After lights out at night, Chu Fei closed the book he got from Huang Gang and reflected on the day's events.
Whether it was Huang Gang or Zhao Hongyue, they both seemed reliable. This place indeed provided the resources he needed.
Still, he kept a trace of caution in his heart. After all, this was the apocalypse.
He recalled the incident involving Li Honggang, Lu Hong, and Zhao Xiaofeng.
Unfortunately, Chu Fei had only heard part of the conversation—just enough to know they were planning to take something from a teacher's office.
What it was, where it was hidden, how big it was—he didn't know.
Analyzing the situation, Chu Fei concluded: if it required two boys to "steal" it, it was probably small, inconspicuous, and possibly even unknown to the teachers.
Considering how much Feiyun Squad was investing, this thing had to be valuable.
Before even obtaining it, they had promised Li Honggang and Lu Hong eight doses of Super Brain Serum—that's eighty thousand yuan.
Eighty thousand! Chu Fei could sell himself and only get five thousand.
Feiyun Squad must have already invested a lot in those two.
Should he tell Teacher Cao Liwen about this?
After a moment of hesitation, Chu Fei took a deep breath. "Let's observe first. See if there's a chance to get my hands on it. If Feiyun Squad's investing that much, it must be worth a fortune."
He couldn't help but feel a bit greedy.
Then Chu Fei thought about the Super Brain Serum—just one dose could enhance neural function by 3% for a whole month!
Too bad he lacked benchmarks to evaluate how significant that 3% boost was.
Wisdom Dew was great too, but only lasted two hours.
The pressure was on.
Chu Fei sat cross-legged, starting his nightly mental training—"meditation."
"Use one drop of Wisdom Dew."
A drop dissolved, and his consciousness sharpened.
Within his mindspace, Chu Fei instantly constructed 300 geometric plane figures, including various triangles and quadrilaterals. He began using brute force calculations to assemble them into a patterned large-scale design.
He trained like a maniac for two hours until the effects of the Wisdom Dew wore off.
The number of calculations he performed in those two hours was equivalent to more than a month's worth in his normal state.
Even after the Dew wore off, Chu Fei maintained stability over the 300 plane figures.
"Significant improvement! If I took a physical test again, my potential would definitely show noticeable gains!"
With that hopeful thought, he slowly drifted to sleep.
When he woke, it was Monday morning.
Morning run.
Chu Fei quietly observed Li Honggang and Lu Hong—and indeed, something was off.
Their running efficiency had obviously improved, closely tailing behind him.
Luckily, Chu Fei had held back a bit before, so he barely maintained a half-step lead.
But even half a step was still a lead. As class monitor, Li Honggang had to settle for second place.
Li Honggang looked at Chu Fei with growing hostility, and even Lu Hong's gaze toward him was tinged with caution.
Suddenly, Lu Hong asked, "Chu Fei, did you join the Dawn Squad?"
Many turned their eyes toward the three.
Chu Fei smiled. "Just doing odd jobs for them."
Lu Hong put on a look of "envy" and sighed, "Still better than us. We don't see any hope at all."
Chu Fei gave Lu Hong a long look. This guy was even more cunning than Li Honggang.
With just one line, he'd drawn a line between Chu Fei and the rest of the class.
Chu Fei immediately countered, "You're the class monitor. Don't tell me no squad is interested in you?"
Li Honggang hesitated, then shook his head.
Chu Fei chuckled. "I had to shamelessly beg Captain Huang to even get this chance."
Then he glanced at Lu Hong, cold laughter in his heart. His guard went up further.
But Chu Fei had already made his decision:
You two have Super Brain Serum? I've got Wisdom Tree seeds!
Let's see how far you can go!
As for backing down and living peacefully—Chu Fei never even considered it.
Never mind getting whipped for falling behind—that was secondary.
More importantly, if he backed off, he'd lose Cao Liwen's attention.
Now that he was blacklisted by Feiyun Squad, one of his best ways to protect himself was to stay within Cao Liwen's watchful eyes.
Captain Huang had said before: if others are willing to step back, I'll take a step forward.
This was the apocalypse! Taking a step back meant handing your safety over to your enemies.
So, compete we must.
If everyone competes, we all suffer. But if only I don't, I'm the only one who suffers.
And only by competing can Li Honggang, Lu Hong, Zhao Xiaofeng, and the Feiyun Squad behind them slip up—giving him the chance to intercept.
Chu Fei had thought this all through carefully.
However, that week, probably because of the Super Brain Serum, Li Honggang and Lu Hong didn't give him any trouble and instead buried themselves in study.
A week passed quietly, and soon it was Saturday night again.
This week's morning run rankings had stabilized.
The top five were: Chu Fei, Li Honggang, Lu Hong, Zhang Shaojie, and Tang Yong. Not a single girl.
Saturday night was test time again.
Academic rankings would begin.
The atmosphere was tense as they waited.
This week's pressure was greater. As the lessons deepened and content increased, the difficulty rose sharply. Some students were already falling behind.
Steady footsteps approached—Cao Liwen entered with a stack of test papers. Without a word, he handed them out and sat at the podium, silently monitoring the class.
Only the rustle of pens on paper could be heard.
No one dared to slack off.
Falling behind in grades meant getting whipped—by a two-meter whip.
Even Chu Fei didn't dare be careless.
Time passed minute by minute. Suddenly, Chu Fei stood up.
He turned in his paper!
Early!
Everyone looked at him—especially Li Honggang and Lu Hong. Their gazes seemed to burn.
Chu Fei glanced at them, the corners of his mouth curling up—Feeling flustered? Good!
I said I'd compete, and I will!
This is only the beginning.
We've got a long way to go!
Cao Liwen took the test paper and checked the time. "It's only 8:48. There's still over 40 minutes until 9:30. Not going to review it?"
"No need," Chu Fei said firmly. "I believe in myself."
After a brief pause, he added, "Last time you used the battlefield as a metaphor, and I agree we should hold ourselves to the highest standard."
Cao Liwen gave Chu Fei a deep look, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. He said softly, "Very well. If there are mistakes, the punishment will be quadrupled."
"Oh, right. You're already on double punishment, so that makes it four times."
Chu Fei: …
This wasn't what he expected.
Did Teacher Cao see through everything already?
But before Chu Fei could say anything, Cao Liwen added, "But if you really got everything right, the reward will be quadrupled as well. You may leave."
Leave? No way!
Chu Fei returned to his seat and began self-study with his textbook.
Immediately, an air of agitation spread around the room.
Rough breathing, feet scraping the floor, fingernails on desks, chewing pen caps, flipping pages wildly…
Let's all compete!