Chapter 96: Shades of an Old Friend
"Captain Chu, come on! Again!"
Chen Yu stomped the ground violently, unleashing a thick, massive silver Flying Slash.
Chu He sidestepped to dodge it. He didn't launch a counterattack. Instead, he asked, "You've stalled for enough time, haven't you?"
"What exactly are you guys planning?"
Chen Yu smiled. He stopped pretending; it was time to lay his cards on the table.
He pointed toward the distant night sky, which was just beginning to turn pale with the approaching dawn.
A silver, rocket-shaped object poked out of an Air Door (from the Door-Door Fruit) and flew at extreme speed toward a cave in the distance.
It was a rocket-propelled bunker-buster missile. Notably, two arrogant, cartoonish eyes were drawn on the missile's warhead.
Orange-red flames sprayed from its tail, propelling it forward at an astonishing speed.
"A missile?!" Chu He was stunned. "That direction is..."
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Inside the Monitoring Room.
The previously black screens suddenly sizzled and flickered back to life.
Cui Ye had just breathed a sigh of relief and was preparing to check on the students' movements when the image on the screen made him freeze instantly.
"Officer... Officer Huo! Look at this!" Cui Ye's voice trembled slightly as he pointed at the monitor.
Huo Jia leaned in to look, and his expression changed instantly.
On the screen, directly above their underground monitoring room, a rocket-propelled bunker-buster missile was rapidly closing in.
"What... what is going on?!" Huo Jia shot up from his seat, his tea cup shattering on the floor. "Where did a missile come from?!"
"And how did the students know the monitoring room was here?!"
Ever since a specific "old friend" had once summoned a Beast Tide to wipe out their entire base, Huo Jia had made it a habit to move the headquarters to a hidden location every time. Before the enemy attack simulation began, no one except himself and Cui Ye knew the specific coordinates.
But now, a missile was practically in their faces. Someone had obviously pinpointed the monitoring room's location!
The staff around them panicked. Almost all the teaching faculty were concentrated here. If this place got bombed, it would be a massive disaster.
"Don't panic! I'll go out and block it," Huo Jia shouted, forcing himself to calm down.
Suddenly, an academic professor spoke up. "That's Gu Yunxi!"
"The Weapon-Weapon Fruit user? She transformed into a missile?"
"But she couldn't even mold a pistol smoothly earlier! It was all bumpy!"
_____________________________________
[Flashback: After Yining left the dense forest]
"A duel? We are definitely not dueling them one-on-one," Chen Yu said.
Zhuge Jing spoke up, his tone calm. "I have good luck."
"I accidentally picked this up earlier." Zhuge Jing waved a map in his hand. "Don't ask me why."
"I don't know where it floated in from."
"Also, when I entered the camp, I accidentally overheard two instructors chatting."
"They said the location was set inside the North Mountain Cave. So, I guessed that the cave must be a relatively important spot."
The corners of Chen Yu's mouth curled up. "Our goal is to blow that place up!"
"Are you sure?" Su Qingqing frowned, hesitating. "Even if that place is important, we don't have weapons with enough firepower. How do we bomb it?"
"Don't worry about weapons." Chen Yu smiled and pointed at Gu Yunxi. "Don't we have a Weapon-Weapon Fruit user right here?"
"Kehehe, exactly!" Gu Yunxi laughed wildly. "Leave it to me. I recently studied the basic principles and structural composition of a bunker-buster missile."
"Uh..." Su Qingqing recalled the pistol Gu Yunxi had transformed into earlier. "Are you sure the power will be enough?"
Chen Yu waved his hand to explain. "We just want to let the instructors know that we aren't pawns to be moved around at will."
"If they want to toy with us, we can make them sweat a little too."
"Whether the explosion is powerful or not doesn't matter. What matters is making a response."
"What do you say, everyone?"
Chen Yu looked around. The students were all eager to give it a try.
"Since there are no objections, let's talk about the detailed plan."
"We need to arrange people to pin down the Silver Fox Squad, otherwise, they will definitely stop us."
After gathering a wave of intel on the Silver Fox Squad, Chen Yu began assigning tasks.
