During the initial official selection for the five squads, one hundred people were chosen at first.
From those one hundred, thirty to forty more outstanding individuals were selected to form the five squads. The remaining people, though not chosen, still joined various cities’ combat rosters as reserves, with the hope of being called up later.
Because the entire selection process took place at the sa training base, many of the participants knew each other. Especially those thirty to forty who later ford squads — they had trained together and beco acquainted, even fairly good friends.
So now, when the mbers of Team Five saw Gu Fei stepping down from the vehicle, all of them involuntarily showed stunned expressions.
Gu Fei himself was also clearly taken aback when he saw the people from Team Five, and his expression slowly darkened.
The young man wearing headphones took out his phone and showed Gu Fei three words on the screen: Do you know them?
Gu Fei nodded, hesitated, then picked up his phone to reply: They’re an official-funded team.
The headphone young man glanced over it, his face as indifferent as always, showing no change.
At that mont, Xu You, captain of Team Five, sent an audio ssage with his phone, demanding, “Gu Fei, who are the people beside you?”
Everyone else already knew that Gu Fei had been expelled from Squad Three. So of the squad mbers had tried to contact him about it, but he never replied and his whereabouts remained unknown.
They didn’t expect to et him again, and outside the city at that.
Moreover, seeing Gu Fei and the other four wearing the sa uniform printed with a black plum blossom pattern made it obvious they had joined so organization.
Gu Fei picked up his phone and replied by voice: None of your business, get lost imdiately.
Xu You frowned. At that mont, the headphone young man shook his head and typed a line to Gu Fei to show him: You can’t let official teams leave.
Gu Fei’s face shifted slightly, but he didn’t type a rebuttal.
Neither side spoke another word, but the tense atmosphere change was as direct as could be.
Both sides felt that a fight was unavoidable.
Xu You turned and signaled to his teammates with his eyes, then acted imdiately!
He struck first. In the instant he raised his hand he summoned a silenced pistol. Without aiming, he fired several quick shots at the young man with the headphones.
He knew Gu Fei — this perpetually defiant fellow obeyed the headphone young man without question. Clearly the headphone guy was the leader among the five.
Catch the leader to catch the band; if they could take him out first, the rest might surrender without a fight.
But he underestimated the opponent’s reflexes. The instant Xu You raised his hand, the bespectacled young man who looked like a university student summoned a light sphere.
The light sphere ford into a circular barrier that enveloped him and the headphone young man. Xu You’s bullets dissipated on impact and couldn’t break through.
Xu You frowned. At the sa ti, several of his teammates either shifted into defense or launched attacks.
The fast Xu Wei swept around the flank to strike, but she was intercepted by the sweater-wearing teen.
He summoned his item: an irregular pile of block-like pieces that, under his finger movents, assembled into three wolf-like creatures and surrounded Xu Wei.
The burly man Old Tie, wielding his giant axe, charged from the front and swung the great axe down. Gu Fei rushed forward and t him, clashing with his curved blade.
Team Five’s other two mbers, Zhang Qian, who handled communications and healing, lacked combat strength and did not advance. Instead he imdiately contacted the base to report the sudden encounter.
The other man, Liu Ze, was outstanding at defense and now shielded Zhang Qian and Xu You, constantly wary of enemy attacks toward their “healer” and “shooter.”
On the other side, also five people: Gu Fei and Old Tie fought up close; the sweater teenager held Xu Wei at bay; the bespectacled youth kept the light sphere aloft, forming a shield.
The headphone young man made no move, just watched. And the very young girl simply stood by the vehicle, showing no intention of taking part in the fight.
Xu You rapidly assessed the battle, glanced at Liu Ze, and signaled him to cover. Then he condensed his mind power, and the gun in his hand transford — the silencer disappeared, replaced by a lengthened, thicker barrel.
This was the result of his in-depth developnt of his personalized weapon. At first it had been only a silenced pistol; now it could switch to a second sniping form.
He raised it and aid at the headphone young man, planning to finish him with a single shot.
However, at the mont he locked eyes with him, an indescribable weariness welled up from within; the hand holding the gun could not steady.
Bang!
A muffled gunshot sounded. The bullet pierced through the bespectacled youth’s defensive light shield, which startled him.
But the shot did not hit the headphone young man in the head; it only grazed his face, leaving a shallow cut.
Most surprising of all, the headphone young man, who had almost been decapitated, remained expressionless as he stared at Xu You. Xu You tried to look away but found he couldn’t. His body grew increasingly weak and the gun in his hand could not be maintained and vanished.
Liu Ze, responsible for defense, realized sothing was wrong and quickly used an item to summon a large shield that cut off the line of sight between Xu You and the headphone young man.
The instant the line of sight was broken, Xu You’s knees buckled and he almost collapsed. Fortunately Zhang Qian caught him in ti, his eyes full of worry and questioning.
Xu You glanced at his status panel; indeed, it was correct. He forced himself to type into his phone: Don’t look into the eyes of that headphone youth. His eyes can absorb others’ stamina and mind power. He’s dangerous, equip all items.
He could absorb mind power through eye contact?
Such a bizarre ability none of them had ever heard of. At this mont they could only trust their captain’s judgnt. Almost simultaneously, they produced a massive amount of offensive items and saturated the enemy team with throws!
