As a Direct Disciple of Elder Gu, Zhou Chen had set his sights on the Breeze Forest from the very beginning. With his pride, he naturally wouldn't hole up in the back mountains like an ordinary first-year student.
And Beixing Ran was thrilled. With a handsome and powerful genius like Zhou Chen helping her, she was sure to get a head start in this assessment!
She just hadn't expected some clueless second-year team to try and rob them. Fortunately, Zhou Chen was strong enough to fend them off, protecting the Violent Bear they had just hunted.
After routing the robbery attempt, the team members looked at Zhou Chen with even greater admiration. "Captain, you were so cool just now!"
"Yeah, yeah! Did you see the looks on their faces? It was hilarious!" a female student said, covering her mouth as she giggled.
"Just a bunch of degenerates who bully the weak and fear the strong." Zhou Chen's gaze was indifferent, only wavering slightly when he looked at Beixing Ran. "Xiaoran, the materials from the Violent Bear are perfect for you. Go ahead and process them."
"Okay." Beixing Ran gave him a sweet smile and began to carve up the Violent Bear's corpse.
Just then, Xi Yueyao and her team charged over. Spotting Beixing Ran from a distance, she yelled arrogantly, "Beixing Ran, get your ass out here for me!"
Zhang Meng, Li Mufeng, and Tu Xiaoshan followed behind her, their faces a mixture of speechlessness and embarrassment.
"Captain, can we be a little more low-key?" Zhang Meng felt a bit unnerved.
"You damn fatty, so useless!" Xi Yueyao shot him a disdainful look and whispered, "If I'm not loud, how are we going to get their attention? Remember to provide cover for Feng Hao later. You two, as well."
"Got it." The three of them nodded with wry smiles.
Faced with the sudden arrival of Xi Yueyao's group of four, Zhou Chen was a little surprised. He hadn't expected another first-year team to dare venture into the Breeze Forest.
Beixing Ran was a different story. Hearing Xi Yueyao's taunts, she couldn't hold back. She immediately stopped carving up the Violent Bear and squared off against her. "Yao Girl, what is the meaning of this?"
"I'm here to pick a fight." Xi Yueyao puffed out her chest, planted her hands on her hips, and struck a pose like a gang boss.
"Hilarious. Just the few of you?" Beixing Ran's gaze swept over them, her expression disdainful.
Xi Yueyao frowned slightly and activated her venomous tongue, taunting, "So what if you're having a sordid affair with Zhou Chen? You think I'm afraid of you?"
"You damn brat, I'm going to rip that mouth of yours apart!" Beixing Ran flew into a rage and charged forward, flailing wildly.
Zhou Chen's expression darkened as well, but out of pride, he couldn't bring himself to fight a girl.
"Heh heh," Xi Yueyao let out a triumphant smirk. Seeing Beixing Ran charge at her, she immediately gave the order, "Prepare for battle! Li Mufeng, aim for that Beixing Ran girl. If you can hit her face, don't hit anywhere else."
"Is that really appropriate?" Li Mufeng asked, his face lined with exasperation.
"Who cares? Just shoot where I tell you to shoot!" Xi Yueyao said viciously.
In the next moment, the battle ignited. Tu Xiaoshan charged to the very front. Li Mufeng raised his Magic Energy Gun and let loose a barrage of shots. Zhang Meng was even more savage; fueled by the Qi Recovery Pills Feng Hao had given him, he tossed out Fireballs and Ice Shards like they were free.
The scene instantly descended into chaos. Zhou Chen and his teammates were all dumbfounded, rushing forward to provide support.
"Li Mufeng, what the hell are you doing? I told you to hit her face, why are you just shooting the ground?!" Xi Yueyao yelled, displeased.
"We're all classmates. It's not like we have some deep-seated hatred," Li Mufeng muttered with a pout.
"Hmph, I see you're just forgetting your friends over a pretty face!" Xi Yueyao, looking annoyed, continued to shriek bizarre commands. "Fatty, increase your firepower! Yes, yes, burn that girl to a crisp!"
Facing the sudden barrage, Beixing Ran's group was caught completely off guard. It took them a while to get into formation and start fighting back.
Zhou Chen hurried forward to block several attacks for Beixing Ran, his face grim. "You're courting death!"
"Don't be reckless. For that girl to be so arrogant, Xiyue Frost is probably nearby," Beixing Ran reminded him through gritted teeth.
"So what if it's Xiyue Frost? You think I, Zhou Chen, would be afraid of her?" Clearly provoked, Zhou Chen charged toward Xi Yueyao's group without hesitation. His Longsword became a blur of afterimages, its light flashing as his killing intent surged.
Seeing Zhou Chen make his move, Tu Xiaoshan began to retreat without a second word. "Get ready to leave! The boss has already succeeded!"
