Chapter 64: The Calm Before the Storm II
5:50 AM.
As the Ghost Domain's rules loosened, the space produced a brief distortion.
Everyone felt their vision blur, and the oppressive, blood-soaked rainy campus vanished in an instant.
In its place was the familiar, reassuring interior of the Mobile Shelter.
Because Morning Exercise class had ended early, everyone was ejected from the Ghost Domain 10 minutes ahead of schedule.
Not just Jiang Nan's original team—even the "temporary attachnts," Yekaterina and Hoshino Hikari,
were transported into the Mobile Shelter together, having been part of the sa squad.
"Oh my god..."
Yekaterina took in the vehicle's luxurious interior.
"In an apocalypse...people actually live like this?"
"Just what kind of person is this guy? Did he co here on vacation?"
Beside her, Hoshino Hikari's reaction was even more direct.
Like a country girl stepping into a grand mansion for the first ti, she touched the sofa with careful reverence, a blissful smile spreading across her face.
"Hehe...so soft...slls so nice..."
"Is this really where I get to stay from now on?"
"No sleeping in the mud, no getting rained on...this is amazing, wuwuwu..."
However.
The owner of said shelter, Jiang Nan, had no interest in paying attention to these 2 won who had clearly never seen the world.
He sat in the main seat, expression blank, and looked toward Chen Tong.
Chen Tong understood imdiately, and pointed at the surveillance screen inside the vehicle with a grave look.
"Jiang Nan, look."
"Sothing's going on outside."
Jiang Nan raised his eyelids and looked at the screen.
Magnified by the high-definition cara, it was clearly visible.
In the shadow of the teaching building more than 100 ters from the Mobile Shelter,
5 fully ard individuals in black special operations uniforms were lurking behind a pillar, keeping a watchful eye on this side from a distance.
Their gazes were wary, as though they found sothing deeply intimidating—and they didn't dare approach.
"What's going on here?"
Liu Yuqing closed the door as she spoke.
The mont they returned, she had gone down to retrieve the Leader Tablet from the Terminal Signal Tower, while Guo Shuai, assigned to escort her, had returned to the driver's cab.
"Who are those people? Dressed like ghosts, all pitch black."
Guo Shuai gripped the steering wheel, watching the rearview mirror with a deadpan comnt.
"Although on this island, in a certain sense, people look more like ghosts than the actual ghosts do."
Wang ng leaned toward the screen, pushed up his glasses, and spotted it at once.
"Everyone's got 2 red katanas on their backs—definitely Sakura Nation."
"They've been staring at our vehicle the whole ti, but won't co near."
Wang ng let out a grin.
"They must be scared of the layer of hide plated on the outside."
"After all, that's the skin of an S-Grade cursed entity—cos with its own suppressive pressure."
At the ntion of Sakura Nation, Hoshino Hikari, who had been imrsed in the sensation of the sofa, snapped her head up.
She glanced at the screen, then did sothing no one anticipated.
She took a deep breath, her gaze becoming resolute beyond all asure, and without the slightest hesitation, she activated full teammate-betrayal mode.
"I know them!"
"In that one short day of special training, I saw these 5 people! They're the Thunder Leopard Squad!"
Hoshino Hikari pointed at the man leading the group on the screen, words tumbling out at machine-gun speed like she was emptying a bag of beans.
"They're the direct elite subordinates of that Muragu—ugh, Muraguchi Kazusu's!"
"Only they have the right to wear those uniforms! The squad leader is Corporal Morishita!"
"Looks exactly like that older-brother character from our navy dramas back ho—super fierce!"
"As for their abilities...I'm not too sure, since they thought I was uncouth and never let join them."
At that, Hoshino Hikari clenched her small fists.
‘Since my own countryn don't want !’
‘And my squadmates don't want either!’
‘Then I'm joining a new team! I'll live as a mber of the Huaxia squad and die as a ghost of the Huaxia squad!’
