SCOM - Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Leye Small Town was within the capital's jurisdiction. The surface was a ruin, but the underground had long been cleared out. Staff members hid underground, waiting for the right moment to bring the eliminated cadets down and send them out.
Originally, the staff had been notified that they only needed to come out, gather the eliminated cadets, and leave. The whole process would take less than a minute.
But this time when they emerged, the four Blue Team members on the east side not only had smoke rising from their helmets but were also knocked unconscious on the ground. Beside them, Luo Shaoyuan was the only 'dead person' who could still walk.
“Classmate Zuo, next time you 'kill' someone, please don't knock them unconscious too,” a staff member earnestly advised the only surviving contestant. “It’s not easy for us to earn credits either.”
Zuo Luohuan glanced behind her, then turned back to remind them, “Seniors, our team members are coming over soon.”
There were only two staff members hidden here, both third-year cadets from the First Military Academy on a mission. Hearing this, each had to quickly hoist two unconscious Blue Team members and slip back underground. Luo Shaoyuan reluctantly followed, turning back at the last moment to give Zuo Luohuan the middle finger.
The rain of gunfire from the east stopped, and Ji Yuezhi led everyone in a charge toward that direction. Guan Xue and Jiang Hong stayed behind to provide cover.
“Where's our captain?” Hui Bing asked when she came over and saw only Zuo Luohuan.
She had been providing cover for the two of them. After Zuo Luohuan and Luo Shaoyuan reached the top of the eastern slope, Hui Bing's line of sight was blocked, so she couldn't see their movements and didn't know what happened next.
“She was ambushed,” Zuo Luohuan said, pointing in another direction. “The Blue Team has a sniper watching this spot.”
Hui Bing followed the direction Zuo Luohuan pointed, walked over, and carefully examined the ground, indeed finding similar traces.
Hui Bing didn't doubt Zuo Luohuan's words. Since the Gashiro attack, they knew her skills were far superior to other cadets. It was perfectly normal for her to avoid elimination twice.
But the mood of the Northern Military Academy members still sank. Sometimes, a competition required a bit of luck, and it was clear that in this exercise, their luck was ridiculously bad. Their entire team had been eliminated in the first stage, and now three more had been eliminated in a row in the second.
The Blue Team seemed to have noticed they were all fleeing east, so they unleashed a relentless barrage of fire on Jiang Hong and Guan Xue, who were still behind. The two couldn't move an inch.
“Circle around to their rear and attack. Get Guan Xue and Jiang Hong back here,” Ji Yuezhi said to Zuo Luohuan.
To any captain, Zuo Luohuan was the sharpest and most effective blade.
And as it turned out, Zuo Luohuan was indeed capable. In the end, the Red Team successfully escaped, with only Luo Shaoyuan eliminated.
However, once the Red and Blue teams clashed, it was hard to avoid further encounters. Leye Small Town was too small, and they still needed to search for food and water hidden by the organizers each day, making it easy to run into the Blue Team.
On the morning of the sixth day, Yan Yan, Ding Wuming, and a member of the Northern Military Academy went out to find food. They stepped on a bomb and were all eliminated.
By the time the others found them, they had already been eliminated. The faint scent of poppy lingered in the air.
It was An Yingjing.
The Blue Team was quietly encircling and annihilating the Red Team.
On the seventh day, the Red Team deliberately appeared in the Blue Team's sight again. It was two members from the Northern Military Academy. An Yingjing couldn't resist trying to use his pheromones to confuse them again, but unexpectedly, Zuo Luohuan suddenly appeared. She had taken the foul-smelling, spoiled food from the expandable bag Qian Mao had previously packed and used these reeking items to launch a physical attack on An Yingjing.
Omegas have a keen sense of smell. Back then, even Qian Mao, whose rank was average, couldn't help but vomit after smelling it, let alone An Yingjing.
He was physically assaulted by this stench, his mind instantly reeling in shock. His entire being, even his eyes, went numb.
