Flag Bearer

Lin Qiye froze in place upon hearing that.

Indeed, when he had scanned the floors earlier, he had noticed that most of the infected were female students. Li Yifei's words made him realize something was amiss.

"Could that Mythical Creature have come from the girls' dormitory?" Lin Qiye murmured to himself.

He opened his earpiece and lowered his voice, saying, "Hong Ying, where are you guys?"

"Just came out of the administration building, what's up?"

Lin Qiye shared his suspicion, and Hong Ying immediately agreed on the other end, "Okay, while you're all at the flag-raising ceremony, we'll head to the girls' dormitory now."

"Mhm."

As the march played, Lin Qiye's class also emerged from the corridor and slowly moved towards the flag-raising platform.

The flag-raising ceremony was held in an open space in front of the teaching building. The area wasn't very large, and students from all three grades of the high school were squeezed together, with practically no space between them.

"Students behind me, keep up! Hurry!"

"Don't push me."

"Ugh, hurry up!"

"How fast can I go? The people in front of me are all blocked, what can I do?"

"Huh? Where did the person in front of me go?"

"Who was in front of you?"

"Lin Qiye, where did he go?"

"I don't know, he was just here."

"Huh? Li Yifei is gone too!"

While several classmates were confused, Lin Qiye and Li Yifei had already slipped out of the line and were swiftly weaving through the classes against the chaotic flow of people.

Lin Qiye's mental perception range was only twenty meters. To fully cover over two thousand students, he had to keep moving constantly.

"Lin Qiye, Lin Qiye! Are you done searching? The music is ending, and the flag-raising is about to start!" Li Yifei struggled to push through the surrounding students and said to Lin Qiye ahead.

"No, only half are left."

"Then what do we do? Everyone line up, and once the music stops, we'll be discovered!"

At this moment, the marching music that had been playing continuously grew softer. The two students weaving through the crowd became more conspicuous, and many people were already pointing and whispering.

Lin Qiye frowned. Li Yifei was right. If they were still moving around after everyone had lined up, it would definitely attract attention. If they insisted on continuing their search, they might even be stopped by teachers.

But if they gave up now, the only way to thoroughly scan all students and staff from the three grades in the school would be to wait until dismissal and block the gates.

That would take too long, and too many variables could arise. They couldn't afford to wait.

Lin Qiye's mind raced. Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught sight of the flag bearer team in the distance, and his eyes lit up.

He changed direction, quickly pushed through the crowd, and walked up to the flag bearer team.

"Hello, classmate," Lin Qiye said politely to the student at the front.

The flag bearer was taken aback. "Hello..."

"You're off duty."

"..." The student looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"The school leadership just issued an urgent notice that outstanding student representatives will raise the flag and give a speech afterward. So, we need to temporarily replace the flag bearer." Lin Qiye said with a straight face and reached out, grabbing the flagpole from the student's hand.

"But, this..."

"I am Li Yifei, an outstanding student representative from the second year. Please give me your flag. If you have any questions, you can ask the leadership after the ceremony."

Lin Qiye expressionlessly snatched the flagpole from his hand and stood in the position that originally belonged to him, his face solemn.

Li Yifei: ...

The student scratched his head blankly. After a moment of hesitation, he still chose to return to his class's formation.

"Lin Qiye, what are you doing?" Li Yifei couldn't help but ask. "If you do this, you'll be disciplined... No, I'll be disciplined too!"

"I'm using your name to trick them out of the flag. It has nothing to do with you," Lin Qiye said calmly. "Besides, I'm not a student anymore and don't need to follow the school's rules... I am a Night Watchman."

The solemn and majestic music began. Students, teachers, leaders... everyone on the field fell silent. They fixed their gaze on the flag in the flag bearer's hand, waiting for it to rise.

Following the rhythm of the music, Lin Qiye held the flag and marched with standard precision towards the front.

"Huh? Doesn't that flag bearer look familiar?"

"Yeah, he's quite handsome. He looks a bit like Lin Qiye."

"...Are you sure it's 'a bit'? I think it's him?"

"It really does seem like it!"

"..."

Most people didn't recognize Lin Qiye, but his classmates quickly did, whispering amongst themselves.

The leaders on the stage didn't notice the change in the flag bearer at all. They smiled and watched the handsome young man, as such trivial matters didn't require their attention. With so many students in the school, how would they know who was supposed to raise the flag today?

However, the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony's face suddenly changed when he saw Lin Qiye.

For some reason, he had a premonition of something ominous...

Amidst the gazes of everyone, Lin Qiye walked tall and proud along the path to the flag pole. Just as he was about to step onto the platform...

He made a sharp, ninety-degree turn!

He strode resolutely towards another corner of the student formation!

The leaders, who were smiling and ready to receive the flag, were completely stunned.

Their smiles froze on their faces as they stared blankly at Lin Qiye, who completely ignored them. It took several seconds for them to react.

They all turned their heads in unison to look at the teacher in charge of the ceremony, their eyes full of questioning!

The teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony broke out in a cold sweat.

At the same time, the students also noticed this, looking at Lin Qiye in surprise as he passed them. The murmuring grew much louder.

"What the hell? Why isn't he going on stage?"

"I don't know, is this his first time raising the flag? He looks unfamiliar."

"This is interesting, he's totally messing it up!"

"Look at the expressions of the leaders on the stage... Hahaha, this is hilarious."

"What is Lin Qiye doing?"

"..."

Just then, the voice of the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony rang out loudly:

"Quiet! Everyone be quiet! Student with the flag, you're going the wrong way!"

Lin Qiye seemed not to hear, showing no intention of turning back. He even quickened his pace!

His gaze was like a knife, sweeping across the faces of all the students before him.

In their eyes, he saw surprise, confusion, mockery, and schadenfreude...

But Lin Qiye's eyes remained like a deep pool, profound and unfathomable.

In Lin Qiye's eyes, they were a flock of sheep about to be thrown to the wolves, unaware of their imminent danger. Among the more than two thousand teachers and students present, only Lin Qiye and Li Yifei... were awake.

Perhaps this was what it meant to be sober when everyone else was drunk.

"Come back! Hurry back! Which class are you from?!" the teacher in charge on the stage roared!

Finally, having scanned all the students, Lin Qiye feigned surprise and quickly turned back. He walked along the platform to the flagpole and quickly tied the flag to it.

The teacher in charge stared intently at Lin Qiye, trembling with anger. He seemed to want to question something, but this was not the right occasion.

Lin Qiye simply chose to ignore his presence. At this moment, he had no energy to consider the teacher's feelings.

As the music changed and the national anthem was sung, the flag slowly rose...

But at the base of the flagpole, a drop of cold sweat slid down Lin Qiye's cheek.

He stared blankly at the leaders around him, then looked down at the sea of students below, his heart sinking as if into an abyss!

"Captain...

You'd better be prepared..."

He muttered to himself.