Reborn, I Became a Male God - Chapter 151-155

“What’s wrong?”

Rodney shrank his head back at the question, took a deep breath, and looked at the teammate beside him. He opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. He simply pointed toward the kitchen. “Captain, see for yourself.”

He didn’t know how to explain. After the initial shock, he immediately realized that the bodies inside had been deliberately piled up in one spot—to intimidate anyone who came after. But even knowing their intent, so what? In the face of absolute strength, he still backed down.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen corpses before—he had seen even more than this, and in even more gruesome and horrifying conditions. But that was in the heartland of South Continent. To seize the land’s rich energy resources, major capitalist nations had fabricated false charges and started a protracted war, leaving the people of South Continent’s heartland ravaged by conflict. Countless people died from war and famine; corpses littered the ground.

The corpses in South Continent’s heartland were not the same as what he was seeing now—there was simply no comparison. Most of the former were civilians, many of whom had no means of resistance. But the ones who had just died here were all mercenaries. Perhaps not the strongest squad, but definitely not weak—and yet, they were completely annihilated by the team now in the kitchen, in less than half an hour.

That showed just how terrifying the strength of the team in the kitchen was.

They were simply not an opponent he could hope to defeat.

Captain Pegg was puzzled when he heard Rodney’s words. He took two steps forward, bent down slightly, and quietly peeked around the corner. What met his eyes was a floor covered in corpses, bl00d spread everywhere. Like Rodney, his first reaction was shock, and then he quickly understood the meaning behind it. No wonder Rodney told him to see for himself.

Just as Pegg was about to pull back, he suddenly saw a head pop out from the opposite corner. Clearly, theirs wasn’t the only squad trying to take advantage of the situation—someone else was doing the same. The other party noticed Pegg at the same time. The two locked eyes for a moment, then both retreated.

“Captain, what’s the situation?”

“What happened?”

The other teammates softly asked after Pegg finished his observation.

Pegg briefly summarized, “The people in the kitchen are tough. Two squads tried to take them down and failed—ended up getting themselves killed. We’re not the only ones watching; I just saw someone poke their head out from the other side. The situation’s a bit complicated. I can’t decide whether we should try going in. Let’s vote.”

Their opponent was very powerful—this much was certain. Pegg understood that clearly. And he could guess what Rodney was thinking; after working together for years, he knew Rodney well. Rodney’s style had always been on the conservative side, lacking a gambler’s mindset. If the success rate of something was below 70%, he’d feel hesitant.

That kind of personality might be fine in other fields—but not for a mercenary.

Take now, for instance—Rodney telling Pegg to see for himself clearly meant he was already inclined to retreat. Pegg was also wary of the strength of their target, but unlike Rodney, he hadn’t backed down—because he had thought it through more deeply. In theory, no matter how strong the target squad was, it was impossible for them to completely wipe out two other squads without paying any price.

They must have been injured—it was just unclear how badly.

Those corpses could be a deterrent tactic, or they might just be a bluff.

Without being able to confirm this—and with another squad clearly also eyeing the scene—Pegg couldn’t make a firm decision.

This was the moment to vote.

As expected, the final result was in line with Pegg’s prediction. Their team had five people. Aside from Rodney, the other four wanted to take the gamble. If the target was bluffing, that would be ideal. Since the final scoring wasn’t yet tallied, the ten corpses alone would guarantee them at least 200 points!

Even if they guessed wrong, it wasn’t a big deal—they were confident in their ability to escape.

But only if they could deal with the other squad that had poked its head out—Pegg didn’t want someone else swooping in to reap the benefits after they had taken all the risk.

Pegg led the team to approach quietly, wanting to test the other party’s strength. But surprisingly, they saw no sign of the squad that had popped up earlier. It was unclear whether they were hiding or had chosen to retreat. Pegg was inclined to believe it was the latter—he always planned for the worst.

“Rodney, stay outside. If anything happens, notify us immediately.” To be safe, Pegg decided to leave someone outside. Rodney, being the team’s scout, was a natural fit.

“Alright,” Rodney responded.

Pegg waved his hand, gesturing toward the kitchen door for the rest to follow him in.

Inside the kitchen, Jing Ling had just finished preparing a late-night snack and hadn’t had time to eat when he sensed people outside—and two different groups at that. They hadn’t come in directly, instead stopping at both corners of the corridor, clearly deterred by the pile of corpses at the door.

Xu Shaohuai had also noticed. Unlike Jing Ling, who relied on his exceptionally sharp hearing, Xu Shaohuai had seen light dots approaching on the sensor.

One of the squads had cautiously hidden their number plates, as only five light dots showed on the display.

Only one squad was visible, and they had remained stationary—Xu Shaohuai felt a bit of relief. Their hesitation meant they lacked confidence in their own strength. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be affected by the sight of corpses.

He hoped they would ultimately choose to retreat rather than gamble on rushing in. Because for them, no matter the outcome, it wouldn’t end well. If they lost, they’d die—nothing more to say. But even if they won, in their current condition, they’d definitely have to pay a price.

And all they’d gain would be five heads and number plates worth a total of 125 points.

It seemed like a lot—but right now, he didn’t want it.

According to their new plan, their team needed to control their score—they didn’t need to be in the top two. Staying close behind the other top teams was enough. Because they had found a sensor, they could use it to locate hidden number plates from other teams and win through hidden bonus points at the end.

Due to a series of unexpected events, their score had already risen quite high—but not to the point of being out of reach. However, if it increased any further, that might no longer be true.

Once scores were announced, teams in the top three would face far more risk than anyone else. And in their current state, they were in no shape to become everyone’s target.

Xu Shaohuai explained the situation outside to the others. His intention was to have Bai Ningxi and Yang Xinyao hide, while he, Song Xiuyuan, and Jing Ling got ready to fight. The other team hadn’t come in yet—but it was basic protocol to prepare in advance.

Of course, he still hoped the others wouldn’t come.

Unfortunately, that hope was dashed. The sensor screen showed the five light dots beginning to move—toward them, not away.

He was about to speak when Jing Ling said, “You and Knife stay here. Close the door.”

“You—”

“If I can’t handle it, it won’t be too late for you to come out.”

As the words fell, Jing Ling was already walking out, leaving only his back to them.

Xu Shaohuai couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Things had developed to this point—something neither he nor the decision-makers back then could have predicted. As the team captain, he should have been the core—but now all the weight had landed on Jing Ling alone.

If they failed, they’d all die nameless martyrs. But if they survived and completed the mission—then for Jing Ling, everything would change.

The accident during university military training had brought him to the attention of high-level officials as the heir of the Li family. But whether it was the trip to Hedao arranged by the Jiang family, or the Changchuling mission he had planned, they were all just tests. Only after confirming his capabilities did this Hunting Ground mission come.

This was the real test—and the highest difficulty one.

If he could complete this mission successfully, all the privileges once given to the Li family would come to him.

When Jing Ling stepped out from the kitchen’s back room, he carried all the weapons he had gathered—plus his own and Yang Xinyao’s. Seventeen daggers in total.

