Chapter 192

Chapter 192

Eve had a premonition of trouble when, even after boarding the starship, she still hadn't received specific details about the competition. When the starship finally shuddered to a halt and she gazed at the shimmering silver landscape outside, she was utterly speechless.

Giant ice crystals, gleaming like blue sapphires, formed undulating mountain ranges. As far as the eye could see, a thousand miles were frozen, ten thousand miles blanketed in swirling snow. The moment the hatch opened, a blast of bone-chilling cold air swept inside—

The third round of the Five-School League was actually being held in a polar glacier!

As the cold wind rushed in, everyone's body temperature instantly plummeted by over ten degrees. Some less robust students immediately broke into a series of sneezes. The organizing committee hadn't been entirely heartless; before the students disembarked, staff promptly distributed thick thermal suits, along with basic survival gear like wrist devices, knives, and lighters.

"What's going on... Why did they bring us to this place?" some students whispered among themselves. "Our school's training never prepared us for this kind of terrain!"

"There aren't even any Insectoids in the polar regions, right? How are we supposed to compete here? We even have to figure out survival on our own."

"All functions on the wrist device are disabled too. There's not even a map, only a newly activated communication function. Are they really making us fight for survival?!"

"I can't even believe this..."

Before the students' discussions could settle, a rustling noise suddenly echoed from the sky.

"Beeeeep—"

After a loud tone, a massive, semi-transparent circular screen expanded grandly in the air, covering almost half the sky. It displayed neat rankings: the top ten individuals by points so far, and the top three schools.

【Individual Rankings】

1. Lu Qing (First Empire Academy) 24 points

2. Yang Haibo (Imperial University of Science and Technology) 21 points

3. Eve Medici (First Empire Academy) 20 points

4. Anthony Otto (First Empire Academy) 18 points

5. Lorca Oliver (First Empire Academy) 16 points

6. Yan Ning (Capital People's University) 16 points

7. Zao Jian Chun Sha (Capital People's University) 15 points

8. Zhou Huixue (Imperial Arts and Sciences) 15 points

9. Tachibana Maki (First Empire Academy) 14 points

10. Murphy Garcia (Blue Star Comprehensive University) 13 points

【School Rankings】

1. First Empire Academy 162 points

2. Capital People's University 124 points

3. Imperial University of Science and Technology 112 points

The last two schools weren't listed, perhaps to spare their dignity—though the effect was pretty much the same as public humiliation.

"How exactly is the scoring calculated?" Murphy wondered aloud among the Blue Star Comprehensive team. "I understand that the second round's weight is higher than the first round's, but Zhou Huixue was basically like a ghost through the entire second round and ended up near the bottom. How did her individual score get so high?"

"But the judges gave her very high marks."

Yang Haibo pointed to a small note below the rankings.

【Note: Scores are determined by a comprehensive evaluation from the judging panel and do not necessarily correlate directly with competition rankings. School scores are the sum of all individual scores from that school.】

Murphy crossed his arms, dissatisfied.

The giant screen seemed only meant to publicly display the current results. It soon folded up like a scroll and dissolved into scattered points of light. Meanwhile, students who had been complaining about their wrist devices suddenly noticed changes in the device's functions.

The communication function was still active. The rankings and store functions were now accessible. The rankings appeared just as they had in the sky. Prices in the store were now listed in points. The electronic map had turned into a compass. Students from some schools noticed red landmark indicators labeled "Base."

Ding! Everyone received an identical message.

"Final Round Notification for the Five-School League:

Competition Format: Survival-Puzzle Solving

Mission: Find the 'Final Truth'

Duration: Until the mission is completed

Content: In the Old Era, a mysterious legend about a 'ghost ship' circulated. It was said that a kind of ship roamed the vast seas—ships that had mysteriously disappeared or sunk years before, only to suddenly reappear on the water years later, found covered in rust and completely empty. Some said these ghost ships were cursed by gods; others believed they had accidentally slipped through space-time rifts.

In the mysterious sea before you, such a ghost ship drifts silently... and a new story unfolds aboard this ancient vessel.

Note: This round has no restrictions. Participants may do anything they deem necessary—whether seizing points, supplies, or bases. Anything goes."

"Survival plus puzzle-solving... such a complex setup."

The competition notice wasn't long; a couple of scrolls reached the bottom. It seemed the two main tasks for this round were clear: the ghost ship corresponded to the puzzle-solving task, while the ice island beneath their feet, freezing to death, corresponded to the survival task.

The first round tested combat ability. The second round, building on basic combat skills, tested teamwork and strategic thinking. Now, in the third round, intellect played a much larger role, while also testing the students' outdoor survival skills. Although it was surprising that the organizing committee actually dumped everyone into such an extreme environment, the escalating difficulty fit the pattern of previous years.

