SCOM - Chapter 51
Chapter 51
The school funeral lasted all day. Finally, the three deceased military academy students were carried into the Capital Martyrs' Cemetery, where countless soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the Federation were buried. Today, three more young cadets joined their ranks. The joy of thwarting the Gashro’s surprise attack couldn't offset the pain of losing these three companions.
The second stage of the competition, postponed due to the attack, resumed on Thursday. This stage also required a draw, following the previous order. Northern Military Academy drew first, then Federal First Military Academy. Luo Shaoyuan and Ji Yuezhi both drew red lots, while An Yingjing and Cha Lili drew blue.
Once all four teams had drawn, the announcement rang out: “Two teams form a group, each group with the same lot color. Red represents the Federation, blue represents the Gashro Empire. Recently, technology was stolen from a secret Gashro base. They tracked it to Leye Town, where they will clash with the Federation. The Federation's mission is to protect this technology; the Gashro Empire must use all means to retrieve it.”
“It’s like a serialized drama,” Jiang Hong muttered.
“So, we’re teamed up with Northern Military Academy,” Yan Yan said, looking at the red lot in Luo Shaoyuan’s hand.
“We won the first stage. Can’t we use that technology?” Jiang Hong asked Guan Xue.
“I don’t really get it. Qian Mao seems to be the only one who understands,” Guan Xue shrugged. “But the instructors took the USB drive.”
The announcement came just then: “Teams with the same color can now group up. Winners of the first stage can review the technology you’ve acquired. In half an hour, aircrafts will transport you to Leye Town.”
As Ji Yuezhi led his team members over, Luo Shaoyuan and her team followed close behind. They were stopped by the instructors before they got far.
“We’re a team now. If Federal First wins, Northern wins too. Can’t we take a look?” Luo Shaoyuan said matter-of-factly.
Kang Guang crossed his arms and grinned. “No.”
Each team had only one core technician. The announcement stated clearly: one viewing only, no recording allowed. As for how much they could remember, that depended on the winning team’s skill.
So, when the USB file opened, Qian Mao was dumbfounded. There was too much data; half an hour wasn't nearly enough. What a lousy reward!
“You have ten minutes to pull out the key information. I’ll memorize the rest in the remaining twenty,” Ji Yuezhi suddenly said.
Qian Mao’s spirits lifted. He immediately started picking out useful information from the files, pointing out all the filenames for Ji Yuezhi to open and quickly memorize.
This kind of intensive memorization required immense concentration. After half an hour, Ji Yuezhi finished the last page. He swayed slightly as he stood, and Zuo Luohuan, who was standing behind Qian Mao, instantly stepped forward to steady him.
Qian Mao looked down at the hand that had appeared beside him, a puzzled look on his face. When did Zuo Luohuan become so thoughtful?
What surprised him even more was that Captain Ji, always so proper, didn't react at all. After regaining his balance, he followed the instructor out, never once acknowledging Zuo Luohuan. Zuo Luohuan, walking beside him, seemed to think her actions were perfectly natural.
Strange.
Qian Mao thought about it for a while, then gave up, focusing instead on the files he had just seen. The so-called secret base technology wasn't particularly new; it was just a weapons modification, likely something the Federation had developed and was using for the competition.
After half an hour, Federal First was stopped from viewing the files, but they received a plastic USB drive.
“This is the most important item for the second stage. Keep it until the end of the competition. If you still have it then, you win. Otherwise, the blue team wins.”
Qian Mao took it and examined it, realizing it was a toy. “…Seriously?”
Even as they boarded the aircraft with Northern Military Academy, Jiang Hong kept looking back at the announcer, asking the instructor below, “Are we just leaving? Won’t the announcer tell us anything more?” It felt like they’d been given too little information.
“That’s all. You can focus on the competition now,” the instructor said with a strained smile.
Federal First and Northern Military Academy had suddenly gone from rivals to teammates. The atmosphere in the aircraft was awkward. The two teams eyed each other. Finally, Luo Shaoyuan spoke up. “Since we’re on the same team, let’s cooperate in the second stage… So, what was that technology you looked at?”
“Not quite sure,” Qian Mao said.
Luo Shaoyuan didn’t believe him. “How can you not be sure? You were in there for half an hour.”
“Too many files, too little time. Couldn’t get through it all,” Qian Mao shrugged.