He had always believed in striking first—and this time was no exception.

Just as he finished hiding them in the outer room, the opposing team reached the door. They had cautiously left one person outside—probably to watch out for the other team they thought was still nearby. Unfortunately, they didn’t know that squad had already left.

Four people stood pressed against the door, listening for movement inside. A moment later, there was a loud bang as the door was kicked open. Four figures rushed in—two checked behind the door, and the others scanned the room.

Jing Ling’s hiding spot gave him a clear view of the door. The moment the enemy turned around, he raised his hand and threw a dagger.

Direct hit! The blade pierced through the shoulder blade—completely embedded!

“Ahhh—!” A scream rang out.

The attention of the other three wasn’t on this side, so they didn’t notice right away. The moment they heard the sound, they realized something was wrong and instinctively turned to check on their teammates. By the time they noticed the flying dagger, Jing Ling had already made his second move.

This time, his target was the chest, since his opponent was facing him.

Jing Ling attacked again because of Xu Shaohuai’s plan—to control the score as much as possible—so he couldn’t go for a lethal strike like before. This made things slightly more troublesome, but fortunately, he had plenty of knives now. If one didn’t work, he’d throw another. They’re all made of flesh and bl00d—after getting a few knives stuck in them, it was basically impossible to keep moving around like nothing happened.

It was just like kite-fighting monsters in a game. With his speed and the threat of flying knives, it was basically impossible for the enemy to get close and engage him in hand-to-hand combat.

Jing Ling also had an idea—if he could subdue all of them…

After suffering two attacks, the opponents finally realized they were dealing with a long-range fighter. Anyone with sense would know to take cover, or else they’d just be a sitting duck. And clearly, this team wasn’t made up of fools—they quickly crouched down and looked for the nearest cover. As for their teammates? That would have to wait until after ensuring their own survival.

It wasn’t that they were cold-blooded or selfish—this was simply the best approach. Only by staying alive did they have the right to worry about anything else.

Pegg hid behind the closest cupboard, cautiously sticking his head out to observe the enemy’s position while shouting, “Habakkuk! Gabi! How are you?!”

He couldn’t go check for himself, so he had to ask.

“A knife in the back, didn’t hit anything vital, I’m not dead yet!”

“One in the chest, also not vital, I’m okay!”

Hearing their responses, Peg breathed a sigh of relief. Injuries were common for people like them—they had danced on the edge of death more times than they could count. Injuries of this level weren’t really a big deal.

“Only one of them has come out so far. Looks like our gamble paid off. Those corpses out there were just for show. Their people must be injured, or maybe even dead. The kitchen door is shut—the rest of them must be in there! I’ll team up with Prim to stall him as best we can. You two find a way to get over there and go inside.”

“Make it fast—before anything changes!”

Just as Pegg finished speaking, Rodney’s voice came from outside the door. “Captain, what’s going on in there? Need my help?”

He had clearly heard the commotion inside but didn’t know what had happened.

“We’re good! Just keep an eye on the situation outside!” Pegg responded. They had two people injured right off the bat because they didn’t expect the enemy to be so skilled with throwing knives—definitely a tricky problem. Fortunately, the others weren’t seriously hurt. With four against one, they still held a huge advantage.

As long as they could get close enough to force the enemy into hand-to-hand combat, they could pin him down. Then Habakkuk and Gabi could rush into the inner room. At that point, the enemy would be distracted, and they’d have a chance to take him out. Inside-outside coordination—and they’d have over 300 points in the bag!

“Alright. Be careful!” Rodney reminded them.

They were speaking in the language of a South Continent country—a language so niche that even students specializing in rare languages rarely chose it, since there was no future in it. Their opponent looked like he was from the East Continent, so there was no way he could understand what they were saying.

So Pegg wasn’t worried at all about the plan being overheard.

His thinking wasn’t wrong—this would’ve worked on almost any other team aboard this cruise. Unfortunately, their opponent happened to be Jing Ling—an overpowered anomaly.

He could even understand animals, whether flying in the sky, running on land, or swimming in water—let alone human languages.

Hearing their plan, Jing Ling didn’t feel the least bit nervous. His position was already near the door to the kitchen’s inner room—specifically to block intruders. The thought that had just occurred to him—of subduing these people—was aimed at stockpiling points, and then killing them near the end of the game. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about having too many points and becoming everyone’s target. It was also a backup strategy, tied to the number tags—just in case.

After all, five kills were worth 100 points, the equivalent of 20 number tags.

But all this was based on one premise: their team posed no threat to his. Otherwise, the next time he threw a dagger, it would aim straight for a vital point.

Sure enough, the opponents began trying to close in on him. Their goal was obvious—to force him away from the kitchen door so the two injured teammates could carry out the plan. They were betting that Jing Ling’s supply of throwing knives was limited. Once he ran out, he’d have to engage in melee combat. Two against one—it shouldn’t be hard to hold him back.

A solid plan—except they forgot where they were. It was a kitchen—pots, bowls, utensils of all kinds, everything you could imagine.

Jing Ling was good with throwing knives, but even random kitchenware thrown by him had deadly accuracy.

And so, a ridiculous scene unfolded. Jing Ling stood next to the sterilizer. Whenever the enemy so much as peeked out, something would come flying at them from behind the open door. They could dodge once or twice, but after several times, they were bound to get hit.

The sound of porcelain shattering filled the air. The floor was littered with shards. Not only had the enemies failed to get close, they’d been forced into a corner of the kitchen, barely able to move.

They had tried rushing forward while shielding themselves with objects, but after just a few steps, a flying knife would come at them. Any exposed part of the body would get stabbed. In the end, they achieved nothing and got wounded instead—shoulders, legs, arms. None of the wounds were fatal, but they severely hampered mobility.

Pegg was crouched in the corner, his back pressed against the wall. Gritting his teeth, he had a teammate pull the dagger from his right arm.

The instant the blade slid out, an intense wave of pain shot through him. Even someone like him couldn’t help but gasp sharply and let out a low growl. “Hss—ahhh!”

They had no professional medics, and the conditions didn’t allow for proper treatment. They just sprinkled some medicine on the wound and wrapped it a few times with a bandage—done.

Most people are right-handed—Pegg was no exception. With that wound on his arm, he could still hold a weapon, but every movement brought excruciating pain. His combat ability was basically halved. The rest of the team wasn’t much better off.

“Captain, we should retreat!” Prim gritted his teeth.

Their situation was downright miserable. Four against one, and not only did they gain nothing, they’d been thoroughly crushed.

Pegg didn’t respond right away. He wasn’t willing to accept this. If the enemy had been overwhelmingly strong, he might have let it go. But the rest of the enemy team was injured or didn’t even dare come out—only one person was left fighting. If they could just take him down, they’d get at least 300 points.

But who knew this one guy would be such a monster?

They’d already paid the price and still gotten nothing. How could he accept that?

