“About what happened this time… I want to apologize to everyone. As the team leader, I put the team in danger without considering that this might happen… And about Zhang Yan… I… I’m sorry. If you still consider me your captain, then remember this mistake of mine. The next time I have to make a decision, remind me of it. But… if you don’t want me as your captain anymore, you can say so. I’m willing to step down.” As Su Lin spoke, his head gradually lowered. His guilt made it impossible for him to meet his teammates’ eyes.
“Su Lin, this wasn’t your fault… Don’t dwell on it. Ever since I entered this jungle, you’ve been the only captain I’ve recognized. I’m sure no one here could’ve handled these things better than you. Have some confidence!” Du Shengjie understood what Su Lin meant and hurried to reassure him.
“Exactly, Su Lin. Who could you hand the captaincy to who’d do a better job than you?” Liu Huiying chimed in. She’d seen everything Su Lin had done for the team along the way, and she wholeheartedly approved of him as their captain.
“All right… If that’s how you feel, I promise I’ll do everything I can to protect every one of you from now on.” Su Lin raised his lowered head a little. Determination burned in his eyes.
“…In that case, let’s pull ourselves together. Who got reward points?” Su Lin’s confidence had begun to return. Remembering the system notification from earlier, he turned to the others and asked.
“I… got 50 points… for an assist…” Wang Tong was clearly exhausted. He’d carried Yueye while taking part in the rescue. Thinking back on what had just happened, the recoil from the pistol on his back had made it hard to keep his footing in the water… He’d been terrified.
“I got 170 points for the kill…” Yueye’s voice came from behind Su Lin. Since earlier, Yueye had been facing the river with their back to the others, lost in thought.
“I got 50 points for an assist too…” Liu Huiying took off her soaked school uniform, revealing the white tank top underneath. Su Lin’s gaze froze for a moment at the fullness of her chest…
“Turn around…” Liu Huiying’s face flushed. Su Lin hurriedly looked away.
“I got 30 points…” Liu Menglong found the little incident amusing and said to Su Lin with a grin.
“So, including my 20 assist points… that makes 320 points in total…!?” Su Lin was a little surprised… He didn’t understand why he’d gotten reward points too.
“Yueye!… Why did you make us stop? Nobody had to die…!” A discordant voice suddenly came from behind, interrupting Su Lin’s thoughts. Wang Qian was aiming the pistol in her hand at Yueye, her hands trembling…
“I saw you make Wang Tong stop…” Wang Qian pointed her chin at Yueye, as if ordering them to raise their hands. She’d been looking for a chance to get something on Yueye ever since their argument began, and she’d watched everything that happened while they crossed the river.
“Yeah, I was just about to ask Wang Tong about that… Why did you make us stop?” asked a medium-height boy with a somewhat round face. He’d been walking behind Wang Tong and was just as confused about what had happened.
“I stopped because Yueye said there was something in the water… No, it’s one thing for Wang Qian to make a false accusation, but why are you piling on too, Zhang Yu?” Wang Tong shook his head helplessly. Zhang Yu wasn’t like this, as far as he knew.
“What do you mean, ‘piling on’? I was just asking because I was curious.” Zhang Yu looked helpless. He realized Wang Tong had misunderstood him…
“I mean… stopping in that situation? You’ve gotta be crazy.” A heavyset boy spoke up… His name was Zhao Zhihua, and he hadn’t been popular even back in middle school. He was the type who only cared about his own interests and never considered anyone else.
“Yueye and Wang Tong made the right call… If Yueye hadn’t spotted something in the water, we would’ve been caught completely off guard, and even more people would’ve died. Don’t go making things up.” Du Shengjie frowned… He thought Wang Qian was being completely unreasonable.
“You’re the ones who did that, if you ask me… You stopped and used us as bait to earn reward points… 320 points. That’s quite a lot… enough to trade for a life…” A thin-faced boy joined in, egging them on… In his view, stopping back there had been the wrong decision.
“We were all in the water, remember? Zhu Chao, what do you mean, we used you as bait?” In an instant, everyone was shouting over one another…
“…The reward points aren’t that much. Everyone, calm down. There’s no need to argue!” Yang Yufeng raised his pistol and fired at the head of the Xiheci bestowed by Xihe… “BANG!” The deafening shot startled everyone.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Su Lin looked at the bullet lodged in its armored scales. The corner of his mouth twitched as he glanced at Yueye in disbelief…
“As you can see… this thing’s scales are incredibly tough. A bullet can’t inflict a fatal wound from the scaled side…” Yang Yufeng gave Yueye a meaningful look…
“So… Yueye did the right thing by making you stop when there was a chance to kill it. If Zhang Yan hadn’t slipped, none of you would’ve died… On the other hand, if Yueye hadn’t told you, or had told all of you about it outright… probably more than one person would’ve died…” Yang Yufeng smiled…
“Give me a break. If she’d warned us, we would’ve run away already…”
“Think about it from a predator’s point of view… Is it easier to hunt a disorganized team, or one where everyone follows the rules?” Yang Yufeng was still smiling. As far as he was concerned, the situation was clear now.
“…”
“All right, that’s not the issue… I have something I want to ask Yueye.” Yang Yufeng looked over at Yueye…
“…Those three shots couldn’t have been a coincidence. To kill the Xiheci, you’d have to see it from above the water, and your aim would have to be dead-on… But clearly, you don’t seem to have either of those things. Most importantly…” Yang Yufeng watched Yueye as if he’d finally caught them in a lie… He deliberately paused.
Yang Yufeng turned the Xiheci over, exposing its soft white belly… There were three deep bullet holes.
“Three shots, all on target… Not a single miss… The last one killed it outright. Your eyes are special, aren’t they? You can see underwater from above the surface… without the water bending your vision?” Yang Yufeng met Yueye’s blue eyes…
“Maybe… I don’t know.” Yueye looked a little frightened, as if their secret had just been laid bare.
“Well… never mind. It’s not a big deal… Anyway, thanks for saving my life…” Yang Yufeng gave Yueye a grateful look…
“I should be thanking you… for speaking up for me.”
Far beyond the forest, atop a snow-covered mountain… a colossal blue dragon opened its golden-amber eyes…
“The scent of blood… Could descendants of my Dragon Clan really still remain in this world?” The giant dragon rose, spreading its enormous wings slightly… stirring up a tremendous gust of wind…
It slowly made its way to the edge of the summit and gazed in the direction Yueye and the others had gone…
“Interesting…” The giant dragon spread its vast wings and soared into the sky, as if all things bowed before it.
