Bai Yue could clearly feel that Mu Sihan was avoiding him, and this feeling became even more apparent after that night. Aside from interactions between the patrol team and the training sessions, the other party would not initiate a conversation with him. It was as if they had returned to how things were when they first met. However, regardless of how Mu Sihan looked at him, Bai Yue still maintained his usual attitude.
Additionally, after investigating Du Qin's mobile phone, he made some new discoveries. Essentially, the contacts could be ruled out as members of the patrol team or the masked people's organization. The former, being all students, and after Bai Yue joined the patrol team, he discovered that internal communication within the organization was extremely transparent. It was nearly impossible to secretly abuse power for nefarious purposes.
During the time he communicated with the mechanical voice on Liya Star, all members of the patrol team were in the monitoring room, unlikely to have the time to engage in such activities. As for the organization of masked people, although they seemed to be plotting to disrupt the selection process, their actions were solely aimed at the patrol team. The event later ended without any fatalities, which Bai Yue believed was actually thanks to that organization. It was unlikely for them to send out a giant wolf and then sabotage their own plans.
After revisiting Du Qin's email, Bai Yue realized that the contact person was immediately informed about the selection results and was very familiar with the students' situations. This sparked a guess in Bai Yue's mind—could it be a staff member? Perhaps one of the teachers who had accompanied them during the selection day. It could be a counselor from any department, a staff member from the virtual training facility, or a technician from the monitoring room. Compared to ordinary students, staff members would indeed have easier access to move around and investigate student information without raising suspicion.
However, this was merely a guess based on logic; concrete evidence was still needed. Bai Yue looked at his hand, remembering the person who contacted him seemed particularly interested in the S+ grade identity. Due to the urgency of the situation at that time, he had directly rejected them. If this person attempted to contact him again in the future, it might present an opportunity.
Training was in full swing, with the school sports meeting only two weeks away. The training schedule was packed every day to maximize efficiency, and the limited number of members were divided into several small groups. Bai Yue found himself in Group A, while Shang Yufei was in Group B. Shang Yufei seemed dissatisfied with the grouping, and the other members of Group B were visibly trembling, indicating they were not looking forward to spending the next few days with him.
Upon seeing the group assignments, there was a shared sense of empathy among them, except for one person. Mu Sihan, also assigned to Group B, frowned when he saw a familiar name on the list. Although all groups trained in the same venue, they practiced different events. Compared to others, Group B appeared particularly dispirited, making two individuals stand out. These two did not look at each other, but whenever their gazes accidentally met, sparks flew.
After completing his warm-up, Bai Yue happened to witness this scene. Mu Sihan was the first to look away and moved to the corner of the group. Bai Yue, with his arms crossed, wondered why there was such a big conflict between two people who had barely known each other and had hardly spoken. Shang Yufei and Qin Fei seemed to get along well with the team, except for Mu Sihan. Bai Yue shook his head, puzzled.
The members of Group B were unaware that their nightmare was just beginning. The team's coach blew a whistle to start the training, which was designed to be progressively challenging, but Group B faced a nightmare from the start with a running drill. One of the students, confident in his physical education specialty, felt his endurance and explosive power were unmatched.
However, as soon as he started running, he was overtaken. Surprised but comforting himself that he could catch up, he was quickly overtaken by another. Stunned, the student realized he was falling behind. After about ten minutes, the coach announced the results: "First, Shang Yufei! Second, Mu Sihan!"
The time difference between first and second place was only a fraction of a second. The teacher recorded the time and, looking at the students who arrived late, lamented their lack of effort with the phrase, "Are the rest of you not eating?* There's such a huge gap!" The others, gasping for breath, caught up and collapsed on the ground after crossing the finish line. In their effort to minimize the gap, they took on too much.
Afterwards, whether it was running, long jump, or combat, it was almost exclusively a competition between Shang Yufei and Mu Sihan. The team leader was very pleased but still urged the members of group B to keep up. Compared to the harmonious and friendly progress of other groups, the training in group B was intense as if they were injected with a dose of adrenaline.
During the rest period, Xu Chengdong witnessed this scene and couldn't help but wipe his face: "Group leader, I'm glad I was assigned to be with you." By the end of the day, the members of group B were utterly exhausted, sitting on the ground in despair. The team leader nodded frequently.
