Chapter 45

[Whoa~ fate really works in mysterious ways, woohoo! Better to arrive at the right time than early!]

[We know Qin Su is so strong he doesn't even need the boost from a combat suit, so... Qin Su has no use for his combat suit, and He Muzhi's just happens to be damaged. Doesn't that mean we're about to see Qin Su give He Muzhi his outer combat suit?! And then can we see whether Boss 1's inner combat suit was specially made by his family?]

[Uh, no, why should he? This hardcore solo fan of Baby 1 does not want to see that (nope).]

[Hehe, you don't even need to round up to say they're sharing clothes now. Pink Hair can only dream of being this close.]

[Be clear, which Pink Hair? The natural one or the one who bleached and dyed it?]

Qin Su: "..."

If he remembered correctly, the bullet comments had mentioned He Muzhi getting injured at four in the afternoon. It was ten now, meaning he had waited a full six hours before coming back to treat it.

That was enough to show how He Muzhi had endured the pain while leading the team to exterminate bugs, all to keep the team's morale from falling apart.

That was He Muzhi's own choice. Qin Su had no opinion on it, nor did he intend to stop. It was merely instinct for him to analyze what information he could glean from anything that passed before his eyes, and nothing more.

He Muzhi sat in a seat some distance from the spaceship's entrance, putting the finishing touches on the wound on his shoulder.

Soaking in growth fluid sped up the healing process. The angry swelling caused by the Kisslip Tree Armadillo's sharp teeth sinking deep into his flesh had disappeared, but the wound wouldn't return to normal all at once.

The deeper and larger the wound, the longer it took to heal. A simple, shallow scratch on the skin generally took only a few hours to recover completely.

Of the sharp teeth in the upper and lower outer rows of the Kisslip Tree Armadillo that had attacked He Muzhi, four were as long as an adult's arm. Had Raymond not sniped it in time, those teeth would have bitten clean through his shoulder from front to back.

An outer combat suit with an obvious tear at the shoulder lay on the seat beside He Muzhi.

As if suddenly sensing something, He Muzhi abruptly looked up, frowning as he held a needle to inject a healing agent into the penetrating wound.

Through the visor of Qin Su's helmet, his eyes met a pair of cold, sharp black eyes.

Qin Su: "..."

Since their eyes had already met, Qin Su gave him a customary nod of acknowledgment. Without breaking stride, he continued purposefully toward the spaceship's rest area.

Qin Su.

As those two words flashed through He Muzhi's mind, he saw Qin Su give him a faint nod.

He Muzhi also nodded back silently on instinct.

This kind of greeting was common between people who barely knew each other, the sort who were only on nodding terms. There were exceptions, such as when two people knew each other well but were far apart, or when others were around and it wasn't appropriate to go over and greet each other.

They weren't far apart, so it was clearly not the latter. So, in Qin Su's mind, were they really... only on nodding terms?

All sorts of thoughts raced through He Muzhi's mind in that brief moment, only to be interrupted by a familiar voice rambling on.

"You do the hardest work and still get people talking behind your back. I don't know why you bother getting worked up over them..."

Raymond stopped mid-sentence when he saw Jeffrey and the other three stride in with menacing momentum, led by Qin Su, who radiated an icy chill.

There were only four of them, yet they advanced with the fierce momentum of a mighty army.

Raymond swallowed at once, his mind buzzing as he fell silent without realizing it.

He Muzhi took the opportunity to look away from Qin Su and saw Raymond standing frozen on the spot.

Qin Su treated everyone alike. Unbothered by Raymond's stunned reaction, he gave his usual polite nod in greeting. With Raymond nodding back subconsciously, Qin Su completed the basic social courtesy and strode past him.

Though he passed to Raymond's side, Sophia and Zhong Lin were behind him, and he was actually more than three meters away from Raymond.

Tap, tap, tap...

The sound of unhurried footsteps soon faded from He Muzhi and Raymond's hearing.

