Song Yu’s skin was naturally fairer and had a particularly fine texture, so much so that under strong light, one could even see tiny fine hairs. It was almost as good as a baby’s, but people were usually deterred by his aura and dared not stare at him.

Two lumps, one large and one small, were visibly swollen, and the surrounding skin was red, standing out particularly on his fair face.

Reminded by Rong Shi, Song Yu scratched his face.

He hadn’t felt it before, but now his face was so itchy.

Rong Shi pulled his hand away: “Don’t scratch it, the more you scratch, the itchier it gets.”

Song Yu sullenly swatted his hand away. Thinking of some bug crawling on his face while he slept, his expression grew even darker.

Rong Shi found it amusing. He took out a disposable towel from his backpack, wet it with water from his flask, and handed it to him: “Getting a lump means the venom isn’t strong.”

Song Yu suppressed the urge to scratch and didn’t take it.

Rong Shi: “A cold compress can stop the itching. Disgusted? The towel hasn’t been used, and I haven’t drunk this water.”

Song Yu glanced at the wet towel in his hand, took it, and pressed it against his face.

Stimulated by the cold water, it indeed felt less itchy.

Rong Shi stood up: “Wait here for a bit.”

Seeing him walk into the woods, Song Yu frowned: “Where are you going?”

Rong Shi didn’t answer: “I’ll be right back.”

Rustling sounds gradually faded, occasionally interspersed with distant animal calls, and soon the surroundings fell silent again.

After waiting for ten minutes, the towel had warmed up from his body heat, and his face started itching again.

Song Yu stared expectantly in the direction Rong Shi had left, suddenly feeling a little regretful.

He should have followed him. What if—

If Rong Shi wasn’t back by the time he counted to a hundred, he’d go check.

Thinking this, Song Yu quickly started counting in his mind.

When he reached 98, there was a faint movement from the woods again, the rustle of feet on leaves.

Song Yu instinctively straightened up. When he saw Rong Shi’s long legs step out, he finally retracted his gaze and, waiting for the footsteps to approach, casually glanced over.

“Went to relieve yourself?”

Rong Shi sat back down in his original spot, tore up the leaves he’d gathered, and threw them into the fire.

Smelling the herbal scent emanating from the fire, Song Yu asked in confusion: “What’s this?”

“Insect repellent grass.” Rong Shi picked up a wooden stick and kicked the scattered leaf fragments into the fire. “It’s common in the rainforests of Level 3 danger zones. Its toxicity is mild and harmless to humans, but it can kill small insects.”

He dug a small pit beside the campfire, put the remaining insect repellent grass in it, and added a glowing red coal. The leaves quickly curled up and caught fire.

Song Yu was a little surprised: “You know about these things too?”

Rong Shi took the towel from his hand, poured cold water on it, and handed it back: “…I read about it in a book before.”

Song Yu felt quite pleased, but he couldn’t bring himself to thank his love rival, so he changed the subject: “Then why didn’t you burn it earlier?”

Rong Shi: “I originally thought a group of alphas’ sweat would be enough to deter bugs, but who knew you’re so fragrant, bugs are especially fond of you.”

Song Yu: “…”

His true nature was exposed after only a few sentences. This person was indeed still very annoying.

“Did you apply the medicine?” Rong Shi asked.

Song Yu’s face was cold, not wanting to respond. After a long pause, he replied: “No.”

Taking out a medicine box from his backpack, Rong Shi waved him over: “Come closer.”

Seeing him remain seated, Rong Shi opened the medicine box and slowly said: “The bug’s stinger might still be in your face. If it’s not treated in time, it might fester, severe cases could lead to disfigurement—”

“Damn it!”

Hearing the words “stinger,” “fester,” and “disfigurement,” Song Yu cursed under his breath and impatiently moved closer to Rong Shi.

Rong Shi solemnly cupped his face and leaned in for a closer look.

His warm breath brushed against his face, and Song Yu stiffened completely, faintly smelling a hint of a clear fragrance.

