Chapter 250 - 246: Must Screw Over More People

Chapter 250: Chapter 246: Must Screw Over More People

SPLASH~ SPLASH~ SMACK~

The river’s surface erupted as giant logs churned the water, creating wave after wave.

The reservists were ruthless yet controlled. They rarely struck the trainees directly with the tree trunks, instead slamming them into the water less than a meter away to kick up powerful, high-pressure sprays.

Most of the others couldn’t take more than a couple of blows from the concussive force of the water. The angles were clever, too—a single strike could affect several people at once.

Only Monkey, who was used to leaping through the mountain forests, found his strength useless in the water. He was resilient, though, which only earned him the attention of two giant logs. Seeing his tough hide, the reservists decided to just whale on him directly a couple of times.

Trying to dive and swim away was useless. The moment someone went under, a log would viciously slam into the water right where they’d submerged. The first blow was usually enough to leave them dazed. A second, and they’d be floating back to the surface in no time. Even if they sank, it wasn’t a problem. These trainees had freakish physiques; a normal person would drown in ten minutes, but they could be submerged for half an hour and still be revived.

...

「Five minutes later.」

A golden figure was yanked from the river, trailing countless splashes, and hurled ashore.

THUD! It slammed into a large tree on the bank, shaking it so hard that several unripe fruits rained down and bounced off Monkey’s body.

A glance at the ground revealed a neat row of bodies lining the riverbank—over a hundred trainees from the current advanced training camp, including the twenty-or-so who had been ambushed earlier.

"One hundred and twelve. That’s all of them."

Hook and a dozen other men emerged from the water, their steps deliberate. A deep scratch mark was visible on his arm.

He glanced at the furry figure lying on the ground, then winced as he touched the wound.

"Seriously, where did this Monkey pop out from? He’s actually pretty damn fierce."

Beside him, Maki glanced at the gash on Hook’s arm. It looked terrifying, but it was only a flesh wound; the claws had been stopped by the muscle layer and couldn’t pierce any deeper.

"I hear he was sent over from headquarters. Seems he’s got some real skill. No need to hold back on him anymore, don’t want to lose face. Just beat the hell out of him."

CRACKLE~ CRACKLE~

Hook rolled his shoulders and neck, his joints letting out a series of sharp cracks.

"Heh, then leave him to me!"

As they spoke, more than thirty reservists began hoisting the unconscious trainees, piling three or four onto each man’s shoulders.

...

「Six hours later, the sky had already begun to darken.」

Night always fell early in the rainforest, but with the exceptionally dense canopy, it grew dim even sooner.

Ding Yi groggily shook his head. His body ached, but he could feel all his limbs, which meant he probably wasn’t crippled.

He pushed with his arms, trying to sit up, but they met only empty air. A swaying motion ran through his body.

His eyes snapped open.

"Aah—ouch!"

The sudden movement almost sent him tumbling down.

Ding Yi found himself draped stomach-down over a tree branch at least ten meters above the ground. The slightest motion made it sway precariously.

’How did I get here?’

He looked around and froze.

Like oversized Ginseng Fruit hanging in twos and threes, the surrounding trees were festooned with his fellow trainees.

He glanced back to see Monkey and Gou Junbao piled together in the fork of a large branch.

"Damn it, we were wiped out? Wake up! Everybody, wake up! Stop sleeping!"

As if the heavens themselves were lending a hand, a sudden downpour began in the rainforest.

Pelted by the icy rain, everyone slowly began to regain consciousness.

Some, waking with a start, moved too abruptly and rolled right off their branches.

But this was no ordinary group of people. Their reflexes were lightning-fast. The instant they felt the sensation of falling, they knew something was wrong and instinctively grabbed onto a tree trunk, breaking out in a cold sweat from the shock.

Pain and dizziness aside, within a few minutes, everyone had made it safely to the ground.

Ding Yi, Gou Junbao, and a few others spread out a map.

"Where are we?"

"I have no idea... The terrain is identical in every direction. There’s no way to tell!"

"You think the reservists are trying to get us lost? How sinister!"

"Monkey, go scout ahead and find out where we are."

The Monkey King gulped down a wild fruit he’d picked. Without a word, he nodded, leaped into a tree, and vanished into the canopy in a matter of moments.

Less than five minutes later, Monkey returned.

Scratching his head, he jabbed a finger at a spot on the oilcloth map.

"Holy shit!" "You’ve got to be kidding me!" "Oh my god!"...

Gou Junbao’s face twitched as he stared at the spot Monkey indicated. With Wukong’s eyesight and jungle expertise, there was no way he’d be wrong about their location.

The location itself, however, was a total screw-job.

The reservists had thrown them back seventy or eighty kilometers as the crow flies. They were now a mere ten kilometers from the main base camp where they had started.

"Damn it! Looks like if we don’t fight them head-on, we’ll never reach our destination!"

Everyone was furious about being played, especially the eighty-plus trainees who had been beaten while they were down. They felt their defeat had been utterly humiliating.

