Nearly a hundred people instinctively gathered around Shi Chun in a fan, eager to talk and get acquainted. They would soon be risking their lives together, after all, yet they still did not even know their leader's name.
The list of leaders selected through the contests had indeed been made public, and they had gathered around the posted notice to read it. But it listed only those who had competed and succeeded; those who had not competed were absent. Nor was Shi Chun the only one appointed directly as a leader without competing.
That was entirely up to Commander Man Xi's judgment. If he felt someone had the strength to be a captain without a contest, that was his prerogative. Whether he was guarding against unforeseen mishaps or putting good steel on the blade's edge, outsiders had no business interfering with how he deployed his troops.
The list contained over two thousand names. Few participants would be idle enough to count all two thousand-odd names, and no one would memorize every name on it.
Beneath the group's feet, stones embedded in the ground spelled out the designation "Three Thousand."
Until they found their assigned positions, they had no idea who their teammates were.
This was purely a matter of secrecy, to prevent the whole battle team's deployment from leaking in advance. The consequences of a leak could be severe. If someone learned where the team's main forces were stationed, the enemy might concentrate its men and wipe them out the moment they entered the field.
There was no helping it. With so many participants, who knew whether other teams had recruited spies among them to pass on information? Arranging things this way meant even a spy would be unable to grasp the situation. For quite some time, they could at