[...That's it? Qin Su was so cold to He Muzhi.]

[Good news: they ran into each other.]

[Bad news: they might as well not have. Never mind that Qin Su ignored He Muzhi's wound; from start to finish, he showed no intention of taking off his combat suit and giving it to him. He didn't even stop for a second.]

[Hehe, this solo fan is completely satisfied.]

[Fully support this! Our Baby 1 should shine on his own. Don't bring even the protagonist into this; don't make a fool of yourself.]

[Why put it so harshly? Our Mu didn't ask anyone to care about him. You're really just attacking imaginary enemies here.]

[Imaginary my ass. If you don't want your eyes, you can gouge them out. Just rewind through the previous seven switched scenes and you'll see the screen was full of bullet comments asking our Baby Su to give He Muzhi his combat suit.]

[And no one's noticed that He Muzhi put his torn combat suit on the very seat Qin Su sat in earlier. Tsk, tsk, his sincere feelings were wasted in the end.]

It wasn't until he was out of He Muzhi and Raymond's sight that Qin Su had time to read the bullet comments. A black line appeared on his forehead when he saw them.

Based on his observations of He Muzhi over the past less than a month, He Muzhi would never "covet" his combat suit just because his own was damaged.

In fact, he believed He Muzhi had never been interested in his combat suit at all.

Nor could he give He Muzhi his combat suit. After all, aside from Qin Su himself, He Muzhi was almost universally acknowledged as the second strongest person in Class 6.

He was unquestionably one of the strong.

That meant that even with his combat suit damaged, He Muzhi wouldn't be reduced to needing someone else's to protect himself.

If Qin Su gave He Muzhi his combat suit now, for one thing, it would make it look as though he thought He Muzhi "needed protection," and He Muzhi's fans wouldn't like that.

For another, how could a bored boss who couldn't muster interest in anything do such a thing for someone clearly capable of protecting himself? It would make him look as though he were "trying too hard."

He could give away his combat suit, but only to someone weak who had almost entirely lost the ability to protect themselves.

Lost in thought, he finally reached the rest area.

The door to the rest area opened automatically. Once he heard all four people behind him step inside and the metal door close, Qin Su turned around.

Facing the four, Qin Su swept his gaze over them one by one, from left to right.

"!"

All four immediately tensed, spreading their legs and gripping their weapons tightly, subconsciously assuming the military stance they used in training.

What's wrong? Why is he suddenly looking at us so coldly?

Their question was soon answered.

Having used his gaze to achieve the effect of "visual intimidation," Qin Su spoke the words he had planned in advance, his voice icy:

"To ensure sufficient rest and maintain good physical and mental condition for tomorrow's operation, from the moment you enter your individual rest pods until we assemble at twelve ten tomorrow, no one is permitted to go out."

Sufficient rest and all that was just an excuse.

From the quick glance he had taken before entering the spaceship, Raymond and He Muzhi had clearly been preparing to return to the fleet and continue hunting bugs. They would be leaving soon.

On the way back, there had been no sign of the other students' fleets returning either. If he wanted to go back and check the spots he had marked during the day, he had to make sure his four teammates didn't run into him.

So he needed to order them to stay obediently in their rest pods.

After hunting at high intensity for hours on end during the day, they were both physically and mentally exhausted and did need rest. A reason like that wouldn't arouse their suspicions.

The individual rest pods provided for students inside the spaceship were fully equipped with all kinds of basic facilities, so they wouldn't be bored staying inside.

The four: "?"

They had to rest for fourteen hours!

Although they really were exhausted now, both mentally and physically at their limits and ready to fall asleep the moment they reached their pods, could they really sleep that long?

That was what the four were thinking when, the next second, they heard Qin Su's cold voice again. "Of course."

When the four tensed up again and turned their gazes on him in unison, Qin Su continued:

"Anyone unwilling to follow Team 1's rules is free to leave Team 1 at any time."

