Ling Xiao hurried back to the cla.s.s room with a mind full of thoughts. The instructor who was in charge of their team during the field training was already explaining the things they needed to pay attention to. Seeing Ling Xiao appearing outside the door, he just thought Ling Xiao was late because he had overslept.
"You're so late. Back to your seat."
Ling Xiao fled to his seat at once and was just in time to hear the instructor dividing them into groups.
"In order to train your ability to survive in the wild, we will be camping outdoors for three days and two nights this time. The tents that the inst.i.tute has provided are for two people, therefore I'll a.s.sign each of you a partner, and each team will have eight pairs. In the end, grades will be given based on the performance of the whole team. This is the second academic goal of this field work-to train your ability to cooperate in team works."
The instructor took out a sheet, "To make it fair, we'll a.s.sign the teams based on your comprehensive grades. The first place student will team up with the last place, and so on. Team no.1, Ying Feng, Zhu Yue. Team no.2, Ling Xiao…"
Zhu Yue tigentened his fists down there. Being in the same team meant he and Ying Feng would be forced to move together in the next three days. They would even share the same tent at night. For some reason, Ying Feng had been intentionally keeping a great distance with him recently while having a much closer relationship with Ling Xiao. This reminded him of what Shen He once said.
Zhu Yue didn't believe that two people who were bounded by the blood contract in their previous life would still be attracted to each other in this lifetime. However, after seeing Ying Feng's abnormal reactions the other day, he couldn't treat this lightly. He must completely end all possibilities before these two people could find out the truth.
To be a.s.signed to the same team with Ying Feng was like an opportunity gifted by the heaven. Thinking to this point, Zhu Yue already had a plan in mind.
Zhu Yue returned to his dorm after cla.s.s end immediately connected to the Sky-era network. He had been living frugally during this period of time just to save money for this day.
The 'sell anything" sign was still there. No one had teared it down yet. Perhap, Shen He really had a way to get hold of all kinds of crazy things. He was the only one who could help Zhu Yue this time.
"Welcome." Seeing it was Zhu Yue, Shen He greeted him, "So it's an old customer. Are you happy with the information I sold you last time?"
Zhu Yue didn't want to go into nonsense with him and directly slapped his card on the counter, "There's something I want to buy."
"Everyone comes here to buy things." Shen He often appeared to be rather sloppy with frequent customers. "Otherwise, do you think they're coming to date me?"
"You have to have this. If you don't, I'm really going to tear down your sign."
"That's scary." Shen He raised his hands in an almost exaggerated way. "Why don't you tell me about it?"
"Do you know that all Nestlings in awakening phase have to be injected with a kind of suppressant if they want to partic.i.p.ate in the field training?"
Shen He was amused. "I've been in the awakening phase for thirteen years. Why don't you tell me if I know about it?"
"That's good. I need the drug that can cause this suppressant to lose its effectiveness. Wait, it would be the best if it's the kind of drug that can increase one's secretion of s.e.x hormones."
"What you said is a kind of theory, to make the suppressant lose its effectiveness because of the increase in s.e.x hormone secretion. But if you really want something that's strong enough to make one's hormone secretion go out of control…can I a.s.sume what you need is actually a kind of aphrodisiac?"
"What's that?" Zhu Yue never heard this word before.
"It's a loanword, and the purpose of the drug is exactly like what you've described. However, Tianxiu doesn't have any aphrodisiacs. Other planets' aphrodisiacs don't work on Tianxiu people either."
Zhu Yue thought what Shen He meant was that he didn't have it. A gloom fell over him at once.
"But," Shen He's tone changed, "there's a catalysis extract that's similar to it."
"An extract?"
"There was once a genius researcher who had invented a drug that could bring out people's fighting potentials. It's called 'Embers'. The extract I mentioned is exactly the byproduct of 'Embers'."
"'Embers'?" This was something Zhu Yue was familiar with. "I heard about it before."
"When 'Embers' was first invented, its side effects were disastrous. After injection, people's s.e.x hormones will exceed the standard amount. Later they discovered through research that 'Embers' contained a kind of catalyst that could cause a short term outburst in the secretion of s.e.x hormones. Therefore, the researchers extracted out this catalyst, and thus the mature form of 'Embers' was developed."
"Then what about the extracts?" Zhu Yue asked nervously.
"Those things are worthless to Tianxiu people and are usually disposed as a type of chemical waste. No one will use it. Not to mention, using it is quite meaningless. Even for Adults, if they want to bring up s.e.xual desires, they don't have to do it in such an inferior way. Nestlings have even less of a demand."
