Chapter 84: Hunger Tactics

"The terrifying Black Tide, the Shadow-Weave Dream, the Frost-Cold Clan... this is an era of chaos. Our enemies are not just the Black Tide. To become a soldier of the Counter-Tide Legion, besides unleashing your racial talents, you must also possess comprehensive combat skills."

"After three days of low-intensity training, I assume you have all adapted. Therefore, starting tomorrow, two new training subjects will be added."

Hearing these words, the expressions of the trainees present did not change; obviously, they were all prepared.

Only Li Zheng and the others wore constipated expressions as if they had eaten shit, with "I don't want to" practically written on their faces.

"That ends today. Recite the Oath of Glory," Instructor Kuang Sha said in a deep voice.

Hearing Instructor Kuang Sha's command, Li Zheng and the others' eyes lit up. They immediately loudly recited the Counter-Tide Oath they had memorized these past days:

"The Black Tide approaches, the stars hide their brilliance. We swear to guard our homeland."

"Vain worldly names, all cast aside. Comrades united, through life and death we share."

"With 'Counter' as our banner, even death brings no regret..."

The golden ring on the horizon sank to the end of the horizon amidst the recitation.

After finishing the boring oath recitation, Li Zheng and the other players followed Instructor Kuang Sha to the Daoshitang of the training camp.

As soon as they entered the main gate of the Daoshitang, the Four-Eye Clan trainees noticeably quickened their pace, as if some unknown danger was approaching from behind.

Just as they picked up their trays, a roar came from behind:

"Hey, you Four-Eyes holding a tray... yes, I'm talking to you, put it down!"

"Entering the Daoshitang is for eating. What are you eating? Come fight."

"Your Third Grandpa's extracurricular tutoring class is starting! Four-Eyes, hurry over for class."

Accompanied by the arrogant shouts, Li Zheng took the lead and launched a charge.

Having been hungry for three days, the Four-Eye Clan trainees' eyes were practically glowing green at the sight of food.

Hearing Li Zheng and the others' shouts, their bodies shook as if by reflex. One Four-Eye Clan member didn't even dare to look back, decisively reaching out to grab the food, intending to take a bite first.

But before the food could enter his mouth, Li Zheng slapped it away with a single palm strike:

"What are you eating? Pay attention in class!"

The tempting scent slid past their noses. The Four-Eye Clan trainees' gazes followed the flight trajectory of the Spirit Fish meat. When the fish meat hit the ground, their hearts shattered along with it.

Then their stomachs took a heavy punch.

"Fight back."

Although incredibly hungry, Gui Tong, as the representative of his clan, gritted his teeth and growled. Turning around, he kicked "Family-Shared Adoptive Father" in the stomach, then punched Li Zheng to the ground.

During the brawl, other trainees frantically shoveled food, eating in large mouthfuls.

The intensity of these daily brawls kept escalating, making the entire Daoshitang chaotic.

From the north of the Daoshitang to the south, from the corners to the center, Spirit Food flew everywhere. Many alien trainees focused on eating were caught in the group fight.

Some trainees had just taken two bites when a flying tray slapped them in the face.

Others, just preparing to eat, were hit by two entangled figures that overturned their dining tables.

The worst off was a red-haired alien trainee. While it was still loading food, it was dragged into the center of the brawl. Its left face took a punch from a player, its right face took a punch from a Four-Eye Clan member, leaving two clear red marks on its face.

The trainees able to enter the training camp were all the best of their clans.

Facing this situation, many with hot tempers joined the fight, attacking whoever they saw, not just their own clan members.

But after two days, they truly couldn't take it anymore.

Now they had only one thought: quickly shovel in a couple of bites before the group fight escalates, otherwise there would be nothing left to eat later.

"Muscle Man Elbow Strike!"

Accompanied by the shout of eating dirt, his elbow strike smashed heavily into the neck of a Four-Eye Clan warrior.

The Four-Eye Clan member who was beating Sha Xin was knocked back several steps by this blow, sitting down heavily next to a Brass Clan member who was eating. Their eyes met. In the Brass Clan trainee's desperate gaze, the Four-Eye Clan trainee picked up his tray and, carrying the Spirit Food, slammed it hard at the one eating dirt.

"I haven't... eaten yet."

"Eat your Third Grandpa! All you know how to do is eat." Hearing this, the Four-Eye Clan trainee glared viciously at the Brass Clan trainee, imitating the Player Clan's tone. He casually overturned the dining table, then leaped into the air and pounced on the one eating dirt.

The Daoshitang went from orderly eating to gradually chaotic.

"Four-Eye Clan, you dare hit my brother? Brothers of the Brass Clan, follow me!"

"Keep an eye on the Player Clan and beat them. Beat them to death."

Trays and Spirit Food flew everywhere; the upgraded group fight was about to erupt.

