Ambush in the Armory

Seeing Huang Xiaoxian, his heart tightened. He didn’t dare to act cheeky anymore.

Scrambling on all fours, he ran out of the room.

The armory was crowded. He had accidentally wandered into the weapon storage room before.

Now, racking his memory, he still had an impression of the location.

Straight, turn left, second room on the right…

A wooden door with a sign reading “Weapons Storage Room” suddenly appeared in everyone’s sight.

“Master, it’s this room!”

Huang Xiaoxian yelled, then leaped a meter into the air, executing a textbook knight’s kick against the wooden door.

The door slammed open, swinging rapidly on its hinges.

It hit the back wall with a loud bang, then bounced back quickly.

Huang Xiu, who had already exited her transformed state, caught the door with one hand and followed Huang Xiaoxian inside.

The weapon storage room was even larger than the previous storage room.

Large wooden crates, as tall and wide as a person, were neatly arranged. Some had their lids open.

Revealing the shiny, polished large guns and grenades inside.

“Hahaha, found it!”

Zhou Chen materialized from invisibility, his face full of excitement as he rushed toward the wooden crates, scrambling up them.

Huang Xiaoxian casually grabbed a special gun, feeling its heavy weight, and immediately nodded.

“They’re all real, not fakes.”

Given how quickly the guards had arrived, she was worried everything was a trap set up by Guang Hongfang.

But if the guns were real, then the likelihood of a trap was low.

“So what now? Except for me, none of you probably know how to use guns, right?” Li You asked.

They had received simple firearms training during the military training organized by the Expedition Bureau two months ago.

Bai Bai and the “black-and-white” girl Mu Youzi both nodded. The Special Higher Academy hadn’t conducted shooting training.

Glancing at Zhou Chen, who was posing with a gun in various shooting stances, Huang Xiu’s eyes flickered as she slowly said:

“It’s okay if we don’t know how to use them. Since we’ve been discovered, let’s just use this place as bait!”

She skipped Plan A and activated Plan B.

“We’ll use some alienated plants as our stand-ins to attract the guards’ attention, so we can escape from here.”

The other three, except Zhou Chen, had no objections.

“Ah, can’t we shoot?” The little boy pouted. “How about you go first, I want to shoot.”

“Shoot your head!” Huang Xiu snapped, grabbing Zhou Chen down. “You’re also part of the score!”

He claimed that his ability had shrunk his body.

But she always felt that it wasn’t just his body that had shrunk, but also his already not-so-high intelligence.

Zhou Chen, lifted by his military collar with limbs dangling in the air, struggled vigorously.

But his short arms and legs couldn’t reach Huang Xiu.

Seeing this, he had to give up: “Alright, alright, put me down. I won’t shoot anymore. Let’s run together!”

Huang Xiu let go, allowing Zhou Chen to fall, then took out five succulent seeds from her pocket and cut her hand to alienate them.

The small amount of void energy that had recovered in her body was instantly depleted, and a strong sense of weakness washed over her.

The girl’s legs went weak, and she nearly fell to the ground, but Mu Youzi’s quick eyes and hands caught her.

“Thanks.”

“It’s nothing.” Mu Youzi shook her head.

Her clear, emotionless eyes stared intently at the rapidly growing fleshy plants that had already begun to alienate.

Although they had briefly explained the effects of their abilities to each other.

Witnessing the legendary strongest freshman of the decade using their ability firsthand.

For a moment, everyone watched with bated breath, each with different thoughts.

The alienated succulents grew from seeds to human-sized plant avatars in just a few seconds.

Their physiques and facial features were all alienated by Huang Xiu to be one-to-one replicas of the people present.

If you ignored the dark green skin, at a glance they did bear some resemblance.

Otherwise, back in the dormitory, even with the help of [Strong Luck], they wouldn’t have been able to fool the seasoned garrison commander.

“These avatars have no clothes. Is that really okay?” Bai Bai wondered. “I think it’s a bit inappropriate and hasty!”

“It’s a problem, but we have no choice. I’ll try to only show their faces and backs of their heads,” Huang Xiu said helplessly.

Although she could create highly similar plant avatars, she was truly powerless regarding the clothes on them.

Back in the dormitory, she had alienated them in advance and then put their own clothes on the avatars.

“To be honest, it is a bit hasty,” Li You complained.

