When the old woman noticed Renee's sympathetic gaze, a kind smile dawned on her wrinkled face. "Miss, you don't have to pity me. I feel quite blessed to have been able to live until this age. The truly pitiful people are the ones who died young..." A long sigh escaped the old woman. "My Garcia Village has always had bad luck. Many unfortunate things happened, and those kids are the pitiful ones!""What happened?" Renee asked curiously."It's a long story. Come in, it's dark outside and you all should get some rest." The old woman enthusiastically invited them into her house."Thank you." Renee thanked the old woman and followed her into the house.Jeffrey wanted to follow suit, but Daisy grabbed his arm, her face pale. "Don't go, Jeff! The house is so dark and scary, and that old woman... We don't know who or what she is. We'd better not go in." There were many horrible legends about Garcia Village, and the worst was the one about the sea witch who took revenge on the whole villa

"George..." The old woman trailed off gloomily, her gaze unreadable as she recalled the past. "He was a famous and powerful figure in Garcia Village back then. Everyone avoided him.""What do you mean?" Renee urged."It's not what you think. He was unreasonable and very nasty…" The elderly woman's tone became angry. "He was a tyrant in our village, and he bullied almost all the families here. He would either take other people's things away and even beat them up.""Was he really that arrogant?" Renee frowned. "Such a person should have been in jail.""If we could, we would have done it ages ago, but he had connections. He would be released after being locked up for a few days every time the villagers called the cops, then he would take revenge on the person who reported him. So... nobody dared to say anything."Jeffrey frowned. "I heard about his family when I was young because my village is only nearby. Mom always told me not to sail my boat too far while fishing in case I acciden

Renee also agreed with the old woman—the couple seemed quite strange. If she had the chance, she wanted to meet them, but the old woman didn't know much about them and didn't remember much since they had come to Garcia Village ages ago.Renee's mind was troubled the whole night at the old woman's house. She didn't wake Jeffrey and Daisy up the next morning, and decided to wander around the island to see if she could find clues instead. She soon found a house that matched the old woman's description of George's house… but it was nothing but ruins. All that was left were ashes and burned items, and after many years of wind and rain, even those had practically disappeared into the ground. There was no trace of anyone ever living there. However, that area was the best in the village—it faced the vast sea and the soil was rich, making it ideal for both fishing and farming. Renee imagined her brother living there many years ago, and uneasiness gripped her when she imagined the suffering he

Then, before Jeffrey could stop her, Renee dashed out of the ward. Jeffrey couldn't catch up with her, and watched her run off nervously.When Renee reached the corner of the stairs, she suddenly saw a tall figure in familiar clothes. He looked just like Stefan."Stefan!" Renee screamed and rushed over to the man, grabbing his clothes firmly. "I've caught you! You can't run away now..." She gripped his clothes, then hugged his waist. "I knew you were still alive!""Umm..." The person Renee was hugging recovered from their shock, then mumbled awkwardly, "Sorry to disappoint, but it's just me." Renee's jaw dropped, and she looked up at the man in anger. "Haze, are you out of your mind? Why are you wearing Stefan's clothes?" The person she had grabbed was not Stefan or Jovan, but Justin. She had thought he was Stefan because Justin was wearing a casual jacket that Stefan had once worn. Renee remembered that jacket because Stefan always wore formal clothes, and it was a rare occasion

"Of course!" Justin raised his chin proudly. "Nobody can beat me in that, not even you, Phoenix. Isn't that right?""Yes, that's true." Renee nodded, giving him a thumbs up. She was being humble because Justin was more skilled than her in that area, and the one time Justin beat Renee to become champion of the Global Hacker Competition, he had done it by defeating her at cracking IPs."Why are you asking?" Justin's eyes brightened, and he asked Renee excitedly, "Are you planning to compete with me at the Global Hacker Competition this year? If Haze and Phoenix, the perfect couple of the hacker world, made a comeback this year, there'll be an uproar!" Justin rubbed his hands together eagerly. When Phoenix retreated from the hacker competition, Haze followed suit, and even left the hacker world. Their story became a legend in their circle, and everyone had heard about it even if they had never met them. If Renee wanted to return to the circle again, Justin would immediately follow suit.