The media's coverage of this war presented a dichotomy. On one hand, they reveled in reporting the blunders of the high command, ceaselessly mocking the incompetence of both the military and the government. On the other hand, they described the heroism of these five thousand soldiers using exaggerated language. In the face of defeat in a war of races, how else could humanity—the supposed apex species—preserve its dignity? The only recourse was to display the power and courage humanity had shown in this conflict. And only this specific army had demonstrated such strength and valor. Consequently, nearly all five thousand men were instantly hailed as warriors, each receiving one or two war medals and various commendations. Hundreds were even promoted to non-commissioned officers, destined to lead the follow-up reinforcement troops. Yet, the names mentioned most frequently were those of the four led by Zheng Zha—the media had already dubbed them the "Miracle Quartet."

"Excellent. So powerful."

The blond youth, Neos, sneered these words while looking at a newspaper. Currently, only three others accompanied him: a burly middle-aged man, a young woman, and the little girl named Xue Ling'er.

Neos murmured, "In a way, they made the right move. The more exposure they gain, the smaller the chance we have of dealing with them. This is the balance of 'Shi' (momentum/influence). Once the 'Shi' they possess in this world surpasses the reach of our current official ranks, the only thing we can do is reluctantly agree to an exchange of intelligence. We can no longer eliminate them easily."

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment before speaking, "Neos, there's something I really don't understand. Why are you so intent on wiping out the Central Continent Team? Based on the current situation, we aren't necessarily mortal enemies who must fight to the death. With the real mission yet to appear, we could actually try making contact. I believe they must also have reservations. Furthermore, as the strongest team, they must possess many secrets about the horror movie worlds that we don't know. Perhaps regarding the two ancient books mentioned by the Ocean Continent Team last time—we might gain more intelligence from the Central Continent Team."

Neos sighed, his voice cold as he replied, "Don't be naïve. Besides them being the strongest team, there's another reason. What do you think the situation within our team is like?"

The middle-aged man froze instantly. Neos continued calmly, "I shouldn't need to elaborate, should I? I joined the team late, and aside from strategic thinking, I possess almost no combat strength. My newly enhanced Three-Eyed race bloodline only improves calculation ability initially. Unless I reach A-rank or Double-A rank reinforcement, the psychokinetic ability won't manifest, and my combat power will remain critically low. Besides the three of you, the other five members have vaguely split into two factions. Marnini and Rose are a couple, habitually keeping to themselves. The other three are led by Hoffer. The only reason this team still fights together is out of fear of death. Therefore, in this team operation, since we hold the advantage, we must secure more reward points and side plots. Simultaneously, I also hope to obtain the status I deserve as much as possible."

"At the very least, before the discord in this team becomes known to the Central Continent Team, we must first find out which members of their team are in hiding," the woman said strangely. "But how do we find them? Search one by one among these five thousand people? And you won't even let Xue Ling'er use her mental scan—that makes the chance of finding them zero."

Neos picked up a piece of chocolate from the table, chewing it as he spoke. "Yes, any endeavor requires a catalyst to proceed smoothly. Based on the scant clues, let's first assume this horror movie involves seven to nine people. That means we must locate three to five hidden members of the Central Continent Team. While we can find minor clues from the survivors and the overall army composition, there aren't enough clues in that area. To fully verify the roster and grouping would require at least a Lieutenant Colonel rank or higher. Although I can access those two areas, doing so would easily expose that someone is investigating them to the Central Continent Team, revealing my identity to them. Therefore, I need a catalyst."

"A catalyst?" the middle-aged man and the woman echoed in unison.

Neos let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with violent energy. "Precisely. Do you know why I constantly insist on completely killing the Central Continent Team? Aside from the reasons I just mentioned, there is another: I need Hoffer and the others to become complacent about the Central Continent Team. I need them to stir up trouble! Even though I keep warning them not to provoke the Central Continent Team, I continuously stress the need to annihilate them. This implication will at least pique their interest in testing the Central Continent Team. That is my objective."

"Let them act as pawns, using their hands to trigger the catalyst, making the Central Continent Team reveal weaknesses. At the very least, it will let us gauge the Central Continent Team's actual strength. If they aren't much stronger than us, there's no need to be so cautious. If they are far stronger than us, don't you think Hoffer and the others are just getting in the way? Losing a few of them would surely make our team more powerful, wouldn't it? Haha haha!"

"Zheng Zha..." Zheng Zha turned his head to look at Chu Xuan, who was quietly eating a bright red apple. He smiled slightly and said, "How can you have energy if you don't eat meat? You eat too little. You always stick to just fruits and vegetables; there's no way you're getting enough nutrition from that..."

They were in the battleship's mess hall, where all soldiers and ship personnel could dine. It was lunchtime. Since returning to the space battleship from the rescue vessel two days ago, Zheng Zha had followed Chu Xuan's suggestion to avoid contact with Lan Lan and the other two. Apart from the already exposed Wang Xia, Ba Wang, and Chu Xuan, the three members of the Lan Lan group were hiding within the mass of soldiers.

Chu Xuan frowned, looking at the steak and vegetables on Zheng Zha's plate. He stated his displeasure, "The color is unsightly... Putting that aside, I've been monitoring for any military middle-ranking officials accessing our files or the expeditionary force's organizational structure for the past two days. Unfortunately, no middle-ranking official has accessed our files. Moreover, the high command has dispatched several personnel to support the fleet, seemingly to present us with medals. Meanwhile, the possibility of the other team achieving general-level officer status is near zero; the highest rank they could attain is Colonel. In other words, they have been almost entirely inactive these past two days..."

Zheng Zha paused, slightly surprised. "That's good, isn't it? Is there something wrong? If the other side doesn't intend to fight us, naturally they wouldn't need to investigate us, right?"

Chu Xuan gave a cold laugh. "Quite the opposite. If the other side intended to avoid conflict, they would absolutely need to investigate us to ensure the safety of any contact they make. If they show no sign of activity, there are only two interpretations. First, they intend to retreat because the combat power we displayed startled them—this possibility is infinitely close to zero because we haven't even shown our full combat power in front of them. The second possibility... is that they intend to openly probe our strength."

Zheng Zha considered this. "Don't you find that contradictory? Since the Central Continent Team is the strongest squad, why would they still have the confidence to test us? And if they genuinely intend to challenge us head-on and win, what good is their 'Shi' then?"

Chu Xuan nodded approvingly, smiling faintly. "Exactly. It is precisely because this situation seems contradictory that I hypothesize one scenario: their team is internally conflicted. Their team, unlike ours, is a combination still embroiled in power struggles. If we view it this way, their lack of investigation into us becomes perfectly understandable. They have cunning individuals in their ranks who plan to abandon certain team members, or rather, use certain members to find a catalyst.

No puzzle can be solved without a catalyst. Similarly, there has been no contact between our two teams; they only know the four of us. If they don't review the files to investigate us, then they have virtually no intersection with us. How can they know about our other members? Unless they initiate an intersection with us. If my guess is correct about the next step, someone from their side will certainly come forward to test us—either you, or me, or Ba Wang, or Wang Xia—though the highest probability is that they will test you..."

Zheng Zha pointed to himself, looking puzzled. "Why me? Do I look weak?"

Chu Xuan smiled gently. "No, it's because the three of us project a comparatively stronger aura. You simply can't match the temperament of a soldier. Therefore, if they choose to test someone, you are the most likely candidate... My suggestion is this: kill anyone who attempts to engage us in combat. When they lose a team member, they will naturally become anxious about the lost scores, and when they are anxious, they will naturally begin to expose weaknesses."

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