Chapter 249 - 245: People Will Die

Chapter 249: Chapter 245: People Will Die

The group of over one hundred training camp cadets left a trail as they sped through the rainforest. Even at night, it was as conspicuous as a lantern in the darkness to the pursuing reservists.

Furthermore, the bodies of some of the reservists were already showing signs of unique evolution. Their physical development was so advanced it had begun to nourish their souls in a process of reverse-feedback. This, combined with regular baptisms using the power of Magic Energy Crystals, was a way to forcibly trigger their evolution.

Some of them had a sense of smell more acute than a wild animal’s, making it impossible for them to follow the wrong trail.

In his series of research projects for Dawn, Qin Xiaoxia had defined this phenomenon as an effective path to safely becoming a Silent Knight. A consensus had been reached among the Association’s top brass, who believed they had finally managed to "partially replicate" the process that created the ancient Silent Knights.

Thanks to this breakthrough, most candidates wishing to become Silent Knights and attain the power of Soul Burning would no longer have to suffer shattered souls and near-death experiences before being precariously saved, unlike the original Four Knights.

In other words, having reached this stage of reverse-feedback to the soul, these thirty-plus reservists were far stronger than Ding Yi, Gou Junbao, and the others imagined.

However, Baru and Joseph—who was currently pursuing advanced studies in biology—believed this modern method only met the minimum threshold to become a Silent Knight. Even they, the original Four Knights, were only slightly stronger and fell far short of the masters among the ancient Silent Knights.

This wasn’t baseless speculation; the evidence could be seen in the murals at various ruins belonging to the Association.

...

The new-era military theories on supernatural combat, developed by Baru and the other Silent Knights, served as a crucial instructional classic for the Association’s combat personnel. It was already being compiled into volumes using Magic Patterns.

Unlike conventional books, records made with Magic Patterns had a distinct advantage. With the exception of the most profound Magic Language, for which there were no shortcuts, anyone who could read the patterns would form corresponding visual images of understanding in their mind.

Anyone qualified to attend the Silent Knight Order’s advanced training camp would have experienced this type of learning to some degree, aided by the Association’s Secret Realm Power.

However, those "classroom lessons" had clearly failed to instill decisive habits in the hundred-plus trainees ahead, as their movements were riddled with flaws.

The thirty-plus pursuers, however, were a different story. They were all elites from the Association’s combat division, their sights set on joining the Silent Knight Order. For them, *Knightly Tactics* was their bread and butter.

After pursuing them for over eight hours, the thirty-plus men suddenly slowed their pace. They dropped down from the bushes and treetops, converging in a forest clearing that looked no different from its surroundings.

Maki sniffed the air, then touched the ground. He scraped away a layer of soil and vegetation, revealing the wood ash beneath.

He glanced at Blaise beside him and smiled.

"Left here about half an hour ago."

Nearby, Hook dug a shallow pit beneath a massive palm tree and took a whiff.

"Blood from a dozen or so different animals, but the hides and bones aren’t here."

Seven or eight similar fire pits were subsequently found. This had clearly been a temporary camp for Ding Yi’s group. They had hunted and eaten here before continuing on their way.

"Very good. A bit smarter than the last batch. They did a decent job covering their tracks and didn’t sleep in the camp."

Blaise and a few others spread out a map. After comparing it with observations from the treetops, they took a moment to pinpoint their location.

The map had been updated two years ago, but the Amazon had changed drastically since then. The density and height of the vegetation were on a completely different level.

"We’ll catch them in an hour at most. Time to give them a little surprise."

...

The group of over one hundred cadets came to a halt before a river dozens of meters wide.

"Let’s push on, everyone! Once we’re across the river, we’ll get two hours of sleep. A little hardship now means we’ll be left alone for a while longer later."

Due to fatigue and the need for food and rest, they hadn’t maintained top speed. In the roughly twenty hours since yesterday, they had covered just over ninety kilometers.

Nevertheless, the mood in the group was optimistic. They had already covered one-fifth of the distance in a single day. With twenty days remaining, they felt this training exercise should be a breeze.

Although everyone knew this was a naive hope, they were still confident in their ability to complete most of the journey ahead of the pack.

The plan for crossing the river was simple: swim straight across, relying on their formidable physiques.

