Chapter 76: The Clash Between Class A and Class C
It was the fifth day of the deserted island exam.
Katsuragi's team, responsible for occupying the bases for Class 1-A, was traversing the various bases as usual. Since the students of Class C and Class D had withdrawn from the exam, many bases on the island were left unoccupied. Once these bases were discovered by the scattered Class A students exploring the area, they would contact Katsuragi's team via walkie-talkie and inform them of the exact base locations. Barring any surprises, the points Class A could earn from occupying bases would be at least one hundred fifty points or more.
"That should be the fourth base ahead, Katsuragi-kun," Totsuka Yahiko looked at the familiar fork in the road and turned to Katsuragi with a smile.
When Katsuragi pushed aside the branches blocking his view, he saw a few students standing in front of the black occupation device. He instinctively stopped and signaled to the people behind him that there was activity ahead.
Katsuragi quieted his breathing and carefully observed the situation through the gaps in the leaves. He saw Kaneda lightly wave his hand, and the students beside him clustered around the occupation device and occupied the base. Just then, Kito accidentally stepped on a dry, brittle twig, which snapped with a "pat."
"Who's there?!" Ibuki suddenly turned her head at the sound, her sharp gaze fixed on the bushes where the Class A group was hiding.
Discovered, Katsuragi led his group out of the bushes and directed his gaze towards the muscular Black student standing behind Kaneda. He was holding a pale green key card.
"Oh, it's the Class A students..." Hearing the commotion behind him, Kaneda turned his head, smiled faintly at the Class A group, showing no sign of panic: "What a shame, you came one step too late. This base will be taken by our Class C."
Seeing Katsuragi's surprised expression, Kaneda didn't say anything, just pushed up his glasses, chuckled softly, and led his group away from the base.
Watching the Class C students turn and leave without lingering, Katsuragi quickly went to check the occupation device, which displayed a message indicating the base had been occupied—"Base occupied. Occupant: Class 1-C. Time remaining: 07:59:37."
"That's fantastic, Katsuragi-kun. I know that guy. His name is Yamada Albert. He's a Black mixed-race guy who often follows Ryuen around," Totsuka Yahiko excitedly tugged at Katsuragi's sleeve, speaking excitedly: "I can't believe we ran right into Class C occupying a base."
"No, we can't be completely sure yet..." Suspecting that Class C might have used a forged key card, Katsuragi didn't rush to leave and chose to wait at the base for a while. However, ten
minutes passed, and the Class C students didn't return. There was no anomaly on the occupation device besides the change in the remaining time.
"What exactly is going on...?" Katsuragi was completely puzzled. He hadn't considered that the identity of Class 1-C's leader could be discovered so easily.
"...Let's go. To the next base." After a moment of silence, Katsuragi, unable to figure out what Class C was up to, exhaled, suppressed his doubts, and led the three people beside him to the next base.
However, when the Class A group arrived at the next base, they found it had already been occupied by Class 1-C.
"The occupation countdown only started less than three minutes ago. The terrain in this area is steep, so the Class C people shouldn't have gone far. Looking at the footprints on the ground, the direction those guys left in seems to be the base we were going to next..." Kamuro quickly glanced at the text displayed on the occupation device, crossed her arms, and said coldly.
The strange sense of inconsistency in Katsuragi's mind grew stronger. After thinking for a moment, he made up his mind: "We'll follow them..."
Since the Class A group had walked through this area many times, they quickly caught up with the Class C group, who were hurrying along the path.
"Well, well, Katsuragi-kun. You're a little slower than I expected. You guys are indeed the ones responsible for occupying bases for Class A, aren't you?" Kaneda turned to Katsuragi, his tone mocking.
Being able to immediately discover that the frequently occupied bases were being taken by Class C and then chasing after them, Kaneda was now able to narrow down the identity of the Class A leader to one of the four people present.
Before Katsuragi could speak, Kaneda smiled again and said: "We're just about to head to the latest discovered base. Do you want to join us, Katsuragi-kun?"
