Chapter 107 - Competing for the Title of Strongest

In the end, neither Han Qingyu nor Shen Yixiu participated in the recruit combat assessment and didn’t pay much attention to the event as a result.

It was only that night, after everybody had packed up their things and were getting ready for bed, that Han Qingyu’s dormmates updated him on the happenings earlier in the day.

All afternoon and evening, recruit after recruit had taken on Bai Ji in the combat arena, but not one had lasted more than ten exchanges.

“Some say that he was obviously holding back. There are rumors going around that he could actually be stronger than you.”

“He kept bringing you up too, talking about how it was a real shame that he couldn’t try his hand against you.”

This naturally piqued Han Qingyu’s interest.

This guy just appeared out of nowhere. Is he really that strong? Didn’t he just recover from a serious injury?

Still, his behavior, words, and actions throughout the day are kind of weird in hindsight, and now that I think about it, it feels like he’s targeting me specifically. What’s he trying to do?

Could he be an assassin from the City of Sin in disguise? If he is, how many energy cores did he bring with him?

Han Qingyu lay in bed, letting his imagination run wild.

It was already late into the night. The recruits would be graduating after the mutual selection tomorrow. So, despite Dormitory 22’s indignation at this sudden battle for supremacy between Han Qingyu and Bai Ji, the former actually said little on the matter and went to bed once he finished packing up.

Early the next morning, before Han Qingyu had even gotten out of bed, Qin Guowen snuck into the dorm and dragged him out to the balcony for a chat.

“You need to hold back. Don’t fight Bai Ji,” Qin Guowen warned.

Never one to miss an opportunity for gossip, Wen Jifei crept over and asked with a hint of dissatisfaction, “Why not?”

“Because, as things stand, he’s stronger than Han Qingyu,” Qin Guowen said. He already knew of Wen Jifei and Han Qingyu’s friendship and didn’t mind the extra set of ears. “The White Erasers deliberately had him brought over in hopes of saving their reputation while trampling on ours. Think about it. If the strongest recruit of this batch is revealed to be Bai Ji, and he joins the White Erasers... You see where I’m going with this, right?”

Conducting a background check was a piece of cake for the Gold Erasers. Not to mention, Bai Ji himself had revealed that he was an A+ rank recruit who had joined the Coalition last year, with an outstanding performance early in the training period.

“It’s true that he was seriously injured after just twenty-some days being armored and never joined the recruit graduation. He was also never formally assigned to a platoon,” Qin Guowen continued.

“Can he still be considered a recruit from our batch, though?” Wen Jifei asked.

“According to the rules, he can,” Qin Guowen confirmed. “But he’s basically a veteran. After he was injured, he spent five months in a medical station. The White Erasers were constantly nourishing him with energy cores that whole five months. In the six months plus that followed, the White Erasers continued to nourish and train him. He even participated in two actual combat operations.”

Wen Jifei scoffed. “How shameless can they get?”

“Are the White Erasers really that great?” Han Qingyu asked.

Qin Guowen turned to Han Qingyu and snapped, “Can’t you at least tell right from wrong? Don’t just think about energy cores all the time!”

“Yeah, okay.”

“That guy specifically came to crush you underfoot. There’s a reason he’s playing the part of a fellow recruit who just recently recovered from a severe injury. He’s here to pick the crown off your head and stomp on it.”

Han Qingyu nodded reluctantly. “Okay, so what do I do?”

“Just don’t fight him. You can’t lose if you don’t fight.”

Han Qingyu didn’t know what to say.

“That’s a good plan!” Wen Jifei agreed. “But even if they fight, there’s no guarantee Little Qing will lose, right? So what if Bai Ji has a higher integration level of A+ and is a veteran with an extra year of nourishment and experience? Our Little Qing isn’t ordinary either!”

Qin Guowen was at a loss for words.

Wen Jifei barreled on. “Besides, it’s not like Little Qing hasn’t fought Sharpies or Wipers before. He has those moves, those unpredictable attacks...”

Realizing his own words, he lost a bit of momentum. If Little Qing’s style is unpredictable, then what’s mine?

“It’s useless.” Qin Guowen shook his head. “They already have a grasp of Han Qingyu’s fighting style. Bai Ji won’t bother trying to outmaneuver him. He’ll just use his superior source energy intensity to overwhelm him. Little Qing will be at a disadvantage the moment he takes a hit.”

“I see. Isn’t this all Platoon Leader Shao’s fault then?! Well, but since there’s no other way of dealing with this, I guess we have to listen to your advice and just not fight.” Wen Jifei sighed disappointedly. “The rivalry between the top two recruits of the Erasers’ 1990 batch was supposed to be between Little Qing and me.”

Does being a Dice affect personality as well? Qin Guowen wondered helplessly to himself, well aware of Plague Chicken’s true results.

Shifting his attention back to Han Qingyu, Qin Guowen said, “Just remember: we’re not going to fight them. Let others gossip and argue. What they say doesn’t matter.”

Han Qingyu nodded half-heartedly, keeping his opinions to himself.

Later, when they headed downstairs for breakfast, he pulled Qin Guowen behind the cafeteria and asked, “Can you try attacking me with your estimated intensity of Bai Ji’s source energy surge?”

“Looks like you’re still not ready to give up, huh?” Qin Guowen carefully considered his request, then finally nodded and armored up.

Even though there was a massive gap between his and Bai Ji’s integration levels, he had served for much longer. There was no way he’d lose in sheer intensity of source energy surge alone, at least for the time being.

“Here it comes.”

Using the estimated upper limit of Bai Ji’s source energy intensity, Qin Guowen charged forward and slashed at Han Qingyu with his blade.

Although Han Qingyu managed to block the blow head-on, his body flew back, hitting the wall behind him. Blood welled up in his throat, but he forced himself to swallow it back down.

“How’s that? You understand why we came by early in the morning to warn you now? But don’t worry, we’ll secretly leak his true background too. We can be shameless too.” After saying this, Qin Guowen told Han Qingyu to rest and recover for a bit, then went off to deal with public opinion.

Of course, Bai Ji would never admit to the truth, and it went without saying that the debate of who was stronger would persist.

As Han Qingyu sat on the ground to catch his breath, he muttered to himself, “Forget it. Raw source energy chunks are still more valuable.”

The slash from Qin Guowen had given a good idea of Bai Ji’s overwhelming strength. If it truly came down to a fight, he would have to unleash his internal liquid source energy in tandem with the surges from the maneuvering device to win.

This was his trump card. He had only ever used it in his fight against the Sharpies. Even against the ape-men at the Wipers hideout, he’d held back, saving it for a decisive moment. In the end, though, he hadn’t needed it.

It was precisely for this reason that the Gold Erasers had judged Han Qingyu to be no match for Bai Ji.

The combat arena remained open for the bit of extra time they had after breakfast. As expected, rumors were spreading like wildfire, with more and more people realizing Bai Ji’s formidable strength.

A mere three strikes from Bai Ji’s fragile iron blade had been enough to send an A-rank recruit flying into the stands. Luckily, thanks to the maneuvering device, they didn’t suffer ?severe injuries.

Everyone eagerly anticipated Han Qingyu’s appearance, but he never even stepped foot into the arena hall.