"No!" the man knelt, roaring miserably. "I fought fiercely to survive," he cried, "I won, but you won't let me live. Why?" He raised his sword and slit his throat. It was his only choice; he knew that under Evangeline's control, he'd suffer far worse. Jeffrey's screams haunted him.

Evangeline looked at the corpse and smiled. "Why so scared? I was merely speaking; I didn't expect suicide. Even if you hadn't killed yourself, I wouldn't have harmed you. I'm a kind woman, and I dislike violence."

Marian and Riley lowered their heads.

Evangeline patted the white tiger. "Let's go."

The tiger glanced at the body, groaned, and left reluctantly. Marian and Riley quickly caught up. After a day's walk, they reached a river. They'd gathered wild fruit along the way.

"Look, a bamboo raft!" Marian pointed and yelled.

Evangeline saw the raft. They pushed it to the river. Evangeline dismounted the tiger, cut bamboo into small sections, drilled holes in each, and created water containers. She filled them at the river, plugging the holes to prevent leakage. Each carried five containers—enough for the desert.

Everything settled, they prepared to depart. Evangeline turned to the tiger, patted its head, and said, "Go. Goodbye. We likely won't meet again. You're the king of this forest, but stay away for now; hunters might come."

The tiger groaned anxiously.

"I don't understand you. Stop roaring," Evangeline said.

The tiger stamped its feet, circling her. Evangeline kicked it away. "Stop circling! You're making me dizzy. A beast your size has no natural enemies. Just go." She motioned for Marian and Riley to push the raft, and they jumped aboard. Riley paddled while Evangeline and Marian held submachine guns.

River crocodiles, sensing the waves, approached. Evangeline and Marian shot them, staining the river red. They crossed the 1,500-foot river without difficulty.

Reaching the shore, Evangeline pressed on without looking back. Marian and Riley looked back, seeing the white tiger still howling. They sighed; Evangeline was colder than a beast.

After a few days, the tiger remained close, but Evangeline showed no affection. They quickly looked away and followed her. The tiger howled, but Evangeline didn't turn. Soon, they were out of earshot.

The drones' cameras flashed back on. The livestream resumed, but most countries initially only saw Evangeline. The four-day outage had led many to believe it was over. The chat room was sparsely populated until someone publicized the return of the stream.

[What the hell? It's back on! I thought it was over! So excited to see Evangeline again! What happened in the past four days? Why was the livestream cut off?] [Gosh, Evangeline's already in the desert! It's only day eleven. Based on previous experience, there's no danger after the river; the old-growth forest is dangerous.] [So excited! No Clusian has ever made it through the forest. Evangeline's the first to reach the desert; she deserves respect, win or lose!] [I searched online; only a dozen countries can still see their contestants. The rest are focused on Evangeline, including Atharia. It seems Jeffrey's eliminated.] [I saw that. A dozen contestants are still in the forest, while Evangeline's in the desert. She nailed it!] [Where's the white tiger? Why isn't it with Evangeline?] [What are you thinking? Evangeline's crossed the river. The tiger's too large to follow. Plus, there's no water or food in the desert; it might eat people. Evangeline would have to send it back.] [The white tiger is so cute. I miss him.]

A large number of people flooded the international livestream chat room, discussing enthusiastically. After the previous livestream, many recognized Evangeline's abilities—surviving the tiger, Jeffrey's crossbow, and poison. Even those who hated her remained silent. They vented their anger on the local contestants, criticizing them for being useless. Atharia's livestream chat room was filled with abuse directed at Jeffrey.

John watched the livestream grimly in the viewing room. "Why is the livestream back on? Who did that?"

The others were confused. "We stayed here; no one gave an order. Maybe the director restarted it without telling us."

John fumed. "That bastard turned on the livestream without permission! My men haven't gotten our contestants to the finish line!"

Contestants remained in the forest, but the released beasts and fear of Evangeline drove them away. Some backtracked, others fled into the mountains; none dared to continue forward. Evangeline's bare-handed kills and taming of the tiger had revealed the danger. With the tiger, she was unbeatable. Even without wanting a fight, they might be forced by Jeffrey to side against her. To survive, they stayed away from the path.

After discovering Jeffrey's death, John planned to fly a remaining contestant to the finish line by helicopter to avoid paying out on the bet. But the livestream's return ruined his plan.

"Call the director! Tell him to turn off the livestream!" John roared.

Someone called Smith; he frowned after listening to Smith's report. "Smith said he didn't restart it. The machine turned itself on. He tried to turn it off, but the buttons were unresponsive. He suspects it was hacked."

John trembled with rage. "Damn it! Who's against me? Fix this! Before Evangeline reaches the summit! We can't let the audience see her win. If the livestream stays on, we can't sneak a contestant to the summit. Shut it down!"

The man relayed John's message; the viewing room was tense. John pulled at his thinning hair—ten days had taken its toll.

Meanwhile, in the desert, Evangeline and her companions rested in the dark. After eating fruit, Evangeline closed her eyes. She felt the ground shake, grew alert, pinpointed the source, sat up, and looked behind her, frowning.

A roar echoed, and a large black shadow rushed toward them, causing tremors. The shadow resolved itself.

"The white tiger? How?" "How did he cross that river?"

Marian and Riley were shocked and amazed. They knew dogs followed owners, but not tigers, especially after Evangeline's treatment. Why would he follow her?

The tiger approached, howling excitedly. Seeing Evangeline's stern expression, he grumbled, circling and nudging her leg. Evangeline stared at him. The tiger looked dazed, his white fur bloodied, his body scarred.