Gritting his teeth, he peeked out to check the enemy’s position. From his angle, he could see the man leaning against the sterilizer, arms crossed. His face was hidden behind a mask, but his posture exuded complete ease and confidence—like…

A terrifying thought suddenly popped into Pegg’s head. His eyes widened in shock.

A teammate noticed something was off. “Captain, what’s wrong?”

Pegg turned to him. After hesitating a moment, he voiced his suspicion: “What if… he’s toying with us?”

Or rather—what if he’s just playing with them for fun?

He had sensed something off earlier but hadn’t had time to think deeply about it. Now, with them all cornered and the enemy not pressing the attack, it felt more and more wrong. That relaxed posture… There was no pressure at all. That was what triggered his realization.

All of them had the same kind of injuries—not fatal, but enough to limit movement.

If it were just one or two, it could be coincidence. But all of them? It could only mean one thing: the enemy was doing it on purpose.

He could’ve hit vital areas with those flying knives. But he didn’t.

What other explanation could there be… other than that he was toying with them?

The others thought it over and realized it made sense. A chill ran down their spines.

What kind of monster were they dealing with?

It was terrifying.

“Retreat!” Pegg said through gritted teeth.

Now that everything was clear, if he stayed here any longer, he’d be an idiot.

The corner they were hiding in was a distance from the door. Earlier, they hadn’t thought much of it. Now, it felt like every inch of the setup had been calculated by the enemy.

From this position to the door, they’d definitely be exposed to enemy sight during the retreat. Knowing what their opponent could do, they had to pretend they were launching another attack—to keep the enemy from realizing they were trying to run, which might trigger a fatal strike.

Before moving, Pegg contacted Rodney outside the door: “Get ready to pull out. We’ll be coming out soon.”

Even though their opponent supposedly couldn’t understand them, Pegg still tried to keep his tone calm—just in case.

After speaking, Pegg peeked out once more to confirm the enemy’s location. His gaze accidentally met the enemy’s—and in that moment, a bad feeling welled up in his chest.

It was confirmed a second later.

From the moment they entered the kitchen, their opponent hadn’t said a single word.

Now he finally spoke.

His voice was surprisingly pleasant and youthful, but to Pegg, it sounded like the voice of a devil—because he was speaking their language!

“The corpses at the door were your final warning. Too bad you didn’t take the hint. Since you’ve come in—stay forever.”

Chapter 152

Unlike before, when they could only rely on the flickering hallway lights to see, now with the lights constantly on, the view outside from the kitchen’s inner room was clear. A squad had five people; four had entered, so it seemed one had been left outside to stand guard. The solitary moving light dot on the sensor outside the door confirmed this from another angle.

Jing Ling went out alone to face four opponents. Not just Xu Shaohuai—everyone in the room was worried for him. But no matter how anxious they were, aside from praying behind the glass, there was nothing they could do. Two logistics personnel with negative combat power and two injured people—if they went out, not only would they be unable to help him, they’d only drag him down.

Very soon, they realized their worries were unnecessary. From the very beginning, Jing Ling had full control of the battle. It was as if he were toying with harmless little animals; everything about him exuded calm ease and control. Especially when he stood guarding the disinfection cabinet, throwing bowls inside as hidden weapons—the way the enemy scrambled to dodge made them look like startled rabbits hopping about, yet still unable to avoid getting hit.

It was reminiscent of the game “Whack-a-Mole.” Jing Ling was the one holding the hammer, while the intruders unwillingly became the rabbits popping out of holes.

At this point, there was nothing left to worry about. Bai Ningxi and the others had already entered full-on spectator mode, trying hard to suppress their laughter. But unlike these laypeople, Xu Shaohuai noticed something more. He had already seen Jing Ling’s skill in earlier battles, but this time, the knives Jing Ling threw never hit any vital points. Once or twice could be considered a miss, but this many times could only mean he was doing it on purpose.

But why?

If it were for his new plan to control team points, wouldn’t it be better to quickly and decisively kill one or two of them to scare off the rest? End the fight swiftly and relocate as planned. But instead, by only injuring and not killing, and giving the enemy time to breathe, even creating the illusion that “if we just try hard enough, we might have a chance,” dragging out the battle like this seemed to offer them no advantage at all.

At first, Xu Shaohuai couldn’t figure it out. Then he tried changing his perspective and soon thought of a possibility—injure them heavily and capture them alive, then kill them at the end of the game! This would not only help control the point count but also add a layer of insurance!

The idea was downright insane and terrifying!

Killing someone outright versus keeping them like property only to kill them later—these were two completely different concepts!

Xu Shaohuai looked at Jing Ling outside the glass wall, falling into deep thought. What exactly had happened in the past decade to shape an eighteen-year-old into someone like this? He possessed extraordinary strength that defied imagination. While abiding by the rules of civilized society, he also perfectly adapted to the brutal laws of the jungle—seamlessly switching between roles without the slightest conflict. Gentle yet ruthless, mad yet composed—traits that were clearly contradictory coexisted perfectly in him!

This person—inside and out—seemed flawless in every way.

But perhaps it was precisely this flawlessness that gave off an illusory sense of unreality.

The shouting from outside snapped Xu Shaohuai back to reality. The enemy seemed to have come up with a new plan, but unfortunately, he couldn’t understand them. That couldn’t be helped—teams participating in the Hunting Grounds game came from all over the world every year, from countries whose names most people had never even heard of, let alone understood their languages. Most mercenaries only spoke the common international language. Daily conversation and mission-specific phrases were a minimum requirement—without that, you could forget about communicating altogether.

While Xu Shaohuai was trying to guess their intentions, someone else suddenly spoke. He didn’t understand that either… Wait, that voice sounded really familiar?! He froze for a moment and instantly realized—of course it was familiar, it was Jing Ling’s voice!

Though Xu Shaohuai didn’t know which language they were speaking, it was obvious—Jing Ling was speaking the same language as the intruders!

What the hell?! How does he know that language?!

Before Xu Shaohuai could even recover from his shock, the battle outside erupted. The enemy’s intent was clear—they charged straight toward the door, clearly trying to retreat.

Jing Ling’s goal was to keep some of them alive. If things had continued at the original pace, that outcome might’ve been possible. But the enemy saw through him, and all previous efforts were wasted. In this situation, the only remaining option was to kill them all. These people knew the status of their team. That was a huge risk. Whether they fled and lay low to seek revenge later or exchanged intel with other teams, the consequences would be unpredictable.

Eliminate the root, leave no threats behind.

That was the most basic rule of survival in the Hunting Grounds.

Xu Shaohuai could practically see their team’s score rising again. Once the organizer published the updated points tomorrow, their team’s name would be at the top of the rankings—standing above all others—and would become the focus of every other team’s attention…

Sigh.

He sighed in his heart.

However, what happened next was far from what he expected.

Jing Ling seemed to have locked onto his targets and had no intention of letting them escape. Almost the moment the intruders bolted, the throwing knives in his hands followed—launched at such incredible speed that they exceeded the limits of what the human eye could track. Even with Xu Shaohuai’s excellent eyesight and rich combat experience, all he could see were fleeting afterimages. He could tell there were a lot of knives but couldn’t determine exactly how many.

