SCOM - Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Ding Wuming had lost too much blood. The wound on his chest was deep, and he was drowsy, on the verge of losing consciousness. Because of the chest wound, Yan Yan couldn't carry him on his back. Qian Mao had to help build a simple stretcher on the spot, which Yan Yan and Jiang Hong then carried.
They couldn't afford to waste time, nor could they withdraw from the competition. Their only option was to move as quickly as possible.
Before setting off, Zuo Luohuan asked Ji Yuezhi, "Which way do we go next? Tell me the route, and we'll switch positions."
She deliberately walked over to Ji Yuezhi and opened the map on her wrist-mounted optical computer. She was stained with a bit of Ding Wuming's blood, which carried the faint scent of agarwood.
It was another Alpha's pheromones. Ji Yuezhi had never liked the scent of others, but he didn't show it. He lowered his gaze, his face turned to the side, and extended a finger to draw a line on the map on Zuo Luohuan's optical computer.
"Ding Wuming is injured and can't handle being jostled. We'll take a different path." Ji Yuezhi's fingertip moved down, stopping at a low-lying valley. "There's a stream here. It flows all the way to the mountain before the secret base. We can take this route."
"A water route? The second-generation robot dogs aren't afraid of water. If you go in, once your light guns run out of energy blocks, you'll have no chance against them," Zuo Luohuan stated. She glanced at Ji Yuezhi, whose lips were pressed into a thin line, and discreetly shifted her body, moving the arm stained with Ding Wuming's blood downwind.
Ji Yuezhi shook his head. "The mountain path doesn't offer much of an advantage. Following the water is better for our current situation. Ding Wuming needs at least two or three days for his wound to get a little better."
"Alright." Zuo Luohuan reached out and closed the map on her optical computer. She turned her face and looked up at Ji Yuezhi beside her. Her previously straight-set lips relaxed inadvertently, and because she had just finished speaking, her upper lip was slightly upturned.
Sometimes, Zuo Luohuan had the illusion that the real Ji Yuezhi was softer than he usually appeared.
"Captain, we're ready," Yan Yan called out. He and Jiang Hong were each holding one end of the stretcher. Ding Wuming had fallen completely unconscious.
"Let's go." Zuo Luohuan gripped her light gun with both hands and took the lead, while Ji Yuezhi moved to the rear.
The mountains were full of wild beasts. Besides the modified second-generation robot dogs set up for the military exercise, encountering other beasts was purely a matter of the team's luck. Zuo Luohuan walked at the front to clear any threats ahead with maximum speed.
A top-tier Alpha relied not just on pheromone suppression, but also on absolute strength.
Zuo Luohuan led the way, maintaining a hundred-meter distance from the others, clearing all threats ahead. By the time Ji Yuezhi and the rest passed through, they would often only see a scene of disarray, and occasionally, the ground littered with the corpses of beasts.
They walked like this until nightfall on the first day. Apart from the initial incident, the rest of the journey was so smooth it hardly felt like an exercise.
"We've reached the stream," Jiang Hong said, hearing the sound of water in the distance.
The group walked over and found Zuo Luohuan already waiting for them, having even started a fire.
"Be careful." Qian Mao ran over, found a suitable spot, and had Yan Yan and Jiang Hong put Ding Wuming down. "Slowly, slowly."
Guan Xue reached out and touched Ding Wuming's forehead. "He seems to have a bit of a fever."
"Give him some medicine." Qian Mao took out medicine from the medical kit and carefully examined his chest. "Thankfully, the wound hasn't reopened."
After putting down the stretcher, Yan Yan and Jiang Hong began to build shelters for the night. They didn't have tents, so they could only use the stones by the stream to pile up windbreaks to sleep behind.
"You should rest first. We'll take the night watch," Ji Yuezhi said to Zuo Luohuan, who was sitting by the stream. In the moonlight, he could clearly see the bandages on her hands. His heart tightened, and he asked in a low voice, "Are you injured?"
Zuo Luohuan finished filling her water container, looked up at Ji Yuezhi, then held out one of her hands to look at it herself. She stood up and chuckled. "It's just a precaution against injury."
