The Fish Has Taken the Bait

A gust of wind rustled the leaves, sending a few drifting down onto shoulders. Hidden amidst the waist-high undergrowth, Xu Xiqin watched as several figures crossed a narrow path not far ahead of her.

The final assessment was held in the mountains. Here, trees clustered thick and tangled, weeds sprawled in every direction, and the undulating terrain made for treacherous ground. The canopy was so dense that sunlight barely leaked through, and visibility at night would likely be abysmal.

Once the figures had moved out of sight, Xu Xiqin crawled through the grass on her belly, slipping down a small slope into a more concealed hollow. It was practically a natural trench. Xu Lingqu, Jin, Shen Shouli, and Liu Zheng were all gathered there, and crouched beside them, diligently sketching out terrain analyses and maps, was Tang Muwen.

He had chosen to defect on the spot. Seeing that their group of five lacked an analyst, he'd volunteered on his own initiative, handed over all his equipment, and forcibly shut down his smart device—proof enough of his sincerity.

When he'd first arrived, Jin had pressed a gun to his head. Tang Muwen hadn't even flinched; he'd simply said: "Let me finish the terrain analysis and maps for you, then you can kill me."

Jin was dumbfounded. "Are you just throwing away your score for the final assessment?"

Tang Muwen shook his head. "The points I've earned so far are more than enough to let me advance from the trial. Command analysis is scored separately from combat. I've been ranked second in the non-combat category all along."

He glanced at Xu Lingqu as he spoke, then added, "A lot of those points are thanks to you... all of you. I'm just repaying the favor."

He was so earnest, and plus he'd always been trailing after Xu Lingqu even in his spare time, that they'd grudgingly granted him their trust and put him in charge of the terrain analysis.

Ever since the final assessment began, they'd been sneaking along this way, evading the pursuit of the main force.

Kai Ang's two-faction strategy had worked all too well. The ordinary students were hunting the top five with relentless zeal, and none more so than Sun Liao and his crew, whose goal was crystal clear: catch Xu Lingqu.

Sun Liao had been waiting for this day for a long time.

The moment the faction rules were announced, he'd been pumped as if injected with adrenaline. It wasn't just his old grudge against Xu Lingqu anymore—his points had been hovering in elimination range. If he could land a shot on her himself, he'd pull off one hell of a comeback.

In the ordinary student camp, Sun Liao had been loudly proclaiming how detestable and unforgivable Xu Lingqu was. Heaven knows where he'd dug up so many trumped-up charges to pin on her, but he certainly had plenty of enthusiasm for it.

Still, most students didn't seem to share his fervor. Only a few humored him—until he suddenly turned his sights on Wang Qihu and Lin Xiao.

Every group needs organization, needs a leader. The leader of the ordinary students' camp was Wang Qihu and his friends, several students from Star System No. 2, along with Lin Xiao, who'd distinguished herself in the underground labyrinth.

"You two—one's Xu Lingqu's roommate, the other's always hovering around her. During the assessment, you won't turn on us and tip them off, will you?" Sun Liao might not have had much actual skill, but he was adept at fanning flames and sowing discord.

This time, it wasn't like his earlier mud-slinging at Xu Lingqu. The charge he was leveling threatened every ordinary student's interests. In a sense, it was justified.

You're the leader, and you're that chummy with our "enemy"? Is that appropriate? Can you guarantee you'll never betray us?

Wang Qihu's face went dark on the spot. Lin Xiao rolled her eyes. "I'm always running after Xu Lingqu too, you know—I'm even Liu Zheng's roommate..."

In the end, it was Guan Zhongli who stepped in as the peacemaker.

As a reasonably competent commander, he carried a certain weight among the ordinary students. He slung an arm around Sun Liao with a genial smile.

"Brother Liao, I get it. You've had it in for Xu Lingqu for a long time, and I understand the frustration. But this is the final assessment—do you really think my brother Wang Qihu and Lin Xiao here would joke about something like this? I've been itching to take those five down too, you know. This time, our goal is to rally everyone and take them out first. So cool your head a bit, and don't turn your guns on our own people."

That little speech soothed Sun Liao right down, and had him smiling to boot.

The final arrangement was that Sun Liao received a measure of command authority and could directly lead a portion of the students. He was thoroughly satisfied.

Sun Liao looked at Guan Zhongli with approval. This is the kind of commander you want—smooth talker, willing to share power, not like certain people...

The mere thought of Xu Lingqu's name made Sun Liao gnash his teeth. It'd been all downhill for him since that combat training session. This was his chance for revenge, and he absolutely couldn't blow it.

That was why, the moment he set foot in the final assessment zone, Sun Liao was ready to search every inch of the mountain with his crew, determined to confront the five head-on.

But they'd been combing for nearly an hour now and still hadn't caught so much as a glimpse of Xu Lingqu. It was as if the five had vanished into thin air, swallowed by the wilderness.

Sun Liao was on tenterhooks, jumping at shadows. Any rustle in the underbrush and he'd fire off a wild shot. He hadn't seen a single person, but he'd burned through a good deal of ammunition.

One of the boys who'd gone to mess with Xu Lingqu and gotten himself bawling instead looked at Sun Liao. "Brother Liao, you think Xu Lingqu and her crew are scared of us? They're always so flashy, but now they've gone and turtled up."

That perked Sun Liao right back up. At that moment, a message from Guan Zhongli came through on the ordinary students' shared channel, asking how he was doing.

Sun Liao replied that he'd found nothing.

"Ah, no worries. You might want to head west. One of the recon squads just spotted possible traces of Xu Lingqu and her group over that way."

Hearing that, Sun Liao perked up his ears, rallied his men, and sprinted west.

Xu Xiqin watched the fool lead his people off into the distance, then slipped back to their hideout and reported to Xu Lingqu: "The idiot's gone."

"Mm." Ever since entering the assessment zone, Xu Lingqu had kept the other four in hiding at their concealed spot, and that was how they'd stayed—never venturing out.

Jin was starting to get restless. "Commander, how long are we going to hide here?"

Honestly, in Jin's eyes, this constant hiding wasn't anything like Xu Lingqu's style. In his mind, she should have been leading them straight into a 5-vs-55 brawl, cutting through the enemy like butter.

Hiding like this might be safer, but it felt a bit... cowardly, didn't it?

Xu Lingqu didn't answer. Just then, on the confiscated smart device belonging to Tang Muwen, a message came through from Guan Zhongli.

"Thanks. The fish has taken the bait."