Now the Players and the Four-Eye Clan had only one principle: If we don't eat, nobody eats.

So the Players and the Four-Eye Clan became the targets of other trainees' group beatings.

When the meal time ended, the Four-Eye Clan and the Players were dragged and pulled out of the Daoshitang by the other trainees.

Lying on the ground, bruised and swollen, the Players and Four-Eye Clan trainees locked eyes. Although they had no strength left to move, they were still exchanging threats.

"Four-Eyes, are you scared?" Li Zheng, whose mouth was swollen like a sausage, asked Gui Tong.

"Not hungry!"

"Kneel down and beg for mercy, and tomorrow we'll let you eat... or, you can pick up the leftovers on the ground." Eating Dirt, also bruised and swollen, smoothly picked up Li Zheng's words and teased.

"We, Four-Eye Clan warriors, will never yield to the weak." Before Gui Tong could speak, the clan member beside him said viciously. It seemed he spoke too forcefully, aggravating his wounds, and he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

Hearing these words, Sha Xin, lying on the ground, couldn't help but applaud:

"I hope your mouths are as hard as your fists. Let's keep holding out. Whoever chickens out is a grandson."

"If you're afraid, you don't deserve to be a Four-Eye Clan member."

"It's a deal. We fight again tomorrow."

Although their stomachs were rumbling with hunger, the Four-Eye Clan's willpower was beyond Li Zheng and the others' expectations.

Under high-intensity training, they had gone three days without food, yet Gui Tong and the others never yielded, still carrying an arrogant demeanor.

After night training ended, Li Zheng and the others, having healed their wounds in the Recovery Room, returned to their quarters.

Exhausted after a full day, they shut the door and decisively pulled out rations cans, eating in great mouthfuls.

Voice channel:

Killing Intent Stirs: Who will go check the Trading Hall for monster meat or Spirit Fish meat for sale? If this continues, nutrition will soon fall behind.

So Poor I Eat Dirt: Why won't these fishing guys catch any fish? Spirit Fish meat sells out every day; how is it so hard to get a bite of meat?

Leopard Head Zero Recharge: Though these days are very tiring, Body Tempering experience is skyrocketing; the returns are quite good.

Game Grinders: These bastards can really endure. They claim to be the most excellent warriors of the new generation in their clan; I cannot verify that, but I can confirm they are the most starvation-resistant beasts of the new generation in their clan. Under high-intensity training, they go three days without eating; I nearly starve to death after half a day.

Family Shared Godfather: Aha, look what this is—half a slice of Spirit Fish meat. I couldn't bear to eat it yesterday.

(Unfilial son, shut up, eat it for me x9)

Four-Eyes Clan quarters.

Outside, the cold wind howled, yet Gui Tong and his clan members could not sleep.

The "gurgle" sounds from their stomachs, like frogs in summer fields, rose and fell in waves.

"You are so noisy," Gui Tong suddenly rose, looking at the clan members beside him, but his own stomach immediately made a sound, leaving his expression awkward.

"Big Brother, these useless things can really endure hunger. Think of a solution; if we don't eat, I'm afraid I won't be able to withstand tomorrow's training."

"Endure it even if you can't. Even if their racial talent is related to enduring hunger, a Four-Eyes Clan warrior will never admit defeat."

Speaking thus, Gui Tong's gaze swept toward a clan member:

"Lin, did you want to secretly eat during the group fight tonight?"

The named Four-Eyes Clan member appeared somewhat guilty.

During the group fight at dinner time, he had originally intended to take a bite of fish meat before the fight began, but as he stuffed it into his mouth, a new generation player from the Player Clan kicked him to the ground.

"Next time, don't let me see you yield. Since the Player Clan issued a challenge, bravely accept it. If they don't eat, neither will we."

"Big Brother, I understand."

"Sleep."

With those words, Gui Tong lay on the bed and closed his eyes.

But the rising and falling croaking never ceased; amidst exhaustion and drowsiness, the Four-Eyes Clan members finally fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning.

After morning training ended, they arrived at Daoshitang.

Though mentally prepared, seeing Li Zheng leading the Player Clan approaching with an arrogant face, the Four-Eyes Clan lost their usual domineering aura.

Other races were frantically shoveling food, fearing to miss a single bite.

In their eyes, both the Player Clan and the Four-Eyes Clan were beasts; they bullied all the new generation trainees. Except for the first day, they hadn't let anyone have a full meal for the following days.

To speed up eating, they dared not raise their heads the entire time; the sound of punches landing on flesh echoing in their ears seemed to strike their own bodies, making their hearts race with fear.

In fact, many trainees were not afraid of combat; some were even very aggressive, but they feared hunger.

High-intensity training requires sufficient nutritional supplementation; one meal must consume a large amount of Spirit Food to replenish the body's expenditure.

