The content and schedule of the competition were arranged in such a way to exceed all the physical limits of humans. Each participant would have to carry a load of between 66 to 88 pounds and compete under the conditions where there were no reinforcements and enemies were surrounding them from the front and the rear.
In a primeval forest of Country S that was named as the world's worst environment for warfare, they would have to do various tasks.
The tasks included rowing in wild waters, executing a beach landing, crossing a minefield, planning a rescue mission, and shooting with a pistol or rifle. Participants were also tested on high-level tactical techniques such as confrontation and reconnaissance missions.
The whole process would take four to five days.
The capability of his five-men team was pretty good, but he was worried about how Li Ryujin would fare.
When the competition started, Li Ryujin did surprisingly well in the first two rounds. So those soldiers from the other countries who had initially thought that Li Ryujin was simply a pretty girl no longer dared to underestimate her.
In the first two rounds, Mu Jungkook and his team took first place in many different categories. The looks on the men's faces who had never taken Li Ryujin seriously changed from surprise to shock and finally to admiration. The whole situation was fascinating.
Mu Jungkook had studied the rules of the last round in the game many times. He discussed their strategy and measures with his team the night before.
According to the reconnaissance segment rules, every participant would hold onto ten pieces of paper, each representing one penalty point.
Then, when a participant was caught by the enemy, he would have to hand over a piece of paper and deduct a point. Once they ran out of paper, they would be considered as dead.
The team would be disqualified once three out of their five members were dead.
The rules also stated that participants were not allowed to get aggressive with the enemy. Instead, the point was to think of ways to avoid and evade them. They must surrender once they couldn't escape any longer.
All five members had to move separately in this round, which would be a big challenge for Li Ryujin.
Although Li Ryujin had performed well during the past few days and had showed that people shouldn't underestimate her, anything could still happen in the vast rain forest.
This was what Mu Jungkook was most worried about. He looked over at Li Ryujin, who wouldn't dare to let down her guard, and handed her a sewing kit that Yun Lisa had given to him.
Mu Jungkook's expression gradually softened as he looked at the adorable pumpkin-shaped pouch. He had a gentle, warm look, just as if the morning sun had shone over his face.
"This is what my girl uses to protect herself. It's nothing special. These are just sewing needles, but they are all coated with poison. You should onlv use it when vou really have no other options."
Feng Rui looked at the round pumpkin-shaped sewing kit curiously.
"Sir, what made you even bring this thing?"
Before entering the competition ground, everyone had to go through many rounds of inspections and searches.
But these sewing needles would not attract much attention, as it was not uncommon for soldiers to sew rips in their uniforms.
"I came in with it, just like that. No one would suspect anything since it looked like a standard sewing kit."
Mu Jungkook passed the sewing kit to Li Ryujin and advised her with all seriousness, "Keep it well hidden but put it somewhere you can reach it quickly. Don't lose it!"
"Yes, sir!" Li Ryujin hid the sewing kit in her hat. She then took out one of the needles and stuck it in her shoelaces.
"It doesn't matter if we fail at the mission tomorrow. Your safety comes first."
"Yes, sir!" The four of them nodded.
They then started changing and preparing themselves for the last round of the game.
A heavy downpour had just stopped.
The tree leaves and branches were covered with rainwater, and one could also get wet just from the mist as they walked through the forest.
Their camouflage uniforms were drenched and stuck to their skins, but no one had the time to be bothered.
Everyone went into hiding and completed their tasks as quickly as possible.
However, no one could have known that a crisis beyond anyone's expectations was quietly brewing.
The weather in the rain forest was unpredictable. The smell of damp earth filled their entire surroundings.
Yun Lisa and Yan Shuo had been in the forest for several days. When they had first arrived, they had been drenched by the rain every few hours.
Now they had gradually grown accustomed to it.
According to the direction of their compass, they had traveled from north to south, following the direction of the water flowing in the forest river.
If their directions were right and they continued walking from north to south, after passing through an area with a small tribe, and crossing the river, they would eventually be leaving the rain forest. Then they would arrive at City N of Country S.
This was their original plan. They had anticipated every possibility when they arrived, and the long hours in the forest had tested their patience and survival skills.
This was the first time Yun Lisa had ever stepped into a rain forest. The rain forest was more humid and less rugged than the forests in her country.
The whole rain forest was humid and filled with miasma and mosquitoes.
She had to be constantly on the alert for the snakes hidden in the leaves around her. There was not a single moment when she could relax.
Her shoes had long been soaked, but now she wore rainboots, which were more suited to this climate than army boots.
Yan Shuo looked at the stream in front of him. He nodded at Yun Lisa and took out his water bottle.
"When you fill your water bottle at the stream, do not let down your guard. You should turn and look behind you in case any wild animal takes the opportunity to pounce at you."
