Two days later, graduation day arrived. Dylan, Ellie, Lena, Amy, and Maya sat in their class row, wearing their full caps and gowns, waiting for their names to be called to come forward and receive their diploma tubes. All five of their faces looked bright because their struggles had finally reached an end, even though they were currently listening to a boring speech from the principal on the podium inside the gymnasium.

"We finally graduated," Dylan muttered cheerfully.

"Yeah, now we can relax, live together, and raise our future kids," Maya added, holding her stomach.

"Hehe, finally! After today, we're free," Lena added.

"Agreed, now we can be happy together," Amy added.

"Don't talk yet, it's my turn next," Ellie said.

"Oh, right, you're this year's top graduate, aren't you, Ellie?" Dylan replied.

"Yeah, babe, but you're number two, right?" Ellie replied.

"Yep, number two is the perfect spot for me," Dylan replied.

"You still stand out, though," Amy replied.

"Not too much, hahaha," Dylan replied.

The principal finished, and the MC invited Ellie, as the student with the best graduation scores, to come up to the podium. Ellie stood up and walked up, accompanied by loud applause. Dylan, Lena, Amy, and Maya clapped enthusiastically. Ellie stood in front of the mic, facing the graduates, the younger students watching, and the parents in the back rows.

"Thank you for the opportunity given to me. At this time, I..."

Ellie suddenly stopped talking. Her eyes widened, and her face suddenly turned pale when she saw a middle-aged woman who had just entered. The atmosphere became silent. Dylan realized something was wrong with Ellie. He turned back to see a beautiful middle-aged woman walk in, then sit in the very front row among the parents. Then he turned to look at Ellie, who looked tense, with trembling lips and eyes fixed on the woman.

The principal approached Ellie and asked her to return to her seat. Ellie, unable to continue her speech, immediately ran down from the podium and returned to sit next to Dylan, her body shaking. Amy, Lena, and Maya immediately clustered around Ellie.

"What is it, Ellie?" Dylan asked, putting his arm around Ellie.

"M-my mom is here," Ellie answered.

"Huh... the woman who just walked in?" Dylan asked, turning to look back.

"Your mom? Where?" Maya asked, looking back.

"How could she be here? Did you tell her?" Lena asked.

"No, I didn't tell her anything," Ellie answered, trembling.

"It's not just Ellie's mom, Maya's foster dad and Lena's parents are here too... even my uncle from the branch family came," Amy said, looking back.

"What?" Maya and Lena shouted.

It was true: Maya's foster father came with Mike and Carla, Lena's parents were also there, and a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and a mustache stood stiffly among them. They all sat next to Ellie's mom in the seats. Dylan, seeing them, immediately asked the four girls to calm down. Then he turned to look at Maya.

"Maya, why did your sister come with your foster dad?" Dylan asked.

"I-I don't know. She shouldn't have come with that man. I don't know," Maya answered, terrified and looking deeply hurt, feeling betrayed by her sister.

"Ding," Lena's smartphone rang. She picked it up and saw a chat notification from an unknown number. She opened the message and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Tears began to stream down her face. Dylan immediately grabbed her smartphone. It turned out the message was from the hospital, saying Elenor had died at the hospital after falling down the stairs at home. Dylan immediately turned and hugged Lena, who was sobbing into his chest. He also saw Amy looking down and trembling.

"What is this... why is it turning out like this... CATS, what's happening?" Dylan asked in his head.

[We are surrounded, master. They brought troops, and now their forces have taken over the school.]

"Huh... what?" Dylan asked in his head.

[Use the area search skill, master.]

Dylan immediately used his area search skill. His vision instantly became a 3D map. He saw many red dots around his school, gathering in the car park, which was actually the schoolyard. What CATS said was true: they were completely surrounded, and they were starting to move toward the gymnasium where the graduation ceremony was taking place. Without further delay, Dylan, sitting in the middle, immediately put his arms around Ellie and Lena on his right and Amy and Maya on his left. Then he used his vanish skill.

After that, he turned back to see Karl, Maya's foster father, Mike, Carla, Mark, Viola, Ellie's mother named Layla, and Hans, Amy's family representative, utterly shocked. Not long after, troops who looked like terrorists entered, ordering everyone inside to lie down on the floor. Dylan, who had vanished with Ellie, Maya, Amy, and Lena, didn't move and remained sitting in their seats.

"H-honey," Ellie whispered.

"Sssh... be quiet and don't move. They can't see us," Dylan whispered back.

Dylan continued to watch the men wearing masks and carrying weapons move further inside, checking the rows. He turned to see Karl, Maya's foster father, Mike, Carla, Mark, Viola, Ellie's mother named Layla, and Hans, Amy's family representative, also lying down with the other parents. Suddenly,

"Hey... who are you, what are you doing?" yelled a male teacher from the stage, standing up.

Without saying a word, "brataat...trat," a man shot the teacher, making him fall flat on the stage.

"Kyaaaaaaa," everyone in the gymnasium immediately screamed, but a man climbed onto the stage and walked to the mic.

"Silence, everyone!" yelled the man. "Brataaat," he fired his carbine rifle into the air.

Everyone inside fell silent out of fear. Dylan, holding his four girls, remained motionless. He turned back one more time. He saw Paul and his wife, Rosa—Derek's parents—sitting not far from him, the same man he met when he picked up Lena at her job. Paul, a detective, appeared to be moving, slipping his arm into his pants pocket, and it was clear he wasn't going to remain quiet in this situation.

Dylan continued to think hard. He saw everyone terrified inside the gymnasium. He saw a teacher lying on the podium, soaked in blood, and he saw the terrorist forces pointing their weapons and spread out, surrounding the gymnasium.

"Honey," Lena whispered.

"I-I'm scared," Amy whispered.

"What are we going to do?" Maya added, whispering.

Ellie remained silent, but she was trembling with fear. Dylan, seeing the four of them shaking with fear, became angry.

"CATS, I'm going to do something. Please help protect everyone in this room," Dylan said.

[Understood]

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