In a small town in the southern region of Holy Grail Island, figures occasionally darted through the streets.

Sometimes, even when two teams met head-on, they wouldn’t immediately start fighting. Instead, they would stare each other down before both sides backed away.

The chaos had been worst when everyone was first dropped onto the island. As time passed, the teams that had yet to be eliminated became exceptionally cautious.

Aside from a few teams whose overall strength far surpassed the rest, most now adhered to the principle of "don’t fight if you don’t have to."

After all, no one knew what items or abilities the other side had. Just when you thought your team was guaranteed to win, the opponent might suddenly pull out some strange item and turn the tables.

That was why many teams now steered clear of others, only truly fighting it out when competing for a discovered supply crate.

Even then, they couldn’t get too invested, lest a third party take advantage of the conflict. It was a common sight: two teams fighting to the death over a supply crate and taking losses, only for a full-strength third team to appear and clean up the leftovers.

However, a few teams took the opposite approach, aggressively "clearing the field."

SHK!

Inside a stone house, a sharp curved saber pierced the chest of a squad’s final member, signaling their complete elimination from the game.

The man holding the curved saber snorted. "Only 4 points. What a piece of trash."

A kill awarded a fixed 1 point, and the other 3 were plundered from the defeated player’s score. This meant the victim had only managed to defeat three people.

"Captain, this area is clear. No other teams," a man said as he entered the room.

The man with the curved saber nodded, his voice laced with an undeniable anxiety. "To the next area!"

If Guan Tong were present, he would have recognized the man by his curved saber alone. It was the very same squad leader he had confronted in the industrial park.

His name was Gu Fei.

The Apocalypse Rules Strategy Research Room had invested resources into creating five elite squads, and Gu Fei was the captain of the third.

He’d been furious ever since the mission to eliminate the Screamer had failed.

It wasn’t just his failure to kill the Screamer. After that particular Apocalypse Rule had ended, the local armed soldiers in Yunhua had filed a collective complaint against him, accusing him of abusing the authority granted by the Strategy Research Room and ordering them to carry out unsanctioned operations.

A collective complaint from soldiers was no laughing matter. The head of the Strategy Research Room, Gao Liangwei, was a former senior colonel himself and took such incidents extremely seriously.

Although Gu Fei hadn’t heard it firsthand, Dr. Zhang, who was responsible for selecting them, had passed on the news. Because of the complaint, Gao Liangwei was deeply disappointed in the third squad and was already entertaining the thought of disbanding them.

Panic had seized Gu Fei upon hearing the news.

He knew he couldn’t accept being disbanded. After enjoying the many perks of being an "Official Team," it was hard to go from riches to rags.

’Just imagine,’ he thought, ’if I’m no longer the captain of the third squad, will I still have multiple professional researchers studying item combinations for me? Will I still have tens of thousands of Sublimation Coins invested in me?’

The mere thought terrified Gu Fei. He couldn’t afford to fall from his position. Therefore, he had to place in the top three of this competition. He had to take first!

Gu Fei did a quick mental calculation. Since landing, his squad had been constantly moving toward the most populated areas. They had already eliminated over twenty teams, accumulating a total of more than 300 points.

’But that’s not enough!’ he thought. ’I have to eliminate more. It would be best to wipe out every team but my own!’

The other members of the squad understood Gu Fei’s mindset; they felt the same way. If the higher-ups decided to make cuts, the entire team would be disbanded, so everyone had a stake in this.

After clearing the small area, the third squad immediately headed to the next section of town.

Upon arrival, the team members spread out, each taking out and activating a Small Reconnaissance Drone.

Several drones flew into the air, scanning for human targets within a hundred-meter radius.

As an officially funded team, every member was loaded with items, from drones to Lock Openers. They had dozens of drones in particular, all for the purpose of finding people to fight as quickly as possible.

Soon, a few members returned to report the scan results to Gu Fei.

"We’ve detected over a dozen people to the east, and only one to the south."

"A lot of people to the east," Gu Fei said, licking his lips. "I’ll take three men and clear them out. Jianming, you go and take care of the straggler to the south."

"Yes, Captain."

The two groups split up. The team member named Jianming soon arrived outside a three-story mud-brick building. According to the drone’s scan, the target was inside.

He took out his Psychic Power item: a crossbow.

Before the Apocalypse Rules began, he was an advanced member of an archery club with considerable skill. After their arrival, he acquired this crossbow, which could consume Psychic Power to generate crossbow bolts of impressive power.

It was thanks to this crossbow that he served as the team’s second attacker, their secondary damage dealer.

Jianming crept toward the building’s entrance, crossbow in hand. He then used another scanning drone to get a real-time fix on the target’s exact position.

The scan showed the target on the second floor. Seeing the result, he immediately stepped onto the first floor.

Yet, the instant he stepped inside, a figure lunged at him from the left of the doorway!

Though caught off guard, Jianming’s reactions were fast. He immediately rolled to dodge the surprise attack.

Pushing himself up, he got a good look at his attacker. It was a red-eyed human who had been hiding just inside the door.

’No, that’s not a human,’ he thought. ’The drone didn’t pick it up at all! The pale red eyes... Is that a Living Dead from the previous Apocalypse Rule? Why is it here? Is it the effect of an item?’

"ROAR!"