The official teams were never short on items. Supplying them was part of the investnt, and in critical monts those items delivered the greatest burst of attack.
Twenty or thirty kinds of offensive items were hurled over, instantly breaking through the bespectacled youth’s light sphere defense. Explosions and firelight swallowed him and the headphone young man.
Gu Fei wisely kept his distance and was not affected. As soone from an official team, he was familiar with this tactic and had been forewarned.
Only the Silent Hour rule was still in effect, preventing him from speaking to warn his teammates. And the cohesion of this other team was poor, so they would not have coordinated anyway.
When the explosions cleared, the bespectacled youth who looked like a college student lay on the ground, his life uncertain. The headphone young man, however, was completely unhard; even his clothes were intact.
Xu You and the others were stunned. They watched the young man’s pupils turn and suddenly realized: Could his eyes not only absorb others’ stamina and mind power but also neutralize damage from mind-power items? If that was the case, how could they injure him? Only direct physical attacks might work?
At this mont the headphone young man closed his eyes, as if indicating it was his turn to attack.
Xu You instantly signaled Old Tie and Xu Wei to retreat.
Xu Wei, who had just destroyed the sweater boy’s block-wolf monsters, sprang back in an instant.
Old Tie, however, had pushed too far forward and could not retreat in ti.
The headphone young man opened his eyes again. Unlike the earlier black pupils, this ti his pupils had turned white.
The shift from black to white seed to mark the alternation between absorption and release.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Hundreds of needle-like white beams shot out from his eyes. Old Tie threw out several defensive items to shield himself, but the white beams swiftly pierced through and impaled his body.
“Ah!!!”
Old Tie scread in agonizing pain. Severely wounded, he also violated the seventh rule by crying out.
Xu Wei twisted her body and rushed toward Old Tie. Her dagger thrust for the front of his neck, seemingly trying to stop the Sound Hunter’s attack.
But she was too late. Within three seconds Old Tie’s neck artery was punctured and the gushing blood splattered all over Xu Wei...
...
At another outdoor camp.
An electronic female voice said: Captain, when is that site administrator going to show up? Squads Two and Five went to eat at, and we’re stuck here waiting — this is so boring I could die.
An electronic male voice replied: Silver Fox, stop complaining. Our mission is important too.
Waiting in the camp was the official First Squad.
As the strongest squad, their assignnt was to seize the opportunity to capture the Ascendant Ho’s administrator.
Guan Tong’s earlier judgnt had been correct: the commission posted in the commissions section was bait, designed specifically to lure him, that “snake,” out of hiding.
The original official plan was to ambush near the city supply warehouse and set up extensive surveillance. That might have clarified how the administrator entered and exited the city and how he avoided patrol drones and transport supplies.
What surprised them was that the administrator had the sense to avoid risk and refused to transport goods from the official warehouse. Just as the officials planned to revise their approach, the administrator privately ssaged that he had goods and could deliver them himself.
So after a quick discussion the officials agreed. The ssage was reported and the base dispatched First Squad to the designated outdoor camp. They would wait for the administrator to arrive with goods, then capture him and interrogate him about the website and other intelligence.
By now First Squad had been in the camp over twenty hours, and the administrator still hadn’t appeared. The team mbers were getting impatient.
Silver Fox: Maybe that administrator already suspected sothing?
Dragon Soul: So far he hasn’t shown any sign of it.
“That’s hard to say.” Silver Fox’s electronic female voice had a mature “big sister” tone. She sounded very grown-up. “Who knows if he has so special reconnaissance ability.”
...Guan Tong, listening on Mingdao Mountain when he heard that line, thought to himself, you hit the nail on the head.
While First Squad continued to wait, Guan Tong’s shadow line had already tunneled from underground to near the camp.
After activating the auditory sense from his Five Senses, the squad’s electronic conversation transmitted back to him. It also confird this commission was indeed fishing bait, and that it wasn’t so violent gang or wild group — it was an official departnt.
Although Guan Tong knew the officials wanted to find him, he hadn’t expected them to use this approach...
“If the administrator really is that Shadow, I’d like to et him.” The electronic female voice that Silver Fox projected drifted into Guan Tong’s ears again. “Preferably a handso older man.”
Dragon Soul: What, you don’t like pretty young guys?
Silver Fox: What’s so great about pretty young guys? I prefer rugged older n.
Dragon Soul: I don’t think you’ll get to pick. If he really is Shadow, he’ll probably be placed under strict protection and, once confird, receive massive resources for training. We might not even have the chance to approach him afterward.
Silver Fox: Does upper managent think Shadow is that important?
Dragon Soul: Yes. Several major nations now believe the Doomsday Rules are a screening that makes the strong even stronger. Perhaps in the end, a single truly top-tier powerhouse could contend with thousands of Ascendants. Shadow already showed that potential in the Holy Grail Island battle.
Silver Fox: Wasn’t that because he had the Holy Grail with infinite mind power?
Dragon Soul: Even with infinite mind power, you need an ability to utilize it. Tell , with our capabilities alone, even if we had infinite mind power, could we survive assaults by hundreds or thousands at once?
Silver Fox: ...I guess I see what upper managent ans. No wonder Dr. Zhang values Bai Xuewu so much. He must think she has the potential to fight ten thousand people alone, right?
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