“Ugh! Zuo Luohuan! Ugh! Do you have any... ugh! Humanity!” An Yingjing cursed, tears welling in his eyes as he vomited and clutched his nose.
Hui Bing was hiding in a half-collapsed building across the way. She had set up her sniper rifle, taken aim, and was lying motionless against the window, waiting for the perfect moment.
An Yingjing was surrounded by several Blue Team members, all Omegas or Betas. Because of the stench, they were only focused on guarding against Zuo Luohuan in front of them, and their formation gradually loosened.
Now!
“Bang—”
Hui Bing fired a shot, hitting An Yingjing squarely in the head.
The Blue Team members immediately looked up and started attacking Hui Bing's position. However, Zuo Luohuan was still in front of them. Without even using a gun, she instantly rushed forward, disarmed the Blue Team, and gave Hui Bing the best possible room to maneuver.
Five Blue Team members were eliminated, including An Yingjing.
“Despicable!” An Yingjing pointed at Zuo Luohuan, his hand trembling slightly. “Treating an Omega like this, aren't you afraid of divine retribution?”
Although he was verbally cursing Zuo Luohuan, his eyes held none of the expected disbelief; they were, in fact, quite calm.
Zuo Luohuan stood there, staring at An Yingjing for a moment, then suddenly turned and ran back. Her speed was so fast that it stunned Hui Bing, who had just come down and was preparing to rendezvous with the last two members from the Northern Military Academy.
“What happened?” Hui Bing asked, chasing after her.
“Half of the Blue Team isn't here.”
The cadets participating in the exercise were no fools. The moment Hui Bing heard this, a chill ran down her spine.
Their attention had been on An Yingjing, and they had forgotten that the Blue Team still had Cha Lili, who was most skilled in strategy.
When Zuo Luohuan and the others rushed over, sure enough, Cha Lili was leading the rest of the Blue Team in an attack on Ji Yuezhi and the others.
Yesterday, Cha Lili had used An Yingjing to ambush Yan Yan's group. Today, the Red Team still had to go out for food and would inevitably be highly wary of An Yingjing, perhaps even looking for a chance to deal with him.
At this moment, attacking the Red Team members who stayed behind would drastically reduce the pressure.
Cha Lili hadn't expected his luck to be so good. The Red Team's Zuo Luohuan had actually been sent out, and a sniper was also absent.
While Zuo Luohuan and Hui Bing teamed up to eliminate An Yingjing, the Red Team was suddenly plunged into a difficult situation. Jiang Hong and another member from the Northern Military Academy were eliminated, and one of Qian Mao's legs was immobilized.
“Don't go in yet,” Zuo Luohuan said, holding back Hui Bing, who was about to charge in.
“If we don't help now, everyone on the Red Team will be eliminated,” Hui Bing said anxiously.
Zuo Luohuan looked toward the distant firefight. “There's still time. Go to the west window of that building up ahead, brace yourself against that slanted surface across from it, and take the high ground.”
She, in turn, would take out the Blue Team's two snipers.
One of the Blue Team's snipers immediately noticed something was wrong. His teammate to the side had vanished without a trace. The only person capable of this was Zuo Luohuan.
He only had time to shout towards Cha Lili's position before Zuo Luohuan was beside him in the next second. She grabbed his neck, applied slight pressure in a feigned neck-snap, and then smiled, mouthing the words: “You're dead.”
Blue Team member: “...” For a second, when he met Zuo Luohuan's eyes, he thought his neck had really been broken.
The attacks from the two snipers on high ground ceased, and Ji Yuezhi noticed it instantly. He looked up at a window on the highest point of the opposite building, and a moment later, Zuo Luohuan appeared before his eyes.
The two looked at each other from across the street. Zuo Luohuan was holding a sniper rifle she had taken from a Blue Team member. She looked down at Ji Yuezhi, pointed in a direction, and gestured for them to go that way.
Ji Yuezhi gave her a deep look before finally leading his team toward Hui Bing's position.
Seeing them trying to escape, the Blue Team's fire intensified.
