Inside the War Academy’s building, the place was abuzz with activity.

The spacious viewing room on the first floor was packed to the brim with military academy students.

Challenges for the battle rankings were open for students to watch, because observing the tactical coordination of others was, in itself, a form of learning.

And just as the students were buzzing with discussion, several figures finally walked in through the main doors of the viewing hall.

"Principal Song is here!"

"Bald Shark... no, wait, Vice Director Gui is here too!"

"Wow, Vice Principal Wang came as well!"

Watching Song Tianyun and Wang Qixing enter one after another, the students in the viewing hall were all a bit shocked. It was just a challenge match; they couldn’t believe it had drawn the attention of both a principal and a vice principal.

However, when they saw the final figure who entered, all the students’ gazes shifted from the two men, focusing entirely on her.

Shen Ning’Er was really here!

Her dark military uniform accentuated her perfect figure, and her jet-black hair fell upon her shoulders. Shen Ning’Er’s beauty was truly stunning, striking one to their very core.

Especially the aura she carried.

She was truly valiant and heroic, beyond reproach.

"Ning’Er, why don’t you come sit with us two old geezers in the front?" Song Tianyun glanced at the hall full of students, then turned to Shen Ning’Er with a smile.

"I can just find a place to sit anywhere." Shen Ning’Er no longer addressed Song Tianyun as Grandpa Song, instead identifying herself as a student. After all, this was the Eastern Capital Military Academy.

"Haha... Look around. Do you see any open seats?" Song Tianyun gestured at the sea of heads.

"Alright then, I will follow the principal’s arrangements." Shen Ning’Er didn’t refuse again. She followed Song Tianyun, Wang Qixing, and the others through the crowd to the viewing seats at the very front.

Several instructors from the War Academy immediately stood up.

"Principal Song, Principal Wang, Vice Director Gui, Major Shen!" the instructors greeted them.

"Everyone, please sit. No need to be so formal with Ning’Er. Although she’s a Major in the Military Department, here at our Eastern Capital Military Academy, she’s a student." Song Tianyun smiled, but still offered the seat beside him to Shen Ning’Er.

Wang Qixing also smiled without saying anything.

Shen Ning’Er was indeed a student at the Eastern Capital Military Academy. However, if you really treated her like an ordinary student, then you were the one being clueless.

A Major in the Military Department wasn’t considered an extremely high rank.

But an eighteen-year-old Major was something else entirely. In the entire Alliance, there were only a handful of Majors under the age of twenty.

And Shen Ning’Er was the youngest of them all.

Most importantly, there were already rumors that Shen Ning’Er was about to be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Once that became a reality, she would become the youngest Lieutenant Colonel in the Alliance.

The group sat down.

The chatter from the surrounding students quieted down significantly.

"Do you guys think... Shen Ning’Er might actually have some kind of relationship with that Gao Neng?"

"No way. He’s from the Forgotten Land. How could Shen Ning’Er possibly be interested in him?"

"But if there’s nothing between them, why did Shen Ning’Er show up right when Gao Neng is challenging the D-Rankings? And she’s here to watch, too. Is that really a coincidence?"

"..."

No one could answer that question.

The situation was just too much of a coincidence. But they couldn’t bring themselves to believe that Shen Ning’Er and Gao Neng were actually a couple.

...

「Inside Training Room 080.」

As the captain of the Lone Soul Team and the last-place holder on the D-Rankings, Cui Jun was actually feeling a little down. After all, he was already a fourth-year.

It wasn’t easy for a fourth-year student to fight his way onto the battle rankings.

He didn’t have much talent; he relied entirely on experience. After four years, he had finally climbed to the very last spot on the rankings, and he considered it a graduation gift to himself.

’But damn it...’

He hadn’t even had time to warm his seat before he was challenged.

And by a few first-year freshmen, no less?!

"Gao Neng, is it? If I don’t beat you to a pulp today, my name isn’t Cui!" Cui Jun’s fists were clenched tightly. This was too humiliating. Getting trampled by geniuses from the second and third years was one thing, but now even first-year freshmen were walking all over him. Did they really think his three-plus years here were for nothing?

"Captain, what’s our strategy?" Fatty asked.

"What strategy? We just go up and crush them. A few greenhorns think they can cause an upset?" a skinny guy said with a look of disdain.

"I think we should be more cautious," a short guy said, shaking his head.

"Zhang Tao is right. No matter how strong our opponents are, we can’t underestimate them. I heard even Principal Song came for this match. I don’t want to get blindsided by a bunch of rookies!" Cui Jun seemed to agree with the short guy.

"Alright, then we’ll show these freshmen that experience always wins!" Fatty and the skinny guy nodded seriously upon hearing this.

CLICK!

Just then, the door to the training room was pushed open.

Gao Neng, Fang Tangtang, and the others, now changed into black training uniforms, walked in. The moment they entered, they saw four pairs of eyes staring daggers at them.

"Hello, seniors," Gao Neng greeted them.

"Hmph, a bunch of greenhorns!" Fatty and the skinny guy turned their heads away.

Cui Jun’s expression was also quite unpleasant, but he stood up and pointed to the control console. "As the challengers, you get to choose the mode!"

"Then we’ll choose Task Mode." Gao Neng, Fang Tangtang, and the others had already discussed this.

