Brother, This Isn't a Romance Show

The Blue Team captain role naturally fell to Chu Lan. After taking the map, he said to his teammates, "Once we hand everything in, let's have a meeting."

Zhang Wen nodded with a smile. "Sure, we'll listen to the captain."

The two girls agreed as well.

Xia Yu smiled faintly. "We'll listen to Brother."

The corner of Chu Lan's mouth twitched. "Just call me Chu Lan."

"Okay, Brother."

"..."

[Holy shit, what's with Xia Yu? Calling him Brother right away?]

[He's not gay and into Chu Lan, is he?]

[Keep that privileged nobody away from our Lan-ge!!! He belongs to Qingqing!]

[Calling someone Brother when he's a grown man over six feet tall—doesn't he find that disgusting?]

[He's so fake and pretentious, I'm seriously gonna puke.]

[Qingqing looks so upset after hearing him call Chu Lan Brother. Xia Yu, I'll kill you!]

Xia Wanqing could not help glancing toward Chu Lan. Seeing the two of them standing together so harmoniously, he felt stifled inside, and a trace of disappointment appeared on his face.

Xiang Ziqi draped an arm around his shoulder. "Qingqing, don't be sad. We're only opponents for now. Pull yourself together. This time, we'll definitely beat Lan-ge!"

He nodded heavily. "Mm!"

After collecting the guests' belongings and leaving them only with water and food for lunch and dinner, the staff all withdrew. The remaining ten people split into two groups and sat together to discuss their respective strategies.

Chu Lan spread out the map. "Take a look. We're here right now. My suggestion is that once the game officially starts tomorrow morning, we head southeast and see whether we can find weapons and food along the way. By nighttime, we should be able to reach Outpost No. 2 and spend the night there."

Xueli looked puzzled and pointed at No. 1 Base, which was closer to their current location on the map. "Why don't we head northeast? Isn't this base closer?"

"This place..."

"Hehe." Xia Yu chuckled. "Brother, were you planning to give the closer base to Qingqing? Brother, this isn't a romance show."

The other three immediately looked up and stared straight at Chu Lan.

He looked a little embarrassed and hurriedly explained, "No. Normally, the closer base would obviously be the better choice. The Red Team is definitely thinking the same thing. If we go to No. 1 Base too, there's a high chance we'll run into them. We have two girls on our team, so there'll be some disparity in strength. If they have weapons, we'll definitely be at a disadvantage. So I thought we should go to Outpost No. 2 instead. It's a little farther, but we might find more equipment on the way. Only when we're fully armed can we improve our chances of winning."

"Oh..." Xueli scratched her head awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't think it through. The captain really is the captain. Amazing, amazing."

Liu Yue sighed. "The two of us girls are still holding everyone back. We'll do our best to find more things and turn the tables on the Red Team!"

Xia Yu also looked apologetic. "Sorry, I misunderstood you, Brother. You're an upright person. You'll definitely put aside petty romantic feelings and lead our camp to victory."

[Why do I feel like Xia Yu is being weirdly sarcastic?]

[Could Xia Yu be shipping Qingqing and Chu Lan too? I actually thought Lan-ge wanted to give the closer base to Qingqing just now. He couldn't bear to let his wife walk so far.]

[It's hard to tell what Xia Yu is thinking for now, but the way he talks is so funny. Romance show, petty romantic feelings—he really knows how to swap out terms for male couples. I hope he doesn't stir up trouble. He can be my mouthpiece and expose the little couple's secrets for me.]

[Can Xia Yu stop calling Chu Lan Brother all the time? What a scheming bitch.]

The Red Team was also having a meeting, but they had not gotten as far as planning their route because one of their members was a rebellious troublemaker.

Xia Wanqing looked helplessly at Qi Ning. "Can we put aside our past grudges for now? Let's win this game first."

Qi Ning had a foxtail grass stem in his mouth, looking carefree and impossible to reason with. "Tch. Do you think our grudge can just be put aside?"

"Will you only be happy if our camp loses?"

"Hmph, then we lose. It's not like I'm short on that little bit of prize money."

"Aren't you afraid the netizens will curse you out?"

"Let them curse. It's not like I haven't been cursed before."

"..."

Xiang Ziqi was furious. "Qingqing, stop talking to him. Once we find weapons, let's kill him first. Without him, the four of us can still win."

Qi Ning looked completely unconcerned. "Then let's see who kills whom first. If you have what it takes to kill me first, once my brother revives me, I'll immediately blast all of you into the Black Room. Then I'll stand guard outside the Black Room door. Every time you revive, I'll kill you again. Hehe, I'll send the Blue Team straight to the peak of victory. Oh, let me tell you a little secret. Last summer, my grandpa threw me into a special forces training camp. My aim is insanely good."

[What the hell, is Qi Ning sick in the head? Whose mentality is he trying to mess with?!]

[Who are you calling sick? Your brain has a tumor and you're terminally ill. Hurry up and find a hole to bury yourself in.]

[For fuck's sake, if privileged nobodies want to play, then play. If not, get lost!]

[He's really going up against the AC Boy Group, isn't he? The Red Team is fucking unlucky to have him!]

Xia Wanqing held back his teammate, whose face had gone red with anger. "What would it take for you to properly play this game with us? Lan-ge has been on military variety shows before, and he's also a good shot. Don't you want to beat him?"

"I can properly play the game with you, but we'll need to agree on three rules."

"Let's hear them."

"First, if we find a good gun, it goes to me. Second, if we find food, I get to eat my fill first. Third, you're not allowed to hit my brother."

Yang Tian frowned. "If we don't hit him, aren't we just handing the win to the Blue Team in the end?"

"I can hit him. If I win, it still counts as a win."

Xia Wanqing hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. "Fine."

"Then add one more rule."

Xiang Ziqi finally snapped. "Don't push your luck!"

Qi Ning brushed the bangs from his forehead. "Then I'll just blast you all to death."

"Say it."

"Let my brother kill you three times."

"..."

He smiled meaningfully. "Not willing? It's just killing you three times in the game. That's only fair, right?"

Xia Wanqing clenched his fist and nodded. "Fine."

"Okay, negotiations over. Captain, start making the battle plan. I can't wait anymore."

[ Ding! Xia Wanqing's resentment value +298. ]

Xia Yu had been boredly listening to Chu Lan's battle plan when he suddenly heard the system notification. He was confused for a moment. Was there network lag? Xia Wanqing had not reacted much when he had spoken to Chu Lan just now, yet his resentment value had risen when no one was talking?

"Host, don't be surprised. Your cousin is helping you out." 001 appeared at just the right time to explain. "Your cousin is pretty interesting. His villain value is quite high too. Well, you've already become the biggest villain, so how could your family members have low villain values?"

He looked toward the Red Team, and Qi Ning winked at him.

"This is great. Let him build up Xia Wanqing's hatred for you over there while you farm Chu Lan's fear value. Working on both fronts, we'll have enough points very soon! Go, Host!"

His gaze fell on Chu Lan, who was speaking eloquently. How should he raise this fear value?

Chu Lan sensed a chilly gaze wrapped around him and suddenly shuddered. When he looked up, he met those unfathomably deep eyes.

Xueli looked puzzled. "Lan-ge, are you cold?"

He quickly lowered his head. "No. Let's continue..."