80: Chapter 80 Hello Su Wan, Goodbye Su Wan.

Gu Changming glanced at her and shook his head, saying: "No need. Just transfer me whatever amount later on."

"How could I just transfer 'whatever'? If it weren't for you, we would all be dead..." Su Wan said.

However, seeing that Gu Changming didn't seem to care much about those few scraps, she didn't know what to say for a moment.

Consequently, she shot a quick glance at Lin Jianqiu beside her, but Lin Jianqiu just kept her eyes lowered, showing no reaction.

A brief silence permeated the area in front of the gate.

Su Wan pursed her lips and spoke again, her voice clearer than before: "Then... let's add each other as friends. Otherwise, I won't be able to transfer the points to you."

Gu Changming nodded: "Sure."

Seeing that Gu Changming agreed, she immediately began operating her interface.

Consequently, a system prompt appeared before Gu Changming, and he finally saw the name the other party had added in the request: "Su Wan."

His gaze flickered slightly, and he accepted the request.

Su Wan looked at the "Accepted" system prompt, and a new name appeared in her friends list. She pursed her lips, looked up at Gu Changming, and asked hesitantly: "So... shall we meet again?"

After saying this, she secretly glanced at Lin Jianqiu again.

This time, Lin Jianqiu simply turned her head away and looked elsewhere.

"Alright, Su Wan," Gu Changming said deliberately.

This sudden use of her name left Su Wan a bit bewildered.

But Gu Changming paused and added: "Su Wan, goodbye." He had to repeat it a few times to confirm to her that he hadn't forgotten her name.

Su Wan was stunned.

Huh?

Why did he call my name, and twice in a row at that?

While she was still dazed, Gu Changming had already waved at them casually, turned around, and walked in the direction away from the stronghold gate.

...

After Gu Changming left, the four of them remained quiet, and the atmosphere was somewhat subtle.

Soon, Su Wan was the first to speak.

She looked at Lin Jianqiu and asked: "Why didn't you let me invite him to join our team just now?"

She had glanced at her several times just now, but she had acted as if she didn't see.

Lin Jianqiu tilted her head back, let out a long sigh at the dim sky, and uttered two words: "Inferiority."

Su Wan rolled her eyes speechlessly.

Lin Jianqiu lowered her head, looked at her, and said with a more serious tone: "You saw his strength... Our team is just not on the same level as his."

Su Wan was silent for a moment and also sighed softly.

How could she not understand what Lin Jianqiu was saying?

Then, the four of them turned around and walked into the stronghold.

Chen Yanzhi and Zhang Yuanfan walked in front with mutual understanding, while Su Wan and Lin Jianqiu lagged a few steps behind.

Before they even walked in, Lin Jianqiu leaned closer, lowered her voice, and asked with curiosity: "Hey, how do you know him...? He's so strong, I've never heard you mention him."

"I told you before, that neighbor who helped me during the first Assessment..."

Lin Jianqiu realized, and then her eyes lit up: "Is it that person... the one who saved you and told you the rules about how to increase your score?"

"Yes," Su Wan nodded.

Her thoughts involuntarily returned to the scene in the hallway that day, but soon, that image was quickly covered by the thunderous methods displayed in the dense forest just now.

Thinking of the ease with which Gu Changming had demonstrated his power just now, her mood inexplicably sank.

She had thought that after so many days and several Assessments, she had already possessed enough strength.

"What's wrong?" Lin Jianqiu noticed the change in her mood and turned her head to ask.

Su Wan stopped walking.

She turned her head to look in the direction Gu Changming had left, and spoke with a complicated tone: "Nothing... I just feel that I'm too weak."

She paused, "Sometimes I wonder, during all this time... have I really been trying hard? Or, after struggling desperately to save my life... have I just been muddling along?"

Just now, if it weren't for Gu Changming, because of her decision, all of them would likely have died in that dense forest.

Watching Su Wan like this, Lin Jianqiu was slightly stunned.

In her impression, Su Wan had always been a tough and decisive captain, rarely showing such confusion and self-doubt.

She reached out, like comforting a little girl, and gently rubbed Su Wan's head, her voice softening: "You have already done very well, Captain."

Being touched like this, Su Wan realized her odd behavior, swatted away Lin Jianqiu's hand, and glared at her, "What are you touching me for!"

Lin Jianqiu chuckled, the atmosphere recovered quite a bit, and the two continued walking forward.

After a moment of silence, Su Wan suddenly spoke again: "What do you think... would happen if he really joined our team?"

Lin Jianqiu shook her head almost without thinking: "Not good."

Su Wan looked at her with some surprise, as she had clearly been urging her to invite him to join just before.

Lin Jianqiu put her hands in her pockets, looked ahead, and explained: "He's not suitable. He is... distant from us."

"Huh?"

Lin Jianqiu turned her head back and continued: "He is clearly so strong, yet during the previous two battles, he didn't show it at all. Even when fighting that Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider, he just watched from the side, leaving the prey for us as training..."

"He looks at us completely from a condescending perspective... It's too high and mighty, I don't like it."

"Hmm..." Su Wan nodded.

Lin Jianqiu put her arm around her shoulder as they were about to walk together.

Suddenly, Su Wan's expression froze, her footsteps stopped, and her eyes stared at the air in front of her, as if she had seen something.

"What's wrong?" Lin Jianqiu was somewhat confused by her reaction.

Su Wan suddenly turned her face to look at her, with obvious shock on her face, and her voice sounded slightly distorted: "He... he just replied to my message!"

"Ah? Who? Gu Changming?" Lin Jianqiu also widened her eyes.

"Yes!" Su Wan nodded vigorously, "He said... he wants to enter a secret realm and wants to invite us to team up."

"Really?!" Lin Jianqiu's eyes lit up instantly.

But the next second, she saw the corners of Su Wan's mouth uncontrollably curling up, eventually turning into an irrepressible smile.

"It's fake, just teasing you, to see if you really don't like him teaming up with us, or if you were just pretending." A mischievous glint flashed in Su Wan's eyes.

Lin Jianqiu's expression froze for a second.

Immediately, her temple twitched, and she gritted her teeth: "Su Wan!"

"Go to hell!" She roared in a low voice and punched Su Wan on the shoulder.

I was kind enough to comfort you, and you actually teased me!

...

A desolate wilderness, with the wind wailing.

In the dim sky, a huge, translucent white number was floating quietly:

【13:41】

Every minute, the last digit would decrease by one.

The fourth Civilization Advancement Assessment has entered its final day.

The white number appearing in the sky was the countdown for the final day.

At this moment, Gu Changming was sitting cross-legged on a relatively flat patch of gravel ground.

Not far in front of him, a giant cocoon, roughly the size of two people and dark, almost black in color, stood on the ground.

The surface of the cocoon shell was not smooth, and one could vaguely see something slowly wriggling and heaving inside, causing the entire cocoon to tremble slightly, as if something was gestating within.

Yes, that was the Mimic Beast.

Now was the final stage of its upgrade and evolution.

...

I might take a day off tomorrow because I haven't finished plotting the story.

One more thing to mention: during the first Assessment, Su Wan never told Xiao Gu her name.