First Transfer

After Shinohara's words came down, only the sound of the wind remained by the old campsite.

The hint of a smile at Kushida's lips froze for a moment.

"I only heard you say last night that walking was uncomfortable..."

"I never told you that." Shinohara cut her off. Her voice was not loud, but it was hard. "Who told you?"

Gu Heng snapped his clipboard shut.

"Let's stop this here for now."

Shinohara immediately turned to him.

"You're going to suppress it again?"

"Yes." Gu Heng admitted it bluntly. "Because if we drag this out for another three minutes, the dynamic evaluation will bite the whole class first."

The terminal screen was still lit.

Current area repeat-stay weighting increasing.

Gu Heng gave them no more time to argue.

"Hirata, lock in the final coordination version. Sakura, the status restriction version only recognizes what each person personally agreed to just now. Kushida, keep the girls' preference version, but you're no longer touching status or positioning."

The corners of Kushida's eyes were a little red, but her hands remained steady.

"I understand."

"You're not going in the first wave." Gu Heng looked at her. "Having you follow behind the girls right now will only make things messier. Stay for the second wave and continue collecting preferences only."

The two girls beside them exchanged glances, but neither spoke up for Kushida.

The fingers hanging at Kushida's side curled slightly. In the end, she hugged the girls' preference version to her chest again.

"Okay."

Shinohara folded her arms, her lips pressed into a flat line. In the end, she did not press the issue further.

She only said, "Then don't write about my situation again."

Sakura immediately lowered her head to look at the status restriction version.

"It doesn't state the reason." She turned the page toward Shinohara. "It only says rear position, no load-bearing. You can skip the water supply line."

Shinohara stared at that line for two seconds before loosening her arms by half an inch.

"...Rear position is fine."

After saying that, she looked away and did not look at Kushida again.

With that, they could finally arrange the first-wave roster.

Gu Heng spread out the map.

"Twelve people go first. Horikita leads, Hirata holds the middle, Sudo guards the rear, and load-bearers take priority."

"Twelve?" Ike Kanji looked at the supplies on the ground. "Isn't that too few?"

"Just right." Horikita answered first. "Any more people and the rear will get stretched apart."

Her finger pressed against the map, tracing a route from the old campsite to the outside of the water source, then to the new base.

"The first wave only takes essential supplies: water, medical kits, two tarps, and basic tools. Everything else stays for the second wave."

Yukimura immediately followed up.

"The supply request is still being processed. If the first wave carries too much, we won't have enough left to support a second maneuver after reaching the new base."

Gu Heng nodded.

"Cut it down according to that."

The people for the first wave were selected quickly.

Sakura and Inokashira were placed in the middle.

Shinohara was placed in the rear, without any load.

Hirata read the names from beginning to end twice.

The first time was to confirm who was leaving.

The second was to confirm who was standing beside whom.

Every time he read a name, that person had to answer for themselves.

No one answered for anyone else.

Hirata held the final coordination version against his knee and checked people off one by one against the status restriction version. Sakura held the sheet that listed only movement restrictions. She did not look up, nor did she explain anyone's reasons.

Kushida stood nearby, the girls' preference version still tucked in her hands.

She only had one question left:

"Do you need me to speak to anyone for you first?"

This time, no one heard a second sentence.

When Sudo hoisted the largest pack onto his shoulder, his shoulder visibly sank.

Horikita glanced at him.

"Your job today isn't to be fast."

"I know." Sudo frowned. "I'm watching whether the last person is still there."

"And don't rush anyone."

"...Got it."

He clicked his tongue, but did not argue back.

The time on the terminal ticked forward.

When the first wave set off, no one shouted a slogan.

There was only the sound of pack straps biting into clothes and shoe soles brushing over wet soil.

Horikita walked at the very front, keeping her pace steady. Every short distance, she paused for half a beat—not to wait for anyone, but to make sure the line had not been split apart.

Hirata moved back and forth through the front-middle, lifting someone's pack strap by one notch whenever their breathing turned uneven, and directly shifting anyone whose steps slowed to a more central position.

Sakura folded the status restriction version into a narrow strip and held it against her palm. She did not look at anyone's face. Whenever Hirata looked back, she quietly reported, "The middle is still together," "The rear hasn't broken," "The short line is still keeping up."

Sudo stayed at the very back.

