With a sigh, Baili Pangpang returned to his dormitory.
"How was it?" Lin Qiye raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know what happened. As soon as I went in, the instructors wanted to check my [Free Space]. After they checked it, they looked at me like I'd seen a ghost, and then I came out," Baili Pangpang said, somewhat bewildered.
Lin Qiye coughed twice but did not speak.
Fortunately, he used the Nightfall Ruins last night to completely erase the traces left in the warehouse, thus severing the connection with himself.
The instructors indeed found no other clues and began to suspect that Baili Pangpang had emptied the armory using the [Free Space]. However, this search has completely cleared Baili Pangpang of suspicion, making further investigation much more difficult.
"Consider it a loan... I'll repay you double when I'm powerful enough in the future," Lin Qiye thought to himself.
For the war mummy, the amount of weapons it swallows is a crucial factor in determining its strength. If it leaves the training camp, the only way to encounter such a large stockpile of weapons again would probably be to raid a military base. Lin Qiye absolutely cannot miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Just as Lin Qiye was silently repenting, the familiar whistle sounded again outside the dormitory building. He instantly snapped out of his daze and patted the still bewildered Baili Pangpang on the shoulder.
"Let's go, training is about to begin."
Baili Pangpang gave an "oh" and quickly ran outside after Lin Qiye...
August.
The coolness of spring has completely faded, and the scorching heat unique to summer is baking the entire earth, like a giant furnace. Even the slightest movement will result in profuse sweating.
"Xi—I mean, Lin Xi Chen... Could you come with me? There's something I want to tell you..." Lin Xi Chen was drinking water after running a few laps when Shen Qingzhu approached her; he glanced around before urgently grabbing her hand and pulling her away.
"H-huh??? Uh... Alright....?"
She hadn't even had a moment to gather her thoughts before he pulled her along; she was bewildered but went along with it anyway. It was rare for Shen Qingzhu to be so serious, so he had piqued her curiosity.
Lin Qiye sat alone under the shade of a tree, gazing at the familiar training ground in the distance, lost in thought.
"Qi Ye, why are you sitting here alone?" Cao Yuan walked over from a distance and asked with some confusion, "Aren't you going to eat?"
"Going." Lin Qiye nodded, stood up from the ground, and took one last look at the training ground. "It's just... a little reluctant to leave."
Cao Yuan looked back and sighed, "After all, this is the place where I fought for a whole year. I'm leaving the day after tomorrow, and once I leave... I may not be able to come back. I should take a good look around."
Lin Qiye didn't say anything, but just shook his head and walked towards the cafeteria.
"Qiye, why are you so slow?" Baili Pangpang stood in front of the table, his mouth full of food, and said indistinctly, "If you had come any later, I would have eaten it all."
"Useless idiot," Cao Yuan said indifferently.
Baili Pangpang grinned, just as he was about to have a showdown with Cao Yuan in Zaun, when Lin Qiye suddenly spoke up:
"By the way, the training and assessments are all over. Is there anything else going on?"
Baili Pangpang thought for a moment, "It seems like there isn't any more. We just need to wait for everyone's total score ranking to come out, and then the higher-ups will arrange our destinations and issue a direct notification."
"There will be a swearing-in ceremony the day after tomorrow. After receiving their Star Blades, cloaks, and medals, they will leave the training camp that very night and head to their respective posts," Cao Yuan added.
"In short, for the next few days, we can just relax and rest," Baili Pangpang yawned. "After a year of hard training here, we can finally enjoy a couple of comfortable days..."
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone received a message. Not only him, but everyone eating in the cafeteria received the same message.
After the training and assessment were over, the instructors returned the phones to everyone. Apart from not being allowed to leave the training camp or disclose any information about the camp, there were no other restrictions.
In a sense, they were already official Night Watchmen, not just recruits in this training camp; all they lacked was a swearing-in ceremony.
"Holy crap! The total score rankings are out!" Baili Pangpang exclaimed upon seeing the information on his phone. "My total score is 74, ranking 184th in the camp... uh."
Baili Pangpang's face was rather unpleasant. "This doesn't make sense. I was second during the exercise, how come I'm 184 now?"
Lin Qiye said somewhat speechlessly, "This is the overall score. Apart from the exercises and shooting, where you scored relatively high, don't you know how many points you got in the other events such as physical fitness, close combat, and strategy?"
Baili Pangpang:...
Cao Yuan glanced at the rankings. "I have a total score of 91, and I'm ranked 4th... which is about what I expected."
Baili Pangpang leaned closer to Lin Qiye and asked, "Qiye, aren't you curious about where you rank?"
"Second..." Lin Qiye said calmly without even glancing at the list.
"..." Baili Pangpang shrugged. "This is really boring."
At the very top of the list, the three characters "Lin Xi Chen" hung above everyone's heads, with a total score of 96, ranking first and Lin Qiye just 1 point behind her.
In fact, if Lin Qiye hadn't only scored a meager 6 points in the shooting assessment, his score might have been the same as Lin Xi Chen. Keep in mind that Shen Qingzhu, who is currently in third place, only scored 92 points, which shows just how terrifying the twin's scores was.
Baili Pangpang sighed, "How can the gap between people be so big... Judging from this situation, it's almost a certainty that you, Qiye, will go to the Shangjing team."
"Not necessarily," Cao Yuan said leisurely. "It's not just in the capital; I suspect those special teams are also getting restless..."
...
The border of the Great Xia Dynasty.
In a primeval jungle.
"Take him down! We must take him down!!" A woman in a golden cloak declared firmly. "Two dual-god agents, ranked at the very top in the training camp, and one possessing the Star Medal the other possessing the Starfall Medal—the Lin siblings's potential is immense. We must recruit him... no, we must bring him into our [Phoenix] team!"
A bespectacled, seemingly refined man next to her sighed, "Captain, calm down, our team isn't short of manpower..."
"This isn't a matter of lacking manpower. I'm certain that as long as Lin Qiye grows up, he will become a terrifying existence that surpasses both me and Wang Mian. We [Phoenix] cannot afford to miss out on such a talent!"
"But according to regulations, special squads cannot recruit new soldiers unless they suffer significant personnel losses," the man said hesitantly.Upon hearing this, the woman began to think seriously...
After a long while, her eyes gradually brightened, and she suddenly turned to look at the man, her direct gaze making him feel uneasy...
"Captain, Captain... what do you want to do?"
"How about this?" the woman suggested excitedly. "I'll cripple you first, then report a personnel loss, and after Lin Qiye is abducted to our team, I'll help you recover... Isn't that a perfect solution?"
The man:...