When drafting his hypotheses for the competition venue, Xin Ye had placed the Breeding Ground at the very top of the list. The others were mere filler, but that first entry was pure, concentrated information.
His diligence paid off. Three days later, when Leng Xianye entered Xin Ye’s room with information obtained through his connections, the team already knew the thousands of words in that document by heart.
"It’s the Breeding Ground. Our preparations weren't in vain." Leng Xianye brought his own chair over, pulling it up to the desk beside Xin Ye. He synced his multi-function watch with the computer via Bluetooth to transfer the data. "The specific competition rules have supposedly undergone significant changes. We should study them in advance."
"No rush. Let’s look at the mission ratings and rankings first."
Xin Ye had insisted several times that his injuries were healed, but the others still insisted he remain seated. He clicked to accept the file Leng Xianye sent and habitually opened the Headquarters' internal network.
The link displaying the results would update in two minutes. Xing Yue had already leaned in, cradling Qiuqiu in her cat form. Xin Ye tossed a tin of biscuits from his desk onto the bed, telling Lian Muyun to stop playing games and get over here.
As the clock struck the hour, five pairs of eyes glued themselves to the screen. Xin Ye clicked in at the exact second, immediately searching for the team in the number one spot.
"After being first twice, I’ve found I can't accept any other rank," Lian Muyun said, pulling an original-flavor biscuit stick from the tin as he looked at the team name at the top. "Is this a bad habit I need to fix?"
Xin Ye double-checked several times. Their team was ranked second. "No need to fix it. We’ll just work harder next time."
"Let’s look at the score details." Xing Yue knew their performance in the last mission hadn't been flawless, but she still found the result hard to swallow.
Xin Ye examined the breakdown. He found that the area where they lost the most points wasn't the instructor’s evaluation, but teamwork.
After the mission, Jian Weiwei hadn't waited for orders; she had proactively visited several offices to admit her mistakes, using her usual face-changing act to try and mitigate her punishment. However, after Yi Ting submitted the report on the new A+ rank, it had the opposite effect, earning her double the penalty. Ultimately, the instructor's score for that squad was handled by Jian Weiwei’s captain, Fan Shuwan, who managed to secure a high score.
But because they had been required to act separately from the start, fighting their own battles, it was inevitable they would receive an abysmal score for teamwork.
Leng Xianye took the mouse to check the data and report of the first-place team. "It’s a team from the First Branch. Their handling of every detail seems impeccable... They earned it."
"If they did well, we’ll learn from them. Let’s not dwell on it; they had good luck this time, and their instructor was lenient." Xin Ye closed the page and opened the file Leng Xianye had brought. "Now that we know the results, let’s look at the information for the finals."
Leng Xianye’s intel was comprehensive, covering everything from the schedule to the general rules. However, if he could get this information, other teams with backgrounds likely had it too.
"The final objective is no longer just clearing out mutants, but obtaining materials from four specific types?" Xin Ye usually skimmed documents quickly, but this time he slowed down significantly. "Blue, yellow, white, and red liquids? And we’re required to bring our own containers to transport them back?"
"The mutants carrying the materials will have special Headquarters markers. All other information is for the participants to discover on their own."
Seeing that Xin Ye didn't quite understand, Xun Yin chimed in: [Yes. Moreover, there's a large quantity of the first three materials. The final one, the red material, is a contested resource.]
The Headquarters finals would last five days. The participants consisted of the top five teams from the previous missions—twenty-five people in total. If three teams completed the objective, the competition would end early.
The Breeding Ground would open in two days. Entry was via employee card, and participants could choose their own entry time; there was no hard requirement.
Given that this was a real environment rather than a simulation, the entire competition would be monitored by two groups of observers. One group would use surveillance equipment, while the other would be on-site, doubling as safety personnel.
"This competition allows the use of force to eliminate other teams?" Lian Muyun found this rule somewhat unbelievable. "A 'Simulated Health' function will appear on our multi-function watches. When simulated health hits zero, the esper will be forced to retire from the field."
"The Ability Limiters will be issued to us soon," Xing Yue said, having received a message from Yi Ting. "When the time comes, our abilities will work normally against mutants, but against other espers, they will only manifest visually. The actual effects will be reflected in the simulated health."
Xin Ye asked, "What about ordinary firearms and blades?"
"They work normally against mutants, but the ones for fighting other espers will be reissued by Headquarters. We go to collect them in two days," Leng Xianye said, scrolling down two pages. "They’re just toys that cause simulated damage. See, it’s written right here."
In short, mutants and espers could cause physical harm to each other, but espers could only deal virtual damage to one another.
The detailed regulations regarding internal competition among espers gave Xin Ye a bad feeling. To put it nicely, it was to prevent injuries; to put it bluntly, it was to encourage them to focus on eliminating their rivals.
[No need to guess. They’re just letting you all have a battle royale. They’ve been raising people like venomous insects for a long time,] Xun Yin said, beginning to review the original plot to ensure no details were missed. [It’s just that your team used to be the 'clean stream,' sticking to your professional duties to the end.]
"We’ll still be a clean stream."
Xin Ye highlighted the rules that required special attention in red and sent the annotated document to his four teammates. "We’ll go pick up the guns this afternoon. Check if they feel right immediately; if not, swap them."
