Longyuan and Qingjun: The Infected Zone II

Gu Tingzhi now faced two choices. The first was to sit tight with Jia Xianglan, waiting for the infected zone to spread while they took down the Qingjun forces—either by wiping them out entirely or by decapitating their leadership. The second was to shut the device down, but that would mean sacrificing a squad, all while guarding against Jia Xianglan's troops lying in ambush around it...

As she spoke, Jia Xiangying kept her eyes fixed on the back of Xu Lingqu's head ahead of her. "I think leaving it running is the better call. Even though Longyuan has more street-fighting experience and Gu Tingzhi is a more seasoned commander, Qingjun still has five S-class soldiers. Letting the infected zone spread might actually work in Longyuan's favor."

She paused. "What do you think, Xu Lingqu?"

"I think you're right," Xu Lingqu said without turning.

On the big screen, Gu Tingzhi was wrestling with the same dilemma.

"We'll leave the infection device alone for now," he told his team. "If Jia Xianglan wants it shut down, he won't send his own people. He'll come to negotiate with me, ask me to send someone too. We'll deal with it then. For now, we stick to the plan we made before the match and move on the Qingjun S-classes." He turned to Longyuan's three S-class soldiers: Hu Yan, Duok Duo, and Bai Qing.

Hu Yan was a newly recruited first-year S-class, while Duok Duo and Bai Qing were second-years who had built a strong rapport with Gu Tingzhi over the past year. They'd grown together.

Gu Tingzhi bumped fists with Hu Yan. "They've got more S-classes than us, but I think your combat abilities are far superior. Get past Qingjun, and we'll meet Moye in the finals."

In the eastern zone, Longyuan students swept through the buildings, clearing them one by one, slowly encroaching into Qingjun's western territory.

Hu Yan was also a sniper, but he hadn't competed in sharpshooting contests; his talent was only discovered after he joined Longyuan. Now, he'd found an excellent hidden vantage point.

He'd watched Moye's matches and was most impressed by Liu Zheng's precise shot against Dolanston. As a fellow sniper, he knew exactly how difficult that shot was, so he genuinely admired Liu Zheng and hoped to one day pull off such a spectacular shot himself.

Jia Xianglan initially ignored the infection device entirely, just as expected. He simply issued basic combat orders to the Qingjun forces and sent someone to scout the area around the device to see if Gu Tingzhi had been foolish enough to send anyone.

Unfortunately, he got no intel about Gu Tingzhi walking into a trap. Instead, he received news of the first S-class soldier's death.

Gu Tingzhi had thoroughly studied the combat habits, movement patterns, and fighting styles of all five Qingjun S-classes. This particular fallen S-class was known for charging straight into pursuit, but he had a habit of pausing at corners during a chase.

Gu Tingzhi had one squad infiltrate the eastern zone to track him down. Once found, they deliberately exposed their position to make him give chase. During the chase, the squad had to take some casualties—otherwise, the S-class might have given up halfway. They needed to bait him with something sweet to keep him hooked long enough to walk into the carefully laid trap, where Hu Yan was positioned at a corner to take the killing shot.

"A strong start. Great news," the commentators said as the Imperial arena erupted in cheers.

"Gu Tingzhi's research on those Qingjun soldiers is really thorough," Lieutenant Quan said with satisfaction. "He's picking them off one by one based on their individual traits—this kind of tactic is very much his style."

"But setting up baits like this means Longyuan's numbers will drop faster than Qingjun's," Teacher Chang pointed out the flaw. "If it comes down to total numbers after two days, that's what will decide the winner."

"But this map lasts a long time," Lieutenant Quan countered. "The benefit of killing off the enemy's S-classes first will pay off later. Sacrificing numbers you can afford to lose to cut off a powerful weapon on the other side—I think it's worth it. If they let them live, they'd cause more Longyuan casualties over the two days anyway. Gu Tingzhi made this plan precisely because he considered the two-day duration."

"That's true," Teacher Chang nodded.

After the first S-class fell, Jia Xianglan started pacing. He quickly warned the other S-classes that Gu Tingzhi had set his sights on them and told them to pull back and avoid combat. He also ordered the rest of the Qingjun students to launch an aggressive assault on the eastern zone, turning passive into active and seizing control of the battlefield's tempo.

Gu Tingzhi had, of course, anticipated Jia Xianglan's next move. He deliberately left a weakly defensible position in the eastern zone for Qingjun to invade and hold. Qingjun kept attacking but never secured it, making them think they were defending it successfully and refusing to abandon the position, thereby bleeding their numbers.

Qingjun believed the issue was that the surrounding territory hadn't been secured yet, so they quickly sent two S-classes to lead teams from both flanks to clear the area and take the whole block, compressing and devouring Longyuan's living space, ideally dragging Gu Tingzhi out for a decapitation strike.

The two sides exchanged fire and wrestled for control on the front lines.

But Jia Xianglan wasn't focused on the front. In the Qingjun command center, he stood before a student he had sent to scout the infection device. The student was infected—he trembled uncontrollably before Jia Xianglan, his face pale and sweat pouring down, dripping onto the floor to form a small puddle.

"It takes at least ten people to shut down the device," the infected student said through chattering teeth, barely able to speak.

He was enduring the agony of poison spreading through his body. His nerves felt like they were being crushed and twisted in someone's fists, and every second brought pain like a knife slicing through his brain, unbearable.

"Why... why can't I get a death verdict and exit the match?" The student finally couldn't take it anymore. He thought he was holding on just to report to Jia Xianglan, but now that he'd done that, he still couldn't exit. The torment was driving him mad!

Jia Xianglan stood up, helped him into a seat, and said with concern, "You can't trigger a death verdict to exit the map, can you?"

The infected student could no longer speak, barely able to move. He nodded painfully, looking at Jia Xianglan with pleading eyes, hoping for a solution.

Jia Xianglan patted his shoulder. "Rest here for now. I'll figure something out."

He walked out of his command center. His comms crackled with news of another S-class soldier's death.

The Qingjun deputy commander reported beside him: "We've already lost six in total, including two S-classes. Longyuan has lost eighteen, but their three S-classes are still alive and well."

Jia Xianglan's expression turned cold. "I told those people to get back already..."

A bunch of stubborn fools, ignoring his orders, thinking they were so clever.

"But... I'm glad Gu Tingzhi wants to play this game with me." Jia Xianglan smiled again and turned to the deputy commander. "I need you to take people to the infection device."

"Shut it down?"

"No. Speed up the infection."