At that, the four abandoned all other thoughts. They immediately shook their heads in unison, then quickly nodded and spoke up one after another.

"Understood!"

"Okay, Captain!"

"Got it, Captain!"

"Don't worry, Captain! We'll follow your orders to the letter!"

Their firm, powerful voices rang out in the empty lounge.

Leave Team 1?

Was he kidding?

Although they had fought alongside Qin Su for less than ten hours, during that time, Qin Su had not only refused to treat them like ordinary Alphas and made extremely high demands of them, he hadn't considered them "weak" and had always given them crucial guidance when they least expected it.

During their many hunts, Qin Su had also often been "unpredictable."

Sometimes Qin Su stepped in to help, and sometimes he left them to their own devices, making it impossible for them to figure out when he would help them solve a problem.

They could only stay on edge throughout every single battle. That was precisely what kept them highly alert the whole time, not daring to slack off for even a second.

In short, they had all gained a great deal.

To put it bluntly, if they failed to recognize a treasure and didn't want to be Qin Su's teammates, there were plenty of people eager to beg for the chance.

Qin Su: "...Mm, dismissed."

As expected of Alphas with glands, they had energy to spare. He had gone to such lengths to wring them dry, yet they could still shout so loudly.

Fortunately, he'd grown accustomed to being "startled" during the day, so he was used to it by now.

"Understood!" the four replied in unison at the top of their lungs again.

Qin Su said nothing, doggedly maintaining his aloof persona as he strode toward the rest pod closest to the lounge's metal door.

Ding—

A chime announced that his Identity ID had been successfully scanned, and the pod door opened. Under the four's fervent gazes, Qin Su kept his back straight, leaving them with a "cold and ruthless" view of his departing figure.

Only after the pod door closed did Qin Su tell the system to turn off the comic's capture camera.

The Life Points deducted for keeping the comic camera on were far fewer than the Life Points he had gained today from acting strong, the favorable impressions of the natives, and the increase in bullet comments combined.

His Life Points countdown stood at minutes and 39 seconds.

About 456 days. He wondered how much "trash" he could send back.

Because of the unusual environment, he also needed to spend additional Life Points in the system inventory to exchange for precision salvage tools.

Qin Su: "..."

Other people spent time and effort picking up trash. Why did it cost him his life when he did it?

Taking a deep breath, Qin Su found a place to sit in the not particularly spacious rest pod and removed his helmet. He opened the class group rankings and studied the growth in his classmates' kill counts while recalling the "battlefield remains" he had glimpsed during the day, having the system mark every place he remembered.

Once He Muzhi and Raymond had left, Sophia and the other three had entered their rest pods, and no one remained aboard the spaceship, it would be time to quietly investigate the tree's abnormality and pick up trash.

Sheng Shuang and the other three watched Qin Su disappear from sight, bumped fists with one another, and exchanged a tacit "see you tomorrow" before scrambling at lightning speed for the rest pod closest to Qin Su's.

In the end, Sophia came out on top.

"Hehe, good night, losers~" With that, Sophia entered her Identity ID and waved to the other three behind her.

Zhong Lin and the other two gritted their teeth and tacitly began competing for the second- and third-closest spots to Qin Su.

Before long, all four were inside their pods.

At the spaceship's wide-open entrance.

He Muzhi silently held his position, letting the Sewing Robot Raymond had brought over mend his Inner Protective Suit.

Once a combat suit was damaged, its full-body protective effect weakened considerably. The original one hundred percent protection was now only around thirty percent, but that was better than nothing.

The smell of blood, mingled with the chill brought on by the falling nighttime temperature, left He Muzhi especially clearheaded.

He recalled once more the less than thirty seconds between Qin Su entering the spaceship and leaving his sight.

What he could be sure of was that neither Qin Su nor Sophia and the other three had been injured, while he himself was wounded and in a sorry state.

