Cheng Feng’s declaration carried a hint of provocation, making it the scene the audience in the compeition most eagerly anticipated.
She looked well-behaved, but from the opening until now, in just half an hour, she had already made several startling remarks.
“Pretty cunning, this deputy commander from UFU. Just has such an arrogant tone -such arrogance suits the style of the Second Military better. You all should claim it.”
“Whether the tone is arrogant or not, we’ll judge after it’s over. You from the First Military get slapped in the face all the time; aren’t you used to it yet?”
“These two military universities have disappointed me so much. They broke up right after getting together, couldn’t even last half an hour – are they just not capable?”
“Turns out, rivals working together only leads to misfortune. I actually thought they’d team up against a common enemy – my mistake.”
“Who can count? Help me figure out exactly how many of them there are.”
The first young man barely stopped himself from asking who else might be among Schrödinger’s teammates.
His comrade, surprisingly, also showed remarkable restraint, pretending to understand everything that needed understanding.
They patiently counted the seconds, but still, no one from the First or Second Military appeared.
After the earlier wave of attacks, the enemy was probably a bit on edge, slowing their march and wandering somewhere, uncertain of their direction.
A voice asked somewhat shyly, “So, uh, how many kills did we just get?”
The group had acted quickly, but their reflective nerves were a bit slow, only now starting to savor the adrenaline-pumping thrill from earlier.
“Four or five? I think so! I saw myself take one down!”
Cheng Feng said, “Five.”
“Five!” Number Four’s skin prickled with goosebumps as he squeaked, “We took down five of them without taking any damage ourselves, despite being outnumbered! Holy crap!”
The first young man was also stammering with excitement, “Deputy Commander! You’re literally my dad!”
Cheng Feng didn’t actually intend to adopt this bunch of sons, so she met his attempt at claiming kinship with silence.
Back at base, their teammates defending the rear instantly felt a pang of envy, growing anxious and lamenting, “I should’ve gone too if I’d known!”
“The front lines are dangerous, let’s switch things up.”
“Dad, can we have some too? We can fight! Let me get just one kill to satisfy my craving!”
“Be more confident – we can be even stronger,” Cheng Feng said without changing her expression. “Next time for sure.”
Next time for sure.
That had to be one of humanity’s most deceptive lies.
“Come on, big shot, give us a chance. We’ll gently punch their chests.”
“Sister~ pretty please~”
More than a dozen grown men shamelessly whined through the channel, their antics growing increasingly exaggerated, making Cheng Feng’s skin crawl.
This wasn’t the kind of world a robot should have to face!
She was this close to muting the whole bunch.
Cheng Feng was still hesitating when Number One’s voice suddenly dropped, alert. “Someone’s coming! I saw movement in the grass ahead – oh, they’ve even learned to camouflage!”
Judging by their uniforms, the group heading their way was from the First Military.
No surprise there, really – after all, the west side was their home turf, so they could retreat anytime if things went south.
Cheng Feng said, “If you think you can hit them, just shoot.”
“Seriously?!” It wasn’t his fault for being so jumpy – Cheng Feng’s orders kept pushing his limits. “Are you sure there’s no backup? There’s a lot of them out there! You’re not expecting me to go for a one-for-one trade, are you?”
Cheng Feng reminded him, “Don’t let them get too close. If it’s time to shoot, shoot.”
The First Military was indeed closing in.
Despite having no clear understanding of the situation and feeling uncertain at heart, they still chose to obey orders.
The young man stared through the scope, held his breath, and pulled the trigger.
Across from him, his only companion followed suit, firing a shot as well.
Number One maintained steady control and chose a good angle, so this time he hit his target cleanly without missing.
The other shot grazed past, missing the vital spot.
These two shots successfully reminded the First Military of the scene from ten minutes ago. A dozen or so soldiers hastily retreated, hiding in what seemed like an absolutely safe position.
They adjusted their stances, still shaken:
“Damn, where the hell are they hiding? Did any of you see just now?”
“I was so focused on scouting that the gunshot made me jump. Are these UFU guys ghosts? Are they taking some kind of eerie path?”
“Let’s go! Only two shots – maybe it’s just a lookout or scout. We have to avenge this, or else it won’t do justice to my 700 points on the college entrance exam!”
“Wait.” The First Military commander stopped everyone, frowning as he scanned the surroundings, uncertain.
The calmer it seemed, the more eerie he found it.
“We were just ambushed on the hilltop. They shouldn’t know we’ve taken a detour to this spot. So, are there a lot of UFU students lying in ambush nearby? Could this be a trap?”
The Deputy Commander said, “If they’ve sent everyone to guard the hilltop, they’d have to be crazy, right? Their base must be empty now?”
A young soldier beside them said irritably, “Then what else? No way… Don’t tell me it’s something as cheap as an empty-city trick.”
“Could we really be overthinking this? It just doesn’t make sense.”
“What can we figure out just by guessing? Commander, make a decision quickly -whether it’s real or fake, we have to charge anyway.”
The First Military commander thought for a long moment, then relaxed his knees and shifted directly from a half-crouch to sitting cross-legged. He raised a hand to signal everyone to stay quiet, then initiated communication with the Second Military commander.
The signal connected, and both sides were silent for a second.
The background noise on both ends sounded extremely quiet.
The First Military commander composed himself and asked, “Hey, how’s it going on your end?”
“How’s what going? You’ve got something going on?”
