38: Haicheng Squad

Although Chen Du appeared fine on the surface, a closer look revealed his breathing was erratic.

There was an undeniable sense of exhaustion, clearly indicating that the previous sword strike had consumed most of his remaining stamina.

After all, having just gone through a major battle, it was impossible for his stamina and Mental Energy to recover so quickly.

Moreit, knowing Chen Du was putting on a brave front, reminded him.

Chen Du understood his meaning and didn't deny it, shaking his head:

"I'm not going. My stamina and Mental Energy are too depleted."

"Right now, let alone a top-tier first-stage Perfection like Wu Zang, any first-stage Perfection could easily defeat me!"

"Even someone at 89% of the first stage could make me struggle."

Chen Du eliminating three members of the Micheng Team with one sword strike seemed powerful, but it was only one sword strike!

His current stamina wouldn't allow him to unleash a second strike of that magnitude.

As he spoke, he glanced at the two badges in Liu Bo's hand and sighed:

"I really didn't expect them to have a Martial Skill badge."

"I originally just wanted to confirm Wu Zang's location and then search for badges in another direction."

"Due to my condition, I needed to avoid Perfection-level experts, but I didn't expect to have all the badges now."

He paused, opened the map on his wristband, and pointed to a location:

"Then let's just go straight to the moon-marked spot to submit the badges and end the first round of the competition!"

Moreit and the other person nodded upon hearing this, not at all surprised by the outcome.

Chen Du's current state was greatly diminished, so the plan to eliminate Wu Zang early was clearly unfeasible.

Submitting the badges to pass the first round was obviously the optimal solution.

The two of them were essentially riding on Chen Du's coattails into the second round.

As for whether they could manage to win one match (not a loss) or two (a huge profit) tomorrow, that was up to them!

Moreit didn't care about his ranking because he was guaranteed a spot in the Eight Famous Schools.

Liu Bo didn't care either, because besides his Martial Skill, his other grades weren't very good.

Even with the bonus points for first place in the Hundred Cities Championship, he still couldn't get into the Eight Famous Schools.

Among the three, only Chen Du came with the determination to be first!

No choice, both poor and talented, so he could only work hard!

If his circumstances were even slightly worse, he would have given up!

...

Commentary Booth.

"It seems everyone is a brilliant detective; a few clues are enough to figure out the truth."

"Now it appears that the Liangcheng Team's choice of path is inextricably linked to the Micheng Team."

"However, the Micheng Team clearly underestimated Chen Du's strength. This 'drive the tiger to swallow the wolf' strategy failed!"

"Elimination is the most reasonable answer!"

Teacher Wang had just finished speaking when he felt the surrounding temperature drop slightly.

Hmm?

Was the air conditioning broken?

He then saw Teacher Gu's eyes next to him, as if she wanted to send him to Reincarnation, and then he realized.

The air conditioning wasn't broken, Teacher Gu was!

When he had just said, "they clearly underestimated Chen Du's strength," he hadn't really felt anything.

Before, when he said Chen Du would be eliminated, he was just following Teacher Gu's lead.

However, the speaker was unintentional, but the listener was attentive. Teacher Gu felt her professionalism was challenged!

Teacher Wang quickly changed the subject.

"I didn't expect the Micheng Team to have a Martial Skill badge. Now the Liangcheng Team has collected both the 'High' and 'Martial Skill' badges!"

"From a time perspective, that's quite fast."

"Looking at their route, they plan to go to the badge submission point!"

"After all, Chen Du just went through a major battle and needs to rest!"

"If they can successfully end the first round now, it will be the best outcome for them!"

...

After the three confirmed their destination, Chen Du led the way.

"Hmm?"

"Why are we going this way?"

Moreit asked, puzzled, looking at Chen Du taking a longer route.

"Yeah! This way will make us detour."

Liu Bo echoed.

Chen Du didn't waste words and explained directly:

"I felt a bit strange from the beginning; these badges were too easy to collect."

"The target locations had no danger at all."

"At the beginning, the principal of Hai City No. 1 High School told us before we came in: 'The badge placement locations are all safe.'"

"Also, Zhang Shuai just said:"

"'We met Wu Zang here; their target should be the star mark behind us.'"

"'They just encountered Big Grey Wolf midway.'"

"Don't you think the word 'midway' is a bit thought-provoking?"

"You mean..." Moreit and Liu Bo exchanged glances. The two of them weren't stupid.

Combining it with what Chen Du had just said, they seemed to guess something.

Chen Du saw the answer in their eyes and nodded:

"Exactly! The danger in collecting badges isn't at the destination, but on the way there!"

"At first, I always thought the principal's statement 'the badge placement locations are all safe' was a lie to us."

"But Zhang Shuai's words earlier made me realize."

"The principal spoke the truth, but it was also a misleading statement!"

"He made us ignore the danger of the process and focus our attention on the result!"

"The locations of these wolf dens were definitely specially designed by the organizers!"

"If we just follow the default route on the map, there's a chance we'll encounter a wolf den midway!"

"Taking a detour is the correct path in this competition to avoid wolf dens!"

Chen Du spoke while looking at the map, constantly adjusting his direction.

As he walked, Chen Du suddenly realized something and sighed:

"Miscalculation! It seems the entire Forest of Wolves has been designed."

"If we want to avoid wolf dens, we have to take routes where two star marks are relatively close."

"Such routes, due to their distance, are unlikely to have wolf dens set up in the middle."

"But this will increase the probability of encountering other teams!"

Moreit and the other person didn't look at the map; they just followed Chen Du.

After Chen Du said that, they quickly opened the map on their wristbands.

"So that's it!"

Moreit said in a deep voice.

"This will invisibly increase the probability of encounters, whether between teams or between teams and wolf dens."

"Plus, the number of fake badges is twice that of real badges, so after some back and forth, a fight is inevitable."

After listening to Moreit, Chen Du nodded and added:

"Not only that."

"They even eliminated luck!"

"Our directly finding two real badges is extremely good luck."

"Now, if we follow the navigation route to the moon-marked spot, very few people should be going our way."

"But will it really be that smooth?"

"The organizers must have thought of this in advance!"

"We will definitely encounter wolf dens on the way!"

"So, a detour is necessary!"

"At first, I thought the badge scramble was a game of luck, but now it seems I was too young!"

"This is a meticulously designed venue!"

"This is a genuine test of strength!"

"It's a struggle for power!"

"Teams without strength, unless they have Heaven-Defying luck, won't be able to reach the moon-marked spot even if they get two badges!"

After Chen Du explained everything, the three continued forward.

Thirty minutes later.

Suddenly, the three who were moving forward stopped in unison.

Another team suddenly sprang out from the side bushes; the two teams met unexpectedly!

When they saw the tags on the other side's clothes, Chen Du and the two couldn't help but shrink their pupils.

Hai City Team!!!

Big Grey Wolf Book Source kindly reminds: Due to special reasons, the group was forcibly disbanded! A new group has been rebuilt, Group 1 (298732622), Group 2 (1062268835). To avoid losing contact, TG: t.me/dahuilang888. This message will be displayed until tomorrow noon!