“Don’t move.”
Bai Chunian flicked water from the fountain to wash blood off Lanbo’s face and body, took the tactical knife from his hands, and secured it on his own weapon strap. He removed the two anti-explosion modules from the fallen alphas’ belts and quickly installed them on Lanbo’s belt. The self-detonation timer increased from 1:09 to two hours.
Lanbo sat on the marble edge of the fountain, half-closing his eyes. His wet golden hair dripped slowly into the bandages around his neck.
He had just finished a fight, releasing a small amount of pheromones, faintly scented with white rose.
Bai Chunian had intended to scold the mermaid for disobeying orders, but the familiar, comforting scent calmed him. He gently stroked Lanbo’s hair and crouched to explain the rules carefully.
“You fight only when I tell you to. The rest of the time, find a quiet corner and just sit there.”
Lanbo pressed his lips thoughtfully, opening his mouth slightly. “A.”
Bai Chunian rubbed his hair, worried about keeping the little rabbit at five or six stars while preventing him from surpassing seven—a delicate balance.
At the same time, he noticed Lanbo’s pronunciation had become clearer than before.
“Say it with me: Bai, Chu, Nian.”
“Bai…”
“Bai Chunian.”
“Bai Shu…ni…”
“Forget it, let’s try something simpler. Call me Chu-ge.”
“Chu Chu…”
“Chu-ge.”
“Chu…ge…ge.”
“Good, keep practicing.”
A few minutes later, Lu Yan and Bi Lanxing arrived at the fountain, joining the two of them. They spread out their task sheets to compare and see if any tasks overlapped, saving time.
The first task location for Lanbo, Lu Yan, and Bi Lanxing was the city library.
Bai Chunian glanced at the map. Driving from their current location to the library would take twenty minutes. The task involved exchanging intelligence with a contact—relatively quick—but the map also marked a fixed ammo box in the library. This meant multiple nearby teams would converge on the library for supplies. Entering would inevitably lead to conflict. If other teams took the anti-explosion modules first, their belts could detonate due to time pressure, resulting in immediate elimination.
So rushing to the library first clearly wasn’t the optimal choice.
At that moment, Lu Yan said to Lanbo, “Didn’t expect you to be pretty capable. Stick with me.”
Bai Chunian quickly pressed Lanbo down. “No—he’s not ready,” he cautioned, letting Lanbo release his kill hold. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a single living soul left in the area.
“I think you’re the weakest,” Lu Yan snorted, “step aside and stay quiet. We’ll hit the library later. Teams that start by brawling aren’t usually that strong—they just hope to pick off points while others are unarmed. Lanbo just wiped out two from the Death Row team. The remaining two are nearby; let’s take them out first.”
Bai Chunian paused. The little rabbit actually had a bit of cunning.
The remaining two Death Row alphas weren’t bold enough to act recklessly—they hoped to move stealthily once others had left. But having lost two members, only a Vine Alpha and a Siamese Alpha remained. They couldn’t fight head-on; their only chance was patient ambush.
The two alphas retreated into the cooling plant ducts of the underground garage to discuss tactics.
The Vine Alpha had an aggressive plant-type gland. His personality wasn’t the type to sit back and wait; he planned to ambush from the ventilation shafts. The surrounding plants could camouflage him, allowing him to quickly capture targets and strangle them with thorny vines. The Siamese Alpha, agile and fast, could grab any anti-explosion modules from corpses and escape in a different direction to distract opponents.
Once their plan was set, both held their breath, waiting for anyone to stumble into the trap.
Suddenly, the Vine Alpha was grabbed from behind, a sharp pain at his waist, and a knife plunged into his body. His health bar instantly halved. They spun around, but nothing was there.
Three seconds later, the same knife shot out from the side wall, repeatedly stabbing the Vine Alpha’s thigh. Their health bars nearly drained to zero. The two Death Row alphas were panicked, unsure where the attacks were coming from.
Finally, during the last ambush, the hidden attacker was entangled by the Vine Alpha’s own vines, revealing his true identity—Lu Yan, holding the tactical knife in reverse. No one knew how he appeared behind them and struck before vanishing again.
A circular black hole appeared beneath Lu Yan’s feet. The omega twitched his rabbit ears, severed the entangling vine, and leapt into the hole, disappearing along with it.
Lanbo’s drooping-ear rabbit gland, j1 Differentiation: Cunning Burrow, allowed him to create a dimensional passage between two adjacent spaces, usable only for himself.
The two remaining alphas finally realized Lu Yan’s ability and spread out, scanning potential positions he might appear.
For a brief instant, the black hole reappeared on the rooftop. The rampant vines extended to seal the hole, cutting off Lu Yan’s escape route.
The Vine Alpha’s gland, j1 Differentiation: Wild Growth, mutated his plants to grow beyond natural laws, shaping them as needed.
The two alphas coordinated perfectly. Cornered, Lu Yan panicked slightly. The Siamese Alpha seized the opportunity, sprinting onto the vent, attempting to smash Lu Yan’s chest with his accelerated strikes.
