Time Walkers in the Autumn Hunting Team
"The Shadow Struggle is supposed to be a system where nine people start on equal footing and compete fairly," Li Shutong chuckled by the campfire. "But where in this world is there absolute fairness? Behind each Shadow Candidate stands a different family faction, and they will do everything in their power to help the one they support in this competition."
"The fourth branch of the family supports Qing Huai. Who supports the other candidates?" Qing Chen asked curiously.
"It's not just the fourth branch that supports Qing Huai; the third branch, whose place you took, is also supporting him, and even some collateral branches of the Li family are supporting him. He's being given high hopes," Li Shutong laughed. "Once your teacher helps you kill Qing Huai, these people will have nowhere to cry."
Qing Chen found it strange. "I can understand the third branch choosing a side. If Qing Huai can become a shadow in the future, he will naturally benefit the third branch. But what does this have to do with the Li family?"
"Because Qing Huai's grandmother is from the Li family," Li Shutong said with a smile. "These large conglomerates have long been deeply entrenched. For example, the marriage alliance that the Kamishiro Family is trying so hard to promote is like this. It's like Kamishiro Kono marrying you, and you becoming a shadow. In the First Generation, you might be able to control the Kamishiro Family from influencing the Qing family, but what about the descendants? Will Kamishiro Kono's son remember his mother's kindness in raising him and treat the Kamishiro Family a little better? This kind of influence is long-lasting and subtle."
"Could you please stop using me and Kamishiro Kono as examples?" Qing Chen found it a bit odd...
Li Shutong laughed and said, "What's there to be shy about? If you like her, I'll take care of this for you before I get down to business. You don't need to wait for any three-year agreement."
"Please stop, don't go on," Qing Chen quickly changed the subject. "So, the head of the Qing family was worried about the aftermath of the marriage alliance, which is why he arranged for a member from the most peripheral branch of the family to marry into the family, so as not to affect the future generations of the Qing family?"
"I have no idea," Li Shutong said meaningfully. "Qing Xun, the current head of the Qing family, is an extremely mysterious person. He rarely appears in the public eye, rarely makes any decisions directly, and very few people can guess his thoughts."
Qing Chen muttered, "This endless drama of nine sons vying for the throne in the Qing family generation after generation, turning everyone into foes for each other, isn't that a waste of so many talented people?"
"Not necessarily," Li Shutong laughed. "In the middle of the Shadow Struggle, some candidates who know they can't win will choose to back down. For example, Qing Huai has gained a huge advantage, and many people feel that if they continue to fight, they might die. So these people will give up their ambitions and support Qing Huai instead."
Just like a real power struggle, Yongzheng's path to the throne was fraught with factions, including the Crown Prince's faction, the Fourth Prince's faction, the Eighth Prince's faction, and so on.
However, for some weaker individuals, choosing a stronger one to follow is indeed the optimal solution.
Qing Chen asked, "So now, is Qing Huai the best among the candidates?"
"It's too early to tell. Nobody can say for sure about these things at the beginning," Li Shutong explained with a smile. "However, after graduating from the Spark Military Academy, Qing Huai went straight to the rank of lieutenant and is now holding a substantive position in the Federation Second Army Group. In that respect, he is better than many of the Shadow Candidate."
"What level of strength does he possess?" Qing Chen asked.
"We don't need to think about that for now," Li Shutong said. "There's no need to waste our energy on a dead man."
Qing Chen: "..."
Just then, two people emerged from a tent in the nearby Autumn Hunting Camp.
The two men were gesticulating wildly and laughing foolishly. Li Shutong sighed, "Two more people addicted to Dopamine chips. There have been too many disappointing things happening in the conglomerate in recent years."
The two men slowly approached the campfire. One of them suddenly stared at Li Shutong and Qing Chen and grinned foolishly, "You two servants, hurry up and add some firewood to our campfire! All you do is eat and be lazy! Can't you see our campfire is about to go out?"
Qing Chen's heart tightened as he saw Li Shutong raise his eyebrows and prepare to get up.
He quickly grabbed the teacher's arm. "I'll go add firewood."
As he spoke, Qing Chen quickly and skillfully rekindled the campfire at the Autumn Hunting Camp.
The two spoiled brats then returned to their tents with silly grins.
Qing Chen looked at his Li Shutong and said, "Were you about to take action just now? There was really no need. I can handle this kind of thing. Please don't do it. I'm afraid you'll kill them all."
Li Shutong sighed, "Xiao Chen, the teacher is under tremendous pressure to keep them alive."
Qing Chen: "..."
Okay, okay, you're the strongest, whatever you say is right.
He glanced down at the countdown on his arm.
Return countdown: 166:45:21.
Another seven days have passed.
"I'm going to sleep," Li Shutong said. "Aren't you going to sleep yet? Yiyi has prepared a tent for you."
"Teacher, can you not be so gossipy?" Qing Chen said, both amused and exasperated. "You should go to sleep. I'm going to observe here for a while."
Qing Chen didn't say what he wanted to observe.
The next morning, Jindai was the first to pack up the camp and prepare to set off.
Li Yinuo dragged the spoiled brats who were still sleeping in out of the tent one by one and threw them into the car.
Some of these people were still hungover, while others had taken too much Dopamine steroids.
The entire Autumn Hunting Team consisted of nearly a hundred people, most of whom were like a lump of mud that couldn't be propped up.
Qing Chen whispered to Li Shutong, "No wonder the conglomerate doesn't allow people like this to hold real power. If they did, the empire would have collapsed long ago."
Li Shutong nodded. "The younger generation in the conglomerate is somewhat polarized; the smart ones are exceptionally smart, and the stupid ones are exceptionally stupid."
At this moment, only Nan Gengchen sat silently by the campfire, hugging his knees, watching Li Yinuo throw those people into the car one by one.
Qing Chen could sense that the other person kept trying to glance at him, but he always managed to resist doing his best...
"He's made quite a bit of progress," Qing Chen thought to himself. In the past, this guy would definitely have been unable to contain himself.
Wait a minute, Qing Chen suddenly felt that something was wrong.
He went through his memories again and was shocked to find that one of the playboys was completely different from the one in his memory.
Yesterday, when that spoiled brat first arrived here to camp, he was acting all cheerful and playful.
Today, this person not only sobered up, but also stopped joking and playing with his companions, and instead kept cautiously observing his surroundings.
The other person's detachment from the crowd is not because they are unsociable, but rather because they are getting acquainted with a new and unfamiliar environment.
Qing Chen looked at Li Yinuo. Although the robust girl pretended to be nonchalant, she glanced at the still wary playboy three times in a minute.
The other party also discovered the Time Walker.
However, what the other party didn't know was that there was more than one Time Walker had traveled to the camp this time.
On the other side, a young man was playing and fooling around with other spoiled brats.
It was like a superbly acted performance.
Qing Chen found it interesting.
This time, even a high-level player showed up.
But no matter how the other party acted, they couldn't fool Qing Chen. Not only were their behavior and memories inconsistent, but also...
Qing Chen had seen the other party stick his head out of the tent last night.
Every Time Walker finds themselves in a tent after traversing time, they can't help but want to see the outside world.
This is the significance of his telling Li Shutong to observe for a while longer.