After the question appeared, the live stream’s bullet comments were filled with “hahahahas”—

“Mortis actually chickened out hahahahaha”

“Its image in my mind instantly went from strict old man to cowardly cutie.”

“It’s finally its day! The military academy chairman got revenge for us hahahaha”

“Just came from the military academy, politely asking who Mortis is?”

Qian Fan sat in a rocking chair, holding a thermos, his smile never fading.

It was truly joyful to watch that little rascal Rong Shi trick others.

On the soft little sofa, the two toddlers sat side by side, drinking juice and watching their two older brothers trick people.

Cola leaned back like a grandpappy, holding a baby bottle of mango juice, his other hand raised.

“I know this one! Thirty cats, twenty rabbits.”

Mianmian held a baby bottle filled with watermelon juice, watching intently.

“I want to be that cool too.”

When the live stream switched to other teams, Mianmian slid off the sofa, dragged the one-eyed rabbit from the bedroom, and practiced over-the-shoulder throws while watching the live stream.

He had to complete twenty today!

---

Inside the arena, Qin Luo and the others couldn’t believe it.

Mortis, the main control system of the dignified Royal Academy, resorted to such unscrupulous means, posing a kindergarten-level question to avoid the punishment round?

Qin Luo and the others exchanged glances.

If they got such a simple question wrong, wouldn’t they be utterly humiliated?

But if they simply answered it correctly, how could they miss such a great opportunity for after-class practice?

It wasn’t every day they could get guidance from Daddy Rong.

The five exchanged glances, finally unanimously deciding—just guess randomly, what’s a little bit of face worth? Daddy Rong’s guidance is definitely more important!

Qin Luo confidently answered: “30 cats, 100 rabbits.”

[…]

Chen Chen feigned surprise: “Don’t just guess randomly! How can there be so many rabbits?”

Qin Luo looked innocent: “It’s not wrong! Excluding special breeds, long tails are cats, thirty of them. Short tails are rabbits, twenty of them.”

Chen Chen: “Then you just said a hundred.”

Qin Luo: “Don’t rabbits go into heat all year round? They gave birth to another litter during the countdown. Twenty rabbits equal ten pairs, one pair gives birth to one litter, an average of eight per litter, that’s eighty. So it’s not wrong.”

Chen Chen stroked his chin thoughtfully: “The logic is very rigorous, the path is very clear. I thought the problem was too simple.”

The bullet comments on the live stream were roaring with laughter—

“Are these two performing a double act? I almost believed them! Hahahaha”

“The system is also afraid of evil people. I’m starting to pity old man Mortis 233333”

“Mortis: Go away! Hurry up and leave!”

“I actually think it makes a lot of sense! But cats and rabbits might also get together.”

“Cats and rabbits have reproductive isolation. Even if they get together, they won’t have offspring, so it doesn’t affect the answer, right?”

“The question didn’t say if cats and rabbits mutated. Maybe mutated ones don’t have reproductive isolation?”

The bullet comments gradually deviated and never returned.

---

Rong Shi stood beside Song Yu, listening to 01’s report.

[Preliminary assessment indicates a 58% pheromone match between the benefactor and the fake Bunny. However, neither of them has released a large amount of pheromones, so there’s a high possibility of deviation. If the Lin brothers’ situation is considered, the fake Bunny’s pheromone curve might be inaccurate.]

Rong Shi frowned, the warmth in his eyes gradually fading.

Even with preliminary calculations, a 58% match was quite high.

His arm was suddenly gently nudged. He heard Song Yu slowly say, “Do bunnies really go into heat all year round?”

Rong Shi: “…How would I know?”

Song Yu’s beautiful peach blossom eyes slanted over: “Aren’t you Bunny’s—childhood friend?”

Rong Shi: “…He doesn’t go into heat for me.”

Song Yu: “No wonder you can only be a childhood friend.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Seeing Rong Shi’s expression, as if all his words were blocked, Song Yu’s eyes held a smile, and he was in an excellent mood.

Mortis responded. Song Yu tilted his head to look over, and in his ear, he heard Rong Shi’s cold voice: “But he might go into heat for you.”

His fingers, hanging by his side, curled slightly. Song Yu’s eyes flickered.