"Task Mode?" Cui Jun glanced at Gao Neng. "I thought you’d be arrogant enough to choose Hunt Mode. Looks like you don’t have much guts after all."

"Captain, don’t say that. It just means they know their place! Hahaha..."

"Yeah, it’s good they know their place! We’d be terrified if they chose Hunt Mode. A bunch of first-years hunting us four fourth-year veterans, haha..."

"We’ve chosen. Let’s begin." Gao Neng ignored the laughter from Cui Jun’s team, directly selected Task Mode on the console, and then walked toward the metal door.

"..." The expressions on Cui Jun and his team’s faces changed at that moment.

"Oh, by the way, Judge Cui, your Wandering Ghosts Team... you really live up to your name! Trying to goad a bunch of freshmen? Are you that afraid of losing?" Gao Neng said, suddenly turning back just before reaching the metal door.

"Hmph, don’t think you actually have a chance just because it’s Task Mode!" Cui Jun didn’t say any more. He turned and led his three teammates through the metal door, but his fists were clenched even tighter.

’These four...’

’They’re not stupid!’

...

Gao Neng was, of course, not stupid.

If he’d really been goaded into playing Hunt Mode by a few words from Cui Jun, then he would be the real idiot. After all, this was a battle between unequal opponents.

Gao Neng didn’t have any other thoughts. He just wanted to win, and in a situation where the power levels were mismatched, only Task Mode offered a chance of victory.

Task Mode: Find the unique mission item in the scenario and place it at the designated location. The first team to do so wins.

WHOOSH!

The moment Gao Neng and his team entered the metal door, a notification sound chimed in their ears.

Scenario: Altar in a Desolate Village.

Time: 12:00 AM, Midnight.

Mission Brief: Find the ritual item ’Nine-legged Black Tripod’ in East Village, then place it on the altar in West Village. (Hint: The two villages are 500 meters apart. Time limit: 1 hour.)

The sky went dark, with only a full moon hanging high above.

"East Village is that way!" Feng Qingqing was the first to spot a dilapidated signpost. The two words "East Village" were written on it, along with an arrow.

"We all just got here, so it’s unlikely the signpost has been moved. That’s got to be East Village," Kong Kun said, nodding in agreement with Feng Qingqing.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go," Fang Tangtang said, looking at Gao Neng.

"Alright, let’s go!" Gao Neng hesitated for a moment before nodding. ’Since this is Task Mode, it probably won’t be as simple as it looks on the surface,’ he thought to himself.

However, the other three were all urging him to go to East Village.

If he hesitated now and let Cui Jun’s team get the jump on them, they would lose the challenge.

"Let’s go!"

"Let’s run over there as fast as we can!"

Seeing Gao Neng nod, the three of them picked up the pace.

The scenario wasn’t very large.

Even without any lights, the small path was still fairly clear. Soon, the four of them saw a few thatched huts ahead on the overgrown path.

This was a truly deserted village.

"Cui Jun’s team isn’t here yet. Let’s hurry and find the Nine-legged Black Tripod," Fang Tangtang suggested.

"We don’t need all four of us. One should stay behind. Feng Qingqing, you’ll be on lookout at the village entrance. If Cui Jun’s team shows up, signal us. The three of us will search," Gao Neng said after some thought.

"Mm, Gao Neng’s right. Just in case!" Kong Kun agreed.

"Okay, I’ll stay." Feng Qingqing didn’t object and quickly found a good vantage point at the village entrance to hide and observe.

...

The three of them began to search the desolate village.

Before long, they had searched every house, but they couldn’t find the Nine-legged Black Tripod. Moreover, Cui Jun’s team still hadn’t appeared.

"What’s going on? Did we go to the wrong village?" Fang Tangtang asked, confused.

"Unlikely. This should be the right village. The strange thing is, why isn’t Cui Jun’s team here yet? Could it be that they already came here before us?" Kong Kun frowned.

"There are no signs of a search in the village. They haven’t been here. Think back, is there any place in the houses we haven’t searched yet?" Gao Neng also felt that something was off.

"Does the coffin count?" Fang Tangtang suddenly asked.

"A coffin?"

"Yeah, there’s a big black coffin in that large ancestral hall over there. I... I didn’t dare to open it," Fang Tangtang said, looking a little embarrassed by the end.

"..." Gao Neng was speechless.

’I thought this scheming loli was fearless. Turns out she’s afraid of corpses? Or maybe ghosts? Should I find a time to scare her for fun?’

"I’ll go open the coffin!" Kong Kun, on the other hand, had no such qualms. Hearing what Fang Tangtang said, he walked straight toward the ancestral hall.

...

「Back at the Eastern Capital Military Academy.」

In the first-floor viewing hall of the War Academy, the students watched the two different scenes playing out on the screens. The freshmen were shaking their heads and sighing, while the senior students looked smug.

"The freshmen are still lacking in experience," Wang Qixing commented, watching the screen.

"Haha, learning a lesson isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It would be normal for Gao Neng’s team to lose this match," an instructor sitting next to Wang Qixing said with a smile.

Gui Zian, however, said nothing.

But as he looked at the screen, his expression was quite dark.

’This is truly a complete domination by experience!’

Even he could only feel helpless. After all, he could teach tactical coordination, but real combat experience was something Gao Neng and the others had to grasp for themselves.