After I told Ming Hao about the method the school was really using to determine which ss a g belonged to, I exined the n in detail, then parted ways after earning his agreement. Step one was alreadyplete, gaining the ss''s united strength — and now, step two was also done. Step three, however, was about tomence — and it would probably be the hardest part of this whole n, in all honesty.


    Reason being, this step was out of my control. It was all up to Long Lu''s charisma and leadership skills. If he could convince the ss to wholeheartedly go through with this n of mine, everything would flow smoothly from there. But s… the chances of that happening are slim. They might ept it in the end, but they won''t be that confident in it, thereby losing faith and devotion.


    Even so, however, there was no panic. As long as the ss cooperated and no one betrayed us — which wasn''t likely since we were all on the same boat here — we shoulde out on top.


    Soon, 7 PM rolled around. Everyone gathered back in the meeting room, and Long Lu began his speech after making eye contact with me.


    "Alright, folks. So, I''vee up with a n — one that might not be rewarding a first nce, but definitely brilliant in the long run."


    Our ssmates all listened intently, waiting to see what kind of ''brilliant'' n their representative hade up with.


    "Essentially, we are topletely abandon this Base of ours and put our all into helping ss A get as many gs as possible, then defending against ss B and C."


    "…"


    The entire ss just stared at him, expressions frozen on their faces. I sighed.


    <em>That really wasn''t the right way to do this…</em>


    Han Xiao Bing was the first to react.


    "Oi… what are you talking about?" He demanded furiously. "You said we could win. How are we supposed to win if we abandon our Base and help a different ss?!"


    "Yeah, yeah!"


    "What the hell?!"


    Long Lu hurriedly stood up and attempted to calm everyone down. "Guys! Listen to me!"


    After everyone reluctantly quieted down again, he took a deep breath and continued.


    "… I formed an alliance with ss A. This was part of the terms. I know you all are wondering how this will work, but for fear of someone betraying the ss, I cannot tell you the details of this n. I only ask for everyone to trust me — just this once."


    "We trusted youst time, and we ced deadst," a student snorted in contempt. "Why should we trust you again?"


    Long Lu sighed. "You all agreed, no? Believe me — all you have to do is follow this n of mine, and victory will be ours. If it isn''t, well… I will drop out, just like I promised."


    "Hmph… what good is you dropping out going to do? Sure, we lose a burden to the ss, but it doesn''t cover for therge gap of points created from losing two special exams in a row," another added, clearly done with this ss rep.


    Long Lu clenched his fists and suddenly mmed them down on the table furiously, which caught everyone — including myself — off guard.


    "… Fine. You don''t believe in me, huh? Well then… how about this — my family is one of the Eight Great Families of Fragment. Should we not ce first in this exam, I will offer you all money, high-quality resources, and a job when you graduate. I swear this in the name of my ancestors."


    <em>Oh…? Long Lu is also from one of the Eight Great Families? Interesting…</em>


    "This…" The students exchanged nces.


    "Hoho…" Han Xiao Bing chuckled, pping his hands. "Now that''s manly. I like that."


    "Obviously, the rewards offered to you won''t be nearly as good as if wee in first by the end of the school year, but it can at least guarantee a future for you," Long Lu continued. "So, how about it, everyone?"


    The girls and I immediately agreed, and the rest of our ssmates did as well.


    Han Xiao Bing grinned and pped the table. "Well… if you''re willing to sacrifice so much, I can tell this isn''t just a whim of yours. I''ll y along."


    <em>Couldn''t you already tell it''s not a whim judging from him willing to drop out…? Ah, but I guess people are greedy and just want rewards. Makes sense.</em>


    The other students reluctantly agreed as well, having been offered a deal they had no reason to refuse. Long Lu sighed, as if he already regretted his decision.


    "Alright… since everyone has agreed, nothing else needs to be said. Right after the exam begins, we''ll move out for ss A''s Bas-"


    "Good evening, underssmen," Qian Hua''s familiar gentle voice suddenly resounded across the entire forest, reaching everyone''s ears. "I hope you all took the time given to familiarize yourselves with the forest and formte ns. The exam will begin shortly, but before then, there are a few rules I purposely did not mention this morning to let you all explore with open minds."


    <em>Here ites… how students will be expelled.</em>


    "While this exam is a ss-vs-ss fight, individual strength and contribution will also be evaluated. Look at your left wrists."


    I nced down, only to see a wristband of some sort suddenly materializing on it.


    "Woah…" the students were all shocked, some even frightened at the sudden appearance of these bands. On it was a screen, making it seem like a smartwatch.


    "On your wrists right now are special devices that will track your score for this exam. Everyone and anyone who falls below a score of 60 will be expelled at the end of the exam."


    "What?!" Our ssmates erupted in bewilderment at this sudden announcement, though I wasn''t all too surprised. No doubt, however, the other sses were also panicking right about now.


    "There are three ways to gain points — stealing gs, taking down enemies, and overall ss cement. For every g you still, it will be worth 2 points. Every enemy takedown will be worth 1. The students in the ss ced inst by the end of this exam will get 20 points, 3rd will get 30 points, 2nd will get 40, and 1st will get 50. In other words, the ss in 1st ce is essentially guaranteed not to have any expelled members."


    <em>Huh… does stealing a g from someone else deduct their points…? If so, that would ruin my npletely…</em>


    If that was really the case, when I took the gs from ss Ast-minute, the students in that ss would all find out. I couldn''t just take the gs from the beginning either, since they would realize they didn''t gain any points…


    "In addition, individual points will be updated every hour," Qian Hua continued, which surprised me. "That''s all. gs will be sent out in 10 minutes, and the exam will begin then."


    <em>Oh… updated every hour, you say? That provides some leeway for me. I could let the ss A members take all the gs, then make my move an hour before the exam ends. That is quite the tight schedule, and honestly, I''m not sure if I could make it or not, but this was better than nothing.</em>


    As her broadcast ended, the students quickly began panicking.


    "C-ss rep!" A girl in our ss raised her hand with a worried expression on her face. "What do we do… if we only help ss A, we won''t get any points!"


    Long Lu sighed. "Calm down. We will be ying extremely aggressive in the first part of this exam, and we''ll be responsible for taking out the other sses'' forces while ss A infiltrates their Base and steals the gs. This will earn us plenty of takedown points. In the second half, the other sses will start ying aggressive themselves, once again giving us an opportunity to get more takedown points. And besides, we''ll be taking first anyway, so there''s no need to worry."


    "Erm… but in case we don''t get first and end up expelled…"


    "Don''t worry about it," Long Lu cut in, tired of all this panicking. "Even if we are all expelled, I already guaranteed you all futures, no? Just believe in me — trust."


    "… O-Okay."


    The girl fell silent, but she appeared to still not be convinced.


    <em>Well… this is the best possible oue. Long Lu''s thoughts aligned with mine, letting ss A do the infiltrating, but to the rest of our ssmates who didn''t understand the details of my n, this seemed pretty unrealistic.</em>


    Soon after, five ck gs suddenly appeared on the table between us, surprising us all.


    "Well… seems like the test has begun," Long Lu chuckled. "Everyone, begin heading in ss A''s direction — you''ll be safe, since no other ss will be out this quickly."


    The girls and Long Lu all set out along with the rest of my ssmates, while I sucked all the gs on the table into my Space Locket, preparing to hand them over to Ming Hao.


    It was time to employ the core of my n, a special new Legendary Tier Shadow Element spell — Infinite Illusions.