Zhu Yue pushed his card forward, "You can take however much you want from this card. I need it, and I must have it by the day after tomorrow."
Shen He took over the card happily. "One day. Come to me tomorrow at this time, and I'll have it ready."
"You don't need to know what I'm using it for?" Zhu Yue was on high alert.
"My principle for doing business has always been to take the money but ask not the reason. As long as you can afford it, I'll sell it to you. As for what you are going to do with it, even if you're into illegal activities, it's none of my business. And neither will I tell others about it. Of course, my requirement in exchange is that you can't ask me where I got it. And you can't tell anyone you got it from my place. Are you willing to to comply with these conditions?"
"Deal!"
At the same time, Ling Xiao was also carefully looking over a small gla.s.s bottle in his hands. Inside the bottle was some bright-orange liquid. He found it while packing up.
It was just in case… Keeping this in mind, Ling Xiao rummaged through his drawer and took out an exquisite portable syringe.
***
The annual field practice was finally here. The four cla.s.ses in tenth grade were divided into two groups. Two cla.s.ses headed toward the coastal area, while Ling Xiao's cla.s.s stayed inland.
Every single one of the Nestlings were crazy about it. They had been clamouring non-stop throughout their way to the flying device, and their excitement didn't cool down even after they arrived at their destination. The instructor had no choice but to spend most of his energy keeping them in order.
"Be quiet! Quiet! This is a military practice! It's not a camping field trip! Look at the fuss all of you are making!"
He had to repeat quite a few times before the teams finally quieted down.
"I'm going to take attendance now. Students in Team A…"
He finally finished taking attendance for all four teams. Ying Feng and Ling Xiao were a.s.signed to Team A and Team B. Although members of Team A were inspired by a strong candidate like Ying Feng joining them, they also complained about the existence of Zhu Yue.
"Even though the one who is second to last place is also weak, but at least his fighting ability is positive. Unlike a certain someone, who's totally a negative force. Hope that he won't hold the team back." A student in Team A complained. He didn't say the person's name, but everyone else understood perfectly well.
"If he knows himself well, then he should stay away and just watch on the side. Otherwise, Ying Feng has to spend time looking after him. He's totally a burden on others." The second person said it even more straightforwardly.
Zhu Yue heard them and endured it in silence. Now was not the time to argue about these. He didn't want to risk partic.i.p.ating in the field training without an suppressant injection just to fight with them at this place.
He reached into his pocket and firmly grasped onto the bottle inside. 'Just wait till I achieve my goal, I don't care what you guys say.'
The instructor led them to the a.s.signed camp site. The students all picked their own sections and started to set up their tents in pairs.
Ying Feng basically set up the tent by himself. Zhu Yue offered to arrange the inside in order to make himself not look too useless.
Ying Feng's bags were left wide open on the side. Zhu Yue took a glance at them and was surprised to see a familiar-looking item in it.
Seeing that Ying Feng was not here, he secretly took out the spray and examined the bottle carefully. He then compared it to the one in his pocket, making sure that even the labels on them were exactly the same.
But he soon remembered that Shen He especially disguised the bottle before giving it to him, saying that people wouldn't find out this way. It seemed like the one Ying Feng had was the real suppressant, while his was just something else held in the same kind of bottle.
"What are you doing?"
Ying Feng's voice came from behind. It scared Zhu Yue so much that he dropped both bottles. He picked up one of the bottles and threw it back into Ying Feng's bag in a panic and turned around nervously, hiding the other bottle behind him. "No-nothing…"
Ying Feng thought he looked a little suspicious. "Why were you touching my stuff?"
"I…" Zhu Yue went through his mind rapidly for an excuse, "It's just that I happened to spot something in your bag that looked like mine, therefore I was a little curious…I didn't mean to peep on purpose." He quickly added.
Feeling suspicious, Ying Feng walked over and took out from his bag the suppressant spray Yao Tai gave him. "You mean this?"
Zhu Yue didn't know what was actually inside the bottle, so he forced himself to admit with a grunt.
Ying Feng thought a little bit about it, in addition to Zhu Yue's clearly guilty behaviors, he understood most of what was happening at once.
"You're officially in the awakening phase already, am I right?"
"Huh? Yeah…" Zhu Yue knew he couldn't hide it from Ying Feng. So he replied honestly.
"You didn't get the suppressant injection and yet you came to the field training?" Ying Feng pointed it out directly. "This spray is only for emergency purpose. So you brought it with you just in case?"