The supply pack had pulled one of his shoulders lower, but he truly did not pass a single person.

Once, someone in the rear nearly slipped on the wet dirt. Sudo's hand was already halfway out, but he forcibly swallowed the words that had reached his mouth. In the end, all he managed was:

"Watch the ground."

Shinohara did not turn around, nor did she let anyone support her.

She only lowered the hand that had been pressed to her chest and quietly reported how many people were still behind her.

Back at the old campsite, Gu Heng and Yukimura watched the terminal.

Ten minutes later, the prompt on the screen changed for the first time.

Current area repeat-stay weighting decreasing.

Ike Kanji let out a long breath.

"It worked."

"It only means the first wave wasn't wasted," Yukimura said. "It doesn't mean we're safe now."

Soon, status reports from the new base began to come in.

Rear speed below estimate.

Sakura's steps are unsteady.

Shinohara refuses assistance.

The last one was the shortest.

Pack too heavy.

Ike Kanji could not help laughing when he saw those four words, then immediately shut his mouth when Yukimura looked over.

Gu Heng stared at the map and sent back a response.

Rest in place for three minutes.

Horikita, watch the front.

Hirata, stabilize the pace only. No explanations.

Sudo, watch only the last two people. No rushing.

Sudo replied two seconds later.

Nagging.

Then another message followed.

Got it.

Gu Heng left those two words on the screen, lightly tapping the edge with his thumb.

Three minutes later, another report lit up.

Moving again.

Rear has closed up again.

After a while, Hirata sent another message.

Shinohara has started reporting the rear headcount.

Gu Heng raised his eyes slightly.

That was not reassurance.

The team had genuinely stabilized again.

He knew Shinohara was not doing anyone a favor.

She simply did not want her group to lose any more people.

But that was enough.

On an uninhabited island, keeping people in the team was often more useful than sounding impressive.

Gu Heng looked at that message for another second.

He knew Shinohara was not doing anyone a favor.

She simply did not want her group to lose any more people.

When the first wave reached the outer edge of the new base, they were seven minutes behind schedule.

But all twelve people had made it.

Horikita sent confirmation first.

Temporary position secured.

Hirata immediately added another message.

Rear intact.

Below that was the item Yukimura cared about most.

Supply request: processing.

It was still being processed.

Yukimura looked at those four words without relaxing his brow.

"The second wave needs to be cut down further."

"I know."

Gu Heng turned to look at the pile of supplies.

After the first wave left, the old campsite felt noticeably quieter.

The tarps that had not yet been taken down billowed once in the wind, then sagged again, as if reminding everyone that this still looked like a campsite, but was no longer suitable for the whole class to keep lingering in.

Once the first wave left, the empty space at the old campsite had become obvious. If they moved the remaining tarps, tools, and spare water bags according to the original plan, the second wave would only be slower.

Yukimura had already crouched down to sort through the list.

"Leave half the tarps behind."

"Don't collect the empty water bags on the outskirts."

"Take the spare medical supplies and compressed food first. Move everything else back in priority."

Ike Kanji stared at those tarps.

"Leave all of them? Wouldn't that be a waste?"

"If we take them now, people will know at a glance that we've completely left." Yukimura pulled the list back. "Leaving a shell is worth more than saving face."

"And the supplies haven't come through," Gu Heng said. "If the second wave gets delayed, the shell can still buy us a few minutes."

Only after saying that did he lower his head and glance at the terminal.

His terminal vibrated again. It was a follow-up question from Horikita at the new base.

The supplies still haven't come through?

He replied:

No.

When he looked up again after sending the message, two shadows that did not belong to Class D had appeared by the treeline.

They were not passing by.

They had stopped to watch.

Part of a Class C tracksuit showed from behind a tree. Its wearer first swept their gaze over the tarp frames at the old campsite, then paused at the edge of the supplies that had not yet been collected.

Ike Kanji's voice immediately dropped.

"Gu Heng."

"Is that... Class C over there?"

Gu Heng did not answer.

He dimmed the terminal screen, his gaze still fixed on those four words.

Processing.

When he looked up again, the two people behind the trees had stepped closer to the old campsite.

They did not enter right away.

They merely stood there watching, as if confirming how far Class D had progressed in its withdrawal.

The first transfer had succeeded.

But the supplies were still unconfirmed, and the second wave had not yet moved.

And Class C had already reached the edge of the old campsite.