“By the way, earlier you said you were ambushed. Who was it?”
The boss suddenly remembered what his brothers had gone through, his brows knitting tightly.
“Who else could it be? Those scum, of course! They wanted to hog the prey for themselves and didn’t want to hunt anymore, so they turned around and screwed us over!”
Third Brother spat, “They hid a cyborg among them, but they underestimated us and ended up getting slaughtered by the three of us.”
“Nicely do—” The boss’s face softened a little, but he didn’t get the last word out.
A squad of soldiers clad in heavy exoskeletons, carrying bulky firearms, silently emerged from the forest.
With icy indifference, they raised their weapons and aimed at the four.
Before they could even speak, they suddenly pulled the triggers.
No bullets, no lasers, no gunfire—only an invisible force field descended upon them.
The four’s eyes rolled back; veins bulged all over their bodies as they convulsed violently and collapsed to the ground. In just a moment, their consciousness faded.
“Target secured,” the squad leader reported into his earpiece.
“What are you planning to do with them, Behemoth?”
***
In the underground base, Doctor Forefinger asked with keen interest.
“They didn’t want to let us succeed, right? Well, Yesper Star could use some fresh faces,” Instructor Behemoth sneered.
Hearing this, Doctor Forefinger tapped several times in midair, nodding at the empty space as if browsing through some information.
“Oh, so the Star Core’s been confirmed, and you want to use that planet for the Final Examination? But if they’re just ordinary people—even if they’re fighters—doesn’t that seem a bit beneath the difficulty of the Final Examination?”
“They were test subjects to begin with. Just toss a little more fuel on the fire and let them awaken too!”
“If you haven’t finished your hunting quota, there should be enough sinner corpses inside for you to use. Get to work yourselves.” Lin Zhen spoke as he deftly cut the ropes binding the trainees.
Although sinner ears could be traded for parts, they were already so close to the finish line that swapping more parts for repairs and upgrades was meaningless.
Both his and Yun Ruoxi’s gear was nearly upgraded to the limit. Any further improvements would require higher-level knowledge; even if suitable parts were available, they wouldn’t know how to use them.
“Thank you!”
After witnessing Lin Zhen personally snap a sinner’s neck just now, the trainees found themselves unable to meet his calm gaze. Each one lowered their head and walked past him in silence.
“Aren’t you going? There aren’t enough left for everyone over there.” Lin Zhen looked at the red-haired girl leaning alone in the corner.
“Thank you for saving me,” she muttered, pouting, “but I already finished my hunting quota long ago.”
“Then why— …”
“I just wanted to help them, that’s all.” The red-haired girl looked mockingly at the trainees fighting and bickering over ears, then suddenly snorted, “Didn’t think I’d almost get myself caught up in it, though.”
Lin Zhen recalled his grandmother’s teachings and said softly, “Only help others when you have the strength to spare.”
“Don’t need your preaching!” she grumbled defiantly. “Didn’t you risk yourself to save us just now?”
“That was because I could see they were bluffing,” Lin Zhen answered matter-of-factly. “If they were really able to take us down, they wouldn’t bother negotiating.”
“Do you really think you can get from your enemies in negotiations what you couldn’t take in battle? Negotiation is a privilege granted by the strong, not a bargaining tool for the weak.”
[Great Philosopher Laolin]
[Laolin, your sophistry is endless.]
[You’ve left Redhead speechless.]
Hearing this, the red-haired girl was obviously stunned, and after a few seconds of silence, she nodded.
Then she glanced at Yun Ruoxi, who was sitting off to the side massaging her forehead, and pursed her lips at Lin Zhen:
“Why isn’t she coming over?”
“You know her?” Lin Zhen was a little surprised.
“Of course I know her.” The red-haired girl rolled her eyes at Lin Zhen. “Who doesn’t know her? That would be the weird part! Oh, right. You can call me Scarlet.”
“True enough…” Lin Zhen nodded in agreement.
Yun Ruoxi had made quite a splash in the First Moon’s exam; everyone in the war camp probably knew her by now.
But this time, Lin Zhen misunderstood—what he thought ‘knowing’ meant was nothing like what Scarlet meant.
The two of them just weren’t on the same wavelength.
“But she probably doesn’t know me. Otherwise, why wouldn’t she come over and say hi?” Scarlet bit out, a little annoyed. “She should definitely know me.”
“You two have met before?”
“Yeah.”
Scarlet’s gaze darkened, as if recalling something, but then she waved it off. “Forget it, it’s all in the past.”
In the past?
Lin Zhen was thoughtful.
But seeing Scarlet didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t press. He strolled back to Yun Ruoxi’s side and asked gently:
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah, just about.” Yun Ruoxi raised her head, her eyes sparkling like rubies.
Lin Zhen was amused by her antics. “What are you doing?”
“Whose eyes are redder—hers or mine?” Yun Ruoxi widened her eyes.
“Uh, let me think.”
Lin Zhen pondered for a moment, then ran over to take a closer look at Scarlet, only to be scolded, “What’s wrong with you?” before running back and answering firmly, “Scarlet’s are a bit redder.”
“Oh.”
Yun Ruoxi scrunched her nose and glanced back at Scarlet.
Lin Zhen stood by her side and said quietly, “She says she knows you, and that you should know her. So, do you know her?”
“No,” Yun Ruoxi shook her head.
Of course she knew this Scarlet.
But only after she got the Rough Outline did she realize that she and this person actually had such a messy connection.
Still, knowing was one thing—she couldn’t admit it now. After all, it was a crucial plot point for later.
Luckily, it wasn’t the same time as before.
And, just as in the original plot, Scarlet didn’t reveal anything about their past together.
“Let’s go. I’ve recovered enough,” Yun Ruoxi said, standing and shaking her head lightly.
“Alright.”
Lin Zhen tucked the last ear, wrapped in cloth, into his arms and left the cave with Yun Ruoxi.
After the two left, quite some time passed.
Only then did the group inside the cave finally divvy up the ears. But when they left the cave, they hadn’t gone far before stumbling upon a field of sinner corpses in the forest.
Ears littered the ground, silently mocking how ridiculous their previous struggle had been.
The group fell silent.
Scarlet snorted softly, then turned away without looking back, heading alone in the direction of the rhombus-shaped base.
***
Two days later, the setting sun stained the sky orange-red.
Directly beneath the rhombus-shaped base.
Next to the Transport Platform marking the finish line, two figures approached from afar.
A girl with sky-blue hair, petite but with perfect proportions.
And a boy with cropped black hair and a strong, sturdy build.
After twenty-eight days of hardships and trials, Yun Ruoxi and Lin Zhen had finally reached the finish line!