The fifteen minutes allotted for meals at Daoshitang were enough to solve the energy replenishment problem, but the beasts of the Player Clan and Four-Eyes Clan forcibly compressed their time to within five minutes, and in severe cases, even within three minutes.

If you don't eat your fill, you must join the group fight; if you don't fight along with them, they will beat you.

At this moment, no one dared to sit at the tables near the central food-pickup area of Daoshitang; everyone was crowded into the corners.

In the eyes of the new generation trainees of all races, the central area was an extremely dangerous zone; sitting there meant giving up on eating this meal.

While burying their heads to eat, Family Shared Godfather was thrown into a corner by two Four-Eyes Clan members.

Hearing the whoosh of wind approaching, the only thought in the minds of the trainees of all races was: These bastards are intentionally throwing someone over here to cause trouble again.

The speed of eating suddenly accelerated.

Slap!

Family Shared Godfather landed on a table in the corner, shouting "It hurts," while his body began to spin and roll.

Seeing the food trays being kicked over, the trainees of all races acted without hesitation, grabbing Family Shared Godfather and raining dense punches down hard on his head.

A chaotic brawl was about to erupt.

The Player Clan and the Four-Eyes Clan fought each other.

The Four-Eyes Clan beat the Bronze Clan.

The Bronze Clan beat the Player Clan.

The Night Eagle Clan beat the Four-Eyes Clan.

With true rage ignited, the races of all tribes went completely mad; as long as it wasn't a member of their own clan, they would grab any trainee from another race and beat them severely.

Watching the food trays fly everywhere in Daoshitang, Instructor Kuang Sha, standing at the door, took a deep breath.

This generation of trainees was the most chaotic one he had ever led.

Before this, among the new generation trainees he had led, there were no shortage of troublemakers who formed cliques in the training camp and fought each other at every opportunity.

The balance of strength and weakness was decided through these group fights.

For example, in the generation of Duan Xing, he led his clan members against another batch of new trainees, the Great Ming Clan, in a fierce rivalry, leading his people to frequently fight each other.

Finally, trampling the Great Ming Clan, they became the strongest of that generation, pressing the Great Ming Clan until they couldn't lift their heads, and entered Enter Phase Two training in the strongest posture.

But he had never seen a situation this chaotic before.

The Player Clan's arrival was like a catfish, stirring the cafeteria into complete chaos.

Why fight anywhere else? But the Player Clan loved to brawl in the cafeteria, seizing upon the fifteen-minute meal rule to make all the new trainees go hungry.

Especially the Four-Eyes Clan, who were so hungry their eyes had turned red.

Last night's night training, if he hadn't been watching, he had no doubt the Four-Eyed Clan freshmen would have charged at roadside trees to hug and gnaw on them.

Not continuing to watch, Instructor Kuang Sha turned and left at this moment.

As long as no taboos were violated, he would not care how the new generation students of each clan fought.

As for whether they could eat their fill, that was not within his scope of consideration.

His requirement was only one: training must be kept up; even on an empty stomach, they must participate in all training courses.

But he had to admit, this was indeed the most hunger-resistant cohort he had ever seen.

Regardless of whether they were willing themselves, the only cohort that could persist in training on an empty stomach was this one.

The seventh day.

Before eating.

All students stood straight on the playground, listening to Instructor Kuang Sha explain tomorrow's schedule.

But the eyes of many students had already changed.

From initial confidence, arrogance, and high fighting spirit, to now being listless, starving and truly unable to hold on.

Many students could persist until now purely by relying on cultivation during rest time to absorb energy particles from the air to force their way through.

But relying solely on energy particles did nothing for hunger and could not fill the body's deficits.

Other students looked at the Player Clan and the Four-Eyed Clan with eyes full of hatred, wishing to pierce their bodies with their gaze.

It was these two toxic tumors that caused everyone to have no food.

By today, these two clans had even developed a tacit understanding.

Before fighting, they didn't even bother to act; they went straight up to overturn the dining tables, giving no clan any chance to eat.

Actually, as long as principles were abandoned, food on the ground could be picked up and eaten.

But the students who came here were the new generation elites of their clans, representing the face of their respective clans, and would never do such a stupid thing that would disgrace their race's honor.

But starving like this, they truly could not endure it much longer.

Every clan's students had a doubt in their hearts.

How had the beasts of the Player Clan and the Four-Eyed Clan not starved to death yet? They had been starving for seven days; how exactly did they persist?

At this moment, the Player Clan also had the same thought in their hearts.

Other races had eaten their fill the first two days; being able to hold on until now was completely understandable. They also relied on secretly eating at night to replenish body consumption, but due to insufficient energy replenishment, they were also starving with Jin Guang flashing in their eyes.

So how exactly did these beasts of the Four-Eyed Clan manage to hold out for seven days without eating? They were truly too enduring.

