Li Xiao thought that what interested Song Jin most must be matters related to modified humans. As a prince who personally participated in the investigation, it was clear how much importance Song Jin placed on this.

Seeing Li Xiao remain silent, Song Jin raised his eyes. “What? Can’t even answer the first question?”

Li Xiao: “…”

This tone, this look—he’s still angry, no matter how you look at it.

What exactly is this kid angry about? Is it because I didn’t tell him everything I know? It couldn’t possibly be because I didn’t immediately deny it when he mentioned my ‘most favorite Rong Mianmian’ earlier, right?

Li Xiao’s mind was a mess, thinking of all sorts of things. Under Song Jin’s intense gaze, he replied with a straight face: “None of those three answers are accurate. If I must choose, I’ll pick B.”

Song Jin raised one eyebrow slightly. “You? Hitting an Omega?”

“Omegas are outsiders, my partner is one of my own. If I absolutely have to hit someone, then I’m sorry, but it’ll have to be the Omega.” Li Xiao looked earnest. “Do I look like the type of person who would commit domestic violence?”

“Can’t tell.” Song Jin calmly continued changing the dressing. “But I would. If I found out my partner was cheating, I’d send both my partner and the third party to the grave together. You’d better be careful.”

Li Xiao: “…”

In the competition’s live broadcast chat, the style of the comments shifted drastically.

-“Song Jin’s possessiveness is so strong! I feel like Li Xiao is going to be completely eaten up by him! I love this vibe, boohoo!”

-“I actually think Li Xiao is the type who just quietly watches you, and you’ll never be able to escape his grasp.”

-“Why are they discussing cheating issues in such a dangerous arena?”

-“What danger? Mortis is such a tough old guy, but he’s basically a coward in front of them.”

-“Proof: Even AIs are afraid of thugs.”

-“Mortis: To protect my massive assets, I had to painfully abandon the bottom line of an NPC.”

-“I bet other teams will cry when they find out they got the fragment using diesel.”

Once the bandages were changed, Jiang Hao and Da Bei finished the quiz, and the fourth fragment was successfully obtained.

The scorekeeper popped up again, displaying another line of information.

【Hint for the fifth piece: Rose Wetland.】

“Where is that?” Qian Can craned his neck to look around, but his field of vision was completely blocked by dense trees a hundred meters tall.

Li Xiao gestured with his chin toward the pirate robot. “Tie it to the back of the car and have it lead the way.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. What a great idea! Getting an NPC to lead the way—aren’t we guaranteed to win?

The four of them cautiously approached.

Pirate Robot: “…”

The system calculated at lightning speed, determining that the probability of being kidnapped was 99.9%.

Just as Jiang Hao and Da Bei surrounded the cabin, the pirate robot decisively turned around and slipped away with a speed faster than when it had arrived.

“Come back!” Qian Can stood at the cabin door, hitting the metal shell with his combat knife. “Don’t hide inside and not make a sound! I know you’re in there, come out!”

A moment later, a significant commotion came from inside. A group of long-nosed rats, each two meters tall, with glowing eyes, dashed out and quickly swarmed the cabin entrance.

“Holy shit!” Qian Can was so scared he ran for his life. “We’re leaving, we’re leaving, okay?!”

Just as Li Xiao turned the car around, the other four sprinted over and successfully piled into the vehicle just before the rats could bite their heels.

The long-nosed rats ran extremely fast; once they locked onto prey, they rarely gave up. Li Xiao opened the throttle to the max, weaving flexibly through the mountain road filled with vines and strange, towering plants.

Qian Can and Jiang Hao crouched in the rear cargo bed, gripping the metal railings on both sides for dear life, afraid that a drift from Li Xiao would send them flying into the trees. They also had to fend off the rats pouncing on them from time to time.

Jiang Hao quickly ducked to avoid a rat’s claw and slashed his combat knife fiercely across its throat, blood spraying instantly. The injured rat fell to the ground, only to be surrounded and devoured by the rats trailing behind it.

Qian Can winced and disgustedly looked away. Jiang Hao shook the blood off his knife, noticing that the surrounding leaves and bushes were all shaking.

A massive number of rats were on the move, disturbing other mutated animals nearby; if this continued, it would draw even more danger.

Jiang Hao shouted to the front: “Boss, try not to go too deep into the bushes! Something is chasing us!”

“I know.” Li Xiao listened to the sounds coming from near and far and told Da Bei in the back seat, “Let them in.”

As the road ahead widened, Qin Le and Da Bei opened the rear door and reached out to the cargo bed. “Hurry up!”

