Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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A noisy sound came from around him, like human voices.
Cao Xun awoke from his slumber, groggily looking ahead. Before him stretched a vast expanse of blue crystals, emitting a soft glow that illuminated the empty mine.
Source Crystals!?
Cao Xun snapped back to reality.
This was the first time in his life he had ever seen such a large quantity of Source Crystals. These expensive and rare stones grew everywhere— underground, on the walls, and overhead.
Was he dreaming? How had he ended up at his destination after a nap?
Cao Xun tried to pinch himself, but found himself unable to move.
Looking down, he realized he was bound, his hands and feet tightly bound.
“Aaaaaah! Damn it! I can’t break free!” a loud voice rang out.
Cao Xun turned to see a bearded man. Besides the two of them, there were about twenty military academy students. But like him, they were all bound tightly to a huge cylindrical structure.
Some people were still unconscious, but more than half had woken up. After realizing they were imprisoned, they all tried various methods to break free, but to no avail.
“Yo, you’re finally awake!” the bearded man greeted him. “I called you for ages and you didn’t respond. Finally had a good sleep, hahaha.”
Cao Xun: “…”
He couldn’t even cover his ears now. He felt his hearing would deteriorate if this continued.
Cao Xun ignored the bearded man.
At the moment, breaking free seemed difficult. Since that was the case, it was better to sort out the situation.
Why was he here?
His last memory before fainting was of being with Bai Yue. The other person had turned away, investigating something. He, however, was suddenly pounced on by a giant wolf, without even a chance to make a sound.
It was like that then; although he tried to break free, it was completely ineffective. The beast seemed impervious to pain, showing no reaction to his counterattacks —it opened its mouth and bit straight down.
This was the last scene he remembered.
And then, here. He woke up, bound and lying here.
What happened in between was completely unknown.
Come to think of it, he thought he was going to die. But the beast didn’t kill him? Why?
And how much time had passed while he was unconscious?
Cao Xun pondered.
However, the known information was too little to analyze any facts.
And most importantly, the bearded man beside him kept shouting.
Veins bulged on Cao Xun’s forehead.
The bearded man: “Those people are really hateful! They kidnapped us and brought us to a place like this! The target is right in front of us, but we can’t do anything, I’m so anxious!!!”
At this moment, Xu Chengdong finally slowly woke up.
When he saw everything clearly, his reaction was exactly the same as everyone else’s, from shock to joy to despair.
“What are these people going to do with us? Are they planning to starve us to death?” someone began to break down.
It wasn’t impossible. After all, they were military academy students; they had to be wary of Imperial First and the military when they acted outside.
But this place was completely undetectable. So, even if they were killed like this, no one would know…
Xu Chengdong became increasingly pessimistic.
Looking around again, the scout bug was nowhere to be seen. It was possible they had all been deliberately sabotaged.
Right now, they were truly helpless.
The mine containing source crystals was located underground. It was spacious and expansive, dozens of meters from the top.
The surrounding rock walls were further riddled with holes of varying sizes, like a honeycomb.
At this moment, several masked students were lurking inside several of these holes. They were looking down at the military academy freshmen underground.
“These people are too afraid of death,” Wu Zihao complained. “If they really wanted to kill them, why would they wait until now?”
Someone replied, “Too little intelligence. Without a clear understanding of the situation, it’s easy to get confused.”
Wu Zihao didn’t want to dwell on that. He had been waiting for too long and was getting bored. He put his hand on his earpiece: “Boss, isn’t it about time?”
Outside the cave.
A person stood on a tree trunk, his figure hidden behind the lush green leaves.
Looking down at the ground through the gaps in the branches, a group of people were leading several giant wolves into the cave.
After those people completely disappeared, he said, “Let’s do it.”
This day was an ordinary yet busy one for the students of the Imperial Military Academy.
Although they were curious about the progress of the disciplinary team’s assessment, the disciplinary team wouldn’t release any details other than the results. Therefore, they could only discuss it privately on the forum, speculating about who would be selected.
Qin Fei was one of them.
After all, his brother Bai was among those selected. He was active on the forum, praising Bai’s prowess everywhere.
Suddenly, a new post appeared:
[Disciplinary Team Assessment Live Stream Online!!!]
What is this? It looks like a porn site.
Curious, Qin Fei clicked on it and found a link leading directly to the school’s live stream channel.
The number of viewers was visibly increasing. A barrage of comments flashed by, gradually filling the entire screen.
[I heard this is the disciplinary team assessment???]
[What’s going on? It’s all black and I can’t see anything]
[Wait, there seems to be someone down there?]
Several scout insects hovered and flew downwards, capturing the scene from every angle.
Using the blue light emanating from the source crystal, the students of Imperial First High School finally saw everything inside the mine.
More than twenty students in military academy uniforms were tied to pillars. A large expanse of beautiful crystal surrounded them.
[Holy crap! It really is the disciplinary team’s assessment? Our classmates are here too!]
[What’s going on? Why are they all tied up?]
While the live stream was in full swing, the disciplinary team also noticed this anomaly.
“Captain! The scout insects’ signal has been hacked, and the footage is being broadcast throughout the entire school!”
Fu Cheng: “Disconnect the signal immediately.”
“No, we can’t control them now!”
