People from the same faction who have completely fallen out with each other – it’s truly an embarrassing sight.
UMU’s students hesitated, asking in a low voice, “Everything’s in complete chaos! Are we helping or not?”
Tong Xun felt somewhat helpless, mixed with a hint of anger. Ignoring Cheng Feng’s provocation, he succinctly gave his order: “Help.”
Cheng Feng shot back quickly. “We don’t need your help.”
This was never about helping them – this was a moment of life and death for UMU themselves. Cheng Feng wasn’t about to let them claim that moral high ground.
The White Team’s soldiers didn’t care who their allies were; they had risked their lives to gather in the city purely to score points. The UMU and the UFU students were all wearing the same uniforms, so in their eyes, everyone was equally fair game.
Moreover, without Tong Xun’s orders, the UMU’s students couldn’t properly mount a counterattack. Their wavering hesitation made them slow to react and clumsy in movement – far easier targets than the UFU soldiers. Unconsciously, the White Team’s gun muzzles drifted downward toward them, and several UMU examinees had already fallen in the chaos.
The students eliminated in this situation died in utter humiliation.
They hadn’t even warmed up their gun barrels, hadn’t even distinguished friend from foe – still skulking around, waiting for orders – when suddenly their vision went black, and their one precious annual training opportunity came to an abrupt end.
After the match, there’s no need for self-reflection. Just walk out of the exam hall, casually browse San Yao, and netizens will tell them plainly and sincerely: their greatest contribution to this major battle was lending a hand in selling out their allies.
The examinees still inside the examination hall could already picture the scene in their minds. They didn’t dare to die, yet they didn’t dare to fight either. To make matters worse, those loudmouths from UFU kept chattering incessantly right in their ears, hurling abuse nonstop. They tried to retort but couldn’t win the argument, which seriously messed with their mentality. They were stifled with frustration, and their morale was visibly plummeting.
UMU were not in much better shape than Cheng Feng and her team at this point.
And if they didn’t step in to help soon, that madwoman Cheng Feng might actually use bullets to send them to their graves.
Tong Xun gave orders directly through the faction channel. “Everyone on alert, prepare for a full-scale assault! Confirm your positions and act according to the map markers! Team Two, move faster!”
For the subsequent commands, Tong Xun switched to the team-only frequency.
The personnel on the bottom lane instantly became a jumbled mess.
With UMU joining in, the pressure on UFU dropped sharply.
The several hundred White Team members caught between the two forces also lost their bearings. In an instant, they went from being hunters launching a three-pronged siege to a vulnerable group surrounded on all sides.
A small number slipped through the gaps and ended up isolated. Another group desperately ran toward the city gate or the supply depot, throwing caution to the wind. But even more of them were directly eliminated from the examination hall amid the flames of war.
Cheng Feng said flatly, “UMU have made their move, Kang Zhenxue.”
There was no need for her to remind him – Kang Zhenxue replied cheerfully, “Here they come, here they come! Our Second Military has always made it our duty to help others! Counterattack now!”
The White Team had been single-mindedly chasing UFU down the bottom lane, with everyone caught up in internal attrition. Only their Second Military remained well-organized and high-spirited, becoming the chosen players who could safely pick off easy targets.
Kang Zhenxue’s pent-up anger from being cursed at all day had also completely dissipated – even the lilt in his voice at the end of his sentences was light and carefree.
Cheng Feng didn’t dwell on it. She boldly drew a red line across the map with her hand, completely shifting away from her earlier fierce and aggressive combat style, and adopted an extremely cautious approach. She gave the order: “Pull back. Prioritize your own safety above all. Coordinate and assist each other in attacks… Hey, that guy I marked in yellow – your position is way too dangerous. Fall back a bit, don’t stick your neck out. Team Three leader, go get him out of there.”
At this point, UFU’s solitary struggle had finally come to an end.
Xiang Yunjian had been holding his position at the city gate without moving. Listening to the verbal sparring going on, he was actually in quite a good mood. He chuckled and asked, “How are you feeling, Commander?”
Cheng Feng let out a soft breath. “Spirited and vigorous.”
