Chapter 227 - Five Days in The Forest.
They didn't want to believe it, but the sight of him throwing one mushroom after the other in his mouth like he was eating chicken nuggets, was too hard to ignore.
If only they knew that Felix was purposely choosing only the good looking mushrooms to eat, as he knew that most of them were poisonous.
With his poison immunity passive that messed up with his tasting buds, they truly tasted even better than edible mushrooms!
Burp!
"Those are not poisonous." Satisfied, Felix burped while pointing at ugly looking mushrooms, which had tiny bites on them.
Amelia held one and took a small bite. Yet, the moment she chewed, she started spitting in disgust. She glared at Felix, thinking that he was faking his enjoyment before.
Sadly, Felix wasn't planning on forgiving her that easily after wasting food like that, "Do that again and you will be hunting for your own food from thereon."
The casual way he said so, made Amelia flinch as she knew that he wasn't bluffing in the slightest. Yet, instead of retorting she just made an acknowledging sound and went to sit next to the raging fire.
Rumble-Rumble!
Abruptly, the sound of thunder resounded in the sky, warning Felix and the rest, that a thunderstorm was about to strike.
"Sigh, Sarah please inform Walton to return." Disgruntled, Felix stood up and started unlocking the two straps in his backpack, which were tightened on his small tent.
After pulling it out, he said, "We will make a temporary camp here until the thunderstorm goes by."
Drizzle...pitter-patter!
Unfortunately, nature wasn't going to wait for them until they get comfortable, as a torrent of rain began showering them.
Everyone started scrambling around to set up their tents.
Some were big enough to house four members while some were small enough for just a single person, like the one Felix and Noah were currently setting up.
After Felix finished setting his own, he went to help Olivia, Sarah, Lexie, and Isabel with their oversized tent.
Soon, Noah came as well and assisted Felix, leaving the girls to back off as they were merely hindering them.
"Don't just stand there, Go make yourselves useful, and set Walton's tent." Felix ordered the girls calmly.
A few minutes later, eight tents could be seen erected randomly between trees. The place they camped on was truly not a good one, but emergency situations call for emergency solutions.
"Much better." Felix exited his tent, wearing a yellow raincoat. He didn't wear it earlier as it was in his spatial card.
"I will be taking the first shift." He called loudly while leaning against a tree that had many branches and leaves, making him get slightly less drenched.
He looked up while turning on his infrared vision, wanting to check if they were being spied on by drones even in such a downpour. Soon, he found three drones were hovering one hundred meters above them.
He switched his sight to his surroundings and noticed that there were hundreds upon hundreds of red auras of all shapes and sizes.
Some were underground and some were in the air, probably birds hidden between branches. This made it difficult for him to guess whether there were other drones on land or not.
'Let's see if they are taking our safety into consideration this time.' Felix scratched his chin as he pushed his infrared vision to the limit. 'Hmm, Seven squads? At least they learned their lesson.'
Felix smiled faintly at the sight of tens of humanoid auras, either sitting or patrolling four hundred meters away from them.
Felix's party was put right in the center of their formation, and if they kept their distance like that, Felix and the rest would never cross paths with them.
This was exactly what George wanted, to keep them protected from another ambush while also keeping them ignorant about those soldiers' existence.
Too bad, With Felix's vision, nothing goes unnoticed before him.
...
On the top floor of the tallest building in the camp, George was sitting in front of twenty medium-sized screens, each displaying a different sight.
Next to him sat three old men, looking with intrigue at a screen that was displaying Felix, leaning against a tree.
"Weren't you always complaining that he wasn't a team player?" A bald-headed old man looked at George in confusion, "Why would he then volunteer to take the first lookout shift?"
"I said that he isn't a team player, not that he isn't an irresponsible moron." George shook his head at the director of the camp and clarified, "When it comes to his captainship's duties, he is flawless. But beyond that? he never bothers to put a single ounce of energy."
"I think that you are in the wrong here." The director chided him, "Why are you bothering too much on him getting chummy with everyone? As long as he understands his duties to the team and attends every daily training, then he is golden in my eyes."