He frowned, his expression impatient: “Hurry up.”

“Lucky, the stinger didn’t stay in the skin.” Rong Shi picked up the medicine and applied it for him.

The two lumps, being on Song Yu’s face, even looked somewhat cute.

Song Yu: “Is it done? I’ll put it on myself.”

Rong Shi: “Don’t move, it’ll be done soon.”

Song Yu: “Will this medicine cause allergies on my face?”

“Isn’t it a bit late to ask now?” Rong Shi put away the ointment. “Actually, saliva is more effective than medicine and won’t cause allergies.”

Song Yu retreated to his original position and glared at him with ill intent: “Have I been too good-tempered lately?”

“Have you ever been good-tempered?” Rong Shi asked in surprise. “What misunderstanding do you have about yourself?”

Song Yu: “…”

With such a distraction, Song Yu found it hard to pick up the conversation he originally wanted to have.

They had to rush tomorrow morning. Although the purpose of this trip wasn’t to win an award, wandering in a rainforest where rats were bigger than humans wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.

The medicated areas on his face felt cool and quickly stopped itching, and Song Yu’s mood instantly improved.

“I wonder if we can find diesel nearby.”

Rong Shi: “Let’s look tomorrow morning.”

It would be absolutely impossible to find diesel in other Level 3 danger zones, but A8 had competition props left by the Royal Academy over the years, so maybe they’d get lucky and find some.

He used a wooden stick to pick out the coals from the small pit and took out a small bottle to collect the ashes left over from burning the insect repellent grass.

[Hidden mission activated. At 7 AM tomorrow, enter the second row house to answer questions and clear the challenge. Successfully clearing the challenge within the time limit will award: two barrels of diesel.]

A inorganic mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his ear. Rong Shi instinctively pulled Song Yu and stood up, looking around.

01’s voice suddenly rang in both their minds.

[Holy crap! You scared me! There’s an AI minion here?!]

Rong Shi: “…”

Song Yu: “…”

“There.” Rong Shi looked at the large old locust tree entangled with vines on the far left of the row house.

Song Yu followed his gaze and saw a very hidden sensor in the mottled shadows.

01’s voice sounded again.

[Scanned. The AI main body isn’t here. This is just a receiver and speaker. If there was an AI, I’d know.]

Song Yu: “So everything we’re saying now is being recorded?”

[Yes.]

Rong Shi looked at him: “You can hear him speak?”

Song Yu was about to say that 01 was so loud, how could he not hear, but then he suddenly realized something and looked down at the hand on his wrist.

Rong Shi followed his gaze and let go of his hand.

Song Yu, in turn, grabbed his wrist and said with a smile: “You can interfere?”

[The main body isn’t here, so I can’t interfere too much, but if Jin—Madam wishes, I can try to lower the recorded volume.]

Rong Shi: “…You lickspittle.”

[I’m so cute, I’m not a lickspittle at all QuQ]

Song Yu: “What lickspittle?”

Rong Shi: “…”

[I am a loyal machine 1, only energy stones can make me change my heart—]

Rong Shi swiped on his terminal, forcefully silencing it.

“What was that sound just now?” Qin Luo yawned as he crawled out of the tent, his voice full of sleepiness.

It was his turn for night watch.

With less than 5 hours until 7 AM, Rong Shi turned and walked towards his own tent: “Rest first, we’ll talk when it’s light.”

As soon as he crawled into his tent, Song Yu followed him in.

Rong Shi: “Your tent is over there.”

Song Yu made himself at home and lay down: “We agreed I’d sleep with you tonight.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Qin Luo, who watched helplessly as his Highness crawled into someone else’s tent: “…”

His son was growing up and wouldn’t stay.

The small tent felt even more cramped with two tall alphas squeezed inside.

They lay side by side. Rong Shi moved over a bit, consciously leaving a fist’s worth of space between them.

Song Yu: “What exactly is he?”

It was a random question, but Rong Shi understood.