"Class C members, you're heading to the hillside base in the southwest, aren't you?" Katsuragi stared seriously at Kaneda. Following the direction the Class C group was heading for a few minutes would lead to a small hill, which was exactly the next base Katsuragi's group intended to occupy.
"Oh? Katsuragi-kun discovered that place too? What a coincidence..." Hearing Katsuragi's question, Kaneda intentionally feigned a surprised expression.
"How do you know the locations of our Class A bases?" Katsuragi's eyes narrowed sharply at Kaneda, as if trying to read something from the other's face. These bases were discovered by the exploring Class A students and had been occupied by Class A for the past few days.
Katsuragi had also carefully checked the surrounding area before each occupation. So, how did Class C know the locations of these bases?
"Who knows... maybe we're just lucky?" Kaneda slightly narrowed his eyes and replied softly.
Not long after, Class A and Class C simultaneously arrived at the hillside base overgrown with berry bushes. The occupation device for this base was installed by the school on a large rock on the slope.
Kaneda didn't immediately have Albert step forward to occupy it. Instead, he led the Class C group to wait quietly on the side, staring intently at the Class A group's next move.
"...If you do not intend to occupy this base, please leave. I do not wish for Class A's leader to be seen by your Class C students," Katsuragi looked seriously at the Class C group.
"We can't do that..." Ishizaki grinned, making a gesture of shrugging his shoulders.
"Katsuragi-kun, this..." Seeing Kaneda and the others display provocative and mocking expressions, Totsuka Yahiko angrily questioned: "Are you guys trying to interfere with our exam?"
"How could we? The base was discovered by everyone simultaneously, and our Class C is kindly letting you, Class A, go first to occupy it..." Kaneda, who wasn't very good at physical activities, spoke in a slightly hoarse, breathless voice. He took several deep breaths, trying hard to calm his breathing, and then gestured for Katsuragi's group to "go ahead."
"What are you going to do, Katsuragi-kun? Will you occupy this base? We'd be happy to yield this base to your Class A." Kaneda, whose breathing was gradually slowing, slowly took off his glasses, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to gently wipe the lenses, and then put them back on deliberately.
The Class A group turned to look at Katsuragi, only to find him looking hesitant.
While he didn't know how Class C knew the locations of the bases Class A occupied, they seemed intent on wearing down Class A. If Class A didn't occupy the base, Class C would have their key card holder, the Black mixed-race student Albert, occupy the base, reducing the points and supplies Class A could acquire.
If Class A chose to occupy the base, there was a possibility of their leader being found out. Although the Class A students held three leader cards, two of them were forgeries with only a one-minute occupation duration. To conceal the true leader, Class A had to occupy the base with three people simultaneously.
And once the Class C members confirmed that Class A had to occupy the base with three people simultaneously, or if they realized the difference between the real and fake key cards, they could have Albert, whose athletic ability was clearly exceptional, act alone to swiftly seize Class A's bases. The risks for both sides were unequal. Class C didn't care if their class leader was exposed, so they could use this method to cut down on the number of bases Class
A occupied and the points they acquired. Katsuragi had figured out Class C's intentions but had no immediate solution.
"If you, Katsuragi-kun, aren't planning to occupy this place, then we will," Ishizaki, the black-haired delinquent, gently nudged the expressionless Albert in the ribs with his elbow, as if urging him to occupy the base.
Looking at the malicious expressions of the Class C group, Katsuragi clearly knew that if Class A chose to give up the base in front of them, the opponents would become more aggressive, seizing more bases that originally belonged to Class A.
"Katsuragi-kun!" Totsuka Yahiko looked at Katsuragi uneasily, his voice sounding anxious: "It's fine even if they see it, right?"
"Did you just say it's fine if we see it? Then let us witness it, why don't you? I'm very curious who Class A's leader is," Hearing Totsuka Yahiko's words, Kaneda immediately showed a subtle expression. Albert remained expressionless, while Ishizaki and Ibuki looked somewhat confused.
