Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The middle-aged man didn't dare to linger for a moment and left that very night. Ji Xinghai gave him the hunter's woodcutting knife for self-defense. Afterward, he organized his supplies, locked the door, bolted it, and draped himself in the fur left by the hunter before closing his eyes.

Human bodies require rest. In the past, he didn't care, recklessly trying anything, which led to a body riddled with ailments. Now that he had found his 'medicine,' he needed to take good care of himself.

In-game time: eleven o'clock.

A shallow breathing sound could be heard from inside the hunter's cabin, while the red-haired hunting dog lay sleeping at the entrance. The entire mountain was quiet.

But around three in the morning the next day, students began to stir, and the forest came to life along with them.

"Notification for virtual items? Who pushed the instance last night?" The students were pleasantly surprised, "Impressive, with only 24 hours of preparation time, someone actually advanced the main storyline of the instance."

They thought about those students who had gone against the flow, heading down the mountain. They must have been the ones responsible.

"At least they're not our enemies; they should be several steps ahead of us by now?"

The reality was more complicated than these students speculated.

The students who had already entered the village and hidden among the civilian houses did indeed advance the instance line, but only to a certain extent.

Due to the enemy's ferocity, most of the students' attempts failed, with only a few managing to seize hot weapons and escape unscathed.

"There seems to be no other option but to stay quiet right now. Any movement would be spotted by the enemies in the watchtowers. We can only act again at night," mused the students remaining in the village.

They now envied the students on the mountain, specifically crafting traps to await their enemies. The forest offered a distinct advantage to the outnumbered students. Moreover, the forest provided abundant food sources, unlike the ruins where one had to struggle to find leftover grains.

Ji Xinghai also rose, attending to his physiological needs before grabbing his light machine gun ammunition and pistol to set out.

The mission prompt indicated that the clearance operation would begin at six o'clock, but it was unlikely that the enemies would only start moving at that hour. To catch more bugs, the bird had to prepare earlier.

The sky was still dark gray, but better than the pitch-black of night, allowing him to barely make out the terrain.

Ji Xinghai, abandoning the smaller paths, made his way onto the large stone-paved road winding through the mountains, searching for the best ambush location.

Those people lacked the ability to train their own armies, mostly hiring mercenaries whose hearts weren't fully invested. They would surely split up to act. Mercenaries, armed with guns, couldn't navigate the muddy trails and would have to use these larger roads, making this area perfect for an ambush.

The question was whether the 'Lanterns' were still following them.

*The Book of Gluttonous Feasts* had refreshed, adding a monster named 'Green Lantern.'

Green Lantern: A mutated soul-guiding lantern. Legend has it that the emerald spirit fire within can guide and resurrect the dead. Its taste is akin to aloe vera jelly, cool and flavorless, capable of repairing mental damage upon consumption.

"There's nothing to that, all rumors!" The Green Lantern was furious and hid away.

Note: Then why are you hiding?

It was noon in JiuZhou, and everyone was watching live-stream videos to accompany their meals. They had discovered new ingredients—no, new remnants of anomalous creatures.

It was a luminous cube of jelly, truly usable as a lamp in the darkness due to its peculiar 'radioactive substance.' It looked distinctly toxic and inedible.

However, JiuZhou was never short of people willing to risk their lives for food. If they weren't afraid of poisonous mushrooms, why would they pass up jelly labeled 'edible'?

Those who had eaten it commented: It was cool and melted in the mouth, like fish scale jelly without the fishy taste. After eating it, one felt as invigorated as after drinking a bottle of energy drink. The effect lasted for half an hour, and both teachers and bosses approved.

Now, the Green Lantern jelly had entered the laboratory, but the authorities hadn't yet released any specifics.

However, the public had already developed various ways to consume the Green Lantern jelly. Topped with cream, condensed milk, and nuts was the most common method. Doused with soy sauce and dipped in garlic was another option. Some even innovated by chopping it into pieces to serve as the main ingredient in cold noodles.

When it came to food, the people of JiuZhou were indeed bold.

Around four o'clock in the exam time, the sky began to lighten, and crisp bird calls echoed through the mountains. First one, then several, followed by a chorus. Smoke rose white from the valley below, and sounds of activity could be heard in the distance, likely the sound of transport vehicles starting. Ji Xinghai didn't peek; instead, he was feeling around a protruding natural boulder.

It was a piece of natural marble, and he tried to chip it, but not even a fragment broke off.

The rock was large, with appropriately spaced pine trees in front for cover, space behind for a person to hide, and dense shrubs on either side. It was a natural shelter, ideal for both attack and retreat, and thus an excellent ambush spot.

"This is it." This location was the best, with two others available as backups.

Ji Xinghai wove grass into a ring and used the remainder to create a simple grass cloak, draping both over himself. He then set up his light machine gun, concealing himself and the weapon among the green foliage, beginning a motionless wait.

"So tense, so tense." Ji Xinghai, motionless behind the marble, had the audience holding their breath onscreen.