Qian Can and Jiang Hao grabbed them, stepped on the shell, and scrambled into the back seat.

As the door closed, Li Xiao glanced at the rearview mirror and made a sharp turn into the brush; the car immediately began to shake violently.

Qian Can clutched his head and shrank into a corner, terrified of colliding with Jiang Hao’s iron-headed self again. “The bushes are too dangerous!”

No sooner had he said that than a thump sounded, and something landed on the hood. The people in the back looked out to see a snake as thick as a soup bowl! It was coiled in a huge pile, flickering its tongue and staring directly at Song Jin through the glass.

Song Jin frowned, scanning outside. “Lunatics.”

Li Xiao: “Would you rather be chased by rats all the way?”

“So many snakes!” Da Bei exclaimed while looking outside. “Did we break into a snake den?!”

The trees nearby were dense, and many vines hung down from the branches and trunks. Upon closer inspection, they were all moving—they were all mutated snakes!

Jiang Hao: “They won’t fall into the car, will they?”

“Ahhh! I can’t close the window on my side!” Qian Can scrambled to hide in Qin Le’s arms.

Qin Le was so annoyed he simply covered Qian Can’s mouth: “Keep it down.”

The car slowed down in the brush. Li Xiao heard the rats approaching both doors, so he drove straight toward the area with the most mutated snakes. Just before colliding with the snake swarm, he made a sharp turn and slipped away through a small side path.

However, the rats chasing them weren’t so lucky. By the time they realized the danger and wanted to run, they were already surrounded by the mutated snakes.

When the view ahead opened up and the “vines” hanging down began to decrease, the four people in the back seat finally felt their souls return to their bodies. Qian Can clutched his pounding heart, covered in a cold sweat.

He had finally figured it out. This earring guy seemed steady, but he was actually just as wild as the Boss.

Watching Li Xiao navigate through the detours and seeing the movement around them gradually fade, Qin Le looked at Li Xiao as if he were a human-shaped radar. Li Xiao’s five senses were truly invincible in the wild.

They searched all afternoon but couldn’t find the so-called Rose Wetland.

“The clue might be inside the spaceship, but we avoided it,” Qin Le said.

Da Bei: “What now? We can’t just go back, can we?”

Li Xiao glanced at the dashboard: “Out of fuel. If we go back, we’ll have to abandon the car halfway.”

Song Jin: “Isn’t it easy to find clues?”

Li Xiao: “What ideas do you have?”

Song Jin pointed to some students passing by in the forest far off: “Go ask them.”

Li Xiao: “They might not tell you.”

Song Jin rested his chin on his hand, his expression indifferent: “Use your strengths. The same way you used your beauty to confuse Omegas before, do the same to them now. I believe in you.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Who was it that said they’d send their partner to the grave if they found out they were cheating?

“Pfft—woooo…” Qian Can tightly covered his mouth, afraid to laugh too loudly and get pummeled.

There were five people in the approaching group, with both Alphas and Omegas. Based on their training uniforms, they were second-year students, not from the same starting point as them.

Li Xiao drove the car closer and stopped beside them: “Seniors, are you heading to Rose Wetland too?”

Among the current contestants, Li Xiao and Song Jin were a pair that received intense attention; almost no one didn’t recognize them. The two Omegas in the group beamed with joy the moment they saw them.

“You guys actually have a car?!” Zhao Cheng approached and shook his head, clicking his tongue. “You’re so lucky, aren’t you?”

Seeing they were acquaintances, they exchanged a few pleasantries.

Zhao Cheng: “Are you planning to give us a ride?”

Li Xiao: “If you don’t mind squeezing into the cargo bed.”

Zhao Cheng was quite dissatisfied: “We’re almost there, why didn’t you come sooner?”

“Then let’s go together? The car is almost out of fuel anyway.” Li Xiao signaled the four in the back seat through the rearview mirror and opened the door to get out.

“You’re so tall!” An Omega in Zhao Cheng’s team looked up at Li Xiao, exclaiming, “You’re much bigger than in the photos.”

Song Jin walked around the front of the car with his hands in his pockets: “Where did you say he was ‘bigger’?”

Hearing this, the Omega turned to look. Whoa! Song Jin looked like an elf; he didn’t expect him to be so tall and broad as well!

The couple stood together like a painting—a perfect match!

Seeing the Omega’s eyes widen, Zhao Cheng laughed: “Don’t ask such tactless questions.” He went to put his arm around Li Xiao’s shoulder, but before his hand could touch him, Song Jin brushed him off as if he were flicking away dirt.

