Chapter 34

Chapter 34

When the members of the Medici squad awoke, they found Eve seated cross-legged at the edge of the campsite in a meditative posture, eyes closed in deep contemplation. Her long, thick eyelashes were damp with dew, her delicate face serene as a sculpture, her breathing long and rhythmic. They couldn't help but marvel.

No wonder she was considered the most outstanding among her peers—while others slept, she meditated. With such innate talent and relentless effort, it was no surprise she stood out.

Eve hadn't been asleep at all, so as soon as she sensed her teammates stirring, she opened her eyes. She then spent the last of her team’s credits on nutrient solutions and recovery supplies. On the points leaderboard, Eve’s team quickly plummeted to the very bottom. She didn’t even glance at it, indifferently closing her wrist unit after exchanging for what she needed.

“Can you still pinpoint the exact location of the Cavendish group?” she asked the girl responsible for tracking.

The girl nodded. “Yes.”

“By the way, shouldn’t we go look for that Medici squad that landed in the badlands?” someone raised their hand and asked.

“Unnecessary,” Eve glanced at the person who asked, then said with certainty, “They’ve all been caught by Isabella.”

The team stationed in the badlands had few points and were useless for tracking. From the beginning, Eve had instructed them to do whatever they wanted in the badlands—no need to join the main force in the rainforest. Even if captured by Isabella, it wouldn’t matter; they could just reveal the team’s plans.

They were like disposable pawns—tasteless when eaten but a pity to discard. Their only role was to keep Isabella occupied in the badlands, lying in wait rather than launching a surprise attack in the rainforest.

It wasn’t a particularly clever plan, but it was built on a deep understanding of Isabella, making it remarkably effective.

Once the Medici squad had fully recovered their energy, the group continued moving toward the tracked location. Most of the journey had been covered the previous night, but as both people and horses were exhausted, Eve, as the captain, had insisted they rest overnight, delaying their progress until the next morning.

About fifteen minutes later, the mixed force of mechas and Spiritual Forms slowed their pace.

Not far away, another imposing team was waiting for them, at ease. At the center stood a girl with one hand on her hip and the other resting on the sword at her waist. Her flame-red curls burned brighter than fire, left loose instead of tied back, blowing freely in the wind like a banner. She wore a pure white military-style combat suit, crisp and well-fitted, accentuating her slender, resilient figure. Her face was bright and bold, with golden eyes that held an unnatural gleam.

The remaining members of the Cavendish family stood in two rows behind Isabella, at military attention, as if guarding their queen.

A scarlet half-cape was pinned to Isabella’s left shoulder, the red and white creating a striking yet solemn contrast. She took a few steps forward, offering a faint smile as she extended her hand—toward Eve. “Long time no see. My apologies for deceiving you with Wen Qing last time.”

Her attire was overly formal, and she was even half a head taller than Eve, making Eve in her camouflage uniform feel like a grunt receiving an audience with a queen—completely outmatched in presence.

The snow-white combat suit bore no bloodstains, clearly freshly changed.

Seriously, who even brings such formal attire for a practical project? Just to show respect for the opponent?

Eve forced a smile and shook her hand, pulling away almost instantly. “Long time no see.”

Isabella didn’t mind the rudeness, instead asking with concern, “Your Spiritual State—you’ve fully mastered it this time, right?”

Listen to that gentle voice, listen to those caring words—anyone unaware would think they were close friends.

—In reality, they were only about fighting.

“...” Eve’s eyelid twitched, and she replied dismissively, “Yeah, yeah, I’ve practiced well this time. I’ll definitely give you a satisfying fight, but you’ll have to wait a moment.”

Her eyes kept darting backward, eventually landing on the squad leader she’d beaten up before. The corner of his mouth twitched, but Eve pretended not to notice, focusing instead on the fact that among the people behind Isabella, only two had red hair like her. The rest had black or brown hair—clearly not of Cavendish bloodline.

This was the Cavendish family’s way of nurturing followers. If the Medici family used bloodlines as their foundation, with the family itself as the link to power—where even branch families held titles and most talents came from subordinate branches, emphasizing familial belonging and the pride of a unified bloodline—

Then the Cavendish family, deeply entrenched in military influence, selected most of their followers from the children of their subordinate officers. These officers already sided with the Cavendish family, and their children were given education on par with the four great families, groomed to become the right-hand men and women of the family’s young master. Their interests were deeply tied to the family, making the Cavendish influence in the military extremely solid and unshakable.

In comparison, the Luo and Oliver families had their own methods of selecting and nurturing talent. The Luo family raised retainers, similar to the Cavendish model, while the Oliver family differed from the other three. They used knowledge as their bond, establishing mentor-apprentice relationships. Those with outstanding abilities and talent even had the chance to become adopted children of the family. Upon closer inspection, this model somewhat resembled the Medici family’s.

Amid the sea of dark hair, those with silver hair stood out conspicuously. They stood at the very back, clearly separated by a noticeable distance from the others. Eve quickly counted them—six. Good, not a single one missing. Excellent.

