Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The scene changed. This time, they had left the city and arrived in the suburbs.
Fine sand lay beneath their feet, and the surroundings were utterly desolate. Every breath they took seemed to inhale floating particles.
Looking around, not a blade of grass grew. Occasionally, a poisonous scorpion would crawl by, quickly burrowing into the ground.
“Cough cough!” someone couldn’t help coughing. “Why does the environment get worse as we go further?”
The main competition area reached the fifth leg, and the camera shifted its position.
The students of Imperial First were initially drawn to the environment. But when the camera swept across the contestants’ faces, someone immediately spotted a familiar face.
He rubbed his eyes: “Wait, am I seeing things? Why is that person competing?”
“Who did you say?”
Before he could answer, the announcement came over the loudspeaker that Imperial First was about to begin the baton exchange. This time, the camera lingered on the contestant for several seconds.
When he saw the person’s appearance clearly, he finally confirmed he wasn’t mistaken and jumped to his feet.
“Holy crap! It really is Shang Yufei?!”
The others noticed as well.
“What was the school thinking, letting this person represent Imperial First in the competition?”
“What if he causes trouble again?”
“Ahhh, I can’t watch anymore.”
The audience seats suddenly became noisy.
The media people, with their keen sense of smell, quickly noticed this anomaly. Hearing the Imperial First students discussing their own contestant, they immediately reminded their companions: “Keep an eye on this guy, there’s definitely big news coming.”
Running on the track, Shang Yufei couldn’t hear the students’ discussions. But even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared.
The weather was terrible, with occasional gusts of wind carrying sand.
Although Imperial First started 38 minutes later than the first place, after several rounds of competition, they had already overtaken dozens of contestants.
Their current starting order was fifteenth.
The yellow sand was swirling beneath his feet. He was moving so fast that before the rising sand could even settle, he was already standing several meters away.
The media, snapping photos, exclaimed in amazement, “My god, just how many monsters does Imperial First have?”
Three newcomers were sent in the first qualifying round alone, two of whom had already shown impressive performances. And that omega, specially assigned to the last leg— could he be even stronger than the first two?
While the Imperial First students were worried about Shang Yufei’s “tyranny,” they had to admit his strength.
His speed was even faster than the first runner!
Now in the fifth stage, the path was getting increasingly difficult. The first few runners had clearly slowed down compared to the previous sections.
The sand was uneven, and the wind whipped up intermittently, almost blinding them. Furthermore, the road was buried in yellow sand, making it easy to veer off course and lose one’s way.
To the others, haste makes waste; a more cautious approach was safer.
Everyone would likely agree.
Therefore, the runner in fourteenth place confidently slowed down. Suddenly, however, he felt a gust of wind sweep past him from behind.
In the blink of an eye, he dropped from fourteenth to fifteenth. He didn’t even see who had overtaken him, standing there dumbfounded.
“Ahhh, Imperial First!”
“Charge!!!”
At this moment, no one cared about their earlier worries. All they could see was Shang Yufei about to set a new record for “Imperial First”!
Last year, Imperial First lost in the finals, painfully missing the championship. If he could maintain his current level until the very end, then regaining the championship seemed not impossible.
“Another person has fallen into the vortex!”
The camera shifted, focusing on the runners ahead. At this moment, a runner had accidentally fallen into the mud, half of his body submerged, and was sinking continuously.
There was nothing around him to hold onto, so he could only flatten his body, trying to slow down his descent.
But it was only a matter of time.
He had barely managed to squeeze into the top ten, was he going to fail at the last moment?
He was filled with resentment and bitterness.
The mud stretched across the entire track, and before stepping on it, one wouldn’t notice anything different.
When he felt his feet sink, he immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly retreated. This panicked action only accelerated his descent.
He was somewhat confused; how had the contestants who had passed earlier managed to avoid this trap?
Those in the audience, however, saw it clearly.
When the contestants ahead of him passed, this was just a flat road. So it was obvious that this was a trap randomly set by the organizers. The trigger condition was perhaps the passing of the “thirteenth person.”