"That horned muscle man has an extremely strong physical body, but his magic resistance is low."
"He Yan, you're a Logia user, you go tank the damage. Bai Han, you control him..."
"This Castle Giant will be handled by..."
Su Qingqing volunteered, "Leave that woman with X-ray vision to me."
"Su Qingyu... Ling Yue, can you handle her?" Chen Yu looked at the young girl.
"No problem." Ling Yue nodded.
Assignments complete.
Ling Yue and the others stayed in the dense forest, preparing to launch the counterattack and pin down the Silver Fox Squad.
Chen Yu would pretend to go bomb the training camp base to draw aggro, creating time for Gu Yunxi and Zhuge Jing.
Once Chen Yu successfully drew the fire, Gu Yunxi and Zhuge Jing would immediately set off for the North Mountain Cave with Sero and Long Aotian.
_____________________
[Present Time]
Huo Jia walked out of the cave, watching the missile getting closer and closer. He had only one question in his mind: How did they know the location of the monitoring room?
This batch of students seemed far more complex than he had imagined.
Especially Chen Yu—he was exactly like his mother, Lin Lan!
BOOM——!
An orange-red fireball wrapped in dust exploded directly above the underground monitoring room. Gravel rained down.
However, it didn't even kick up a shockwave strong enough to break a defense. It only scorched the tips of the weeds at the cave entrance.
Huo Jia raised his hand to block the oncoming dust, then looked down at the unscathed ground.
His tensed shoulders suddenly relaxed, and his clenched fists slowly unclenched.
Before the dust had even settled, he looked up in the direction where the missile had exploded. His voice was projected across the entire training camp via loudspeakers:
"Enemy Attack Simulation, ended!"
As soon as these words fell, the Silver Fox Squad and the students stopped fighting.
Inside the monitoring room, Cui Ye stared at the clearing image on the screen, stunned for a moment before reacting.
"Instructor Huo, this missile... the power was way too weak. It was like setting off a firework."
Huo Jia didn't reply. His gaze landed on several figures walking slowly out of the dust.
Gu Yunxi had reverted to her human form, rubbing her arm and complaining, "Tsk, where did it go wrong? That shouldn't have happened."
Zhuge Jing walked beside her. "Did you really want to blow this place up?"
Sero and Long Aotian lay on the ground in a spread-eagle shape, panting heavily.
In their group, Zhuge Jing was responsible for navigation, Gu Yunxi for becoming the weapon, and the two of them were responsible for running. They were exhausted.
"You lot, come here." Huo Jia lifted his chin toward the four of them.
The four exchanged glances before walking toward the cave entrance.
As soon as they stood still, Gu Yunxi spoke first. "Although the power was small, we accurately bombed the monitoring room!"
Huo Jia smiled. He didn't refute her; instead, he pointed to the cave behind him. "Tell me, how did you find this location?"
Zhuge Jing handed over the map, his tone remaining flat. "Picked up a map. Added some overheard conversation. Guessed."
"Guessed?" Huo Jia looked at Zhuge Jing's expression and understood immediately.
Pure luck.
His gaze then swept over Chen Yu, Ling Yue, and the others rushing over from the distance. Finally, his eyes rested on Chen Yu, his look growing complicated.
Chu He had already reported the specific situation through the headset.
"More wicked ideas than anyone else," Huo Jia scolded with a laugh. "Truly the shades of an old friend."
Once everyone had gathered, Huo Jia addressed the group. "This drill exceeded my expectations."
"You didn't just rely on brute force. You relied on a plan to find the core and caught us off guard. You're much better than previous batches who only knew how to charge in blindly."
Chen Yu stepped forward, looking at the shallow scorch marks on the ground, and suddenly realized something. "You knew all along that the missile wasn't powerful enough?"
"Otherwise, did you think I'd really let you blow up the monitoring room?" Huo Jia spread his hands. "From the moment Gu Yunxi turned into a missile, I could tell."
"That girl couldn't even stabilize the missile's tail flame. Making a loud noise was the best she could do."
The crowd was stunned for a moment, and then everyone laughed.
"Alright, go back and rest. Formal classes start tomorrow!"
(To be Continued)
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