Yan Shuo demonstrated what he was talking about for her. Yun Lisa very quickly understood. She squatted down, turned her head to look behind her, and put the water bottle in her hand into the water to fill it.
"Instructor, we have been walking for several days. Do you think we are still far from that tribe?"
They had finished the rations that they had brought. If they could not find that tribe and try to bargain for refreshments, it would not be easy for them to last until they had gotten out of the rain forest.
Yan Shuo capped his water bottle, looked at her, and chuckled. "Well, well, are you afraid of eating rats and snakes?"
Yun Lisa smiled and shook her head, bitterly teasing him. "I'm not afraid. I've never tasted that before. Indeed, I really want to try it. It is said that the protein content of snake is pretty high."
"Don't worry about not having the opportunity." Yan Shuo stopped worrying for her when he saw that she could still maintain such a state of mind.
After half an hour of rest, they continued their journey. There was no proper path in the rain forest. They had to walk through tall, dense bushes, one step at a time. Neither of them could afford to be careless.
After walking for a short while, Yan Shuo heard some noises nearby and stopped suddenly.
The next moment, Yun Lisa also reacted. She squatted down next to him among the bushes. They looked at the group of people slowly walking toward them from the low-lying land.
Although the distance between them was still very large, from the place where they squatted, they could clearly see the terrain below.
Yun Lisa turned her head, lowered her voice, and spoke, "Instructor, look, they are all armed!"
At the front of the line were six men in camouflage uniforms, each with a rifle in his hand. In the middle were three men bound with ropes and pulled forward by those in front. Finally, there were five soldiers who followed behind.
This group of 14 men walked through the forest, battered and exhausted.
As they drew nearer, Yan Shuo pressed Yun Lisa down behind the bushes. The dense foliage and dim light hid both of them. The conversation of the men in clear and audible English could be heard as they approached.
"Boss, what's the purpose of capturing these three weaklings and transporting them all the way? It has been really troublesome for us to cross the mountains just to get them. If it had not been for the three prisoners, they could have taken the car and dashed over the border. It would have been easy."
"Big Boss naturally has his own reasons to have us bring them back. Stop all your nonsense."
"I heard they are some kind of chemistry experts. Is Big Boss thinking of asking them to produce drugs?"
"Could be. Big Boss did get someone to develop a new type of drug recently. But that expert seduced the Big Boss's woman and he shot him dead. The experiment was not completed yet, thus we have to kidnap more people..."
When they had walked a long way, they straightened and looked in the direction they were going.
Their entire conversation was in English. Based on their temperaments and the firearms they carried, they must be mercenaries.
"Instructor, the people they've captured are from Jun Country!"
Just as they walked past them, Yun Lisa heard one of the three captured prisoners say a few sentences in their national language. She could almost confirm that those who were captured were experts from Jun Country.
"I heard." Yan Shuo's eyes lowered and his brows twisted as he looked forward, seemingly estimating the plausibility of a rescue.
"We can't just watch them die without doing anything. But there are quite a number of them, while there are only two of us. We are way underpowered compared to them."
On top of that, they were still unclear about how many people were at the destination where the mercenaries were heading. The possibility of a successful rescue at this point wouldn't be high.
"Let's go, let's just follow them now and determine where they are going. Even if we really wanted to make a move now, we can only do it after it gets dark."
"All right!" Yun Lisa nodded and followed him, carefully tracking the footsteps on the ground as she moved forward.
Initially, Yun Lisa had thought it was just a drug lord occupying the rain forest to cook drugs in secret. But as they followed along the tracks and arrived at their stronghold, they realized that the actual situation was far more terrifying than what they had first thought.
The two found a vantage point and used binoculars to scout a small village in a low-lying area from afar.
There were a significant number of corpses of people who had been ruthlessly murdered piled haphazardly around the outer circumference of the village. There were also quite a few mercenary soldiers on guard all around the village.
A repugnant smell permeated the damp air of the region. When a breeze blew toward Yun Lisa and Yan Shuo, the stench of decomposing corpses made Yun Lisa's brows lock together.
"B*stards!" Yun Lisa kept the portable binoculars in her hands. With a pale face, Yun Lisa looked at Yan Shuo beside her whose expression was equally dark and sullen. A piercing coldness surged in her eyes, laced with a murderous intent, while her tightly clenched fists gave away the burning anger that was roiling inside her.
This was no longer within their ability to intervene. These mercenaries and drug lords were occupying the village and arbitrarily killing local villagers.
It seemed as if they were planning to transform this place into their secret hideout.
Just then, a woman in tattered clothes ran out from one of the cottages.
Behind her, several men were tugging on their belts as they chased after the women to catch her and bring her back to the cottage.
Soon, the menacing laughter of the men and the horrified screams of the woman could be heard from inside...
