The Silly Prince Successfully Cancels the Engagement, But the Fiancée is His Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Fighting the Boss

Ye Sheng flipped the snake’s carcass and compared it with the data on Bai Qing’s intelligent guide, concluding that luckily, the snake was non-venomous. Typically, non-venomous snakes do not attack humans; it likely sensed danger and only intended to protect itself.

“Don’t move.” Xiang Zhuo knelt on one knee and, with an undeniable authority, clamped onto Bai Qing’s ankle. He tore open Bai Qing’s pant leg faster than drawing a gun. “Disinfection.”

There were no medicines in the wilderness, not even disinfectants. Under these rudimentary conditions, Xiang Zhuo could only heat his small knife until it glowed red. He held the blade close to the swollen, purplish wound on Bai Qing’s ankle, then suddenly looked up: “It’s going to hurt a little. Try to bear it.”

Bai Qing hadn’t made a sound the entire time. He had been looking down at the top of Xiang Zhuo’s head, but the other party suddenly looked up. Unprepared, he met Xiang Zhuo’s ink-black eyes. He instinctively looked away, then felt it was impolite, so he forced himself to look back and focused his gaze on him: “I’m not afraid of pain.”

Xiang Zhuo didn’t say anything, lowering his head, but his bright red ear tips betrayed his forced calm.

The sharp blade sliced open the delicate, fair skin. Only after seeing the blood flow out as bright red did Xiang Zhuo feel slightly relieved.

Xiang Zhuo could only provide basic treatment for Bai Qing’s wound. Ye Sheng, meanwhile, had already contacted the academy for help. Soon, the academy would air-drop some disinfectant, anti-inflammatory medication, and a dose of anti-venom serum.

Only at this moment did the three of them truly breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Xiang Zhuo suddenly scooped Bai Qing up horizontally. Bai Qing looked over quietly. Xiang Zhuo, blushing and enduring the pressure of both Ye Sheng’s and Bai Qing’s gazes, gently placed Bai Qing on a rock: “Rest for a while. We’ll wait here for the medicine to be delivered.”

Once the tension in his mind eased, the dizziness from frequently releasing mental power outside his body surged. Xiang Zhuo closed his eyes, nearly losing his footing.

Bai Qing gently reached out, grasped Xiang Zhuo, and helped stabilize him: “Thank you for today. Releasing mental power outside your body frequently can cause dizziness and weakness.”

He patted the dust off the rock and cleaned the surface beside him: “Do you want to sit down and rest?”

Xiang Zhuo: “No… no need. I’m fine. I’ll go pick up the medicine once the academy air-drops it…”

Ye Sheng watched the exchange between the two, arms crossed, and grew increasingly suspicious of Xiang Zhuo’s behavior.

Logically, as a fellow Alpha, he should only feel revulsion toward an Alpha’s pheromones. Yet, at this moment, he caught a sweet, alcoholic scent, a sweet fragrance that was extremely pervasive, seemingly trying to permeate his pores and seep into his brain, as if declaring something.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

…

The academy’s efficiency was very high. The medication, disinfectant, and anti-venom serum arrived quickly. To be safe, Ye Sheng and Xiang Zhuo strongly persuaded Bai Qing to take an anti-inflammatory pill and inject the anti-venom serum.

One rescue opportunity was used up.

The three rested here a bit longer, ate lunch, and then continued their trek under load.

While the academy’s criteria for judging the end of the training was strict, there were still loopholes. The rule was that each person must carry $20text{kg}$ to reach the end of the route within ten days. This meant that at the final checkpoint, as long as there were three people and three $20text{kg}$ loads, it would suffice.

Xiang Zhuo initially intended to carry Bai Qing’s $20text{kg}$ load, but Bai Qing firmly and immediately refused.

“Thank you for the kindness, but I’m fine on my own.” Bai Qing’s pair of damp blue eyes were filled with determination and persistence. Without waiting for Xiang Zhuo’s reply, he started walking ahead.

Ye Sheng followed behind Bai Qing and said to Xiang Zhuo as he passed: “It’s alright. That’s just how Bai Qing is. Even though he’s injured, offering to carry his load would truly be looking down on him.”

Xiang Zhuo stood rooted to the spot, staring at Bai Qing’s back, his eyes burning with fervor.

He lightly nudged his cheek with his tongue, then let out a silent, soft laugh.

He had forgotten. He was almost fooled by Bai Qing’s delicate appearance. Bai Qing was a strong-willed, persistent soul who would beat an Alpha senseless—and he was his soulmate.

What Bai Qing always wanted was to be treated equally, not with preferential treatment due to his gender or special circumstances.

Understanding this, Xiang Zhuo took a stride and chased after them: “Our goal for today before dark is $20text{km}$. We’ll take one rest break in between. No reaching the destination, no dinner!”

Ye Sheng muttered: “Are you applying your military training methods to us?”

Despite the complaining, his pace was not slow at all.

Bai Qing lowered his head, and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.

However, that night, Bai Qing did develop a slight fever. Fortunately, when Ye Sheng called for aid, the academy also sent anti-inflammatory medicine. After taking the medication, Bai Qing’s condition improved significantly, and he was completely fine the next day.

For the next eight days, the trek with the loads proceeded relatively normally, with no further incidents. Occasionally, startled fierce beasts, venomous insects, or snakes would appear, jaws wide open, but Xiang Zhuo would sense them ahead of time, release his mental power, and easily neutralize them.

They finally reached the mecha monster encampment.

The three successfully checked in on their intelligent guides, rested, and discussed strategy.

