Afraid

The sparring selection process was actually not complicated. With Han Qingyu and Shen Yixiu's strength, a single bout settled the matter beyond dispute. Just as Shen Fengting had said earlier, Switzerland was a small country. Its Coalition army had a small base and lacked young prodigies; with the trial's age and gender restrictions, it hadn't been easy for Yin Caixin's grandfather to scrape together enough people. And from what Yin Caixin had said just now, it seemed some among them had been asked or hired through friends of friends. The Yin grandfather and granddaughter were remarkably bold and carefree to take such risks. Among the three of them, only He Tangtang had truly fought, and he had struggled quite a bit. After all, he had donned his armor only recently and was still severely lacking in source energy nourishment. Right at the start of the matches, he lost a bout to the other side's strongest Grade B. It was only with great difficulty that he fought his way to the final duel of the last round, and winning it had been hard-fought. Fortunately, he had still won. The final lineup was settled as a 3+2 combination: three from Han Qingyu's side, and on the other side, Yin Caixin plus a Grade B named Luca, who was said to have donned armor very early, nearly four years ago. "Qingzi, that last guy just now... something seemed off about him." As he walked off the ring past Han Qingyu, He Tangtang murmured under his breath. To outsiders, this fellow always gave off a crude and rough impression, which suited his appearance well, but Han Qingyu knew that beneath the rough exterior lay a shrewd, sly, and calculating mind. By "off," he meant the feeling the man had given him just now wasn't like a sparring selection at all, but like a life-or-death struggle—ready to wound or kill someone just to secure an entry spot in an occasion like this. For two combatants of comparable strength, sensing and judging such intent wasn't difficult. The most direct takeaway from this was: the man was determined to enter the trial, regardless of cost or decorum. While this wasn't enough to reach any definitive conclusion, it was inevitably suspicious. Shen Yixiu had been standing slightly behind Han Qingyu like a guardian suit of iron armor. She had heard it too. After a moment, arriving at the same thought, she whispered, "Should we give little Caixin a heads-up?" The two girls were actually around the same age, but because of Yin Caixin's more childish demeanor, Shen Yixiu unconsciously saw herself as the older sister. Han Qingyu thought about it. Looking at it from Yin Caixin's perspective, the ones she had the most reason to feel uneasy about right now might actually be Han Qingyu and his friends. They had only just met, yet they held the majority, and their strength was overwhelmingly superior—crushingly so. If they were bad guys... Wait, could that little girl's display of the Invincible Wheels of Wind and Fire just now have actually been a show of force? Meaning: *I have an ultimate move, you know! Watch out—if I fight desperately to defend myself, I'll sweep the entire ring without distinguishing friend from foe, buying time while hurting you!* Finding the thought amusing, Han Qingyu said quietly, "Forget it. There shouldn't be any danger for now. Let's wait and see." He was already quite certain that if they wanted to win this trial, he had to hold complete control... Put simply: Yin Caixin had to trust him completely and obey his instructions. As they spoke, the group turned to leave the sparring ring and return to their rooms to rest. Yin Caixin came trotting up behind them with rapid steps, screeching to a halt right in front of them. Her eyes clearly held unease, yet she forced an enthusiastic smile. "Wow... You guys are seriously strong! That puts my mind at ease." The group looked at her with polite smiles. "So... are we going to look for an alliance now?" Yin Caixin kept her smile, continuing, "Since only five people can enter, a lot of squads are already forming alliances. Most are trying to pull four teams together to make a twenty-man squad... I know a few of the teams, so we could approach them." This was a strategy born of the limit on entrants. Form an alliance to win, let whoever contributed the most step forward to claim the reward, and then split the spoils based on contribution. Two metal blocks, once refined, yielded at least eighty and potentially over a hundred source energy blocks; splitting them wouldn't be difficult. Yin Caixin said many people in the hotel were already doing this. However, she had automatically ruled out the possibility of letting Han Qingyu and his group seek out allies... even though they were very likely capable of finding much stronger allies. Because the Huaxia Front was indeed exceptionally powerful. Why was it called Huaxia? Because the existence of this nation was genuinely tied to the safety and survival of the entire Asian continent. Yet Yin Caixin truly didn't dare let Han Qingyu and his friends bring in anyone else. A terrifying "what if" scenario played out in her mind: *Hahaha, the three of us are actually wolves, you're dead meat... Hahaha, all eighteen of us are wolves, you're getting torn to pieces.