Whether passing him or Raymond, Qin Su hadn't paused at all. Aside from a polite nod when their eyes met, he hadn't said another word, nor had his gaze lingered on He Muzhi's injury.

"Say..." He Muzhi looked at Raymond, who was leaning close and staring at his wound, rubbing his chin as he studied who knew what.

"What?" Raymond asked, puzzled.

"Do you think it's possible Qin Su didn't notice I was injured?" He Muzhi held a tiny sliver of hope in his heart.

Rather than have Qin Su ignore him, he would prefer that Qin Su hadn't noticed his injury. It was only the first day, and he was already hurt; that made him look far too weak.

Raymond's hand stopped on the Sewing Robot. He gave He Muzhi a look as though he were an idiot. "Are you all right?"

"...I hope so, but clearly..." He Muzhi moved his arm. "Things didn't go as I hoped."

Raymond was speechless. "I meant your brain! The smell of blood is so strong, how could Qin Su possibly not have noticed? He couldn't be bothered to take another look because, in his eyes, we're no different from air right now, okay?"

With his hope mercilessly crushed by Raymond, He Muzhi looked at him, a trace of resentment in his red eyes. "...The practical exercise isn't over yet. Try not to purse your lips and poison yourself to death over the next few days."

How had he never noticed that when Raymond got sharp-tongued, he was just like Lin Yin, capable of leaving someone half-choked with frustration?

Raymond, defiant to the bone, immediately pursed his lips hard and said viciously to He Muzhi, "I'd rather poison myself to death than watch you get angered to death by certain classmates who can't understand a word anyone says!"

By then, the Sewing Robot had finished mending the Inner Protective Suit and the outer combat suit.

He Muzhi stood, picked up the combat suit, shook it out, and put it on. As he fastened the special metal sensor connector at his chest, he called to Raymond, "All right, let's go."

"Hey!" Raymond was furious. "Were you even listening to me? This is a battlefield, not a place where being weak makes you right! If you ask me, you'd be better off kicking them off the team sooner rather than later."

"All right, all right, I'll pay attention from now on." He Muzhi's voice, like his figure, soon vanished into the night.

Qin Su appeared silently from the shadows. Without turning on the comic camera, he quietly started a Small Warship that no one used and set off toward his destination.

The marked area had been cleared during the day, and other teams scavenging for leftovers had searched the surroundings. With no bugs left to hunt, it was deserted and silent.

Although he wasn't worried about being discovered, Qin Su kept the warship's exterior lights off as a precaution. Only when he drew close to the tree he had marked during the day did he use the light in his combat suit's palm to take a closer look.

The bare trunk was once again covered with root tendrils of varying sizes, packed tightly side by side.

Qin Su silently pulled up the image he had taken on his Optical Brain during the day. The trunk in it was indeed bare.

Looking at the root tendrils before him, which were indistinguishable from the trunk, Qin Su said, "..."

Clearly, a tree's root tendrils couldn't grow all over the trunk, fall off, and then grow back within a few hours. So the tendrils clinging to the trunk were most likely not roots at all, but...

Qin Su reached out and touched them.

After wave upon wave of major disturbances during the day, the "root tendrils" on only that one tree in the entire surrounding area had fallen off. Clearly, the "root tendrils" weren't very sensitive to external stimuli.

They looked rough and bumpy like the trunk, yet felt icy cold to the touch. The abnormality was glaringly obvious.

The feel of the "root tendrils" on a single tree wasn't enough for Qin Su to jump to a conclusion. He withdrew his hand and, in a short time, piloted the warship through almost the entire deserted area, touching tree after tree and taking photographs of each one.

Ten minutes later, Qin Su, hidden in the shade of the trees, felt his scalp tingle.

Their colors were nearly identical, and they most likely came from the "same root system." Qin Su recalled the Kisslip Tree Armadillos' wildly flailing tentacles during the day and felt his head begin to ache.