Next, he heard the enemies cry out in pain. Two of them collapsed instantly. The remaining ones weren’t in much better shape—they staggered and barely managed to stay on their feet. Their pace slowed—or rather, they were forced to stop.

No doubt—the throwing knives had hit their marks.

Clearly, Jing Ling had been toying with them earlier…

Despite their injuries, the enemies still tried to retreat, dragging themselves toward the door. Their intentions were easy to guess: as long as they got out of the kitchen, they could count it as surviving half the battle. Jing Ling wouldn’t dare chase too far—after all, his wounded teammates were still inside. That was his weakness. He wouldn’t risk it.

They were absolutely right—but unfortunately, Jing Ling wasn’t going to give them that chance. As soon as he threw the knives, he moved. Using the edge of a cabinet for leverage, he vaulted up and raced along the top. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance.

He leapt down from the cabinet and, before the enemy could react, kicked one square in the chest—sending him flying. Then Jing Ling landed with a clean backflip, sidestepped a punch from behind, grabbed the attacker’s arm, and slammed him over his shoulder—dislocating the arm with a follow-up twist.

The other two reacted slightly slower and were taken down one by one by Jing Ling.

All four lay on the ground. Jing Ling hadn’t held back—they were thrown hard. On top of that, earlier when he’d been hurling bowls from the disinfection cabinet, shards had scattered everywhere. These guys were big, and when they fell, they couldn’t avoid the fragments. Surrounded and pierced by ceramic shrapnel, their bodies were riddled with wounds. No matter how much pain tolerance someone had, there was a limit. The increasing waves of pain eventually pushed them past that threshold, and they writhed on the ground in agony.

The person who had been standing watch outside realized something was wrong and rushed in. Upon seeing the scene inside, he froze in shock. Just as he hesitated, Jing Ling, who had retrieved some of his knives after the melee, seized the moment and launched one straight at him—striking his weapon hand before he could even react.

Although he reacted swiftly afterward and tried to hide, he didn’t get the chance—Jing Ling’s throwing knives were launched in rapid succession. After hitting the arm, the next two struck both thighs, rendering the man immobile.

The whole process lasted less than five minutes. The battle was essentially over. Jing Ling remained completely unscathed, while the entire opposing team was wiped out here. Just to be safe, even though they didn’t seem to pose any further threat, he still went up to each of them, disabling both their arms and then chopping the side of their necks with a hand strike to knock them out cold.

Screams rang out one after another, then quickly faded into silence.

After finishing all this, he expertly began cleaning up the battlefield. First, he retrieved all his throwing knives, and while he was at it, took away the weapons from the opponents as well. Then he searched them for number tags. Once he finished collecting the spoils, he casually closed the door to the kitchen from the outside and returned.

With the battle over, the door inside naturally opened. Just as Jing Ling stepped through, Xu Shaohuai asked, “What do you plan to do with those people outside?” Although he had already guessed most of it, he still wanted to hear Jing Ling confirm it himself.

Including the five knives from the squad outside, the total number of blades in Jing Ling’s hands had already exceeded twenty. Since he didn’t have any storage space with him, he obviously couldn’t carry them all. Given that the kitchen had no shortage of containers, he casually grabbed a basin, placed his knives and the number tags inside, and brought it in holding it with both hands. Hearing Xu Shaohuai’s question, he replied casually, “I’ll find something to tie them up with in a bit, then just leave them there. If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll deal with them on the last night.”

By “deal with,” he naturally meant killing them. As for the unexpected, it referred to the possibility that while keeping them alive until the last day, someone else might intercept and take them away. If that happened and they couldn’t protect them, then they’d have no choice but to kill them early—after all, it’s better for the points to go to their team than to others.

As he spoke, Jing Ling carried the basin to the sink. Once there, he set it down, turned on the tap, and began washing his knives one by one.

The others looked on with dark expressions, not immediately processing the implications of what he had just said.

Halfway through the cleaning, Jing Ling suddenly asked, “The midnight snack I made is almost cold. Aren’t you going to eat it? Don’t blame me for not warning you—this might be the only hot meal you’ll get. After this, you’ll mostly be relying on fruit and biscuits to get by.” After a short pause, he added, “Honestly, you all could’ve just locked the door and eaten earlier.”

Lock the door… and eat?!

For some reason, a sentence suddenly popped into everyone’s heads: A genius’s thought process isn’t something normal people can keep up with. In that earlier situation, it was like being stuck at the highest point of a roller coaster, with their hearts in their throats, barely able to breathe. To be able to calmly shut the door and eat—how fearless would you have to be?!

But now that everything had settled down, they could finally eat.

After this brief interlude, the team began relocating their base. This had already been decided earlier when Xu Shaohuai came up with the new plan. Their goal was to hide and recover while using the sensor to scavenge number tags hidden by other teams. The kitchen was too obvious a place to stay—unsuitable for hiding. It was better to find a room, and if nothing else, at least lie down and rest properly.

As for the unconscious squad outside, Jing Ling first tied their hands and feet, gagged them, and stuffed them into the cupboard in the side room to hide them. Once they found a suitable place, he’d come back and move them. He knew exactly how much force he used and could ensure they wouldn’t wake up anytime soon.

With the help of the sensor and Jing Ling’s human-radar-like abilities, they successfully avoided other teams and found an empty nearby room to settle in. After Yang Xinyao confirmed that nothing was amiss, Jing Ling headed back to transport his “mobile points.” Each of the burly men weighed dozens of kilograms, but he lifted and dragged them effortlessly, without even breaking a sweat. Five people, moved in three trips.

It was already late at night. Xu Shaohuai and Song Xiuyuan had exhausted almost all their energy during the earlier battle, and with their injuries, their current condition was visibly poor. When Jing Ling went out, they had to stay fully alert just in case something went wrong. Though Yang Xinyao had already confirmed things were safe, caution never hurt.

Once Jing Ling returned, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Even the most luxurious cruise room had limited space. Housing five people was already cramped—now with five additional “mobile points,” it was getting crowded. Luckily, the adjacent room was also empty. Jing Ling threw the people over there and brought Bai Ningxi with him.

“I’ll leave it to you. Just make sure they stay quiet for at least one night—no problem, right?” Jing Ling asked, pointing to the unconscious men on the floor.

Bai Ningxi was silent for a moment, then nodded. “No problem.” Not just one night—he could keep them quiet until the game ended. On his left wrist was a silver bracelet, the kind commonly worn by children. Over the years, the decorative patterns had worn off, but this was actually a Bai family heirloom—every heir of the family line had one. The bracelet was hollow, containing silver needles for emergencies.

Due to the nature of the game, temporary cameras had been installed in the room—everywhere except the bathroom. Because of this, Jing Ling dragged all the captives into the bathroom.

The Five Great Families were a special case, especially after the earlier extermination of the Li family. Jing Ling thought it was better to be cautious. In any case, they were recuperating now, so locking the captives up together was a reasonable move.

