On the edge of the star system where Planet Golden Bridge is located, a desolate, brownish-yellow planet is slowly rotating, its surface covered with numerous impact craters.
Inside a meteorite crater, a spaceship with its camouflage system activated has transformed into a large rock and is quietly parked in place.
Inside a dimly lit room inside the spaceship, several Ashes members shrouded in shadow were discussing something.
"Mountbatten has been captured by the Alliance, and Dimen has also been taken into custody by the Blood Clan," one of them said, his voice devoid of any emotion.
"They probably won't betray the organization, right? Should we send someone to silence them?" Another person raised their hand, made a downward slashing gesture in the air, and spoke in a sinister tone.
"No need. Mountbatten and Dimen have already brainwashed themselves before the operation began, erasing everything about the organization from the depths of their souls. Even if we conduct a soul search on them, we can only obtain the information we want the Alliance to know. Unless God Level expertise in soul science, it's virtually impossible to find any clues."
"That's good. It will make the Crimson Alliance's human side believe that the Blood Clan instructed Mountbatten to do it, which will further exacerbate the conflict between the two groups."
Even if the Crimson Alliance's leadership can hold back for the sake of the bigger picture for the time being, once a trigger is given, all the pent-up conflicts will erupt at once, making it difficult for the Crimson Alliance to avoid disintegration!
"According to reliable intelligence, the human side of the Crimson Alliance has engaged in fierce conflict with the Ross Family of the Blood Clan, and it seems that the Blood Clan' power within the Alliance's military is about to be further reduced."
"Heh, it seems that although we were outmaneuvered by those old fogies of the Crimson Alliance and lost an Epic expert in this operation, we still gained a significant strategic advantage."
"That's right, in the end we still make a little more money."
"I just didn't expect the Crimson Alliance to be so ruthless, willing to use so many geniuses as bait. If the bait hadn't been so tempting, we wouldn't have invested so much," one of them said bitterly.
Another person spoke calmly, "The Crimson Alliance was also well-prepared, with the Emerald Heart secretly accompanying them. No one died, did they? They're not entirely cold-blooded. As for our losses, one Epic and one altar are all we have; the organization can afford it."
"I'm afraid the Sea Dragon Alliance will cause trouble. After all, they lost three Epic beings, especially that Gold Dragon. Dragon Island probably won't let this go."
"That's not our responsibility; let the higher-ups worry about it."
"Haha, that's right. Now the Sea Dragon Alliance is begging us Ashes. They're just three Epic, not Demigod. They'll compromise."
"Alas, what a pity about Mountbatten and Dimen. The organization doesn't have many such assassins; every loss is heartbreaking."
"Rest assured, the organization will not forget their contributions."
The sounds in the room gradually subsided, eventually fading into complete silence.
With a slight tremor, the rock, disguised as a spaceship, suddenly rose into the air and disappeared into the vast sea of clouds, as if it had never existed there at all.
As dawn breaks, tearing through the heavy Nightfall, a red sun rises in the east, illuminating countless mountains and rivers.
After being ravaged overnight, Red Stone Canyon Manor has been reduced to ruins.
On a raised patch of land, students from the four academies gathered in small groups, basking in the warm sunshine. The warmth radiating from the sun made them feel as if they had been reborn.
"Lancelot, are you planning to go it alone or with a team?" Cage, who was gnawing on an unknown beast leg, looked up at the tall boy in front of him and asked curiously.
Two hours ago, the Alliance issued a notice that after this Scavenger Operation, all students will be split up, either going alone or forming teams of 3 to 5 people to go to various parts of Planet Golden Bridge to eliminate forces or individuals, including the Chosen Ones, that resist the Alliance's rule and threaten social order.
In short, the goal is to prevent them from gathering together again, lest they be wiped out by the enemy.
The reasons given were quite reasonable; what could the students say besides muttering a few complaints to themselves?
If you don't mention the bait, the higher-ups will naturally provide compensation.
If you shout loudly, you won't get any good results.
There are very few fools among those who can enter the top universities. Even a student like Vermila, with complicated feelings, would never break ties with the Alliance's higher-ups over this issue.
Know what to say and what not to say.
Since the students are going to split up and act independently, most students will choose to form teams first; after all, there are only a very small number of well-rounded individuals.
As a result, Lancelot and other Tier Seven combatants became highly sought-after, receiving numerous invitations.
Especially Lancelot.
His team from the Holy Sword Academy shone brightly in the early morning operation. They not only precisely avoided the enemy's ambush, but also single-handedly confronted one Tier Eight Transcendent and two Seventh-Tier Transcendent, which was simply unbelievable.
With someone like that in the army, military merits are practically guaranteed.
After Cage spoke, Gosdo, Jilong, Vermila, and the others around him all looked over, waiting for Lancelot's reply.
Disappointingly, Lancelot quickly gave his answer, smiling faintly as he said, "I'm prepared to travel alone."
Upon hearing this, Cage swallowed the piece of meat he was chewing, wiped his mouth hastily, and nodded, saying, "Although I'm a little disappointed, I respect your choice. With your abilities, the gains from going it alone are indeed much greater than those from forming a team."
The others nodded in agreement.
Vermila laughed and patted Lancelot on the shoulder, saying, "I'm not as clever as you. I've already teamed up with Damu. How about we have a competition to see who gets more military merits after the operation?"
"You and me?" Lancelot pointed to himself in surprise, thinking to himself, "This girl's pretty arrogant, doesn't she have any self-awareness?"
Vermila knew, of course, that she was no match for Lancelot one-on-one, and quickly waved her hand, saying, "Ahem... it's definitely not just the two of us. What I mean is, how about you compete against my entire squad? Let's set the bet at 500 military merits, how about it? You're so strong, you certainly won't refuse, right?"
"I see..." Lancelot stroked his chin, deep in thought.
Before he could even speak, Keaton interjected, "How about I join? Our team is in too."
"Me too!"
"I'll participate too!"
Students began to enthusiastically sign up, and the crowd's enthusiasm attracted even more people to gather.
Ultimately, all the students from the four academies decided to participate in this military merit competition.
Seeing this, Lancelot's eyes flickered slightly. He stood up and suggested, "In that case, let's all contribute some of our military merits and pool them together. After the operation, we can select some of the winners, such as the top ten, and distribute their merits. The higher the ranking, the more merits they will receive. What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances.
"Huh? Isn't this just the prize pool mission in the game?" Vermila scratched her head.
"That's right, it's a similar principle. What do you think?" Lancelot asked with a smile.
"I think it's alright, but this makes the current team division seem a bit unfair," Vermila said.
"Vermila is right. I have no objection to the competition format, but we must balance the strength of each team. Otherwise, wouldn't we be giving away our military merits for nothing?" A student from the Constellation stepped forward and said. His gaze lingered on Lancelot, Keaton, and several other people with Tier Seven combat power, and his meaning was self-evident.
"That's right, if we proceed in this way, the strength of the teams must be relatively balanced..."
Many people stood up and spoke.
And so, with everyone contributing their ideas, the originally rudimentary competition framework was refined.
"That's all the rules, and the teams have been reassigned. Does anyone have any objections now?"
Lancelot looked around and asked.
"It's gone!" everyone said in unison.
"In that case, let's each go our separate ways and meet again after the operation is complete."