‘Even if they got on their knees and begged , I'd never go back!’
Hmph!
"......"
Watching Hoshino Hikari—who had suddenly beco articulate and was stripping her fellow countryn bare of every last secret just to secure her place here—everyone froze on the spot.
Guo Shuai marveled from the driver's cab: "So this is what they call the will to survive? Even a social recluse can be forced into a social butterfly."
After receiving the intel,
Jiang Nan leaned back against the sofa, a flicker of disdain passing through his eyes.
‘Thunder Leopard Squad?’
‘Scared stiff by a single sheet of skin peeled off a roadside find. This kind of material dares to call itself elite?’
‘Could it be that I—the one who personally peeled the hide off an S-Grade cursed entity—am supposed to be afraid of a few small fry like these?’
Scratch scratch scratch.
Jiang Nan pulled his notepad from his chest, wrote a single line, tore it out, and stuck it on the table.
【Don't bother.】
【Wait for the leaderboard to refresh.】
......
At the sa mont, in the shadow of the teaching building.
The atmosphere had reached peak tension.
Corporal Morishita only dared use the corner of his eye to peer cautiously at the enormous black behemoth of a vehicle.
His cold sweat had already soaked through his back.
"Damn it..."
"Where did this monster squad co from?"
Corporal Morishita's voice was trembling.
"They...they actually used an S-Grade cursed entity's hide to plate the entire vehicle?!"
"This is too extravagant! Too insane!"
"You're right, Squad Leader."
The squad mber beside him, Ishida Hideo, swallowed hard, eyes filled with shock.
"I haven't seen it firsthand, but Mr. Muraguchi told us before—the hide of an S-Grade cursed entity carries its own rule force field."
"If you made it into a cape or armor, on this cursed island, almost no wild cursed entity would dare touch you!"
"Even an S-Grade cursed entity of equal standing would have to think twice before trying to break through it!"
"It's a priceless treasure!"
"And yet these people...turned it into a car wrap?!"
"What an absolute waste!!"
Corporal Morishita took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in his chest.
He was a smart man.
Anyone capable of killing an S-Grade cursed entity—and extravagant enough to stick its skin on a vehicle—
was absolutely not soone a special operations team with an average B-Grade power level could afford to provoke.
"Fortunately......"
Corporal Morishita consoled himself.
"Our primary objective isn't them—it's finding the real Terminal Signal Tower hidden inside the Ghost Domain."
"Try not to cause any unnecessary complications."
He turned his head and issued an order to his 4 squad mbers.
"Now! Regroup on the spot, restore your energy!"
"Right here—eat in front of them!"
"Use your actions to tell the people in that vehicle: we're just passing through, we have no ill intent, and we have absolutely no desire to fight!"
"Yes, sir!!"
The 4 squad mbers answered in unison.
And then.
This Sakura Nation elite squad—which had monts ago been radiating fierce montum—actually sat down cross-legged on the spot.
They reached into their tactical backpacks and produced what could loosely be called "military rations."
Rations in na only, they were in fact "wild-grass rice balls" made from a mixture of foraged wild vegetables and so unidentifiable strips of dried at.
Clearly, their supply situation was nowhere near as impressive as their equipnt—if anything, it could be described as rather bleak.
......
Inside the Mobile Shelter.
"Boss."
Wang ng watched the surveillance footage, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
"They...sat down to eat."
"Looks like they're eating...grass balls?"
Jiang Nan glanced at the screen and gave a slight nod.
A trace of approval flickered in his eyes.
‘At least they know their place.’
‘It seems that Corporal Morishita, their squad leader, is a smart man who knows when to bend and when to stand firm.’
Since the other party was being this sensible, he couldn't be bothered to waste a single bullet cleaning them up.
And then.
Jiang Nan shifted his gaze to the tistamp on the main control panel.
【05:59:00】
The Newcor Leaderboard was about to refresh.
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