"Everyone made quick progress today, pushing beyond their limits. Let's continue tomorrow!" Upon hearing this, the members who were sitting on the ground immediately collapsed again.
At dusk, with the sun half-hidden below the horizon, Shang Yufei pushed his bangs up, his forehead already sweaty. "Hard work," a male voice came from behind. He turned around and saw Bai Yue.
Bai Yue, holding two bottles of water, handed one over. Then, looking around and seeing Mu Sihan squatting nearby, tying his shoelaces, he walked over and bent down to offer the bottle: "Here."
Mu Sihan paused, not immediately taking it, but looked up instead. His ice-blue eyes reflected the orange sunset. Bai Yue placed the water bottle at his feet and stood up: "There are still more than ten days of intensive training, you guys are pushing too hard."
Mu Sihan didn't say a word.
When Bai Yue returned to Shang Yufei's side, he had just put down his water bottle, wiping the water stain from the corner of his mouth.
Bai Yue said, "He just doesn't like to talk, that's all."
Shang Yufei frowned and glanced at the boy not far away. The latter picked up a water bottle from the ground, staring at its label, lost in thought.
He shifted his gaze away. "It's not about that."
"Isn't it?" Bai Yue smiled. "I thought you were angry because he ignored you when you tried to talk to him."
Shang Yufei felt annoyed. "Am I that childish?"
Even if he would get angry for such a reason, it would only be with Bai Yue. He couldn't care less about anyone else's attitude.
Bai Yue was just joking.
Seeing that the atmosphere had lightened a bit, he said, "Even if we don't have to become friends, why be so antagonistic?"
Shang Yufei remained silent, his fingers unconsciously clenching tight.
It was a subtle feeling that Bai Yue might not understand. This content is provided by Situ Web for online reading.
But just looking at that guy, he felt inexplicably irritated. Even though there was a layer of frost on the surface, there was a repressed aggressiveness inside. Especially when looking at Bai Yue.
Bai Yue heard the sound of plastic deforming. Looking down, he saw the squashed mineral water bottle.
He reached out, pulled the bottle out, and threw it into a nearby trash can.
"When the official game comes, our opponents are the enemy schools, not our teammates."
"You haven't forgotten what we promised the teacher before, have you?"
Shang Yufei remained silent for a while, then frowned. "I know."
.
Time flew by, and soon it was the last day of the training camp.
Members from five groups were gathered together for a warm-up match.
The team leader said, "The day after tomorrow is the school sports meeting. Athletes from several schools will come to our school to participate in the competition, and there will be tens of thousands of spectators."
"We have seen your performance these days. We can assure you, as long as you play normally in the official competition, winning the championship for Di Yi (di Yi is Emperor one) is not a problem!"
"Last year, our championship was taken away by Anqi Protection Academy. This year, we must wash away the disgrace!"
"Yes!" Everyone responded enthusiastically.
Xu Chengdong touched his little heart: "What should I do, I'm getting more and more nervous."
The team leader said, "Don't be nervous!"
Xu Chengdong thought his words were overheard and shivered directly.
The team leader said, "The game is actually a battle of mental states. To help you adapt to this pace as soon as possible, we will simulate a match. The team that loses will be the reserve members."
Another name for the reserve members is "sitting on the cold bench."* To be on the safe side, the number of participants is far more than the actual need. It's not uncommon for a team to not be called into play at all in the end.
This simulated match is also essentially a battle for the initiative.
When the strengths of two members are not significantly different, the official members will be dispatched to play first.
The rules of the warm-up match are simple:
- The use of pheromones is not allowed in the match.
- Depending on the group, each team is given ten headbands of different colors, each worth one point.
- Points can be scored by snatching the headbands of other teams, and members who have their headbands taken are eliminated from the game. Additionally, headbands snatched from others' hands do not count.
- After the game ends, the teams will be ranked by their total points. The top three teams become official members.
So, the key to victory is—to snatch other teams' headbands while protecting your own team's headbands.
Group A members' headbands were blue. Following the rules, Bai Yue tied his on his forehead.
After all members were equipped, the team leader marked out a boundary. Anyone stepping out of this boundary would also be eliminated.
