Chapter Thirty: Feinting on the Main Road, Advancing by the Hidden Path

I thought carefully about our situation. If we're surrounded by the enemy, then those attacking us head-on must be covering for others sneaking up behind.

Since the enemy in front had been temporarily suppressed, I took the opportunity to glance behind us and noticed signs of movement in the distance. Thankfully, they were still far enough away that escape was possible.

"Gao Yi, take your men to the left and keep an eye behind us—someone's coming." I didn't mention that those approaching from behind might be working with the ones in front; I feared that telling them would cause our allies to abandon us, leaving us truly doomed.

"Huang Xinru, gather the girls on your side and follow them."

We had only just met and hadn't spent much time together; trust takes both time and shared experience to build. By placing Xinru among them, I hoped that if anything happened, she'd have someone to watch out for her, and perhaps serve as a form of oversight for the others as well.

Gao Yi didn’t waste words; he quickly led his team away. The rest of us maintained suppressive fire, ensuring the enemy couldn't see that some of us were already shifting position.

Soon, Gao Yi's group had relocated to a spot not far to the left. This position formed a blind spot with the enemy: they couldn't see each other, but could clearly observe our rear. Because it was higher ground, any enemy sneaking up behind would be immediately exposed.

"Keep retreating, one at a time." This was a dangerous place, so I needed to act quickly—before the enemy realized their plan had been discovered—to withdraw ahead of them.

Our numbers dwindled. Soon, only a handful of us remained, and we could no longer suppress the enemy's fire; instead, we found ourselves pinned down.

Because our firepower had been felt earlier, the enemy assumed we were conserving ammunition, so their own shots came sporadically. This was crucial for us. My teammates were clever enough to shift silently, not drawing attention—otherwise, we’d have been exposed instantly.

"The rest of you, retreat to the right wing." While joining up with the left-wing group was tempting, I understood this wasn’t the time to regroup. The enemy was concealed, we were exposed; the ones firing were the most obvious targets. To turn our group from visible to hidden, we couldn’t gather together now—if we did, splitting up earlier would have been pointless.

Our gunfire gradually moved toward the right. The enemy soon noticed, but we kept up the back-and-forth, neither side pursuing too aggressively.

My group was retreating, so we needed to avoid direct confrontation. The enemy, meanwhile, hoped their allies would encircle us, so they didn’t press too hard either. For a brief moment, it seemed we had reached a tacit understanding.

Despite the intense exchange, not a single person was hit after all that time.

---

Soon, we moved into a dead-end: behind us was no path, only three directions ahead, but there were shelters—making it hard for the enemy to break through.

"Go, move up!" This was precisely the spot I wanted—a place to draw the enemy’s attention.

I hadn’t chosen randomly. I’d observed the layout: this position and my teammates’ hiding spots formed a pincer. If the enemy believed all of us were here, they’d likely try to surround this area, but the shelters the others used were, from the enemy’s perspective, entirely unguarded. Thus, the situation would flip: from us being surrounded, to us surrounding them.

Of course, they might not fall for the trap. But that didn’t matter; I never intended to fight such a large group anyway. This was forced, with no other options. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t bring my team against these odds without absolute certainty.

Fortunately, these students, smart though they were, made a classic mistake—they didn’t realize we’d split forces.

Soon, heads began to pop up: some from the blue team, some from the green. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones to attempt alliances.

A quick count showed at least twenty enemies across from us.

I truly had no idea how they managed to join forces so efficiently.

They hid exactly where we couldn’t reach them, but where Gao Yi’s group could shoot easily.

"Gao Yi, fire!" I shouted, then ducked behind cover.

My voice rang clear for Gao Yi and his group; as soon as the shout faded, a barrage of gunfire erupted.

The bullets from behind startled the encircling enemies, but once they regained their senses, they hid behind cover and started exchanging fire with Gao Yi’s group.

"Brothers, fight!" In their panic, they seemed to forget something vital: they had just surrounded us, but now their backs were exposed to our line of sight—a death sentence.

I wasn’t about to give them a chance to regret. I targeted the apparent leaders one by one, and soon eliminated five more.

With their leaders gone, the rest scattered, firing in all directions. No matter where they hid, at least one side was exposed to us. It was effortless; five minutes later, the battle was over.

Twenty-three people, without exception, eliminated.

---

"Quickly, sweep the battlefield." I called out, preparing to distribute the remaining ammunition among the team.

"Congratulations to the blue and green teams below—a combined twelve members remain. You are now the last twelve standing on this land."

"Congratulations..."

"Please determine the winner within twenty minutes. Only one person should remain standing on the battlefield."

"Attention: Only one person needs to remain."

"The countdown begins now."

… The sudden announcement from the helicopter overhead caught me off-guard.

From the sound of it, only twelve of us remained; all others had become breathing 'corpses.'

This far exceeded my expectations. I’d only hoped to make it into the top hundred, but now I was at least twelfth.

My teammates put down their guns and looked at each other in silence. No one spoke first.

"Come on, let’s regroup." Now that we’d become a collective, I wasn’t about to turn on my teammates just because the rules had changed.

The group quickly came together.

Everyone glanced around, unsure who should speak first—perhaps none of us could find the words.