Chapter 55

Chapter 55

On the second day of the live combat assessment, Instructor An's instructor team located Figo's squad.

He initially breathed a sigh of relief seeing all the students intact, but his expression became grave again upon counting them.

"If I remember correctly, there should be twelve people in your team, why are there only ten present now?"

As Instructor An asked, his sharp gaze swept over each Alpha, noticing their numb faces and the lack of the confident sparkle in their eyes they had at the start.

A bad premonition rose in his heart, and he finally fixed his gaze on Figo.

"Figo, what exactly happened?"

Instructor An expected Figo to glare at him with hatred as he always did, but unexpectedly, Figo showed no expression at all, saying woodenly, "Report to the head instructor: after encountering a Blackwing insect tide, the squad made an emergency landing, followed by an encounter with ground insects. After successfully breaking out, our team member, B-level Horned Bull Alpha Huoding, triggered his genetic disorder. As the team leader, I failed to execute Huoding immediately, leading to his frenzy and murder of B-level Lion Alpha Tafi. Afterwards, I personally executed Huoding. Of the twelve members in our squad, two are now lost in this live combat assessment. Report complete."

At this revelation, the instructor team was in an uproar.

They were shocked that two students had been lost so quickly in the live combat assessment and that Figo, in reporting such a severe incident, hadn't changed his expression at all, remaining indifferent throughout.

This made them wonder: was this first-year combat student so ruthless? A teammate died due to his decision, and he even executed his comrade himself, yet he was so calm?

The instructors’ gazes shifted from initial admiration to subtle complexity, but considering the presence of another instructor who had personally executed a student, they dared not be too blatant.

But how could Figo not feel it?

He coldly observed their expressions, having faced far more hostility and cold treatment in the past several hours from his own teammates.

After executing Huoding, his teammates’ looks changed. The trust in their eyes was replaced with fear and loathing.

Except for Tang Butian, who remained concerned, everyone else silently stood much farther away from him, as if he were a virus.

Even a Black Wolf Alpha blocked him, accusing, “Since you executed Huoding now, why didn’t you do it the moment you discovered his genetic disorder? Why did you let him stay and kill Tafi?”

“If you wanted to save him, you shouldn’t have killed him now; if you intended to kill him, you should have been decisive from the start. It’s because of your indecision, wanting everything, that this situation has arisen.”

Tang Butian, furious, stepped forward to retort, but was stopped by Figo.

"There’s no point in discussing it now.”

Figo had no intention of arguing about right or wrong or complaining about how they had earlier asked him not to deal with Huoding, only to blame him now.

He knew such arguments would only infuriate those blaming him and serve no other purpose.

Didn’t these teammates remember what they had said when opinions were gathered?

Of course, they knew, and of course, they needed someone to blame for all this, to vehemently scorn him, to alleviate their own guilt.

After all, it was I who suggested, but you who decided.

This is the fate of a leader, never to be understood.

Figo snapped back from his memories, locking eyes with Instructor An.

At this moment, just like that moment, standing in Instructor An's position, he finally discarded the common soft-heartedness and cowardice of the world, truly understanding the actions Instructor An took back then.

With just a glance, Instructor An understood everything. He looked at Figo and said, "You did have a problem in your approach, but the issue was not executing the team member with the genetic disorder at the first instance, not that you shouldn't have. Apart from that, you did well."

"Return to the team."

Although Figo had braced himself, hearing Instructor An's words still made him break down, his voice tinged with a sob, "Yes."

As time ticked by, Instructor An established contact with more squads, leading them in an assault on the Blackwing insect tide to disrupt their magnetic field tactics.

The process went smoothly, with signals being restored, and nine out of ten squads had already regrouped, mostly without significant casualties. Yet, Instructor An’s expression remained tense, never relaxing for a moment—

One squad was still missing.

And that squad was the one led by Queqiu.

"Still no contact?"

"We can't get through to the tenth squad's channel, unable to establish contact for now."

Even though Instructor An usually didn't show his emotions, faced with such a situation, he couldn't hide his anxiety.

"Continue the repairs, make sure to restore the signal as soon as possible."

"Yes."

The assistant, seeing the concern, comforted, "Instructor An, don't worry too much. Queqiu is the top student of the first-year combat department; he should be fine."

"Even if he is the top student, he's still an Omega who has never participated in real combat and has no experience leading a team. If anything happens, I can't shirk the responsibility," Instructor An said coldly. "There's never been such an accident in previous live combat assessments. This time, the mistake is too significant to be simple."

The assistant hesitated, "You mean..."

Instructor An gave him a cold look, the pressure of an S-level Alpha overwhelming the assistant.

"You don't need to guess my intentions. I know what I'm doing."

In just a few seconds, the assistant felt cold sweat on his back, bowing his head in submission, "Understood."

Figo caught it, and upon hearing Queqiu's name, felt a heavy burden in his heart, almost suffocating.

"Don't jump to conclusions, what could happen?"

Tang Butian expressed his concern, "Queqiu and the quiet rabbit are in the same team, and their group isn't very strong. I'm really worried..."

Figo immediately gave him a look, "Don't jinx it, say less."

Tang Butian sulkily closed his mouth.

Figo told him not to speak recklessly, but he couldn't help but worry uncontrollably.

He certainly believed that Queqiu couldn't possibly be harmed, but what he feared most was the reaction Queqiu would have upon learning that he had personally executed a companion they had spent so much time with.

Would Queqiu... despise him for being a cold-blooded executioner?

Figo had long considered Queqiu his pillar of mental strength to keep living; he couldn't imagine being despised by Queqiu one day. If that ever happened, he didn't know if he could continue on.

Due to the encounter with the insect tide, even though the freshmen were now safe, their spirits were still low.

No one could act as if nothing happened just after facing life and death. Most of them were still immersed in the despair and fear they had experienced, and only a few, like Tang Butian, either had a strong heart or were simply heartless.

Instructor An observed these first-year students quietly, his expression always serious.

"After returning to the school, we must arrange for psychological counseling for these students. Without timely and effective consolation, they are highly susceptible to triggering their genetic disorders."

The assistant hesitated, speaking uncertainly, "But, but..."

Instructor An frowned, "But what?"

"The healing Omega slots at the school are limited. There are students from other departments and grades in line for psychological counseling and pheromone soothing. The resources are too stretched to provide for all the students here."

Although Instructor An knew the assistant was stating facts, he couldn't help but get angry, lowering his voice, "You should be very clear why the Alpha Figo executed had a genetic disorder outbreak, right?! They are still students, unable to treat all this as a normal occurrence!"

The assistant understood this too, but ultimately, he could only sigh helplessly, "Can't blame the genetic disorders, nor the scarcity of healing Omegas. If there's anyone to blame, it's their fate of being born on Dark Star as Alphas."

Hearing this, Instructor An clenched his fists tightly, letting out a cold laugh, "Yes, blame them for being Alphas, so they're destined to walk a path that ends in destruction."

The assistant tried to console him, "There will be hope."

"Hope?" Instructor An looked up at the cloud-covered sky, his usually cold eyes filled with desolation, "Then I will wait, wait for the elusive hope to save these young Alphas."

Author’s note:

The end of the month crept up on us, and you dears fed me all the leftover nutrient liquids -3-