Its first lunge having missed, the Living Dead roared and charged again. Jianming snorted and fired a Psychic Power bolt, instantly destroying the creature with a shot to the head.

Meanwhile, on the second floor, Guan Tong was searching for supply crates when he heard the Living Dead’s roar and instantly realized someone had arrived.

He had posted the Living Dead by the door after entering the building to guard against ambushes from the rear, ordering it to roar and attack anyone who came in.

Since the Living Dead was classified as a "Summoned Creature," it couldn’t be detected by drones, making it an excellent sentry. As soon as he heard its roar, he would know someone had entered.

Guan Tong didn’t take the stairs. He went straight to a second-floor window, leaped out, and fired a Hooked Claw into the outer wall. His body swung in an arc through the air before he landed lightly beside a first-floor window.

Peeking through the window, he saw a man with a crossbow approaching the stairs, completely unaware that his target was now outside the building.

’That crossbow...’

Guan Tong recognized the weapon. He immediately recalled the guy with glasses from the industrial park, the one who had attacked the Living Dead alongside the Curved Saber Man. That guy had been holding this exact crossbow.

’Could it be a coincidence?’

’Unlikely.’

Guan Tong could tell the man was here for him. He was hidden while his enemy was exposed; naturally, he wasn’t going to be courteous.

He aimed Silver Hunter and loaded a No. 2 slug. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

BOOM!

The gun fired, and the bullet shot toward Jianming just as he was stepping onto the stairs. He seemed to hear the shot; sensing danger, he hastily threw something in front of him.

THUMP—

A rapidly materializing shield blocked his front. The No. 2 slug hit it and its energy seemed to dissipate, preventing it from exploding.

But in the next instant, the shield disintegrated, shattering all over the ground.

’A single-use defensive item?’

Seeing this, Guan Tong immediately switched to a No. 3 round and fired. At the same time, Jianming spotted Guan Tong aiming his gun from the window and instantly counterattacked with his crossbow.

FWOOSH FWOOSH FWOOSH— Several bolts condensed from Psychic Power shot toward him!

BOOM— Silver Hunter’s No. 3 High-Explosive Bomb landed at Jianming’s feet.

The attacks from both sides landed. As the explosive flames erupted around him, Jianming realized his opponent wasn’t firing a gun—it was practically a cannon!

He frantically tried to pull all the defensive items from his backpack, but it was too late. He only managed to grab a damage-reduction bracelet and slip it on before he was engulfed in flames.

As for the Psychic Power bolts flying toward Guan Tong, they were all caught and crushed by a large black hand when they were still more than a meter away. The hand then quickly dematerialized, slipping back into Guan Tong’s clothes.

It was Shadow. To be ready for a timely defense or offense, Guan Tong had it hide in his clothes in an intangible state whenever he entered a dangerous area. Since Shadow’s intangible form consumed far less Psychic Power than its solid form, this was a burden Guan Tong could sustain.

A figure emerged from the dust after the explosion.

Jianming, lying half-dead on the ground, stared in utter disbelief at the unscathed Guan Tong.

"You... how... my bolts..."

"A High-Explosive Bomb went off at your feet and you’re not dead? You’ve got a lot of defensive items," Guan Tong said, raising his gun and switching to a No. 1 round.

"Wait... wait!" Jianming yelled. "My teammates are nearby, you—"

BANG!

Guan Tong had no time for nonsense. He eliminated the guy with a Scatter Shot.

[+27 Points]

Guan Tong was surprised. ’This guy had already eliminated 26 people? Looks like I wasn’t mistaken; he really is from that "Official Team"... and his teammates are probably all still alive. Hmm... I guess it’s a small world for enemies, huh?’

To be honest, Guan Tong had been quite annoyed after their last confrontation, but he’d had no further contact with the squad since, so he’d let it go. Now that he’d run into them in the competition, however, he wouldn’t mind seeing them off if the opportunity arose.

He wasn’t particularly bothered by the others, but as for the captain with the curved saber, Guan Tong really wanted to eliminate him personally.

He took a reconnaissance drone from his backpack and sent it flying. The scan results showed four people dozens of meters away, rapidly heading in his direction!

’Besides those four, the scan didn’t pick up anyone else. They’ve probably cleared out all the nearby teams... So this is the power of an Official Team?’

’Looks like they got the notification that their teammate was eliminated. Now they’re all coming for revenge... I don’t want to risk a one-versus-four fight.’

Guan Tong’s mind was clear. ’This isn’t an ordinary squad I’m facing. It’s a heavily funded Official Team. Every single one of them is probably loaded with items.’

’The crossbow guy I just killed pulled out two defensive items, and who knows how many more he had that he didn’t get to use... Fighting them head-on would be foolish.’

’Besides, my target is the Holy Grail. I shouldn’t get bogged down here... I’ll make a move first. If they keep chasing me, I’ll just pick them off one by one.’

With that thought, Guan Tong left immediately. Not long after, Gu Fei and his three teammates arrived at the mud-brick building. Jianming was eliminated and the enemy was nowhere in sight, a fact that made Gu Fei’s anger almost impossible to contain.

"Jianming, that useless piece of trash. As my team’s secondary damage dealer, he lost a one-on-one..." Gu Fei’s face was grim. "Everyone, get your drones out. Keep scanning and give chase. Anyone who can take down Jianming has to be a pro, which means they must have a ton of points. I’m going to kill them myself and take every last one!"