Evolution - Chapter 56
Chapter 56
“This is the Fourth Military’s training base, after all,” Ji Changqing said, clinging to a sliver of hope. Her palms were slightly sweaty. She hadn’t been this nervous even when she was being hunted down in the game.
If she screwed this up, it was her one and only life on the line.
“Yes, a training base, but it’s not a military base,” Gu Changge said, gesturing at the sprawling mountain complex. “A training base that’s only used a few times a year isn’t heavily guarded. It’s perfectly normal for a group of people to sneak in and hide here without being discovered, as long as they have some skills.”
Ji Changqing fell silent.
This was no longer a matter of luck. She couldn’t just let it be. What if these people got bored, went out on a whim, and had the bad luck of running into other candidates? To cover their tracks, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill them.
She quickly calculated the balance of power between the two sides, trying to figure out how to deal with this group while ensuring her own safety.
“If we take them out, will there be extra points?” Ji Changqing asked, seeking confirmation from Gu Changge, who came from a long line of military officers.
Gu Changge looked at her, aghast. This was truly a case of the skilled being bold. Did she want to wipe them all out in one go? But why did he feel a surge of excitement?
“If you take them all down and seize enough spoils, you’ll have enough military merit points to get into the Fourth Military.” At that point, what use would these exam points be?
“And during this process, calling for rescue won’t get us eliminated, right?” Ji Changqing had no desire to repeat this next year because of a misstep.
Gu Changge got the hint. “If the situation becomes urgent, you stay put. I’ll request rescue.”
In an ambiguous situation like this, the treatment he and Ji Changqing would receive would obviously be very different.
“Alright then, let’s discuss our strategy first.” Ji Changqing squatted down, scratching lines in the dirt. “First, how many people like you can you contact?”
Gu Changge held up a number of fingers.
Ji Changqing smiled, satisfied. “The seeded contestants shouldn’t be short on points. They’d rather have military merit points, right?”
Was that even a question? Points were easy to get, but military merit points were hard to come by.
“Let’s find them first. With about twenty people, we should have three to four hundred thousand points. If they’re capable, they can persuade the people gathered around them.” Ji Changqing drew a circle. “This group has, at most, around a thousand people. We need to gather at least five thousand, and ten thousand would be even better.”
Even an elephant can be brought down by enough ants. With ten people against one, they could tie them up until they were dead.
“If we’re going to use a human wave tactic, we need to find people first, set up an ambush outside, and then figure out a way to lure them out.”
As for how to lure them out, the two exchanged a look and grinned wickedly.
Didn’t the enemy have something they treasured so much that they even had to guard it from their own people?
They decided to act immediately and left via the path they had scouted earlier.
Gu Changge pulled up an interface on his optical computer. A regional map popped up, showing one large red dot and about twenty smaller green dots.
“My family set this up. Every year, when kids from family friends, comrades-in-arms, and the like are taking the military academy exams, they all get in touch and create something like this to make it easier for everyone to meet up and look out for each other.”
Ji Changqing glanced at the map. The green dots were arranged in a fan shape. She pointed to a spot on the map. “Looks like they plan to meet up here.”
The closest green dots could reach that location in about four or five hours, while the farthest wouldn’t take more than twelve. By her calculations, they would all converge around dawn on the fourth day, giving them time to rest up before spending the last three days fighting and robbing others for points.
“From that spot, it’s a three or four-hour journey forward to the mandatory path to the finish line,” Gu Changge added. “With military merit points, we won’t even have to…”
He was about to say they wouldn’t even have to participate in the slaughterhouse that was the final stretch to the finish line.
But Ji Changqing cut him off decisively. “No, don’t say it.”
He was so terrifyingly clueless about his talent for jinxing things and his accident-prone nature.
The area chosen for the assessment was naturally no scenic tourist spot. The terrain was extremely complex and varied, with towering mountains and vast plains, sheer cliffs and jagged rocks, as well as deep ravines and canyons…
And the path to the finish line was a boundless desert. Once everyone entered the desert, ambushes would become difficult, forcing them into head-on clashes.
As they traveled toward the predicted meeting point for Gu Changge’s group of military family scions, the air grew progressively drier the closer they got to the desert.
Since they were relatively close, they would have to wait for the others to arrive anyway, so they weren’t in a huge rush. They even stopped to hunt two Level 6 beasts and replenish their drinking water.
Whatever their private thoughts, they both tacitly prepared enough food and water for two people for the next four days.
They encountered about a dozen groups along the way, mostly in twos and threes. Within a three-kilometer radius, both sides could see a huge wave of points approaching on their bracelets. The difference was that Ji Changqing and Gu Changge had no interest in robbing anyone. The other parties might have been tempted, but the pair was moving too fast. By the time the others registered that a massive point cache was approaching, the two had already flown past before any effective response could be mounted.
With that kind of movement skill, forget it. They should be thankful they weren’t the ones getting robbed.