Though it was his first time doing something like this, Bai Ningxi adapted quickly and soon finished, exiting the room. After Jing Ling closed the bathroom door, the two returned to the main room.

Xu Shaohuai and Song Xiuyuan were already lying down, while Yang Xinyao was curled up on the sofa hugging a pillow. When Jing Ling and Bai Ningxi entered, all three looked over—they clearly weren’t asleep.

Under such circumstances, sleeping wasn’t easy.

“How did it go?” Xu Shaohuai asked.

Jing Ling didn’t answer, instead glancing at Bai Ningxi. The latter replied, “No problem. Even if they wake up, they won’t be able to move or make a sound.”

“Good,” said Xu Shaohuai, clearly exhausted. He looked around at the others and said, “Try to rest. This is probably the last moment of peace we’ll get.” After daybreak, the re-energized teams would start moving. Before the next night arrived, the points would be announced. From then until the game’s end, it would be sleepless nights. He then turned to Jing Ling and said, “We’ll be counting on you tonight!”

From the start of the game until now, Jing Ling had expended just as much energy as the others, but they had no choice. Their team now consisted of two support staff and two injured members. Only Jing Ling could handle the night watch.

Jing Ling nodded and revealed the dagger in his hand. “Rest easy. If anything happens, I’ll take care of it.”

Then he turned to Yang Xinyao on the sofa and said, “If you don’t mind, you can rest in the room next door.”

The bed in the suite could be split into two singles, but they neither had the time nor saw the need. The two injured men made do lying there. As for the rest, the only remaining sleeping space was the sofa Yang Xinyao was sitting on. Technically, under these circumstances, compromises were inevitable, and sleeping on the sofa wasn’t too much of a hardship.

Jing Ling knew Yang Xinyao wasn’t that delicate. His suggestion mainly stemmed from personnel arrangement concerns. Xu Shaohuai and Song Xiuyuan were injured—although they seemed stable now, things could change quickly. He wanted Bai Ningxi to stay in this room so that someone with excellent medical skills would be on hand. At the same time, he was also considering whether Yang Xinyao, being the only girl, might feel uncomfortable sharing the room with the others.

Yang Xinyao was clearly tempted, though she seemed to have some reservations and didn’t immediately agree.

Jing Ling thought for a moment and quickly guessed her concern, so he reassured her, “I’ll be right next door—it’s fine.”

“…Alright.” Yang Xinyao paused for a moment, then nodded, set down her pillow, and stood up from the sofa.

Jing Ling accompanied her to the room next door. Once she was tucked into bed, he turned off the light and gently closed the door before returning to Xu Shaohuai’s room.

Bai Ningxi was still awake. Seeing Jing Ling return, he said, “You can sleep on the sofa!”

The only sleeping spots were the bed and the sofa. If he gave the sofa to Jing Ling, he’d have to sit all night. But he had his own reasoning—as a support team member, he didn’t mind the discomfort.

Jing Ling smiled. “I’m on night watch—I’m not sleeping. You go rest properly. The captain and the others are counting on you.”

Hearing that, Bai Ningxi didn’t insist. “Thanks for your hard work!” After speaking, he grabbed a pillow to use as a headrest and lay down.

Jing Ling had planned to just sit near the door all night, but he suddenly remembered something. He went back, found a blanket, and draped it over Bai Ningxi. Only then did he go sit by the door, back against the wall, one leg stretched out, one bent, playing with the sensor in his hand. On the screen was a single large glowing dot, located in the room next door—that was where they had hidden the number tags.

Just in case, they weren’t stored in their current room.

The continuous string of accidents they’d experienced earlier seemed to have used up all their bad luck. From then until dawn, not only did nothing happen—no one even passed by the door.

Logically, even if conditions were ideal, it would’ve been nearly impossible to get a truly restful sleep in this kind of environment. But perhaps it was the overwhelming sense of security Jing Ling brought—everyone slept soundly through the night until morning.

Things continued smoothly until the afternoon, just before the organizers announced the team point rankings. But there was a small incident midway.

As expected, after daybreak, the teams that had lain low overnight began to stir. Shortly after Xu Shaohuai and the others woke up, a team passed by, checking rooms one by one from the other end of the hallway. They had number tags on them—Xu Shaohuai saw it on the sensor. The glowing dot was already very close—just two rooms away from theirs.

Chapter 153

Faced with this situation, Xu Shaohuai had even been prepared for a fight. But the outcome was unexpected: the light spot representing the enemy paused for a moment at the door of the neighboring room, then suddenly moved away rapidly. Judging from the sensor, the speed indicated a full-on sprint. What exactly happened during that time was hard not to be curious about—but Xu Shaohuai had always been good at controlling his curiosity.

However, what he didn’t know, Jing Ling did. Relying on his extraordinary hearing, Jing Ling was aware that another team had arrived. This group wasn’t wearing numbered badges, so Xu Shaohuai couldn’t detect them on the sensor. It seemed that the earlier team came out of the room, saw the newcomers from afar, and—perhaps not wanting to engage for some reason—retreated quickly. The later-arriving team then chose to give chase, and both teams passed by the doorway one after another.

As the first and strongest line of defense for their team, Jing Ling was stationed not far from the door. Once he confirmed that the two teams outside were about to run out of the hallway, he quietly cracked the door open and took a look.

He didn’t recognize the ones running in front, but those chasing from behind… what a coincidence—they were “old acquaintances”: the team that had declared war on them at the start of the game. If the circumstances allowed it, Jing Ling really wanted to quietly follow them and give them a “surprise”!

After this little episode, nothing else happened until 6:00 p.m., when the organizers announced the team rankings. Compared to yesterday’s continuous stream of unexpected events, today went so smoothly it felt almost unreal.

On the fourth deck of the cruise ship, many places had display screens, and every guest room was guaranteed to have one. At 6:00 p.m. sharp, all the screens, previously turned off, lit up in unison. A blonde-haired, fair-skinned female host with striking features began speaking in the international common language. Most of what she said was of little importance, but then she focused on introducing the top three teams in terms of points.

Jing Ling’s team was listed first.

“This team is an old acquaintance. Their background likely needs no explanation for those following the Hunt Grounds. Their captain, Fox, led his team to successfully challenge the Hunt Grounds three times and was among the final winners each time. However, there was an accident during the last game… One year later, Fox returns with newly recruited teammates, once again stepping into the Hunt Grounds like a king, and right at the start of the game, he seized the number one spot!”

As the host finished her sentence, the screen split into two parts: the left showed portraits, while the right displayed the team name and score.

——
Team: Azure Dragon
Score: 350
Rank: 1
——

Yes, Jing Ling’s team name—while quite common locally—was outwardly distinctive in its cultural identity: Azure Dragon. The score shown excluded their numbered badges. Even the badges they personally possessed weren’t counted. Only the fifteen team members were considered, totaling 300 points.

The host then introduced the second and third-place teams.