The anger of over a hundred people flared up, so hot that the falling raindrops seemed to sizzle into steam on their skin.

But the trainees were no pushovers. Besides, with the Monkey King on their side, their chances of tracking someone through the jungle were pretty reliable.

Win or lose, they had to at least go down in a blaze of glory and vent their frustrations.

...

「Three hours later.」

BOOM! With a splintering crash, a massive tree came down.

A dozen or so trainees who had been lying in wait were forced out of its canopy, leaping to other large trees.

"An ambush like this? The birds went silent dozens of meters out. Do you take us for idiots, or are you the idiots?"

With that, over thirty reservists charged into the kill zone like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey. Some swarmed up the trees while others began felling them, initiating the second phase of the engagement.

"Brothers, attack! It’s three-on-one, what the hell is there to be afraid of!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG...

Even as Gou Junbao spoke, a dozen of his comrades were sent flying.

He used a sharpened wooden stick as a javelin, continuously throwing it from the trees to provide cover for his allies while observing the battlefield.

"Holy shit! Monkey, have you no shame?! You’re a damn monkey! You can’t beat a human up in the trees?! Aren’t you embarrassed? Hurry up and take him down so you can help the others!"

BANG! BANG! SMACK! BOOM!

"ROAR! Aaaargh!"

Monkey and Hook clashed in the trees, fists and palms colliding. They used hands, feet, claws, tails—even teeth. Monkey felt more and more blows rain down on his body, his muscles screaming in agony.

The madman he was fighting seemed to feel no pain. Just moments ago, Monkey had bitten his hand with all his might and nearly shattered his own fangs.

He was the only trainee fighting a reservist one-on-one, and Gou Junbao’s words made him see red.

"Easy for you to say, ’beat a human in the trees’! But is he fucking human?!??"

"SCREECH! Aaaargh!"

Distracted by his own outburst, Monkey’s tail was caught by Hook, who swung him through the air. The pain was so intense he thought his tail would snap. However, using his species’ natural advantage, he managed to right himself on another tree, hissing and grimacing in agony.

"Agile in the trees, little Monkey!"

Hook’s skin was now flushed red. With sweat evaporating off him in clouds, he looked like some kind of steam-powered monster.

Monkey’s heart skipped a beat. ’You mean this guy wasn’t even fighting for real before?’

Elsewhere, Ding Yi was also in dire straits. He had used both his Grapple Hand and Hard Skills, but without a weapon, he was completely outmatched. The number of allies still on their feet was dwindling, and the ache in his own muscles grew more intense.

Finally, after more than ten minutes, the last man standing—Gou Junbao, who had been dodging and weaving to survive—was beaten out of a tree, signaling the utter failure of the trainees’ attempted ambush.

When they awoke several hours later, they found themselves back in roughly the same location where they had been dumped the first time.

...

「Three weeks passed. It was sheer Purgatory.」

As the trainees improved, the reservists held back less and less, their attacks growing harsher. Some encounters resulted in serious injuries like broken bones, which had to be mended with the Flower of Life.

They rolled in mud to mask their scent.

They faked death or cried for help to launch despicable sneak attacks.

They forwent sleep to make forced marches along secret detours.

Some of the female trainees even used their feminine wiles to set honey traps!

In short, to reach their destination, the trainees resorted to every dirty trick imaginable.

...

On the morning of the final day, their supply of Vermilion Fruit exhausted, more than a hundred people stumbled and staggered to the riverside destination. They were like a troop of Wildmen.

Their clothes were in tatters, their faces caked with mud. Their bodies were a canvas of black and blue, and their eyes were shot with blood.

They looked more like a horde of Demons than the saviors of an Extraordinary Influence.

Baru and Otto stood atop a massive boulder on the riverbank, looking down on them from above.

"You actually made it! Tsk, tsk, tsk... Seems we’ll have to ramp up the reservists’ training!"

Even though the remark wasn’t aimed at them, it sent a chill down the spines of the hundred-plus half-dead trainees and one monkey.

"And by the way, the thirty-nine reservists didn’t have any Vermilion Fruit to resupply. The fact that you just managed to drag this out until you arrived is nothing to be proud of!"

He was only halfway through his sentence when the sound of continuous footsteps emerged from the woods behind them.

Thirty-nine equally disheveled reservists appeared near the finish line, panting as they stared at the hundred-odd "dead dogs" before them. Their eyes were filled with frustration, yet also a hint of gratification.

Baru shot them a glance before turning back to face the current class of trainees.

"Still, a win is a win. Trainees, congratulations on your graduation!"

A few weak cheers rose from the crowd, sparse but utterly sincere.

"And you are all welcome to convince your friends to join the training camp, regardless of whether they intend to join the Silent Knight Order!"

"DEAL!" "DEFINITELY!" "ABSOLUTELY!" "NO PROBLEM!"...

This time, the replies were far more energetic.

There was a certain comfort in the thought of making others experience the same misery they had just endured.

PS: Chapter two for Tuesday.