However, human curiosity is endless. Seeing two people who looked like top-tier experts pass up on weak, walking point caches like themselves, everyone’s minds couldn’t help but wander—could there be more, easier points waiting up ahead?
If so, why not act on that impulse and follow them to see?
Further on, other candidates saw two people speeding past at the front, followed by a sprawling crowd trailing not too far behind.
Huh, is something going on? Let’s go, let’s go check it out together.
By the time the pair arrived at their destination that evening, several hundred people were already loosely following them.
“Joining the crowd really is a universal human trait!” Ji Changqing said with a grin. They chose a high vantage point that offered a clear view in all directions, making it easier for Gu Changge to use his pretty face to attract the other seeded contestants.
She took out a long strip of the umbrella cloth she had saved for various purposes and wrote a line of large characters on it with a piece of charcoal: “Hiring: Physique Level 7, 1000 points per person per day.”
Gu Changge covered his eyes and whispered, “The two of us combined only have a little over twenty thousand points.” Hanging a banner like this was just so tacky. It was hurting his eyes.
“Don’t worry, no one will apply right away.” Ji Changqing was in a good mood and willing to humor the chatterbox. “But it’ll keep them from leaving.”
As expected, a few people from the loosely gathered crowd approached to see what they were up to. When they read the words on the banner, they were collectively speechless.
To think that such an audacious and bizarre maneuver was possible in the military academy’s entrance exam. It really was true what they said: “The Fourth Military is full of weirdos, the Second Military is full of beauties.”
They hadn’t believed it before, but looking at Ji Changqing standing against the wind, the banner fluttering in her hand, they had no choice but to believe it now.
But some were tempted.
A thousand points a day was an excellent deal for the remaining four days. Of course, it would be even better if the employers were strong enough to protect them, allowing them to hold onto those points until the very end.
These few people returned to their own groups and relayed what they had seen, eliciting a variety of reactions.
Some were eager to try, some were scornful, and others thought the pair were just stupid and rich, and wanted to team up to rob them…
Sometimes, the connections between people are just that strange.
Those who were secretly plotting to rob the “stupidly rich” pair quickly connected with each other, their numbers swelling to over a dozen. Wanting to improve their odds, they looked around and settled on a guy who was Physique Level 8. He carried a mace, stood nearly 190 centimeters tall, and had a powerful build that looked particularly intimidating.
A warrior like that gave off the impression of being all brawn, no brains, and easy to fool. A few words of encouragement, and he’d probably rush forward in a fit of passion.
“Hey, brother.” The group stood a few meters away from the man, all smiles, and pointed toward Ji Changqing’s position. “Wanna go rob them?”
The man gave them a strange look and lowered his mace. “Why earn points in a sleazy and shameless way when you can earn them honorably and openly?”
His single sentence left the dozen or so people speechless.
One of them, incensed, was about to charge forward, but his companions hastily held him back. “Brother, brother, don’t be rash! He’s Level 8, Level 8! Forget it, just forget it.”
Seeing how effortlessly the man wielded his mace, his blunt and straightforward manner, and his Physique Level 8 cultivation—this was a tough nut to crack! The kind you’d smash your head against if you charged in!
So what if they were rebuked? Did a Physique Level 7 really want to rush up there so impulsively and offer up his head? Was he trying to get himself eliminated early?
Besides, it wasn’t like the guy was wrong.
They were all trying to get into the Fourth Military to join the army someday. Why were they so fixated on robbing people? Wasn’t that how space pirates behaved?
They were confused for a moment, but they quickly figured it out.
It was because, before this weirdo had appeared out of nowhere, it had never occurred to anyone that you could actually hire people with points during this exam.
The brawny man with the mace didn’t even glance at the person who had jumped up wanting to cause trouble, only to be held back by his companions.
He smiled good-naturedly and offered the group some polite advice. “Impulsive, quick to anger, deaf to advice, and reckless with his own safety. A person like that… well, you can figure it out for yourselves.”
The crowd was dumbfounded. They understood what he was saying. The man wasn’t just rebuking the hothead; he was twisting the knife, not content with just pinning the guy to the wall, but making sure no one would ever want to team up with him again.
Because, for some reason, what the man said always seemed to be right.
If you thought about it, someone who wouldn’t listen to advice, follow orders, care about his partners, or read the situation would be a liability to himself when alone, and a constant liability to his teammates when in a group!
With that parting shot, the man performed his good deed and left without seeking recognition. He shouldered his mace and strode briskly toward Ji Changqing and Gu Changge’s position.
Well, he was afraid the group of a dozen or so would come to their senses and attack him together! He could take a punch, but he didn’t have a death wish! Time to bolt.
Under the direct or subtle gazes of several hundred people, the warrior stood at the base of the rise, looked up at Ji Changqing, and announced in a booming voice, “Du Zhong, Physique Level 8. I’m applying for the single-combat specialization in the combat department. What do you think, am I a good fit?”
The flag Ji Changqing had just planted came crashing down.
Gu Changge snickered from the side.
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