The City Patrol Guards were very skilled. In just over ten minutes, they had skinned and dismembered the giant wolf's corpse, methodically pulling out black bags they had prepared beforehand.
Blue patterns were woven into their surface, and when the bags were opened, wisps of cold air escaped.
The students around them grumbled in low voices.
"The first line of defense, the Fort Guards, are ten kilometers outside the city. There are City Patrol Guards on patrol in between. This Gluttonous Wolf is only a Tier One Mutant Species; it's impossible for it to have broken through all those defenses."
"This must have been deliberate. They're just trying to scare us."
The one who spoke pushed up his glasses, which had a clear crack running across one lens. His analysis seemed sound, but it only earned him a round of laughter.
"Anyone can talk big after the fact. I wonder who it was that nearly buried his head in the ground just now."
The bespectacled young man's face flushed as he explained, "What do you know? A Gluttonous Wolf hunts mainly by smell. I was masking my scent."
The group erupted in laughter. After this sudden incident, their relationships had actually become much more harmonious. They had discovered they were all the same pathetic bunch; no one was any better than anyone else.
"I've never heard anyone who's left the city mention a Mutant Species suddenly popping out to scare them. Are they really keeping it that secret?"
After everything was packed away, the team re-formed and set out again. The rest of the journey was uneventful.
As time passed, the grayish-white fog slowly darkened to black. Visibility dropped until they could barely see more than two or three people in front of or behind them.
"Halt!"
Hu Xiang's powerful voice cut through the fog, reaching everyone's ears clearly.
"Prepare to make camp," he commanded in a deep voice. The students, who had been holding their breath in concentration, felt their tense minds finally relax.
The City Patrol Guards were already in motion. They pulled white crystal pillars from their backpacks and arranged them in a hexagon surrounding the entire group.
Then, on command, they twisted the knobs at the base of the pillars.
VMMMM—
White light flowed like tassels between the crystal pillars before linking together, forming a milky-white Energy Shield that covered the whole group. The fog within the shield gradually dissipated.
"So these are Camp Pillars. This is the first time I've seen them deployed..."
The students discussed this in low voices, feeling as though something from their textbooks had just come to life.
The Energy Shield's perimeter gradually expanded, eventually enclosing a fairly spacious area where small tents were quickly pitched.
In the central area, the City Patrol Guards on logistics duty had already set up a metal furnace. They took out small, crimson crystal blocks, drew flames from within them, and began roasting the meat they had carved from the beast earlier. The fat sizzled audibly.
They had been walking for the better part of the day, their minds on high alert. Their Physical Strength was heavily drained, and everyone was ravenous. Now, smelling the aroma of roasting meat, their eyes lit up.
"This stuff is pretty nourishing for you all." Hu Xiang pulled out his Black Iron Dagger, sliced off a piece of roasted meat, and casually tossed it to Zhou Zhong.
"Thank you, Captain..." Zhou Zhong was inwardly smug but maintained a humble expression.
The others secretly pouted, filled with envy and jealousy.
Hu Xiang acted as if he hadn't noticed. He cut off another piece, paused in thought for a moment, and then, under the crowd's eager eyes, casually tossed it.
Su Chen caught the large piece of roasted meat, much to his surprise. The other students stared at each other, completely stunned.
No one was surprised that Hu Xiang showed special consideration for Zhou Zhong; after all, his father was a big shot in the city.
'But what about this Su Chen? What's so special about him that Hu Xiang would single him out?'
'During the Gluttonous Wolf attack, the guy was obviously hiding behind Bai Fengxi. He seems like a total coward.'
Hu Xiang saw their exchanged glances and sighed internally. 'This will be the little guy's last meal. Letting him eat his fill might ease some of this guilt.'
Hu Xiang cut another piece and popped it into his mouth. The others began taking the meat handed out by the City Patrol Guards and stuffing it into their own mouths.
"This tastes pretty good..." Su Chen took a bite. The meat was tender, and not only that, a pleasant warmth began to spread through his body.
'Why does this feel almost like I drank a Blood Circulation Potion...'
