Inside the vehicle, Ye Yu leaned against the window, staring blankly at the figure leaping and plunging through the ruins outside.
While others found Bai Feifei terrifying, Ye Yu only felt that her peerless killing skills stemmed from a deep-seated hatred of aberrations.
She has always lived in the Outer City. Has she been fighting non-stop like this since she was a child...?
After letting her mind wander for a moment, Ye Yu turned around, scanning the interior of the vehicle until her gaze locked onto Wan Qianhong, who seemed lost in thought.
Hesitating for a moment, she stood up and slid over next to Wan Qianhong.
“Senior Wan,” she said in a lowered voice, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“Did you say earlier that you wanted to speak with Teacher Bai in private?”
Wan Qianhong glanced at her but said nothing.
“What's it about?” Ye Yu pressed.
Wan Qianhong shook her head, turning her gaze back out the window.
“It's nothing.”
The two fell silent, both staring out into the wasteland.
...
Outside, Bai Feifei had hunted down and slain yet another aberration.
Standing atop the ruins, she flicked the corrupt blood off her blade and exhaled softly.
“The North District really is a forbidden zone. To think there are aberrations roaming out in the open like this.”
She found it hard to imagine how she would have survived if the South District where she grew up had been crawling with these things.
Assessing her condition, she spoke in her mind,
“My strength doesn't seem to have increased at all?”
“Of course not,” Xu Mo replied nonchalantly.
“These small fry aren't of much use to you anymore. Just treat it as keeping your instincts sharp.”
“Don't worry, there's plenty ahead that can help you level up.”
Bai Feifei nodded. She was about to reply when she heard Xu Mo suddenly gasp softly.
It was an unusual sound, devoid of his usual laziness. It sounded as though he had spotted something that genuinely piqued his interest.
“Oh?” Xu Mo's voice turned playful. “The soil in the distance looks a bit off.”
Bai Feifei raised her head, looking ahead through their shared vision.
The gray ruins and barren land stretched endlessly ahead, looking no different from what they had already passed.
But Xu Mo could see much further.
“A few miles ahead is the red soil region,” Xu Mo said, pausing.
“The logistics convoy cannot enter that area. The situation there is highly complex, as if some kind of field is at play.”
“If any large-scale anomalies occur, they will almost certainly happen within that boundary.”
“The camp must be set up outside of it.”
“That is the first step to ensuring everyone doesn't get wiped out.”
Bai Feifei's heart skipped a beat. Before she could even process the warning, her body moved.
She blurred across the ruins like a streak of black lightning, tossing the freshly slain aberration corpse right in front of the lead vehicle.
“Stop the vehicles!”
The screech of tires on gravel was deafening as the armored vehicles ground to a halt, carving deep ruts into the stony earth. The lead vehicle ran directly over the corpse, spraying dark blood everywhere.
The gruesome, splattering scene was enough to ruin anyone's appetite.
The vehicles behind slammed on their brakes in rapid succession, instantly throwing the convoy's neat formation into disarray.
“What's going on?”
“Did something happen?”
“Is there danger?”
Students from the various academies poked their heads out of the windows, their faces filled with confusion and panic.
Tian Guannan leaped down from the second vehicle, his face livid.
“Bai Feifei, what are you trying to do now?” he demanded, striding over with suppressed rage and hostility.
“Who gave you the authority to decide our route? Have you ever even been to the North District?!”
“How much trouble are you going to cause before you're satisfied?!”
Bai Feifei didn't even look at him.
Her gaze swept past Tian Guannan, past the vehicles, and past the whispering students, staring straight down the road ahead.
She didn't understand the exact reasons yet, but she chose to trust the Old-Timer without hesitation.
When it came to everyone's survival, there was no room for hesitation or games.
“Everyone, stop,” Bai Feifei said. “If we're setting up camp, we do it here.”
“We stop just because you say so?” Tian Guannan's voice turned icy.
Before he could finish, Ye Yu and Wan Qianhong had also leaped out of their vehicle.
The onlookers stared at Bai Feifei in sheer confusion, unable to comprehend what she was trying to pull.
Tian Guannan took a step forward. He had harbored resentment toward Bai Feifei for a long time, and now he had reached his limit.
Seizing the opportunity, he sneered,
“If you're mentally unstable, you can leave right now! Go back to the Inner City and answer for your crime of murdering Xu Hu!”
“Stop wasting everyone's time here. I seriously doubt whether someone like you should even be the safety director of this Graduation Show!”
Scattered murmurs of agreement rose from the armored vehicles. Several students and instructors began glaring at Bai Feifei with daggers in their eyes.
On the surface, they feared this madwoman, but given the slightest chance, the other academies were always ready to band together against Qingping.
Bai Feifei didn't know how to explain the situation, but she refused to back down, nor did she seek Xu Mo's help in her mind.
In the past, whenever she watched Xu Mo take over her body to perform all kinds of outrageous stunts, she had cringed in embarrassment.
But now that she had to step up herself, she didn't feel a single shred of hesitation.
Instead, facing the skeptical glares of the crowd, her expression remained perfectly calm and steady.
At that exact moment, the phantom heart in her chest suddenly pulsed with a powerful thrum.
A pure white energy surged upward from her chest, nourishing not only her physical body but also bolstering her resolve.
Bai Feifei took a deep breath, her gaze hardening.
Taking a step forward, she locked eyes with Tian Guannan.
There was no trace of doubt or fear in her eyes. Instead, she spoke with the absolute authority of an overbearing dictator:
“I don't care about any of that, and I have no obligation to explain anything to you right now.”
“I have only one thing to say: I do not permit it!”
“If you don't want to die, you will do exactly as I say!”
Bai Feifei's voice completely drowned out Tian Guannan's, echoing across the desolate clearing.
Instantly, a dead silence fell over the crowd.
“Oh?” Xu Mo gasped in her mind, genuinely surprised. For a second, he almost thought he had logged into her account himself!
“Not bad. You should have started talking like this a long time ago.”
The students who had been whispering immediately shut their mouths, staring blankly at the slender figure standing defiantly at the front of the convoy.
For some reason, despite how utterly unreasonable she sounded, they actually felt a strange sense of authority radiating from her...
Ye Yu and Wan Qianhong blinked in disbelief.
They had seen “Bai Feifei” act manic, violent, and completely unreasonable before, but her current demeanor felt entirely different.
How can you say something so domineering yet look so incredibly righteous while doing it?!
No one spoke. No one even knew what to say.
But in the midst of this deathly silence, a voice suddenly shattered the quiet.
“Are you certain?”
Everyone whipped their heads around in unison.
Liu Yun had reappeared without anyone noticing, standing atop a ruined wall by the roadside.
The hem of her purple robe fluttered in the wind. As she looked down at Bai Feifei, her serene, expressionless face showed no sign of annoyance. Instead, a rare look of gravity touched her features.
Rate on N.U.
