EM CH29

Chapter 29: Match Point

Beside him, someone was clapping intermittently. Zhao Ran lifted his head to find the big boss gazing intently at the screen with deeply gratified eyes. Just now, Yu An pushing past his limits to defeat the two mechanical wolves, protecting the technicians to secure their score, and then remorselessly giving both technicians a cold shove into the elimination pit had struck a chord right in the big boss’s heart.

If supreme pragmatism and cold, calculating rationality over all else were the indispensable talents of an ideal businessman, then it was hardly surprising that Yu An had earned the big boss’s favor.

On the investigator side, Ni Lan’s combat prowess had practically breached the ceiling of past intern cohorts.

Once the investigator trial objectives were broadcast, the arena began automatically deploying batches of mechanically operated rubber figures. Marked with designations such as Armed Bandit A, Bandit B, Hostage A, Hostage B, and so forth, they required investigators to execute precise breach-and-clear identifications, neutralizing bandits without harming hostages.

Ni Lan selected [Investigator Objective 1: Rescue Hostage A in the coastal warehouse] to complete, as the location sat closest to her position, saving travel time.

The girl was a force of nature, cutting down anything in her path. No one dared cross into her route; other interns preferred taking a penalty for passive avoidance over crossing paths with her.

Drawing her Tier 1 Silver equipment core, the Void Laser Blade, from her left pinky, Ni Lan stormed into the coastal warehouse solo. Blank-firing machine guns sprayed frantically toward her footholds, yet she weaved through the hail of fire like lightning. Finding the opportune moment, she swept the laser blade across, harvesting a row of rubber heads onto the ground.

Seizing Hostage A by the ankle, she dragged the figure out of the warehouse. Ni Lan didn’t care in the slightest who she hacked down; the objective demanded rescuing Hostage A, so she had zero qualms stepping over the bleeding heads of Bandits A, B, C, D and Hostages B, C, D to drag Hostage A out.

The objective was logged as completed. Immediately after, the metallic clatter of beast cages echoed, and several silver mechanical wolves lunged from all directions. Ni Lan cleanly severed their heads beneath her blade with crisp slashes. Slaying mechanical wolves likewise awarded bonus points.

“At least she didn’t slice the target hostage to pieces; that’s progress.” Team Leader Yuan lifted her champagne glass with satisfaction, taking a dainty sip. The big boss releasing wolves to balance the scoring had made her feel significantly better.

“A Vessel with dual core slots on both hands is something you can only find by luck. Xiao Lan’s growth ceiling is twice that of an ordinary human Vessel.”

Team Leader Duan scoffed: “Hardware specs are one thing, but her temper is far too unhinged. The patrol team deals with citizens daily. If an emergency crops up and she hacks down enemies and civilians together, paying compensation is the least of our worries; the company’s reputation would go down the drain. You’d better transfer the girl to our squad.”

Team Leader Yuan had no counter to this. Ni Lan was far better suited for wet-work assassination assignments than handling daily citizen protection in the patrol team. Yet having painstakingly trained this student for half a year, handing her over to Duan Ke on a silver platter was no different from carving a pound of flesh from her own body.

As the trial objectives progressed one by one, Huo Yangui’s performance turned out rather surprising.

He had picked up a hostage protection objective as well, yet his approach was vastly more conservative than Ni Lan’s. Approaching the objective location with vigilance, he performed meticulous breach identification, incinerated all bandit models, hoisted the hostage model onto his back, and carried it away from the danger zone.

Duan Ke was thoroughly pleased with his disciple’s conduct, nodding incessantly. He looked like an impulsive, hot-headed kid, yet he was the only one taking the rescue aspect seriously.

The silly kid getting hauled off by the Eagle Bureau had indeed been a misunderstanding. During a Rapid Response Team field deployment, Duan Ke intended to let him observe from the perimeter to broaden his horizons. An adjacent residence was caught in the crossfire, causing a natural gas main to explode. The chain reaction engulfed the entire building in raging flames. Huo Yangui had simply charged headfirst into the inferno, carrying out trapped tenants while sustaining numerous minor abrasions himself. Unexpectedly, because he had broken formation without permission and lacked his Underground Railway ID card, the Eagle Bureau detained him as an arson suspect, only bailed out by his master last night.

“This year’s intern cohort has put on a dazzling display. Everyone has labored hard to cultivate them. I propose a toast to all of you.” The big boss raised his glass, casually monitoring the handful of remaining investigators in the arena.

