The ant tide’s ultimate destination was a massive black cave, from which a faint, terrifying aura emanated.
“Su Mo, you come with me to investigate. Wu Heng and Qingqing, cover us from the entrance. Jingshu and… Fatty, stay outside and be ready to assist if needed.”
Zhu Gezhi blinked: Fatty…
Once Su Mo’s “Ye Qingyi” identity was exposed, he had, without fanfare, assumed the role of leader.
He led the way, magic staff in hand, with Ye Qingyi following closely beside him, ready to assist at any moment. Previously, as the captain, she had to consider every little detail. But now that Su Mo had “taken over,” Ye Qingyi felt immensely relieved. She only needed to act; Su Mo alone was more than enough to do the thinking.
They walked for over half an hour before arriving at a vast, open space—the very core of the ant colony.
“Holy… that queen ant is huge,” Ye Qingyi breathed, her mouth forming an ‘O’ of shock.
Su Mo used Yin Fire to clear a path, easily reaching the queen ant’s side. The massive creature, a full three meters long, didn’t even flinch, continuing to lay eggs leisurely.
His attention was drawn to a stone held in the queen’s mouth. Instinctively sensing it was the Insect Source, he rather unceremoniously pried the queen’s jaws open and took it out.
Losing the stone didn’t seem to affect the queen much. After some thorough… ahem, searching that yielded no other results, Su Mo quickly left. The place didn’t seem to harbor any particularly dangerous entities.
However, the moment they reached the cave entrance, they saw Yang Jie standing there, his expression serious.
“Instructor Yang,” Su Mo said, lowering his gaze deferentially.
Yang Jie glanced at the stone in Su Mo’s hand. “Lin Qianye has violated assessment rules. Eliminated. The others will continue their assessment. This Insect Source is invalid.”
Everyone else looked at Su Mo. He grinned. “Finally, I can get some rest. You guys keep up the good work.”
Wu Heng spoke up in defense. “She used her artifact to save us. If she’s to be eliminated, then eliminate me too.”
“Me too,” the others chimed in eagerly.
“Nonsense! Do you think this is child’s play?” Yang Jie’s face flushed with anger. “Are you just going to throw away all the hard work of these past days?”
Zhu Gezhi patted his ample chest. “It wasn’t actually that hard.”
The others stood their ground stubbornly, looking like they were ready to pick a fight with Yang Jie.
Yang Jie scanned their faces and finally sighed in resignation. “Fine, as long as you won’t regret it.”
“We absolutely will not regret it!” they chorused.
Truthfully, the moment after saying “no regrets,” a flicker of regret did pass through some of their minds. But it was gone in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
“Alright. Wait here. A helicopter will come to pick you up shortly. Lin Qianye, come with me. I have some questions for you.”
Yang Jie took Su Mo aside, intending to ask about his future plans. Unexpectedly, Su Mo seized the initiative first.
“Instructor Yang, this assessment is really testing teamwork spirit, isn’t it? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have waited until we were all together to explain the mission.”
Yang Jie remained silent.
“Looks like I’m right. Then I have reason to suspect you deliberately guided the ant swarm towards us.”
Yang Jie remained silent.
“But there’s one thing I can’t figure out. Why would you do this? My identity being exposed doesn’t really benefit anyone. Unless… was it the Marshal’s idea?”
Yang Jie finally spoke. “It was the Marshal’s idea, and mine as well.”
“Huh?” Su Mo was puzzled.
“You’ve left behind too many clues. They’re definitely starting to suspect you.”
“So… you wanted me to expose myself completely?” Su Mo asked suspiciously.
A muscle twitched near Yang Jie’s eye. “Of course not. I’m fighting fire with fire. Since they suspect you, let’s make them the ones we suspect first. They might even end up protecting you.”
“Ah, you can do that?” Su Mo considered himself fairly clever, but he had never thought of this tactic. He suddenly felt he was too kind-hearted, not even skilled at scheming against others.
“This way, no matter how much they suspect you, they will subconsciously see you as part of their own camp. When the time comes, we can maneuver things behind the scenes, giving you a chance to perform a major feat and present your ‘letter of allegiance.’ There’s still room for maneuver.”
Although Yang Jie said this, Su Mo still found it somewhat unbelievable. He couldn’t figure out how to explain the Yin Fire matter… Wait a minute—
Su Mo had a sudden epiphany: Ye Qingyi’s Yin Fire is dark blue. What does that have to do with Lin Qianye’s black liquid? Even if I call it sulfuric acid, so what?
Yang Jie glanced in the direction of Ye Qingyi and the others. “Right now, aside from Tianyu and me, only they know your Yin Fire has turned black. I’m not worried about Su Mo. Qingqing and Jingshu shouldn’t be a problem either. But Zhu Gezhi and Wu Heng… Although the qualities they’ve shown are fine, to be safe, I’ll need to have a talk with them.”
Su Mo couldn’t help but wonder what kind of “talk” this so-called talk would be.
At that moment, Yang Jie suddenly said, “Actually, in private, you can call me ‘Eldest Senior Brother.'”
Su Mo immediately obliged. “Eldest Senior Brother.”
A rare smile appeared on Yang Jie’s face.
Not long after, a helicopter descended from above them. It was the same pilot as before.
The group shot him looks of extreme distrust.
The pilot sighed helplessly. “I was just following orders…”
Su Mo recalled the helicopter that had crashed into the sea and remarked with a hint of admiration, “The Prodigy Camp is really wealthy!”
…
…
Starry Sky Island, Island Nation Zone.
Oda Shin, one of the Four Crimson Sun Samurai of the Island Nation’s Samurai Sect, was the Island Nation’s representative in the ISO organization and one of the seven members of the committee.
He was practicing his sword in his small courtyard when a masked man in black arrived and stood respectfully not far behind him. “Lord Oda, I have investigated as you requested. There are indeed multiple points of suspicion regarding ‘Tofu.'”
Oda Shin didn’t stop his practice. “Report.”
The man in black listed them one by one:
“First, her relationship with Su Mo and the others progressed unusually quickly, suggesting they may have known each other before.”
“Second, Long Tianyu and Yang Jie seem to regard her with particular importance. They spent time together in Su Mo’s house earlier for unknown reasons.”
“Third, her personality has changed significantly, becoming much more cheerful since arriving on Starry Sky Island.”
He paused in thought before continuing. “According to the latest intelligence, during the assessment trial, Tofu summoned a type of black liquid, resembling both fire and water, possessing both freezing and corrosive effects. This is an ability she has never displayed before.”
Oda Shin stopped his movements, his expression turning grave. “That sounds quite similar to the Yin Fire of Ye Qingyi from Xia Country. And she is also acquainted with Su Mo and his group.”
“I initially suspected she might be Ye Qingyi in disguise, but—” The black-clad man’s expression became rather uneasy, as if he’d seen a ghost. “But immediately after the assessment ended, Long Tianyu had her secretly taken into custody. It seems she is being interrogated covertly.”
“Hmm?” Oda Shin reacted as if hearing something unbelievable, sharply turning to look at him. “Why would Long Tianyu detain her?”
The man in black lowered his head. “I do not know.”
Oda Shin pondered for a long time before finally sighing. “If this isn’t an act… I must admit, I’m a bit baffled now.”