Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Humiliating Way of Battle

He gazed calmly at Xiao Li and said in a low voice, “It seems that, at this point, the only way for all of us to pass the assessment is to defeat him, isn’t it?”

Xiao Li replied, “That’s the message I've gotten from some of the other recruits we’ve absorbed. It seems the Academy Committee suddenly changed the rules for this round. If we don’t do it this way, even if we eliminate the remaining trainees, the committee will just have them rejoin the fight.”

Chen Diwen stabbed his dagger into the ground, then pulled something from his chest. He opened his palm, revealing three gleaming red pentagrams, and smiled slyly. “I suppose, for us, victory means eliminating Chen Cao, while for Chen Cao, victory is finding these four markers. But what if he can’t find them?”

“Then he’ll be trapped in endless combat, worn out until we finish him off!” Xiao Li’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Chen Diwen. Clearly, he had never chosen the wrong side. Chen Diwen, standing before him, treated his comrades with deep loyalty and dealt with his enemies without mercy—a man like this was destined to become a kingpin in his own right.

Chen Diwen clenched his fist tightly, yet the sharp points of the pentagrams didn’t even pierce his skin. In a single, fluid motion, he opened his hand and the pentagrams crumbled into powder.

The Bear laughed. “Looks like Chen Cao will never find this marker in his life. I should have a good fight with that bastard!”

Suddenly, Chen Diwen’s ear twitched. He snatched up his weapon and called out softly, “Not good, we’re under attack!”

Xiao Li immediately listened closely. Indeed, the birdsong was off—it wasn’t the usual sound. This was a special signaling method, combining animal linguistics, taught only in Unit 0611. It used different frequencies to convey messages, each adapted to different times and situations, ever-changing and hard to master. Unless someone had lived in the jungle for a long time, they wouldn’t be able to interpret every call and frequency.

Chen Diwen issued calm orders to his team. “Combat squads, check your members immediately. Stay together and prevent enemy infiltration.”

As the acting commander of the unit, his words were law. Everyone snapped to combat readiness.

At this moment, Chen Diwen’s battle formation included at least five sniper teams, hidden at various points, continuously scanning the dense jungle within a radius of dozens of kilometers.

This was a death trap. Hearing the signals from each team reporting readiness eased Chen Diwen’s mind.

Since receiving the signal from a teammate, the jungle had settled into silence again, the only sound the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze.

“Boss, let me kill that coward. What’s the point of hiding like a turtle?” The Bear, hot-tempered as always, brandished his Reaper rifle.

“Wait. Chen Cao is no coward. If he can launch a surprise attack under our tight security, he must be exceptional. He’s testing our endurance,” Chen Diwen said with a faint smile, patting The Bear on the shoulder. “Trust your comrades. Our snipers didn’t train hard all year for nothing!”

Xiao Li smiled at Chen Diwen. “Yeah, boss, we’ve got all the time in the world. Let’s see who lasts longer.”

“Hmph!” The Bear had absolute respect for Chen Diwen and lost his temper entirely, fiddling with the knife that Little Fox Zhou Hongye had given him.

At that moment, a sudden burst of gunfire erupted. Chen Diwen’s trained ear recognized the shots as coming from his own snipers.

“Prepare for combat!” Chen Diwen ordered, though he was puzzled. From the sound, it wasn’t just one weapon firing—it sounded like a coordinated assault.

“What’s going on? Was it not Chen Cao just now, but another combat team?” Chen Diwen’s mind raced. Aside from those he’d eliminated, he was certain he’d accounted for all the fighting forces in the jungle. How could there be such intense gunfire?

The exchange lasted only seconds before the gunfire faded away.

“Is this a trap?” Xiao Li, holding his jungle rifle, whispered to Chen Diwen.

As they spoke, the shooting stopped. Clearly, their snipers had lost their targets.

“Xiao Li, the rifle!” Chen Diwen barked. Xiao Li tossed him the assault rifle slung on his back, asking, “Boss, are we moving out?”

Chen Diwen cocked the weapon decisively. “Yes. We can’t wait any longer. If I’m right, we just lost all our snipers!”

Xiao Li felt a chill down his back at Chen Diwen’s words—this opponent was too cunning.