The First Military commander answered, “Everything’s fine here. We’re almost at UFU’s Third Route defense point. How much longer for you? Should we attack together?”
“You’re fast. We’re only halfway there. Have you run into anyone from UFU?”
The First Military commander licked his dry lips, striving to make his lie sound natural and effortless. “We ran into an ambush. Someone in our team couldn’t hold back and just charged in – turned out it was only two scouts. Hurry it up. I’m not sure if the information got out; don’t wait until they send reinforcements.”
The Second Military commander replied perfunctorily, “Got it. Stop rushing.”
The communication cut off, and the forest seemed to grow even quieter.
Looking at his comrades staring at him with eager eyes, the First Military commander smiled and said, “Now we wait.”
The young soldiers nodded, also breaking into sly grins.
At that moment, they suddenly didn’t dislike the Second Military guys so much anymore.
They sincerely wished them success in clearing the mines.
The ones suffering even more than them, in fact, were the UFU team members.
Number One was panicking, really panicking.
If the enemy launched an assault right now, they’d discover that only two people were stationed here. Their other teammates were on a different hill – by the time they could rush over to help, they’d probably only make it in time to collect their still-warm bodies.
Oh, right, the East Road wasn’t in much better shape either.
So they’d just have to meet up off the field then.
Maybe it was because he’d been in a state of intense focus, but Number One felt his throat dry and itchy, desperately wanting to cough.
He fought the urge with all his might, casually glancing at the map, when he suddenly noticed that six red dots had become five.
For a moment, he thought one of his comrades had unfortunately been taken out. But looking closer, he realized it was their rock, their anchor – the deputy commander – who had vanished.
The young man instantly became even more unsettled, his very soul screaming in silent panic.
…Wait, so when you said it wasn’t six people, this is what you meant?!
Boss, you’re such a sly dog!
Suppressing his skyrocketing blood pressure, he pulled the map aside to search for Cheng Feng’s trail, finally locating her near Mobile University’s camp line.
The geographical layout of the UFU camp had the First Military to the west and an alliance of multiple Mobile University to the east.
The Mobile University’s presence was rather weak each year. As a makeshift team formed by several universities, their resource level was a tier below that of the four military universities, and they were plagued by infighting. Every year, they were a dramatic spectacle in their own right.
Unfortunately, since their energy was spent on internal conflicts, by the time they turned outward, they were nothing but pushovers. With no real highlights to offer, they were consistently overlooked.
At this moment, Cheng Feng leaned on her rifle, hiding behind a thick tree trunk, and asked the young men not far away, “Hey, friends, want to score some kills?”
A few of them huddled together, murmuring briefly, before their designated representative asked, “You want to cooperate with us?”
“I’m not here to cooperate with you. I’m just inviting you to go get some kills,” Cheng Feng stated honestly. “There are too many on the opposing side for us to finish off. We’ll draw their fire from the front, and any kills you snag are yours. Don’t miss this golden opportunity. I can even share my map with you.”
The opposing deputy commander racked his brain for a while but still found it hard to believe. His tone dripped with disappointment in this complicated world. “You people are all too cunning. You’re not here to trick us into being your pawns again, are you?”
“Don’t overthink it.” Cheng Feng raised her hands, peeking her face out from behind the tree, looking innocent. “Do I really look like someone who would deceive you?”
A dozen or so dark gun muzzles immediately aimed straight at her.
The newcomers, having tasted the bitter fruits of defeat far too many times, weren’t falling for her act.
Cheng Feng immediately ducked back.
Several abrupt gunshots rang through the air, then quickly ceased. It seemed like a skirmish had occurred, but then again, maybe not.
“(116,172),” Cheng Feng said. “We’ll draw them to this location. You guys attack from that small path on the right side of the main city gate – it should catch them off guard.”
Having said that, she crouched low and retraced her steps back along the original route.
Her path was peculiar; she consistently stayed within their blind spots for attack, only making a small leap to change direction once she had put enough distance between them.
One of the newcomers thought about seizing the chance for a kill, but he couldn’t find a completely safe angle, so he lowered his gun again.
The people nearby had already started an animated discussion:
“Is she messing with us or what?”
“It’s terrifying. After watching several seasons of league videos, I can’t tell truth from lies anymore. The after-effects are severe.”
“UFU’s situation really is grim this year. If they get overrun, will we be the next cannon fodder?”
“Or maybe this is our chance to pick up the scraps? If we charge out now, we might offend the other factions. And we’re so weak, we couldn’t handle that.”
The deputy commander said leisurely, “Actually, between being tricked and killed by our own people versus being tricked and killed by UFU, I’d take the latter. One way, you die with grievances; the other, you die a heroic death. The psychological impact is totally different.”
Everyone pondered this deeply, then looked up.
…Damn, that actually made a lot of sense!
The deputy commander was the first to charge out.
“Move it, brothers! If we’re late, there’ll be no scraps left to pick!”
…
The gunfire in the forest erupted once more, accompanied by sweeping shots and wild, manic laughter – only this time, the roles had reversed.
The three UFU freshmen on the East Road fled in a panicked scramble. Although Cheng Feng had mapped out an escape route for them, having a crowd of people hot on their heels with guns aimed at their backs created an intense pressure that was hard to bear.
“Help!” Number Three wailed tragically. “Deputy Commander, save me! I’m done for!”
“Damn, why are they so sure-footed in chasing us? The First Military side was supposed to have stalled them!”
“The Second Military is a troop of brutes! I’ve said it a thousand times!”