Ji Yuezhi, who had actually read all the files, was now resting with his eyes closed, organizing and categorizing the information in his mind, ready to write it down as soon as they arrived in Leye Town.
The red and blue team aircrafts took off from different directions and landed at different locations in Leye Town. After they were dropped off, the aircrafts immediately flew away, without another word, without providing any supplies.
Not only were the two red teams stunned, but the two blue teams, representing the Gashro Empire, also looked around, unsure of what to do. Crucially, they didn't even have backpacks.
“So… how are we supposed to track the red team?” An Yingjing, whose gland injury had fully healed, looked more energetic than before. “Can we use our optical computers to contact them?”
“You can try,” Cha Lili retorted.
An Yingjing’s face darkened. “We’re on the same team now, not competitors. It’s not very helpful of you to say that.”
“Have you considered which academy gets the credit if the blue team wins?” Cha Lili asked him.
“Based on performance, I guess,” An Yingjing said dismissively. “But the blue team has to win first. The red team has Federal First and Northern, both skilled and cunning.”
“Northern may be skilled, but you eliminated them all last time,” Cha Lili coolly pointed out.
This time, Northern Military Academy would definitely be prepared. It wouldn't be so easy to take them all down, especially since that freak Zuo Luohuan seemed to be developing an immunity to his pheromones.
Several thoughts ran through An Yingjing’s mind, but his expression remained unchanged. With a hint of pride, he said, “So, if the blue team wins, United Military Academy will likely have contributed the most.”
Cha Lili scoffed. “If only it were that simple.”
In contrast, the red team’s atmosphere was relatively calm. Although the Northern Military Academy students were hot-tempered and blunt, they were surprisingly quiet.
“Looks like this Leye Town has been abandoned for a long time,” Jiang Hong said, observing the surroundings. Weeds were overgrown, and a half-collapsed building stood not far away. Their landing spot was covered in weeds and moss.
Ji Yuezhi moved his foot, picked up a mud-caked flyer from the ground, and brushed the dirt off. It advertised Leye Mall’s tenth-anniversary sale. He looked at the small print at the bottom: No. 190, Shangmin Street, Leye West District.
Large buildings loomed in the distance. Ji Yuezhi gripped the flyer. “Let’s head that way.” He needed to confirm their location first.
The group walked towards the distant buildings. As they got closer, they saw that a huge sign had fallen halfway down, blocking the mall’s entrance. The words on the sign matched the flyer in Ji Yuezhi’s hand.
Guan Xue tilted her head, looking at the sign. “Leye Mall… I wonder if there’s any food inside?”
“Let’s go in and see.” Luo Shaoyuan stepped onto the stairs, then stopped and turned to Ji Yuezhi. “Let’s be clear. Northern Military Academy won’t be your cannon fodder. If we win, we win together. Don’t try to wear us down first.”
Ji Yuezhi tore up the flyer, tossed it into a nearby discarded trash can, and walked inside without responding to Luo Shaoyuan.
The building appeared to be more than ten stories tall, the highest structure in the vicinity. Inside, they found the conditions weren’t much better than outside. Weeds grew through cracks in the floor, almost reaching their height. Sewage flowed from the air conditioning ducts, emitting a foul odor. Expired products littered the floor, and a few remained on the shelves, mostly swollen and burst.
Yan Yan picked up an unopened snack, tore it open, and was hit by a wave of stench.
“Ugh!”
Before Yan Yan, who had inhaled the stench directly, could react, Qian Mao, passing by, retched, tears welling up in his eyes.
“What is that smell?” Qian Mao covered his nose, feeling his sense of smell had been assaulted.
“Something rotten,” Yan Yan said. Although he found it unpleasant, it wasn’t unbearable.
Qian Mao, who had quickly moved away from Yan Yan, suddenly seemed to remember something. He covered his nose and backed up, grabbing a few packs of the same snack from the shelf.
Yan Yan asked, “…It’s rotten. Are you still going to eat it?”
Qian Mao gave him a knowing look. “If I run into An Yingjing releasing his pheromones, I’ll use this to attack him.”
Omegas were sensitive to smells. He didn’t believe An Yingjing wouldn’t react the same way he did.
Yan Yan thought for a moment. “Senior, you have a point.”
As the two searched for the most potent smelling snacks, Ji Yuezhi and the others had reached the hiking section and found undamaged backpacks.