The tension in Ji Yuezhi's knuckles instantly eased. "It's good that you're not hurt... No one else on our team can get injured."
"Mm, you're right." Zuo Luohuan handed the water to Ji Yuezhi. "Want some? It's sweet."
Ji Yuezhi watched the empty-handed Zuo Luohuan walk towards the fire, then looked down at the waterskin in his hand. She said it was sweet, did that mean... she drank from it first?
His gaze fell on the mouth of the waterskin. He didn't know what he was thinking of, but the tips of his ears felt a little hot.
As she approached the fire, Zuo Luohuan suddenly turned back and said to Ji Yuezhi, "I didn't touch the spout. It's clean."
"..."
Ji Yuezhi was a little disappointed. He had thought... she had touched it.
The first day passed quietly as night gradually fell. During the night, Ding Wuming woke up once and was fed some water and dry rations.
Ji Yuezhi, Jiang Hong, and the others took turns on watch. The first night was relatively peaceful.
On the second day, as they followed the stream, they once again encountered second-generation robot dogs.
More accurately, they ran into second-generation robot dogs that had been lured over by the United Military Academy. They had originally been following behind the First Military Academy, tracking their path from the start. Because Zuo Luohuan's group had cleared out all the robot dogs, the United Military Academy had managed to completely avoid any fights yesterday.
An Yingjing had seen the numerous 'corpses' of the robot dogs along the way, as well as large patches of dried blood, leading him to deduce that someone from the First Military Academy was seriously injured. They had followed the trail, hoping to coast behind the First Military Academy and reach the secret base unscathed. But at 4 a.m., a member of their team went off to relieve themselves and triggered an attack from another batch of second-generation robot dogs.
The United Military Academy's strength was not on par with the other three military academies. An Yingjing made a decisive call not to confront the robot dogs head-on, instead luring them straight towards the First Military Academy.
He had somewhat underestimated the speed of the second-generation robot dogs. He had originally planned to lead them over quietly while his team remained hidden, but in the end, they were forced to reveal themselves to the First Military Academy's team.
The second-generation robot dogs didn't care which team the people belonged to; they attacked on sight.
"An Yingjing, could your United Military Academy be any more shameless?" Jiang Hong spat.
"All's fair in war," An Yingjing said, catching his breath. "The people from the First Military Academy are strong, so it's no big deal to help us from the United Military Academy out a little, right? We're all military academy students, and we'll all be contributing to the Federation in the future."
The First Military Academy students had experience dealing with the robot dogs, so they were much calmer this time. Besides, half of the robot dogs were still attacking the United Military Academy's team.
Ji Yuezhi gripped his light gun and glanced at Zuo Luohuan, his thoughts unreadable. When she looked back at him, he shifted his gaze away and said to An Yingjing, "Since you need the First Military Academy's help, the United Military Academy should offer some compensation."
"I think their energy blocks look pretty good," Zuo Luohuan said with a smile, tilting her head, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
An Yingjing's expression changed instantly. He bit his tongue to regain his composure. "You're already struggling to deal with this many robot dogs, and you still have the energy to deal with us?"
"Want to try?" Zuo Luohuan raised her hand and flicked the bolt of her gun, speaking casually. "Either you voluntarily leave four energy blocks, or we have a fight."
An Yingjing's face twisted for a moment. "Four? Our team is almost wiped out. The reward is one block, that's plenty."
In the short time they had been talking, Guan Xue and Jiang Hong had already eliminated two robot dogs, their rate of improvement was incredibly fast. Meanwhile, Yan Yan had gone off on his own and was close to finishing off another one. He had enough strength and was a quick learner when it came to technique. If one looked closely, they could see that a few of his moves were a mix of Zuo Luohuan's from the day before.
"One energy block?" Zuo Luohuan instantly raised her gun and aimed it at An Yingjing. "It seems you'd rather leave everything behind."
An Yingjing subconsciously took two steps back. He turned to look at his teammates from the United Military Academy fighting the robot dogs and saw they were gradually losing the upper hand.
"Fine, I'll give you four," An Yingjing said through gritted teeth. "But you have to help us deal with these robot dogs first."
Zuo Luohuan turned her face to look at Ji Yuezhi, a barely perceptible smile on her lips. "Captain, do you agree?"