With it occupying such a vast stretch of water, he didn't dare imagine how enormous the thing hidden beneath the surface was.

Hadn't the school said that mature Kisslip Tree Armadillos were too lazy to move around their habitats year-round? How could one have appeared in the outer area? The data had never said it could disguise itself as "root tendrils" growing up trees, either!

Fortunately, just as the data said, the larger a Kisslip Tree Armadillo grew, the weaker its speed and awareness of its limbs became.

No matter how large the one in the water was now, it didn't seem inclined to move. They should be able to get through this freshman practical exercise safely, return to school, and report the matter so the school could dispatch more powerful, authoritative weapons to exterminate it.

Come to think of it, a large Kisslip Tree Armadillo that shouldn't have been outside the species' habitat had appeared there anyway. Was it because of the "comic protagonist," or was it because of the metaphysical notion that "water was his bane"?

Unable for the moment to tell whether he or He Muzhi bore more responsibility, Qin Su silently exchanged for a Precision Salvage Item and hurriedly began salvaging the weapons and shell casings his classmates had dropped into the water during the day's hunt, fully focused on cosplaying Qin "Scavenger" Su...

During that time, he also captured an ultraminiature Kisslip Tree Armadillo and put it into his space.

While Qin Su "cleaned up the battlefield," he also kept an eye on his surroundings. Noticing signs that his classmates were returning, he quickly went back to his rest pod.

In his private space, Qin Su opened his spatial storage and looked at the pile of "junk" no one wanted in the interstellar world. Silently, he matched each piece by size to the "landing" spots he had prepared in advance in the real world.

Qin Su wasn't worried about anyone swiping their way into the pod. Like the dorms provided by the school, the rest pods were designed to ensure every student got proper rest. Once a pod was opened and bound to an Identity ID for the first time, only that ID could open it until the practical exercise ended and the spacecraft was reset.

The name of the student occupying each pod was displayed outside its door.

Comic World, minutes.

The teams that had gone out during the day returned one after another, docking their battleships to replenish their energy.

A large crowd soon gathered on the platform.

On the first day, most students played it safe, going to places already visited by the teams of Qin Su, Qiao Yue, He Muzhi, and the other Alphas ranked near the top of the class. No students had died, and even if their results weren't great, the mood was fairly relaxed.

Besides, Anthony, the Alpha who had taken the most destructive weapon, was among the lower-ranked students, making everyone feel that they were doing all right.

During the day, Anthony had used the largest mecha as backing to deliberately pick a fight with Qin Su. Qin Su had easily defused the situation through careful planning and turned the tables, leaving Anthony without a single subordinate. Thanks to Squad 2 spreading the story, it quickly made the rounds in Class 6.

After laughing at Anthony, everyone unconsciously searched the platform for Qin Su, but none of them saw him.

"Where's Qin Su?"

"Look at the group chat. Qin Su's kills stopped at ten, so he's obviously already back. He should be resting now."

"He's not grinding at all. I thought all the big shots worked themselves to the bone..."

"Are you kidding? He's so strong he doesn't need to grind at all."

He Muzhi wasn't in a very good mood today. He didn't say much and hurried into the spacecraft.

Anthony seemed to have guessed everyone would laugh at him. Even now, he still hadn't returned and was wandering outside in his mecha.

Everyone else was tired too. After chatting nonsense for a few minutes, they returned to the rest area one after another.

Every student who entered the rest area saw the name "Qin Su" written on the pod door closest to the entrance. Without a word, they all looked around Qin Su's pod for the nearest unoccupied one to take.

The real world.

The instant he was sent back to the real world, Qin Su immediately spent minutes of Life Points to select the landing spots he had chosen based on the size of the "junk."

The blinding white light vanished. Qin Su stood where he was, looking at the tiny Kisslip Tree Armadillo wriggling on the ground and the mountain of weapon scrap. He called Assistant Jiang. "The junk I mentioned before has arrived. Come in."