NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 181 - Training Exercise 29
Ye Weilai believed that the man was very likely from Imperial Capital Star or had at least been there before.
Ren Guang thought her reasoning made sense. After all, their combat uniforms were plain with no insignia—they were standard military uniforms with shoulder patches and rank badges removed. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell where they were from, but this man immediately guessed they were from Imperial Capital University.
It’s worth noting that the First Military Academy on Imperial Capital Star is also very well-known, and it’s a pure military school where all students are essentially cadets. Imperial Capital University, by contrast, only has the Battle, Ability, and Command departments where most students are cadets, while almost no one from the other departments is involved in military training.
So, whether that man already knew students from Imperial Capital University would be here for training or recognized them through some other means, it’s clear he has connections to Imperial Capital Star.
Based on the encounter, it didn’t seem like he held any real hostility toward them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have only pretended to rob them and left after taking just two small spatial devices. Given his attire and the equipment of his followers, Ren Guang didn’t think they were so poor as to lack their own spatial devices.
“I have a feeling this whole situation is connected to you, Captain… and it’s not over. I think we’re… in for some trouble,” Ye Weilai muttered to Ren Guang.
Ren Guang felt a sense of dread at her words. Ye Weilai, a dual-skilled fighter with both martial and psychic abilities, had developed moderate skill in combat but only a limited level of mental abilities. After over a decade of training, her psychic powers were only at a beginner Level Two.
But she was one of the rare precognitive psychics, although her low level of training only allowed her to vaguely sense potential upcoming misfortunes. Time and again, they’d seen her predictions come true, and if they didn’t change something, her forewarnings almost always played out.
So, hearing her say they were in for bad luck definitely dampened Ren Guang’s spirits. With such an unclear, broadly defined sense of danger, there wasn’t much they could do to avoid it until something actually happened.
Sure enough, Ye Weilai’s warning came true soon after. Five days after leaving the oasis, the Starlight Team fell into a trap.
They unknowingly wandered into an area of quicksand.
Having trained on other desert planets, the Starlight Team was no stranger to the hazards of desert terrain. They were especially vigilant about quicksand, but this time they stepped right into it without any warning. Two of their teammates were the first to fall in, only realizing they were in quicksand when they began sinking.
The two responded quickly, immediately attempting to lie flat and wait for assistance. But it wasn’t so simple; as they tried to relax and lie flat, desert beasts started emerging from the sand to attack them.
These creatures were small—only about half a meter long—and relatively low-level, only at Level Two or Three. But their sheer numbers, in the hundreds, overwhelmed the Starlight Team. Though they tried to stay calm and manage, they were hard-pressed to defend themselves without proper weapons.
Finally, after using rocks to either kill or drive off the swarming desert beasts, the team discovered that their two teammates who had fallen into the quicksand were nowhere to be seen.
As team captain, Ren Guang kept an eye on his two teammates even during the fight. Trapped in the quicksand, they couldn’t avoid attacks from the desert beasts and, helplessly, were pulled further under. Surrounded by the beasts himself, Ren Guang was unable to go to their rescue.
Once the battle was over, he quickly checked his wrist computer for their status—and saw that neither teammate had been eliminated yet.
What did that mean?
Ren Guang instinctively glanced up at the sky, aware that their supervising instructors were always following their movements, even if he couldn’t see them. The fact that the two team members hadn’t been eliminated suggested that there was likely some kind of space beneath the quicksand. The two must have fallen into it safely, so the instructors didn’t need to intervene.
The question now was how they could retrieve their teammates from beneath the quicksand.
As Ren Guang circled the quicksand, brainstorming a way to safely reach them, Ye Weilai suddenly pointed in a direction. “Captain, look over there.”
The Starlight Team turned to where she was pointing. About one or two kilometers away, on top of a high sand dune, stood several figures. Judging by their posture, they seemed to be watching the Starlight Team.
After a moment, those figures made a gesture and then left in hovercrafts.
The distance was too far to see exactly what gesture they had made, but it was clear they knew the team was there.
“Those people are probably the oasis group we encountered before,” said Ye Weilai, whose vision was the best in the team.
“I thought we’d settled things with them! Why are they still following us?” Shi Zimo said in frustration.
“Could they have something to do with us not noticing the quicksand?” Feng Shaohui speculated.
“Most likely,” Yuan Hong said without doubt. “Chenghao is usually extremely cautious—there’s no way he’d step into quicksand unknowingly. Something must have dulled his senses or disrupted his awareness.”
“Captain, what should we do?” Ye Weilai asked with concern. “Since Chenghao and the other teammate haven’t been eliminated, does that mean they’re trapped under the quicksand?”
This situation was a dilemma not only for the Starlight Team but also for their instructors, Yan and another coach.
The quicksand area wasn’t naturally formed—it was man-made, with a passage beneath it that led to a desert oasis just three kilometers away. After being pulled into the quicksand and drawn into the tunnel, Ding Chenghao and Liu Yang fell into the hands of the oasis people.
The captors simply escorted the two back to the oasis without causing them any harm for the time being.
Under these circumstances, according to protocol, Instructors Yan and the other coach shouldn’t intervene. If they stepped in now, the two students would be disqualified. However, if the instructors held back, the two team members could remain in the oasis until the end of the training exercise without being eliminated or losing points.
After a few minutes of consideration, the two instructors decided not to intervene. However, since the team would be split up, they arranged for other instructors to monitor the safety of the captured teammates.
Ren Guang and the others were determined to rescue their two teammates. However, after searching the surrounding area for an entire day, they couldn’t find an entrance to the underground space beneath the quicksand.
Taking time constraints into account, and knowing that instructors were overseeing their teammates’ safety, the Starlight Team decided to continue toward their destination the next day. The two captured teammates also had the coordinates of their next objective, so if they managed to escape, they would head in the same direction.