"Yun Lisa!" The moment Yun Lisa wanted to stand up, Yan Shuo dragged her back down and shook his head at her with a sullen expression. "There are too many of them, all properly armed and equipped. We have nothing. There's nothing you can do even if you ran out there now!"
"But...these scum are disgusting." Yun Lisa, who was squatting behind a bush, slammed her fist into a tree.
The screams from inside the cottage echoed in her ears. Although they were far away, the lack of noise in this area allowed her to hear every one of the woman's desperate screams clearly. Yun Lisa felt as though each shriek was piercing through her eardrums.
"This isn't Jun Country's territory. There are many things that you haven't experienced before and don't understand. You've never been on the battlefield, you don't know how the dead bodies of people are strewn around like trash in the areas plagued by war and conflict. This is only a small village, with a small population. You haven't seen the truly cruel scenes..."
Yan Shuo was very clear about what a battlefield was like. From the first time he'd been on a battlefield, he'd never wanted to go there again.
He didn't fear death, but such bloody cruelty and the most abhorrent side of human nature had become the most brutal nightmare of his life. He didn't want to experience that ever again.
But Mu Jungkook, his most outstanding student as well as the one who he was most proud of, had crawled out from piles of dead corpses time and time again at the same age as he had been back then.
"We must get out first. Only then can we find reinforcements to come back with us and help us save them. It's impossible with just the two of us. We did indeed go through the training, but these mercenaries are retired special forces soldiers. And on top of that, they have hostages, so we won't be able to fight freely. Get up, let's get out of the rain forest first."
The village they had been looking for had already been occupied by the mercenaries, so they didn't get to replenish their supplies.
On top of which, seeing a scene like that, Yun Lisa had had to force herself to hold back from her temptation to kill every last one of them.
Instead, they slowly retreated and continued following the compass on their way out of the rain forest.
Yun Lisa's clothes had become wet from all the rainwater, and inside this cold and gloomy forest, Yun Lisa could feel chills deep in her bones.
"Are you blaming me for stopping you?" Yan Shuo paused and turned toward the little girl behind him who had lowered her head and remained silent.
Such a massacre... She had probably never experienced anything like this in peacetime, and it had probably scared her a little.
"No, I'm not." Yun Lisa raised her head, her eyes gleaming with a chilling shimmer as her sharp gaze shot through the forest.
"Under such circumstances when there is such a large gap in firepower, I'm not going to go running to my own demise. The first condition of attempting to rescue someone is to be able to retreat safely, otherwise all we're doing is giving them our lives as well for no good reason."
She wasn't a sanctimonious fool, nor was she cold-blooded and emotionless. Even someone as good as Yan Shuo was at stopping her... Of course, she could understand the rationale.
"It's great that you understand this."
Yan Shuo nodded. Recalling the pile of decomposing bodies at the outer circumferences of the village, he couldn't help but take a deep breath as he asked, "That didn't frighten you, did it?'
Although such scenes were a hurdle that she would have to step over one day, he was concerned that seeing it so early without any mental preparation could frighten her.
Yun Lisa looked down and shook her head without saying anything. She hadn't seen such blood, cruelty, and gore in all of her two lives combined. If she said she wasn't scared, it would be a lie.
"Let's keep walking until we get out of here. We must still ensure that we stay alive."
Yun Lisa nodded, and the two of them continued walking in the direction south.
Meanwhile, the special forces soldiers who were pitted against each other at the training camp dispersed toward the north and continued the competition.
The training grounds were located at the edge of the rain forest, but the competition this time required them to enter deep into the rain forest for combat. Mu Jungkook's team and the Italian team were up against the German and Swedish teams.
It was a ten-on-ten contest between combat experts. The entire team would be eliminated when three people on either side died.
They had to cooperate with an unfamiliar team that was closely related to their own interests, yet they couldn't intervene in eachn other's operations. Such unique conditions made it difficult to determine how the cooperation should be carried out.
Before they set off, Mu Jungkook had a long discussion with the leader of the Italian team, Evan. In the end, they decided to split up and take two routes.
There was no exact timing stipulated for the competition. It would only end when one of the groups was eliminated.
As they stepped into the rain forest, footprints that were initially obvious giveaways of their position became unclear due to the moisture and the large number of people entering.
Right after they split up at the entrance, Li Ryujin followed the directions set out by Mu Jungkook and headed all the way north according to the compass on her watch.
The flora in the rain forest was thick and dense, but Li Ryujin had years of experience operating in the forests around Tianyu Mountain, so she didn't think much of a challenge like this.
However there were more people this time, and they were all top-notch experts, so she didn't dare to let down her guard even one bit.
After walking for more than half an hour, she gradually realized that there was someone following behind her.