"Yes," Ji Yuezhi nodded.
Zuo Luohuan lowered her gun and gestured at An Yingjing with her chin. "Hand over the energy blocks first."
"You!" An Yingjing's face looked like an overturned paint palette. In the end, he threw his own energy block and one from the technician next to him to Zuo Luohuan. "After you've dealt with them, I'll give you the remaining two."
Zuo Luohuan caught the two energy blocks, weighed them in her hand, and passed one to Ji Yuezhi. "Captain, I'll trouble you."
With Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi entering the fray, the situation was instantly reversed. The second-generation robot dogs were rapidly being culled, and the pressure on the United Military Academy was greatly reduced.
An Yingjing stared intently at Zuo Luohuan's group. He made a few hand signals to his teammates, who were gradually disengaging from the fight, and they slowly gathered behind him.
Ji Yuezhi noticed their unusual behavior and alerted Zuo Luohuan. He then looked at An Yingjing and said coldly, "Are you thinking of going back on your word?"
"You people are too greedy." An Yingjing's gaze swept quickly over Ji Yuezhi, Guan Xue, and Qian Mao, and a strange smile appeared on his face. "I didn't want to reveal this so early."
There were still two second-generation robot dogs in front of Zuo Luohuan. Hearing his words, she was about to kick the robot dogs toward An Yingjing when an extremely dense Omega pheromone suddenly erupted on the field.
It was hard to describe the scent of the pheromones, because it was different for every person. It had a tremendous effect on Alphas. Perhaps these military academy students had all undergone pheromone resistance training, but no one could resist their instincts. The pheromones transformed into the scent of the Omega that an Alpha most desired, a scent so secret that even they themselves might not be aware of it, causing them to lose all ability to resist.
These pheromones had a similar effect on Omegas, allowing them to smell the Alpha pheromones they most adored, though it wasn't powerful enough to affect and control their minds like it did with Alphas.
Yan Yan and Jiang Hong lost their ability to move in an instant. Even Zuo Luohuan's speed was rapidly slowing down.
"Guan Xue!" Ji Yuezhi's nose was filled with the scent of extreme, icy cold. His eyes glazed over for a moment, then he shouted to Guan Xue on his right, "Target, An Yingjing!"
Guan Xue was a Beta, so she was the least affected by the pheromones. Upon hearing Ji Yuezhi's voice, she instantly aimed her light gun at An Yingjing.
An Yingjing had gathered intelligence on the First Military Academy and already knew how accurate Guan Xue's marksmanship was. He immediately had the person next to him provide cover while shouting at Ji Yuezhi, "Aren't you going to worry about Zuo Luohuan and the others? If this goes on, they'll die, you know."
Two second-generation robot dogs were in front of Zuo Luohuan. Her attack speed had nearly come to a halt, and the veins on her neck were bulging, a clear sign she was still fighting against her deepest instincts. As for Guan Xue, she had no choice but to abandon her shot at An Yingjing and turn to save Yan Yan and Jiang Hong instead.
Ji Yuezhi could only go to Zuo Luohuan's aid first. At that moment, two people from the United Military Academy had circled around to Qian Mao's position. They pinned him down, snatched his energy block, and were about to reach for Ding Wuming's bag when Ji Yuezhi spun around and shot both of them in the leg.
"Retreat," An Yingjing ordered decisively. The people from the First Military Academy were tougher to deal with than he had imagined.
Central Control Room.
All the instructors' eyes were focused on An Yingjing. Finally, the instructor from Yundong Military Academy spoke up, asking the person from the United Military Academy, "What are his pheromones?"
"Poppy."
An instructor in the control room immediately cursed out loud. Pheromones like these were rarely seen throughout history; only two cases were on record. Each of them had been the most terrifying Omega of their time, because these pheromones could induce humanity's base instincts. The eras in which those two individuals lived were too long ago, and it was rumored that their outcomes were not very good.
"Although it's a disadvantage for you in the competition, it's a good thing for our Federation," said the instructor from the United Military Academy. "For your First Military Academy to force him to use his pheromones in the first stage is impressive. However... Team 2's Alphas have probably all lost their combat capabilities now."
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