This was when Hui Bing's usefulness became apparent. She used her sniper rifle to block the Blue Team's path of advance.
Guan Xue moved forward with Qian Mao on her back. Qian Mao was still tightly clutching the parts they had found over the past few days. Zuo Luohuan had already vaulted down. She reached out, took the large bag of parts from Qian Mao's hands, and hoisted it onto her shoulder.
“An Yingjing and the three people with him have been eliminated,” Zuo Luohuan said, pulling Ji Yuezhi. The two pressed against a wall, dodging a bullet fired by Cha Lili from behind. She turned her face to him and spoke.
“Where are the two from the Northern Military Academy?” Ji Yuezhi asked her.
Zuo Luohuan paused, then said, “I came straight here. I didn't rendezvous with them.”
“There's still one person from the Blue Team missing,” Ji Yuezhi said calmly, meeting Zuo Luohuan's eyes. “We've likely lost two more team members.”
Hui Bing bought them some time to escape, and the group ran toward the other end of the small town.
The Blue Team had too many weapons, their ammunition seemingly endless. Even though Ji Yuezhi's group had temporarily escaped, they were still being pursued.
“This can't go on,” Hui Bing said, looking completely disheveled. She was the only one left from the Northern Military Academy; there had been no news from the technician and the other member sent out as bait earlier.
Now, in the Red Team, only Ji Yuezhi and Zuo Luohuan were considered combat-effective. Guan Xue, like herself, was skilled at sniping, but she also had to carry Qian Mao.
“We just have to drag this out until the competition ends and not let the Blue Team get the USB drive,” Guan Xue said, looking at Qian Mao, who was engrossed in assembling the parts. “Or, once this skeletal mech is assembled, we can fight our way back.”
Zuo Luohuan glanced at the skeletal mech, which was less than halfway assembled. “No need. I can make a move now, if... the captain agrees.”
“Captain, I think it's feasible!” Guan Xue said with certainty. “Why not let Luohuan give it a try?”
Ji Yuezhi stood up and met Zuo Luohuan's eyes. “We'll go together.”
Zuo Luohuan raised an eyebrow, bowed slightly, and extended a lowered hand to him. “Captain, after you.”
In the following days, the Red Team was attacked by the Blue Team's firepower during the day, while at night, the Red Team's Ji Yuezhi and Zuo Luohuan would raid the Blue Team.
Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi approached silently, their targets the patrolling guards. The two worked together seamlessly to take them down, then moved closer to the inner circle.
The Blue Team indeed had many weapons; their resting place by the fire was filled with all sorts of armaments, while the Red Team's guns and ammunition had long been depleted.
“Captain, should we grab a few guns to take back?” The two were close, and to avoid being detected by the people inside, Zuo Luohuan pressed close to Ji Yuezhi's ear and whispered.
They were too close, and it instantly reminded Ji Yuezhi of those days when she would often hold him and speak just like this, intimately and gently.
Ji Yuezhi turned his face slightly, creating some distance. “We'll see.”
Just then, Cha Lili inside seemed to notice the night patrol was silent. He gestured to the other Blue Team members, quickly grabbed his weapon, and walked out.
Zuo Luohuan and Ji Yuezhi stood pressed against the wall in the shadows. As the people came out, they acted swiftly, closing the distance to prevent the Blue Team from being able to fire their guns.
Zuo Luohuan was especially formidable in close combat. Even a short branch snapped off at random could become a weapon in her hands. She single-handedly held back two Blue Team members; no one escaped her grasp, and they were eliminated in less than ten minutes.
Cha Lili didn't continue to engage with them and hastily fled with his men.
“Don't chase,” Ji Yuezhi said, grabbing her hand and then quickly letting go. He pointed at the few guns left behind inside. “Take these back.”
With the Red Team now having guns, the Blue Team's advantage was sharply reduced.
In the time that followed, the Red Team used these guns to eliminate another member of the Blue Team. Currently, including Cha Lili, the Blue Team only had three members left, fewer than the Red Team.