She raised her pretty eyebrows and her gaze swept the area around her as well as the nearby vantage points.
The competition had been going on for several days, yet there were still people who dared to take her on.
Great, in that case, she'll let them see for themselves her true power!
Soon, she found a vantage point and lay prone on the wet, muddy ground to begin her surveillance of her prey.
The people who ended up coming weren't members of any of the groups in this round of the competition. It was the Norwegian team who hadn't had their turn in the competition yet.
"Strange, we followed her all the way here, how did she disappear?"
"She must still be ahead, hurry up and follow her. This is a great chance, after waiting for so many days, we finally catch an opportunity of her being alone."
"I've been getting a hard-on for the past two days every time I think of that chick's booty and boobs. It's the first time I've ever seen an Eastern beauty this gorgeous! She's both beautiful and seductive.'
Although she couldn't understand what they were saying, Li Ryujin felt a sense of disgust from their nasty laughter.
Seeing that they had walked off in the direction opposite to where she was, she kept her sniper rifle handy. Just as she was about to stand up, a black figure that she didn't even realize was hiding behind her suddenly pounced on her.
She instantly reacted, immediately raising her leg and kicking toward the figure.
That person had an impressive reaction speed as well, he nimbly dodged her attack and threw a handful of flour that he held in his hand right into her face.
This was a move that was difficult to anticipate and guard against. The moment Li Ryujin turned, she was hit right in the face by the flour that flew toward her.
Instantly, all she could see was a blur of white. The man quickly grabbed her and starting dragging her toward a tree nearby.
Li Ryujin closed her eyes as she felt a pricking pain from the flour. Under such circumstances when she couldn't see anything, she was starting to panic a little.
She swung her hand around and struggled to get out of the man's grip.
The man took the opportunity to draw a rope from his pocket and swiftly grasped her wrists in an attempt to tie her up.
The moment the rope touched her hand, Li Ryujin frowned slightly, and an uncanny smile flared from her dark green lips.
She wouldn't attack if she hadn't been provoked. But if someone decided to attack her, she would eliminate the problem straight at its roots.
That was her principle. She initially hadn't wanted to do anything overboard, because she didn't want to create any trouble for Mu Jungkook.
But now, it seemed that someone had come right up to her face seeking death. Perfect, she'd show them that when the pretty, decorative vase was shattered, it would cut off their hands.
The man didn't notice her subtle actions. He was bent on tying her hands to the tree, and his movements were swift and hurried.
Although she couldn't see clearly who it was, she had already realized that it was another scum who wanted to lay his hands on her, the only female in the entire competition.
With her sense of sight inhibited, her hearing became more sensitive than usual. Especially so for someone like her who had defused more than 1,000 landmines. It was even easier for her to discern slight sounds.
When the man reached over to unbuckle her belt, Li Ryujin smiled.
Her hands, which he had tied behind a tree, had already been untied by her effortlessly.
The man who was as impatient and anxious as a monkey didn't realize that Li Ryujin was acting unusually composed and quiet and continued to tear at her pants with all his strength.
Li Ryujin freed her hands and ran her fingers through her hat to find the sewing kit hidden inside.
Just as her fingers touched the needles in the kit, the man who was groping and touching her all over abruptly let out several muffled groans. The next moment, he was knocked to the ground by several punches and yelled out in pain. Only then did Li Ryujin realize that someone else had arrived.
Soon, the man no longer made any noise. Li Ryujin struggled to sit upright and attempted to recognize what was all around her, as well as the person who had come to her rescue.
"Instructor Ryujin?" After knocking out the man with one swift palm strike, Yun Lisa couldn't help but kick him a couple more times before turning around to look at the woman who had sat up. Despite Li Ryujin's face being a ghostly white from the flour, Yun Lisa still recognized this familiar face.
Hearing Yun Lisa's voice seemingly out of nowhere, Li Ryujin was startled as well. She tried with great effort to open her eyes, yet she was unable to do it.
"Yun Lisa? Yun Lisa, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me!" Yun Lisa squatted down and reached out to flip her eyelids. "Don't move yet, your eyes have come into contact with this powder and they need to be washed out. Do you have clean water on you?"
The water Yun Lisa had had all been collected from the rainforest and contaminated by bacteria and minerals, making it unsuited for washing the eyes.
"Yes," Li Ryujin replied as she passed her a water bottle from her backpack.
Yun Lisa raised her head and looked at Yan Shuo who was standing aside, "Instructor Yan, please help to support her while I wash her eves out."
"Instructor Yan is here too?" Li Ryujin's eyes were closed, but she could still feel his chilling aura.
Yan Shuo answered with a brief HUMPH, before taking off his jacket and throwing it over Li Ryujin. She was wearing a black tank top while her camouflage uniform had been torn and tattered. She looked as if she'd just been violated.