"...We'll occupy this place," Katsuragi closed his eyes in contemplation for a moment, then suddenly opened them, his gaze fixed on the Class C students. He said softly: "You must be very curious about who our class leader is."
Seeing Katsuragi finally make up his mind, Kaneda showed a successful smirk: "Haha, if you're willing to tell us, Katsuragi-kun, I would be very grateful."
Katsuragi didn't say anything, just lightly waved his hand, leading the three people beside him to occupy the base. The Class C group seriously watched as Katsuragi's group walked to the occupation device. The blue-haired girl, Ibuki, even took out her camera and started recording.
Under the curious gaze of the Class C group, Kito Hayato, Totsuka Yahiko, and Kamuro Masumi took out key cards that were completely identical except for the name, simultaneously placing them on the occupation device. "Base occupied. Occupant: Class 1-A. Time remaining: 07:59:58."
"Just as expected of the Class A elite..."
"How did you manage to have three key cards?"
"No wonder your Class A needs several people to go out and occupy bases together..."
Although they had been informed of this, the Class C students who witnessed this scene with their own eyes couldn't help but widen their eyes, showing expressions of disbelief.
"Katsuragi-kun, aren't you violating the exam rules by doing this?" Ishizaki asked in surprise.
"Think whatever you like..." Katsuragi replied nonchalantly, completely unfazed.
Since Yukinoshita-san was able to buy forged key cards from the school, it means the school approves of this strategy to cover the leader. If doing this truly violated the exam rules, the school would have rejected the plan outright.
Just then, the walkie-talkie in Katsuragi's pocket suddenly rang: "This is Shimizu Naoki. Katsuragi-kun, we've discovered another unoccupied base. It's at..."
Before the Class A student could finish, Katsuragi pressed the button on the walkie-talkie, cutting off the communication.
"Oh, the Class A students are really amazing; they found another base," Kaneda mimicked the voice and tone from the walkie-talkie, then stared intensely at Katsuragi and suggested: "Class A has three key cards. Why not split up and occupy multiple bases?"
"That's none of your concern. You should know that traveling through the forest alone is very dangerous..." Katsuragi replied without changing his expression.
"Is that so..." Kaneda lowered his head, showing a thoughtful expression.
Katsuragi checked the time on his watch and led the people beside him away from the hillside base.
"Kaneda, what do we do now?" Watching Katsuragi and the others walk away, Ibuki couldn't help but ask.
"...You guys go chase after them first. Remember to leave markings along the way. I need to discuss this with Ryuen-kun and also take a break."
"Okay, then we'll go first, Kaneda-kun..." Ishizaki patted Kaneda on the shoulder, leading Albert and Ibuki to pursue Katsuragi and the others.
After looking around, Kaneda casually found a shady spot and sat down. He then reached out and picked some edible berries he recognized, putting them in his mouth to replenish his energy and hydration. Since Class C had no points left to lose, it didn't matter if they used the resources at other class bases casually now.
While sucking on the slightly sour berries, Kaneda frowned and thought: "Hashimoto only gave us the locations of Class A's bases and the fact that Class A has three key cards, but no further information... Just as expected of the Class A elite. The information blockade is so tight. It seems I'll have to figure it out myself..."
"I remember that all students' ID cards and phones were collected by the teacher before we got off the ship, so even if they had points during the exam, they couldn't be used. And there's no forged key card available for purchase in the guidebook..."
"It looks like all three key cards could be genuine. And those three Class A people occupied the base simultaneously just now. Does that mean Class A has dispersed the base occupation authority among three people? If that's the case, does the leader only need to fill in one person's name, or all three?"
"No, the rules of this exam stated there is only one leader. That means only one of the three key cards is real, and the other two might be items Class A obtained from an occupied base, which Katsuragi is using for cover... But if that's the case, how do we determine the true leader?"
Since Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, had already returned to the cruise ship with the other Class C students, Kaneda's guesses and questions could not be confirmed or answered.
Getting nowhere by thinking alone, Kaneda had no choice but to take out his walkie-talkie and tell Ryuen all his discoveries and guesses.
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