Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Back in their room, the two began to recount what had happened.
They had gotten up very early. Worried about the issues raised the day before, they had gone to the police station again to confirm that the police hadn’t released him. They figured they should at least wait until they left, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.
However, when they arrived at the police station, they learned the devastating news of Su Cheng’s death.
The K City police even comforted them, saying, “He’s dead, anyway, he was just a thug.”
Their attitude didn’t seem to be interested in investigating the truth.
Xu Chengdong said, “We saw the body with our own eyes. They carried him out and even asked if we wanted him.”
The bearded man said with disdain, “Why are all the people in K City like this?”
Bai Yue listened quietly to their account.
Since they had seen it with their own eyes, faking the body was unlikely. So, Su Cheng was really dead?
In a place like K City, and for someone like Su Cheng who had many enemies, his death wasn’t surprising. But something felt off.
Cao Xun said, “We can only say he deserved to die. Why worry so much? We’re not the police.”
The bearded man and Xu Chengdong exchanged a glance.
While there was some truth to that, the thought of someone alive and well yesterday being a cold corpse today was unsettling, regardless of their identity.
“I’m a little worried that Su Cheng’s death is related to the Source Crystal.”
Hearing this, all three looked at Bai Yue.
Xu Chengdong was puzzled: “But wasn’t Su Cheng the leader of this incident? How could someone kill him?”
Cao Xun realized: “You mean, there might be others at the top?”
Bai Yue: “Such a large pie couldn’t be swallowed by Su Cheng alone. By telling us the location of the Source Crystal, he might have infringed on someone else’s interests. Therefore, murder isn’t impossible.”
Silence fell over the room.
They had initially thought it was just a simple three-star military merit mission— finding the Source Crystal would be enough. But the hidden chain of interests was far more complex than they imagined.
Seeing everyone’s serious expressions, Bai Yue reassured them: “Don’t overthink it. At least it shows that the information Su Cheng gave us was true. Next, as long as we find the Source Crystal, we can deal with the rest when the military arrives.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Xu Chengdong nodded quickly.
Su Cheng’s murder was truly unexpected for them, but even so, their mission remained unchanged.
K City was a murky place, and what followed was beyond the capabilities of military academy students. To expedite the investigation, their immediate priority was to complete their military merit mission as quickly as possible.
The three left the room.
Bai Yue was about to follow when he saw Mu Sihan leaning against the window, seemingly lost in thought.
Bai Yue: “What’s wrong?”
Hearing the voice, Mu Sihan looked up. After a moment of silence, he looked away: “I was just thinking, death is such an easy thing.”
Bai Yue was taken aback; Mu Sihan wasn’t the type to say such sentimental things.
He knew Mu Sihan used to live here, but he was very young then. What connection could he have with Su Cheng?
“Don’t misunderstand,” Mu Sihan said coldly. “That guy was just a simple bully.”
When Su Cheng was young, Mu Sihan was still very young. To him, Su Cheng and his group were terrifying beings.
But no matter how terrifying they seemed then, they were still dead. Even the manner of his death was laughable— being openly murdered in the police station.
Mu Sihan walked out of the room, and as he brushed past Bai Yue, he paused: “You should be careful too.”
He turned his head to look at him, “There’s more than one person like Su Cheng.”
Bai Yue stood still. Only after Mu Sihan left did he turn back to look at him.
What was he reminding him of?
Bai Yue pondered. He had a feeling that the mission to find the Source Crystal wouldn’t be so smooth.
They had also informed the other military academy students of the news of Su Cheng’s death.
Although they didn’t want to cause panic, everyone was currently too excited, believing that the mission was about to be completed.
Therefore, they had to be vigilant.
According to intelligence, the Source Crystal was buried deep in the mountains 100 kilometers away from K City.
After the students of the Imperial First Military Academy gathered, they boarded a rented hovercar and arrived at their destination around noon.
As soon as they got out of the car, everyone was stunned by the scene before them.
A huge mountain range sat on the earth. Almost invisible, it pierced the clouds.
Lia Star was undeveloped, so most of the area remained pristine.
“Could there be any wild beasts here?”
Upon hearing this, everyone gripped their weapons tightly.
This mountain was too remote; they couldn’t find any information about it online. To them, it was a completely unfamiliar and unknown place.
However, the intelligence mentioned the approximate coordinates of the Source Crystal. As long as they followed the map, they would eventually find their target.
“A bunch of cowards, what’s there to be afraid of?” The bearded man waved his arm. “Follow me! Whoever finds the Source Crystal first wins!”
With that, he led the way and rushed in.
His words were naive, but having someone lead the way was quite encouraging. Many people were thus spurred on and quickened their pace into the mountains.
The path ahead was relatively smooth.
Although it was undeveloped, it must have been trodden by others before, creating a path that was easy to traverse.