"What's the rush? I'm not done having fun yet!" Xi Yueyao was just getting into it and was very unhappy to hear the order to retreat.
"Captain, can you please be a little more reliable?" Li Mufeng said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Xi Yueyao looked slightly disappointed. Pouting, she said, "Fine, then. I'll go first. You guys cover the rear!"
With that, she turned and bolted. She was unbelievably fast.
"Damn it, you can't just do that!"
With a weirdo captain like Xi Yueyao, Zhang Meng and the other two were utterly speechless. She was the loudest when they were fighting, and the fastest when they were retreating.
'If we ever get a chance to choose again, we'd rather die than team up with Xi Yueyao!'
Fortunately, their retreat was timely. Under the suppressing fire from Li Mufeng and Zhang Meng's ranged attacks, Zhou Chen had no chance to catch up, and they quickly lost him.
After a frantic sprint, they met up with Feng Hao at the designated spot. Looking at the disheveled, panting group, Feng Hao nodded in satisfaction. "Good teamwork. The Violent Bear is secured."
"Gimme, gimme! Your class president loves Violent Bears the most!" Xi Yueyao clamored, her eyes shining.
"I object!" Zhang Meng protested resentfully.
"We object, too!" Li Mufeng and Tu Xiaoshan shared a common grievance.
Feng Hao smiled knowingly. It seemed the three of them had been royally screwed over by this toxic girl. "Yao Girl, see? No one agrees."
Xi Yueyao's little face hardened. She said huffily, "I'm the captain, so what I say goes!"
"Now, you can't say that," Feng Hao teased.
"I don't care. They obviously already have materials. The Violent Bear should be mine," Xi Yueyao mumbled, pouting her lips in an adorable way.
Feng Hao pursed his lips. "But I don't have any materials yet, either."
"Aren't you going to hunt a Ghost Wolf?" Xi Yueyao blinked, a wronged look on her face.
"But I think a Violent Bear isn't bad either," Feng Hao continued to tease her.
"..." Xi Yueyao was suddenly at a loss for words. She stared at Feng Hao, wanting the bear but unable to find an excuse.
Li Mufeng and the other two watched with vindicated expressions, all their previous frustration vanishing in an instant. They all gave Feng Hao a thumbs-up. Only a badass like Feng Hao could handle Xi Yueyao.
Seeing Xi Yueyao's conflicted expression, Feng Hao's mischievous side was finally satisfied. He casually took the Violent Bear's corpse out of his Spatial Ring and said with a smile, "Alright, I was just messing with you!"
"Hmph!" Xi Yueyao sniffled, secretly glancing at the Violent Bear's corpse while pretending to be very angry.
Feng Hao chuckled, speechless. He pulled out his Dark Moon Dagger and made a few gestures over the Violent Bear's corpse. "Since you don't want it, I won't be polite!"
"Go away, go away! It's mine!" Xi Yueyao instantly panicked, shouting as she shoved Feng Hao aside. She started carving up the Violent Bear's corpse herself, muttering from time to time, "Stupid Feng Hao, stinking Feng Hao... I'm going to tell my sister you bullied me."
Now it was Feng Hao's turn to panic. His face lined with exasperation, he said, "Yao Girl, you can't just do that."
"Hmph, my sister dotes on me the most!" Xi Yueyao was smug again.
Feng Hao was completely speechless. After all that, he had ended up digging a pit for himself.
...
Meanwhile, on Zhou Chen's team, everyone looked grim.
Normally, making the enemy flee in disarray would be a reason to celebrate, but when they discovered the Violent Bear's corpse was gone, they couldn't feel happy at all.
Beixing Ran, in particular, was so angry her face was distorted. "That damn bitch! She actually dared to play dirty tricks on me!"
Zhou Chen's expression was just as dark. He hated this feeling of being outsmarted. He looked up at his other team members and asked, "Did none of you see who stole it?"
"If we'd been able to see them, we wouldn't only be noticing now," a skinny young man said with a bitter smile.
"It must have been that damn auditor. No one but him would do something so shameless," Beixing Ran said, grinding her teeth.
"Feng Hao?" Zhou Chen couldn't help but lower his head in thought, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
...
In a bush not far away, the quartet of robbers had witnessed the entire event. The moment Feng Hao stole the Violent Bear's corpse right from under their noses was especially, insanely cool.
The swordsman looked at his three companions with a serious expression. "Look at them, and then look at us. Aren't you embarrassed?"
"It's different, Captain. They stole it; we tried to rob them," the Defense Mage retorted.
"What do you mean, stole? That's called intellectual suppression," the swordsman said irritably. "Next time, try to learn something. Use your brain a little!"
"Oh." The other three nodded, looking completely bewildered.