Contestant number thirteen couldn’t move, while contestant number fourteen was rapidly approaching.
Bai Yue stared at the figures on the big screen.
Shang Yufei appeared on the screen.
Ahead lay a noticeably unnatural road. It was concave in the center, swirling with surrounding sand and gravel downwards.
A person lay flat on the edge. Seeing someone approaching, he immediately warned, “You can’t get past this!”
Shang Yufei glanced at him.
When he saw the face clearly, a strange expression flashed across the person’s face. But noticing the camera hovering above his head, he quickly concealed his expression.
Hesitantly, he asked, “Could you give me a hand? I don’t want to be eliminated like this.”
Military academies are competitors, and normally there’s no reason to ask for help. He had spoken up earlier hoping to gain some goodwill. However, he didn’t have high hopes for the outcome.
If that didn’t work, he’d have to resort to a last resort.
But no sooner had he spoken than he saw the black-haired youth approach him, grab his collar with one hand, and yank him up— simply lifting him out of the mud.
Leaving aside the fact that the competitor weighed over a hundred pounds, the sheer force pulling him down was considerable. A slight misstep, and he might have been dragged down himself, let alone saved the competitor.
And this person had rescued him so easily?
The commentator exclaimed, “As expected of Imperial First, both his speed and strength are awe-inspiring. And this noble character, even in a competition, he’s willing to lend a helping hand…”
Before he could finish, the black-haired youth lifted the competitor high and threw him— slinging him across to the other side.
Contestant number 13 felt like he’d escaped one trap only to fall into another. He’d intended to thank them, but now he was inexplicably floating in mid-air. The next second, his body sank back into the mud.
However, he was already at the edge, his hands barely managing to grip the ground, preventing him from spiraling further down. It just looked like it would take some time to break free.
He was covered in dust and sand.
Just as he was struggling, he suddenly felt a dark shadow sweep past his head, blocking out the swirling sand. When he came to his senses, the young man who had just rescued him and then pushed him aside had landed steadily and continued running forward.
He didn’t even spare him a glance.
“!!!”
Contestant number 13 suddenly understood.
Laughter erupted from the audience.
“He was using him as a scout.”
“I was even slightly moved just now…”
“Hahahaha.”
The commentator swallowed back the “noble character” that had just escaped his lips, changing the subject: “Come on, let’s see how the other contestants are doing.”
The further they went, the lower the visibility became.
Gravel swirled in the wind, and a strange smell occasionally filled the air. They could occasionally hear whale calls.
This wasn’t the beach, so how could there be whales?
“Shang Yufei!”
Suddenly, someone called his name. Shang Yufei subconsciously turned around and saw that it was the contestant who had been struggling in the mudslide.
The two were already quite a distance apart, and the other person had to shout for their voice to barely carry.
Although he didn’t know why this person knew his name— and he wasn’t interested— he glanced at them and then looked away, intending to continue on his way. Seeing that Shang Yufei was ignoring him, the man paused, then changed his approach: “Are you Bai Yue’s senior?”
Shang Yufei stopped in his tracks.
Seeing that this worked, the man pressed on: “I really don’t understand why someone like you would participate in a competition for the collective honor? Are you trying to set an example for your juniors?”
“Do you know what those people in the audience are saying about you? Even if you help them win, what’s the point? They’ll still curse you, saying you’re a disgrace to their school!”
As he finished speaking, he saw Shang Yufei turn around and walk towards him.
He smiled: “If I were you, I would deliberately lose this competition. Since they think that way, then let’s show them.”
Shang Yufei stopped a few meters away, hands in his pockets, looking down: “What’s your relationship with Bai Yue?”
Huh? Was that the key point?
The contestant, caught off guard, was slightly stunned. He continued, “I can tell you, but first, help me up.”
Shang Yufei’s gaze shifted, landing on the school badge on the other person’s shoulder.
He wasn’t particularly interested in military academies and couldn’t recognize which badge corresponded to which school. However, he unexpectedly remembered this badge. He had seen it recently.
The South China Sea Naval Academy.
