MMBMGAP CH 14

Chapter 14: Squinting to Judge the Timing

When Sade returned to his room and looked up, he saw Mimi sitting loftily atop the highest wardrobe. The cat lazily flicked its tail now and then, its icy blue eyes coldly watching the two humanoid creatures below.

“You finally came back,” Achille said with a face full of gossip. Earlier, this roommate had stormed in with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, dumped the cat, and rushed back out. Now, several hours had passed before he returned. No matter how he thought about it, the situation just didn’t seem simple.

“Why didn’t you play with the cat? Mimi, come down.” Sade ignored Achille’s weird expression and called out to Mimi a few times, but the cat didn’t budge. He had no choice but to release a small wave of soothing pheromones—he couldn’t lose face by not being able to handle a cat, after all.

“Mimi, come down. I’ll take you back.” As if it understood human speech, Mimi finally gave him some face and leapt down upon hearing he was going home. It meowed once at his feet and then trotted to the door to sit down.

Sade was surprised at how smart the cat was. He picked Mimi up and continued releasing his scent to help it become more familiar with him—it couldn’t hurt.

When he got back to Lin You’s room, he found the other already fast asleep. Moving quietly, he set Mimi down and whispered, “Keep it down, Yuyou is asleep. You go to sleep too.”

Sade pulled the blanket over Lin You, making sure everything was in place before gently closing the door and returning to his own room.

The Priests from the Temple had just finished a three-week mecha training program and were about to enter the next phase—live combat training. This round, they’d be training with combat-specialized Alphas.

It just so happened to be a nice day today, perfect for drills. Still, Chief Instructor Lei Yi had a headache. He looked at the delicate, frail-looking Omega priests and worried that the originally planned intensity might be too high.

Though the High Priests had protected the Empire for years and were highly respected—even revered in military circles—they still lacked frontline battle experience. Lei Yi had initially thought it was a good idea to gather the Omegas for training, but arranging real combat scenarios for them wasn’t easy.

First, there was no data on their actual combat thresholds. He didn’t know their limits. Second, with the current intensity of training, even top-tier combat Alphas like Achille could sustain serious injuries. He had to consider whether he should scale back to accommodate the priests—but that would defeat the entire purpose of joint training, which was meant to create synergy and achieve more than the sum of its parts.

Beneath the bright sun, everyone stood at attention, awaiting the chief instructor’s orders. Though this would be the first combat drill, the Alphas from the academy’s combat division had already heard rumors of the priests’ exceptional performance during mecha training.

Granted, those victories were against Alphas who specialized in mental strength rather than physical combat—weaklings in the eyes of the combat group—but still, losing to Omegas was disgraceful.

The combat unit was made up of elite Alphas—the Empire’s finest military talents had come from this division. There was no way they would let themselves lose to the Temple’s Omega priests.

This wasn’t just about ability—it was about pride. The Alphas were eager to give the Omegas a harsh wake-up call during this first joint exercise.

Among all these fiercely competitive Alphas, Sade was not one of them. His eyes sparkled with joy as he admired his little treasure.

Lin You was dressed in standard camo combat gear. His long hair was neatly tied up, his posture upright, and his serious expression gave him a distant, unapproachable air. But to Sade, this only made his “big kitty” even more handsome—and more irresistible.

Ultimately, Instructor Lei Yi went with a compromise: splitting the Alphas and Omegas into halves and pairing one half of each together into teams. Two teams were formed—Red and White—with the two S-class students as captains: Sade leading the Red Team and Lin You the White.

This simulation battle would include a set number of bug-like enemies, but they were just part of the challenge. Members of the opposing team were also valid targets. The final evaluation criteria would be based on which team had the most surviving members at the end.

This setup was designed to test reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance skills. In short, anyone not on your team was fair game for scoring. It was going to be an all-out brawl.

As for the use of spiritual power, it was allowed for controlling Zergs^[1] and objects—but not humans. This restriction was set by Lei Yi specifically for the training exercise.

The buzzer sounded. The countdown ended. The enclosed battlefield system activated—Red Team vs. White Team had officially begun.

Outside, the sun blazed brightly, but inside the simulation field, not even a sliver of sunlight could be seen. Towering trees blocked the light and heat. Birds, snakes, squirrels, and all kinds of forest critters moved about, creating a near-perfect replica of a real jungle. Naturally, this also created many distractions for the participants’ judgment.

The ground was covered in overgrown weeds, slick ferns, and moss. Every step had to be calculated carefully. A careless move could cause one’s foot to sink into the mud, and pulling it out required tremendous effort—not only exhausting stamina but also risking danger. The priests had never traversed such difficult terrain. Barely three minutes in, they were already caked in dirt and their boots were sinking into sludge.

Sade told them to keep their steps light and quick, and to step on dry leaves. Eventually, he gave up and just told them to follow closely behind the Alphas and use their paths to walk.

Sade led the Red Team. From the beginning, he had no intention of hiding. His focus was solely on taking down the Zergs, just like in every previous training. But this time, he gave specific instructions for everyone to stay close—he wanted the whole team to move as one.

Feng Qing followed closely behind Sade, using his spiritual power to listen to the wind and sense danger around them.

He suppressed his own presence and nimbly danced across the vegetation, leaping over muddy patches and dodging obstacles with ease. Sure enough, he picked up the sounds of battle. Hiding behind a tree, he spotted the White Team’s Alpha fighting a giant beetle. Everyone in front of him was now considered an enemy.

Sade narrowed his eyes as he watched the fierce fight between the White Team Alpha and the armored insect. His expression sharpened.

“Almost time,” he thought.

He was ready to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

(To be continued…)