Once preparations were completed, the five groups entered the field without any particular order.
"The whistle will start the game, everyone be ready."
All members were tense, exchanging glances.
Bai Yue looked around at everyone.
After hearing the rules once, he had understood their meaning.
Being eliminated if your headband is taken or if you step out of line. Also, you cannot snatch headbands that other teams have collected.
This means the only way to score points is to take the headband off someone "head."
And as the game progresses, fewer people remain on the field.
So, this is a free-for-all—strike first to win.
A harsh whistle pierced the sky, opening the curtain of the warm-up match.
Hearing the start signal, Bai Yue didn't hesitate and charged out immediately.
Group C students were still considering whom to start with. Before they could react, they saw a shadow approaching. Then, they felt a lightness on their heads.
He was startled, then quickly touched his forehead. The headband was gone.
Bai Yue landed steadily, the light brown long scarf in his hand fluttering in the wind. Then, the referee's loud voice rang out. "Group A scores 1 point! Group C's Wu Hao is eliminated, please leave the field immediately!" The match had only started for a second, and there was already a change in the score.
After scoring a point, members of Group A were energized and quickly rushed towards other "prey."
Within a few short minutes, the situation on the field had changed significantly. Currently, Group B was in first place, with Group A in second. Although Group A had taken the initiative, Group B quickly surpassed them with the efforts of Shang Yufei and Mu Sihan, who snatched more headbands from others. Since it was a free-for-all, team cooperation was not so necessary in the early stages. Shang Yufei alone had already grabbed five headbands.
In the next second, Group B's score increased again. Mu Sihan's tally reached four headbands, quickly catching up to Shang Yufei.
After being surpassed by Group B, the morale of Group A members became unstable. In their panic, their headbands were snatched away, and Group A's ranking fell to third place. This was the danger line; falling one more place would mean they could only "sit on the cold bench" during the sports meet. Although there was still a chance to participate, the probability was definitely much smaller than that of the official members.
This thought made some people even more panicked. "Ah!" Xu Chengdong screamed. He had only snatched one headband when his own was taken. The number of Group A members still on the field decreased to four.
He walked off the field dejectedly, looking at Bai Yue, who was still striving hard inside. Bai Yue was the one who had scored the most points for Group A. Holding his hands like a microphone, Xu Chengdong said, "Team leader, I'm sorry! Keep it up!" Hearing this, Bai Yue turned his head, smiled at him, and with a light leap, evaded an attack from another competitor. Xu Chengdong didn't dare to distract him further and closed his mouth.
The team leader checked the recorded scores. There were a total of 50 points in the score pool, and the current situation was:
- Group B: 14 points (Shang Yufei's team)
- Group D: 9 points
- Group A: 8 points (Bai Yue's team)
- Group C: 7 points
- Group E: 2 points
Now, only 10 members remained on the field. The scores of the second, third, and fourth places were very close, leaving the possibility for any of them to overtake the others.
At this moment, Group A's numbers decreased by one more, and Group C's score caught up, tying with Group A. Possibly because Bai Yue had snatched a headband right at the start, Group C's targets were almost entirely focused on Group A. As for Group E, only one member was left, and with just two points, they were in a rather resigned state of trying to score.
"Ah!" Suddenly, a bearded man from Group D demonstrated his prowess, directly taking down two members of Group B. Though he went out of the ring himself due to the momentum, his sacrifice was not in vain as he managed to snatch the opponents' headbands before going out.
The competition heated up. The situations for Groups B and E were virtually set, unlikely to change significantly. Meanwhile, the other three groups were vigorously cheering for their own teams.
The rankings changed once again:
- Group B: 15 points (Shang Yufei's team)
- Group D: 11 points
- Group C: 10 points
- Group A: 9 points (Bai Yue's team)
- Group E: 2 points
After Bai Yue snatched another student's headband, he noticed the scores on the scoreboard. His team was now at 9 points, ranking fourth. To safely enter the top three, they needed to gain at least two more points.
He quickly calculated the scores in his mind. When he turned to look at the field, he paused. Now, there were only three people left on the field: him, Mu Sihan, and Shang Yufei.
This meant that to become an official member, he had to snatch headbands from these two.