Su Mo stared at the approaching Zhuge Zhi, utterly speechless. “What are you up to now?”
Zhuge Zhi’s face scrunched up in misery as he complained, “Just paying off a debt.”
“A debt?” Su Mo was surprised. He’d never seen such a bizarre method of repayment.
“Yeah, Sister Qingqing said if I didn’t pay up, she wouldn’t let me join the team. But where was I supposed to find that much money all at once? In a moment of desperation, I had no choice but to agree to be their ‘sixth wheel’ for them. Sigh—”
“Sixth wheel?” Su Mo was momentarily puzzled, then laughed despite himself. He knew this ‘sixth wheel’ wasn’t that kind of ‘sixth wheel’, but it was still funny. “Well then, be a good ‘sixth wheel’. It’s your own fault for not repaying the money.”
He had paid back the money Su Mo lent him last time, but only part of it. The rest was still outstanding.
“It’s not that I don’t want to pay it back! You know how it is, my ability… it’s just too darn unreliable!”
As they talked, they entered the private room. It turned out Instructor Yang Jie was there too.
“Instructor Yang,” Su Mo greeted him with proper courtesy.
Yang Jie waved his hand in acknowledgment with a smile.
“Since everyone’s here, let’s begin,” Ye Qingyi, as the captain, spoke first. “Instructor Yang, please go ahead.”
In the private room, Yang Jie adjusted his glasses. His expression was as serious as ever when he spoke. “I’ll make three points.”
“First, now that your team is officially formed, you are comrades-in-arms who will share life and death from now on. You serve all of humanity, so you must always be prepared to face various dangers.”
“Second, this assessment serves to weed out relatively weaker trainees, and it’s also an initial test for all teams. After the assessment, you will receive your own team designation. Those who perform well may also receive rewards.”
“Third—” Here he paused, his gaze sweeping over each face before him. “You are humanity’s elite. You need to serve the people of Earth. But that does not mean you can sacrifice yourselves recklessly just to complete a mission.”
“Remember this, all of you. Finding talent isn’t easy. Nurturing talent is even harder. Don’t go around obsessed with leaving your names in history. You all better damn well stay alive.”
His words were etched into their hearts. No one offered any rebuttal.
“That’s all I have to say. Eat, drink, enjoy yourselves. But after tomorrow, I want all of you to swear off alcohol!”
With that, he left the private room.
Shortly after, a familiar voice came from next door: “I’ll make three points. First…”
Another team was having a gathering next door, also under Yang Jie’s charge.
The entire Elite Camp had over forty teams, led by more than twenty B-rank instructors.
If this were before the spiritual energy resurgence, having over twenty B-ranks appear in one place simultaneously would have been unimaginable. Now—while still awe-inspiring—it wasn’t impossible anymore.
As cups clinked and toasts were made, Su Mo gradually grew tipsy, his little face flushed a charming red.
Although his alcohol tolerance was better than before, it had only improved from “one-drop drunk” to “one-cup drunk.” Not much of a difference.
Ye Qingyi, worried he might slip up if he got drunk, advised, “We have the assessment tomorrow. Everyone should drink less today. We can do this again after the assessment.”
Everyone was just getting into the swing of things, but hearing this, they could only relent.
Su Mo got up to use the restroom. As soon as he stepped out, he caught the attention of several troublemakers.
They leered at him, their smiles sinister, each with ill intentions.
They tailed Su Mo all the way to the restroom, and after confirming it was empty, followed him inside.
Not long after, all sounds from within ceased.
Soon, Su Mo walked out. He washed his hands and was about to leave when a familiar figure approached from a distance.
Out of the corner of his eye, he recognized her—Shen Nanshu, the one who had sought him out for talks multiple times before, bringing a lot of trouble.
But in his current identity, he wasn’t supposed to know her. So he pretended not to see her and didn’t offer a greeting.
It was the other party who spoke first. “Hello. I know you. You’re Lin Qianye, right? I’m Shen Nanshu.”
As the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling face. Su Mo stared at her smiling face, asking in a muddled, drunken tone, “Feces… hard to swallow?”
Shen Nanshu’s face stiffened, instantly darkening.
Before she could retort, the seemingly intoxicated girl before her spoke nonchalantly, “What an… elegant name you’ve chosen, sir. Admirable, truly admirable.”
Su Mo’s words were light and airy. Anyone could tell they were the ramblings of a drunk.
A flash of anger crossed Shen Nanshu’s eyes, which she struggled to suppress.
She discreetly glanced inside the women’s restroom, a look of confusion on her face.
Su Mo chose that moment to try and leave. She grabbed his wrist. “Sigh, I suddenly have a stomachache. Could you come in with me?”
Su Mo stared blankly for two seconds, tilting his head as if thinking hard.
After a long pause, he asked cheerfully, “Didn’t you say it’s hard to swallow? If it’s hard to swallow, why force yourself to eat it? I’m not going in! If I go, you’ll definitely make me keep you company. Hmph!”
With that, he shook off Shen Nanshu’s hand, a gleam of ‘cunning’ flashing in the corner of his eye.
Shen Nanshu stood frozen in place, completely thrown off.
What kind of thought process is this? You don’t even insult people by the usual rules!
If she had any doubts before about whether Su Mo was truly drunk, she was now almost certain the other party was faking it.
After Su Mo left, a menacing glint appeared in Shen Nanshu’s eyes. “If it weren’t for you, I would have been on his team long ago. It’s all your fault for taking my spot.”
She entered the restroom and found three men lying inside, knocked out cold. Judging by the scene, they seemed to have been instantly subdued, utterly defenseless.
“Could she be C-rank?” Shen Nanshu wore a thoughtful expression, a plan suddenly forming in her mind. “Since you dared to provoke me, be prepared for my revenge.”
She muttered a few words to herself, took out her phone to send a message, and soon wore a “sweet” smile.
After doing this, she kicked the unconscious men and cursed under her breath, “Useless trash!”
Suddenly, a sharp scream came from the entrance. She looked up sharply to find Lin Qianye, who had just left, standing there. Her heart sank with a sense of foreboding.
Su Mo’s voice was extremely loud, filled with disbelief. “Heavens! Why are there men in the women’s restroom? And three of them!?”
Then he answered his own question, “Oh, there’s a woman here too. Just not sure what she’s doing. The three men are all exhausted and passed out—”
He especially emphasized the word “three.”
Before he could finish, the other party, furious and humiliated, suddenly threw a palm strike at him.
Su Mo neither dodged nor avoided it. Just as the blow was about to land, he suddenly fell backward and spat out a mouthful of blood. “Ah—! She’s killing me to silence me!”
Su Mo’s “cry for help” had barely been uttered for a few seconds when Ye Qingyi’s figure swiftly appeared in the corridor.
The moment she saw Su Mo on the ground, spitting blood, fury ignited within her. With an explosive step, she charged forward, a three-foot-long blade aimed directly at Shen Nanshu’s neck.
The latter was horrified, thinking, She was just putting on an act! Why are you so angry? It’s like I killed your beloved or something!
Besides, Ye Qingyi isn’t even here!
Ye Qingyi’s strength was astonishing. Shen Nanshu barely managed to block the powerful, forceful strike. Her magical weapon sword developed cracks from the impact, and her arm went numb.
Then came the second slash. A flash of blood. A young man appeared before her. The long blade sank into his shoulder, revealing white bone.