These mecha monsters were set up as former Imperial humanoid mecha soldiers, stationed here to cut off military communication for the Eternal Empire’s central army. Therefore, their objective was to clear this area and successfully restore the front and rear connection of the central army.

Bai Qing had a rough idea. These mecha monsters were humanoid weapons captured by the Eternal Empire when the former Empire surrendered. Before being deployed, they had been checked repeatedly and were deemed problem-free.

Furthermore, since the deployment sites of these mecha monsters were set by the academy, the methods to defeat them could all be found on the forum.

In summary, there was only one way: kill all the mecha monsters.

There were two specific operational methods: kill them one by one, or infiltrate the encampment and activate the mecha monsters’ self-destruct program.

The Passion-Leaf Team wisely chose the latter.

They were unsure of the exact number of mecha monsters, but judging by the rigorous and flawless patrol routes and frequent shift changes at the encampment entrance, the three of them could not possibly deal with them all.

Ultimately, their agreed-upon strategy was for the two Alphas to hold off the mecha monsters outside, while simultaneously covering Bai Qing’s infiltration into the encampment to find the control console and activate the self-destruct sequence.

According to the experience posts on the forum, the combat strength of these mecha monsters was not high. The academy wasn’t blindly training the students; after all, these students were unarmed. If the mecha monsters were too strong, the fatality rate of the wilderness drill would skyrocket.

This would completely violate the academy’s original intent.

Therefore, the final boss should definitely not be life-threatening to the students.

However…

Xiang Zhuo struck first, but the mecha monster’s agile movement and fierce counterattack stunned Xiang Zhuo for a moment. The steel fist was relentless, heading straight for Xiang Zhuo!

Xiang Zhuo dodged just in time, but was still swept by the force of the punch. His body was thrown uncontrollably against the rock face behind him. The mecha monster gave Xiang Zhuo no chance to react. From the dust and smoke, the massive steel body flew over with surprising agility, its huge fist aimed straight at Xiang Zhuo’s head—

Xiang Zhuo rolled over abruptly, evading the strike. The mecha monster’s fist hit the rock behind Xiang Zhuo. The surface of the rock shattered, leaving a deep indentation.

Ye Sheng, who was covering Bai Qing’s entry into the mecha monster encampment, also keenly sensed something was wrong after engaging the monster: “Crown Prince, I recall you saying these mecha monsters should be easy to deal with, but why do I feel like each one has at least SS-level strength? They’re too difficult to handle! Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Ye Sheng shouted his last sentence. This couldn’t continue. Dealing with just one required his full effort. He glanced at a squad of mecha soldiers emerging from the encampment—at least thirty more mecha soldiers needed to be eliminated, and that was just outside. Who knew how many more were inside?

Xiang Zhuo’s face was extremely grim.

At this moment, he even suspected the academy never intended for them to return alive. The forum posts made it sound simple, but where was the simplicity in this?

The mecha soldiers’ attacks were fierce, every punch hitting hard. While Xiang Zhuo’s martial arts skills were strong, fighting these steel hulks that felt no pain was a significant disadvantage.

But—the next second, centered on Xiang Zhuo, his SSS-level mental power suddenly condensed into a narrow-bladed longsword, tearing through the air and slicing the wind. The sharp blade directly bisected six mecha monsters that were charging at him!

This method was extremely taxing on his mental power. After using it several times, Xiang Zhuo immediately felt dizzy.

He steadied his mind and crouched down, searching for usable protective gear on the mecha monsters’ bodies.

Ye Sheng’s situation was also dire. His mental power was far less solidified than Xiang Zhuo’s, making it difficult to project it for attack, so he could only engage in close-quarters combat with the mecha monster. After a few rounds, his skin was lacerated, covered in blood, and he looked utterly wretched.

With this wave of mecha monsters temporarily cleared, giving them a brief respite, Xiang Zhuo manually stripped two sets of armor from the mecha monsters. He threw one set to Ye Sheng and put on the other himself, his expression serious: “Let’s go. We’re going inside to support Bai Qing.”

Bai Qing had been inside for so long and hadn’t activated the self-destruct sequence yet. Something must have gone wrong.

Ye Sheng didn’t hesitate, following Xiang Zhuo into the encampment.

The encampment was eerily quiet inside. A few mecha monsters could be seen slumped on the ground. Xiang Zhuo inspected them carefully and finally let out a sigh of relief.

These were Bai Qing’s doing.

Bai Qing’s mental power was strong enough to manipulate energy linkages by invading the opponent’s core programming. Once the link was severed, the mecha monsters naturally couldn’t move.

He, however, could not do this. He was only proficient in using mental power for brute-force destruction.

In that instant, the pride and admiration in his eyes could no longer be concealed.

Suddenly, the intelligent guide’s team voice chat flickered. Xiang Zhuo and Ye Sheng gravely connected simultaneously. Bai Qing’s voice came through the intelligent guide: “Something is wrong with these mecha monsters.”

Xiang Zhuo cautiously scanned his surroundings while slowly walking forward: “What did you find?”

Bai Qing: “The core code of these mecha monsters has been artificially modified. All of their power has been unlocked. Now, these mecha soldiers are completely identical to the mecha soldiers from the former Empire era…”

Before Bai Qing could finish his sentence, the communication was forcibly cut off. Xiang Zhuo and Ye Sheng realized the gravity of the situation. Just as they were about to send an emergency distress signal to the academy, they realized that ever since they entered the encampment, their connection to the outside world had been completely severed.

The large gate behind them, at that very moment, was closing with a heavy thud, as if being manipulated by something.

And Bai Qing was completely unreachable.