Second place was a team named Mogrosa, derived from a well-known Western myth, referring to a deity governing death. This team lived up to the name. In the mercenary world, they ranked among the top elite teams and were consistently among the final winners in the Hunt Grounds. They had entered the Hunt Grounds two years before Xu Shaohuai. What mindset they had when they first participated was unclear, but from the round Xu Shaohuai joined, it was evident that everything they did was for the thrill of killing.

Each year, in the final Hunt Grounds game, at least a quarter of the deaths could be attributed to them.

——
Team: Mogrosa
Score: 180
Rank: 2
——

Third place was also a familiar team. They hailed from the most romantic nation in Central Continent. Even their team name reflected their cultural background.

——
Team: Moon Goddess
Score: 170
Rank: 3
——

The host only introduced the top three teams, then directly announced the full rankings and scores of all teams. There were 32 teams total. Even teams that had been entirely wiped out were still listed, but their names were greyed out to clearly distinguish them as “dead.”

The rankings were displayed on the left and right sides of the screen, ordered from top to bottom, left to right. The top three were highlighted in the upper-left corner. In any other setting, this would be an honor—but here, it was like a bold, flashing challenge: “Come kill me!”

Jing Ling watched the entire thing expressionlessly. At the end, he scanned the rankings and memorized them all. He also noticed that the “familiar” team that had passed through the hallway earlier ranked quite high.

——
Team: Pasoriyé
Score: 100
Rank: 6
——

Pasoriyé also originated from the Western Continent. In ancient mythology, it referred to a flower that could poison even the gods.

Apparently, any team with a reputation could trace their name back to some piece of history.

In a secluded corner of the fourth-deck general area, members of the Moon Goddess team sat around a round table, their eyes fixed on the display screen in front of them. Seeing the rankings listed, they couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised.

At the start of the game, most teams would choose to lie low and observe, waiting for the right opportunity. But clearly, elite mercenary squads like theirs didn’t fall into that category.

Just like Mogrosa, the Moon Goddess team were regulars in the Hunt Grounds. Along with the late-rising Azure Dragon team, these three had always been dominant winners in the final rounds. Overall, the Moon Goddess team had the best record: of the last three games, the three teams had each placed first once, but in addition, Moon Goddess had taken second place twice. Mogrosa had also placed first, second, and third. Among the three, Azure Dragon had the weakest record—aside from one first place, their other two finishes were both third.

In fact, during the last Hunting Grounds game, Azure Dragon had suffered a major setback. Except for the captain, Fox, the remaining four members—although their lives were spared—had been left crippled. They could barely live like normal people now, let alone continue as mercenaries. Given those circumstances, everyone thought they wouldn’t return this round. But Fox still came.

However, while Fox showed up, no one had high hopes for his new teammates. Especially those two who, no matter how you looked at them, seemed like ordinary people. If it were up to the Moon Goddess team, they’d rather have the previously crippled teammates—at least they had combat awareness.

For that reason, at the start of this game, neither Moon Goddess nor Mogrosa had regarded Azure Dragon as a real threat. In their eyes, first and second place would only ever be a battle between their own two teams.

Last night, in the fourth-floor buffet, they encountered two teams in quick succession and fought both times. They killed four and severely injured four, earning 120 points. Since the game had just begun and everyone was still cautious, it was pure luck they encountered two teams like that. Based on past experience, that score should have placed them first. Other teams wouldn’t be able to challenge them—only Mogrosa was a possible threat.

Their luck had been good—but so had Mogrosa’s. In fact, to make it into the top-tier mercenary ranks, no one was lacking in luck. In this line of work, raw strength was crucial—but so was luck.

Now that the rankings were out, it was no surprise that Mogrosa’s team was strong—they beat them by ten points. But the Moon Goddess team didn’t really mind; after all, this wasn’t the final result, and there was still more than a full day left in the game. Plenty of time to catch up and overtake.

What they truly couldn’t accept was Azure Dragon’s score.

The team they had completely dismissed had taken first place after the rankings were announced—with a score equal to the combined total of both their teams!

It was a slap in the face!

“Damn it! How did they pull that off?!” growled a large blond man with blue eyes. His thick brows were tightly furrowed.

He wasn’t the only one—everyone was baffled.

“Captain, what do you think?”

The Moon Goddess captain, Bold, was also a blond, blue-eyed white man—with a face handsome enough to be called striking. His tall frame and well-proportioned muscles made him irresistible to women.

When he heard the question, his gaze returned to the name “Azure Dragon.” His eyes narrowed slightly, making him look both dangerous and seductive. After a moment of thought, he finally spoke:

“We’ve dealt with Azure Dragon plenty of times before. You all know Fox and his team’s capabilities. But after that last incident, all his teammates have been replaced. That woman and the thinner man might have some special abilities—after all, they come from that ancient and mysterious nation—but I don’t think they’re combatants. That leaves two others. We haven’t encountered them before, so we can’t assess their strength. However, the man in the clown mask participated in the first game. At the very least, we can confirm he has an excellent memory and strong observational skills. Beyond that, either his hearing or sense of smell must be extraordinary. I lean toward the former.”

“If we run into them next, the top priority is to eliminate the man with the clown mask. Then comes Fox. As for the other unfamiliar face—we’ll test his abilities first. And don’t let your guard down against the woman and the thin man either. Be cautious with all of them!”

Chapter 154

The Moon God Team had already arranged their next steps, but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Even though they had been deliberately searching for the Azure Dragon Team, over a dozen hours had passed, and they hadn’t even caught a glimpse of their target.

“Damn it! Could they be invisible?!” Henry gritted his teeth. He was known for his fiery temper within the Moon God Team, while the others were all calm and composed.

It was now 2 a.m., exactly 26 hours since the start of the game. The points rankings were updated every two hours, and this was the update window.

——
Team: Azure Dragon
Points: 350
Ranking: 1
——
Team: Moon God
Points: 340
Ranking: 2
——
Team: Mogrossa
Points: 320
Ranking: 3
——

Since the first update at 6 p.m. yesterday, over the past eight hours, they had actively sought out two teams and stumbled upon another. In total, they killed seven people and severely injured three, increasing their points by 170. They were now only ten points behind the Azure Dragon Team—barely the value of a single kill. It shouldn’t be difficult to surpass them.

However, Bold’s brows were tightly furrowed.

“What’s wrong, Captain?” Cronin, sitting beside him, asked.

They were in a remote corner of the general zone, around a beautifully crafted round table with five small sofas forming a semicircle—just like it was made for a five-man team. It was good enough to sleep on if needed. Not only that, the location was great: blocked on three sides with only one way in. If anyone tried to enter, they would notice immediately. As a result, they had made this their base camp and would return here to rest when needed.

“I feel like something’s off with the Azure Dragon Team,” Boulder replied. “Look at the points rankings—among the top fifteen teams, everyone’s points have increased since yesterday afternoon except for them. Fox isn’t some inexperienced rookie. He knows very well that their current points can only secure first place temporarily; they won’t hold out till the end. But so much time has passed, and their points haven’t changed at all. What exactly is he thinking?”

Cronin looked up at the LCD display and, as Bold said, it didn’t make sense. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly proposed a possibility: “Captain, what if it’s not that they don’t want to score points, but that they can’t?”

