Chapter 130: What? The guys are that weak in a fight? (Revised)

The Security Team members heard that and their eyes lit up.

Yeah! Can't win head‑on, so we can't use the hidden tactics either?

Even though the mission is now impossible, killing a few more still earns extra points.

"Then let's do it!"

"Right! Even if we have to 'die', we must crush a few of their teeth!"

"Brothers from the Manufacturing Department, we're counting on you!"

In the dire situation, this hard‑to‑assemble squad finally located the target and rekindled their fighting spirit.

The Manufacturing Department students no longer hesitated; they sprang into action, using their expertise to dismantle, modify, and recombine the limited parts and Core they had.

They carefully tweaked the energy circuit to make it extremely unstable, so that once triggered it would explode violently, and they ground the metal casing into shards to boost lethality.

They all awakened Aberrant Arts, but most were useless; otherwise they wouldn't be grinding on Runes.

Soon, a few crude "bombs" were fabricated.

Ying Duo hadn't discarded the guns he gave them, and the Manufacturing Department students made extra bullets to ensure nothing went wrong.

A Security Team member stepped forward, began assigning tasks, his gaze sweeping the crowd before finally landing on a perpetually quiet guy in the corner.

Jiangdu had a delicate but expressionless face, his eyes often vacant, feeling detached from everything around him, completely unaffected by the rising atmosphere.

"Jiangdu."

The Security Team member's voice softened with concern; the squad leader was assigned to the Assault Team, specifically instructed to look after Jiangdu.

"When the fight starts, stick with us, just protect yourself; if things go wrong, immediately pull the Manufacturing Department folks into the woods."

Another teammate nearby, his face scarred, patted Jiangdu's shoulder and grinned.

"Yeah, don't push yourself too hard; after all, your situation is different from ours."

They all knew a bit about Jiangdu's condition; it was said that something went wrong when he awakened Aberrant Arts, leaving his memory blank and only his combat instincts intact.

He was a special recruit, apparently admitted because his Aberrant Arts were unique; the teachers hoped they would look after this "special" transfer student.

Jiangdu looked up at his teammates' concerned gazes, shook his head, his voice low but clear.

"No need to worry about me."

He seemed to try to say more, but his vocabulary was lacking, so he only added a few words at the end.

"I can fight."

The teammates exchanged glances and could only nod; when the real fight began, they could barely protect themselves, let alone look after him, hoping Jiangdu would be clever on his own.

Soon the Manufacturing Department students finished their preparations, the Security Team members took these "weapons," their eyes reignited with fire, and they excitedly began setting traps to ambush the enemy.

Shortly after, a search squad of five Assault Team members stepped into the ambush zone they had set.

"Boom!!"

"Bang! Whoosh—!"

The crude explosions and bullets erupted again; though far weaker than Ying Duo's professional gear, they succeeded by surprise.

"Ah!"

"Ambush!"

"Another bomb!"

The Assault Team members were caught off guard; three were instantly hit by the blast and bullets, their Runes flared, marking them "dead."

The other two sustained minor injuries and scrambled for cover.

"Take them out!"

The Security Team members, eyes blazing, surged from their hiding spot, using their numbers and the bomb‑induced chaos to grapple with the remaining two Assault Team members.

The Manufacturing Department students each brandished self‑defense weapons, trying to provide support from the side.

The battle was extremely fierce; soon the two Assault Team members were also "eliminated," while the Security Team suffered no casualties.

Before they could relocate, a raging aura had already picked up the signal here and was rapidly closing in.

"A bunch of rats, finally found you."

At the moment Qi Hengyu received the message, he sprinted toward that direction, with a few other Assault Team members behind him, but unfortunately they were still a step too late.

Seeing the "dead" teammates on the ground and the still‑fighting Security Team remnants, Qi Hengyu's battle spirit surged.

The outcome was already certain, but out of respect for their tenacious will, he didn't mind seeing them off personally.

Energy within his body began to churn, a powerful pressure instantly enveloped the area.

Jiangdu, engaged with an Assault Team member, froze the instant his body sensed the pressure.

An almost instinctive reaction surpassed his blank consciousness; his gaze sharpened like a blade, his aura contracted.

The Assault Team member, just as he tried to take Jiangdu's head while he was dazed, saw his own steps cross; Jiangdu suddenly appeared behind him and took his head instead.

Eliminating the opponent in front seemed trivial to Jiangdu; he looked toward Qi Hengyu and assumed a combat stance.

Just as Qi Hengyu was about to unleash a killing spree, his gaze swept over here and was drawn to Jiangdu's sudden fierce posture.

"Huh?"

Qi Hengyu let out a surprised query, even temporarily ignoring the pressure on the other Security Team members, and looked at Jiangdu with interest.

"Your stance... that's kind of interesting!"

How come we never heard of such a character among the freshmen?

At that moment he couldn't care less; before his words finished, he shot toward Jiangdu like an arrow.

He didn't strike with full force, more a hunting‑thrill probe—a hand slash whooshing through the air, cutting the neck gap Jiangdu exposed with his stance.

Facing Qi Hengyu's extremely fast yet far from full‑force attack, Jiangdu's mind went blank again, standing dumb.

"Snap!"

A light sound.

Qi Hengyu's hand chop didn't even use much force, yet it precisely struck Jiangdu's neck side.

Jiangdu's body went limp, the sharpness in his eyes receded like a tide, replaced by confusion.

He swayed, then softly collapsed to the ground, and the rune on his body indicating "subdued" flickered faintly.

He didn't even understand what had happened; he only felt his vision blur, then he lost the ability to move.

Qi Hengyu: "......"

He kept his striking posture, looking at Jiangdu who was already "out" on the ground, feeling a bit dazed himself.

Just now, seeing that stance, he had thought he'd encountered a hidden expert, but the result...

That's it?

No, buddy, you're this weak?

He scratched his messy hair, wearing a strange expression as he said to the equally clueless Jiangdu on the ground:

"Hey kid, your stance looks intimidating, but just having the form isn't enough—your reaction speed is too slow!"

"Don't just bury yourself in training; go find more people to practice real combat with, or you'll waste that opening move."

After saying that, he no longer paid attention to this "mishap" interlude, redirecting his gaze to the Security Team and others who were on high alert, his killing intent returning.

The outcome was without suspense.

Despite the absolute strength gap, the remaining Security Team members and Manufacturing Department students fought desperately, but were ultimately killed one by one by Qi Hengyu and his group.

As the runes on their bodies lit up one after another, they could only fall down with unwillingness in their eyes.

Qi Hengyu looked at the ground full of "corpses", irritably scratching his messy hair.

Although wiping out this remnant of the Security Team felt satisfying, the target he most wanted to find remained nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Ying Duo? And Luo Jinyou? Who saw that guy with a head of Ying Guang Lu who loves to throw bombs?"

He asked the nearby teammate, honestly saying that just Ying Duo's cheerful vigor when throwing bombs, once a conflict broke out, would surely be spectacular.

But where exactly did he hide?

Qi Hengyu couldn't figure it out; logically, that head of Ying Guang Lu should be very noticeable.

Moreover, I don't know if it's my imagination, but after the competition started, Ying Duo seems to have become... more lively?

After all, he probably just got carried away throwing bombs.

After that previous incident, Qi Hengyu only felt that Ying Duo's mental state was still quite good.

But not knowing where those two actually were, Qi Hengyu's sense of unease lingered.

He has always trusted his intuition.

Those two might be somewhere brewing something big.