Chapter 41

"Sorry, I didn't do much today. Not to mention getting knocked out." Bai Shui apologized.

"Don't worry. You don't do much anyway. We still achieved our target for the day." Thirteen answered casually.

"…"

Can you just spare me for once?

They rest for the night after they finished collecting the Blood Worm. Currently, they were camping on the border between the north and west according to the map. They finished later than yesterday because of the Irregulars that appeared along the way, but they successfully collected 6 beasts because of an additional python beast appearing in the Two-Headed Screecher's nest. Apparently, it was preying on the Screecher's eggs.

"Speaking of it, what happened after I blacked out?"

"Nothing special. We run, fought, won, picked you up, and rushed out."

"Was it the same thing that attacked us in the second red zone?"

"Pretty much."

Thirteen glanced at Lixue who was preoccupied beside him. Ever since they left the cliff, it seemed like there was something bothering his mind. He doubted that Lixue never saw an Irregular before like these kids. His reaction when they appeared wasn't shocked at all. He could also handle it well.

"Were those… the rumored Irregular?" Bai Shui asked hesitatingly.

"They're real. It's just that because they never appeared in civilized planets, we thought they're only myths."

[Those were Irregulars? The teacher in my school discussed it briefly but never got too deep. I almost forgot about it]

[There is a major at ALS College about Irregulars, but I think there are only a few couple students inside it]

[I wonder which school Little Prince studied. He wasn't fazed at all when the Irregulars appeared. He's so cool… (Drool)(Heart)(Heart)]

[Forget about that guy. The Little Scholar is the hidden gem here. Did you guys see how fast he was? His movements were all so fast my eyes almost couldn't catch up!]

[You people are missing the important thing here. General Yi would surely know if there are Irregulars on this planet. Don't you think this is a part of their exam? So that means the true exam was for them to collect 9 different beasts while being chased by killing machines??]

[Oh sh*t…]

[Oh sh*t…x2 (Lighting_Candles.jpg)]

[Oh sh*t…x3 (Lighting_Candles.jpg) (Eating_Melon_Seeds.gif)]

When Bai Shui fell asleep, both Lixue and Thirteen also followed suit by closing their eyes. It was a quiet night in the footage, but inwardly, Lixue was talking to Thirteen.

'What do you think if we're not real?'

Thirteen was surprised Lixue suddenly started a conversation with him, but he still answered, 'Personally, I care more about being alive than being real. We're still living whether we're real or not and death exists whether we're real or not. What's the point of worrying that?'

'…' Lixue processed Thirteen's answer and somehow felt better, 'Did you really hook up with that red guy's girlfriend?'

'You're asking this now? I thought we're going to have a heart-to-heart talk,' Thirteen silently sighed, 'You think I will leave traces of me that recklessly?'

'Hm, you have a point there.'

'Besides, I thought you know my every action.'

'It's not like I check up on you 24/7.'

'But a girl did come up to me that night asking to hang out together. Was it her? If it's her, then maybe he saw when she tried to seduce me into a one-night stand.'

'…99% chance that's her.'

Contrary to Thirteen's expectation, they continued conversing the whole night. It was the longest he ever heard Lixue spoke and hold a conversation with him. He thought that after Lixue got the answer he wanted, he would stop talking like always.

Was there really something bothering his mind? If so, it's probably related to the first question he asked.

What did he see that make him questions his own existence?

As they were talking, there was a light rustling noise from nearby. Thirteen slowly opened his eyes and sat up while Lixue continued pretending to sleep. It was actually Thirteen's night watch shift, so he never has any intention to sleep.

Then, a figure appeared from behind the trees. He was tattered and wounded. He probably saw the fire they made and came following the light. When he saw Thirteen looking at him, he didn't have any energy left and collapsed before he could explain anything.

Thirteen sat still for a while before slowly standing up and approached the figure. He poked him several times with no response.

'What should we do? A stray comes over.' Thirteen reported.

'Your call. But I'm not babysitting him.'

'I thought you're supposed to be the silent caring type… You'll break your character if you don't babysit him.'

'…?' Since when??

---

Yi Xieyan studied the photo on the screen. It was a photo of a family of four. The parents were beautiful, and the children also took up their genes, being cuter and more lovable than kids of their age.

He remembered how happy and smug his friend was when sending him this picture. Boasting how he had the most beautiful people in the world in his family.

The intercom turned on with Long San standing outside his door, "General, may I come in?"

Yi Xieyan opened the door from his desk.

"The Irregulars have been triggered mid-day earlier. Though there are still several red zones untouched, they're now starting to spread outside. There was one unexpected C Level Irregular coming out from the cliff in the northern red zone, but we managed to handle it by sending 2 teams. A group of 4 candidates were in the scene but were allowed to continue the examination considering the overwhelming difference of their level." Long San reported directly what happened. He showed the profile of the 4 candidates along with the clip of the event.

"Deduct the leader's score for not pressing the emergency call button." Yi Xieyan ordered after he finished watching.

"Yes, General," Long San noted it down, "There are no major Irregulars sighted except for that and everything was still according to our scouting result."

"What about the candidate who fell into the pit?"

"Just before coming here, one of the monitoring personnel caught him appearing at Lin Shisan's team. He is injured but nothing mortal. The drone sent to inspect the pit found that it was quite a maze down there and still continued to explore it along with the 2 soldiers who were sent down to deal with the C level Irregular. It is suspected to be the source of the earlier light quake."

"The pit is located at the north, the same as the cliff where the C Level Irregular appeared. There's a possibility that it is connected. Check if there's any other exit connected in that underground path."

"Yes, General." Long San saluted before he left.

He went back to the control room and delivered his General's order before going back to wash and rest for a bit. The monitoring team was divided into shifts as to not tired them out. Because, who in the world could monitor several screens continuously for 5 whole days without resting? Not to mention they have to be alert for anything unexpected happening.

Even he was tired of looking at one screen all day.

When walking past the ship's cafeteria, he saw Xiao Huiqing eating his meal absentmindedly. He could tell how tired he was because that guy was always the happiest when eating.

They were blessed enough to have enough budget to afford natural food in their corps thanks to General Yi's strict accounting team. It also heightened the troops' morale and energy. Xiao Huiqing was the best example.

He approached the Lieutenant General and flicked his forehead, "What are you spacing out for? Your food is spilling."

Xiao Huiqing snapped awake, "Huh?"

Long San sighed helplessly. He saw there was no napkin on the table, so he just used his sleeves to wipe Xiao Huiqing's mouth, "Hang on for 3 more days. Nothing major happened these 2 days except for that C Level Irregular, so you don't need to be on constant alert all the time. You look even more tired than I am because of that."

"Most of the candidates probably never saw a real Irregular in their life. I'm just worried something bad will happens in this exam," He looked up at Long San, "San-ge, you're the main instructor of this exam. You'll be held responsible if anything happens, right? How can you be so calm?"

"That's because I believe in the soldiers trained by our General and my own capabilities. You're the one who's worrying too much."

"I just have this ominous feeling that something bad is going to happen…" Xiao Huiqing sighed as he rubbed his face, "And my intuition is correct most of the time."

"Yes, and I won't be surprised if you awakened some mental or clairvoyance power in the future." Long San pinched his cheek. It wasn't soft at all.

"San-ge, I'm not joking!" Xiao Huiqing felt upset that his warning was taken lightly.

"And so do I. That's why we're going to my room to rest or else you'll become a zombie tomorrow." Long San hauled him up from his chair.

"?!"

I can rest in my own room, thank you very much!!