The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

"Send the students?"

Long Ao's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction: "Where are their own people?"

Yin Chen shrugged: "The frontline superhuman forces were already stretched thin. After the rift expanded, the defensive line was lengthened, and there weren't many mobile forces that could be mobilized. Fortunately, the academy has a group of high-level students with rich combat experience."

"To put it bluntly, we're short-staffed. What exactly makes us freshmen so experienced?"

Long Ao snorted.

"almost."

Yin Chen did not deny it. Although the strength of those who were named surpassed that of some senior students, freshmen are freshmen, and this was no different from exploitation.

But it was out of necessity. Most of the soldiers on the front lines were low-ranking soldiers carrying firearms, or simply ordinary people, making it difficult to sustain the effort.

An Changqing looked up from the map at Su Yuehe: "Besides us, who else is on the list?"

Su Yuehe said, "And Liu Feiyu too."

Upon hearing this name, Long Ao stopped chewing.

Yin Chen raised an eyebrow.

An Changqing's expression didn't change much; he simply asked, "What's his condition now?"

"I don't know."

Chen Guan replied, "Just now at the theater, he said he was fine, but you know what I mean by 'fine'."

Yin Chen leaned back in his chair, his casual demeanor radiating elegance: "My own brother was just burned to ashes right in front of me, and now you're sending him on a mission? Isn't the command headquarters a bit...?"

"The list was prepared before the Liu Xiao incident."

Su Yuehe explained, "This incident hadn't happened yet."

"So what now? Should we still let him go?"

Su Yuehe shook her head: "That depends on what the academy and the Liu family want; we can't control that."

Chen Guan didn't participate in the topic; his attention was drawn to what Baal had just said.

As soon as Astaroth's ritual was disrupted, the rift began to stir.

coincidence?

Barr said it could be a coincidence, but his tone clearly indicated that it wasn't.

"Chen Guan"

An Changqing's voice brought him back to reality.

"Um."

"What are you thinking?"

Chen Guan carefully considered his words: "The timing of the rift's expansion coincides too perfectly with what happened on Liu Xiao's side."

An Changqing narrowed his eyes.

Yin Chen sat up straight: "You mean, the rift anomaly is related to Astaroth?"

"Uncertain, but worth considering."

Su Yuehe frowned: "If there really is a connection, then entering the rift will not just be a reconnaissance mission, but may involve encountering demon-related troubles."

Long Ao's voice was muffled: "We just finished one match, and here we go again."

An Changqing looked at the location of the fourth fissure on the map again and tapped the red dot twice with his finger.

"Regardless of whether they are related or not, the mission itself is already at a very high risk level, and the disappearance of the second detection team is evidence of that."

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"Three days to allow everyone to recover from their injuries, replenish supplies, and rest. We'll make specific plans once we reach the Northern Territory."

No one objected.

Su Yuehe put the map away, folded it, and put it back in her ring. As she stood up, she glanced at Chen Guan.

"Don't put any strain on your arm for the next three days."

"That's what the doctor just said too."

"So, are you going to listen or not?"

"Listen," Chen Guan said obediently, "Trust the doctor's advice."

Su Yuehe stared at him for a moment, her expression showing disbelief, but she didn't say anything more.

Chen Guan leaned against the door frame, watching the figures of several people gradually walk away.

Barr's voice came out again.

"Your friends are quite interesting."

Chen Guan ignored him.

"Especially that Long Ao, even though he's injured himself, he still cares about you, tsk tsk."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"It's nothing."

Baal's tone was tinged with amusement. "Just a heads-up, if the rift in the North is truly related to Astaroth, the mark on your palm will react once you go in."

Chen Guan looked down at the quiet black mark on his right palm.

"What was the reaction?"

You'll find out then.

"Could you please finish what you just said?"

"Hehehe, no, that's no fun at all."

Bar laughed wildly.

……

There were no lights on the rooftop.

Liu Feiyu stood by the railing, the night wind making his clothes flutter.

The iron gate behind me was pushed open, the hinges making a dry, rattling sound.

The footsteps were heavy and spaced far apart; it was Ryu Seung-jun's stride.

Liu Feiyu did not turn around.

How did you know I was here?

"You've always liked to run to high places since you were little."

Liu Chengjun walked two steps away from him, placed his hands on the railing, and looked down at the square filled with police cars.

"Brother, you didn't come to see me just to catch up, did you?"

Liu Chengjun didn't speak. His gaze lingered on the distant city skyline, where the afterglow of the dissipated light still lingered, like a faint scar.

"The matter of the Azure Dragon Token."

Liu Feiyu stopped pointing. He turned his head and looked directly at Liu Chengjun's profile for the first time, trying to read some intention from that well-defined face.

"What do you want to say?"

I'm quitting.

Three words, clean and concise, without any preamble.

Liu Feiyu frowned, and the pen he was playing with slipped from his fingers, was swept away by the wind, and tumbled down into the darkness below.

"What did you say?"

"I will not contest the position of Azure Dragon."

Ryu Seung-kyun spoke calmly, as if stating something that had already been decided.

Liu Feiyu turned around, facing Liu Chengjun, with her back against the metal bar of the railing.

"Brother, did you get blinded by that beam of light just now?"

"no."

"Then explain to me what it means to stop arguing."

Liu Feiyu's voice rose half an octave. That's just the kind of person he is. He feels at ease when he takes something by force, but if someone else, especially his older brother, gives it to him willingly, he will feel uneasy.

Liu Chengjun turned around, leaned against the railing, and faced Liu Feiyu.

His expression was hard to see clearly in the darkness, but Liu Feiyu could sense that his older brother's eyes were different from before.

Something is missing.

"Feiyu, do you know why I wanted to compete for the Azure Dragon Token in the first place?"

"Power, status, and the rightful inheritance of the Liu family's throne."

Liu Feiyu blurted it out.

"no."

Liu Chengjun shook his head, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips.

"I just want to live."

Liu Feiyu opened his mouth, then closed it again.

That sounds so familiar.

"The eldest son of the Liu family is a thorn in everyone's side."

Liu Chengjun repeated the words that Liu Xiao had said before his death.

"The second brother is right, we are all the same. If he had been born a few years earlier, he would be the second me."

The wind whistled through the gap between the two.

"When I was five years old, my third uncle had someone put a slow poison in my tea. I discovered it myself and didn't tell anyone. From then on, I understood one thing."

Liu Chengjun raised his right hand and looked at his palm.

"In the Liu family, if you don't stand at the top, you can only wait to die."

Liu Feiyu remained silent for a long time, and everything Liu Chengjun said was true.

He had always known that his elder brother was in a bad situation, but he had never heard his brother say it out loud. He had even gloated about it at one point.