“You mean, someone on their team is injured?” Bold followed that line of reasoning. “Maybe even their three combat members, which would drastically weaken their strength—so they want to fight but can’t.”

That explanation was plausible.

“If that’s the case, then their points probably won’t change much going forward. Even if we generously assume they get fifty more points and reach 400, and add the number tags they’ve collected, they might only have around fifteen in total. By the end of the game, their total score might be around 530 at most. As long as we beat that, the only team that could still compete with us for first place would be Mogrossa.”

“Adding the five number tags we got today, we now have fourteen in total. Not sure how many Mogrossa has.” On the second day of the game, most teams had hidden their tags. Even wiping out a full squad might not yield a single tag. They were only able to get five today because the first team they found happened to be in their camp. After the fight, they searched the place and found their stash.

Thinking of this, Boulder walked over to combine the newly acquired tags with the ones they already had. In the corner was a pot of green plants, and their tags were hidden under the flowerpot. He walked over, moved the pot, pulled out the tags from his pocket to store them with the others—only to freeze on the spot.

From Cronin’s angle, he couldn’t see under the flowerpot, but he clearly noticed Boulder’s reaction and quickly realized something was wrong. He stood up and walked over, asking, “What’s going on?”

Soon, he saw what had stunned Boulder—the bottom of the flowerpot was completely empty. The nine number tags that had been hidden there were gone!

After several verifications of Yang Xinyao’s divination results, Jing Ling was confident and went out raiding, targeting hidden number tags from other teams. He moved quickly, and with the help of his sensor for precise positioning, it wasn’t hard to loot one or two teams in half an hour. Once he had the goods, he returned immediately.

He kept each outing under thirty minutes to avoid suspicion. It looked as if he was worried about his teammates’ safety but didn’t want to give up the game, so he took the gamble.

He did this seven times in total, collecting fifty-two number tags—worth 260 points. In about four hours, no one noticed anything. Given his previously demonstrated sharp senses and excellent agility, evading detection was easy. But what was strange was that even his teammates remained completely safe. Even when teams passed right by their door, they ignored the room entirely. If it were anyone else, this would be suspicious. But not for him—his incredible luck was well known.

Among the tags Jing Ling had collected, nine came from under a flowerpot in a corner of the general zone—clearly belonging to the Moon God Team. He didn’t know who the owner was, and they didn’t know who took them.

The Moon God Team’s planned confrontation with the Azure Dragon Team had already started and ended without their knowledge—and naturally, they had lost.

When Jing Ling returned to the suite with the tags, Xu Shaohuai and the others were checking the newly updated rankings. Their team was still in first place. Not just on the leaderboard—based on actual total points, they were absolutely number one, since they now held seventy-one number tags. Jing Ling didn’t believe any other team could match that. Converted to points, that was 355. Their total score had exceeded 700!

“If things keep going this smoothly, first place is definitely ours.” Xu Shaohuai leaned on the bed, a pillow propped behind him. Seeing Jing Ling return, he joked, “The first-place prize is 50 million universal credits and the right to use hot weapons. We discussed it earlier—since you did most of the work, you’ll get 40 million, and the rest of us will split the rest.”

Forty million universal credits—at the current exchange rate, that was a full 200 million in domestic currency! On top of that, Jing Ling had bet on his team winning every round. By the end, he could easily walk away with over 300 million!

Who needs the lottery—this was true overnight wealth.

Even with the high fatality rate, people still willingly threw themselves into the game—and it made perfect sense. A single round in the hunting grounds could yield enough money to last a lifetime!

They chatted about their dreams of the future. Jing Ling smiled and replied, “Then I, a poor guy, thank all you rich folks for your generosity in advance!”

The atmosphere was rare and relaxed.

After a bit of small talk, they went to rest. Just like the night before, Bai Ningxi shared a room with the two wounded teammates, Yang Xinyao slept next door, and Jing Ling sat against the wall on night watch. He didn’t skip rest completely, but he was used to staying alert even while asleep. The slightest disturbance would wake him instantly.

Unlike the previous night, this one wasn’t as peaceful. Around 5:30 a.m., faint footsteps echoed in the hallway. Jing Ling immediately woke up. The door creaked open slightly. He poked his head out to take a look—and just like a scene from a horror movie, the hallway lights began flickering again in a four-second cycle.

Two people appeared at the far end of the corridor. As Jing Ling had guessed, they were both injured—their footsteps were weak and uneven. After walking for a while, they stopped in front of a room and cautiously pushed the door open and entered.

Leaning against the doorframe, Jing Ling thought for a moment, then decided to “nurture” a few more points.

So the next morning, when Bai Ningxi woke up and went to check on the mobile point transfer in the room next door, he found two more people lying there, unconscious. The five others who were awake were staring at him with eyes filled with both fear and murderous intent.

He was stunned for a moment, then gave injections to the two newcomers, and closed the door, returning to the room next door.

Jing Ling was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, munching an apple.

“Were those two caught by you last night?” Bai Ningxi asked.

Jing Ling took a final bite, tossed the core into the trash bin in the corner, and nodded. “Yeah. They were both injured and just happened to be heading this way, so I knocked them out and dragged them in.”

The strategy of “raising points” had never been done before. Strong teams didn’t need to do it, and weak teams couldn’t. So Xu Shaohuai had subconsciously excluded this factor when calculating points last night. With the original five and two new captives, they now had 140 extra points. Their total score had shot up to 800!

As long as they stayed alive, first place was guaranteed!

Chapter 155

At exactly twelve noon, there were still twelve hours remaining until the end of the game. Still unable to find any trace of the Azure Dragon Team, Bold and the others simply gave up. The updated score rankings released on the hour showed that the Azure Dragon Team had already dropped to third place. Now it was only the Moon God Team and Mogrosa fighting for first.

Although the top two teams would both gain the right to use hot weapons, the first-place prize money was twenty million universal coins more than the second. And when it comes to money—very few people can resist its lure.

—

Team: Moon God
Points: 400
Rank: 1

—

Team: Mogrosa
Points: 370
Rank: 2

—

Team: Azure Dragon
Points: 350
Rank: 3

—

Since the start of the game, most of the weaker teams had already been eliminated. The ones that remained could be called elite—this also meant they were harder to deal with, so point accumulation in the later stages became increasingly difficult. But that was only relatively speaking. The final frenzy was inevitable from the very beginning.

The scores of the top teams were very close. It was worth noting that the fourth-place team, Snow Wolf, had already accumulated 340 points—just ten points shy of catching up with the third-ranked Azure Dragon Team. If Bold had still harbored doubts at first about whether the Azure Dragon Team had some kind of plan, now he had almost entirely come to believe Cronin’s speculation: something had definitely gone wrong with the Azure Dragon Team!

Theoretically speaking, the preliminary rounds of the hunting ground game consisted of three rounds. The first round was originally prepared for those nobodies with little skill—essentially a warm-up. The second round, the free-for-all, was where things truly began. In the second round, the top six teams would advance directly to the final hunting ground. The remaining teams would enter a third round to fight for the last two slots, making a total of eight teams in the finals.

