Chapter 11

Chapter 11

They were all dressed in green ghillie suits, lying prone on the grass, looking very suspicious.

"Hey, cuz," Pei Le had been lying down for a long time and finally couldn't take it anymore. He whispered, "Should we make a move now?"

The person observing with the telescope put it down upon hearing this. His complexion was pale, with slender eyes that gave the impression of a venomous snake slowly flicking its tongue—a very intimidating presence. He chuckled and said, "It's not the right time yet."

"What do you mean it's not the right time? Those four down there have been lolling about on that tractor for so long without a hint of vigilance. If we had made a move earlier, we could have eliminated all four of them."

Pei Ning smiled noncommittally. "Do you recognize the two people down there?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Zhu Jin and Chu Yun are a 3S Commander and a 3S Mech Pilot, respectively."

"Although I don’t know the other two, since Zhu Jin chose them as teammates, their abilities must be impressive too."

"Who knows, they might be our biggest opponents in this simulation battle."

"Ah, so should we still go after them?" Pei Le, who had initially suggested taking action, now hesitated. "If we fight them to a standstill, wouldn’t that just allow other teams to reap the benefits?"

"Of course we should make a move," Pei Ning said quietly. "Since we’ve encountered such potential future threats, we should nip them in the bud."

"Besides, who said we have to take action ourselves?"

After saying this, Pei Ning turned his gaze to another teammate. "Did you bring the thing?"

"I brought it," the person whispered, taking out a square silver box from the bag on his back. Inside the silver box lay a pale green egg with faint, barely visible patterns.

"Th-this... this is a Green Python egg!" Pei Le was stunned at the sight of the egg.

"Green Pythons are extremely protective of their young. Cousin, hurry up and throw this egg away! If the Green Python finds us, our entire team will be wiped out here!"

Pei Ning frowned slightly. "Quiet!"

"I took this silver box from another team earlier. It has the ability to conceal scents. When we passed by the Green Python’s cave earlier, it happened to be out hunting. Based on the timing, the Green Python should have discovered it by now."

Hearing this, Pei Le whispered, "Cousin, are you planning to frame Zhu Jin’s team with this egg?"

A faint smile curled on Pei Ning’s lips. "Naturally."

"Brilliant, cousin."

Pei Le was impressed by Pei Ning’s tactics—using the snake to eliminate their opponents without having to lift a finger. Now that's skill.

"Cousin, when should we throw the egg at them?" Pei Le asked quietly.

Pei Ning glanced up at the sky. The simulation battle accurately mimicked the passage of time, and evening had already fallen. In a few hours, it would be the dead of night.

"Wait until the dead of night, then secretly bury the egg near them."

Pei Ning whispered.

Pei Le asked foolishly, "Won’t they notice if we bury it near them?"

Pei Ning rubbed his temples, feeling somewhat exasperated with his cousin. "Can’t you bury it a little farther away?"

*

On the tractor, Jiang Se sat around bored, fiddling with the pulse gun in her hands.

That stare from afar was way too obvious, making it impossible for her to ignore.

She whispered, "Have any of you noticed someone watching us all this time?"

Zhu Jin: "I noticed, but they’ve been watching for so long without making a move. I wonder what they’re waiting for."

Chu Yun yawned. "Waiting so long without acting has made me sleepy."

Xi Qing: "No idea what they’re thinking."

The current situation was such that the other side was observing Jiang Se’s team, and Jiang Se knew they were being observed. Yet, neither side made a move, creating a strangely tense stalemate.

*

As they faced off, the teachers outside the screen watched with great interest.

"Pei Ning’s team knows how to use the Monster egg to their advantage, adapting to the circumstances. Impressive," praised a teacher from the Individual Combat Department.

Another teacher from the same department added, "I remember a cross-country race in a previous Exercise Tournament where one team directly lured the leader of the Monster Tide, completely turning the tables and ultimately taking first place. I suspect Pei Ning drew inspiration from that match."

"However, there are no mechs in the simulation battle, and Monsters are quite challenging for these students to handle. It remains to be seen how this team will respond."

*

As the dead of night arrived, a shadowy figure sneaked over to Jiang Se’s team, quickly dug a hole, and buried a pale green egg inside.

His movements were swift and discreet, hardly making a sound.

But unfortunately, Jiang Se’s entire team were night owls. They were exhausted during the day, but at night, each one was more alert than the last.

Chu Yun was particularly notable—she had been sleeping all day and was now wide awake, bored out of her mind.

Normally, Chu Yun would browse the neural network at times like this, but neural devices weren’t allowed in the simulation battle. Someone with too strong an internet addiction had once brought one in and was caught, immediately disqualified for cheating.

Jiang Se couldn’t sleep either and was tinkering with her pulse gun, disassembling the parts and then reassembling them with a blank expression.

"Jiang Jiang, what are you doing with that thing?" Chu Yun slung an arm over Jiang Se’s shoulder and asked.

"Bored," Jiang Se sighed. "If I had the parts, I could even upgrade this pulse gun."

After saying this, Jiang Se sighed again. "I’ve never missed the neural network this much before."

Even though much of the knowledge on the neural network required payment to download, and forum users were constantly arguing, with rivalries between schools escalating into full-blown fights.

But as the saying goes, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. After getting used to surfing the neural network, being disconnected now felt exceptionally unbearable.

The other three wore similarly wistful expressions upon hearing this. "Great minds think alike."

Well, it seemed they were all internet addicts!

When that shadowy figure sneaked over, Jiang Se noticed immediately. She raised a finger to signal everyone to be quiet and whispered, "Someone’s coming."

Hearing this, Zhu Jin’s eyes instantly lit up.

These people were finally preparing to make a move.

Chu Yun peeked out from the tractor and looked over. "Only one person came. He’s sneaking around by the tree, no idea what he’s doing."

Xi Qing propped himself up on the tractor with one hand and whispered, "I’ll go pin him down."

Just as Pei Le finished covering the soil, he heard his cousin’s voice over the walkie-talkie. "You’ve been spotted."

Damn!

Pei Le cursed silently in his heart. They noticed so quickly? Do these people have super hearing?

Then he heard his cousin's steady voice over the radio, "Now, crush that egg!"

Pei Le: Huh?!

Wait, I just buried this thing in the dirt.

He crouched down and dug the egg out.

As he was about to drop and smash it, Pei Le hesitated. Even though it was a simulated battle, he still felt what he was doing was kind of messed up.

In that moment of hesitation, a sudden rush of air swept from behind, and a sharp pain shot through his knee. Pei Le instinctively went to strike back.

Because of his movement, the egg flew from his grip.

Just as the egg was about to hit the ground and shatter into pieces,

a hand reached out from the side and firmly caught the egg.

Jiang Se was crouched low, a puzzled expression on her face due to the weird feeling in her palm.

What is this? Why does it feel so much like an egg?