Wait.

…Why was there an extra one?

Eve frowned and asked Isabella, “Why did you kidnap one of our people? I didn’t kidnap anyone from the Cavendish family.”

“But I didn’t rob them.”

“Uh, haha,” Eve let out a dry laugh, knowing full well that the group from yesterday had likely complained. Still, she bluffed without a shred of remorse. “If they’re less skilled, how can you blame me for robbing them?”

To her surprise, Isabella nodded naturally. “Yeah, they really are less skilled. I’m not blaming you—I just want to know when you can fight me again.”

Why did it always circle back to this? Did this person ever consider how awkward it made others feel, constantly bringing up fighting?

Eve had no choice but to pretend she didn’t hear. Putting her hands to her mouth like a megaphone, she shouted toward the back row, “Hey!” and teased loudly, “Alright, how long are you planning to stay in their team? You silver-haired ones, standing out so much—hurry back to our side.”

A few chuckles of amusement came from the Cavendish ranks, but Isabella didn’t scold them for their lack of decorum. Instead, she focused intently on the girl beside her, her golden eyes filled with curiosity.

Hearing this, a group of tall youngsters—averaging a head above the interstellar average height—shuffled forward with awkward, hesitant steps, stopping before Eve with their heads bowed, too embarrassed to speak.

Before setting out, they’d thought Eve’s instructions were underestimating them, but it turned out she’d predicted everything correctly. Shortly after landing, they were indeed found by the Cavendish family.

Not only did they fail to earn many points, but they were also taken captive by the rival family. It was totally embarrassing.

“So explain this: How did five become six after going out?” Eve lifted her chin and asked.

She scanned the group—after two months of classes together, she could recognize everyone, but she hadn’t memorized how the teams were divided.

Fortunately, someone else had taken care of that for her. Dick knew at a glance who the extra person was. He jerked his chin toward a boy standing off to the side. “Xie Ke, weren’t you supposed to be in the rainforest region? Why did you come to the badlands early? And where are your teammates? We waited for you at the agreed meeting point for ages yesterday but never saw you.”

Before Xie Ke could answer, the others started explaining all at once. The noise grated on Eve’s ears, so she raised a hand to silence them, letting Xie Ke speak for himself.

“We landed deep in the rainforest zone yesterday,” Xie Ke said. He was somewhat short, with a pale complexion, and spoke with a timid, mumbling tone. His voice trembled slightly as he continued, “Then we… we encountered a very powerful Advanced Zerg. The other team members were all taken down, but thanks to the squad leader's last-ditch effort, I managed to escape.”

“I was afraid of running into it again if I stayed in the rainforest region, so I fled to the badlands as fast as I could. Luckily, I ran into Cynthia and the others. They took pity on my situation and let me join their team as an auxiliary member.”

Halfway through his explanation, Eve already felt something was off. “What did the Zerg look like?”

“I don’t know,” Xie Ke shook his head. “It seemed invisible and moved very fast. After triggering the distress signal, one of my original teammates was seriously injured.”

It sounded a lot like the Advanced Zerg in the rainforest region—the rove beetle.

But the clues aligning so perfectly was precisely what made it suspicious.

Eve stared at him intently for a long while, until the color drained from Xie Ke’s face. Pale and tense, he managed a weak smile and asked quietly, “Captain, why are you looking at me without saying anything?”

…Something was definitely wrong.

A concealed Luna Butterfly was perched behind “Xie Ke’s” head, and this person’s mind was empty—no conscious mind.

But how could a living being have no consciousness? Unless it was intentionally concealed.

She remembered—among this year’s Medici family members, no one had a Spiritual State with mind-control abilities.

As Eve’s scrutiny prolonged, Xie Ke’s eyes grew darker, shifting from sapphire-like light blue to the deep, gloomy shade of a stormy night sea. His face grew increasingly pale.

His nostrils flared, giving him a somewhat twitchy demeanor. So fragrant… this person in front of him smelled incredibly fragrant, like some high-density nutrient source.

It… He… He really, really wanted to devour…

Just as Xie Ke was about to give in to impulse, Eve suddenly gave his shoulder a firm pat and said solemnly, “You’ve had a rough time. Return to the team.”

Just as he was about to reveal his true form but was slapped on the back, making him instinctively stand straight, Xie Ke: "?"

"Alright, don’t be upset anymore."

Eve seemed to have no more doubts about him, casually turning her back to him as she lifted her head and said to Isabella, "How does Isabella want to face me? One-on-one or five-on-five?"

Unable to quite figure out what this human woman was thinking, Xie Ke swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing his appetite, and continued to hang his head, maintaining a pitiful look as he returned to the team.

Guided by its power, the other team members gathered around to show concern, but its gaze couldn’t help drifting repeatedly toward the human woman at the front who had her back turned to it.

Why… did this person have such a familiar scent about her?

It made it both wary enough to want to kneel and submit, and yet… it also wanted to devour her completely.