[Come on, why are you all so worked up? What's wrong with Mu-ge doing this? If you're so capable, why don't you try controlling a swarm of venomous snakes?]
[Exactly! For those crying foul on behalf of the other contestants—I'll just say this: if you think it's unfair, then have them control snakes too. Snake control is a skill, all right?]
Thanks to the support of the snake swarm and everyone's hard work today, Mu Qingyun's point tally had already exceeded four hundred—rapidly approaching five hundred!
"Thank you all. You've worked hard." Mu Qingyun smiled gratefully at the Crimson King Snake.
"There is no need to thank us, Warrior," it replied, shaking its head. "We'll be waiting here for you again tomorrow night."
Mu Qingyun hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Can we make it earlier tomorrow—around noon instead?"
Although her current method technically didn't violate any military academy rules, the academy certainly wouldn't allow it to continue unchecked. Once the instructors realized what she was doing, they were bound to implement countermeasures and forbid her from using this method to gain virtual points.
She had to act quickly—gather as many points as she could before any formal restrictions were put in place. Even though noon might still be cutting it close, she had to give the snake swarm enough time.
"Very well. We'll speed up our efforts."
The Crimson King Snake's red eyes glinted as it made its decision. It would stay up through the night—if the Warrior asked, they would give their all. Scorpions, rats, and ants lacked the coordination for this. That the Warrior had chosen them meant she trusted them.
After the snake swarm slithered away, Mu Qingyun returned to the cabin for a bit of rest—not that there was much time left. She could only close her eyes and meditate briefly.
She figured that by morning, the issue of using the snake swarm would erupt into major controversy. How would she explain it then? Say she could speak Snake?
Early the next morning, when the military academy staff reviewed the livestream playback, they were immediately drawn to the scene on Mu Qingyun's feed.
The handsome young man had been watching her stream closely since the day before. After finishing the playback, he hesitated.
Should he report this? If he did, the academy would undoubtedly shut it down, but he also saw how the snake swarm was accelerating her point gain at an unbelievable pace.
After some thought, he opened the search engine—and sure enough, three trending search terms linked Mu Qingyun to the snake swarm.
Should he… help her?
Looking down at the laptop on his desk, he typed in a few lines of code and successfully hacked the trending search results—scrubbing them clean.
Satisfied with the now-empty trending list, he brewed himself a cup of coffee and sat back down to leisurely watch Mu Qingyun's stream.
By noon, Mu Qingyun was surprised that no warnings or penalties had been issued. A mix of confusion and pleasant surprise filled her chest.
This time, she decided not to keep it a secret from Su and the others.
"You all were wondering what happened last night—why my point total suddenly spiked," she called out to the four of them. "Come with me."
The four looked at each other, confusion and curiosity flashing in their eyes.
Following Mu Qingyun out of the cabin, they arrived at the scene that had stunned her livestream audience the night before.
A dense cluster of snakes slithered together in a writhing mass, dragging virtual creatures behind them. Although the types of virtual beasts were relatively few, their numbers were overwhelming.
Mu Qingyun surveyed the situation—today, they had caught even more than yesterday.
"What the heck is this?" Xiong Ruoyou wrinkled her brow and instinctively turned to Fan Xuanye.
Fan Xuanye looked equally baffled. Although he was part of the snake race himself, after evolving into a beastman, he could no longer communicate with ordinary snakes. He had no idea what was going on.
"You can control snake swarms?" Su raised an eyebrow, looking at her with growing curiosity.
Mu Qingyun never stopped surprising him.
Kazel remained silent, but the astonishment in his eyes mirrored the others. He never would've guessed Mu Qingyun had this ability.
"I can speak to snakes, so I'm able to communicate with them." As she spoke, she squatted down and extended her hand to the Crimson King Snake.
The snake immediately cooperated, slithering beneath her palm and rubbing its head gently against her hand.
A king among snakes, seeking affection from a human—it would've been laughable to anyone else, but it did not care in the slightest.
As a fellow member of the snake race, Fan Xuanye was well aware of the Crimson King Snake's status. Seeing it submit so willingly to Mu Qingyun left him in utter disbelief.
What had Mu-ge done to make a creature as proud and cold-blooded as the Crimson King Snake—one that would rather die than bow—willingly serve her?
But the Crimson King Snake wasn't thinking about pride. It was simply savoring the warmth of her hand. Years ago, the Warrior often let it coil beside her, gently stroking its head just like this.
Since her fall, it had known only cold. Its blood had always been cold—but this touch brought back memories.
Without further delay, Mu Qingyun took out her laser gun and began harvesting heads like the night before. As she worked, she called out, "You guys help out too. Let's move quickly and finish the hunt."
"Oh, right!"
Xiong Ruoyou and the others responded, pulling weapons from their storage bags and joining in.
Today's virtual creatures were even more plentiful than yesterday's. By the time Mu Qingyun killed the last one, she turned to see the number floating above Xiong Ruoyou's head.
It had already broken 600—climbing from just under 500 yesterday.
Eight days remained. Four hundred more to go.
"Thank you all—you don't need to help anymore," Mu Qingyun said to the Crimson King Snake.
Hearing this, the snake became anxious. "Is it because we were not useful? Did our catch not help the Warrior?"
"No, you helped tremendously." She shook her head. "I asked for your help by exploiting a loophole. It's bound to be discovered today, and this method will probably be deemed cheating. I won't be allowed to use it again."
Relieved to know they hadn't let her down, the Crimson King Snake nodded. "Very well. If the Warrior ever needs us again, we will be there."
The massive snake swarm slithered away in neat, orderly lines.
Mu Qingyun turned to see the stunned expressions on the others' faces and couldn't help but smile.
"All right, everyone take the afternoon off. No more hunting today."
The moment she said that, Xiong Ruoyou let out a cheer of joy, and Fan Xuanye looked visibly relieved.
Finally, a chance to rest.
"Mu-ge, Mu-ge, does this mean we can have the snake swarm help us from now on?" Xiong Ruoyou ran to her excitedly, hugging her arm.
"This is the end of it."
Before Mu Qingyun could respond, Su spoke with a frown. "This falls outside the established rules. It hasn't happened before and won't be allowed to happen again."
"Exactly," Mu Qingyun added. "That's why I had them come early today. From here on out, the remaining 400 points—we'll have to earn them on our own."