, and understood everything.

"Could it be the organizers?" he stammered. "Are they feeding him your data?" It was the only logical explanation he could find for two identical, last-minute designs.

I stood frozen in the center of the room, a dark, suffocating aura clinging to me. We had less than two hours until the final submission deadline. There was no time to build another new robot.

"I'm calling them. Right now," I snarled, pulling out my phone. As I did, I saw a text message notification. Seraphina had used someone else's phone after finding she was blocked.

【Leo, I am in love with you. My love for you is like your shadow.】

【Where you are, I am. When you are gone, I cease to exist.】

The words flashed in my mind, sparking something, a fleeting connection I couldn't quite grasp.

I shook it off and dialed the organizers, my voice tight with fury as I laid out my accusation.