“We just have to survive today and we'll win,” Guan Xue said, squatting to the side.
Ji Yuezhi had stayed up for two nights and was resting against a wall with his eyes closed. Hearing this, he opened his eyes and said faintly, “The broadcast didn't specify a time limit for the second stage.”
A thunderbolt struck Guan Xue. Her face went blank. “The broadcast didn't say... what does that mean?”
“It means the second stage might last longer than ten days.” Ji Yuezhi's words left everyone stunned.
“We just need to eliminate everyone on the Blue Team,” Qian Mao said, looking up. He had found another part yesterday, and now the skeletal mech's arms and legs could all be assembled. However, he still couldn't find the parts for the upper body. According to the schematic, it should be a complete skeletal mech.
But... it was barely usable as it was.
Qian Mao placed the skeletal mech in front of Ji Yuezhi. “Captain, this skeletal mech can be used by placing an energy block by the leg. Although it's missing the upper body armor plates, it's enough for now. It can increase speed and defense.”
When they found the last part, there was an energy block right next to it, which could be used now.
Ji Yuezhi looked down at the armor plates on the ground, which were as thin as clothing. He picked up the incomplete skeletal mech, turned to Zuo Luohuan, and said, “You wear it. Go deal with the Blue Team.”
His tone was so matter-of-fact that it went slightly beyond the usual tone between a captain and a team member, but Guan Xue and the others didn't notice at that moment.
“Alright,” Zuo Luohuan replied with a smile, taking the half-finished skeletal mech. She then asked Qian Mao, “How do I put it on?”
“Place it on the ground, slip your feet in, and step on it. It should sense the change,” Qian Mao said, then added two more words, “Probably.”
Zuo Luohuan tossed the skeletal mech on the ground. After slipping her feet in, she felt a slight protrusion at the bottom, which flattened as she stepped down.
“...It doesn't seem to have changed.” Guan Xue's eyes widened, but she still couldn't see anything special about the so-called skeletal mech. “Qian Mao, did you assemble it wrong?”
For a moment, Qian Mao also suspected he had made a mistake, but he had indeed followed the structure provided in the file information.
Just as everyone was feeling doubtful, the pile of things at Zuo Luohuan's feet suddenly changed. It unfolded at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, spreading up her body to arm her.
Her feet, arms, all the way up to her neck, were encased in a thin layer of dark gray skeletal mech.
If Qian Mao's two legs hadn't been 'crippled,' he would have rushed up to touch it by now.
“This is the skeletal mech?” Hui Bing stepped forward and poked Zuo Luohuan's arm, getting the illusion that the armor plate was soft.
“It can resist bullets,” Qian Mao said. “Last time, I was holding a piece of it and avoided a fatal gunshot to the chest.”
The Blue Team was getting anxious. Cha Lili hadn't considered the time limit for the second stage; he believed today was the last day and was preparing to fight to the death to get the USB drive back.
After putting on the skeletal mech, Zuo Luohuan held a gun in her hand, turned to look at Ji Yuezhi, and said with a casual smile, “Captain, give me half an hour.”
Ji Yuezhi met her eyes and nodded slightly.
“Is that... Zuo Luohuan?” a team member next to Cha Lili squinted into the distance. “What is she wearing?”
Cha Lili glanced back at their remaining ammunition. “Just shoot.”
The three of them set up their sniper rifles, using the terrain for cover, and aimed at Zuo Luohuan in the distance.
Faced with a dense rain of bullets, a normal person's first reaction would be to dodge. But in the eyes of Cha Lili and his team, not only did Zuo Luohuan not dodge, she accelerated and charged toward them.
She turned sideways, her speed unwavering, occasionally raising an arm to block her head. The bullets hit her body without even leaving a mark.
“Holy shit, what's on her arms and legs? Why can't we penetrate it?” a Blue Team member said, starting to panic as Zuo Luohuan got closer and closer.
“Retreat,” Cha Lili said decisively.
