Chapter 364: The Place of Crisis

The world is not static.

While some people are busy dealing with internal issues, others naturally have their own matters to attend to.

"Is there a healing-type spirit! Someone is injured!"

"Demons! Demons!! Quick, someone come defend!"

Amidst flames and explosions, the walls—never particularly sturdy—cracked and finally collapsed.

"Nios!!" As the explosion echoed, a crimson figure leapt out from the crowd, roaring loudly; a white hero emerged from his body, instantly repelling the attacking demons and smashing them to pieces with a single punch.

Yu Cheng Shidai landed on the ground, looking utterly exhausted; his clothes flapped violently, stripped of his former carefree attitude, he now stood like a sharp blade, brimming with presence.

"Big brother, didn't we agree I'd take watch today?!" Xiang arrived right behind him from another direction, unable to hold back his complaint, "Big brother, you're pushing yourself too hard!"

"It's fine, Xiang! Just minor issues!" Shidai gave a thumbs-up to himself and told Wan Teng Xiang, "Xiang, go check on your comrades first—that's more important!"

Xiang hesitated.

Shidai and his group had been constantly wandering across the entire Critical Point, so when the Dark World invaded, they were in a remote location with no immediate support from Kaiba Corporation.

Afterward, when the Dark World forces discovered them, for some reason, they abandoned nearby human outposts and focused entirely on overwhelming them, leaving their situation dire.

Shidai protected his classmates at full capacity nearly every day; though his stamina was extraordinary, this couldn't go on.

So two days ago, Xiang and Yan Jianshan had stubbornly refused to let him fight again, finally convincing him to rest—and they established a "rotation schedule."

But today, a group of students from the Fusion Department seeking shelter found them and asked for protection.

Shidai naturally couldn't stand by while his classmates were in danger—he immediately agreed—but due to tensions between the Fusion Department and regular students, the small camp had become extremely tense.

Shidai hoped Xiang would handle it, letting him guard the camp.

But Xiang was genuinely afraid Shidai's body would break down.

"Yan Jianshan, you stay here and help Big Brother!" Yet after hearing Shidai's words, he had to admit the camp's atmosphere was truly terrible—he couldn't ignore it.

He repeatedly warned Di Lano Yan Jianshan before leaving, his mind heavy with worry, and returned to the camp.

Calling it a camp was generous—it was really an abandoned Spirit Village, apparently attacked by the Dark World; Shidai and his group had built walls here, scoured the wilderness for lost students, brought them back, and tried to send them to the nearest outpost.

"Representative." Seeing Xiang approach, several Fusion Department members quickly stood up.

"Everyone… are you alright…?" Xiang had been holding back a storm of anger.

Because after these Fusion Department students arrived at the camp, they clashed with some of the temporary residents, creating serious discord.

Yet he had already told everyone to wait calmly for rescue.

He didn't want to add more trouble for his big brother right now.

But when he saw these people, his anger was swallowed by concern, and all his words dissolved into a simple greeting.

"That's not important, Representative!"

"Yeah, we're fine!"

Xiang didn't listen to them; he turned to a distant figure with a cabbage-shaped head, arms crossed in thought—his friend: "Denis, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Representative," Denis opened his eyes at Xiang's question and couldn't help saying, "I'm just worried—it's going to get terrible."

"What's wrong?"

Denis hesitated for a while, then voiced his fears.

Because Chi Ma Ling Wang launched a surprise attack on Xin Yuan, students from the branch campus's Fusion Department and the main campus's Fusion Union were all subjected to strict scrutiny; except for those sent to "re-education," most Fusion Union students who arrived in this dimension had already passed inspection.

After all, no matter what, they were still students—not soldiers.

Originally, these Fusion Army students, though unwelcome at the Critical Point, were fine as long as they stayed separated from regular students.

But the Dark World demons' attacks caused this fragile balance to shatter.

Some Fusion Army students had the strength to protect others, so things were manageable—but here, in this place…

This most remote location, where students had endured prolonged, intense demon attacks, their nerves frayed, now erupted in fierce hostility toward Fusion Union members—insults, blame, accusations.

Like it was all the Fusion Union's fault, that fusion was punishment, that kind of thing.

Although Shidai served as a bridge keeping everyone together, if this continued, conflict was inevitable.

Worse, something even worse might erupt.

At that point, Xiang and Shidai might be harmed.

"Representative, give me a unit… give me some transport—let us leave." Denis proposed a compromise.

"No, what if you encounter danger on the way?" Xiang was deeply worried.

Right now, the only solution he could think of was to keep the two groups from ever meeting.

As long as they didn't meet, everything could be managed.

As he thought this, suddenly a student rushed in, glancing around, spotted Xiang, and blurted out: "It's bad, Wan Teng!"

"What happened?!" Wan Teng Xiang immediately asked.

"Cyrus is gone!"

Cyrus?

Wasn't he a student from the Nordic branch?

Xiang quickly recalled the student's identity.

"What happened?" His face turned grim.

"Cyrus left a note saying he couldn't take it anymore—and then vanished! He must have left alone!"

Wan Teng Xiang felt the world spin, his head reeling.

In fact, at the beginning, because this outpost was remote and under constant attack, some students had tried to sneak away alone.

Either they didn't trust Shidai and his two companions, or they thought themselves strong enough to survive without protection, or simply believed the Dark World only targeted outposts.

In any case, someone always ignored orders and just left.

After all, in their eyes, Wan Teng Xiang—the Fusion Union representative—was evil and unreliable; Yan Jianshan—a first-year freshman who had been causing trouble since day one—was unreliable; Yu Cheng Shidai—an elder of the Fusion Department, but lazy, skipping class every day—was unreliable.

This gave them a bizarre illusion—that they were all incompetent, so I'll be fine.

Back then, there were fewer people; even if someone went missing, Shidai and his two companions could still search for them by splitting up.

But now, there were so many people in the camp!

"What do we do, Wan Teng?!" The student was frantic, on the verge of tears, "You have to go find him secretly—I'll cover for you with Shidai."

"No! Absolutely not! We can't hide this from Big Brother!" Xiang reacted instantly.

At a moment like this, hiding it from his big brother—if Shidai didn't understand what was happening, things could spiral out of control!

Wan Teng Xiang couldn't let that happen.

"Denis, keep everyone here—I'm going to find Big Brother!"

"Got it. If you need anything, don't hesitate—we're your backing!" Denis said solemnly to Xiang.

(End of Chapter)