However, as they went deeper, the weather gradually worsened. A thin fog rose all around.
Bai Yue walked in the middle of the group, which originally had dozens of people in front and behind him. However, as they walked, the fog grew thicker and thicker, and people a meter away could hardly be seen.
He stopped and patted the person in front of him on the shoulder: “Wait, let’s go after the fog clears.”
Xu Chengdong: “Oh, okay!”
Those around him who heard him also stopped.
Bai Yue looked around and found that only the original few people remained with him.
The other military academy students walked at varying paces. Everyone had thus unknowingly become separated.
“Let’s try to contact them.” Cao Xun took out his phone.
When he saw the empty space in the upper right corner, he was shocked, “No signal.”
This was practically a complete loss of contact. Although everyone had been given a communicator before entering, the communicator’s coverage was limited, and they could no longer contact those who had become separated.
But Xu Chengdong was still optimistic: “Maybe they’ve reached their destination first. Let’s wait for them.”
At this point, it seemed there was no other choice. The visibility was too low; they couldn’t even tell which way was which, let alone move forward.
The others either sat down on the spot or leaned against trees, waiting for the white fog to dissipate.
At the same time, at the Imperial First Comprehensive Military Academy.
The disciplinary team had been observing the students’ performance through “reconnaissance bugs,” but then they noticed something was wrong.
“Captain, it’s foggy. The image is blurry.”
“Some of the ‘reconnaissance bugs’ are malfunctioning, the screen is black. We can’t determine whether it’s sabotage or environmental factors.”
Although the reconnaissance bugs were obsolete military equipment, they weren’t so fragile that they would malfunction just because of fog.
Fu Cheng frowned: “What’s the damage rate?”
“10%, 12%…” the team members reported, “It’s gradually increasing.”
They had been monitoring the students’ situation, so they roughly knew the current progress.
The location of the source crystal had been confirmed; all that was needed was to take photos. But the large number of damaged reconnaissance bugs in the final step looked really abnormal.
And after reaching 20%, the damage rate finally stopped.
Fu Cheng pointed to one of the reconnaissance bugs: “Disengage first, investigate the cause of the damage first.”
The team members: “Yes.”
The thick fog did not dissipate for a long time.
About half an hour had passed. At first, most people maintained a relaxed attitude. But as time passed and the weather still showed no signs of improvement, they all began to feel uneasy.
The fact that they were out of contact was causing them even more anxiety.
“Ahhh, we can’t wait any longer!” someone couldn’t help but stand up. “If the fog doesn’t clear, are we going to sit here all day? Let’s slow down and check the direction together.”
Someone immediately responded.
Cao Xun looked at Bai Yue.
Bai Yue noticed the gaze and shrugged helplessly.
Indeed, with the thick fog lingering, staying here all day wasn’t realistic. However, advancing in this weather was indeed dangerous.
He stood up: “Let’s go back the way we came.”
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
Bai Yue: “There’s no rush. Let’s wait until the situation improves before going into the mountains.”
“But… but what about the others?” someone asked. “Are we going to leave them behind?”
If everyone were present and stick together, they might have made it out together.
But the problem now was that some people’s whereabouts were unknown. If they just left like this, it would feel like they were deserters.
Bai Yue was about to reply when suddenly, a heart-wrenching scream came from not far away. It pierced through the thick fog and reached everyone’s ears.
In this deep mountain, there shouldn’t be any other living people besides them. So, one of their team members was in danger?
Immediately, someone stood up and rushed into the thick fog: “Don’t panic, I’m coming to save you!”
Could they have really encountered wild animals?
With one person taking the lead, the others also stood up, weapons in hand.
“Wait a minute.” Bai Yue tried to stop them.
The source of the voice was unclear. Putting aside whether they could find the person, rushing in now would definitely lead to getting lost immediately.
At least for now, they could still confirm their location.
Xu Chengdong had originally planned to go to rescue the person, but upon hearing Bai Yue’s voice, he subconsciously stopped.
However, the others didn’t listen at all. Their figures disappeared into the white fog, and soon, even the sound of their footsteps was drowned out.
After a brief commotion, the surroundings returned to calm.
Currently, only Mu Sihan, Cao Xun, and Xu Chengdong remained with Bai Yue.
As for those who rushed to rescue the person, although they didn’t know if they had found them, at least they hadn’t heard their voices again.
Xu Chengdong was extremely nervous: “What do we do now?”
Bai Yue remained silent.
If it were just simple fog, the danger wouldn’t be so great. But he had a vague feeling that someone was using the environment to try and scatter them so they could be defeated one by one.
The timing of that scream was too perfect.
A disagreement arose within the team. That shout seemed to be deliberately trying to lure them away.
Bai Yue: “No matter what you hear next, try not to separate.”
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