“There is one more matter.” Setting his empty tumbler onto the tray, the big boss signaled toward his assistant behind the console with keen interest. The assistant bowed his head and deployed a brand-new trial objective.

As the final objective went live, the executives in the hall fell gradually silent, their faces adopting intrigued expressions as they exchanged knowing glances, fully grasping the situation.

[Omnibus Objective: Kill Intern Zeng Rang]

The phrasing here used “Kill” rather than “Eliminate,” baldly declaring that this assignment was distinct from the rest.

Just last month, an undercover operative from Underground Railway vanished without warning. After nearly three days without word, his corpse was recovered from the city’s municipal drainage system. Forensic analysis revealed that he had suffered inhuman torture while alive: bound in coarse hemp rope that was slowly winched tighter, rupturing internal organs, causing asphyxiation, and shattering bones throughout his body over eighteen excruciating hours, before finally being dismembered and discarded.

This hit had been authorized by the boss of their rival company, Drift Racers. The executioner was none other than the intern in the arena using the alias “Zeng Rang.” The young man wore a plain, honest face; who could easily see through that meek disguise to the venomous, cruel heart beneath?

Like many assassins raised from childhood, Zeng Rang’s background files had been doctored, giving him a pristine cover that made him ideal to plant inside Underground Railway as a mole. But the opposition had severely underestimated Underground Railway’s Security Technology Team. From the binding marks on the fallen operative’s remains, they reconstructed the exact rope specifications. Relying on this seemingly inconspicuous clue, they tracked down the movements of the perpetrator, ultimately locking onto Zeng Rang.

“Everyone knows my nature: harmony brings wealth, and I dislike strife with others.” The big boss sat forward on the sofa, smiling meaningfully with narrowed eyes. “Yet today is different. I must let these newly recruited kids understand that as long as an operative bleeds for me, Underground Railway shields them equally and will never leave them to suffer outside.”

[Omnibus Objective: Kill Intern Zeng Rang / Max Score: 35] Regardless of investigator or technician status, both could vie for this objective’s points.

A score large enough to overturn the leaderboard; whoever took down Zeng Rang would seize first place in combat performance.

At this, Team Leader Duan and Team Leader Yuan brightened up considerably. Duan Ke chuckled: “There’s a saying: before absolute strength, all tricks are empty chatter.”

Zhao Ran felt uncertain inside as well. Fortunately, the interns were young and had never clashed in lethal combat with live steel; they shouldn’t strike too brutally. Besides, the emergency medical team was on standby outside the arena, so nothing catastrophic could happen.

With the strength test reaching its climactic decider, executives both with and without interns were consumed by curiosity over the final outcome. Yet right at this moment, someone stood up.

Excusing himself to use the washroom, the Mechanical Logistics Team Leader strode swiftly out of the conference hall, heading toward the arena elevators. Deeply concerned about whether his student was injured, he couldn’t resist going to receive Ji Nian in person.

Propping his chin, Zhao Ran took in the mechanical leader’s hurried demeanor, slowly setting down his juice glass. Seizing a moment when no one was looking, he dispatched Lipu and Kaopu.

A countdown timer surfaced on the overhead scoreboard in the arena. With only thirty minutes remaining in the strength test, the rankings were firmly locked in place:

Emergency Order Team, Yu An: 127
Urban Patrol Team, Ni Lan: 95
Rapid Response Team, Huo Yangui: 83
Mechanical Logistics Team, Ji Nian: 32 [Eliminated]
Security Technology Team, Yong Zheng: 30 [Eliminated]
Urban Patrol Team, En Zai: 16 [Eliminated]
Urban Patrol Team, Zeng Rang: 15
Medical Emergency Team, Ruan Xiaoli: 7 [Eliminated]
Rapid Response Team, Wei Chiyue: 6 [Eliminated]
Urban Patrol Team, Ai Ke: 3 [Eliminated]

Yu An sat near Elimination Pit Six, resting against the machine housing. Scattered around him were the dismantled parts of the mechanical wolves. The core drive units had been picked apart by Yu An, popping out the two Tier 1 Blue Aberrant Cores that supplied their energy.

He put the tools back into the Precision Belt Ji Nian had left behind, smoothing out the creases on the leather, his mind occasionally drifting back to Ji Nian’s impassioned expression as he was pushed into the pit.