However, there were exceptions. For example, if the second round drained too much energy, they might directly take the top eight into the hunting ground and cancel the third round altogether. This kind of situation occurred once every one or two rounds.

“It’s fine. We won’t meet you guys in the second round, but we’ll definitely cross paths in the final hunting ground,” Bold muttered to himself.

Judging from the current trend this year, it was likely that the third round would be skipped. At that point, regardless of what rank the Azure Dragon Team held, as long as they didn’t drop out of the top eight, they would definitely enter the hunting ground.

At exactly nine o’clock in the evening, only three hours remained until the game ended. From this point forward, score updates would switch from every two hours to every half hour. The real free-for-all had begun.

Before this, Jing Ling had gone out on a few more sweeps and brought back twenty nine number tags, which, combined with the previous ones, made a total of exactly one hundred. The total number of participants in the second round was only around a hundred people, and they held nearly 80% of all number tags—this was practically the limit. So after that, he stopped going out. Instead, he casually pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and roughly sketched a map of the areas he’d been to—the layout of rooms and other zones, along with potential hiding spots for various teams.

He spread the completed map out on the table, and everyone gathered around to study it.

In the last three-hour frenzy, situations where teams would just ignore each other—even if they crossed paths—would basically no longer happen. The leading teams would want to stay ahead; the ones behind would try to catch up. Under these circumstances, the entire fourth-floor area would likely be swept through completely—maybe even twice. Staying here without moving would inevitably lead to discovery.

They were studying the map now in preparation for guerrilla warfare against other teams.

But though it seemed like everyone was studying together, in reality, only three people made the final decisions: Jing Ling, Xu Shaohuai, and Yang Xinyao. The first two were responsible for selecting routes and their order. Then Yang Xinyao would calculate each outcome. Any problematic options would be eliminated, and the rest would form their final three-hour action plan.

Large numbers appeared on the display, beginning the countdown.

Jing Ling did one last check of their number tags and the reserve points that had been stashed separately. Then he left the door wide open. The room inside had been ransacked into a chaotic mess, disguised to look as if it had already been searched by someone—this was meant to protect those reserve points as much as possible. After all, in guerrilla warfare, they couldn’t take everyone with them. If all went according to plan, when they circled back during the final half hour, they would harvest those points along the way. During this time, Yang Xinyao would keep an eye on the area. If anything changed, she would report it immediately, and Jing Ling would rush back to deal with it. No matter what, they couldn’t let others profit from their effort.

At exactly eleven o’clock that night, the score rankings were updated:

—

Team: Mogrosa
Points: 430
Rank: 1

—

Team: Moon God
Points: 410
Rank: 2

—

Team: Snow Wolf
Points: 400
Rank: 3

—

After working together to kill the last two members of a weakened team, the Snow Wolf Team sat down by the bodies to rest temporarily. Jeffrey was responsible for cleaning up the battlefield—in other words, looting the corpses. Although they knew the chances of finding number tags on bodies at this stage were slim, they couldn’t just ignore them.

“Nothing at all,” Jeffrey said, having searched the two dead bodies thoroughly—practically down to stripping their clothes.

“As expected,” said team leader Moses while wiping his dagger.

They were currently in the guestroom area. The two they’d just eliminated had both been wounded and hiding in a closet—decent concealment, but unfortunately, they hadn’t cleaned up the bl00d on the floor, which led to their discovery.

This area seemed to have been previously swept, but Moses still led the team through a secondary search. Although the first few rooms yielded nothing, they eventually found results halfway through.

“Continue sweeping the remaining areas,” Moses said, casually tossing the handkerchief he used to wipe the bl00d off his dagger onto the floor. The blade was now clean, gleaming coldly. He stood up from the bed and walked toward the door. “Those two kills plus the seven number tags make seventy-five points. Our total is only 475. Who knows how many tags Mogrosa and Moon God have hidden. If we want to break into the top two, getting kills is the safest bet.”

“There’s only one hour left until the game ends. We don’t have much time.”

As he spoke, Moses had already reached the door of another room. The door was ajar, and from the threshold he could see the inside was a mess—obvious signs of being searched. If it were the start of the game, he would’ve skipped it and moved on, but now that the end was near and they’d chosen to sweep the guestroom area, every room had to be checked. Especially those that looked like this—they were even more suspicious and required extra attention.

Standing in the doorway, just as he was about to call his team to enter, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye—someone suddenly darted out from the far end of the corridor!

“Someone’s there! Watch out!” His reaction was swift. The moment he saw the figure, he dodged into the room. While guns and crossbows were banned in this round, meaning nearly all team fights required close combat, “nearly all” didn’t mean “all.” There were exceptions. Moses knew, for example, that in the Mogrosa Team, Eugene specialized in throwing knives—with a hit rate of seventy to eighty percent.

Of course, he couldn’t confirm who it was from just a glance, but he wasn’t about to gamble his life on a guess. Caution never hurt.

Moses’s warning came quickly. As he dodged, he alerted his teammates—but even so, it was too late. He seemed to glimpse a flash of silver—it moved so fast it was impossible to follow—and before his brain could even register what it was, he heard a dull grunt from Jeffrey at the back of the line. Jeffrey staggered, losing balance, clutching the wall with a grimace of pain.

Wells, who had nearly reached the doorway, paused at the sound, then quickly turned and rushed back without a word, helping Jeffrey up.

Seeing this, Moses was furious—his eyes nearly blazed with rage. Through gritted teeth he shouted, “Damn it! Leave him! Get back here! The enemy is probably a knife-thrower!”

His priority was always the team’s overall interest. Given that Jeffrey was already hit, and the attacker was likely a long-range specialist, Wells going back for him would very likely get himself killed as well. Moses was understandably enraged.

And the next moment proved his fears true. Before Wells could drag Jeffrey into the room, the attacker struck again. Wells let out a muffled groan like Jeffrey had, his body froze mid-step. Clearly, he’d been hit too.

“Damn it! Idiot!” Moses cursed.

In this kind of moment, his first response should’ve been to cover and rescue his teammates—not lash out. But their team had a unique dynamic. Jeffrey and Wells were newcomers—even though Moses had invited them himself, they’d only been part of the team for less than a year and hadn’t fully integrated.

As Moses cursed, he pressed his back against the wall and peeked out to assess the enemy. The hallway lighting was dim, and the attacker stood against the light, so Moses couldn’t make out their identity. But one thing he could see clearly—there was only one person.

Whether the rest of their team was gone, or the person was simply overconfident—it didn’t matter. Whoever dared to take points from his team had better be ready to pay with their life!

“Blake, Eugene, find cover in the room and kill him!”

Just then, the opponent’s voice came from the other end of the corridor:

“What you promised me before—since you’re unwilling to hand it over, I’ll just come take it myself. No one can owe me something and not pay it back.”

As they spoke, the person began to walk toward them. Under the light, the clown mask they wore gave off an eerie feeling.