The only sound left was the gradually approaching footsteps. For a moment, Lu Heguang felt as if he were the only one left nearby, about to face the enemy alone he didn’t understand why all twenty-six of them would listen to him. Lu Heguang glanced at Alan, who was hiding behind a tree without making a sound, but since he was already in this position, he had to step up and fulfill the duties of a leader.
As the footsteps drew closer to his ears, Lu Heguang was prepared to lunge forward and subdue the person first. Just then, a familiar scent of pheromones suddenly enveloped him. Lu Heguang froze, watching as Wen Zhao and his companions stood up, their faces showing a moment of confusion upon seeing the newcomers.
“Wait!” Wen Zhao suddenly whispered sharply. Lu Heguang also restrained two companions who had already aimed their guns at the newcomers. “Hold on, they’re allies.”
“Allies?”
“Lu Heguang!” Salorian’s voice carried a mix of surprise and frustration. “How on earth does your nose work? We’ve lived together for so long, and you can’t even recognize my pheromones?”
“I thought you’d mask your pheromones, so I didn’t consider that possibility,” Lu Heguang replied sheepishly, helping his companions up before approaching Salorian. Seeing Salorian’s usual white coat and the medical kit on his shoulder, he finally remembered why they had been on guard. “By the way, was someone from your team eliminated just now? Are you okay, Senior?”
“Hmph,” Salorian puffed out his chest proudly. “Don’t underestimate the strength of the medical department. I can take down a few people too. After all, I am your senior.”
He immediately regretted saying this, as he noticed many more people standing up around them, scattered in groups of over twenty. He only recognized Lu Heguang, and the one surnamed Wen beside him had only been seen a few times Salorian began to feel a bit intimidated.
“Why are so many of you gathered together? You should at least split into two teams, otherwise your target is too big,” Salorian mustered his courage and adopted the demeanor of a senior. “Have you found a campsite yet? If not, come to my place. It’s near the river and has cover.”
Everyone looked at each other. Lu Heguang didn’t even need to wait for them to turn to him this time, he had learned his lesson. This group had already taken him as their leader, and if he didn’t speak up, Salorian might have to go back alone.
“This is Salorian, my guide,” Lu Heguang introduced him to his classmates. “He’s also the ally I found before the survival battle began. He’s from the medical department and can help us a lot. What we need to do.”
“What you need to do is protect yourselves and try not to give me a reason to intervene,” Salorian interrupted Lu Heguang. If there were any Omegas here, he might have said more, but unfortunately, apart from him, everyone here was an Alpha a type he didn’t particularly like. However, since Lu Heguang was still his little follower, Salorian added, “There are a lot of bugs around here. You’d better follow me, or you’ll get lost.”
Lu Heguang had originally intended to tell his teammates that their priority was to protect Salorian their only doctor but he hadn’t expected Salorian to take the words right out of his mouth. Still, he didn’t mind much. He waved a hand and said, “Let’s go.”
“Wait, Captain,” someone suddenly spoke up. “We listen to you because we respect you. Why should we have to listen to your guide as well?”
“I’m not asking all of you to listen to him,” Lu Heguang turned to look at the speaker. He vaguely remembered the man’s name was Reis. He explained patiently, “You heard it too we’ll get lost without him.”
“You go with him if you want,” Reis gritted his teeth. “I’m going on my own. I refuse to believe I can’t find my way out.”
Before Lu Heguang could respond, seven or eight others stepped forward, expressing their intention to go with Reis. Some wore hesitant expressions, while others clearly showed little welcome toward Salorian.
Salorian’s gaze swept over Lu Heguang and Reis, but he didn’t intervene. Instead, he waited to see how Lu Heguang would handle the situation. To his surprise, Lu Heguang opened his backpack and handed two portions of his own food to Reis. “Be careful on your way.”
This not only made Wen Zhao frown but even Salorian found it hard to watch. How could someone be so foolish? Giving supplies to someone who had just challenged him?
Reis hadn’t expected Lu Heguang to offer him food either. The Alphas who were still hesitating about whether to leave with Reis immediately made up their minds to stay.
“Captain, I…” Reis felt a pang of regret and wanted to take back his words, but Lu Heguang patted his shoulder and said earnestly, “Stay safe. We’ll meet again on the seventh day.”
With that, he turned and led the remaining team members to follow Salorian. Only then did Wen Zhao understand his intention. He quickened his pace to catch up and whispered, “That was a clever move using food to cut off his chance of coming back.”
Lu Heguang’s expression darkened. He didn’t respond to Wen Zhao’s words, keeping his head down as he followed Salorian. Soon, a clear river came into view, its gurgling waters bringing a spark of hope to everyone’s eyes as long as the water was safe and non-toxic, they could filter it for use.
“I’ll make the filter,” Aizel said, putting down his backpack and leading a few others to assemble a simple filtration device. Meanwhile, two or three others began inspecting the surroundings. Once they confirmed there were no dangers, they took out their individual tents and started preparing for survival.