"You really think so?" Appalled, Goerge raised his eyebrows at the director's intake.
He always believed that for the team to be perfectly ready to represent them, they needed to have a tight relationship in order to have each other's back.
"Aren't we about to find out?" The director chuckled while gesturing with his head at the screens.
Knock Knock!
"Come in."
A soldier pushed the door open and saluted, "Good morning, sir."
The director nodded his head and asked, "How many juniors decided to take part?"
"23, sir!"
"That should be enough to keep the team on their toes." Goerge added, "Are we going to send them right now?"
"No, let's wait a couple of days until they feel relaxed." The director warned the soldier, "Make sure to remind the juniors to always prioritize their safety and not aim at their vitals."
"Roger, sir!"
"That's all, you can leave." The director waved his hand dismissively. However, just as the soldier wanted to close the door, the director added lastly, "And give each junior two rejuvenation substances for emergencies.",
'Hopefully, it ends well.' George honestly felt that using the camp's juniors to ambush the team was going to end horribly either way.
Whether they succeeded in their ambush or failed, there were bound to be some heavy injuries.
Alas, he knew that it was needed to test the team's reaction under ambushes. Especially when the wildness they would be dropped in the world's competition, was going to have 2000 or so participants. There were bound to many frictions and ambushes happening 24/7.
This was merely a small taste of what's about to come.
....
Five days later, in the early morning...
Peep peep!
Inside a small pitch-black tent, Felix's bracelet alarm abruptly went off, making him knit his eyebrows in irritation.
"Another f*cking morning." Felix opened his eyes groggily as he stretched his arms and legs on the sleeping bed.
He yawned while opening the zipper of his tent, letting the rays of light to grace his darkened tent.
"Good morning captain."..."Morning Felix."..."Breakfast is almost ready."
Felix looked at his teammates sitting on logs around a campfire, having their hands extended forward to heat them up in this cold morning.
The sky might be blue and clear, but the morning wind in the woods was always a bit tough to handle.
"Meat soup again?" Felix smiled as he saw a metal pot on top of the fire, filled with yellow liquid and small pieces of meat and vegetables.
"Want a bowl?" Lexie asked shyly.
Felix nodded his head as he sat on a log that was near Noah, "Yes, but just fill it to half as always."
"I don't know how you get the energy to move when you eat so little each day." Nathan said.
The others looked at Felix in confusion as well, wondering the same thing.
Felix merely smiled, not bothering to seeth their curiosity. It wasn't like he could tell them that he had a hidden stash of food and water in his spatial card?
Though, Olivia kept giving him knowing glances, making him chuckle in his mind.
So far, only Olivia and Noah knew about his spatial card, and none of them had any intention to lay out Felix's secret in the open. Olivia was trustworthy while Noah wouldn't even bother himself.
"I believe it's ready." Lexie, who was responsible for cooking their meals, tasted the soup with a small plastic spoon.
After hearing so, everyone started giving her their bowls one by one in an orderly manner. Before long, the sounds of slurps and huffs kept resounding in the camp.
"How many flags did we gather so far?" Felix asked as he never went out with them to find those flags.
He always stayed in the camp with Olivia and Lexie as they were the only non-combat bloodliners in the team without a single defensive or attacking ability.
"So far we got nine." Johnson took a small sip and clarified, "It might sound like a lot, but considering that we are the only ones in the forest without any real dangers, it was easi..."
Phew! Boom! Crack!
"Watch out!"
Johnson stopped talking at once, as he reflexively threw himself forward, narrowly evading three flaming arrows, which were aimed at his back.
Without staying on the ground for a split second, he stood up with tensed shoulders, looking around him.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn't just him who got ambushed as each member of the team had their own shares of trouble.
Though, soon his eyes were greeted with the sight of Felix, having Olivia and Lexie, dangling on top of his shoulders.
"Way to jinx it, Johnson." Felix sighed in irritation as he put the dazed Olivia and Lexie next to him.