"Mediation"

Human memory can deceive itself.

A typical example is that when many people are memorizing, they often think they have memorized the contents of the book one second, but as soon as they close the book, they are instantly unsure of what they have memorized.

"Thinking you've memorized something, but actually not" is a very common phenomenon.

Now, Lin Xiaolu is also facing this problem.

In the past, whenever there was some friction between team members in Fangting City Squad, Cuique could usually resolve the conflict by Larkspur in. Lin Xiaolu had naturally witnessed these mediation processes, and she was often involved herself. However, when she tried to recall Larkspur's actions now, she could only remember some very vague details.

She could recall how she felt when Larkspur cheered her up, and she could also recall the disappointment she felt when Lark sternly stopped her, but apart from these feelings, she couldn't extract any useful experience.

In other words, even if she tells herself to "do it like the Larkspur," she can hardly replicate the Larkspur's actions completely.

The conflict on the scene was about to erupt, and it seemed that Mint and Bai Jingxuan were about to fight each other. There was no time for her to slowly recall the events.

Let's just go ahead with it.

Strengthening her resolve, Lin Xiaolu pursed her lips and then stepped between the two before Bai Jingxuan could actually make a move.

"I'm sorry, but I think I need to stop you for a moment."

She put on a stern face, mimicking the words and expressions of the Larkspur remembered, and said to Arrowroot, "Please stop trying to sow discord among my teammates. If you're only planning to fight because of personal grudges, I think there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Fighting during this assessment will only cause unnecessary losses."

As she said this, she tugged at Bai Jingxuan's clothes. "You two calm down. Even if the other party provoked us first, that's not a reason for us to abandon our achievements."

"But this person is really annoying."

Lin Xiaolu's words caused Bai Jingxuan to pause slightly, but the hostility on her face did not diminish. "Sister White Rose, this person is absolutely a very, very bad guy, and even now, she's still thinking of some evil plan! We should take her down quickly!"

Bai Jingxuan's attitude seemed quite unyielding, so Lin Xiaolu had no choice but to look at Mint, wanting to say a few words of persuasion.

"I'm sorry, but while I'd like to say we should act rationally, giving in to this guy is unacceptable to me."

However, Mint displayed a completely different demeanor than before, giving Lin Xiaolu no chance to persuade her. Her pleasant and refreshing aura faded considerably, replaced by a coldness. "You're outsiders, so you don't need to get involved in my conflict with her. Just leave."

"Oh? Who gave you permission to leave?"

Arrowroot interrupted Mint almost simultaneously, ignoring Lin Xiaolu and staring intently at Bai Jingxuan: "Since this little girl dares to bare her fangs at me, I will not let her leave until the battle is decided."

"Why do you have to drag an outsider into our business?" Mint said sarcastically.

"You know whether she's an outsider or not," Arrowroot grinned slightly. "In fact, you probably noticed it even before I did, right? This little girl is clearly one too..."

She trailed off mid-sentence, but Mint unexpectedly fell silent; clearly, she knew what Arrowroot had left unsaid.

The atmosphere at the scene grew even more somber.

"Calm down! Didn't you hear me? Calm down!"

Even though Lin Xiaolu kept trying to stop them, no one listened to her. It was as if some strange magnetic field had been generated between the three of them, causing them to become more and more entangled in their hostile relationship.

When Arrowroot was the first of the three to transform into a bat and reveal her "Magic Armament," Lin Xiaolu knew that her attempt had failed.

No matter how much she imitated the Larkspur from her memory, trying to "present the facts and reason," she was ultimately only mimicking a demeanor. In reality, she didn't know much about Arrowroot and Mint, and her understanding of Bai Jingxuan was far less than Larkspur's. Therefore, she could only offer some broad and general principles, but she couldn't tailor her approach to each person's individual personality.

She couldn't do that like Larkspur.

Lin Xiaolu realized this.

Her failure would lead to a battle, and at that point, their team's assessment would likely be completely over.

Lin Xiaolu could not accept this.

She wanted to get good grades, to stand out from the crowd, to be at the top of her class, and to make those who cared about her proud... To her, it was incomprehensible to ruin the entire team's exam results for such an absurd reason in a place like this.

Lin Xiaolu gripped the Magic Armament tightly in her hand.

The black mist formed from Arrowroot had already enveloped Bai Jingxuan and Mint, while Bai Jingxuan held the music box, her vertical pupils appearing and disappearing in the mist. Mint had also completely concealed half of her face in her hood, while putting her hands into her coat pockets...

"I told you to stop! Didn't you hear me?!"

The sudden shouts and the abruptly slashing spears cut off both sides' attacks.

Lin Xiaolu stood angrily between the two sides, yelling at Mint, "Have you lost your mind? You acted like a reliable strategist on the way here, but you've gone crazy at this crucial moment? I don't care what grudge you have against her, do you know that fighting here will affect your grades, and even mine? Can't you have a little sense of responsibility?"

After berating Mint so harshly that Mint was stunned, she turned to Bai Jingxuan and said, "What are you doing now? Don't you care about your score? Are you planning to go back to Fangting City with a zero? You finally made it here to take the exam and get a proper result, and you're just going to let your seniors down like this? Do you think Larkspur and that woman Margaret will think if you fail?"

This barrage of insults made Bai Jingxuan stop what she was doing completely.

"And you too!"

After speaking to her two teammates, Lin Xiaolu turned to Arrowroot: "I've been wanting to get rid of you for a long time, you arrogant jerk. What are you doing? Do you just love fighting? I've told you not to bother my teammates, but you keep pestering me. Aren't you annoying? Don't you have anything to do? You've finished clearing all the nodes, so hurry up and leave! Do I have to tell you to get lost?"

"... Oh."

Being verbally abused like that, Arrowroot's expression was naturally not good. However, compared to the malicious smile she wore when facing Mint earlier, her expression now was more ambiguous and uncertain:

"Interesting. Can I take that as you also want to provoke me?"

"Provocation? I'm insulting you, don't you understand!"

Lin Xiaolu slammed her spear on the ground. "You want to fight? Go ahead, do you really think I'm afraid of you? But fighting in this assessment is just idiotic, isn't it? If you really want to fight, find another place, and I'll beat you until you scream in pain!"

"So, what you mean is?" Arrowroot asked again.

"This is only the first test! There will be more tests later where we'll have to compete against each other, right? Let's have a real test then! Let's see who's better, not just talk the talk!" Lin Xiaolu said with disdain.

"Um..."

Logically speaking, Arrowroot should have been furious by now, but surprisingly, her expression remained relatively calm.

"It seems pretty good."

After listening to Lin Xiaolu's suggestion, she actually had time to think about it for a moment, then nodded, and suddenly smiled and said, "Then it's settled."

"... Huh?" Lin Xiaolu had already prepared herself for a tough battle and then led the team to get rid of this guy, but she didn't expect that he would be so easy to talk to.

"I think your suggestion is acceptable. Since this project doesn't encourage infighting, let's find another project."

Arrowroot solidified its body and landed on the ground. "It's rare for someone to dare to issue me such a challenge so arrogantly, and you don't seem to be the kind of complete fool who lacks both ability and vision... In that case, it's not a bad thing to change things up once in a while. Let me confirm with you again, you mean you want to have a proper showdown with me in the later projects, right?"

"If you're not afraid of getting beaten up!" Lin Xiaolu arrogantly brandished her fist.

"Very good."

Arrowroot nodded, then suddenly composed himself.

"Deal, I'll remember you."