Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Using concentrated sulfuric acid, concentrated nitric acid, and glycerin, one can make nitroglycerin, a powerful explosive.

However, this experiment requires a high level of skill from the operator, especially in terms of mental fortitude. Ji Xinghai believed his mental strength was decent, but he wasn't always successful in making it. The warehouse manager's mechanical body, designed specifically for stable handling of goods and measurements, perfectly met the experimental requirements.

It just lacked a bit in mental fortitude.

Ji Xinghai looked down at the warehouse manager who had fainted from fright and shook his head.

The robots outside were gathering more and more, and he could hear the thick security door being cut open bit by bit.

Tsk, they're getting desperate.

Those things could find him through walls; they were likely designed as killing machines for the trainees in this simulation. He was contemplating how to break through them and reach the pollutant storage room on the other side.

He did have a bubble gum, but using it here would be a waste.

Ah, right.

Bong!

Finally, the robots cut through the several-centimeter-thick steel door.

The heavy metal door crashed onto the warehouse floor, causing the entire room to tremble slightly. The robots outside surged in like a tide, their warning lights flickering and alarms blaring.

"Aooww—"

Suddenly, a silver giant wolf, nearly a meter tall, burst out, leaping over some robots and forcefully pushing aside those that couldn't affect it, running forward.

Small robots toppled over, some crushed into metal pancakes under the giant wolf's paw pads.

The giant wolf ran through the narrow corridor with hanging steel bars, its feet stepping lightly on the thin bars as if walking on flat ground.

"Pah pah!" Two slender hands pushed aside the thick fur on the wolf's head, revealing a clown face painted with greasepaint. It was Ji Xinghai.

He looked back; the small robots that had recovered were reversing direction, following behind him, their overlapping alarms deafening.

"Go, Brother Hai!" The audience was fired up. This was the second time Brother Hai used his summoning skill in this simulation, and what emerged was a werewolf transformed into a giant wolf, albeit smaller than before.

What do robots fear? What do NPCs fear? Brother Hai, holding hundreds of mini bombs, fears nothing.

Indeed, learning physics, chemistry, and mathematics means fear nothing in the world; he even knows how to make nitroglycerin.

"Knowing how to make nitroglycerin isn't much; I bet many official trainees know how. But letting the warehouse manager conduct the experiment is something I didn't expect. That's quite bold. Too risky."

"Not really risky. The warehouse manager's mechanical body is actually very suitable for experiments. Look at the design of its mechanical limbs: stable, quick, and precise. These are all essential for conducting experiments."

Amid the cheering of the audience, the giant wolf leaped into the underground level, pouncing towards the security guard with a dolphin head who had just opened one eye. This guard, who fell asleep whenever music played, was immediately pinned under the wolf's paw.

Ji Xinghai stroked the giant wolf's fur: "This is your job now. If you can't handle it, let me know early. I can call the vampire..."

Before he finished speaking, the giant wolf roared, slapping the bewildered guard across the face: See? I can do it!

Dolphin Guard: ...

Ji Xinghai shrugged, slid off the giant wolf, and quickly climbed up the door, swiping a striped keycard. The door opened.

Yellow, blue, orange... vibrant colors flooded his vision, transforming the colorless world.

The little clown stood at the doorway, looking up to see a fairy tale world before him.

Shelves, floors—everywhere except the ceiling—were filled with colorful glass jars.

The colors inside these jars pulsed like breathing, as if not lifeless but trapped spirits.

Strings of children's laughter, gusts of wind, and the black-and-white world suddenly came alive. Flowers gained color, sunlight carried fragrance, and even toys seemed to come to life.

Viewers watching on screens couldn't help but close their eyes, feeling as if they saw paradise...

"It's like eating uncooked mushrooms." The world was a kaleidoscope of colors.

"...You have a way with metaphors."

Suss, suss.

The robot army arrived earlier than expected. Ji Xinghai didn't look back, returning from his moment of 'happiness' and quickly collecting the glass jars on the ground.

There were at least ten thousand colored glass jars in the room, but his three-cubic-meter game backpack couldn't hold them all. Thus, he had to choose the best ones.

Ji Xinghai's target was the recently delivered pollutants, as the further inside, the dimmer the jars' colors. However, throughout the entire storage room, there were no completely dark jars—the transparent liquid-filled jars had probably been cleared out already. "Need any help, friend?"

After filling his game backpack with colored glass jars, while facing the majority of the remaining sighs, a mini black hole appeared above the room, followed by a cotton doll, then the Barbie doll he had seen before, a wooden puppet, a wind chime doll, a robot doll, and finally an astronaut toy wearing a hood.

Nine in total.

"I can set up a teleportation channel, but the distance between the two ends cannot exceed one kilometer," the cotton doll said, her expression a bit nervous. To put it bluntly, they were here to share the final victory.

"Needed." Ji Xinghai didn't hesitate. He didn't care how these nine trainees gathered or how they found him. He only knew that to achieve his planned effect, the pollutants in his backpack weren't enough.

And with so many pollutants, not using them would be a waste.

"Send them to the top of this building."

