The man who raised his hand was a burly fellow with a buzz cut and tattoos—clearly a tough character you wouldn't want to provoke.
Marcus glanced at him and nodded. "Fine. Ask."
"Proctor, you said we have to bring the ore crate back to Blackstone City intact, but you didn't say it had to be our original crate. If someone intentionally destroys another group's crate or steals their crystal batteries along the way, does that count as a violation?"
Hearing the brute lay it out so bluntly, Byrne cursed him silently as an idiot.
This had been an implicit rule—one that probably only a small fraction of the forty-nine groups had realized. Those who had caught on would have had the advantage of surprise, whether for offense or defense. But this man had gone and shattered the glass. Now everyone knew, and the journey back was likely to turn into a chaotic mess.
The candidates who had already figured out this "hidden rule" glared venomously at the man. Meanwhile, the less savvy candidates—who had been naively hoping to mind their own business and avoid trouble—saw their faces turn grim. They looked to Marcus, praying for a reassuring denial.
Instead, Marcus reacted as if he'd heard a hilarious joke. He let out a short bark of a laugh and strode toward the burly man. Standing two heads taller than the candidate and radiating pressure in his heavy armor, he stared down at him. "I'm sorry, I never said that was a violation."
An uproar swept through the crowd. Marcus ignored the shock and spread his hands.
"The goal of my test is to survive. To complete the mission, you may use any means necessary. Steal batteries, destroy crates, or even eliminate your competition directly—it's all fair game. There are only three rules you must actually follow:
"First: Ensure your ore crate is intact, even if it's one you stole. Second: No infighting within your own group; you are partners, not enemies. Third: No outside help; you cannot cooperate with other groups.
"Remember, from the moment you step out of these gates, you can rely only on yourself and your teammate. Anyone who dares violate these three rules will end up far worse than that idiot Sonny."
The candidates who had been clinging to hope finally abandoned their illusions. Marcus's words had set a "law of the jungle" tone for this special test. To them, this wasn't an exam anymore; it was a raw struggle for survival.
The way many candidates looked at one another changed instantly, filling with wariness and hostility. Conversely, the man who had asked the question looked thrilled, a predatory grin on his face as he scanned the others like sheep for the slaughter.
Byrne watched coldly, calculating. Marcus's rules seemed loose, but they were expertly restrictive. The ban on infighting meant you had to trust your partner, while the ban on outside cooperation prevented safety in numbers. Every pair was an isolated combat unit. As for the permission to steal crates and batteries, it pushed everyone into a desperate zero-sum game.
"Alright, rules are over. Collect your spare batteries."
Marcus waved a hand, and black-armored soldiers rolled out a large bin filled with forty-nine pale blue crystal batteries. Once Byrne got theirs, he and Selena took turns inspecting it; it seemed fine. They agreed that Selena would hold onto the spare for now.
Once every group had their battery, Marcus walked to the control panel at the North Gate and pressed a red button. The heavy iron doors groaned open, revealing a vast, endless wasteland. The distant landscape was blurred by swirling sand, with only a few lonely signal towers visible on the horizon.
Marcus stepped to the threshold, pulled out a timer, and pointed outward. "We depart in the order of the draw, one group at a time. Five-minute intervals. Group one: Leo and Tiny, step forward."
Heh, five-minute intervals. Marcus really has a bag of tricks.
On the surface, this seemed like a way to prevent an immediate bloodbath by creating a human buffer zone. However, Byrne saw right through it. Except for the first and last groups, every pair would face simultaneous threats from both the front and the rear. Choosing whether to speed up to hunt the group ahead or slow down to ambush the group behind would be a game of extreme psychological brinkmanship.
Called by Marcus, Leo and the girl Tiny pushed their hovering ore crate toward the gate. Just as they reached the threshold, Leo turned to her. "Remember what I told you?"
"I remember."
"Good. The moment we're out, do exactly as I said."
"Don't worry, I won't mess it up."
The moment they crossed the line, Leo barked, "Run!"
Simultaneously, Leo and Tiny bolted in opposite directions—one left, one right—fanning out as they ran. Within moments, they vanished from sight.
Standing at the gate, Marcus blinked in surprise, then quickly caught on. He chuckled. "Split up first, reunite later. Not a bad idea."
The second group departed five minutes later, followed by the third and fourth. According to the draw, Byrne and Selena were nineteenth.
Since they had a long wait ahead, Byrne pulled the map from his rucksack and spread it on the ground to plan their route. Selena crouched beside him, her eyes on the bold red line. "Covering over five hundred kilometers will take at least ten days. With the ore crate slowing us down, it'll likely take even longer."
Byrne frowned. "Yeah. And the bigger problem is that two crystal batteries won't be enough. We have to find a way to take them from other groups."
"In the beginning," Selena analyzed, "everyone will probably just focus on moving and avoid conflict. The real trouble will cluster around the abandoned outposts along the way."
Byrne pointed to a mark on the map. "The nearest outpost is about fifty kilometers out. Let's head there and see."
Selena looked worried. "We're pretty far back in the starting order. By the time we get there, the place might be picked clean—or worse, we could be walking into an ambush."
Byrne shook his head. "Doesn't matter. If it's picked clean, we just lose a bit of time. But if someone is lying in wait..." He tucked the map away and smirked. "We'll just turn it around and ambush them instead."