The thermal scanner and combat knife scavenged from that first unlucky investigator rested within easy reach. Having rested briefly, Yu An originally intended to stalk toward his target Zeng Rang, eliminate him, and then retreat to his safe house to run out the remaining clock in safety.

Yet the final test objective broadcast across the arena completely derailed Yu An’s plans.

To think they would publicly broadcast the assassination target, turning Zeng Rang into the decisive match point of the entire field.

Furthermore, Ni Lan currently held 95 points, while Huo Yangui had 83. If those two crossed paths and fought to a finish, one would inevitably claim all of the other’s accumulated score. At that point, even if Yu An eliminated Zeng Rang, he would still suffer defeat by a single point.

He could not let those two clash early. Yu An had to neutralize Huo Yangui first; that way, as long as he held out until the exam concluded, first place was guaranteed.

The thermal scanner beside his hand suddenly chirped an alarm, detecting a high-temperature human signature closing in rapidly.

Snatching up the loose items on the ground, Yu An strode toward Pit Three where he had previously laid a trap. Monitoring the distance on the scanner, he maintained a calculated gap with Huo Yangui: neither too far so as to make him abandon the chase, nor too close to let him charge in and unleash lethal strikes directly.

The ambient temperature grew increasingly scorching. Yu An felt as though he were sprinting through an afternoon heatwave in midsummer. His skin burned scalding hot, raising several clear blisters that throbbed with agony.

Leaving himself no choice, Yu An equipped Monstrosity Core: Goat Horns, vastly accelerating his running speed. Yet this core had at most 17 minutes of usage left before depleting; a mere seventeen minutes couldn’t carry him to the end of the exam.

Flames erupted across the wilderness underfoot. Spreading fiercely, the fire climbed along the dry grass, forming a semicircle that boxed Yu An in.

For Huo Yangui, eliminating Yu An was likewise his optimal path to seizing first place.

“Caught up.” Yu An glanced back over his shoulder. Beneath the Pure Black Hood, the glimmer of the core dragged a trailing ribbon of blue light.

Huo Yangui sat casually upon a withered branch, the scalding heat radiating from his frame scorching the wood into charcoal. The blood-red core embedded at his throat resembled a monstrous eye, swiveling about while wreathed in flame, like a dragon peering outward through a volcanic fissure in the underworld.

His gaze met Yu An’s. Although he couldn’t see the face beneath the Pure Black Hood, he could see the ribbon of blue light trailing from his socket.

“A Tier 2 Blue core? Are you kidding me?” Huo Yangui rubbed his eyes. He had assumed the technician sitting atop the leaderboard would be a formidable powerhouse. What was this? A precious, lifelong core slot, embedded with a Tier 2 Blue core?

Influenced by his master, Huo Yangui held a touch of disdain for technicians as well, speaking in a condescending drawl: “Elimination Pit Three is right behind you. Jump down yourself; I don’t hit technicians.”

Standing amidst the flames, Yu An showed not the slightest hint of surrender.

Popping open the Core Storage Analyzer, he drew out the core harvested from the mechanical wolf, raising his hand to swap out Goat Horns.

Name: Functional Core: Wolf King’s Command

Origin: Wolf Aberrant

Category: Common Species

Rank Assessment: Tier 1 Blue (Pale Blue)

Base Abilities: Issues a two-character command that the target must obey for three seconds.

Usage Restriction: Single-use

Description: The Wolf King commands; none dare disobey.

Resonance Condition: Unknown

“You can swap—” Huo Yangui and the draconic eye at his throat widened their eyes in unison. “You can—”

Yu An said: “Fire out.”

The wolf-head pattern on the core’s surface illuminated beneath the Pure Black Hood, howling toward the heavens.

The towering inferno was snuffed out instantly, flakes of ash drifting softly around them. Startled, Huo Yangui vaulted down from the withered branch, charging straight toward Yu An. If he could force Yu An back into position within three seconds, the rekindled flames three seconds later would force Yu An to surrender automatically; no one could endure a minute within his fire.

Yet in a split second, Huo Yangui felt his center of gravity destabilize, pitching forward.

As he tumbled through the air, Huo Yangui’s mind went completely blank, staring dumbly beneath his feet.

A beauty standee?

Why on earth was there an advertising standee here…

When he charged forward earlier, he seemed to have stepped squarely on the beauty standee’s face.

Beside herself with rage, Miss Bo raised a shapely leg and tripped him flat on his face!