Warned by Song Jin’s gaze, Zhao Cheng felt a bit aggrieved: “I’m not the type to like every Alpha I see!”

Song Jin: “Who cares?”

Zhao Cheng: “…”

They said it was “almost there,” but they wandered around the forest until dark.

“There’s a light over there.” Jiang Hao pointed to the foot of a mountain a few hundred meters ahead.

Li Xiao: “Looks like we won’t make it there tonight.”

Traveling through a primeval forest at night is dangerous. Even if the Rose Wetland was right in front of them, they had to choose to continue tomorrow. There were natural caves at the foot of the mountain where many students had already gathered.

The six of them found a suitable spot on the leeward side to build a fire and set up camp. The temperature difference in the forest was vast. Li Xiao leaned against his tent by the fire, hearing many students discussing their experiences along the way.

Not everyone had been to Wind City, but besides his own team, there wasn’t a single exchange student among the people there. Shengya had clearly made many contingency plans to block the exchange students.

Song Jin went to a nearby water source to wash his hands. Seeing Li Xiao sitting by the fire without a word, he went over and sat beside him.

“You rest first tonight, no need to keep watch.”

Li Xiao: “Special treatment?”

Song Jin: “We might need your face to lure Omegas again tomorrow, your complexion can’t be too poor.”

Li Xiao was amused by his relaxed tone. “What if I get snatched away?”

Song Jin took out a nutrition pack and calmly unscrewed the cap: “Then I’ll see you off.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Qian Can couldn’t sit still, so he dragged Jiang Hao and Da Bei to visit other teams to gather useful information. Qin Le hadn’t slept well the night before and had been jolted around all day, so he went to rest in the tent first.

By 8:00 PM, only Song Jin and Li Xiao remained by the fire.

Song Jin: “Still want to play the Q&A game?”

Li Xiao: “Anytime.”

Song Jin: “What did you discover about them?”

Li Xiao broke a twig and threw it into the fire, saying in a low voice: “They don’t have the scent of rotten tomatoes.”

Song Jin bit onto his nutrition pack, tilting his head to look at him.

Li Xiao continued: “Rong Mian’s scent is quite different from theirs. By comparison, he smells like a completely normal person.”

Song Jin: “You’ve smelled his pheromones?”

Li Xiao: “No. At a normal social distance, I can’t detect any abnormalities in him. Or is it that his ability to hide it is just better?”

Song Jin avoided his probing gaze, remaining silent for a moment before speaking: “Your judgment is correct. There isn’t just one type, but the root of everything is it.”

“It?” Li Xiao pressed.

Song Jin clamped onto Li Xiao’s wrist and tapped the spot where he was injured, the implication clear.

Is it blood? The first thing that came to Li Xiao’s mind was the blood of the Bique clan. Reflecting on the events of this time, Li Xiao felt that Song Jin hadn’t lied about this. If blood was the root of modified humans, it was no wonder Shengya suspected Danse was pulling strings behind the scenes.

Seeing Li Xiao deep in thought, Song Jin lowered his voice: “Do you really not know?”

Li Xiao shook his head: “I left that circle a long time ago. Didn’t you investigate me?”

In his past life, if his brother hadn’t been assassinated and the country hadn’t been embroiled in endless war, he might have spent his whole life wandering outside and never returned to the royal family.

Song Jin was curious: “Where did you go?”

Li Xiao: “Interested in my past?”

Song Jin pressed the nutrition pack against his neck: “Are you talking or not?”

Li Xiao laughed while looking at him: “You go lure the Omegas tomorrow.”

Song Jin: “…Keep dreaming.”

Li Xiao looked regretful: “That’s too bad.”

Song Jin leaned into Li Xiao’s ear and smiled: “If it were luring Alphas, I’d be willing to give it a try.”

The cool, pleasant voice made Li Xiao’s ears tingle. This kid might actually know a thing or two about luring Alphas.

Li Xiao looked at his smiling eyes: “Who did you learn that from?”

Song Jin: “Don’t you know I have two Alphas at home who flirt every single day?”

Li Xiao: “…”

Disgraceful elders, corrupting the kid.

Not long after, Qian Can and the others returned, shivering from the cold.

“Some teams only have two or three fragments; it’s quite different from us,” Jiang Hao said in a low voice. “The map sequence might be completely shuffled.”

Qian Can counted on his fingers: “Nine fragments, nine maps—four days is not enough time at all! I don’t know which bastard came up with this crappy idea!”

The next day, just as dawn broke, most of the teams were packed and ready to set off. The six of them didn’t know where the wetland was and could only follow the main crowd.

