41: The mission list revealed in Chapter 41

"Qin Ce stole my team badge and ruined my future, so I won't let him off easy! I'm giving out the Thunder Squad's mission intelligence for free, with only one requirement—beat him to it! Make him fail all his missions and lose points! I want to see how he, a lone commander, can survive in the Elite Class!"

And so, among the various Elite Class squads...

A piece of news spread with lightning speed.

[The Thunder Squad currently has four active tasks: three one-star and one two-star. Specifically, they are: Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodile, Golden Claw Shadow Monkey, Sand Land Poison Scorpion, and Cavern Rock Lizard.]

Later, in the rest area at the northeast corner of the Elite Class training ground.

Several squads didn't disband to rest or eat as they usually did; instead, they gathered together in a tacit understanding.

"The news is confirmed."

The speaker was the captain of the Gale Squad, a lean young man with sharp eyes. "Wu Zhou said it himself. The Thunder Squad—now Qin Ce's solo team—has taken three one-star and one two-star missions, and those are the ones mentioned above."

He paused and added, "Moreover, the six original members of the Thunder Squad have also confirmed that the intelligence is genuine."

"What about the Starlight Squad? What's Jiang Ruowei's stance?" the captain of another squad asked.

"Jiang Ruowei's squad didn't join in on the fun," someone chimed in. "They're leading by so many points that they have their own pace. But the other teams..."

The group fell silent for a moment.

"The Mountain Team has already set out," someone whispered suddenly. "I just saw them leave their base in a hurry, heading west toward the swamp area."

"The Shadow Squad has also moved, heading to the jungle in the south."

"The Fire Tiger Squad seems to have gone to the sandy land in the east."

As the names of one squad after another were called out, the atmosphere on the scene became increasingly tense.

"So," the captain of the Gale Squad looked around at everyone, "the current situation is this: every team knows that Qin Ce has four accepted tasks. And the number of completion slots for these tasks is limited."

He held up six fingers: "One-star tasks have six slots. Two-star tasks have three slots."

"Everyone's attention is now focused on these few tasks."

"No one dares not to complete these tasks first!"

The crowd was silent; everyone knew what this implied.

Everyone was being held hostage by the situation.

Whether they intended to make things difficult for Qin Ce or had no intention of being his enemy, they all had to prioritize these tasks.

Because there were only six completion slots for one-star tasks and only three for two-star tasks.

As long as someone was doing them, the slots would decrease. No one could guarantee that other teams wouldn't do them, nor could they guarantee they would finish within the top six.

Once you finished after the sixth place, it meant that not only would you not get points for the task, but points would also be deducted, resulting in the loss of previous accumulations!

"We have no choice but to go." The short-haired girl gritted her teeth. "That Wu Zhou is too malicious. To get revenge on Qin Ce, he even dragged us into it. What a bastard!"

"And many teams had already chosen these missions early on," the tall boy added. "Furthermore, Wu Zhou hinted that if we can make Qin Ce fail all four missions, his father's side... will provide an additional 'token of appreciation'."

"This further increases the level of competition for these tasks."

As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of several squad captains flickered.

Wu Zhou's father was the minister of an influential department in the Inner City. Although Wu Zhou had been kicked out of the Elite Class, the Wu family's influence remained. This "appreciation" would certainly carry significant weight.

Everyone looked at each other, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.

"This is why I hate Wu Zhou's faction; they always calculate things so that people have no choice!"

"Enough talk." The short-haired girl stood up. "Let's head to the task points now. The Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodile is the closest; we'll go there first."

A scheme against Qin Ce thus began, driven by everyone's tacit cooperation.

Meanwhile, Qin Ce, the center of the scheme, had just finished being assigned his dormitory and was following his class teacher to collect his combat suit.

...

Later, when the Gale Squad arrived in a hurry, skipping their meal...

The sight before them...

Made the captain, Zhao Rui, who was standing on a slightly elevated mound at the edge of the swamp, turn pale with anger. He looked at the murky water ahead and the several squads busy upon it.

"Seven teams," he said through gritted teeth. "Including us, that's eight."

Looking out, the entire outer perimeter of the Blackwater Swamp had already been occupied by various squads.

Some were riding "Water-Crossing Oxen" that were adept at walking through swamps, some stood by the water summoning "Clear Water Crocodiles," and some teams even sent small "Mud-Probing Rats" deep into the swamp.

And deep within the swamp, battles had already broken out.

"Found it! Three o'clock direction, twenty meters!" a scout from one squad shouted loudly.

As soon as the words fell, three team members attacked simultaneously.

A crimson Fire Fox spat out a fireball, an Iron-Armored Pangolin suddenly burrowed into the mire, and another person held a spear with its tip wrapped in wind-element energy.

The water surface exploded, and a four-meter-long, grayish-black giant crocodile with a back covered in horny bumps lunged out, opening its bloody maw to attack the nearby Beast Tamer.

Black Iron High-grade · Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodile!

"Focus fire!" the captain roared.

Fireballs, Wind Blades, and Earth Spikes slammed into the Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodile simultaneously.

But the crocodile's skin was tougher than it looked; most of the attacks only left shallow marks.

Its thick tail swept out violently, splashing mud like cannonballs and forcing the three team members to retreat in disarray.

"This defense..." one team member panted, "it'll take at least three combined attacks to break through!"

"Stop talking and keep going! Others are searching too!" the captain urged.

Seeing that some squads had already begun fighting...

On the other side, a short-haired girl gritted her teeth and jumped directly into the waist-deep mud.

"Xiao Ling!" her teammates cried out in surprise.

"My 'Shockwave Frog' works better underwater!" the girl shouted, pressing both hands onto the mud. A green frog the size of a washbasin on her shoulder puffed out its cheeks and made a low "gurgle" sound.

Buzz—

Ripples spread across the surface of the mire. A few seconds later, less than ten meters away from her, the water churned violently, and two Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodiles were forced to the surface by the shockwaves, charging at her in a rage!

"There, two of them, stop them!" The girl retreated rapidly while her teammates attacked one after another, as Wind Blades and Ice Spikes wove into a net to barely hold back the two fierce beasts.

In this way, all the teams began to move.

Eight teams.

It was clear that two teams were destined to have points deducted.

No one wanted to be the one who lost points.

And so...

The entire swamp was like boiling water into which boulders had been thrown.

The intensity was far beyond imagination.

The Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodiles that were originally hidden deep in the mire were disturbed, stimulated, and forced out by various means.

The roars of beasts, the sounds of skill explosions, and the shouts of team members blended into one.

...