"Ishizaki, go back and keep an eye on Sudo's line."
"Ibuki, watch Hirata."
"I'll keep an eye on Horikita and Gu Heng myself."
In the curtain of rain, Ryuuen's orders were torn apart by the wind.
But Gu Heng remained behind the tree roots and caught every word that mattered.
Ayanokoji tilted his head toward him.
"Enough?"
"Enough."
Gu Heng turned his terminal over and checked the time.
Rainwater streamed down the edge of the screen.
The internal log was still paused at the point where they had just lured Ryuuen to the north side of the Old Water Source.
"What they can least afford to lose right now isn't that fake point."
"It's the few minutes they just wasted."
After saying that, he turned toward the bonfire.
"Hirata."
Hirata immediately looked up.
"Here."
"Start the second round early."
"Make them pay back every minute they just lost."
Hirata didn't ask why.
He pressed down the half-sheet of relay assignments in his hand.
"Ike, send the empty bags back to the inner ring first, then reinforce the west side."
"Sakura, hand the medical bag to Karuizawa for three minutes. Go reorganize the people with poor stamina."
"Sudo, move from left front to right rear. Yamauchi will fill the gap you leave."
"Kushida, keep the girls' line where it is. Only collect empty bags from the outside. No regrouping early."
"Yukimura, update the public record. Write down every position change."
Every order was brief.
And every one landed precisely on the person it was meant for.
Gu Heng didn't repeat himself.
One more sentence of explanation now would only give back the time they had just won.
Ike Kanji was the first to dash out.
He slung the empty bags they had just collected over his shoulder. Instead of piling them