The Enforcement Team, Zhou Zhe looked at the registration form placed before Qin Chuan with disbelief.
"Captain, you're going to the extreme cold competition?"
Qin Chuan didn't speak, he just nodded.
"But if you leave, what about the Enforcement Team?"
"Just as it should be. Does the Enforcement Team disband just because I'm not here!"
Zhou Zhe almost subconsciously wanted to retort, 'Where would we go if you weren't here?' but as he looked up at Qin Chuan.
Zhou Zhe's heart suddenly trembled, and the words got stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.
Qin Chuan's eyes lowered, as if looking at something.
But his voice, not too loud nor too soft, was just enough for Zhou Zhe to hear.
"You can't rely on me for a lifetime."
These words were like a splash of cold water, waking Zhou Zhe up thoroughly.
In fact, Qin Chuan had discovered this problem in the army a long time ago.
The Enforcement Team could be considered a sharp blade of the Lighthouse, wherever Qin Chuan pointed, it would strike.
It was definitely a sharp weapon but not a good unit.
A good unit should not be the private possession of one person.
It should be able to exert its strength in anyone's hands, not just in Qin Chuan's.
Whenever Qin Chuan was in trouble or fell, the Enforcement Team, which should have been the Lighthouse's sharp blade, would become a scattered mess, like headless flies, aimlessly milling about.
"I cannot be tied to the Enforcement Team for a lifetime, and Zhou Zhe, you cannot be my副手 for a lifetime either."
"Why can't I!" Zhou Zhe's eyes turned red, as if he were suppressing some emotion.
Those who joined the army had already put their lives and deaths aside from the first day the apocalypse descended.
In Zhou Zhe's short life, he might never have thought that he would leave Qin Chuan.
"What I need is a partner to stand shoulder to shoulder with. Zhou Zhe, I don't need a nanny!"
Qin Chuan's brows furrowed slightly, his tone almost bordering on displeasure, laced with a hint of suppressed impatience.
Zhou Zhe was stunned by Qin Chuan's words.
He had always regarded Qin Chuan as a divine being. In Zhou Zhe's heart, he had never truly considered Qin Chuan a friend.
It was more of adoration and reverence, like faith. He was willing to die for Qin Chuan, to lay down his life with the kind of devout piety that prostrated at Qin Chuan's feet.
But now, Qin Chuan said he needed a partner to walk side by side with.
Zhou Zhe remembered the day he went to pick up Qin Chuan after a mission and saw Qin Chuan walking alongside Xu An outside the cabin.
The smile on Qin Chuan's face then was something he had never seen before.
So, Qin Chuan felt that the person who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him was Xu An?
This realization was unacceptable to Zhou Zhe.
It was even more unacceptable than Qin Chuan saying he would eventually leave the Enforcement Team.
Zhou Zhe's jaw tightened, a sense of crisis spreading through his entire body.
If Qin Chuan's feelings for Xu An were purely romantic, Zhou Zhe wouldn't mind. His sexual orientation was very normal.
But what if there was something else in Qin Chuan's liking for Xu An?
Perhaps recognition of Xu An's abilities.
Perhaps the feeling that with Xu An by his side was more convenient than with Zhou Zhe, or simply that Xu An was more capable than him.
Admitting that he was inferior to a woman made Zhou Zhe restless and anxious.
But clearly, Qin Chuan, lost in his own emotions, did not notice Zhou Zhe's abnormality.
Seeing Zhou Zhe's unconvinced expression, Qin Chuan's patience completely vanished.
He was too lazy to explain anything further to Zhou Zhe. He was still running around trying to smooth things over for Yue Yue's matter, completely overwhelmed.
But it wasn't having much effect.
..........
Zhou Haimei looked at Xu An, who was lying on the bed doing nothing, and couldn't help but kick her.
"You said you signed up for the extreme cold competition, just the two of us?"
Xu An rubbed the spot where she was kicked, feeling that Zhou Haimei's strength seemed to have increased again.
"Otherwise, do you have better candidates?"
The extreme cold competition was a team event. Participants would be mixed directly into the beast tide to fight. Setting aside cooperation, being able to keep track of one's own people and not get separated would already be considered remarkable.
Not to mention, if they encountered someone with ill intentions, and were stabbed in the back.
It would be better not to recruit anyone then.
"Since we'll be scattered anyway, it's better to be just the two of us than to find someone we don't know well."
"But this is a team competition. With just the two of us, we'll definitely be at a disadvantage. If we encounter teams with many members, even if our hand speed is faster and we kill monsters before others, their larger numbers mean they can hunt several times more than us in the same amount of time."
This type of competition was like a nemesis for lone fighters. For them to win, relying on the strength of just two people was wishful thinking.
Xu An remained unmoved.
"Calm down, when the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road."
Zhou Haimei, why did she feel that Xu An was becoming more and more rogue lately? But there was a hint of confidence in her rogue demeanor, which was truly strange.
"What method do you have!" Zhou Haimei's voice was already tinged with impatience.
"Young one, do you want to become stronger? Do you want to become someone superior? Do you want to become the most dazzling star on the Lighthouse... Ow... Ouch, Ouch, Sister Mei, let go of my ear!!!"
Xu An, with her ear held by Zhou Haimei, thrashed around on the bed, her con-artist aura instantly disappearing.
She looked at the expressionless Zhou Haimei with some guilt, chuckling sheepishly.
"Heh heh, Sister Mei, let me down, and we can talk properly."
Zhou Haimei gave her a warning look, "Are you sure you can talk properly?"
Xu An nodded her head like a little chick, as if Zhou Haimei were some fierce dragon.
And she was the delicate little princess being bullied by the fierce dragon.
Only then did Zhou Haimei let go of Xu An's ear, her expression serious, "Hurry up and tell me."
Admittedly, Xu An, who had been dealt with by Zhou Haimei, had red ear tips and slightly red eyes due to the pain, looking particularly easy to bully.
Ahem...
Zhou Haimei shook off the messy thoughts in her mind and looked at Xu An.
"What method do you have?"
Xu An just rubbed her burning ear tips, "What I said is true. Since we don't have an advantage in numbers, we can only improve our own strength."
Seeing Zhou Haimei about to lose her temper again, Xu An quickly explained.
"I'm really not talking nonsense, we can awaken our abilities!!!"
Zhou Haimei, who was about to reach out to discipline Xu An, heard her words and her arm stopped midway.
"What did you say?"
Seeing Zhou Haimei's disbelief, Xu An leaned in, gesticulating wildly, explaining the matter of abilities to Zhou Haimei with words and gestures.
Of course, she still concealed the part about her own spatial ability, the Kuzhouyuan.
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