Four days had already passed since the first rainforest survival match began.
Out of the original forty-five teams from ten military academies, only twenty "survived," with 72 hours left until the end of the competition.
More than half of these twenty teams had already secured 200 points, including Li Hece's squad from Qilin!
Huang Yan and his team had encountered too few star beasts in the early stages; they were still 20 points short of passing.
The problem was that all the military academies had started hunting down teams from other schools! Earning points without being discovered suddenly became a daunting task...
"Captain, no one's over here!!"
"They're over here! Chase them!!"
It wasn't until the pursuers ran out of the range of their spiritual power detection that Huang Yan slowly lifted his head from the mud pit.
"They're gone."
Three pairs of eyes instantly snapped open in the mud. After carefully scanning their surroundings, they tentatively began to crawl out.
"Damn it! It's too slippery!"
"Wait, my foot is stuck in the mud and I can't pull it out!"
"Wiggle side to side, swim your way out!"
Zhang Lyra turned around and pulled Wang Tianwei up. The four mud-covered figures sat side by side by the pit, looking at each other before letting out bitter laughs.
"Heh, pathetic, this is too pathetic..."
They had no choice. Who told them to run into two teams from Greenfield?
Those eight people had already linked up! Meanwhile, they were still lone wolves!
Four against eight was an incredibly tough fight, not to mention the other side had more S-ranks than they did.
At the critical moment, Sir Huang noticed a mud pit over here, and it seemed like another team was approaching from the front!?
To avoid being pincered, the group steeled their hearts and lay down in it...
Fortunately, the spiritual power of Greenfield's two commanders was no match for Huang Yan's. Over the past four days, he had become quite skilled at concealing himself and his teammates!
It was just that the people watching from outside the screens felt incredibly uncomfortable seeing this!
Cheng Yin and Wang Yi had been glued to the live stream every day since the competition began.
"Lying in that wet mud must be so uncomfortable... Oh my! I wonder if there are any biting bugs?"
"Tianwei usually loves being clean the most! And Kaiyu's shoulder is injured too... Did these two kids really have to go to a military academy!?"
Huang Taihe also hadn't expected his son to go to such lengths for a competition!? That boy was exactly like his mother...
"I can't watch this anymore. Our Qilin is too pitiful!"
"They just got into a mud pit, what's so pitiful about that? It's not like they broke an arm or a leg."
"Sir Huang! That's our Sir Huang!"
"Jian Jingyu... you... sigh..."
"The half-beastman's ears are all stuck together. Looking this miserable, they might as well get eliminated..."
"The person above is just talking nonsense. This is a military-hosted academy league! You want them to be eliminated?"
"Does anyone have a way to make them come back and inherit their family businesses?"
"...Is the name in front of that comment Yida Technology?"
"Dad!! I can do it! If they won't inherit it, I will, Dad!!"
"Get lost, the guy above! I'll take good care of my older brother and sister in the future! Mom, Dad, look at me!"
Wang Tianwei used her two index fingers to wipe the mud off her eyelids.
"It seems we won't be easily spotted like this... How about we change our shoes and just keep moving like this for now?"
A natural ghillie suit, just a bit heavy!
But right now they were surrounded by enemies on all sides, and Qilin only had two teams left! Even if they had to camp and hide, they had to make it to the end!
"Look at what our Sister Ma has been forced into!!"
"Kids!! When the competition is over, come back to Qilin's First Cafeteria, and we'll throw a welcome-back feast for you!!"
"What's wrong with our Second Cafeteria!?"
"Even the 'Four Grinders of Qilin' have to dive into mud pits when they reach the league? Terrifying..."
Fan Weize from the Ninth Military Region, however, found the kids more and more pleasing to the eye the longer he watched.
Being a soldier meant having this kind of resolve. When was there ever that much time to stay clean? Overcoming any predicament was the right way!
Huang Yan glanced in the direction the two Greenfield teams had left.
"We'll head in the opposite direction. They're probably chasing that other team... But can your stamina hold up walking like this?"
Wang Tianwei nodded and stood up.
"Don't worry, I've even carried Goldfish on my back, a little mud is no problem! Besides, since we're already dirty, we might as well use these 'ghillie suits' to the fullest."
Chao Hao and Fu Manli were simultaneously watching two live streams.
"These kids... Sometimes I wonder if their families actually took good care of them? They don't have a single one of those bad habits typical of rich kids..."
"As for Li Hece's side... I reckon they'll only last until tonight."
These two teams really had terrible luck!
One had constantly been surrounded by people, while the other had constantly been surrounded by star beasts...
"Zhao Ling's hand is swelling bigger and bigger, and the color is getting darker! If he doesn't withdraw tonight, we'll apply for his withdrawal on his behalf... That wound probably wasn't from a venomous spider bite..."
Both teachers furrowed their brows tightly.
With only two teams left, if they lost an assaulter here, who knew how much longer Li Hece could hold on...
However, the fact that they had managed to hold on until now was already impressive!
Asahi and Shenghua, two military academies, had already been completely wiped out and left the campsite this morning.
There were also Yuying Military Academy and Beichen Military Academy, and Qingsong Military Academy only had one team left...
Even the First Military Academy had lost a squad! However, every single one of their remaining teams had earned enough points, and they were currently sitting securely at the top of the leaderboard.
"It's just a competition; of course, lives are more important! These recent batches of students haven't experienced such a large-scale event before, so treating it as a learning experience is fine too."
"Yeah, let's see if they still think they're the best when they go back. Out here, geniuses are everywhere..."
Just as Chao Hao finished speaking, on the live stream of Li Hece's side, Zhao Ling, the single-soldier who had been keeping his head down and rushing forward, suddenly collapsed.
"Zhao Ling!!"
His three teammates surrounded Zhao Ling, but no matter how they called out to him, he didn't respond!
Li Hece touched his forehead and neck.
"He's running a high fever! The medicine didn't work..."
"Captain, let's send Zhao Ling out!"
"Yeah! Neither the ointment nor the pills did anything! If it damages his nerves... let's send him out!"
As if he had heard these words, Zhao Ling's expression began to struggle. After a long while, he finally managed to pry his eyes open with great effort.
"Captain... don't... I can do it..."
"I'm sending you out."
"No... I'm a single-soldier."
"Single-soldiers are people too!"
Li Hece's attitude was resolute this time; he shouldn't have listened to him in the first place!
Zhao Ling kept saying he was fine, and Li Hece had also felt that the team couldn't afford to lose an assaulter... But if Zhao Ling really suffered any permanent aftereffects because of this, he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life!
"Say no more, you are more important than anything else! It's just a competition, the three of us can handle it!"
Zhao Ling looked at his teammates. If he left, the team would only have one S-rank mecha master left, Gavin. Both the captain and the firepower specialist were A-ranks...
"No..."
"Listen to the captain! We've already gotten enough points, now we just need to lay low and survive the next three days! Go out and get your hand treated first, leave the paintballs and stuff behind, hurry up."
"Don't worry, we'll protect each other. If we can't fight, we'll just hide!"
Li Hece didn't hesitate any longer and spoke into the "Little Bee" drone: "Zhao Ling withdraws!"
At this point, no matter how reluctant Zhao Ling was, he had no choice but to hand over his paintballs and all his supplies to his teammates.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault for not being careful..."
"Cut the chatter! Head back and get the victory banquet ready for us!"
"You guys... hang in there!"
