The negative 50 point Lou, feeling a huge sense of crisis in his heart, dared not pause his steps even slightly, nor relax his spirit. He immediately began to integrate personnel.

As a Squad Leader, including himself, Lou managed 100 people, but among them, 5 had been reassigned by Commander Charles due to their outstanding combat abilities and minor fame.

Therefore, Lou’s squad contained only 95 people, including himself.

He primarily divided these 95 people into three parts: The first was responsible for the routine defense of the base, which was crucial to the safety and victory of the base, so Lou assigned the most people, a total of 70. The second group was responsible for reconnaissance; a lot of reconnaissance soldiers weren’t necessary, quality over quantity was key, so only 15 were selected. The third group was specifically for diplomacy, negotiating cooperation with nearby squads for joint defense and operation. Lou himself led the team, needing only 4 people for this task.

There were still 5 people left in the whole squad. Of course, these weren’t idle people; they were handpicked by Lou to form a secret team called ’Kill Ji You’ Squad.

Cough, cough...

The name may be somewhat inelegant, but it’s very straightforward; and from the name, one can easily tell what this squad was meant to do.

The members of this squad were all daring and meticulous individuals. As soon as Lou completed the team integration, he secretly deployed them into the enemy camp.

In Lou’s view, whether it was the ally camp or the enemy camp, personnel were in a chaotic period, and one could muddy the waters and sneak into the enemy camp in this short time to find Ji You and quietly eliminate her. Then everything would be fine.

Solving Ji You would mean addressing a significant worry for Lou.

But!

Regrettably, after those 5 entered the enemy camp, 3 have not returned, and Lou figured they were likely in grave danger.

There were still 2 persons left; one returned, stating he hadn’t found anyone named Ji You in the area he searched. Lou surmised Ji You must be very cunning, knowing someone was after her, thus she dared not reveal her real name.

After thinking it over, Lou sent this person out again.

Another brought good news, saying Ji You’s trail was found, she had usurped a position in a squad within the enemy camp and become the team leader. Leveraging her persuasive speech, she organized a group aiming to sneak over to launch an attack on Lou’s side.

Upon hearing this, the person hurried back to report the news without further investigation.

Lou was silent for a moment, inwardly shouting, "Uh-oh!"

Since he could send people to infiltrate Ji You’s camp, couldn’t Ji You do the same back to his side?

Moreover! She didn’t have to send anyone; she could infiltrate herself!

Realizing the trouble, Lou immediately sent out other investigators from his side to hastily gather information on Ji You in his camp, but found nothing. Instead, he learned that the Seventh Team of a squad on his side had voluntarily ambushed the enemy camp, resulting in half the team being killed. Lou faintly felt something was off, so he immediately led a team to investigate the site of the incident in the seventh team.

Unexpectedly—

Ji You had vanished without a trace.

The competition area was vast, with long distances between squads, which limited the communication between competitors, especially between different teams and squads... This was why the Communication Department was so crucial.

Because of the great distance, Lou couldn’t receive timely information, allowing Ji You to take advantage of a time gap, leaving before Lou could detect and arrive on the scene.

...

Lou was feeling extremely uneasy, with a dreadful premonition that his troubles might only grow.

The long night began. Without lighting equipment, everything was pitch-black, and the slightest rustle in the wind could unsettle the nerves. With a 10-person team, Lou hurried to the base of the Sixth Regiment’s Seventh Team, finding everything in ruins, signs of a chaotic battle. Lou frowned, exploring in the dark...

A teammate ahead said, "Report, Squad Leader, we found a discarded arrow."

Lou said, "Bring it over."

The teammate handed the arrow over. Lou examined it in the murky night light, discovering it had been cut in half. Judging from the severed end, it seemed to have been cleaved by a knife; the cleaver must have been at least Physique A-level, with notably strong arm Strength to cause such a cut...

"There should be more, keep searching carefully." After leaving them with these instructions while frowning, Lou further commanded, "Check the terrain around here; the ground seems odd, might be a pre-set trap."

As soon as he finished saying this, a teammate reported, "Squad Leader, dozens of broken arrows were found here."

Lou quickly walked over, discovering all these broken arrows were in a groove-like pit, surrounded by mud, sand, and stones... Lou’s heart sank, saying, "Many must have died here."

The teammates were shocked.

Lou said solemnly, "At least dozens."

The teammates: "???"

Lou continued in a low, slow voice: "Our camp people."

The teammates: "!!!"

A guy said, "Squad Leader, that’s improbable, isn’t it? How come others didn’t find out if dozens of people died here?"

As soon as he said that, he realized it was silly; gathering dozens of people must mean involving all nearby squads; otherwise, how could they reach such a number?

So, the surrounding base should be unoccupied.

Lou said, "Look at the terrain, this place must have a lot of traps; these people fell into the traps and were ambushed and killed." Just as he felt his foot slip slightly, as if sand were flowing away, his facial expression changed and he shouted, "Everyone, retreat!"

Bang—

The place they stood on had a movable board buried underneath. When the number of personnel reached a certain level, the board would immediately flip!

Lou sensed something amiss; he reacted fastest, lightly leaping to the ground.

The other students followed closely behind Lou, but only two luckless ones failed to escape, getting buried alive beneath the soil, where sharp arrowheads were stuck!

After hearing two cries, Lou inwardly uttered "Oh no," hurriedly going to rescue, but it was no use.

"Wasn’t it an abandoned trap?"

"How come it’s still effective?"

"What happened?"

"Are they dead?"

Lou remained silent, watching two teammates enveloped by a protective shield, his mood terribly grim at this moment!