Tensions Rise; A Crisis Is Imminent

"That's what I was thinking too, and if someone from the Kujo Family came, maybe..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka paused, but his eyes revealed his thoughts.

"... A gun?"

"Of course, the Kujo Family itself is Court Noble Clan that has been in power for generations, and has always had its own private army since the daimyo era."

Koenji Rokusuke added that he knew a lot about this kind of thing because the Koenji Family also had a private armed force, and he had seen firearms and such when he was a child.

"This is a dense forest; even if we were to carry firearms, ensuring accuracy would be a major problem."

Hashiba Hikaru wasn't worried. He possessed the skills of [Combat Technique) ] and [Wilderness Survival (Master)], and he also had the Exclusive Talent [Peerless Overlord] to boost his abilities. Even if he encountered a formidable enemy, the boy was confident that he could take them down in the blink of an eye.

"Yes, we are in the shadows, they are in the light."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced down at the digital watch on his wrist. He really wanted to throw it away like Hashiba Hikaru, but too many objective limitations prevented him from doing so.

"Then let's set off. My food should last about two days. If we can't resolve this within two days, things will get a bit complicated."

When she parted ways with Ichinose Honami, Hashiba Hikaru gave most of her food to the two girls, leaving herself with only a small portion.

"I can exchange for food on the beach, Hashiba Boy, don't worry."

Koenji Rokusuke crossed his arms. He had also drawn the [Lead Card], and now he had plenty of shopping points.

"That's good."

Hashiba Hikaru turned to look at the lush forest ahead, where birds flew across the sky, chasing after freedom.

"Let's set off together then, and observe the situation for now."

"Once a vessel is spotted approaching the Uninhabited Island, we must react immediately, understand?"

"Understood."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka tightened his backpack. The bag he was carrying weighed about thirty kilograms, but with his physical condition, he didn't feel tired at all.

"Hashiba Boy."

"What's wrong?"

Hashiba Hikaru turned her head and glanced at Koenji Rokusuke.

"I've come up with another very interesting way to have a competition."

What is it?

"If Ayanokoji Atsuomi and the Kujo Family really do come to the island, how about we have a contest to see who can take down more people?"

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Koenji Rokusuke's lips. His fighting skills had been cultivated since childhood, and coupled with his incredibly strong physique, he could easily escape even when surrounded by several bodyguards.

"..."

Sakayanagi Narimori, who had been sitting on the beach, waited for about half an hour before his phone rang again.

This time, however, it wasn't a phone call, but a text message from the School Board.

[Chairman Sakayanagi.]

[Following a vote by all School Board members, this Special Exam on the Uninhabited Island is now suspended. A special team will be dispatched to the Uninhabited Island to investigate an extremely heinous crime.]

Until the "suspect" is found, all teachers and students must remain on the Uninhabited Island; no one is allowed to leave!

[Please have Chairman Sakayanagi send a group text message to all students' watches and summon all faculty and staff back to the starting point.]

[Note that this is not a letter outlining the outcome of a discussion, but an absolute order. Chairman Sakayanagi is requested to carry it out diligently.]

[Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School Board]

"..."

After reading the text message, Sakayanagi Narimori's face turned extremely ugly.

The next moment, he heard a series of hurried footsteps. It was Chie Hoshinomiya, the homeroom teacher of Class A, and Mashima Tomoya, the homeroom teacher of Class B, rushing over here.

"Chairman, what exactly is going on?"

"Yes, why is the exam suddenly being cancelled?"

These two top-ranked homeroom teachers hold high positions within the teaching staff and received the notification from the School Board around the same time as Sakayanagi Narimori.

"I'm not entirely sure either. I plan to contact the School Board first to inquire about the specifics."

Although Sakayanagi Narimori had guessed that Ayanokoji Atsuomi had obtained all the authorization from the Kujo Family, he did not expect that he would actually go this far.

Exams suspended; islands closed.

Using the pretext of searching for a "suspect" to force people not to leave is simply outrageous.

"Etc..."

Just as Sakayanagi Narimori was about to call the elderly members of the School Board, he suddenly realized that his cell phone had no signal.

"What... what's going on?"

"Chairman!"

A faculty member in work clothes suddenly rushed over from the side, looking very anxious.

"Our devices have all lost signal. It seems like they've been disconnected from the school's base station. Do you know what to do in this situation?"

"..."

Is this Professor Ayanokoji's method?

If cell phone signals are cut off, the people on the island will be unable to contact the Cruise Ship that brought them here, because this Uninhabited Island is larger, but no dock has been built.

The Luxury Cruise Ship was docked at the pier of another island more than ten nautical miles away, and the staff there had no idea what was happening here.

"This is troublesome."

Sakayanagi Narimori rubbed his temples, his face showing some bitterness.

He had been too naive; he never expected Ayanokoji Atsuomi to be so ruthless.

Chapter 846 Tensive Situation, Impending Crisis.

When the homeroom teachers of the three grades and most of the faculty and staff returned to the beach, everyone looked at Sakayanagi Narimori, hoping that he could make up his mind.

"Chairman, wouldn't it be better if we suspended the exam for now? After all, the School Board is about to send someone over."