Before he could speak, he heard Rong Shi continue: “As long as the check is enough and you diligently learn the methods I teach you, pursuing him shouldn’t be a problem.”

Song Yu: “…”

Since you like this persona so much, I’ll let you wear it to your heart’s content.

Rong Shi had only said it casually, not taking it seriously at all, until later, when he couldn’t shed his persona no matter what, he gradually came to his senses and realized he was going further and further down the path of self-destruction.

Now his attention was focused on He Nian.

Little Song Cat intentionally set up a persona of only admiring Bunny’s strength, which led to He Nian being quite honest after failing to show off in the first round.

With such a high match percentage, he couldn’t let them get too close in the future.

---

After answering the question, they waited for a full three minutes before Mortis responded.

[…Incorrect answer.]

Although the intelligent system had the authority to screen questions, it couldn’t judge the correctness of answers on its own.

Qin Luo and Chen Chen high-fived, almost cheering out loud.

Old Bai: “Leave some for me this time!”

Liu Hong: “First come, first served. None left for you.”

Hu Feng: “I wonder what kind of beast it is this time.”

The surrounding mycelia suddenly parted, and a white, fluffy group of snowballs rushed out.

The five, ready for attack: “…”

Holy crap! This move is against the rules!

The rabbits were on average only half a person tall, hopping out in a crowded mass, their watery eyes looking at them.

Qin Luo held his military knife and launcher, looking down at the rabbit nudging his leg. He just couldn’t bring himself to attack.

If these were also Class 3 mutated beasts, then they could only be recently born young ones.

Mortis, that rogue system, would do anything to reduce losses!

The few rough men had no experience dealing with such a situation. They were forced to retreat repeatedly, unsure how to proceed.

A blur. Rong Shi tilted his head to look, and Song Yu was already gone.

In a blink of an eye, the other party had squeezed into the rabbit crowd, looking left and right, unsure which one to touch first.

Rong Shi: “…”

Only at times like this did he seem like a child.

A rabbit suddenly jumped up and pounced on Song Yu.

Noticing from the corner of his eye that its claws weren’t extended, only soft paw pads, Song Yu prepared to open his hands to receive it.

This size was just like the bunny that Bunny gave him; it must feel great to hold!

Suddenly, a cold flash appeared before his eyes, and the rabbit, mid-air, was decapitated.

Blood instantly splattered, like plum blossoms falling on snow, particularly dazzling.

“Be careful,” He Nian’s voice came from behind. Song Yu felt his left hand being pulled back. “These are Class 3 mutated beasts. Don’t be fooled by their appearance.”

Song Yu, who was about to raise his hand, put it back down, looking at the headless rabbit on the ground, blood continuously gushing from its wound.

“The rabbit died.”

“It’s dead, then,” He Nian stood in front of him. “I’ll deal with this here.”

His vision obscured, Song Yu’s gaze shifted to He Nian’s nape. His hand, hanging by his side, rose again.

He Nian’s spine tingled with cold, a premonition of danger behind him. He sharply turned his head and saw Rong Shi holding Song Yu’s hand, pulling him back.

Song Yu crossed his arms and leaned against a tree trunk, his voice cool: “Bunny killed the bunny. What a rotten thing to do.”

Seeing his displeased little look, Rong Shi suppressed the urge to pinch his face.

“If you like them so much, I’ll buy one for you to keep when we get back.”

If he hadn’t stopped it in time, He Nian would already be a corpse.

Nothing was clear yet, and it was best to find clues from He Nian.

If Song Yu wanted to kill, he had no objections, but not in a place where everyone could see.

Song Yu scoffed: “Forget it. The one at home is almost dead already.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Qin Luo and the others got into an argument with He Nian, who was preparing to show off.

Five against one, plus He Nian’s forced cool persona, he was utterly defeated in the argument.

The others used the launchers’ ropes to herd the rabbits back like sheep.

---

Leaving the area surrounded by mycelia, they encountered other teams on their way, with Lu Ming among them.

Zhao Wan, who was with him, immediately spotted Rong Shi and couldn’t help but be surprised.

“How are you so fast?!”

Rong Shi and Song Yu had been missing for several hours during the ant nest incident, and then received emergency treatment for a few more hours, putting them behind by about a day’s journey. Now they had actually caught up.