Jiang Linxia was deeply shaken. “We’ve reached the point where we need to use the word ‘vigorous’ to describe ourselves?”
Cheng Feng shot back. “Do you feel weathered? Haggard?”
Jiang Linxia had nothing to say to that.
The White Team’s attacking force was a mix of students from three military universities, and their coordination with one another wasn’t particularly tight. When they came under assault, they mainly relied on individual performance.
Only the students from the First Military performed relatively well – even though Tao Rui wasn’t on the front lines, their advances and retreats remained well-organized, and they were maneuvering around the map in a fairly disciplined guerrilla fashion. The other two teams failed to react in time: one was nearly wiped out, and the other was scattered piecemeal by the Second Military.
Of course, the Red Team wasn’t much better off – they had their own spectacular internal strife going on.
Both sides were basically ragtag troops, and when they clashed head-on in chaotic melee, their skill levels actually turned out to be evenly matched.
However, the White Team had only dispatched a little over a thousand people for this siege. After the Red Team united their three fronts, no matter how they fought, they couldn’t gain the upper hand.
At this point, both the allied forces and the Second Military were busy scrambling for kill points. These were practically free kills – an opportunity that would only come once.
Tong Xun dispatched a squad to the city gate, not forgetting to call out, “Cheng Feng, block the middle lane!”
Zhong Yijie had gotten used to cursing freely. Hearing that Tong Xun was still trying to sacrifice their own troops, he exploded in anger. “Just because you tell us to go, we have to go? Who do you think you are? Block it yourself!”
“The gate still needs to be blocked,” Cheng Feng took over the conversation leisurely. ” Xiang Yunjian, close the door and start farming points.”
Zhong Yijie: “…”
Xiang Yunjian’s squad had been standing by at the city gate all along precisely for this moment. Seeing that the teams on both the left and right were in position, they raised their bulletproof gear in front of them and locked down the entrance in unison, trapping the remaining White Team soldiers inside the city.
Cheng Feng could easily guess what UMU and the Second Military were thinking.
Their plan was to use UFU as bait to lure the White Team inside.
After Tao Rui had worn down Cheng Feng’s fighting strength, they would then seal off the city gates, and with all three teams striking together, wipe out the White Team soldiers inside the city in one fell swoop.
That way, UMU and the Second Military would secure enough kill points at minimal cost. Meanwhile, the White Team, with an acceptable number of casualties, would directly knock UFU off the MVP throne.
In the later stages of the match, the five military universities would each fight on their own strength – and first and foremost, eliminate UFU from the arena.
Everyone was satisfied with this arrangement. And that was precisely how the world of UFU’s sorrow came into being.
Tao Rui and several commanders had discussed everything down to the last detail before the match. Cheng Feng had to admit that this kind of interest swap was vicious and effective enough – no matter how San Yao allocated the teams, everyone could get satisfactory returns from their respective positions.
Unfortunately, a little accident occurred during the execution. Cheng Feng was fiercer than they had imagined, and the multiple parties failed to knock UFU out in one go. Sorry to disappoint them.
Cheng Feng sent Xin Kuang and his underlings a “rendezvous” signal. While waiting for him to arrive, she couldn’t help but ask in disbelief, “Is this kind of situation common? Have you ever seen this kind of formation before?”
“Definitely not!” Jiang Linxia said. “Last year, Tao Rui didn’t have nearly as much influence – he couldn’t unite the five military universities. And commanders like this are rare.”
So they had fattened up Tao Rui, only for him to come back and screw over Cheng Feng.
Cheng Feng was heartbroken.
Xin Kuang followed Cheng Feng’s instructions and took over the armored vehicle from his teammates.
So far, UFU had already lost 289 students. The combined death toll of the Second Military and UMU probably wasn’t even a fraction of that. Their total kill count was under 100. The losses were devastating.
Every time Cheng Feng glanced at the data, she mentally drew a cross next to Kang Zhenxue and Tong Xun’s names.
The NPC squad leader nearby didn’t have an ounce of veteran professionalism. While everyone else was scrambling, he mindlessly picked at his ears and shook his leg. Eventually, he even dragged a chair over to sit in the sun at the doorway, occasionally casting sidelong glances at their operation panels.
