Ella's heart sank to the bottom of an abyss in an instant.

"He's put forward a proposal that nobody can refuse," Orville said, his voice hoarse. "He claims that the Sprout Initiative, designed to advance scientific education, is a treasure belonging to all humanity. At the same time,he argues that as a techriology project promoting regional economic revitalization, its technological sophistication has exceeded the risk threshold any private company could independently bear."

"So he proposed that the Ironbridge Technology Industry Alliance should take the lead in establishing a top-level supervisory committee to implement protective oversight of all subsequent Sprout Initiative research and development."

"What a noble-sounding excuse!" Robert growled in the laboratory after hearing the contents of the call. "This isn't oversight-it's robbery!"

Ella's face remained expressionless as she asked calmly, "Who will lead this committee?"

"Nominally, I'll serve as chairman," Orville answered, his voice filled with bitterness. "But the other core members of the committee will all be nominated by Derek and the directors he's bought off. They hold absolute voting power."

"They're immobilizing you, Ms. Brooks," Orville's voice carried a hint of guilt. "I voted against it, but I lost."

The final move was revealed.

This was Derek's true killing stroke.

He had no interest in the mess at the Brooks family, nor did he take Austin's foolish provocations seriously.

From the beginning, his target had been crystal clear-using a legal method that no one could find fault with to turn the entire Sprout Initiative, along with Ella herself, into birds in a cage he could manipulate at will.

He wouldn't even need to personally seize it. He could simply sit leisurely in this ornate cage called oversight that he had personally crafted,quietly waiting for Ella to walk in herself.

"I understand, Mr. Kidd." Ella's voice remained calm. "Thank you for letting me know."

She ended the call, and the entire laboratory fell into a deathly silence.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Robert paced anxiously around the roomn. "We need to go to Solaris immediately and get the core data before he does! As long as we have the core data in our hands,their committee is nothing but an empty shell!"

"It's too late," Ella stared intently at the computer screen, at the figure that had already disappeared from the bank's surveillance system, her gaze sharp as a blade. "If he's set this trap so carefully, he won't give us any chance to physically beat him to it."

"Then what? Just watch him steal your mother's life's work?" Robert's voice was filled with indignation.

Ella didn't answer. She simply gazed out the window, her mind racing at lightning speed.

This was a deadlock.

An almost unsolvable scheme built on power and capital.

If she refused, she would be making an enemy of the entire Ironbridge Technology Industry Alliance, and all the cooperative relationships she had just established in Lumeria would instantly crumble.

If she accepted, she would be putting handcuffs on herself, with every step and decision thereafter under Derek's surveillance.

Just then, an unfamiliar satellite phone rang. The caller ID showed it was coming from somewhere over the ocean.

Ella answered the call.

"Derek is using the Alliance's rules to force you to comply," Came Austin's deep,clear voice from the other end.

Ella raised an eyebrow slightly. "Mr. Raymond, yourintelligence network is as efficient as always."

"This isn't intelligence-it's tactics." Austin's voice showed no emotional fluctuation, like a detached observer analyzing a chess game that had nothing to do with him. "He's counting on you being a technology devotee rather than a politician, knowing you detest these dirty power games,so he deliberately set the battlefield in his area of expertise."

"If you refuse, you'll play right into his hands. He'll immediately mobilize public opínion to portray you as a selfish villain trying to monopolize humanity's treasure, and the pressure within the Alliance will make your every move difficult."

Ella remained silent, neither confirming nor denying.

"So you can't refuse,." Austin continued. "Not only can you not refuse,but

you must actively walk into this cage,and then tell him that the rules of this cage must be set by you."

Finally, a genuine flash of surprise appeared in Ella's eyes.

"He wants to establish a supervisory committee? Fine." Austin's pace wasn't fast,but each word fell like a piece on a chessboard.

"Reply to Orville immediately that you agree in principle to the Alliance's goodwill, but as Janice's sole legal heir, you demand 51% absolute controlling interest in this committee, as well as veto power over all resolutions. He claims to want protection. Then let him hand the power of protection over to the one being protected."

"HHe won't agree," Ella immediately pointed out the core obstacle to this plan.

"Of course, he won't agree, but this is just the first step-your gesture,"Austin's voice revealed a cunning and patience that Ella had never witnessed before, the kind belonging to apex predators. "By throwing this condition out there, you kick the ball back to the Alliance's court. Orville will use this opportunity to engage in a prolonged tug-of-war with Derek's faction, which gives you the most valuable thing."

"Time," Ella instantly understood.

"Exactly," Austin said. "As long as you get what's in that Solaris vault before they reach a final agreement, you'll have the biggest bargaining chip to renegotiate with them. Derek's real goal is to keep you from going to Solaris, and what you need to do is use his own rules to stall him in return."

Silence fell between the two ends of the call.

Ella had to admit that Austin, the ex-husband she once despised mnost,now served as a mirror reflecting her greatest shortcoming.

She excelled at using technology to crush opponents but lacked skill in maneuvering on this invisible battlefield composed of human hearts and interests.

"Why should I trust you?" Ella asked the final question.

Austin chuckled softly on the other end, a laugh that somehow carried a hint of self-mockery.

"Because I don't want to see your mother's life's work fall into the hands of someone who wants to turn the world into a battlefield."

"And because the Vanguard Technologies I personally acquired is now your shield, and if it breaks, I,who handed you that shield, will become the biggest joke in the entire financial world."

"Ella, my fate is now tied to yours-we rise or fall together."

He hung up the phone.

Ella stood motionless, holding her phone, as if frozen in that moment.