Unlike Rong Shi’s team, these people all had varying degrees of injuries, showing they had been through a tough battle.

Liu Hong had a grudge with Jiang Xingze, and Lu Ming was close to Jiang Xingze, so he transferred this dislike to Lu Ming.

“We were just letting you go ahead. Didn’t expect you to be so slow, taking over a day to get here.”

One sentence attracted most of the hostility.

Seeing that Old Liu couldn’t out-talk them alone, Old Bai and Hu Feng immediately joined in.

The two groups, muttering and cursing, entered the fourth quiz area.

[The first team to enter gets priority in answering the question.]

The virtual screen displayed Lu Ming’s team’s information.

Liu Hong: “Damn! When was this rule made?!”

Chen Chen: “It might have been added temporarily, just to prevent us from answering.”

Liu Hong: “…”

Lu Ming’s team heard their conversation, and someone said sarcastically, “Slow is slow. Don’t act so high and mighty. Mortis has been around for almost two hundred years; it never shows anyone special treatment.”

The implication was that they were full of hot air.

Lu Ming stepped forward, ready to answer the question.

This was the final question.

This league, let alone the military’s high command, even the higher-ups were paying attention.

If they won, not to mention the regular rewards, they could potentially enter the military early and receive special training.

The text on the virtual screen appeared; this time it was a military theory question.

Qin Luo and the others were very dissatisfied with the question.

Qin Luo: “Why are their questions normal, and ours are so unconventional?”

Old Bai: “They’re targeting us, that’s why.”

Chen Chen: “If all the questions were like this, we would have won long ago.”

The other team members glanced sideways.

This was clearly a very difficult question. Why did it sound so easy coming from their mouths? Were they playing psychological warfare?

It wasn’t until the five-minute countdown was almost over that Lu Ming barely managed to answer.

Lu Ming’s team breathed a sigh of relief, but Rong Shi’s team all frowned.

It sounded like he had gone off topic.

Sure enough, Mortis made its judgment.

[Incomplete answer. Entering punishment round. Unanswered teams cannot help.]

Qin Luo and his five teammates: “…”

Are you treating us like thieves?!

Rustling sounds came from behind the mycelia.

Rong Shi listened carefully for two seconds, his eyes changed. He wrapped an arm around Song Yu’s shoulder, pulling him to the side, while simultaneously warning the others: “Stay away from the fungal colonies behind us!”

Suddenly, spurting mycelia occupied the spot they had just stood on. A tiny strand grazed Rong Shi’s hand, leaving a bloody mark.

Song Yu reacted quickly, drawing his knife and cutting through the attacking mycelia. He vaguely smelled a faint scent of blood.

“Holy crap! This level is just these fungal colonies?!”

“How the hell are we supposed to fight this many? There’s no option other than surrendering.”

Rong Shi: “Use the launcher to distract them.”

Hearing this, the others immediately shot their ropes into the opposite fungal bodies.

As the ropes flew, they were indeed entangled by mycelia from all directions, becoming several times thicker.

Liu Hong: “If we don’t use electricity now, we’ll all be cooked.”

Old Bai: “See if we can burn them with fire?”

Hu Feng: “Then where do we escape to?!”

Qin Luo gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at Lu Ming.

“Always getting dragged down by others. What a scam.”

Lu Ming, his face dark, dealt with the mycelia, his mind solely focused on how to escape safely.

Zhao Wan defended Lu Ming, scoffing: “That’s your own bad luck; you can’t blame others.”

“Ah—! Help!”

Suddenly, a scream. Rong Shi tilted his head to look.

A beta from Lu Ming’s team was entangled in mycelia like a pupa, being continuously dragged towards the fungal colony.

Rong Shi drew the military knife from his leg and threw it.

The mycelia were cut, and the beta fell to the ground, unable to move. But his position was too close to the fungal colony, and for a moment, no one dared to go and rescue him.

Watching the mycelia bind him again, Rong Shi said coldly: “What are you staring at? Save him!”

The sharp tone made the others’ hearts pound. They immediately obeyed and ran over to drag the person back.

“Why bother with them?” Song Yu followed the scent of blood and saw the injury on Rong Shi’s hand, his mood gradually turning irritable. “Let’s finish this quickly!”

The area was a vast expanse of white, mycelia like tiny cotton threads filling the entire space.

