Chapter 72 - 004 and 028

Words : 1217 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 72: 004 and 028 Alliances were expected considering the original factions of most noble families. And those who didn’t have particular backings would choose to ally themselves with each other. But that didn’t apply to Luca. While the Duke was popular, he hid himself after his health started deteriorating. Then, there was the issue of being unable to properly present his heir. They couldn’t really gather vassal families, much less their children, to follow a Lord who just suddenly appeared. Now, Duke Leander could only sigh as he realized how the other duos formed bigger alliances. Although it was not his fault, he realized how this oversight didn’t help in setting up a bright future for his son. "Butler Gary, maybe we should re-evaluate our participation in society. What we’re doing now just won’t do." The Butler readily agreed. He also believed that if they wanted to support their next leader, they must take steps as early as now to pave the road for him. However, their next leader didn’t plan for political domination and was content with a small house and considerable savings. Nor did he need allies when the strategy was to bulldoze everyone to attain the first place. And that was why Luca volunteered to walk alone, much to Greg’s delight. Most students would recognize Xavier and Jax, just from their towering heights, and would likely use logical reasoning and run away. But Luca didn’t need them to be rational. He needed them greedy. And what better way to trigger greed than to serve a tempting bait? Leah knew better than to underestimate someone who could use his spiritual abilities to the degree she had witnessed before, but that didn’t extend to 015, who had constantly mocked Luca. 015 snickered inwardly, and Leah could already imagine what kind of stupid thoughts this guy was having. But then again, this was a competition for points, and she knew Luca was weak in physical combat. They moved to encircle him, lunging at speeds faster than most regular people could see. With his knife aimed at the bushes, 015 slashed with confidence, only to cut the air. Was he wrong? But that’s impossible. He clearly felt the presence from that spot! Meanwhile, Leah, who knew better pre-fired above, was triggered by a sudden rustling of leaves. She had fantastic marksmanship and was confident in hitting her targets. Her phantom gun shot out gas bullets, which would hurt but wouldn’t kill. But it hit nothing and was just returned with a dagger falling from above. "!!!" But that was just it; she was expecting to deal with the incoming projectile, only to face her enemy, who’s managed to get up close and personal. And then she heard a "Sorry" before the sensor light beeped and turned red. "002 killed, 004 gained one point." 15 came in with his long knife, hoping to capitalize on Luca’s likely divided focus, only for him to duck and sweep his feet. Luca’s move was fast, closing in on 015 the moment his balance felt slightly off. It was a quick takedown, with his brass knuckles connecting with the sensor on his chest. "015 killed, 004 gained one point." Leah watched the flower vase take down her partner using the simplest moves, which were executed with unbelievable speed. "Oho!" Moore suddenly slapped the table, uncharacteristic of someone into research, but this was the student who took his lessons seriously! And he just watched him take down those two like that. "Did you see that?" He asked Falco, whose mouth twitched at the unexpected events. Number 004 just eliminated two classmates, one of whom ranked higher than him. Falco was aware of Luca’s physical handicap and thought this strategy involved Xavier. He did not imagine Luca to be flying around like a specter! What happened to being unable to run fast enough? Falco sighed at the mission clues that went untouched but was glad to see the fighting prowess of his students. Ideally, fifty points would be awarded to the first team to complete the mission. Then 40 points are given to the second while 30 is given to the third surviving team. All the rest would receive a flat rate of 25 points. With his students’ strategy, they needed to aim for points higher than 50 to have a shot at winning. [Time remaining: 64 hours 55 minutes and 07 seconds] At this time, several students from the Junior Military Academy were comparing notes and statistics. "Dominic has 5 clues? Well, as expected of the top 1." "Hmm... wait, lemme check on the ranks." Mo liked checking the stats, while the rest liked watching the action. They all knew that the first 12 hours were usually dedicated to finding clues, so everyone had been focusing on the clues and ignoring the ranking updates. But the junior had to squint his eyes then rubbed it for good measure before exclaiming, "What the hell was this?!" The other students frowned at his choice of words and thought they were being mocked; however, the teen made his terminal projection public and almost hurt people in the process. Like him, the students had to take a moment to absorb the rankings. "Was this fabricated?!" Asked one of the students. 20 kills in roughly 7 hours! Where 78 people were eliminated, a duo actually contributed 20 kills by themselves. That’s a quarter of the total kills! "Which duo was this?" "It’s gotta be 001 and 008, right? Or was it that twins?" This was crazy, and the students would be dead if they couldn’t write about this for their project. But more than that, they were faster at populating the forums with their find. The forums suddenly became littered with posts about 004 and 028, and many decided to find the replays, only to end up being besotted for a totally different reason! It was Luca’s smiling face and equally apologetic eyes whenever he took down an opponent. "What kind of culling was this?" In fact, the moment people saw 004 and 028, they assumed that Luca was 028 and was being carried by the higher-ranked student. But when they realized that Luca was ranked fourth and actually had 8 kills by himself, the angel suddenly looked like a reaper! At the same time, in a secluded cave, several examinees gathered to see the updated scoreboard. "It’s Xavier and Luca," Leo said with narrowed eyes. He figured his twin had been eliminated after losing contact for a while. And with that staggering number before them, only these two would be the possible culprits. "This can’t go on. If it’s just the two of them, we can surely round them up." "Inform Dominic of our plan. If he’s thinking properly, then he’d know this should be prioritized." At 20 points this early into the game, what was stopping those two from getting 30 more within the next 12 hours? It was certainly not the fights. Noise pollution and hunger at best. While everyone else was rearranging their plans to deal with a particular duo, their main targets were actually busy dealing with other things. One person was about to commit a crime against a busybody, while another one had started getting depressed about the lack of solid food.

Chapter 72 - 004 and 028

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