42: Chapter 42 The Cruelty of Competition

"The fourth one! That's our fourth!"

A team shouted excitedly as they dragged the corpse of a Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodile they had just killed to the shore, deftly skinning it.

"Quickly, we're still six short of completing the mission!" the captain urged. "Don't worry about whether the hide is in perfect condition or not, just kill them first!"

...

But the faster the hunting speed, the greater the pressure of competition, and the more irritable everyone became.

"Mountain Team has finished seven!" someone shouted.

"Damn it, they have more people and better coordination!" the captain of another team sweated. "We've only finished three... Quick, head east, there was movement there just now!"

One team hurried to relocate, only to run head-on into another team arriving at the same time.

"Back off! we found this first!" the former roared.

"Does it have your name on it?" the latter retorted, refusing to back down.

The two teams glared at each other, but after a few seconds, neither ended up making a move—wasting time now was equivalent to wasting a slot.

Others were practically begging for them to start fighting.

In the end, the latecomers silently backed away and searched in a different direction.

However, the number of Rhinoceros Crocodiles in the swamp was ultimately limited, and they were becoming increasingly alert.

Later on, most of the Rhinoceros Crocodiles retreated deep into the mud, refusing to show themselves easily despite vibrations, bait, or even the stimulation of blood.

"Damn... I can't find any more." A team captain panted heavily, his Pet Beast, a 'Swamp Lizard', already collapsed on the shore from exhaustion.

"What about the other teams?" a member asked.

"Gale Squad has six, Mountain Team has nine, Frost Blade Team has six, and we... have four." The captain's face looked grim as he checked the real-time mission progress on his team badge. "Two teams have already finished, there are only four slots left... no, only three left. Mountain Team just finished too."

In the distance.

Zhao Rui looked at the seventh Rhinoceros Crocodile his team had just dragged ashore. This put them ahead of the Frost Blade Team, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, his nerves tightened again.

"Quick, process the hide, then immediately head to the other Rhinoceros Crocodile area Gu Yang found!" he ordered. "We can't stay here; staying any longer would be too inefficient."

The team members scrambled to skin, wash, and pack the hide, a process that took less than five minutes.

But in that time, two more teams had each completed another one.

"Eighth... ninth..."

The mission progress on the team badge ticked up like a death knell.

As Gale Squad harvested them one by one, the mission progress jumped to [9/10].

On the mission list, only one slot remained.

At this moment, the three remaining teams in the swamp were all seeing red in their desperation.

"The last one! Find it quickly!"

"East! There were bubbles in the east just now!"

"No, the mud in the west is moving!"

Amidst the chaos, a dark shadow that had been lurking on the edge suddenly moved.

Not far away, Gale Squad's captain Zhao Rui had his eyes closed, seemingly sensing something. He suddenly snapped them open: "Three meters underwater, two o'clock direction, the injured one!"

Three team members leapt into the mud simultaneously, their movements as synchronized as if they had practiced thousands of times.

A 'Blastoise' sprayed a high-pressure water jet to clear the silt, an 'Electric Eel' released a current to paralyze the target, and finally, the venomous spear of an Ice Scorpion's tail pierced accurately into the Rhinoceros Crocodile's eye socket.

[10/10]

The team badges vibrated, and all the team captains still in the swamp received a notification at the same time:

[1-Star Mission · Clear Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodiles: Six teams have completed it. The remaining teams have failed and will have 50 points deducted; if you forfeit, 100 points will be deducted.]

"We were the sixth to finish!"

At the edge of the Blackwater Swamp, Gale Squad captain Zhao Rui let out a triumphant roar upon seeing the notification on his badge.

But immediately after, he gave a crisp command.

"Pack up, let's go!"

The six members quickly stowed the last hide they had just peeled and flipped onto the team's mounts—a 'Gale Wolf', a 'Rock-Armored Camel', and Zhao Rui's own snow-white 'Cloud-Chasing Horse'.

"Next mission point, the jungle area of the Golden Claw Shadow Monkeys, full speed ahead!"

...

Snap!

Suddenly, the once bustling swamp...

...fell silent.

There was the sound of dripping mud, heavy breathing, and the chirping of unknown insects in the distance.

The members of the last two unfinished teams stood in the muddy water, looking at the Rhinoceros Crocodiles they had just found but hadn't had time to kill, then at the notification on their badges. Their faces turned from red to white, and finally to a grim iron-grey.

"Fuck..." someone slammed their weapon into the mud.

All their hard work had been for nothing.

...

The captain of the Monolith Team glanced at his badge, then at his mud-covered, panting teammates, and gritted his teeth: "Skin it and process it cleanly! Since we killed it, we can't let it be for nothing!"

"But Captain, we've already failed..."

"Failing is better than forfeiting and getting double points deducted!" the captain roared. "Forfeiting costs 100 points! Do you want to drop out of the top ten?"

The members fell silent and wordlessly squatted down to begin processing the crocodile corpse.

Meanwhile, another team, 'Dragon Feather Team', faced an even more awkward situation: they had found a Rhinoceros Crocodile and had already focused fire to take down most of its health, but they hadn't landed the final blow.

"Captain, just a little more!" the member responsible for damage output shouted.

The Dragon Feather captain stared fixedly at the stinging notification on the badge, then glanced at the Monolith Team processing their hide in the distance, his mind racing with calculations:

Continuing the kill would take at least two minutes.

Skinning it would take another ten minutes.

After that, there were still two more Rhinoceros Crocodiles to kill.

That meant they would waste at least another half hour.

But in that half hour, other teams might have already finished several Shadow Monkeys in the jungle area.

More importantly... if they rushed to the next mission point now, they might still be able to snatch a top-six ranking.

If they stayed here, it would truly be too late for everything.

"Stop!" the Dragon Feather captain suddenly roared.

"What?" The members were stunned.

"Abandon this one and go to the jungle area immediately!" the captain decided decisively. "This place has no value anymore; we're going to fight for the next mission!"

"But Captain, forfeiting means a deduction of—"

"Deduction my ass, it's not like we're never coming back!" the Dragon Feather captain's eyes were bloodshot. "Listen to me, let's go!"

The members looked at each other and ultimately chose to obey. They withdrew their attacks, retreated quickly, mounted their Pet Beasts, and galloped toward the jungle.

The Monolith Team captain, still skinning, saw this scene. He was stunned at first, then suddenly realized.

"That's right... there's still the next mission!" He looked at the damaged crocodile hide in his member's hand, then at the progress of other missions on the badge, and suddenly felt the hide was an eyesore.

"Captain?" the member looked up in confusion.

The captain opened his mouth to say something, but finally waved his hand dejectedly: "It's the last one... just finish skinning it."

He had already missed the optimal window for decision-making.

If he went to the jungle now, he probably wouldn't even be able to snatch seventh place.

This illustrated that in the competition of the Elite Class, victory or defeat sometimes didn't depend on strength, but on the judgment of a single moment!

...