Looking at these bald, green versions of themselves, he felt the plan was becoming more and more unreliable.

He even regretted not hiding with his colleagues from the Expedition Bureau.

‘With his ability, as long as he has enough void energy, he can hide as long as he wants.’

“Oh, it’ll be fine. Once the lights are off and they put on night vision goggles, everyone looks the same,” Huang Xiu blushed and insisted.

She knew her plan seemed unreliable, but she wasn’t good at formulating plans based on the situation.

Coming up with this idea was already a burst of inspiration!

“Better than shooting!” Zhou Chen hugged the gun, unwilling to let go, determined to take it with him while escaping.

‘Even if this plan is hasty and unreliable, now it’s like an arrow that must be shot.’

Just as Huang Xiu was busy with the alienated plants and bickering, the guards had already arrived outside the armory.

Seeing this, Huang Xiu immediately used the alienated plants scattered around to cut off the power to the entire armory.

Only then did everyone realize another problem.

The armory had no windows, and moonlight couldn’t penetrate.

After cutting the power, the room was pitch black, physically speaking, so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

They couldn’t even see where they themselves were!

“Damn, I can’t see!” Li You stood still, afraid to bump into anything.

“Damn, my void energy isn’t enough…”

Huang Xiu had wanted to replicate the previous trick of alienating her eyes, but her internal void energy wasn’t enough to support the idea.

“It’s okay, I’m here!” Zhou Chen said proudly. “I can glow. Follow me!”

With that, he raised his left hand and extended his index finger.

Then, in the darkness, a glimmer of light appeared—Zhou Chen’s left index finger glowed like a flashlight.

“Sure enough, in favorable circumstances rely on Li You, in adversity rely on Huang Xiu, but in desperation, you still rely on me, Zhou Chen! Gaga!”

Zhou Chen looked smug, laughing loudly as he led the way.

His ability [Moth Chasing Light] allowed him to absorb light energy and store it to strengthen himself.

It was both a very strong and a very weak ability.

During the day when sunlight was abundant, his combat power was on par with an average A-level special ability user.

But at night, he could only consume stored light energy.

Not only would his combat power be greatly reduced, but his body would also shrink into a child form due to entering energy-saving mode.

“Don’t get cocky. The guards are already inside!” Huang Xiu lowered her voice.

Before she finished speaking, a gunshot rang out in the armory, and a connection in Huang Xiu’s mind broke.

It was very close. They would be at the storage room any second!

The loud gunshot echoed in the enclosed armory, creating overlapping reverberations.

Huang Xiu’s expression changed, and she pointed to a nearby room and said quickly:

“No time. Let’s hide in there first. Zhou Chen, turn off the light!”

With Li You’s [Camouflage], they could wait until the guards passed by the corridor before escaping.

The five quickly pushed open the door and entered, then closed it, using Li You’s ability to hide themselves in a corner of the room.

‘With the avatars, the camouflage ability, and the darkness, the guards will definitely not find us.’

Thinking this, Huang Xiu felt a little calmer and looked ahead.

Although the room was pitch black and she couldn’t see anything, she knew the wooden door was right there.

Almost at the same time, a dense, subtle sound of footsteps suddenly came from the far right outside the door.

Tap, tap, tap…

The crisp sound of heels hitting the ground seemed to press on everyone’s hearts, each step making them tremble.

Huang Xiu clutched Huang Xiaoxian tightly in her hand;

Zhou Chen clicked, releasing the safety on his gun;

Li You’s legs started shaking;

Bai Bai narrowed their pupils, and their right hand slightly raised, ready to use their ability.

The footsteps grew clearer, the guards drawing nearer.

When the footsteps became clear to an extreme, the pitch-black room suddenly gained a trace of light.

This light didn’t come from Zhou Chen, but from a white light filtering through the gap under the wooden door!

The guards outside seemed to be using flashlights!

Realizing this, Huang Xiu’s heart skipped a beat.

The skin color of the alienated plant avatars couldn’t be changed. If they were shone with a flashlight, they would be exposed without a doubt.

The white light and footsteps gradually faded. The group of current guards seemed to have a clear target, heading straight for the armory.

Huang Xiu knew in her heart that the alienated plants probably wouldn’t buy them much time.

Seeing that there were no more footsteps or light outside the door, she immediately lowered her voice and said, “Let’s go quickly!”