The three of them slung their guns over their backs and quickly retreated, but Zuo Luohuan pursued them.
The weight of the skeletal mech had almost no effect on Zuo Luohuan. From the moment the Blue Team retreated, Cha Lili and his two men were already fish in a barrel for her.
Half an hour later, Zuo Luohuan returned, holding a pistol.
“How did it go?” Guan Xue asked, a little nervous.
“Cha Lili's men have all been eliminated by me.” Zuo Luohuan had a scratch on the side of her face, sustained during the fight with the three of them.
“That's great, I don't have to pretend to be crippled anym—” Before Qian Mao could finish his sentence, he saw Zuo Luohuan raise her hand toward Guan Xue and the nearby Hui Bing and cleanly shoot each of them once.
Colorful smoke rose from Guan Xue's and Hui Bing's helmets, which, combined with their dumbfounded expressions, looked quite comical.
Qian Mao watched, bewildered, as Zuo Luohuan aimed the dark barrel of her gun at him. “What are you doing?”
Zuo Luohuan tilted her head, her face wearing its usual smile, but it sent a chill down the spines of everyone present. “Stealing the USB drive, of course.”
The first shot Zuo Luohuan fired hit Hui Bing. Both of them were skilled with guns, and shooting one would inevitably arouse the other's vigilance.
The reason she eliminated Hui Bing first was because of Guan Xue's trust in her.
Guan Xue could never have imagined that Zuo Luohuan would betray them. So much so that when the colored smoke started rising from her helmet, she still hadn't reacted.
At this point, only Qian Mao, whose legs were immobile, and Ji Yuezhi remained on the field.
Zuo Luohuan looked at Ji Yuezhi, her expression even holding a hint of indescribable gentleness. “Sorry, the third stage started a long time ago.”
Ji Yuezhi stood his ground. From the moment Zuo Luohuan made her move, he had also raised his gun and aimed it at her.
Zuo Luohuan tilted her head, looking at Ji Yuezhi with a certain recklessness. “Captain, who do you think... is faster on the draw?”
“You're out of bullets.” Ji Yuezhi fired at her with a blank expression, aiming straight for the space between her eyebrows. But she was still wearing the skeletal mech and raised her arm to block her forehead, deflecting the bullet.
“The captain guessed right... what a pity.”
In the instant Ji Yuezhi fired again, Zuo Luohuan had already closed the distance and knocked the gun from his hand.
Ji Yuezhi aimed a knee kick at Zuo Luohuan's abdomen, but she blocked it with her hand. There was already a gap in their strength, not to mention Zuo Luohuan was still wearing the skeletal mech.
“Captain, where's the USB drive?” Zuo Luohuan restrained Ji Yuezhi, her hand reaching for his waist. Her tone was intimate, as if she had never been the one to betray him.
Qian Mao finally snapped back to his senses. He lunged at Zuo Luohuan and yanked hard on her foot.
The originally imperfect structure now became the key to deactivating the skeletal mech.
Zuo Luohuan frowned slightly and kicked Qian Mao away, but it was too late. The skeletal mech had been shut down, and the armor plates instantly clattered to the ground.
“Not a bad reaction,” Zuo Luohuan said, glancing down at the plates on the ground. She bent down, picked up the gun that had been in Ji Yuezhi's hand, aimed it at Qian Mao's head, and said coldly, “But you all figured it out too late.”
Qian Mao met Zuo Luohuan's cold, murderous eyes, and a chill rose in his heart. He even forgot this was just a competition.
It was clearly a non-lethal shot, but the moment it hit Qian Mao's helmet, it also shattered something he had always firmly believed in.
After firing that shot, Zuo Luohuan tossed the gun aside. That had been the last bullet.
“The third stage started on the first day of the exercise?” Ji Yuezhi asked her.
“Captain,” Zuo Luohuan said, looking up at him. “Why don't you answer my question first, and I'll tell you the details after we get out?”
Neither of them backed down. Ji Yuezhi attacked Zuo Luohuan. His moves were fierce and cunning, but in her eyes, they were a bit slow, and she could restrain him without much effort.