The students who chose to remain on the mountain spent the day crafting rolling stone traps and falling tree traps. Students from neighboring S country even captured many cobras, setting up venom traps. But honestly, everyone was more eager to see Ji Xinghai's performance.

After all, he was the contestant who had charged in and out, taking down an entire squad. Foreigners even suspected that Ji Xinghai was the official student sent by JiuZhou, while Zhang Ziqing was merely a decoy.

Zhang Ziqing: …Are you being polite?

At five o'clock, the sky turned the color of a fish belly, and birds chirped as they hunted early morning insects. The commotion below grew louder, closer, and the audience tensed up even more.

In the distance, dusty shadows appeared, green trucks carrying enemies brandishing guns and yelling.

These people seemed disorganized, from their equipment, attire, to the overall impression they gave. Yet, their demeanor was fierce, their dark skin and scars making them appear formidable.

Ji Xinghai, lying in wait, couldn't see them, but the viewers could switch between different student perspectives, giving them a clear view.

"Holy cow, I see infantry guns, major killing machines. And there are mountain guns! Plenty of heavy and light machine guns too. Are they here to capture civilians or wage war? Damn, these guys have such good gear. If these were really unarmed civilians, they'd have no choice but to flee deep into the mountains."

"Actually, these are just discarded items, nothing compared to regular military gear. Of course, controlling villagers is enough."

The plotline didn't involve anomalous creatures. If one only watched the scene, it resembled the chaotic skirmishes often depicted in films and TV shows in troubled regions.

The Command Units of various countries had been closely monitoring the situation, and now they finally breathed a sigh of relief. When they saw the Green Lanterns yesterday, they feared that the Hungry Academy was once again acting inhumanely, providing no adaptation period for the first test, plunging them directly into a nightmare scenario with high involvement of anomalous creatures.

"So far, it looks manageable, a difficulty level the students can handle."

"Indeed."

"The anomalous creatures mainly appear at night, probably to compensate for the weakness of enemy NPCs being easily ambushed. If students manage to obtain a large number of thermal weapons through stealth attacks, then the difficulty of this exam would be significantly reduced. After all, they are mercenaries hired by an illegal organization, not a regular army."

"That makes sense."

The high-ranking officials from various countries felt that the difficulty was not too high and it was worth a try. However, from the spectators' perspective, this seemed like yet another formidable challenge.

There were simply too many enemies, and the disparity in weaponry was significant.

The spectators tallied up the numbers, estimating that the enemies were distributed across the nearby five mountains, with around a hundred people per mountain. Adding a portion that remained in the main base, there were at least six hundred enemies.

One of these teams had already arrived at the mountain where Ji Xinghai was located.

These hundred or so individuals split into five groups, ascending the mountain via different paths. Approximately twenty of them were allocated to the route where Ji Xinghai was positioned.

He had already heard their voices, but his body remained motionless, only slightly disturbed by the tickling sensation of a flying insect landing on his nose.

"Darn pests, I'm going to catch them all."

"Keep your voice down."

"What's there to fear? They're all soft targets; they'll be terrified when they see us."

The mountain path was difficult to traverse, and these individuals didn't bother to muffle their movements. Ji Xinghai deduced from the sounds that there were at least twenty enemies.

The narrowness of the path meant that the formation stretched out in a long line, which complicated his ambush.

He needed to find the right moment.

Ji Xinghai held his gun, slowly adjusting his breathing rhythm.

At 6:15 PM, the student who pushed boulders down the southern mountain fired the first shot of the counterattack – those capable were unwilling to settle for the minimum passing score of sixty points for merely 'surviving until the end.'

Killing enemies was the best way to widen the scoring gap.

'Ding, the enemy is approaching.' The notification sounded as the enemy entered within a hundred meters.

"They're coming... they're coming..."

Ji Xinghai watched the approaching enemies through the gaps in the foliage.

No green lanterns, just people.

If they were regular troops, they would advance in groups of three, covering each other. There would also be a certain distance between groups to ensure that if the first group was attacked, the second could immediately provide support.

This method was slower, but it could better preserve the team.

But this team operated independently, without any sense of teamwork, which was convenient for Ji Xinghai.

Ji Xinghai chose a relatively open and straight section of the road. He was positioned in the middle of this section, and everyone on this stretch was within his firing range, forming a fan-shaped area around him.

With the enemy in the light and him in the dark, the advantage was with Ji Xinghai.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

Gunshots echoed from other sections of the road, causing birds to panic and fly away in flocks, creating a dense cloud. The walking enemies paused momentarily, saying nonchalantly, "We've been beaten to the punch."

"Have you started over there? How many pests have you killed? Leave some for me."

"Get lost."

Hearing the voices on the walkie-talkie, they burst into laughter.

Although they held guns in their hands, they weren't fully engaged in combat mode.

Ji Xinghai continued to wait, patience being his greatest asset.

Whoosh, the sound of flapping wings filled his ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black bird perched on a tree to his right, its eyes glowing red as it stared at him.

Ji Xinghai caught a faint scent of blood, a sweet aroma akin to that of blood clams, not unpleasant.

"Aaah!" The black bird let out a loud cry, singing a dirge for the impending death.