The new generation students of the Four-Eyed Clan also possessed the same doubt.

They used their clan's innate ability, "Eye of Illusion," to constantly hypnotize themselves, forcing themselves to endure hunger; they could be said to have persisted until now purely by cheating methods and willpower.

Even so, they had already reached their limit of endurance.

But the Player Clan hadn't eaten their fill since the first day; how were they so hunger-resistant?

If they kept enduring like this, they felt they would probably be carried back to their clan territory.

Clap!

Just at this moment, Instructor Kuang Sha suddenly clapped his hands, attracting the gaze of all students.

"Three days from now, new recruits from Shuigu will join our camp to train with us. Rest well recently; tomorrow's training intensity will have a new increase."

Hearing these words, the expressions of all students appeared exceptionally painful.

The fact that the training difficulty was high, they had mentally prepared for before entering the training camp.

But the problem was that while undergoing high-intensity training, they simply could not eat their fill; if the body continued to be consumed like this, it would completely collapse.

After explaining the situation, all students, led by Instructor Kuang Sha, walked towards Tianshitang.

But no student had any expectation for the time to enjoy delicious food that followed.

They believed the beasts of the Player Clan and the Four-Eyed Clan would definitely start the Tianshitang battle again; it would be hard for them not to participate.

But this time, after entering Tianshitang, Instructor Kuang Sha clapped his hands again:

"Fighting is prohibited in Tianshitang today; all of you must eat well."

Hearing these words, joy that could not be suppressed appeared on the faces of all students.

This included the Four-Eyed Clan as well.

After entering the training camp, the one thing they regretted most was angering the Player Clan.

Before this, when they heard their clan elders speak of the training camp rules, they mentioned that the place emphasized the survival of the fittest, where the strong would only be respected and the weak would only suffer bullying.

To become a strong person in others' eyes, one must take the initiative to attack.

Whether it was combat instructors or higher-ups, they would all keep their performance in sight.

This was also the most direct way to prove one's own strength.

They, who already despised the weak, chose the Player Clan as a stepping stone, planning to defeat the Player Clan first and then gradually challenge the new generation of other races.

They never expected that the Player Clan, which looked the weakest, was far more terrifying than they imagined.

If there were a chance to do it all over again, they would absolutely not provoke the Player Clan.

But there are never ifs in the world; since they chose this path, they would grit their teeth and persist.

Hearing Instructor Kuang Sha's words at this moment, they felt happiness had come too suddenly.

Finally, they didn't have to persist anymore!

Seeing everyone take food and sit down one after another, Instructor Kuang Sha nodded in satisfaction.

He had seen the Tianshitang battles of these days with his own eyes.

He also clearly realized that if he did not give the Four-Eyed Clan freshmen food soon, perhaps some students would die.

He could accept new students dying from accidents during high-intensity training, but he would not allow death caused by insufficient nutrient intake.

Most importantly, he held high expectations for the new students of the Four-Pupil Clan.

Undoubtedly, the new students of the Four-Pupil Clan were the group of trainees who trained hardest and possessed the strongest foundations among this year's intake.

If death were to result from starvation, it would undoubtedly be a loss for the Reverse Tide Legion.

Having filled a large plate to the brim with food, Gui Tong led his clan members to a secluded corner and sat down.

Gazing at the food on the plate, a full sense of happiness flowed through his heart.

They had never felt that being able to eat a full meal could be so blissful.

At this moment, Gui Tong picked up a piece of roasted meat, brought it to his mouth, and took a light bite; an indescribable sense of satisfaction instantly bloomed on his taste buds. A faint charred aroma, carrying just the right amount of oily fragrance, formed a perfect combination with the tender, juicy meat within, performing a wonderful duet in his mouth.

As he chewed, the meat juices burst forth in his oral cavity. The rich yet not greasy flavor, with a hint of sweetness amidst the freshness, made him utterly intoxicated.

Happiness wandered across his tongue, then quietly slid deep into his throat, leaving behind endless aftertaste and longing. Every subsequent bite was a gentle comfort to his mouth and a soft apology to his long-dried-out "stomach."

He involuntarily accelerated his eating pace, devouring this hard-won gift in large mouthfuls.

The aroma of the meat wafted around his nose during the meal, intertwining with the flavors in his mouth. This was not merely a sensory enjoyment but also a spiritual solace; all troubles and fatigue were replaced at that very moment by the warm and fulfilling delicacy.

Just then, a voice like a spell suddenly came from afar, shattering his beautiful reverie.

"Tong-zi!"

Startled, Gui Tong jolted and looked up, only to find Li Zheng holding a piece of meat steak, smiling and waving at him:

"Eat well, do not waste food."

Before Gui Tong could speak in reply, he noticed the eating sounds of the clan members beside him suddenly quicken.

(End of Chapter)