Noon arrived before long.

Ye Chong led his entire team and arrived early at the green grassland between the two forests.

With all eight of them present, there was no need to fear an ambush.

Strangely, there was still no sign of Bai Youwei’s people coming.

“Could they have forgotten the meal pickup time?” Hu Dashan scratched his head, baffled. “…Or maybe they’re too scared to come out?”

“Good — they should be scared!” The muscular man gave a heavy snort, his muscles rippling along with the sound. “We have eight people, they have seven — of course they should be scared! Best if they’re too scared to come out and collect food every single day!”

The ponytailed girl in the group said softly: “Wouldn’t they starve to death that way…”

Hu Dashan also chimed in: “They wouldn’t be that foolish, would they?”

Ye Chong eyed the surroundings with suspicion, wary of a trap.

The area was utterly quiet. Not only was there no trace of Bai Youwei’s people — there wasn’t even any sound or movement.

In the distance, the faint hum of a drone could be heard.

“They could appear at any moment — don’t let your guard down,” Ye Chong reminded the others.

Everyone went on high alert.

Then, from the distance, came a sudden boom — as if something had exploded!

Everyone was startled and turned toward the sound, only to see a plume of black smoke drifting through the air.

What happened?

Before anyone could make sense of it, Ye Chong’s expression darkened dramatically. He immediately sprinted off in the direction of the smoke!

The others rushed to follow!

They charged into the forest, running all out, until they finally reached the scene of the incident —

On the ground lay the scattered wreckage of a drone. The black box it had been carrying was blasted into pieces. The bread and crackers inside were burned to blackened char; every last drop of water had been spilled.

Whoever had done it was long gone — there was no catching them now.

Everyone stared at the scene in front of them, sharp intakes of breath sounding all around, voices stunned:

“What kind of weapon did this? Or some kind of item?”

“I heard that woman’s rabbit can discharge electricity…”

“But this is way too extreme!”

“Why did they blow up the drone? Are they trying to starve us by destroying our food?”

“Don’t be stupid — we all brought our own food and water into the game. Even without the drone deliveries, we have more than enough to last two days.”

“That’s true, but what if they pull this stunt every day…”

Ye Chong stared at the wreckage on the ground, his expression growing darker and darker. He gritted his teeth and said: “Go back immediately!”

With that, he turned and strode rapidly into the depths of the forest.

Seeing this, the others felt a wave of foreboding rise in their chests.

Sure enough — when they reached their temporary camp, they found all the backpacks had been rummaged through. Food was strewn chaotically across the ground — still edible, but every single bottled water had its cap unscrewed. Inside each bottle, only the smallest amount of water remained.

At this, everyone started to panic.

No food wasn’t a major problem. Given their physical conditioning, they could endure that for several days.

But without water — how many days could they hold out?

“Damn it!” The muscular man hurled an empty water bottle to the ground in a burst of fury. “That woman is ruthless! Playing an attrition game! What the hell!”

Hu Dashan picked up his own empty bottle, his heart sinking. What a dirty move, he thought to himself. Couldn’t even leave a little bit…

The ponytailed girl looked anxious. “What do we do? If the other side keeps this up, our stamina will drop fast.”

“You think her goal is to die of thirst?” Ye Chong gave a cold curl of his lips. “You’re all fools. Her goal is to scatter us.”

If they kept their gear on their bodies, the added weight would slow them down and hamper their movement — so someone had to stay behind to guard the supplies.

The drones flew through the air and could be targeted at any moment, so someone needed to accompany and protect them.

No matter how they arranged it, their team of eight would be split into at least two groups.

Once his people were scattered and Bai Youwei’s seven moved as a unified force…

The thought brought Ye Chong’s jaw clenching tight.

—