The homeroom teacher of Class D of the First Year, Shimaku Norinori, stared at Sakayanagi Narimori without expression. He crossed his arms, and his words seemed to carry a hint of reproach.

"Why suspend the exam? Does Professor Sima really think there's a [criminal suspect] among our students?"

Sakayanagi Narimori had no intention of backing down, Ayanokoji Atsuomi's reasons were so outrageous that anyone would be suspicious.

"I believe this is a misjudgment by the School Board, and I will not agree to suspend the exam until I have negotiated with them personally."

"But there's absolutely no cell phone signal right now, how are we supposed to communicate with the School Board?"

The homeroom teacher of Class 2-C, Sakagami Kazuma, asked a question.

"If all else fails, just wait here until the School Board members arrive."

Sakayanagi Narimori knew that Hashiba Hikaru must have thrown away the watch, and that she might be preparing a backup plan at this moment.

He hoped to buy the boys more time; if he simply announced the exam was canceled, the students on the Uninhabited Island would definitely panic.

"I think this is a good idea. After all, we don't really know what the School Board is thinking. What if they've made a mistake?"

Although she was unaware of the details, Sakayanagi Narimori Chie Hoshinomiya immediately and unequivocally sided with Hashiba Hikaru, and that alone was enough for her to say so.

"I think so too. After all, since the school was founded, there has never been a situation where Special Exam was suspended midway."

Mashima Tomoya, the homeroom teacher of Class B of the Second Year, chimed in, saying that he was a steady person and didn't want such a big commotion to happen.

"Hehe, then let's leave it at that."

After seeing that most of the faculty and staff agreed to Sakayanagi Narimori's proposal, Shimaku Norinori naturally didn't say anything more.

"Then let's leave everything as it is."

Just as Sakayanagi Narimori finished speaking, the digital watch that Chie Hoshinomiya had placed on the table to illustrate the rules suddenly started buzzing.

"This is..."

A bad thought flashed through the silver-haired man's mind. He anxiously grabbed the digital watch on the table, and a new message popped up on the screen.

[Attention, students on the Uninhabited Island! We have an urgent message to share.]

[Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Special Exam is now suspended. The watch's score tracking function has been disabled. Please return to the beach as soon as possible.]

"..."

"It seems he already knew I wouldn't follow his orders."

Sakayanagi Narimori sighed deeply, and when he looked up, he found that all the faculty and staff were somewhat silent.

After all, the information had just popped up on the digital watch, and now that the [score] statistics had been forcibly suspended, there was no point in continuing the exam.

"In that case, this exam... will have to be suspended for now."

With so many students to appease, Sakayanagi Narimori had no choice but to issue the order.

"Let's all clean up the beach first. We'll need to calm all the students down later; they must be quite panicked right now."

"Understood."

The faculty and staff on the beach immediately sprang into action, while Sakayanagi Narimori took a deep look at Shimaku Norinori, who was standing in the distance, and wrote down everything that had just happened.

"Teacher Sima, could you lend a hand too?"

"Good."

When the text message appeared on everyone's watches, all the test takers on the Uninhabited Island were startled.

Whether they were third-grade students or first- or second-grade students, none of them had ever encountered this situation before.

The Special Exam was suspended midway through? That's really strange.

Moreover, the school's explanation was a vague one like "force majeure," which makes it hard not to have wild speculations.

Although everyone had many questions, the scoring function of the watch had stopped, and the students naturally understood that there was no point in continuing, so they all moved back to the beach where they started.

Upon seeing the text message, Ichinose Honami and Ibuki Mio showed unusual expressions, as they knew more about the situation.

"Guang... he should be alright, right?"

The girl couldn't help but turn her head to look at the forest behind her. She knew her boyfriend wouldn't return to the beach; after all, this text message meant something big had already happened.

"Ichinose, you don't need to worry too much. That guy Hashiba showed such amazing abilities on the Uninhabited Island last time, he'll definitely be fine this time too."

Ibuki Mio offered a few words of gentle comfort; she had always had a good impression of Ichinose Honami.

"Unfortunately, I can't help him."

"Ichinose, let's hurry back and meet up with our classmates first."

Ibuki Mio gazed into the pink-haired girl's somewhat sorrowful eyes, remembering Hashiba Hikaru's instructions, and then pulled her arm tightly, leading her towards the beach.

On the other side, somewhere deep within the island.

Although Hashiba Hikaru didn't have a watch, her Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Koenji Rokusuke both saw the message.

"Heh, what do you mean by 'force majeure'? What a convenient excuse."

The blond man narrowed his eyes, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"The exam is actually canceled? It seems the Kujo Family has really gone all out this time."

Hashiba Hikaru knew that the Kujo Family was a major shareholder in the School Board, but there would certainly be a price to pay for achieving this.

"If the exam is canceled... what exactly do they plan to do?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought for a moment, and without hesitation, immediately pulled the watch off his wrist after receiving the text message.

"Let's gather all the students together first. Is the next step to search for the island? After all, we're not going to obediently go back."

Hashiba Hikaru smiled. He had just collected a lot of sharp-shaped stones, which would be most effective if they encountered an enemy.