After a moment's thought, Eve proactively walked towards the Imperial University of Science and Technology team, not far from the First Empire Academy team. "Chairman Yang."

"Chief Eve," Yang Haibo turned upon hearing her, nodding politely while simultaneously pushing back a curious Murphy who was craning his neck. "What can I do for you?"

"May I see the base location marked on your wrist device?"

She got straight to the point.

Both the First Empire Academy and the Imperial University of Science and Technology were among the top three schools. When Eve saw the "base" marker on the wrist device, she suspected that, as an initial resource, the base might be related to the current points standings of the schools.

Yang Haibo seemed to have had the same idea. To verify this, comparing with the top-ranked team was the fastest method.

He directly extended his right hand, placing his wrist device next to Eve's. They could clearly see that the "base" locations on the two devices were in completely opposite positions.

So, the bases assigned to different schools were indeed different. The question was whether all five schools had bases, or only the top three enjoyed this privilege.

Eve pondered silently, then her eyes darted. She suddenly stepped sideways, emerging from behind Yang Haibo, and offered a gentle smile to the golden-haired young master behind him. "Chairman Murphy, is Blue Star Comprehensive still allying with Imperial University of Science and Technology for this round?"

The beautiful girl tilted her head. With silver hair and blue eyes, even in the plain thermal suit, she looked like a sprite born of the ice and snow. Murphy, who had always had an eye for beautiful things, was more than willing to engage. He smiled and said, "We could ally, or not. Why do you ask, Miss Eve? Are you thinking of forming an alliance with our Blue Star Comprehensive?"

"What if I am?"

Meanwhile, back with the First Empire Academy team, they only now noticed that their Mecha Department Chief had wandered over to the Imperial University of Science and Technology group. Before Anthony could frown and give an order, Lorca raised his voice first: "Eve, get back here!"

Eve glanced back at him. "I just need to talk to the two chairmen for a moment."

"Make it quick."

She turned her head back and met Murphy's eyes that held an ambiguous expression, smiling slightly. "In terms of resources, what Imperial University of Science and Technology has, our school has as well. Even when it comes to alchemists, we have Chief Lu and Miss Luo Lin, whose strength is no less than Chairman Yang's. Most importantly..."

Tapping twice on the hard surface of her wristwatch, Eve continued, taking her time, "As the top-ranked team, I'm sure our base will be the most comfortable to live in."

"Oh, yes, that is indeed a very attractive condition," Murphy chuckled softly. "But I'm sorry, I'm afraid I must turn down your kind offer."

A glint flashed in Eve's eyes.

"A free feast often comes at the highest cost, and an invitation from a beauty can equally be a trap. Compared to you, Blue Star Comprehensive doesn’t seem to have much to offer in return. Please, go back. I’d rather stay in my own doghouse, grooming each other with my ragtag group of friends, right, Hai Boer?"

Murphy grinned as he slung an arm over Yang Haibo's shoulder, only to have it shook off irritably. His narrowed blue eyes held a hint of suspicion, faint as wispy smoke.

With that, the negotiation fell through. After nodding politely, Eve headed straight back to her own team.

"What were you discussing with Blue Star Comprehensive and Imperial University of Science and Technology?" Anthony asked.

The large team trekked through the clear blue glaciers, under sunlight so bright it was almost blinding. The tops of nearby glaciers were still emitting wisps of smoke. Even wearing specialized snow boots, the slippery ice made walking quite strenuous. Eve tucked her hands into her fleece sleeves and glanced at him.

"All five schools have been assigned their own bases, each in different locations. But Blue Star Comprehensive is probably in a similar area to Imperial University of Science and Technology."

As she spoke, puffs of warm white breath escaped her lips. The extreme whiteness of the surroundings, combined with the organizers' stinginess—providing only thermal suits and no other equipment—made her squint to avoid temporary snow blindness. "This round doesn’t prohibit raiding between teams. It’s not strange that I’d seek an alliance, is it?"

Jessica said, "But allies can also raid each other. I heard you even invited that playboy to stay with us. Aren’t you afraid he might betray us?"

"It’s different," Anthony interjected before Eve could respond, somewhat annoyed that his thinking had once again lagged behind Eve’s. "Points and supplies can be taken directly from individuals, but the base is different. The base can’t be moved, and the only way to return to it is through the directional guidance on our wristwatches."

He pointed to the winding snow-capped mountains and glaciers around them.

"And in this kind of uniform terrain, except for someone like Zhou Huixue with her unique Spiritual State Ability, it’s basically impossible for others to find their way without directional guidance," Anthony added. "But the base is explicitly plunderable, so it must be directly tied to the point rankings. Your score determines which level of base you get."