Cut down one patch with a military knife, and a new one would fly over. Laser guns became useless, and they were completely embroiled in a bitter struggle.

Liu Hong shouted: “Daddy Rong!”

Old Bai echoed: “Father, my life is in your hands!”

Hu Feng: “This is really beyond our scope this time.”

Qin Luo: “Sister-in-law, help!”

Rong Shi: “…”

He drew his launcher with his free hand and shot it towards a certain direction.

---

On the live stream, the bullet comments shifted, all praying for them.

“Is the punishment intensity too high this time?!”

“Maybe because of the two teams?”

“Ahhhhhhh Chairman, go for it!”

“Always calling ‘Father” when in danger.”

“Does Rong Shi have a solution this time? I’m so excited!”

“I’m almost suffocating just watching through the screen!”

Qin Luo swung both his large and small military knives, but the sheer number was overwhelming. Carelessly, his ankle got entangled in mycelia and he was violently pulled backward.

“Damn!”

Falling at a time like this would be the end. Mycelia could engulf him in an instant.

Before his body hit the ground, the force on his ankle suddenly disappeared.

He had no time to think, frantically twisting, barely stabilizing himself.

Just as he was about to raise his hand to cut the mycelia in front of him, a sudden gust of wind swept by, and all the mycelia were pulled away.

Qin Luo followed with his eyes. Those mycelia-entangled ropes were controlled by Rong Shi’s hand.

The tip of the rope was wrapped around something heavy, obscured by the mycelia.

The launcher, which was somewhat disobedient in their hands, became like a docile little cat in Rong Shi’s hands, striking wherever directed.

Rong Shi controlled the rope, making it fly through the entire space, pulling all the mycelia towards it.

The mycelia, like sugar threads, continuously wrapped around the rope, gradually forming a large ball of cotton candy.

Rong Shi tilted his head to Song Yu.

Their eyes met. Without any words, they immediately understood what the other was thinking.

Song Yu threw the military knife in his hand onto a fungal body. The next moment, Rong Shi controlled the rope to slide along the blade.

The severed mycelia gradually peeled off the rope.

Seeing this trick was effective, the others immediately imitated it.

Rong Shi freed his hand and looked at Song Yu: “Go!”

Song Yu pulled out his launcher with his free hand and ran in the opposite direction from Rong Shi.

When they reunited, Song Yu crossed his launcher with Rong Shi’s.

[It’s time for Grandpa 01 to make a move!]

In an angle no one could see, the decorative clasp on Rong Shi’s personal terminal opened, and blue crystals spread rapidly along the rope like water.

[Blade prepared.]

Rong Shi pressed the retrieve button on the launcher.

With a whoosh.

All the interconnected fungal bodies were cut in half at the waist.

The others were desperately swinging their launchers when the mycelia suddenly dwindled.

They looked up and—whoa! All the fungal bodies were gone, and the space was much brighter!

On the live stream’s bullet comments, after a brief pause, they were dominated by “ahhhhhhh,” and the nearly twenty people present cheered after a moment of stunned silence.

“So amazing!”

“Father is awesome!”

“Chairman is so strong ahhhhhh!!”

“My God, did he cut all the fungal bodies with the launcher?!”

“It’s so shocking!”

Rong Shi retracted his launcher and was about to head back when his hand was suddenly clasped.

Song Yu frowned. “Aren’t you going to treat that wound?”

“No time,” Rong Shi replied.

Song Yu’s face soured. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and meticulously wiped the blood flowing onto Rong Shi’s fingers.

Seeing Song Yu’s head bowed in earnest, Rong Shi felt a lift in his spirits.

“It’s such a small wound, you could just lick it better for me.”

Song Yu looked up at him. “You want me to lick it?”

“Why not?” Rong Shi challenged.

Rong Shi was braced for a scolding or a blow, but instead, his hand was squeezed and raised. Song Yu leaned down.

Startled, Rong Shi immediately pulled his hand back, then playfully tapped Song Yu’s forehead with his knuckles.

“Don’t just go licking every wound. Why are you acting so obedient now?”

Song Yu: “…” Damn it!

---

Author’s Note:

Song Cat: My Bunny might be tired of living. [Licking blood from a knife]

Rong Bunny: My wife, I was wrong. [Will do it again next time]