“Okay!” The four replied, and Zhou Chen lit up his finger again.

Just then, a beam of white light suddenly slanted in through the gap under the wooden door.

Then, the door was violently pushed open.

Bang!

The wooden door slammed against the wall.

A blinding beam of light, too bright to keep eyes open, shot from a guard in the corridor.

And along with the beam came a flashbang.

“!!!”

Except for instinctively closing her eyes, Huang Xiu could do nothing.

The terrifying roar of the flashbang instantly deafened her, her mind dizzy, like mush.

Deceived!

‘The guards were heading straight for the armory, but on the way, they had also stationed people at every room!’

In her dizziness, Huang Xiu figured out the answer and understood that her journey in the competition was probably over.

She was unwilling, but there was no other way.

Turning around, relying on the impression before she closed her eyes, she faced away from the wooden door and shielded Huang Xiaoxian in her arms.

As expected, a storm of bullets followed.

Pfft!

Three searing, piercing pains hit her back in succession.

Huang Xiu felt her body go numb and weak, starting from her back and spreading outward.

Thud!

The girl’s consciousness completely plunged into darkness. With eyes closed, tightly holding Huang Xiaoxian, she softly fell to the ground.

[Survival time: 48 minutes 20 seconds. Joint team defeated two guards. Tiantu University Huang Xiu, S-level, eliminated.]

A stream of information appeared on the screen in the secret monitoring room.

And with Huang Xiu’s defeat, a series of whispers also sounded in the room.

“How treacherous. Did you plan even this?” The leading teacher from the Control Bureau couldn’t help but squint.

“Just a backup plan.”

Guang Hongfang toyed with the blue card in his hand.

“I just thought, in case someone tried to storm the armory, I deliberately set up a few more things.”

“As for the S-level’s pet, since I got it, I just threw it in there. Consider it recycling the trap. After all, what if the S-level could sense the pet’s location?”

He laughed.

His eyes, slightly bloodshot, stared unblinkingly at the struggling figures on the screen, as if enjoying a good show.

The screen showed the guards’ first-person perspective.

The first volley directly took down three people, leaving only Mu Youzi and Zhou Chen.

Of these two, Mu Youzi survived because of her position—she was in the inner corner, and the bullets were all absorbed by the three in front.

As for Zhou Chen, the flashbang explosion and the guards’ flashlights allowed him to briefly absorb some light, strengthening his body and barely avoiding the first volley.

He got up from the ground, raised his gun, and aimed at the guard’s chest.

“Now it’s my turn!” Zhou Chen licked his lips and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

But besides a click, no bullet came out.

“What’s going on?!”

Zhou Chen’s eyes widened. He had clearly checked the magazine; it was loaded.

And the safety was off!

The next second, he instantly understood. It was all a trap. The guns here had been tampered with.

Bang!

Several bullets instantly forced him into unconsciousness due to lack of light energy.

On the other side, Mu Youzi’s eyes flashed white, and her right hand waved.

Three figures suddenly appeared in the room.

These figures were all dressed in cloth and straw sandals, sallow and emaciated, holding notched broadswords.

With fierce eyes full of murderous intent.

But on closer inspection, you could see that the figures’ eyes were actually abnormally dull and vacant.

This was Mu Youzi’s ability [Reenactment of History]—the ability to recreate history in the present.

These figures were militia she summoned from historical wars.

“Charge!” She had temporarily lost her hearing and couldn’t hear anything, but fortunately her vision wasn’t impaired.

She immediately ordered the summoned militia to attack the guards outside the door.

The guards were taciturn, their expressions stern. Facing the charging militiamen, they drew the special pistols at their waists.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After three loud bangs, the militiamen’s heads simultaneously exploded, their entire figures shattering into white dots and disappearing.

Swish!

The guards raised their rifles again, aiming at Mu Youzi.

Staring at the dark muzzle aimed at her, the girl’s cool face broke out in beads of sweat as big as beans.

She raised her hand, about to say: I surrender.

The next second, two bullets hit her wealthy chest, and she immediately fell to the ground, unconscious.

“Tiantu University Huang Xiu S-level, Zhou Chen A- level, Expedition Bureau Li You B-level, Special Higher Academy Mu Youzi B-level, Bai Bai A-level. All five have been captured.” The guards reported through their earpieces.