After climbing a mountain, they encountered a swarm of ants, two waves of spiders, and two waves of rat swarms. Only then did Qian Can and the others deeply realize how many troubles Li Xiao had helped them avoid.

On the competition’s live chat:

-“Li Xiao’s luck is just… wow! If he went to a raffle, he’d definitely get the grand prize every time.”

-“Luck? The guy relies on his strength!”

-“No need to over-hype him. Didn’t they charge into a snake den yesterday?”

-“That was intentional! Check the walkthrough posts! Snakes and rats are natural enemies; they did it to shake off the rats!”

-“They are currently the team with the most fragments! They have a great chance of taking first place!”

Around 11:00 AM, the six of them stood on the side of a mountain and finally saw the Rose Wetland. The vine plants in this area were particularly lush, with strange flowers and grasses everywhere. Passing by flowers three meters high, one couldn’t help but feel a fear of being swallowed at any moment.

There was a slight movement in the flower clusters. Li Xiao looked over sharply; a vine as thick as a wrist coiled around a student and dragged them into the thicket.

“Save me!” the student cried in a panic, and others frantically pulled them back.

There are actually vines here that can attack people. Everyone’s nerves instantly tightened.

“Stay away from the flowers,” Li Xiao said in a low voice.

“That’s impossible! There are too many flowers, it’s impossible to guard against all of them!” Da Bei nervously scanned left and right.

They hadn’t even gone a hundred meters when over a dozen students were dragged off by vines. The frequency of the attacks was remarkably high.

Li Xiao observed his surroundings and pulled out his launcher, firing it toward the flowers ahead. The rope bypassed the vines and made a curve. Once he was sure it was hooked, Li Xiao tightened the rope and gave it a hard yank.

The rope dragged the vines, thrashing them against the flower cluster. Petals flew everywhere, vines broke and fell, and soon the vines hidden behind the flowers were exposed.

“You can tell which ones are controlled by the system!” Qian Can said excitedly.

The other students craned their necks to observe and found it was indeed easy to tell the difference, so they followed suit. But to their surprise, while Li Xiao made it look easy—as if it were just a matter of hand movement—it didn’t work for them. They could only knock down four or five flowers at a time; the efficiency was far too low!

Suddenly, a loud slap rang out, and a rain of petals fell from the sky. They turned their heads to look; Song Jin had acted, wiping out the flowers for dozens of meters ahead—cleaner than a haircut!

As Li Xiao walked, he searched for items that might trigger tasks. A massive virtual screen descended in front, and everyone grew alert.

【Welcome, everyone, to the Rose Wetland. A puzzle piece mission has been triggered. We are entering the buzzer round; answer correctly to receive a fragment reward.】

Seeing it was a quiz, Qian Can and Jiang Hao each blocked their respective bosses, preventing them from acting. “I’ll do it!”

Li Xiao/Song Jin: “…”

The first question was on military theory. As soon as the countdown started on the screen, Qian Can raised his hand: “C!”

【Correct.】

【Please continue forward along the prompts.】

An arrow appeared to their front-left, and the flower cluster split down the middle by the vines, revealing a path. Seeing Li Xiao and his team walk away, the others suddenly panicked. Even though they were only first-years, they always gave people a sense of stability, like a golden thigh to cling to.

Walking along the small path through the flowers, Li Xiao suddenly stopped and pulled Da Bei to his side. Others heard the movement and looked over.

The next second, a vine snaked out from the flowers, reaching for the exact spot where Da Bei had just been standing. Li Xiao backhanded his combat knife, severed it, and turned to look at Song Jin’s direction. Song Jin understood and placed his hand on his hilt.

But the vine had retracted silently halfway through reaching out.

“Mortis knows how to save costs,” Qian Can sneered. “He knows he can’t win, so he just gave up.”

Qin Le nodded, finding it hard to disagree. Having served in the Royal Academy for over a hundred years without being replaced, Mortis definitely had some tricks up his sleeve.

They hadn’t gone far before a screen descended in the air again.

【Fragment mission triggered. Successfully buzz in to receive a fragment reward.】

The six of them: “…” How did that trigger?

This time it was a history question, and since they were the only team there, there was no need to buzz in. Qian Can raised his hand to answer and obtained another fragment.

“This level is too easy.”

“Easy where?” Jiang Hao patted his shoulder, gesturing for him to look behind. Qian Can turned his head to see several students dangling upside down from tree vines in the distance, swaying in the wind, their shrill screams drawing the birds and insects in the area over.

“…It’s indeed not easy.”

“Let’s go.” Li Xiao said flatly. “We should be able to collect all the remaining fragments here.”

