Chapter 158: Results of the Aftermath Competition

Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Results of the Aftermath Competition

Jay Monroe isn’t the kind of person who insists on saving face at all costs—he knows it’ll be hard for him to get the champion’s top score, so while he wants Renee Morgan to win, he doesn’t want to get eliminated so soon either, so he agreed to her proposal.

The team temporarily switched tactics, and the captain didn’t think much before agreeing.

Although he had the title of captain, he really didn’t have much authority.

As long as Jay Monroe, Dane, and Renee Morgan were of one mind, he would never oppose them.

The captain got on a call with the reinforcements coming by sea, telling them to slow down and not rush—to wait for news from their end before making their move.

If Hugh’s goal was the sea route, and the reinforcements haven’t landed yet, then there’s nothing Hugh can do—if he’s not willing to give up, all he can do is wait.

Of course, Renee and her team couldn’t take down the squad Hugh brought out either—after all, they’d given up circling back via the mountain route from Customs and missed out on ambushing Hugh’s squad on the way to Customs too.

They were gambling that Hugh was actually targeting the land route, and heading towards Customs was just a smokescreen to make them lower their guard.

Their Team Blue only had a little over forty members in Team Red’s territory—there’s no way they could risk sending everyone out; it’s just too dangerous. If something went wrong, their existing advantage would go out the window.

Likewise, even with Hugh bringing people out, he wouldn’t take more than half of Team Red’s remaining strength—the Team Red Tower was a symbol of victory or defeat. As long as they held onto the tower, they still had a shot at winning.

After breaking everything down, the temporarily changed plan was clearly more thoughtful and tighter-knit.

Jay Monroe gave Renee Morgan a big thumbs up, and after the team disbanded, he slipped over quietly, lowering his voice with a hint of mystery: "Morgan, after the contest ends, hang with me—no wait, let’s keep working side by side, just the two of us. As long as you want in, you name your terms."

If it were an ordinary girl, seeing such a huge piece of pie, even if it was only imaginary, it’d be hard not to get tempted.

Even the livestream chat was starting to get a little worked up.

[Go on a reality show, get partnered with a big shot, the big shot appreciates you, and says you can name your terms... damn, what kind of main character script did Renee Morgan get handed?]

[And what’s even crazier is, it’s not just one big shot after her—one super tempting offer after another!]

[I’m freaking out, hurry up and say yes already!]

[Yeah, Jay Monroe seems really sincere. If Renee keeps refusing him again and again, won’t she look kinda ungrateful?]

[Morgan doesn’t seem to really trust them at all—she’s been treating them like literal organ traffickers, lmao]

[Even if you’re worried about something shady, you don’t have to flat-out say no! The whole entertainment biz is basically about connections—are you really gonna wait until you know the truth and then regret everything?]

[Fake holier-than-thou attitude, whatever—wait till she knows the truth, she’ll be crying in the bathroom.]

From everyone else’s perspective, for whatever reason—be it career or friendship—Renee Morgan shouldn’t refuse the olive branch Jay Monroe just offered her. Even if she couldn’t say yes right away, she should at least leave the door open to discuss it later.

But Renee Morgan was the kind of person with an exceptionally clear head. She knew any gifts from fate came tagged with a price—and she thought of herself as nothing special, so what did she do to deserve such a big slice of the pie?

"Appreciate the invite, but I’m not looking to switch careers right now." Renee’s refusal was crisp and direct—she slung her gun strap around her shoulder, hoisted the sniper rifle onto her back, and headed to the door.

Her silhouette was cool and light, not lingering at all.

Everyone in the livestream knew that Renee was making her decision without knowing Jay Monroe’s background.

But they still respected her clear logic.

Not agreeing or refusing, just keeping her options open, might be the "smart" way to play.

But to turn him down so decisively and calmly—now that’s true self-assuredness and clarity.

Jay Monroe, for his part, didn’t seem that disappointed. They say even the toughest girls yield to persistence—he wasn’t giving up that easily.

The land route was nothing like the path from Customs—it was longer, so the reinforcements didn’t get close to Team Red’s border defenses until dusk.

Jay Monroe and the four-man Bama crew were already waiting there.

The reinforcements only numbered sixteen. When the vehicles stopped, both sides met up.

Jay Monroe and Bama both got in the reinforcements’ car.

The vehicle started off slowly, moving along the mountain road, until they hit a giant boulder blocking the way.

Everyone got out of the car, frowning at the massive rock in front of them.

Jay Monroe looked up—probably because of the terrain, the whole land route was mostly dirt slopes, with the exception of the occasional hundred meters of field path. Only this stretch was lined with rocky cliffs, with bits of stone in all shapes and sizes scattered around.

A giant boulder blocking the road seemed coincidental. But on the way in, that rock hadn’t been there, which made it hard not to suspect an ambush.

The team that got out of the car started working together to push the big rock off to the edge of the road and roll it down the hill.

Bama noticed Jay Monroe staring up at the rock wall and sidled over: "Monroe, what’re you looking at?"

Jay Monroe snapped out of it, shaking his head. "Have everyone stay sharp—there might be an ambush out here."

Bama let out a sound and hurried to warn the others.

With a few people working together, they soon shoved the giant rock—’boom’—and it rolled down the slope beside the road.

Jay Monroe looked over at the sound, his frown deepening. When Bama called for him to get in, he casually glanced up at the rock face overhead before finally getting back in the car.

Once everyone was inside, the car got moving, heading forward. But Jay Monroe felt even more uneasy—he looked at the rock wall on the right, and the rocks up top seemed to move...

"There’s people on the cliff! Brake! Get out—" Jay Monroe’s expression froze and then changed dramatically. He yanked open the car door to escape.

The rocks fell even faster than anybody could react.

Huge stones smashed into the windows, jammed themselves into the tires, and mid-drive the car skidded—’bang!’—and flipped over, sliding down the mountain slope.

Jay Monroe hadn’t managed to get his door open. The whole car pitched, slamming him headfirst into the glass. Dizzy and weightless for a second, he almost lost consciousness, feeling warm liquid slowly trickling from his scalp into the corner of his eye.

Renee Morgan, Dane, and several other teammates were not far from Team Red’s border, waiting for Jay Monroe to call them in.

Bama’s line connected with Dane, who was chewing a grass stalk, one foot propped on a rock. When he heard the beeping, he turned to Renee, signaling that Bama was calling.

Renee wasn’t on the line, but gestured for Dane to put it on speaker and moved closer.

But Bama never said a word. Dane frowned and was about to ask if Bama was sick or bored, when all of a sudden Bama’s heavy, gasping breath came through—he spoke with difficulty: "Help... help..."

The voice cut off again.

Dane shouted anxiously a few times, but got nothing back.

Renee quickly grabbed the communicator, tried calling Jay Monroe, and the line automatically connected with a beep, but no matter how she called, there was no response from him at all.