But Lu Yan was just a young rabbit omega, seemingly not even fully grown, his chubby, creamy face making him look harmless. Despite the 2v1 odds, the tide of battle was already turning—until a black vine suddenly burst through the sealed hole, wrapping Lu Yan. The Siamese Alpha’s full-power punch shattered the vine, but Lu Yan was unharmed. Taking advantage of the brief distraction, he countered with a knife strike.
The cooling room’s iron door burst open. Bi Lanxing entered, frowning, his five fingers connected to five black vines.
His gland, Arrowwood j1 Ability: Poison Vine Armor, completely negated one instance of physical damage regardless of rank and could affect anyone.
The Siamese Alpha’s health bar depleted—eliminated. The Vine Alpha was nearly drained. Bai Chunian strolled over, squatted beside him, and coldly removed the anti-explosion module from his belt.
A muffled explosion marked the Vine Alpha’s elimination.
City-wide broadcast updated:
[Mess Around] Lu Yan eliminated [Death Row] Hua Juan
[Mess Around] Lu Yan eliminated [Death Row] Fu Liuxin
[Death Row] team completely eliminated
“Xiao Bai, grab the other anti-explosion module too,” Lu Yan said, wiping blood from his knife and spinning it in his palm before returning it to his weapon strap. His suit’s display jumped from “0” to “2.”
Bai Chunian didn’t mind being called Xiao Bai, smiling. He was genuinely impressed. This little rabbit’s rare spatial distortion ability combined with his agility was incredible, especially for a fifteen-year-old.
The other young alpha was impressive too. Arrowwood’s gland was a rare toxic plant type—versatile in offense and defense, with multiple development paths. With proper cultivation, he would be a major asset in any team.
Uncle Jin had been overly cautious; with his son’s skill, five stars were realistic. Clearly, these two kids would become highly sought-after recruits for special forces in the future.
Lu Yan counted the removed anti-explosion modules and evenly distributed them among the team. Now everyone had two, enough time to complete the library task within two hours and maybe grab a few extra modules.
Bai Chunian wandered through the cooling room and found a small ammo box.
The Death Row team had started the fight at the opening because they found a random ammo box—but it contained little useful equipment. Bai Chunian only found a recovery syringe and an M25 light sniper rifle, but no scope—explaining why no one had picked it up.
“Lu Ge, you know how to snipe?” Bai Chunian leaned on the windowsill, propping his chin in his hand as he asked Lu Yan.
Lu Yan hesitated a moment, feeling the weight of the team leader’s image, then lifted the rifle onto his shoulder. “Of course… I’ve practiced before.”
Bi Lanxing stood nearby, shaking his head with an amused smile.
They had hotwired a BMW in the underground garage, using Lanbo’s tail to jump-start it, and sped toward the city library. But instead of heading straight in, they stopped at the rooftop of the science museum next door. The high vantage offered a clear view of the library and all its movements.
Lu Yan grew anxious. “If we wait too long, the supplies will be gone.”
Bai Chunian lazily rested against the railing. “Three teams are in the library. Why jump into that chaos? Baby, we don’t need to fight everyone—just the last team. If you’re shameless enough, any gear we need we can just take.”
Lu Yan crouched on the rooftop, fingers tapping nervously against the gun stock.
Overhead, the kill feed announced continuously:
[No Survivors] Enke eliminated [Afro Squad] Trust
[No Survivors] Enke eliminated [One Time Only Squad] Chocolate
[No Survivors] Lu He eliminated [One Time Only Squad] Beishu
…
“‘No Survivors’… that name’s intense,” Bai Chunian remarked casually, tilting his chin toward Lu Yan. “They should be finishing up. If you’re confident, take a few shots. Sniping one, then we move.”
Bi Lanxing muttered, “Might as well…” but trailed off.
Lu Yan bit his lip, closing one eye as he aimed for a long while, and squeezed the trigger.
Nothing hit, and the library team who had been calmly gathering supplies were startled.
Bai Chunian closed his eyes, patting him lightly. “Nice try. Take another shot—try the elevator guy.”
Lu Yan wiped sweat from his brow, took aim again for half a minute, and fired—still nothing.
“Don’t worry, keep shooting. Bullets aren’t free anyway—empty the clip if you have to.”
Bi Lanxing went off to clean his tactical knife while Lu Yan continued firing wildly. Lanbo opened his mouth to catch the shells ejected from the sniper, and Bai Chunian leaned back, humming, the scene almost comically absurd.
Then Lu Yan noticed movement in the library. The No Survivors team had shifted from defense to offense, driving straight toward the science museum.
“They… they just finished a fight. Shouldn’t they be recovering? They’re coming straight at us?” Lu Yan’s brow furrowed.
Bai Chunian smirked. “Haven’t you figured it out? Because of those pathetic shots you took, they think we’re idiots.”
Lu Yan groaned. “So what kind of gun should I be using?”
Bai Chunian leaned on his hand, smiling. “Such a cute little omega. Just follow my lead for now.”