“Did you teach them?” Salorian sat on a large rock, watching the scene with a smile. “They look quite organized.”
“Chen Wang taught them,” Lu Heguang replied after a moment of silence. “Senior, am I not suited to be a captain?”
If someone else had been captain, perhaps they could have convinced Reis and the others to stay. Yet he had chosen to let them leave.
But even if given another chance, Lu Heguang knew he would make the same choice. Reis had made his decision based on his prejudice against Omegas and his distrust of Lu Heguang, even though Salorian’s presence was clearly beneficial to the team.
After hearing his words, Salorian pondered for a moment before saying, “Even if they hadn’t left today, they would have left you eventually over something else.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not the perfect captain he imagined.” Salorian chuckled softly. “Perhaps in that junior’s mind, a captain should be able to summon and dismiss Omegas at will, looking down on everyone except Alphas.”
Lu Heguang curved his lips slightly. “Then I truly can’t meet that standard.”
“Alright, this isn’t a picnic.” Salorian pulled him up. “Time to get moving.”
On the first day of the survival challenge, people were eliminated one after another. The longest alarm sounded for nearly ten minutes. According to Salorian, it was probably because six or seven upperclassmen had been eliminated at once.
“For upperclassmen, elimination just means failing the exam. But you all need to be extra careful if you get eliminated, you won’t be able to stay at Wyatt anymore.”
Following Salorian’s suggestion, Lu Heguang and the other fifteen people formed a medium-sized camp circle around the area. They strung together leaves or any items that could make noise with ropes to create simple alarms. If anyone approached, even if they swarmed in, the group would have time to react upon hearing the sounds.
The tents were also dismantled and reassembled into larger ones. Aizel finished making a water filter, and by the time dusk fell and insects began chirping, they were already able to boil water to drink.
Wen Zhao brought two others to gather relatively dry firewood. Everyone sat around the fire, eating some simple biscuits, until someone finally couldn’t hold back and asked, “Senior Salorian, why are you acting alone?”
Lu Heguang, chewing on half a biscuit, turned to look at Salorian. The latter had finished eating quickly and was organizing his medical kit. Hearing the junior’s question, he thought for a moment and summarized simply, “Probably because I’m a weirdo.”
The person who asked the question belatedly realized it was an awkward inquiry, but Salorian smiled and said, “Don’t worry. It’s no secret that I’m a weirdo at Wyatt. I won’t take it to heart.”
“Wen Zhao, put out the fire. You and I will keep watch tonight.” Lu Heguang kept his weapon close at hand. After Wen Zhao used a bottle to fetch river water and extinguished the campfire, the only visible light came from the stars.
Lu Heguang diligently checked everyone’s condition. Allen’s mosquito bites on his leg had been treated promptly, showing no signs of festering or inflammation. When Salorian learned about this, he came over to apply some medicine.
“Is all this really necessary?” Allen was almost flustered by the attention. “After all, I’m an Alpha.”
“Alphas are human too,” Salorian said solemnly. “In places like this, it’s not unheard of for people to return to the Imperial Star only to realize something’s wrong and end up needing amputations due to mosquito bites or grass cuts. Alphas need to be especially careful the pheromones in our blood can attract large wild beasts.”
Allen nodded repeatedly in understanding.
Seeing that Allen was fine, Lu Heguang was about to ask Salorian to go back to sleep so he could join Wen Zhao for the night watch. Just then, another long alarm sounded. Everyone poked their heads out to look, and someone asked anxiously, “Could it be Rice and the others?”
“Go to sleep. Conserve your energy.” Salorian pushed everyone’s heads back into their tents. By the time Wen Zhao realized what was happening, he was already lying in his sleeping bag.
“Wait a minute,” Wen Zhao murmured in confusion, “If I’m here, who’s on night watch?”
Outside the tent, Lu Heguang looked at Salorian, who was yawning as he followed behind him, and glanced past him. “Where’s Wen Zhao?”
“Isn’t it enough that I’m here?” Salorian pulled Lu Heguang to sit by the riverbank. At some point, their shoulders had pressed together, and the surroundings were unusually quiet. Lu Heguang’s eyes sparkled under the moonlight reflected on the river’s surface. He quietly poked Salorian’s arm. “Senior, senior.”
“Hmm?”
“Are you is your heat cycle coming?” Lu Heguang whispered.
Just then, Wen Zhao, who had just put on his clothes and stepped out to relieve Salorian after all, how could they let someone from the medical department take night watch? overheard Lu Heguang’s bold question and instinctively hid behind the tent. Before he could listen further, the alarm they had set off was suddenly triggered. The sound of rustling dry leaves echoed through the silent night, startling everyone who had been drowsy.
Before turning around, Lu Heguang had already aimed his gun into the darkness and said in a low voice, “Don’t move.”