Zuo Luohuan grabbed his arm, turned her back to him, and threw him forward.
As Ji Yuezhi was about to hit the ground, he used his strength to pull Zuo Luohuan down with him.
Zuo Luohuan, who could have dodged, paused for a moment. Instead of avoiding it, she went down with his pull, and in the instant they fell, she cushioned the back of Ji Yuezhi's neck with her hand.
“Who has the USB drive?” Zuo Luohuan asked, pinning Ji Yuezhi down. “Qian Mao or Guan Xue?”
Ji Yuezhi turned his head away and didn't answer. His nose seemed to catch a scent, and he wanted to get a better look, but Zuo Luohuan grabbed his chin and forced his head back.
“Let me ask a different question. When did you realize something was wrong?” Zuo Luohuan asked him in a low voice.
Ji Yuezhi looked up at the person pinning him down and said coldly, “There are many ways to interrogate an enemy. Why don't you see if you can get an answer before the competition ends.”
Zuo Luohuan stared at him for a long time before finally raising her hand and knocking him unconscious. She then broke the trigger device on Ji Yuezhi's body.
And with that, she was the only one left on the field.
Zuo Luohuan helped Ji Yuezhi up. The palm she had used to cushion the back of his neck had long been pierced by a nail. She raised her hand with a blank expression. With the nail no longer plugging the wound, blood instantly gushed from her palm. She casually tore a strip from her inner shirt, tied it around her palm, and then leaned Ji Yuezhi against a nearby pillar.
“Fuck, what a badass,” the already eliminated Hui Bing couldn't help but mutter when she saw this scene.
Guan Xue and Qian Mao didn't notice this detail; they were busy mending their hearts, which had been shattered by the betrayal.
Zuo Luohuan went over and searched the three of them thoroughly but found no trace of the USB drive.
It was most likely hidden somewhere by Ji Yuezhi.
“Um, Classmate Zuo, shall we take the people away now?” The staff members happened to be the same two from before. They waited until she had finished searching before asking.
Zuo Luohuan nodded. “You can.”
From the day she drew the backpack in the first stage, the third stage had also begun simultaneously—find the spy.
In Zuo Luohuan's backpack, there was a mission card. The person who drew that backpack was the spy and had to assist the Gashiro Empire—in this case, the Blue Team—in completing their mission during the second stage.
The military exercise was scheduled to last a month. The first stage was ten days, followed by a five-day rest. The broadcast for the second stage, however, didn't specify a duration. Both the Red and Blue teams assumed it would be ten days like the first stage. In reality, it was fifteen days, because the five-day rest period after the first stage also counted as competition time; it wasn't excluded from the exercise's duration as the teams had thought.
Zuo Luohuan turned her head to look at the now-empty area. She still had five days to find the USB drive.
Ji Yuezhi didn't have it on him, which meant he had hidden it somewhere. Zuo Luohuan began retracing their steps.
Zuo Luohuan focused her search on the places they had been when she was away on several occasions, but she still found nothing.
When did he figure it out?
Zuo Luohuan stood on the roof of the shopping mall where they had first set up camp, looking down with a blank expression.
When she was with him, she had been observing constantly but had never seen him make any move to hide the USB drive.
Leye Small Town wasn't large, but if he had simply tossed the USB drive somewhere, finding it again would not be easy.
Four days was enough time for the group of cadets to recover from the shock. At this moment, they were standing in the monitoring room, arguing about where Ji Yuezhi had hidden the USB drive.
“He must have just tossed it somewhere,” Luo Shaoyuan said, watching the lone Zuo Luohuan on the monitor. “Serves her right for being so arrogant. She'll never find it in the end.”
“Captain Ji, where did you hide it?” An Yingjing asked curiously.
Ji Yuezhi didn't answer. He quietly watched the monitor, his gaze fixed on Zuo Luohuan's carelessly bandaged palm. That... was an injury she received for him?
Comments
Post a Comment