CHAPTER 199: CHAPTER 198: WUUU, I’M REALLY CRYING TO DEATH!

"A trade?"

The captain stared suspiciously at Qian Qi, "What kind of trade can you make with us? And why are you here alone? Where are your teammates?"

He looked around warily, fearing that Qian Qi’s teammates were lying in ambush, "Our team doesn’t have a single flag, if you’re thinking of stealing flags from us, you’re making a mistake!"

"Oh dear!" Qian Qi couldn’t help but show a look of pity, "You’re in such a miserable state?"

The Captain: ?

Why is this guy so annoying? Did he say that just to rub it in?

"Sigh, my friend, I see the redness on your forehead, the brightness in your eyes, and the clarity of your speech, truly a righteous and upstanding person destined for great things. If you fail the exam because you can’t find any flags and miss the chance to often enter the school instances, losing out on becoming a renowned Awakener, what a pity that would be!"

Qian Qi sincerely took the other person’s hand, speaking earnestly, "How about I show you a way..."

"A way?" The captain was confused, "What way?"

Qian Qi looked around as if about to share a big secret, then leaned in close to the captain and whispered, "I know a place... where you can get 3 flags at once!"

"What!" The captain was shocked, looking at Qian Qi in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

"Hey! Classmate, listen to me," Qian Qi calmly explained, "You must have been to Flag Point 3, only to find no flags, right?"

"Yes!" The captain nodded, "So what?"

"And then you went to Flag Point 7, and there were no flags there either, right?"

"Yeah! How do you know?"

"Actually, the reason there are no flags at Flag Points 3 and 7 is because the school set it up that way! Under the soil beneath the table, there’s a slip of paper with a hidden task written on it!"

Qian Qi’s tone rose and fell dramatically, sounding just like the village gossip lady who knows everyone’s business, as he said mysteriously, "You should know that Magic Plant by-products are on the rise, right? This time the school discovered a new Magic Plant in the school instances, confirmed by the genius from the Magic Plant Department, Qian Qi, and it’s very significant for humans!"

"So, harvesting Magic Plants has been included in the exam. As long as a team goes to the designated location to complete the task, they can get 3 flags at once!"

"Is this true?"

Qian Qi made up a story that was logical and coherent, not only tying up the reason for the disappearance of Flag 3 but even integrating the current social situation, making the captain start to believe in the truth of his words.

"Of course, otherwise how could that Black Bee Bear take away the box without leaving behind a flag? And you’ve already been to three flag points, faster than most people, yet there isn’t a single flag at them—don’t you find that strange?"

"You’re right. I also feel there are many suspicious points in this exam, and your explanation does make sense." The captain couldn’t help but nod, "So where is this place? And how do we get the flags?"

"Let me mark it for you!" Seeing his bluff had worked, Qian Qi immediately had the captain take out a map and marked the location for him, "There’s a pit over 3 meters deep; it’s easy to find. There’s a set of task rules on the table next to it. Once you go there, you’ll naturally understand."

After saying that, he added, "There are particularly many flags there; now lots of teams still don’t know about it. If you meet other teams, I hope you can kindly inform them, just like how I did, as a favor."

With that said, Qian Qi patted the captain on the shoulder with grand righteousness, leaving mysteriously, waving his hand like a ghost, as quietly as he had come.

The captain scratched his head, looking at the mark on the map, and couldn’t help but say, "This person seems quite nice."

"Captain, should we go?" a teammate asked, feeling something was off but at the same time, it all seemed very reasonable.

"Let’s go take a look. I have a feeling there might really be a hidden task." The captain nodded, "If that Magic Plant is really beneficial, we could score big!"

"You’re right~"

The few discussed briefly and immediately headed towards the location Qian Qi had marked. Indeed, there was a deep pit there, along with a broadcasting microphone, an aluminum alloy table, and a wireless camera—the standard setup for each flag point, very official.

The only difference is that on the table, it seemed like a Power Awakener had used their finger to write a bunch of indented characters, roughly meaning:

There’s Flag 3 in the deep pit, taking Flag 3 means accepting the task. There are three tasks: the first is to dig down about 8 meters while avoiding damage to the Concentration Fruit and continue for 4 hours on a cross-section of 8 meters deep, the second is to transport 125 cubic meters of soil 1 kilometer away, the third is to excavate and collect 50 kilograms of "Concentration Fruit", and staff will issue the remaining two flags. If you take the flag without completing the task, it results in a fail.

"It seems to be true." The captain peered in and indeed saw lots of Flag 3s inside, "This pit is so small, we can probably skip the third task."

"But we don’t have any digging tools, what should we do?" one teammate couldn’t help but ask.

"Are you silly? We’ve got an Earth Element person; we can choose the second option easily!" The captain couldn’t help but laugh, "We should be the first ones here; we can go all out, Zhao Yan, go for it!"

The student named Zhao Yan stepped forward, pressing his palm to the ground, causing the earth to ripple and transform into countless spikes that flew towards the distance.

After working for about 3 hours, a large pit of 125 cubic meters was successfully dug out. The student named Zhao Yan returned from a kilometer away, collapsing onto the ground as if he were an exhausted dead fish, wearily saying, "Help, help me up, I can still move!"

"Old Zhao! You’ve worked hard! You’re our God!" The captain affectionately carried Zhao Qing on his back, "I’ll treat you to a feast tonight. You can pick your favorite from three different self-heating meals!"

"Flags, flags!" Zhao Yan stretched out his hand with difficulty, still not forgetting to ask about the flags.

"No one has come out yet." The captain looked around; by this time, quite a few students had arrived, using either force to break through or makeshift wooden shovels to dig, each employing their own method. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

"Maybe we need to wait till 4 hours. Let’s wait a while longer; you should rest too." The captain took out a sleeping bag and put Zhao Yan in it.

Meanwhile, after Zhao Yan’s team had left...

"Classmate... how about I guide you to a path," Qian Qi stopped another team, trying to persuade them to dig too, when a sharp-eared Skill Department student suddenly said, "Lord Qian Qi? Are you Lord Qian Qi?"

The student who spoke was half a fangirl of Qian Qi; his family was in business, and he also ran a Magic Potion resale business on campus, greatly admiring Qian Qi’s business talents. He regularly watched her videos on the campus forum, so he was very attuned to her voice.

Upon hearing Qian Qi’s name, the eyes of the other teammates lit up one by one. Most of the students in the school instance exams were from the Skill Department, with at least three Skill Department students in each team. Those who frequented the forums definitely knew Qian Qi’s name.

Being recognized, Qian Qi initially wanted to keep pretending, but then heard the Skill Department student say, "You should have said you were Lord Qian Qi earlier! We definitely trust what you say!"

He promptly told his Command Department captain, "Captain! What Lord Qian Qi says is certainly true. Let’s go dig soil!"

The other three Skill Department students nodded, "Yes, we know Lord Qian Qi well. She definitely wouldn’t deceive us! Spending 4 hours to get 3 flags is worth it!"

"Lord Qian Qi is a student from the Magic Plant Department. Normally she shouldn’t even be in the school instance. Her being here shows that the task is definitely real!"

"Maybe Lord Qian Qi is also an invigilating teacher! Boohoo, is she intentionally giving us a hint because she saw we were clueless?"

"Lord Qian Qi is so kind-hearted, I’m really moved to tears!"

Qian Qi: ...

System: [... 6.]