Hearing this, Fu Cheng frowned.
Broadcasting live footage— he could only think of one organization in the entire school capable of such a thing. He had thought they’d been behaving themselves for a while, but this was what awaited him.
The increased damage rate of the scout bugs earlier was just a distraction? Their real purpose was to secretly seize the signal.
But what exactly were these people trying to do? Even if they broadcast the assessment footage, what would be the point?
Cao Xun looked up and noticed that the vanished scout bugs had reappeared out of thin air.
However, they were different from before. Originally, each scout bug followed one person, but now they were gathered together, just circling around. It seemed they weren’t just filming them, but trying to capture everything.
“Wait, did you hear that?” someone with keen hearing asked.
At this, everyone fell silent. The noisy discussions ceased, and footsteps became clearly audible.
It wasn’t just one person, but a large group approaching. Interspersed were the howls of wolves.
Upon hearing this sound, Cao Xun immediately recalled unpleasant memories.
“Damn, those giant wolves again?”
“They were definitely controlled! No wonder they weren’t afraid of pain!”
“Are they here to wipe us out? What do we do? We can’t move!”
Someone began to struggle. But the ropes were tied so cleverly that it was all in vain.
Soon, a large number of people poured out of the surrounding caves.
Upon seeing the Imperial First Military Academy students bound in the center, they were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: “So that’s where you all disappeared to! You really were here!”
He was a member of the Lia Star government.
Lia Star was extremely barren, offering little opportunity for profit. Therefore, after discovering the existence of Source Crystals, they tacitly approved of underground transactions, only offering them a share.
After Su Cheng’s exposure, they initially considered sacrificing the pawn to save the king, handing over the land and returning to their old ways after a period of peace.
However, someone persuaded them otherwise, providing a large quantity of highly lethal military supplies to help them deal with the military academy students.
It made sense; once one area was exposed, other areas would inevitably be exposed as well.
To mine Source Crystals, the military would inevitably send troops to garrison the area. At that time, their words and actions would be under surveillance.
Taking someone’s money was like killing their parents. For their own benefit, they had to keep this a secret forever!
Therefore, after the military academy students vanished into thin air, their first priority was to check if they had been exposed.
Who knew a gift would fall from the sky? Not only did they find the military academy students, but they also managed to tie up these ungrateful students.
The man half-squatted down and patted the giant wolf’s back: “Go, bite them to death!”
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Seeing the giant wolf charging straight at him, Xu Chengdong panicked, frantically trying to untie the ropes.
The students of the Imperial First Military Academy, who were watching the whole thing live, were also stunned.
Although they didn’t know the reason, it was clear that these people were about to be killed.
[Is this just an act? Like the entrance exam?]
[But those people don’t look like Imperial First’s teachers.]
[??? I feel like they are really going to die!]
At the critical moment, Xu Chengdong suddenly felt the ropes on his body loosen.
Looking up, he saw a figure disappear from the inside of the cave.
And that person… was wearing a mask.
Was it that person who helped them untie the ropes? But as far as he knew, these masked guys were the bad guys. Or was this another group of people?
Xu Chengdong was confused.
“What are you standing there for! Counterattack!”
Cao Xun’s voice rang out beside him.
Xu Chengdong snapped out of his daze and saw a giant wolf charging straight at him. The bearded man stepped forward first, striking the wolf squarely in the skull.
Normally, such a powerful blow would stun a wild beast. But the giant wolf didn’t react at all, opening its massive jaws and snapping at him.
“Damn it!” The bearded man hurriedly dodged.
He had been fighting these giant wolves since the fog rolled in the mountains. But no matter how he fought, these creatures seemed indestructible. They would lie down for a while, then stand up again. Just when he was at his wit’s end, he vaguely saw someone appear. Before he could even see the person clearly, he fainted.
So, how was he supposed to deal with these guys?!
Oh, mysterious person who descended from the sky, could you descend again and tell me?!
“These giant wolves are machines, of course they won’t work. We must find their weakness!”
The bearded man: “Weakness? Where is the weakness?!”
However, everyone was busy counterattacking, and no one answered him. Or perhaps, because no one knew.
It wasn’t just the giant wolves that attacked. The accompanying Lia Star soldiers also joined the fray.
Although some released pheromones, even if it temporarily slowed down the soldiers, it was of no use against the swiftly attacking giant wolves.
The Imperial First Military Academy students were all pushed back.
Cao Xun was the first to collapse from exhaustion. However, by then, no one was available to help.
He was stepped on in the shoulder by a giant wolf’s foreleg, and it looked like his neck was about to be torn apart—!
Suddenly, a figure flew out and stomped on the giant wolf’s back. He pressed down until the giant wolf could no longer move.
Cao Xun slumped to the ground, staring dumbfounded at the newcomer.
The other person moved swiftly, his light gray short hair falling slowly with each leap.
When he realized who this person was, Cao Xun was overjoyed: “Bai, Bai Yue!”
The bearded man shook off the giant wolf: “Bai Yue!?”
His loud voice immediately attracted everyone’s attention.
“The giant wolf’s weakness is its belly. Shatter the source crystal.”
Bai Yue narrowed his eyes as he watched the wave after wave of Lia Star soldiers rushing forward. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
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