Qing Huai analyzed, "Our first casualty died 19 minutes ago. Within this period, that person didn't even manage to finish digging out the third pit. This shows that he doesn't have any formidable ability nor physical strength."

"Also, he probably came up with this method on the spot. Otherwise, after he found the landfills, he should've dug out all of the sealed pouches and burst them at the same time instead of startling us with the initial batch of kills. If he had done that, all of us would have probably been killed by the rules within a minute without even knowing what was going on."

"Perhaps he wasn't sure about the feasibility of this method, and what he did was also only an attempt," Qing Huai finished his deduction.

Cao Wei glanced at this proud descendant of the corporation and said, "Sir Qing Huai's analysis is very reasonable."

"We can't waste time now, let's leave any further discussion for later," Qing Huai continued, "Brother Cao Wei, take three combat teams to go back to our previous landfill site and dig out all of the sealed pouches. Also, I need you to look for a suitable spot to set up a minefield."

Not long after, Cao Wei finished his task and led the teams to rejoin the main group. He patted his baggage, "Sir Qing Huai, all of your sealed pouches are all in my bag. I will personally safekeep them."

However, Qing Huai shook his head and took out the pouches from his bag, "Brother Cao Wei, how can I let you do such a thing? I respect you like a brother, you shouldn't be doing this kind of thing."

After saying that, he stuffed the muddied sealed pouches into his bag.

Qing Huai asked, "Brother Cao Wei, who do you think this person might be?"

Cao Wei looked at him. "Could he be someone hired by another competitor from the Qing Family to sabotage your mission? Who do you think might have hired him?"

"Every candidate in the Fight for the Shadow probably wants me dead," Qing Huai replied, "The only suspect I can rule out is the trash who is locked up in Prison 18. Brother Cao Wei, this is the cruelty of the Fight for the Shadow."

When they came here, there were 152 soldiers in the field operations company, but now, only 104 were left.

Those 48 soldiers who died didn't even have any chance to fight back.

This was the true horror of the Forbidden Land's rules. As long as you could master these rules, even mere ants would be able to kill the elephants.

At this moment, the soldier in charge of controlling the mechanical hounds informed him, "Sir, we found a suspicious heat source slowly approaching us from the 3 o'clock direction."

Qing Huai calmly asked, "Did you find any others?"

"Report, Sir, no," answered the soldier.

Qing Huai looked at Cao Wei. "Eliminate him. We can continue to move on after that."

Cao Wei told him, "Please make a careful decision, Sir. In fact, there's still enough time for us to withdraw now."

Qing Huai shook his head, "As far as I know, the people from other branches who want to obstruct me are already on their way. If I quit at this time, I'll have no other chance to complete this task within the three-month deadline."

Qing Huai's guess was correct; the Firepit team that was especially hired to kill him had already entered the Forbidden Land.

In the Fight for the Shadow, there was no such thing as turning back. Setting foot on it meant that you had already put your life as the collateral, and your most important mission was to win the position of the Shadow.

In no time, all of the soldiers started to run. The four mechanical hounds bolted into the forest as though they were wild dogs, rapidly locking onto the heat source they had just found.

However, as soon as they set off, the heat source began to flee into the distance.

And its speed was extremely fast.

Qing Chen seamlessly roamed the forest, but unlike other people, each step he took was not aimless.

He was strictly walking on the path he had previously explored.

When ordinary people went trekking in the mountains, they needed to be careful so as to not trip over the branches under their feet, the stones covered by the pile of dead leaves, as well as the uneven soil.

Therefore, they would be unable to proceed with their full speed.

But Qing Chen was different as long as he had walked on the path, it would permanently be mapped inside his mind.

Each leaf laying upon the ground, every piece of stone under his feet it was as if this was the place he had grown up in since he was a child. As if this place was his home.

It seemed as though even if he were to walk with his eyes closed, he would still be able to go on seamlessly, like he was merely walking on flat ground.

Qing Chen didn't know why, but he actually liked this place. Although the forest was dark, he could always inexplicably feel the presence of kind and familiar gazes watching over him.

There was no hostility in those gazes, they were simply watching over him.

Silently, and even fondly.

They watched him as he used the rules, and watched him get rid of his enemies.

As Qing Chen's master, it seemed like Li Shutong brought him here not only to kill Qing Huai and unlock his genetic limit, but also to let the ancestors of the Knights take a look at their new successor.

See just how fearsome and clever he was.

What no one knew was that the beasts and insects in the forest had all quietly left this battlefield, leaving it to the young man.

It was as if a stage had been especially prepared for him.

The enemies behind him were getting closer and closer. The tracking efficiency of the four mechanical hounds was very high, and the mechanical legs of the soldiers were just too powerful and fast, so much so that even when Qing Chen was moving unhindered, he was still unable to bridge this huge power gap.

He had not yet become a real Knight.

Gradually, Qing Chen could hear the huffed breaths of the soldiers behind his tail, just tens of meters away.

But he didn't look back, because he had his own calculations.

Everything was still under his control.

Just as those soldiers were about to catch up to Qing Chen, the young man suddenly accelerated his pace.

200 meters.

100 meters.

50 meters.

10 meters.

Qing Chen ran through a shrubbery.

Immediately, both Cao Wei and Qing Huai felt that something was wrong. Why did this boy take such great pains to go around this area?

"Stop" Before Cao Wei could finish his command, dozens of soldiers chasing after Qing Chen had already dashed into the shrubbery.

In an instant, they felt their bodies leaping into the air.

And as they were flipped high up above, those soldiers could see the lower halves of their bodies left on the ground, drenching the leaves of the shrubbery in their splattered red blood.

In the blink of an eye, the four mechanical hounds, together with a team of eight soldiers, passed through the shrubbery and instantly perished.

There were more than twenty soldiers chasing right behind them. Unable to stop in time, they bumped into one another and fell into the bushes, ending in the same fate as the previous group of soldiers.

Cao Wei narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the inconspicuous shrubbery in front of him. It was clearly only an ordinary type of plant with some mimosa growing in between, how could it suddenly turn into an incomparably sharp murderous weapon?!

Lifting up his head to look forward, he was surprised to find that the boy had stopped in place and was coldly staring at him, once again making a gesture of cutting his throat.

Right at that moment, Cao Wei determined that this boy definitely knew a lot more rules than they did.

Translator: Zee