The next day, they received the official documents and the Ability Limiters. The limiters were ear-mounted, similar to the watch’s earpiece—matte black and very compact.
After Xin Ye put his on and activated it, he summoned his Mirror Image, asking him to check his status and the supplies within the mirror shards.
The trial version of the Simulated Health function was already live. The Mirror Image tried touching the tip of Xin Ye’s finger with a dagger. The blade turned ethereal before it could touch his skin, and the watch showed a health deduction of 0.01, which could be restored using medicine.
After preparing sufficient supplies, Xin Ye finally allowed himself to rest on the edge of his bed. He wasn't sleepy, but he worried that not sleeping would affect his performance the next day. He considered taking some sleeping pills.
[Don't take medicine. I'll tell you something interesting to coax you to sleep. Just like I did during the preliminaries,] Xun Yin said. He wasn't sleeping either, researching data for the plot points he would write in a few days. [Have you ever heard of a 'human blood primer'?]
"...Is your family's bedtime story material always this unique?" Xin Ye tossed his jacket onto the rack.
[Yes. Once the kid is scared into crying, won't they fall asleep once they're exhausted?]
Xin Ye recalled crying himself to sleep as a child and didn't argue with the logic. So, Xun Yin continued.
[A 'primer' is meant to guide the potency of other medicines to the affected part of the body. As for a human blood primer, it has always been dismissed as witchcraft or low-class nonsense.]
[Actually, when it comes to medicinal ingredients, it mostly depends on what they are taken from. Do you think the blood of a human who possesses an esper ability could become a recognized medicinal ingredient?]
Xun Yin’s blurred voice was as light as a feather, falling on the ear with a strange, hypnotic power. Xin Ye’s eyelids grew heavy after only a few sentences. He went to wash up and change for bed, but a few words remained etched in his mind.
*The blood of an esper.*
If Xun Yin’s words weren't idle chatter but a hint, then the final rare material... might be related to human blood.
He slept soundly and woke at six in the morning to gather with his teammates and head to the Breeding Ground.
They didn't encounter any other teams on the way. The staff member at the elevator who swiped their cards recognized Lian Muyun and mentioned that the team from the Fifth Branch—the one ranked fifth—had entered at midnight.
Lian Muyun felt the pressure of the competition. He asked, "The others haven't come yet? Are you allowed to tell us this?"
"Sure, sure. The higher-ups said this is to simulate your future missions. Isn't it normal to ask when other teams set out?" The staff member checked that their limiters were properly worn and waved them off. "Hurry along. Time is precious. Good luck in the competition."
Xin Ye was the first to enter the Breeding Ground. "There's no need to ruin our biological clocks just to save time; it hurts your condition. Let's go."
The Breeding Ground was located on the final floor of Headquarters. It was the floor with the largest surface area, looking like a giant tray supporting the other levels in the building's cross-section. It used various means to recreate the living environments of all kinds of mutants found on the surface.
Combat and experimental simulations before important missions were held here. It was Headquarters' proudest architectural achievement.
The outermost area was the combat environment most familiar to all espers: a residential zone that once belonged to humans but was now unrecognizable.
After some consideration, Xin Ye decided to have Lian Muyun break away from the group. "Take some ropes just in case. Head to the nearby buildings and find a route where you can observe our surroundings. Don't go too far. Safety first."
"Copy that." Lian Muyun immediately left the team upon receiving the order.
Xun Yin had recently been testing the limits of how much help Xin Ye would accept, such as whether there was danger nearby or what the materials represented. [As per the information you received, there are currently only two teams in the venue. Within five kilometers of you, there are only a few mutants and no other espers. But that other team is still in the residential zone because they haven't found any material liquids.]
Xin Ye nodded and began searching for nearby mutants in earnest.
The other team's logic was easy to decipher.
The Breeding Ground was divided into three major zones: the Residential Zone, the Natural Zone, and the Aquatic Zone. They likely assumed that the three common liquids—blue, white, and yellow—were produced by mutants in each of the three zones, while the final red one would be a free-for-all.
Xin Ye also felt Headquarters would hide the materials according to this logic. However, after six hours of searching, the first team still hadn't found a single mutant with a Headquarters marker. Where exactly was the problem?
His train of thought was halfway through when it was interrupted by a voice.
"You all arrived quite early? Perfect. Weiwei, come over and apologize."
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
:--- | :--- | :---
总部养殖场 | Headquarters Breeding Ground | The venue for the final competition, simulating various surface environments.
模拟生命值 | Simulated Health / Simulated HP | A virtual health bar used for non-lethal PvP competition between espers.
异能限制器 | Ability Limiter | A device that renders esper abilities non-lethal against other humans during training/competitions.
药引 | Medicinal Primer / Catalyst | A substance used in traditional medicine to direct the effects of a drug to a specific part of the body.
人血药引 | Human Blood Primer | A dark/taboo medicinal concept; hinted to be related to the "Red Liquid" material.
生活区 | Residential Zone | One of the three major zones in the Breeding Ground, mimicking ruined human cities.
自然区 | Natural Zone | One of the three major zones in the Breeding Ground, mimicking forests/wilds.
水域 | Aquatic Zone | One of the three major zones in the Breeding Ground, mimicking lakes/oceans.
范殊晚 | Fan Shuwan | The captain of Jian Weiwei's team.
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