Erin Xavier arrived to find Chase Shaw laughing, his laugh both hearty and teasing.

He found it a little odd. "What’s so funny?"

Nathan Lockwood scoffed under his breath.

"Zoe Pierce guessed Nathan Lockwood’s pheromones smell like green tea." The term "green tea" had long been popularized on the Intelligent Brain; even Chase Shaw and the others knew what the meme meant.

Sure enough, Erin Xavier froze for a moment before letting out a snort of laughter.

He gave Zoe Pierce a thumbs-up and glanced at the stone-faced Nathan Lockwood. ’You know... she’s not wrong.’

’He’d absolutely never considered Nathan Lockwood’s pheromones in that light before.’

Zoe Pierce was already cringing with embarrassment.

Thankfully, the arrival of their instructor saved her.

"Alright, stop messing around." The instructor hadn’t heard what they were saying, but he found the atmosphere a bit strange. Even Miles Sherman’s lips were quirked into a smile. "Let’s go."

"Hand over your Intelligent Brains." The instructor collected their personal Intelligent Brains, leaving them with only the standard-issue ones provided by the academy.

The group boarded the armored vehicle. It swayed and rattled for about twenty minutes before the doors finally opened.

They had left the forest’s edge. The morning air was shrouded in a swirling mist, as if it had just rained, and everything felt damp.

The scents of earth and grass were amplified, and they could even hear the soft squelch of water with each step.

The temperature in the woods had plummeted. A chill instantly prickled any skin left exposed by their training uniforms.

A mechanical eye flew out from up ahead, appearing brazenly before the group.

Given the prior warning, Nathan Lockwood obviously couldn’t destroy this mechanical eye. Zoe Pierce, meanwhile, took the opportunity to get a good look at the bee-like device.

’If Nathan Lockwood and the others hadn’t told her beforehand, she never would have guessed that something that looked so much like a real bee was a surveillance drone.’

The two bees circled high in the air, then quickly flew out of sight.

But everyone present knew that the two bees would be watching them from the periphery.

The armored vehicle didn’t linger. Once it confirmed Miles Sherman’s team had disembarked safely, it quickly departed. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Miles Sherman opened the map. "Both the Federal Military Academy and the First Military Academy have completed their preliminary team eliminations."

The red zone marking the mountain boundary was now completely gone, and the map’s designated operational area had changed dramatically.

This meant that after the initial eliminations, only fifty squads remained in total from both schools.

"Our objective now is to eliminate as many Xenobeasts as possible and to take out the First Military Academy’s squads."

Although the competition was officially about which side could score the most points by hunting Xenobeasts, everyone knew it was ultimately a showdown between the Federal Military Academy and the First Military Academy. By unspoken agreement, they all prioritized eliminating teams from the opposing school.

The strategy was to first gain an edge by hunting Xenobeasts, then weaken the opposing school’s fighting strength. Finally, if they ran into tough opponents, they would regroup and attack together.

Because at its core, the Plunder War was all about points—points earned from hunting Xenobeasts.

"Miles!" Just as they were about to set off, Zoe Pierce suddenly called out his name.

Nathan Lockwood and the others immediately turned to look at her.

"Can I speak up when I ’feel’ something?" Her voice was quiet, soft even, but she put a distinct emphasis on the word "feel."

Everyone present heard her.

Almost instantly, the silent understanding they’d cultivated in the spiritual power training room kicked in.

Miles Sherman’s gaze was heavy as he looked at her. "Of course."

After discovering that Zoe Pierce’s Perception could sometimes rival even Nathan Lockwood’s, they had discussed how she should use her spiritual power.

Using her spiritual power for attacks was out of the question. She definitely couldn’t use it in a place crawling with surveillance.

But Zoe Pierce’s Perception was a different matter. It seemed to combine the best of Nathan Lockwood’s and Erin Xavier’s abilities, providing not only timely warnings but also a clear reason for them.

It was even faster than Erin Xavier’s pure intuition, and quicker than the conclusions Nathan Lockwood drew after actively probing with his spiritual power.

And in the surveillance room, the use of this type of spiritual power was undetectable.

They had tested it, too. Besides the hyper-sensitive Nathan Lockwood, who could detect Zoe Pierce’s spiritual power, the others wouldn’t notice her extending her Perception unless they were paying extremely close attention.

This meant their squad could split into two teams to tackle the Plunder War.

They had a huge advantage.

More importantly, they saw Zoe Pierce’s ambition.

An ambition that refused to be relegated to the rear, that yearned to strive for more.

This was the kind of ambition most Alphas possessed—a predatory instinct etched into their very genes.

Yet now, they saw that same predatory nature in Zoe Pierce. She wasn’t content. She wanted more.

It made perfect sense. If they had a spiritual power as special as hers, they would likely be even more brazen about using it.

They weren’t looking at her through the lens of an Omega to be admired; they were seeing her as an Alpha to be respected.

So, how could her desire be realized?

Not through words, but through actions.

From the very beginning, under the watchful eyes of the surveillance, she had to demonstrate what made her different.

Like an actress, her performance had to begin now.

Because she would have to keep this act up all the way past the joint examinations, and even into the friendly match against the Imperial Military Academy. Zoe Pierce had to make her "ability" known.

Other people act, trying to make something fake seem real. She had to act to make something real seem like mere intuition.

It was an immense challenge.

But no one had forgotten the determined look on Zoe Pierce’s face when the idea was first proposed, when she had agreed and said, "I can do it. Trust me."

Her delicate features were overlooked; all they could see were those earnest eyes.

She still looked frail, but this small, slender person had radiated an immense, hidden energy when she made that promise.

"Well, the cat’s out of the bag now." The stage was set, and Erin Xavier feigned regret, but his eyes danced with interest.

This kind of secret, kept from the rest of the world and known only to them, truly satisfied some of his adolescent power fantasies.

Miles Sherman immediately followed up. "Alright, let’s split into teams. I’ll be with Zoe. Erin, Nathan, Chase—you three will be one team."

No one had any objections.

"Alright then. Regardless of what happens, we must regroup here at 7 p.m.," Miles Sherman said, pointing to a supply point to the northeast.

On the map provided by the Intelligent Brain, there were several distinct green dots marking the supply points set up by the academy.

It was a blatant lure. Xenobeasts were inedible, but the members of the Alpha squads still needed to eat.

Aside from Miles Sherman’s team, who had been given special provisions due to the incident during the joint examinations, the other squads had all spent nearly a solid half-month in the forest.

The supplies they had prepared beforehand were clearly running low.

They needed to resupply.

And the supply points were obvious targets.

More than one team would want them. But who would be strong enough to actually seize them?

Who was the prey, and who was the hunter?