"OK." The cotton doll struggled to make an OK gesture in the air, then drew a golden circle. She didn't ask why; time couldn't be wasted on such matters.

The nine newcomers started moving the glass jars. They didn't have Ji Xinghai's backpack that could collect items upon contact, but each had their own abilities, and the number of colored glass jars decreased.

"Aooww—" The giant wolf blocking the door swiped away the robots climbing on it, killing most of them like cockroaches. The remaining ones continued their relentless advance. Ji Xinghai also noticed the multi-legged NPCs grabbing the steel bars, swaying like women with small feet.

"Grab them! Hurry!" The NPCs were livid.

The students moved the colored glass jars even faster. One of them even took the time to flip the bird at the NPCs, wishing they could get in their faces and unleash their fury, making the NPCs grind their teeth in anger.

Of course, what they hated most was the clown doll smiling on the side. From the footage sent back by the robots, it was this guy who led the charge.

Ji Xinghai’s smile grew brighter, with little stars twinkling on his face. He glanced at his mission watch; it was 5:55, five minutes until the start of the "second day" of the scenario.

"Five more minutes," he said.

Some of the other nine were confused, while others seemed to realize something, but all of them sped up their pace. The colored glass jars disappeared one by one, and the storage room grew dimmer.

Finally, before the next wave of robot armies arrived, all the glass jars in the storage room had been moved to the other side of the light circle. The nine students jumped into the light circle one by one and vanished. The last one was the cotton doll: "We should go. Friend, hurry up; it will expire in a minute."

Ji Xinghai waved his hand, and the silver wolf blocking the door, its fur pitted and scarred, flipped over a group of robots and rushed over. It then lowered its head, allowing Ji Xinghai to leap onto its back and jump into the golden light circle.

On the other side of the light circle, the nine students were waiting for him. The huge crimson glass pipes covering the sky dyed the eyes of both man and wolf red.

Then the light circle disappeared, leaving the approaching NPCs’ grim faces on the other side.

"Ding, second day of the exam, new rules refreshed." The scenario prompt sounded at that moment.

Everyone looked at their wrists.

This scenario added a new rule and hint every day, becoming increasingly disadvantageous for the students as time went on. Now, they and the NPCs were at each other's throats. How would they handle it?

"The new rules are as follows:

"Rule Two: Plastic metals are lifeless; they cannot move or speak within sight.

"Hint Two: Control your emotions, maintain mental stability."

"Cannot move or speak within sight?"

The group exchanged glances. The new rule clearly targeted the toy-identity students, revealing Hungry Academy’s desperation.

However, this madness also indicated that they were close to success.

Perhaps just a thin line away.

"I knew using my three chances a day here was the best choice," one student said proudly, flipping her tarot cards.

This was her special talent, which allowed her to pinpoint Ji Xinghai’s location and receive a hint that finding him was the "most beneficial option" for the students.

The others agreed.

They had all met and joined forces while being chased by robots. Due to the critical situation, they didn’t hesitate to display their special talents to hold off the robot armies, eventually leading them to Ji Xinghai.

Although they still weren’t sure what Ji Xinghai planned to do, the fact that he had provoked so many NPCs at once meant he was up to something big, possibly threatening the entire scenario.

"Friend," the cotton doll approached.

"I am Ji Xinghai," he said. His name was the only proof connecting him to his origin, and he hoped others would address him by it.

"Ji Xinghai?" The cotton doll was taken aback, then her eyes lit up.

She knew it! Only a top player could cause such chaos. It made perfect sense that it was Ji Xinghai.

No wonder he had won twice already. No surprise he found the NPC base on the first day. He must have been pushing the main storyline aggressively. This time, their luck was through the roof; if they couldn’t get the meat, at least they could get a taste of the broth.

"I am Cotton... no, I am Gulie, an official student from S country."

Even though the nine had used their current identities as nicknames when they first met—Barbie, astronaut, etc.—seeing this legendary figure made her instinctively reveal her real name and background.

The others also subtly moved closer, their eyes flickering with interest.

The audience watched these initially proud individuals eagerly introduce themselves, filled with anticipation, as if saying: Remember my name, okay? Call me next time you need help.

Well...

It might seem silly, but it wasn’t hard to understand.

"They’re coming. What do we do now?" asked the astronaut student. NPCs were already scaling the heights below, and patrol drones with built-in flight devices were closing in.

This wasn’t a one-to-ten fight; it was more like one-to-a-hundred. They were vastly outnumbered.

Moreover, with the new rule in place, they were at a significant disadvantage.

Of course, some had considered the key phrase "within sight." But given the urgency, they hesitated to offer ideas or use their limited special abilities without a clear plan.

While the name Ji Xinghai carried weight, they hadn’t worked together before, so there was still some doubt.

Each student represented a country, so caution was necessary.

Ji Xinghai saw the students' concerns and spoke directly: "Since we can’t be seen, let’s make them unable to see us. Hold them off until eight o'clock, and I’ll show you fireworks."

The group hesitated. "Guaranteed survival?" Was this the passing standard for the scenario?

The clown doll laughed. "Regain freedom."

Why settle for barely passing? Top ten, anyone?