They answered five questions in a row, each one harder than the last. The final two were severely beyond the syllabus, and even Qin Le couldn’t answer them, ultimately having to ask Li Xiao and Song Jin for help.

A prompt automatically popped up on the scorekeeper.

【All fragments collected.】

The nine puzzle pieces formed a photo of flower clusters, with no special markings; such a sight was ubiquitous in the Rose Wetland.

Qian Can: “How are we supposed to find this?”

Before he even finished speaking, Li Xiao and Song Jin had already turned around and started walking back. Ten minutes later, they arrived at the spot shown in the picture.

A virtual screen popped up above the flower cluster.

【Congratulations on finding the lost item!】

The scorekeeper displayed a simulated animation: inside the blooming flowers lay a dirty, stained Shengya Major’s medal.

【You have passed the test. Please proceed to the rest area as shown on the map to wait.】

Li Xiao glanced at the map and led the others away. Zhao Cheng’s group was still fighting the vines, and seeing Li Xiao return, they waved: “How’s it going? Did you find the mission?”

Li Xiao: “We’ve already cleared the level.”

Zhao Cheng and the group of students: “???” Cleared it?! So fast?!

“Good luck.” Li Xiao threw that out and walked away without looking back.

Zhao Cheng’s teammates whispered: “Is that for real? Why were they so fast?”

Zhao Cheng: “Their strength is right there!”

Soon, a prompt appeared on everyone’s scorekeeper:

【A team has already cleared the level. Difficulty for all maps reduced by 10%. Please continue your efforts.】

Zhao Cheng: “…” Did we just get looked down upon by the system?

In Wind City, Meng Tao, Zheng Lin, and the others were being chased until they had no spirit left. Seeing the names of the six, led by Li Xiao, on the scorekeeper, Meng Tao gritted his teeth and kicked a muddy corner of the wall.

“How could they be so fast?!”

Zheng Lin: “If this continues, we won’t even make the rankings!”

They had thought everyone else was struggling back and forth in Wind City just like them. They didn’t expect Li Xiao to have already cleared it while they only had two fragments. The gap was significant.

“Hurry up!” Meng Tao urged them irritably, moving quickly toward crowded areas. No matter what, he had to make the top fifty. Only the top fifty were qualified to attend the victory banquet.

This league was proposed by the Shengya Royal Family, so the victory banquet was highly likely to be held in the palace. The security level of the Shengya palace was always insane. For many years, the Meng family had tried countless ways, but they could never get even a shred of intelligence, let alone sneak into the palace.

If they missed this opportunity, who knew how long they would have to wait! Apart from that, Li Xiao was taking first place while he couldn’t even qualify for the banquet—how could he hold his head up in the future?!

On the other side, the six of them followed the prompts, crossed a small hill, and found the guidance robot in the valley, which led them onto a cloaked spaceship.

As soon as they boarded, a Beta in black came over and nodded toward Song Jin.

Jiao Bai: “I’m from the Royal Academy’s logistics department, surname Jiao. You can contact me if you need any help or assistance over the next two days.”

Li Xiao nodded without saying anything. One could tell from his posture that he was most likely a member of Shengya’s secret service.

They hadn’t realized it before, but compared to Jiao Bai, they were truly stinky and filthy. Their clothes had gone sour who knows how many times, emitting a depressing smell; they felt uncomfortable from head to toe.

“Shower first.” Song Jin ignored Jiao Bai’s hints with a sour face and headed straight for the rest cabin. Nothing was more important than taking a shower right now.

The rest cabins were two people per room. Seeing the terminal prompt that he was in the same room as Song Jin, Li Xiao wasn’t surprised at all.

He put down his backpack and pulled off his gloves. Hearing the sound of heavy objects hitting the floor, he turned his head to see that Song Jin had already tossed most of his gear away.

Song Jin took off his jacket and tossed it on the floor: “You need a shower too?”

Li Xiao: “Need to ask?”

Song Jin: “I’ll shower and give it to you immediately?”

Li Xiao unbuttoned his cuffs and said casually: “No rush.”

Song Jin was about to tease him when he heard Li Xiao add: “I can go shower at Jiang Hao’s.”

Song Jin: “…You’re going to shower with him?”

“We’re both Alphas, who cares?” Li Xiao unbuttoned his shirt and turned to walk out.

Song Jin’s gaze swept over Li Xiao’s partially visible collarbone, paused for two seconds, then strode over and dragged him toward the bathroom.

Li Xiao: “What are you doing?”

Song Jin: “Shower together. We’re both Alphas, who cares?”

Li Xiao: “…”