* *I don't want to get torn to pieces.* Yin Caixin thought to herself while trying her best to encourage herself to trust them. In truth, if the situation had allowed everyone from both sides to enter together, without this sparring match and without witnessing Han Qingyu and Shen Yixiu's strength, she wouldn't have been overthinking all of this. Fortunately, Han Qingyu didn't seem to notice her little calculation regarding alliances, and Yin Caixin breathed a small sigh of relief. Then she saw him smile, shake his head, and say amiably, "If you're willing to take my advice... we won't ally with anyone." "Huh?" Yin Caixin's mouth opened and closed as if letting out a feeble breath. Her posture slumped slightly, and her brow knitted. "B-but there are only five of us. If we want to kill the Great Spikes, we definitely need to join forces with others," she explained, adjusting her tone, sounding a bit aggrieved. "Then we'll wait until the very end to see who's fighting, and join forces with whoever that is," Han Qingyu said. "We can do that?" Yin Caixin blinked, stunned. "What if they already have an alliance?" "We'll force our way in." "..." Yin Caixin stood there in a daze. ... It was a large suite with three inner bedrooms, so even with Rusty Sister present, dividing up the rooms was easy enough. All five of them were still sitting in the living room. "If I'm not mistaken, the people she brought are probably telling her right now about the dangers of cooperating with us, trying to persuade her to ally with someone else so they can go in instead," Wen Jifei said after taking a sip of the Nepalese broken-leaf black tea, finding the taste quite pleasant. "What? She wouldn't listen to them, would she?" He Tangtang still looked anxious. "Cuihua... I mean, little Caixin isn't the type to do that," Wen Jifei said, quite confident in his judgment of character. "Still, she must be terrified right now... Let's wait and see. She's bound to come looking for us again tonight." "Yeah." Han Qingyu lowered his voice. "Actually, I have a vague feeling that something about this isn't quite right..." He paused after opening, waiting until everyone turned toward him before continuing, "A rule that allows only five people to enter per squad makes forming alliances an entirely predictable reaction, right?" "Right. Anyone could anticipate that," Wen Jifei said. "Then whom does this situation benefit the most?" Han Qingyu asked. The others paused. He Tangtang was the first to speak: "Infiltrators from the Cleansing Faction? The Self-Preservation Faction might not be much better either." "True. It makes it much easier for them to operate," Liu Shiheng added. The atmosphere suddenly grew tense. "So, do we need to suspect a veteran hero who holds the Star Radiance Medal now? What do we do then?" Shen Yixiu was somewhat uneasy, but still considered both sides, asking, "Could it just be an oversight in the rules, or did they consider this part of the trial?" Han Qingyu smiled faintly. "Let's hope I'm just worrying over nothing." *Knock, knock, knock.* Someone knocked at the door. "Here she is," Wen Jifei mouthed quietly. Opening the door, sure enough, Yin Caixin stood outside. "Hee-hee." Slipping inside and closing the door, Yin Caixin looked up with an initial giggle, then turned her gaze toward Shen Yixiu. "Hello. Actually, I know who you are, Xiuxiu. Grandpa told me about you." Shen Yixiu stood up and responded with a warm smile, "Hello." "Um..." Yin Caixin hesitated, finding the words difficult. "Could we sleep together tonight? I'm... a little scared." This was a choice born of unease. She had anchored her trust first in Shen Yixiu, who was the most trustworthy thanks to her grandfather's connection, hoping that through her, she could get to know and trust the others. "Sure. Your room or mine?" Shen Yixiu said. Yin Caixin was taken aback, clearly not expecting Shen Yixiu to be so accommodating. "Mine, if that's okay?" "Sounds good," Shen Yixiu said with a smile. "Why don't you sit down and chat with us for a bit first? Ask whatever you want. Don't worry, none of them can beat me in a fight." Iron Chick had picked up bad habits—she was teasing on purpose now. Amidst the low chuckles in the room, Yin Caixin nodded. "...Okay." She sat down, hesitated a moment, and looked toward Han Qingyu. "Can you not beat Xiuxiu either?" Han Qingyu said, "Yeah... what about it?" "N-nothing. It just makes me feel a bit more at ease." She was clearly intending to have an honest chat. Yin Caixin's voice grew softer and softer, and as she spoke, she gradually turned her head away to avoid Han Qingyu's gaze. *What, do I really look like such a bad guy?* Han Qingyu thought to himself. *I've got the face of righteous integrity!* Yin Caixin turned back, looked at him, summoned her courage, and nodded. "Yeah. Everyone else returned the source energy blocks they used in the sparring match earlier... Only, only you didn't. You pretended to forget."