“I've been wanting to fight that cowardly bastard for ages!” The Bear, energized by Chen Diwen’s order, hefted his heavy ‘Flame King’ submachine gun and shouted to his teammates, “Let’s go, brothers! Charge!” And with that, he rushed into the jungle.

But Chen Diwen’s eyes flashed. He grabbed The Bear and shouted, “No one moves forward!”

Boom—booby traps! Chen Cao had managed to lay traps on their command post in such a short time, accurately predicting their pursuit path. Did he plant traps in every direction? But it had only been seconds—laying dozens of mines all around would take time and effort. What astonishing speed.

Sure enough, three teammates started smoking all over. If those had been real mines, they’d have been torn apart by shrapnel. Now, they’d have to report their “deaths” at the Academy Committee’s command post before rejoining the exercise—a process that would take time.

The Bear, saved by Chen Diwen’s intervention, roared at the sight of his three “fallen” comrades, “Chen Cao, you coward! If you’re a man, come fight me face to face!”

There will be a chance, but not now. Chen Diwen truly deserved the title of King of the Rookies—his command was impressive, his tactical arrangements clever. Breaking your sniper formation took me quite a while! Chen Cao’s voice echoed eerily, seeming to come from all directions. The team scanned the surroundings but found nothing.

The unseen is the most terrifying. Everyone was anxious. Being eliminated meant running dozens of kilometers to the assessment command post, then back again. By then, who knew how the battle would have turned out?

After Chen Cao’s words, the jungle fell silent once more.

Everyone stared with wide eyes, desperately searching in the limited field of view.

A rustling sound came from the jungle. “Movement at eleven o’clock!” someone shouted. “Go get him!” and charged forward with his rifle.

“Let’s do this! I’m sick of this!” Two more followed, rifles at the ready. To them, still young and with only a year’s training and no battle experience, their nerves were thin.

“Don’t move! Watch for mines!” Chen Diwen shouted, but even as he spoke—boom—more were down.

“Why didn’t you listen to orders? Did I say you could move?” Chen Diwen scolded the smoking, bewildered recruits.

“Boss, we can’t just wait here forever!” Even Xiao Li was losing his patience.

Chen Diwen’s eyes were bloodshot. “We need to stay calm!”

A gunshot rang out—smoke rose from a teammate’s head.

“Get down! Sniper!” Chen Diwen was being driven mad by this elusive fighting style. He dove for cover, firing toward the sniper’s position with smooth, practiced movements. But it was all in vain—there was no response.

Another shot—a teammate beside him, lying down, started smoking, resignedly obeying the rules, dropping his gun and lying still.

Next came a series of shots—anyone who fired back was hit instantly, not a single miss, until no one dared fire back. The enemy sniper, meanwhile, slowed his pace, firing now and then, almost carelessly.

Now, Chen Diwen and his men looked like sheep awaiting slaughter, enduring humiliation.

Yet they dared not move. They had become the prey, hunted down.

“How fast is your draw, Bear?”

“One point five seconds!” The Bear answered confidently from nearby.

“Good. Brother, for everyone’s safety, it’s up to you. Use your Flame King and kill that bastard!” Chen Diwen said, then stood and sprinted toward the place where the booby trap had just exploded.

“Boss, you—” The Bear hadn’t expected Chen Diwen to use himself as bait. His eyes stung, but he stayed alert, watching the surroundings.

But all was quiet. Chen Diwen ran several meters—still nothing. No explosions, no gunfire, just the sound of tense breathing.

“Chen Cao, you coward! Your grandpa Bear is here! Come out and fight me! You’ll always be a coward, always be the shame of Unit 0611!” The Bear bellowed, relieved that Chen Diwen was unharmed.

But the enemy, as if deliberately, gave no response. When everyone finally stood up, another shot rang out, hitting a teammate square in the forehead—a puff of smoke rising.

Everyone who had stood dropped back down in frustration. This time, not far away, there was another rustling sound—this time, a human silhouette was visible.

“After him!” Chen Diwen knew that, no matter the cost, they had to catch Chen Cao and defeat him. Otherwise, he would have no place in Unit 0611.