“One, two, three… fifteen. Enough for one each,” Guan Xue said, taking down all the backpacks and counting them.
The backpacks were covered in years of dust. Fortunately, the area was dry, so they weren’t covered in moss.
Zuo Luohuan glanced at Ji Yuezhi, who had been staring at a shelf for a long time.
She walked over and asked, “Is something wrong?”
Ji Yuezhi didn’t answer. He walked straight to the shelf, reached down, and pulled out a strangely shaped piece of metal.
“Qian Mao,” he called, handing it over.
“What is this?” Qian Mao took it, examined it carefully, and suddenly looked up. “Is this from the files?”
Ji Yuezhi nodded. He wasn’t as proficient in weapons research as Qian Mao, but now wasn’t the time to sit down and transcribe the files. He needed to understand their current environment first.
“Let’s find food first. The organizers might have hidden some here. Then we’ll go to the roof,” Ji Yuezhi instructed. They needed food and a vantage point.
Although the building had more than ten floors, only six were retail space. Above that were the mall offices. They quickly swept through the first floor and gradually moved upwards.
Ji Yuezhi’s prediction was correct. The organizers had indeed hidden food. Not much, but enough for a day.
They found nothing else of use, so they continued upwards. Passing through an office area, Zuo Luohuan found a pair of binoculars in a desk drawer. She tried them out; although old, they worked.
“Captain,” Zuo Luohuan said, approaching Ji Yuezhi and handing him the binoculars.
Ji Yuezhi took the binoculars, fiddled with them for a moment, and put them away.
The strange atmosphere between the two puzzled Qian Mao. The captain and Zuo Luohuan must have had a fight, he thought. They must have fallen out but had to cooperate as a team.
Alas, were the Zuo and Ji families truly destined to be at odds?
Two hours later, they reached the roof. Ji Yuezhi used the binoculars to observe the area below, getting a general understanding of Leye Town’s layout. Then, sitting behind the rooftop water tank, he began transcribing the files onto his optical computer.
Rows of complex terms, numbers, and diagrams were perfectly replicated under his fingers.
Luo Shaoyuan watched in astonishment. “Your captain can do that?”
Although speed writing was a required course for military cadets, most were just barely competent. Ji Yuezhi was practically a human scanner.
Jiang Hong glanced at Zuo Luohuan. If he remembered correctly, her memory was also excellent, but she hadn’t offered to help with the files.
“Are we just going to hide here?” Ding Wuming asked, clutching a metal rod.
“Leye Town shouldn’t be very big. With this as the center, it’s probably only a hundred li in radius,” Jiang Hong said. “We’ll run into the blue team sooner or later. Plus, we don’t have any weapons.”
“A few of us will search the nearby area for weapons,” Zuo Luohuan said, looking at Luo Shaoyuan. “Choose some of your team members to come with me.”
The others remained silent. Although Federal First and Northern Military Academy were on the same team, the announcement hadn’t specified how victory would be shared. It was best for both teams to stick together.
Luo Shaoyuan understood this and selected a few team members for Zuo Luohuan. “Zuo Luohuan, have your technician come along to look for parts or anything useful. Make sure you protect him.”
Zuo Luohuan smiled. “Alright. But Hui Bing will stay here. Her aim is excellent, and this is a good vantage point.”
“We don’t have any guns now,” Luo Shaoyuan grumbled, then added, “Fine, someone else then. Hui Bing stays.”
Before leaving, she glanced back at Ji Yuezhi, who was still focused on transcribing the files.
There had to be a pattern to where the organizers hid the weapons and food. Zuo Luohuan led four Northern Military Academy students to search the roadside shops. Most were empty, containing only weeds, moss, and discarded furniture.
“Let’s check that cinema,” Zuo Luohuan said, leading them inside.
It appeared to be a private cinema, two stories tall, filled with abandoned red seats and cobwebs.
“Wait, can we check the lighting up there for anything?” the technician asked Zuo Luohuan, stopping.
“I’ll go up and take a look.” Zuo Luohuan quickly climbed up, glanced down at the others, and stepped onto a meter-wide lighting tube. There was a row of them.
“Check the sides for any gun barrels,” the technician called from below. “If they were hiding anything, that would be a good spot.”
Zuo Luohuan reached out and felt around. Before she could report back, she frowned and shouted towards the second floor, “Who’s there?!”
The others instantly huddled together, looking up at the second floor.
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