Catching a glimpse of Cheng Feng’s backend data, he shook his head in disdain, his expression plainly saying, “Hopeless.”
Shen Dan and Chen Huayue hadn’t spoken a word for the past few minutes. Their eyes were fixed dead on the screens, their brains seemingly split into multiple sections to process the flood of chaotic information simultaneously.
The mounting number of fallen comrades weighed heavily on them.
They had to coordinate the team, flexibly reassign personnel among different squads to fill vacancies, and ensure the battle line remained stable. They also had to arrange for logistics soldiers to transport supplies, while simultaneously finding hidden routes for squads in need to take temporary shelter.
As the battle line shifted downward, the team’s death toll shot up sharply. Their model panels were covered in warning red dots, with every squad screaming “Requesting backup.”
Chen Huayue gritted his teeth in frustration, almost wishing he could just donate his own brain to them.
Over at the next desk, Shen Dan’s fingers were flying across the keyboard so fast they were nearly a blur, every word she typed back to the squad leaders laced with killing intent.
This world was truly inhumane to data analysts.
After merging into the bottom-lane team, they finally had a moment to catch their breath.
Thankfully, they had three B-class commanders, unlike other military universities that only had one.
That would’ve been an absolute killer.
Chen Huayue turned his head to look at Cheng Feng, about to tell her that she should set the next target and boost the team’s morale a bit, when he heard Cheng Feng speak at an unhurried pace, “Anyone near a hard-to-pick-up supply drop, report your coordinates. Also, need a sharp kid who can ride a motorcycle.”
The team frequency was still echoing with Jiang Linxia’s continuous cursing. “Kang Zhenxue only became commander mostly because his face is thick enough. Once this match is over, I’m definitely going to extort him…”
His voice suddenly cut off. Before he could even process it, Watermelon had already jumped in, shouting so excitedly his voice cracked. “Me! I’ve got the experience, the sharp eye, and I know the drill! Other brothers can’t handle this massive fortune, but I can! More importantly, I’m your man, Boss!”
Countless voices in the team frequency shouted “No way, no way,” as they scrambled to volunteer a beat too late. The morale that had been flagging just moments ago skyrocketed as if they’d been shot full of adrenaline.
“Let me enjoy it too!”
“The fortune-teller said I’d come into a windfall at twenty-one – this is clearly where it’s meant to happen!”
“My motorcycle can fly! Pick me!”
“Junior! Loot a few more grenades and directional bombs – I want to fall in love with the feeling of financial freedom too!”
Chen Huayue was dumbfounded.
Wealth, indeed, was a powerful shot of adrenaline.
Cheng Feng did have a good impression of Watermelon – the guy was lively enough. She smiled and said, “Watermelon it is. Alright, get him a motorcycle. And that guy whose bike can fly – move forward fifty meters and hitch a ride with the guy at the green dot.”
With that, she tapped on Chen Huayue’s panel and reminded him, “Senior, here comes some work.”
Chen Huayue’s smile was a little bitter.
Dozens of coordinates soon popped up in the backend.
Cheng Feng picked a few, called up the frontline soldiers’ point-of-view feeds, planned out detailed routes based on the situation, and left the rest to Shen Dan and Chen Huayue.
Without needing to exchange words, the three of them glanced at each other’s panels and silently began similar tasks.
Cheng Feng was both the overall commander and a data analyst, making the pace of the match much faster than what Shen Dan had experienced before. Unwilling to admit defeat, Shen Dan gritted her teeth and pushed herself to keep up.
With multiple screens playing simultaneously, Shen Dan kept rotating the map view until her eyes were nearly ruined.
Chen Huayue said with mixed emotions, “You really are self-sacrificing for others.”
An ordinary data analyst wouldn’t bother with such detailed work. The technical staff’s status ought to be elevated and respected.
Cheng Feng responded blankly, “Huh?”
“Nothing.” Chen Huayue shook his head. “I’m just saying – if UFU doesn’t win, it’ll be a letdown for all of us.”