After a couple more bites, Su Chen couldn't help but ponder the changes he felt in his body.
'Don't tell me the ingredients for Blood Circulation Potions come from these Mutant Species? No wonder those City Patrol Guards didn't even leave the bones behind. They must be valuable too...'
Realizing the benefits, Su Chen wasn't about to pass them up. He began to eat voraciously, stuffing one piece after another into his mouth. His hands were slick with grease, and his wild eating style drew more than a few stares.
"This guy is really... something else..." someone remarked.
"Liu Liang, we're all classmates here. Watch your mouth," Zhou Zhong said, feigning displeasure. "Student Su Chen may be a refugee, but everyone has their own way of eating. There's no need to mock him."
The student named Liu Liang looked completely bewildered. 'Who was mocking him? All I did was make an observation.'
'Wait... a refugee?'
"A refugee?" Shen Ying'er, who was sitting nearby, looked over in astonishment. "He's a refugee? How could Teacher Jiang He possibly take an interest in..."
"Oh, you didn't know?" Zhou Zhong feigned surprise, as if he'd let it slip by accident.
Su Chen glanced up at him. 'A student dying outside the city requires a very detailed investigation report, doesn't it?'
He continued to stuff meat into his mouth, appearing completely absorbed in his food. For a moment, the atmosphere grew strange.
Everyone could see that Zhou Zhong was targeting Su Chen, but no one said a word. As for Su Chen's identity as a refugee, most of the students present didn't have any strong feelings about it.
They weren't from wealthy city families; their backgrounds were average, so they had no reason to look down on refugees. It was more shocking than anything else.
Only a few of them looked at Su Chen with a newfound distance in their eyes.
Zhou Zhong grew even more annoyed when he realized Su Chen was ignoring him. He had been holding back ever since they left the city, following his father's instructions. Now, when he finally tried to put Su Chen down, it was like punching cotton—completely ineffective.
"Alright, time to assign the night watch," Hu Xiang said, standing up and cutting off any potential argument. "The City Patrol Guards will be the primary watchmen, each paired with a student. We'll rotate in three shifts."
This was an important part of their field experience, so the students weren't surprised; they had heard about it in advance.
The shifts were quickly arranged: three groups of fifteen, who would stand guard in a fifty-to-one-hundred-meter perimeter around the camp, looking out for one another.
Su Chen was assigned to the first shift.
"...Your top priority is to watch for danger. Even if your partner dies right in front of you, you are not to engage..."
Su Chen was partnered with a veteran soldier named Zhao Lei.
He told Su Chen to call him "Old Zhao." His temples were already gray, and he calmly and deliberately went over the safety procedures.
Everyone else had already returned to their tents to rest. They, however, walked out of the barrier and split up, heading toward their respective watch posts.
The fog began to move faster, and the wind moaned.
In the night fog, the glow-lamp on Old Zhao's back only illuminated a meter or two around them. Beyond that was pitch darkness.
"This should be the spot..." Old Zhao said, anchoring their position with a locating device that displayed a string of numbers. He glanced at Su Chen and asked curiously, "Are you really a refugee?"
"Yes," Su Chen admitted openly.
"That's impressive..." Old Zhao said with genuine admiration. Remembering the incident during the day, he couldn't help but add, "That Zhou Zhong fellow seems to be targeting you because of someone named Jiang He. It couldn't have been easy for you to get into the academy. Just hang in there, and it'll blow over."
"Jiang He?" Su Chen paused. "You mean Bai Fengxi, right?"
'These City Patrol Guards are quite professional. They didn't pry into our business on the way here. He must have just overheard something when the meat was being handed out this afternoon.'
'He must have overheard Shen Ying'er's unfinished sentence and assumed the issue was about Jiang He.'
"That girl's name is Bai Fengxi?" Old Zhao asked, confused. "But the other one... the expressive girl, she said something like 'How could Teacher Jiang He possibly take an interest in you...'"
"Jiang He is a teacher at the academy," Su Chen explained.