The school of the omega who had been clinging to Bai Yue that night.
Moreover, this person not only knew Bai Yue’s identity but also seemed to know about his feud with Imperial First. He seemed to be deliberately sowing discord, saying those things intentionally.
“Let me warn you first,” Shang Yufei narrowed his eyes, “Don’t casually call Bai Yue’s name with that mouth of yours.”
The contestant was intimidated by the man’s gaze but still tried to remain calm: “W-why? Aren’t names meant to be called?”
Shang Yufei took a step closer.
The competition organizers quickly noticed the anomaly. The contestants from the two military academies were standing in the same spot, making no move, but they didn’t seem to have been eliminated.
The camera turned back, revealing the two figures.
Amidst the swirling yellow sand, one man stood firm on the track, while another was trapped in the mud.
Seeing this, the students of Imperial First High School were all astonished.
“What’s that guy doing? Why isn’t he running anymore?”
“Damn it! Don’t let him provoke you into attacking again!”
“I thought I misread it… never mind, never mind.”
The competitor in the mud noticed the camera was on him again and laughed, “Look, the camera’s turned around again. What do you think they’ll say about you if they see you’re not moving? Is it worth it for these people? You’re just a tool they’re using!”
Shang Yufei didn’t even look up, impatiently saying, “You’re annoying, you’ve been nagging since earlier. When did I ever say I participated in the competition for these bast**ds?”
“Those guys can just stay in the stands and suck their thumbs while drinking milk.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was clearly heard by the Imperial First students through the large screen.
Bast**ds? Sucking their thumbs while drinking milk? Was he talking about them?
Everyone was stunned.
“As for you…”
Shang Yufei raised his right foot and gently placed it on the contestant’s palm. With just a little force, he could make the person release their hands and sink completely into the mud.
“No!”
At this moment, the Imperial First’s rest room was filled with noise. Although they knew that Shang Yufei was probably very angry right now, if they really made a move, it would be a violation of the rules!
The “testing the waters” action just now actually rescued the person, so it did not count as “attacking the contestant.”
But if Shang Yufei’s actions caused the other party to sink completely into the mud, it would likely be judged as a violation of the rules.
They had come to the last step; they hoped that he could hold back.
Everyone was praying in their hearts.
Suddenly, the person slightly raised their eyes. Emerald green eyes pierced through the cold screen and seemed to fall on someone.
Then they quickly looked away.
Due to his arrogant personality, apart from those who were attracted by him, few omegas would pay attention to Shang Yufei’s appearance. But now, looking at him through the big screen, they had to admit that he was good-looking.
Just a light glance from him made them feel their heartstrings being touched. The omegas and betas present, both inside and outside the school, blushed.
Shang Yufei moved his foot and stood still on the sand. He looked down at the person at his feet: “You can continue struggling in this pile of mud.”
“Ugh!” A resentful expression appeared on the contestant’s face.
After saying this, Shang Yufei turned and ran forward.
Noticing the camera following him, he turned his head and looked at the camera, raising his eyebrows slightly: “You better watch carefully.”
“Ahhhhhh!”
The audience erupted in screams. Unlike before, this time it was all from omegas and betas, unusually sharp, all of them unable to hide their girlish hearts.
“What’s his name? Is he also a freshman this year?”
“He seems to be a second-year student! Why didn’t he appear last year? Oh no, I’m going to switch allegiances!”
Most of the alphas looked ugly, especially the students of the Imperial First High School. Because in their eyes, the person’s eyes and tone were undisguised provocation.
And that line— “Suck your thumb while drinking milk”— was just too insulting!
But some people couldn’t help but chuckle: “Isn’t that just his personality? It’s quite interesting.”
“Yeah, anyway, there were no violations.”
For many, a good result meant everything was fine.
Bai Yue stared intently at the large screen. The camera had already zoomed out, filming the athletes’ movements from directly above.
Then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker:
“The handover is about to begin. Sixth runner, please enter the virtual training arena.”
“To reiterate, the handover is about to begin. Sixth runner, please enter the virtual training arena.”
He looked away and followed the group into the room.
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