The Blue Star Comprehensive University that Eve had approached, whether in terms of point difference or the location of their current base, posed little threat to First Empire Academy. Yet, they were still quite strong. In a way, if an alliance had to be formed, Blue Star Comprehensive was indeed the most suitable choice.

But an alliance wasn’t strictly necessary. To be honest, Murphy had a point: given First Empire Academy’s overall strength, unless they joined forces with an academically-focused team like Imperial Arts and Sciences, allying with any of the other three schools wouldn’t bring much benefit.

Seeing Jessica’s expression of half-understanding, Eve patted her head affectionately. "It’s not that important. Let’s focus on finding our base first."

Perhaps for the convenience of accessing the sea, the bases were all built near the coastline. Walking from the landing point to the shore in thick clothing was exhausting, even for well-trained military academy students.

The red dot on the wristwatch finally stopped showing only a direction and for the first time displayed a specific distance: "998 li." After walking for another ten minutes or so, the team finally spotted a square red house in the vast expanse of ice and snow. It resembled a shipping container or, more accurately, a quick-assembly house modified from one.

These rooms were prefabricated elsewhere and then transported and assembled on-site. In places where construction and production were difficult, this building-block method was used.

The red base house had two floors, with a long shape resembling a truck. The lower level contained storage and laboratories, stocked with supplies exchanged in the second round, as well as some items presumably exclusive to the first-place base—including but not limited to various foods, advanced diving suits, and weapons. Eve even found small cakes and other desserts inside.

The upper level consisted of living quarters: bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and dining area, symmetrically arranged around a central door. Functional rooms were squeezed in the middle. With the number of male and female students in First Empire Academy’s team being roughly equal, Anthony directly assigned the left-side bedrooms to the boys and the right-side to the girls, two to a room. Unsurprisingly, Eve was paired with "Lu Qing" again.

"Are you close with Lu Qing? How come you’re paired with her again?" Jessica peeked through the door crack, only to meet the dark, emotionless eyes of Medical Chief next door. She shrank back nervously. "She looks really creepy."

"Anthony assigned it. He said it would allow us to strengthen our cooperation by combining our strengths."

...Though his real intention was probably hoping they’d cancel each other out.

But Jessica had only brought it up casually. She’d actually come to invite Eve to go fishing.

"Fishing?" Eve’s knowledge of polar regions was limited, and this was a bit outside her expertise. She shook her head. "You go ahead. I don’t know how to fish. But are you sure there are even fish here?"

A place chosen for the league competition hardly seemed like a normal sea fishing spot. It wouldn’t be surprising if there were no fish, but the real worry was hooking some monster—that would be more trouble than it’s worth.

"Besides, I need to think more about the competition’s puzzle," she said.

Jessica replied disappointedly, "...Alright."

Eve had some guesses about the ghost ship mystery, but after scanning the sea surface from the base’s rooftop earlier, she hadn’t spotted any ship-like objects.

Either the timing was wrong, or the location was wrong. Eve leaned toward the former. Since this involved the core of the competition—not some trivial matter like eating and drinking—for the sake of fairness, every school should have an equal chance to encounter the ghost ship.

Everyone had disembarked from the starship in the central part of the ice island and set up camp along the coastline. What other locations, accessible from the coast, would offer equal opportunities for all schools?

Could it be that the ship was circling the ice island?

That wasn’t impossible.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise came from outside the window. She walked over and looked down to see students using drilling machines to bore holes in the ice. Though Eve didn’t know much about fishing, she had the impression that ice fishing was better suited for calm lakes with thin ice... She hoped those guys would be alright.

Nearby, the Lu Qing dummy was still staring blankly at her. Considering competitors' privacy, the live broadcast didn’t cover bedrooms, so Eve didn’t bother diverting attention to controlling the dummy.

After sitting on the bed for a while, Eve couldn’t stand the thunderous noise from downstairs anymore. Just as she was about to go down and find a net to hand those people, telling them to try their luck breaking ice by the sea, a sharp scream abruptly tore through the previously harmonious atmosphere.

"Ahhh—!"

"There’s a monster!"

Shouts of alarm rose one after another but soon died down like strangled duck calls. Eve’s heart skipped a beat. Without a second thought, she grabbed the dagger from the table, kicked open the window, and stepped onto the windowsill. "What monster?"

"Don’t come down!"

Someone shouted. Eve paused, looking down to see Lorca, who rarely showed a serious expression, holding a short knife. At his feet lay a white-scaled fish the size of a baby, its body split in half but still twitching and jumping. Bright red blood splattered in a fan shape.

When she got a clear look at the strange fish, even Eve was startled.

—The fish had a pale human face with long eyebrows, narrow eyes, and tightly shut eyelids.