However, he didn’t know how to answer.

Seeing that he didn’t answer, Song Yu grabbed his wrist and asked for a long time, but 01 remained quiet as a chicken.

Song Yu frowned: “You muted him?”

Rong Shi: “…”

His clever little brain was only used for things like this.

Even if Rong Shi didn’t say anything, Song Yu had some guesses.

Half a year ago, he had heard his Third Uncle mention that his Third Aunt’s research institute was developing a super-intelligent AI, based on the massive structure of a smart brain, with a large number of emotional algorithms imported to achieve wisdom comparable to a smart brain while also possessing human-like emotions.

He hadn’t expected this kind of AI to already exist. His Third Aunt was a step behind.

Under surveillance, Song Yu didn’t dare to speak too plainly.

“Hey, does he have any siblings?”

Rong Shi rested his head on his arm, turning his face to the side, his back to him: “An only child.”

He had gone to war before his foolish apprentice could create 002.

Fortunately, Cola was engrossed in the creation of 002 at the time and he didn’t take him along.

Song Yu: “…”

Song Yu wanted to ask more, but he saw Rong Shi close his eyes, his breathing lengthened, and he fell into a deep sleep.

The breathing beside his ear was very light and gentle. After an unknown amount of time, Rong Shi opened his eyes and cautiously tilted his head to look at Song Yu.

In the dim light, Song Yu slept neatly, his head slightly tilted towards him.

Rong Shi couldn’t help but chuckle.

If only he were this well-behaved when he woke up.

The next day, when Song Yu woke up, the bug bites on his face had completely subsided.

The seven of them packed their things and gathered in the open space in front of the row house.

Liu Hong slapped his thigh: “Let’s gamble, having a car would be so much more convenient!”

Old Bai: “But what if we fail the challenge, will there be a penalty?”

Liu Hong: “High rewards always come with high risks.”

Old Bai: “But—”

Chen Chen: “I don’t care, it’s just for fun anyway.”

Liu Hong and the others glanced at him: “…”

Since it was just for fun, having a car would definitely be more enjoyable.

The seven of them discussed for three minutes and finally decided to accept the question-and-answer challenge. To be able to drive around in a beat-up pickup truck, they went for it!

The inside of the second house was clearly visible at a glance; there was nothing but a broken, dust-covered table.

Qin Luo: “Are we supposed to answer questions facing a wall?”

Chen Chen: “Hey, where’s the question system? Can you hear me?”

Liu Hong: “What the hell, did we get it wrong?”

Song Yu surveyed the entire room, standing at the doorway without moving.

The ground on the right side against the wall, though also dusty, had a thinner layer of dust than the left side.

Just as he was about to walk over to check, that section suddenly sank, revealing a downward staircase.

Rong Shi pulled his hand back from the wall, drew the long military knife from his lower back, and went down first.

Song Yu reacted the fastest, following closely behind him. The others followed suit.

After everyone went down, the sunken ground automatically closed.

Rong Shi estimated the distance in his mind. When he stood on solid ground, 01’s voice sounded.

[Straight-line distance from the ground: 17.4 meters.]

Before they walked two steps, a row of small lights in the space suddenly turned on. They were in a stone chamber tens of square meters large.

A virtual window suddenly appeared in front of them in the open space.

Song Yu walked to Rong Shi’s side and looked up at the virtual screen: “Calculus questions.”

Rong Shi: “Very characteristic of the Royal Academy.”

Military academies focused on combat strength and battlefield knowledge, while the Royal Academy emphasized quality and knowledge cultivation, as they were all young masters and ladies who didn’t need to go out and fight.

[Please write your answer on the virtual screen in front of you. Cheating will be punished. Answering time: 5 minutes.]

With audio and video surveillance, they couldn’t communicate and could only write their own answers.

This question wasn’t difficult, at most a three out of ten in difficulty. Rong Shi confidently believed that no one in the team would get it wrong.

Time was up, and the virtual screen disappeared.

[One of the seven answered incorrectly.]

