Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Chu Yun: ???

Whoa, has Jiang Se been sneaking off to exercise behind her back?

Chu Yun took a deep breath, pulling hard to stop Jiang Se from heading toward the cave entrance. But Chu Yun didn’t notice that she herself was gradually inching closer to the cave entrance.

Jiang Se was awakened from her sleep by rustling noises outside. She opened her eyes, crawled out of her sleeping bag, and looked toward the noise outside. She saw Chu Yun, looking dazed, walking toward the direction outside the cave.

She seemed completely disoriented.

Jiang Se: ???

Wait, what’s going on?

Jiang Se quickly scrambled out of her tent, hurried over, grabbed Chu Yun’s shoulder, and shook her vigorously a few times. "Yun, wake up! Yun, what’s wrong? Are you okay?"

Chu Yun still appeared utterly disoriented, continuing to walk slowly but determinedly outward while muttering to herself: "Jiang Jiang, don’t go out. It’s dangerous outside!"

Jiang Se: ???

Huh? But she’s standing right here. How could she be outside?

Jiang Se had no choice but to try her best to hold Chu Yun back. But the physical strength of a top-tier Mech Pilot was truly formidable. Even though Jiang Se was using all her strength to stop Chu Yun from moving further outward, Chu Yun kept going step by step toward the cave entrance.

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Se directly yanked open the other two tents.

Zhu Jin, still groggy from sleep, was suddenly jolted awake and asked drowsily, "What’s going on?"

His tone was hesitant, but true to an elite Commander from the Command Department, he immediately noticed something was off with Chu Yun. "What’s wrong with Yun?"

"I don’t know," Jiang Se shook her head. "I think she’s trapped in some kind of illusion. But let’s not overthink it for now. First, let’s hold her back!"

By then, Xi Qing had also been awakened from his sleep. The three of them worked together to restrain Chu Yun.

After all this commotion, none of them could fall back asleep. They leaned against the cave wall, staring intently outside.

After a while, Chu Yun slowly emerged from the illusion. The moment she opened her eyes, she looked at Jiang Se and asked, "Jiang Jiang, are you okay?"

"I’m fine. But why were you walking toward the cave entrance just now?"

"Me, walking toward the cave entrance?" Chu Yun’s tone rose slightly. "But I clearly saw you walking out of the cave earlier!"

The thought of it suddenly gave Chu Yun a splitting headache. She pressed her temples, took a deep breath, and it took her a moment to recover.

"It must be an illusion created by some kind of exotic beast," Zhu Jin said softly beside them. "I’ve read some materials before. Some exotic beasts are skilled at weaving illusions to lure people in."

"That exotic beast’s methods are truly cunning," Jiang Se couldn’t help but remark quietly. "Putting myself in your shoes, if I saw any of you being lured toward the cave entrance, I wouldn’t hesitate to pull you back either."

And the exotic beast had precisely exploited this psychology of theirs.

Chu Yun took a deep breath, inevitably feeling a sense of lingering fear. "It’s a good thing we didn’t walk out earlier. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

"Exactly!" Zhu Jin peered through the gaps between the mechs toward the outside of the cave. "Who knows what formidable thing is waiting for us outside? But based on my understanding of the instructors, whatever is out there is probably an exotic beast capable of eliminating us on the spot."

As soon as Zhu Jin finished speaking, a fluttering, faint pink glow flashed past outside, as if in silent response to his words.

Simultaneously, an eerie howling sound swept past the cave entrance.

Jiang Se took a deep breath and glanced at Zhu Jin beside her. "Did you sense anything?"

Zhu Jin released his psychic energy but shook his head. His expression turned slightly peculiar. "Whatever is out there, my psychic energy can’t detect it."

"Well, then," Jiang Se raised an eyebrow and looked toward the cave entrance. "Looking on the bright side, at least that bunch outside won’t suddenly charge in and bite us to death. From this perspective, the instructors were quite humane when they released these exotic beasts!"

"Indeed," Zhu Jin chuckled lightly and nodded.

"So what should we do now?" Jiang Se leaned against the cave wall, staring into the pitch-black darkness outside. Suddenly, an idea struck her. "I remember the toolbox can probably assemble a detonator. Later, I’ll throw it out to see how those exotic beasts outside react."

With that, Jiang Se immediately bent down and rummaged through the toolbox, then began assembling the device with great enthusiasm.

After a while, Jiang Se looked at the silver-white detonator in her palm and chuckled softly. "It’s a bit crude, but it should do the job."

She pressed the button on the detonator and tossed it outside the cave.

A few seconds later, a loud explosion was heard from outside, followed by what sounded like a sharp screech right in their ears.

Soon, everything returned to silence.

Because of the earlier incident with Chu Yun, none of them could sleep. So the four of them huddled together and stayed up through the night.

By daytime, all four of them had huge dark circles under their eyes.

When the sun rose, Jiang Se was so sleep-deprived that she was on the verge of delirium. She looked toward the cave entrance and mumbled incoherently, "Is the sun up yet?"

"It’s up," Chu Yun replied with a yawn. Perhaps because of whatever had happened the previous night, she felt unusually drowsy too.

This was a rare occurrence for Chu Yun. After all, as everyone knew, the physical stamina of a Mech Pilot was comparable to that of an ox.

As soon as Chu Yun finished speaking, Jiang Se collapsed to the ground with a "thud" and fell asleep.

Judging by her demeanor, she seemed determined to sleep until she was completely dead to the world.

"Is she that tired?" Zhu Jin glanced at Jiang Se and laughed.

Jiang Se closed her eyes, sleeping so peacefully she looked serene. "Yes, that tired."

"In that case, let’s all sleep through the morning," Zhu Jin said softly. "After all, we need to be well-rested to have the energy for the competition."

With that, all four of them retreated into their respective tents and immediately fell asleep.

Meanwhile, outside the screen.

A group of instructors was observing the data of various teams displayed on a large silver screen. After last night’s butterfly-triggered turmoil, the situation among the teams had changed dramatically overnight.

*

In some four-person teams, only one member remained—a lone soldier who woke up to find all their teammates gone, feeling as if the sky had fallen.

Lone soldier: We promised to be teammates for life. Teammates, where are you???

Other teams were even more unfortunate, with entire squads wiped out and eliminated.

After one night, the number of teams still combat-effective in this exercise could be counted on one hand.

One instructor, looking at the situation of the teams on the screen, sighed and said, "These exotic beasts are truly too much for these students to handle."

"Right," another instructor nearby remarked, "after just one night, it seems the outcome is almost decided."

Previously, the chaotic battles among the squads were at least somewhat entertaining, but now, with only a dozen or so squads left, the winners and losers can be guessed with near certainty.

"After last night’s turmoil, this bunch of kids are probably shaking in their boots," one instructor sighed.

"Shaking in their boots?"

Their instructor, Jiang Se, chuckled at the comment and glanced at a certain squad on the screen. "Looks like these four students are just sleeping quite soundly!"