But even this simple plan required a strategy.

Led by Ding Yi and Gou Junbao, the first group of twenty-some cadets lined up seven or eight meters from the riverbank.

They exchanged nods.

"We’ll go first! Second group, follow close behind. Monkey, your group is on rearguard—clean up our tracks!"

"Go!"

The word was barely out of his mouth before the leg muscles of the twenty-plus cadets bulged. After a quick THUMP-THUMP-THUMP of a running start, they launched themselves from the riverbank.

They expected their jump to carry them a good portion of the way across the river before they’d even need to start swimming.

But in mid-air, Ding Yi was struck by a sudden sense of unease, while Gou Junbao’s eyelid began to twitch uncontrollably.

"BANG." "BANG." "BANG." "BANG." ...

The river below suddenly exploded, and from dozens of geysers of water, a host of menacing reservists leaped out. With miniature oxygen tanks clenched in their teeth, they caught Ding Yi’s group completely off guard, grabbing them and dragging them under the surface in an instant.

Gou Junbao was quick to react. Seeing the ferocious figure surging up from below, he twisted in mid-air and aimed a kick downward.

A dripping hand caught his ankle in an iron grip and yanked him down violently. The attacker’s right arm became a blur, and with a pained "Ugh!", Gou Junbao felt as if his stomach had just been struck by a tank’s main cannon.

WHOOSH! SPLASH! He slammed into the water back-first, still doubled over. If not for his monstrously efficient digestive system, he would have undoubtedly thrown up the venison he had eaten earlier.

In his peripheral vision, he saw that everyone else was in a similar predicament. Even Ding Yi only managed to resist for a moment longer; he used a grappling block against two punches, but though he saw the third, heavy kick coming, his body couldn’t keep up, and he was driven into the water.

Before the cadets on the bank could even react, it was all over.

Except for the roiling splashes and bubbles, both the cadets who had leaped and their ambushers had vanished beneath the surface—and that included their leaders.

"AHHH!!! How could Ding Yi and Brother Gou be so useless?! What do we do now?"

Clinging to a tall tree trunk, Monkey stared out over the river, looking agitated.

A minute or so later, the water on the opposite bank erupted once more. The twenty-some cadets were hauled from the river and unceremoniously thrown onto the bank, all of them unconscious and covered in black and blue marks.

The reservists then climbed ashore as well, simply standing on the opposite bank and staring at the eighty-some cadets who remained.

Monkey pounded his fists against the tree in frustration.

"ROAR! ROAR! AHHHH! GO SAVE THEM!"

After their time in training, the Monkey King had earned considerable prestige and popularity among the cadets—he wouldn’t have been entrusted with the rearguard otherwise. That, combined with the Dawn Training Camp’s emphasis on camaraderie, meant his roar elicited an immediate response.

Despite how fearsome the reservists appeared, all the remaining cadets leaped into the river and started swimming toward the opposite bank.

On the other side, Blaise wrung the water out of his hair.

"Heh, they’ve got some guts!"

Strange BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! sounds echoed from the forest behind the swimming cadets, followed by a series of cracks that unsettled man and monkey alike.

Another dozen reservists had been lying in wait in the woods. Now, with a series of alternating kicks, they snapped several trees that were twenty meters tall and as thick as a man’s waist.

"CRACK!" "CRACK!"... "CRASH!" "CRASH!"...

The trees came crashing down, with one end of each trunk landing perfectly among Blaise’s waiting men.

An average of six men took control of each massive tree. Within seconds, they had snapped off most of the obtrusive branches, then hoisted the straight, heavy trunks onto their shoulders as they stood on the bank.

"Holy shit! What are they trying to do?!"

"FUCK!"

"Shit, this is bad..."

"Someone’s going to get killed!!"

...

The eighty-some cadets in the middle of the river couldn’t tell if the water streaming down their faces was from the river or their own sweat...

"There’s a quote in our tactics manual, taken from a Hua Country military classic: ’Attack while the enemy is mid-crossing.’ Heh, but I prefer another old saying from Hua Country."

"Beat a drowning dog!"

As Blaise’s mocking words faded...

...with a great WHOOSHING sound, six massive logs, trailing stray branches and leaves, swept across the river and slammed down onto the water.