Chapter 118 - They Cheated, Stepping on One's Feet
"Ling Jiu!"
Seeing the person's sudden appearance, everyone was slightly stunned with inexplicable looks on their faces.
The students ranked tenth and beyond were all delighted for a moment since there was another drama about to unfold.
Zhou Ji, Christopher Adam, and the rest were also upset.
It was fine when Ling Jiu dominated the top spot, but now he was depriving them of their eternal number two and number three positions. It was just too much!
Only Christina clutched her swollen face as she snarled hysterically. "You dare to hit me? What right do you have to hit me?"
"Because your mouth stinks!" Ling Jiu said nonchalantly.
"You..."
Christina's pretty face was fuming red. No one had ever talked to her like that before!
"What? If you don't want to get beaten again, scram!"
Ling Jiu spoke in an unfriendly manner. "You're not happy that someone's ranking is higher than yours? Then try again and stop spewing bullsh*t here!
"Also, the training camp is not run by your family. No one will bow to your whims and fancies, much less your demands!"
Christina's face was flushed as Ling Jiu admonished her, but she still fought back. "This is malicious competition, and you're breaking the training camp rules!"
"Rules? What rules? Why have I never heard of it before?" Ling Jiu sneered.
"I only know that what we did was in full compliance with the rules of the training camp. If you're not happy, you can look for the camp commandant. I believe that he will give all of you a satisfactory explanation!"
Once that was out of the way, he airily said, "Ling'er, Yuhe, let's go!"
"Yeah."
Ai Yuhe and Yang Ling'er quickly followed suit.
"F*ck!"
Looking at the backs of the three departing figures, Christina and the others gritted their teeth as they nursed the hatred in their hearts. If their gazes could kill, Ling Jiu would have been shredded into pieces.
"Zhou Ji, Christopher, Hirano Hatake, are you willing to give up your second and third spots just like that?"
...
"Ling Jiu, let's not team up again in the future!"
The three returned to the dormitory building, and before they parted, Ai Yuhe expressed her thoughts with hesitation.
"Why? Have they convinced you just like that?" Ling Jiu raised his eyebrows.
"I don't want them to gossip about me!"
Ai Yuhe smiled bitterly. "Also, they were right. Our actions broke the camp's rules."
Yang Ling'er was silent with similar thoughts in her mind.
"If you really think so, then you've totally lost!"
Ling Jiu shook his head. "The competition in the training camp is cruel, and the rewards are limited. Once you get a taste of something, someone else will go hungry; if you go up, someone else must come down!
"The rewards are for our own benefits, but in order to get their hands on them, people will resort to anything. That scene earlier was just child's play!
"So, don't worry about all that useless stuff. Rather, we should be thinking about how we can get the rewards into our mouths. As for the rest... who cares?"
"But..."
"No buts!"
Ling Jiu solemnly said, "Remember, the training camp is only 10 months long. How to grab as many rewards as possible and improve our strength within this period of time are the most important things. The others have nothing to do with us!
"Again!
"The training camp isn't a charity but a hyper-competitive arena. Forget about fairness here. That concept doesn't exist in this camp!"
"I understand!"
Ai Yuhe took a deep breath.
"As long as you understand."
Ling Jiu then smiled and said, "We'll continue to work together. Without you two, I won't be able to deal with a Class 7 Direbeast alone!"
"Yeah."
...
What Ling Jiu and the others did not know was that just before they left, Christina, Edna, and Janet had gone to the camp commandant's office.
"Camp commandant, someone is ruining fair competition!"
"Oh? What's the story?"
The camp commandant was a little surprised.
"It's like this!"
Christina recounted the incident from front to back and finally added, "Ai Yuhe and Yang Ling'er are totally cheating. They do not have the right and the strength to rank second and third!"
"Cheating?"
A hint of playfulness appeared on the camp commandant's face. "Before I answer your question, I have a question for you."
"Sir, please go ahead."
"Has the training camp actually set up rules for field combat?"
The camp commandant looked at the three. "If I remember correctly, there shouldn't be any rules for field combat, right?"
"This..."
The three were speechless.
"Since there are no rules, how did the cheating come about?"
The camp commandant's smile slowly faded away. "Besides, the camp has never stressed that teaming up is not allowed, correct?"
The three went silent again.
"This is a training camp, a place to train strong folks. The rewards are only based on performance. As for how the performance comes about, it's not something we even consider!"
The camp commandant indifferently said, "It doesn't matter if you want to kill, maim, pillage, or team-up. That's your business. The training camp will never intervene when it comes to that. Understand?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"You can leave now!"
After leaving the camp commandant's office, the three of them felt a little glum. They wanted to use the camp commandant's hand to pressure Ling Jiu and get the three to stop teaming up.
"Are we going to let those two b*tches just sit on us? I won't take this lying down!" Christina hissed.
"Actually, it's not like we are without recourse."
Edna Eddie's eyes gleamed as she suddenly spoke.
"Edna, do you have an idea?"
Christina immediately looked at Edna, and so did everyone else as anticipation filled their eyes.
"If Ling Jiu can form a team, so can we!" Edna Eddie smiled confidently.
"I actually thought you had some truly good ideas!"
Christina was disappointed. "Ling Jiu's strength far surpasses all of ours. Even if we team up, it's impossible for us to fight the three of them!"
"Besides, we may even pull our own score down by teaming up, and that'll make us rank even lower!" Janet Ferguson also shook her head.
"We certainly can't beat Ling Jiu if we split the points evenly, but what if all of the gains are attributed to one person?" Edna Eddie continued.
"All attributed to a single person?"
Christopher was stunned. "That way, the person's score will skyrocket, and he or she could take first place while the others will suffer!"
"If Ling Jiu and those two b*tches team up, we will only rank seventh, eighth, and ninth anyway. What's the difference between this and last then?"
Edna Eddie continued, "If we attribute all of our points to a single person like my plan, then that person is very likely to get first place!
"Later on, we can take turns occupying first place. This week, it'll be you, next week, it'll be me, so on and so forth!
"Once we get first place three times, the rewards will be very handsome. Wouldn't that be better than being stuck at the seventh, eighth, and ninth place?"
Hearing this, Christina and Janet Ferguson were obviously tempted.
"Plus!
"If we become number one, Ling Jiu will be trampled under our feet, and that'll be payback for all the shame we've endured today!"