The few looked at each other.

Qin Luo: “Someone got this question wrong?!”

Liu Hong: “It wasn’t me, was it? Damn it! I knew I shouldn’t have come if I had to answer questions like this!”

Old Bai: “Liu, pay attention.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the floor tile beneath Old Bai’s feet suddenly cracked.

Rong Shi reacted immediately, reaching out to pull him, but Liu Hong was between them, so he couldn’t make it in time.

“Ah—!” Old Bai screamed and fell.

Liu Hong’s face turned pale, and he roared: “Old Bai!”

Rong Shi’s eyes turned cold, and he looked at the sensor on the right wall: “Is there a life-threatening risk with the punishment?”

This was a trap set by the Royal Academy, so logically there shouldn’t be any danger, but he was worried about a ‘what if’.

The AI didn’t answer him.

After less than a minute of anxiety, Liu Hong received a video message from Old Bai.

Old Bai was covered in chicken feathers, sitting disheveled on a stone in front of a dirt house, sneezing several times: “I’m fine, the system forced me out. You guys add—achoo!—oil.”

The people underground: “…”

The four doors on the stone chamber walls suddenly opened. Laser beams crisscrossed all the passages and then quickly disappeared.

Did this mean they had cleared this stage?

According to the rules, they could choose any passage to go forward.

The choice fell to Rong Shi, and he truly just picked one at random.

After walking about a hundred meters, they reached another stone chamber, and the virtual screen descended.

“History question, this one’s a 0 difficulty!” Qin Luo laughed after reading the question. “If anyone doesn’t know who our Empire’s founding marshal was, I’ll be damned!”

Hu Feng awkwardly coughed, covering his mouth.

Five minutes later, he sat next to Old Bai, covered in chicken feathers.

The two brothers looked at each other in awkward silence.

This method of elimination gave Rong Shi a bad feeling.

There must be places that would require manpower later on.

By the third question, he said to the sensor: “I want to change the way we play.”

This time, the AI responded to him.

[Please state.]

Rong Shi: “We’ll answer the questions together, and if we get it wrong, we’ll all be punished together.”

A moment later, the AI’s voice sounded.

[Only two designated answerers are allowed. If they get it wrong, everyone will be punished.]

Rong Shi: “Okay.”

Liu Hong’s wildly pounding heart finally calmed down.

Among this group, his academic performance was the worst, and he could be ejected at any moment.

The third question was about the quantum universe, with a difficulty coefficient of 9.5.

Song Yu walked to the virtual screen: “I’ll do it.”

Liu Hong: “Damn, good thing we changed the rules, otherwise I’d definitely be ejected.”

Chen Chen: “Me too.”

Qin Luo: “Don’t be afraid, this kind of question is a piece of cake for my brother.”

They answered six questions in a row, going incredibly smoothly, virtually unimpeded.

Qin Luo proudly showed off to Liu Hong and Chen Chen.

“I’m not bragging, but this level of question is like one plus one equals two in my brother’s eyes.”

Chen Chen gave a thumbs up: “Awesome.”

Liu Hong: “Is there anything that can stump them?”

Qin Luo stroked his chin thoughtfully: “If it’s about common life knowledge, they’ll probably all fail.”

He knew about that marriage question incident.

Rong Shi and Song Yu were about to answer the question when they heard this, and their hearts sank, thinking it was bad.

In the seventh stone chamber, the virtual screen had originally displayed a biology question, but after two seconds, it changed to something else.

[A pair of partners passed a hotpot restaurant. The two had a disagreement about whether to eat hotpot or not. The omega said to the alpha: “Are you sure you don’t want to eat?” Please determine if the omega wants to eat or not.]

Rong Shi: “…”

Song Yu: “…”

Damn it!

__

Author’s note: 

Song Cat: Even the best strength can’t beat a clumsy teammate.

Rong Bunny: Don’t be mad, leave it to me.

Song Cat: Then we’re all screwed.

Rong Bunny: …