"A teacher?" Old Zhao froze. As if realizing something, his expression as he looked at Su Chen changed several times.
"Yes. She's the one who got me into the academy," Su Chen explained, seeing the old man's hesitant expression.
Old Zhao held back for a long moment, recalling the advice he'd just given. Finally, he managed to squeeze out a single word: "Impressive..."
Su Chen just smiled and said nothing.
The night watch was exceedingly dull, but the two had broken the ice and began to chat on and off.
...
Meanwhile, another point of glowing light was moving through the darkness.
"...The City Patrol Guard camp should be just ahead..." one of them, a gaunt man, said. He was also holding a positioning device and checking the direction. "Intel says our guy will be assigned to watch the southeast corner of the camp."
"At 10 p.m., he'll be there alone. We have three minutes to grab him and get out."
"Fuck, this night is creepy as hell..." the other man, who was fat with crowded features, grumbled. "Just for some refugee, they're making the two of us come out here and go through this bullshit."
The gaunt man with the device frowned. "Enough," he snapped. "This guy is connected to the deaths of Old Ghost and Da Zhuang. We can't afford any mistakes."
"It's eight o'clock. We still have two hours. Don't get too close, or you'll alert the City Patrol Guards."
...
"...Ruins, you ask?" Old Zhao said with a wistful sigh. "Those things were apparently left behind a long, long time ago. There's plenty of good stuff inside them. Weapons, materials, technology, even information on Professions—almost all of it was unearthed from ruins..."
"But they're also incredibly dangerous. Six or seven years ago, I was temporarily assigned to a newly discovered ruin. You wouldn't believe it—the ruin was the corpse of a giant beast bigger than a mountain. Every Mutant Species inside had the power of a Professional..."
Su Chen listened intently, soaking up the new information.
Suddenly, the positioning device in Old Zhao's hand began to vibrate in a specific, repeating pattern.
His expression flickered. He frowned, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "Su Chen, looks like we've got something. I'm going to check it out..."
"If I'm not back in three minutes, you go report it."
"Shouldn't I go with you?" Su Chen asked.
"Follow your orders," Old Zhao said gravely. Without further explanation, he left the lamp with Su Chen and crept cautiously into the darkness.
...
「A short while later.」
"Old Zhao..." A voice suddenly spoke right in front of him, making Old Zhao jump. He took a closer look, and after they exchanged the countersign, he finally relaxed. "Captain, what are you doing here?"
Hu Xiang wore a complicated expression and didn't reply. Old Zhao didn't think much of it and turned to leave. "I'll head back, so that kid Su Chen doesn't raise a false alarm."
"Su Chen... is already dead," Hu Xiang said with a sigh of resignation.
"Dead... He's dead?" Old Zhao stopped in his tracks. He turned back, stunned, and asked anxiously, "What happened? What got him?"
He assumed it was some creature lurking in the dark, but when Hu Xiang remained silent, the truth dawned on him. "Captain... it was you?" he asked in disbelief.
Hu Xiang took a deep breath and shook his head. "It was a Fog Nightmare. You fought with all your might but were overwhelmed. I arrived a step too late and was only able to save you. Do you understand?"
"Captain... how could you..." Old Zhao's face contorted, his eyes filled with an unspeakable disappointment. In the end, he could only say dejectedly, "I understand."
...
Su Chen stared into the distant darkness, hesitating. 'This is my first time out here. It's probably best to follow the rules. Besides, I'm only a Tier One Professional.'
But a moment later, Su Chen's gaze suddenly snapped in a different direction, his expression turning to one of shock and suspicion.
Within his blurry Mental Perception, two people were stealthily approaching his position.
His perception range had been suppressed to only three or four meters, which meant they were practically on top of him.
'Why would two people suddenly appear out of nowhere?' Su Chen's heart went cold as his guard shot up.
In his perception, the two figures split up, closing in on him in a pincer movement.
'They're coming for me?' A cold glint flashed in Su Chen's eyes.
'Who sent them? Zhou Zhong? Qi Chuan? Or... Jiang He?'