"I got an injection!" Zhu Yue lied almost subconsciously.
Ying Feng didn't want to argue with him anymore. "Whether you've taken an injection or not, I hope you can keep a distance with me. I don't want to miss this field world opportunity because of you. If you can't do it, I'll tell the doctor to give you a physical examination right now. They'll know whether you're lying or not."
Zhu Yue took a step backward cringingly. He didn't even dare to lift his head, his eyes elusive. It could be counted as agreeing tacitly to Ying Feng's conjecture.
Ying Feng put the spray in his pocket and walked straight out.
Ling Xiao could see everything happening over at Ying Feng's place from where his tent was. He saw Zhu Yue going in and Ying Feng going in shortly after as well. He couldn't tell what they were doing inside there, but fortunately, Ying Feng came back out…
By the time he realized how much he looked like a perverted peeping torn, Ying Feng had already saw him. Ling Xiao could only look around, pretending that he was enjoying the sceneries.
"What are you looking at?" Someone gave Ling Xiao a slap on the shoulder. It gave him a start.
Ling Xiao turned back. It was Ting Lei. "You've scared me to death."
"Instructor has ordered us to fall in. What are you thinking about?"
Ling Xiao had been indulging in his thoughts and didn't hear the whistle. By the time he followed Ting Lei to the gathering spot, all four teams were already there. The instructor started to explain day one's training a.s.signment.
"Today is the first day of the field training. We will be focusing on warm up practices and adapting to the lay of the ground in the wild. We've already marked the place around here. You can move freely within the marked area."
The instructor continued as he paced back and forth in front of the students, "As everyone knows, all living creatures have their weak points, and these weak points differ according to their species. However, there is a common weak point amongst all of them, and that is the heart.
"Compared to other races, we Tianxiu people recover much faster. In time necessary, we can even give up certain body parts in order to protect ourselves. Even if we lose an arm, our advanced medical equipment can help us to grow another one. But our heart is different. Our heart is just as weak as that of other creatures. Attacking it can easily disable us from fighting temporarily or even kill us.
"Therefore, the heart is a place that everyone needs to focus on protecting. It's also the priority target when enemy attacks. Learn how to protect yourself and to kill your enemy with the least effort and time-this is the training a.s.signment for the day."
The instructor pointed to a pile of devices on the side. "These are scorekeepers. Everyone will take one and put it on your chest. The red b.u.t.ton on it is the stop b.u.t.ton for the device.
"Everyone starts with 1 point. When you press down the stop b.u.t.ton on other people's chest, you'll get all of their points, and the people whose b.u.t.ton is pressed will be out. If anyone goes outside the a.s.signed area, they'll be out too. And his points will be evenly distributed to the other three teams.
"We have a total of 64 people. The battle time is 3 hours, or it will end when there's only one person left in the field. If you are capable enough, you can choose to defeat all the other people in the field and get all the points or to hide somewhere and keep the point for your team. It's up to you what everyone wants to do.
"Any other questions?"
"No!" Everyone responded simultaneously.
"Now, every team chooses a direction to start. After the score indicator lights up, you may start. Get set!"
Right after the order was given, all four teams immediately advanced in four different directions. Team A was led by Ying Feng. He didn't stop until he found a relatively safe area, and his teammates arrived one by one afterwards.
"Do we have any strategy?" The students automatically looked up to Ying Feng as their team leader.
However, as a lone wolf, Ying Feng only had one such so-called strategy:
"Protect yourself. Take down the enemy."
The light on everyone's chest lit up. The number on the screens changed from 0 to 1.
"Let's go." Ying Feng had already taken his first step when Zhu Yue had just arrived in a hurry.
Ying Feng didn't even want to comment on Zhu Yue's speed. He didn't think they could keep Zhu Yue's point from the very beginning. It was just a matter of which team getting it first.
Just as he was going to pa.s.s him and leave, he heard Zhu Yue's voice.
"I-I'll try my best to protect myself. I won't be a drag on you."
Ying Feng was already a few steps ahead of him. After hearing what he said, he turned back.
"You really don't want to be a drag?"
Zhu Yue thought Ying Feng finally started to take him seriously. He mustered his courage and pushed his chest out.
"I don't!"
"You want to contribute to our team?"
"Right!"
Ying Feng lifted his arm and pressed the stop b.u.t.ton on his chest in a snap. The number from Zhu Yue's score indicator immediately became zero, while the number on Ying Feng's turned into a 2.