47: Chapter 47 Who Stole Whose Monster?

The members of the five teams were completely dumbfounded as they watched the terrifying swarm of monkeys whistling past, screeching to the heavens, their shadows flickering, and the azure figure calmly leading them from the front.

Shock, absurdity, disbelief... a mix of various emotions filled them.

They finally understood Qin Ce's intention.

He wasn't here to pick up scraps, nor was he here simply to cause trouble.

He was here... to complete the mission in a 'highly efficient' way that none of them could have imagined!

One person, pulling a whole swarm of mobs—and it was a swarm nearly double the required amount for the mission!

As long as he could deal with this swarm, the mission goal of fifty Shadow Monkeys would be overachieved in an instant!

This efficiency—how was it merely higher than their single team?

It was far higher than the efficiency of two or three of their teams combined!

"Gulp." Someone subconsciously swallowed their saliva.

"This... how is this even possible?" someone muttered to themselves.

However, this magical scene was actually playing out before their eyes.

Qin Ce, this freshman who had just entered the Elite Class and was viewed as an outlier and a loner, was using a nearly arrogant and genius method to show all the "seniors" what absolute strength and control looked like!

The monkeys roared, and the azure shadow danced. A solo show, an efficiency-based crushing that subverted everyone's perception, had already begun. And the best part was yet to come.

...

Under Qin Ce's lead, the massive swarm of Shadow Monkeys moved like a violent gray-brown river, surging through the green jungle canopy. Wherever they passed, branches and leaves shook wildly, and monkey screeches shook the sky.

The members of the five teams fixed their gazes on that azure figure and the scalp-numbing swarm behind him. The shock in their hearts was gradually replaced by another, more intense emotion—greed.

"Cap... Captain," a team member's eyes went wide, his Adam's apple bobbing, "that monkey swarm... there are definitely over fifty! If we can take them down, the mission will be finished in an instant!"

"Not just finished! It'll be overachieved! There will be extra bonus points then!" another member breathed heavily.

The captains' eyes also turned red.

The words they had used to mock Qin Ce for being inefficient alone were still ringing in their ears, but now they felt like silent slaps to the face.

Qin Ce used facts to tell them that in the face of absolute strength and skill, numerical superiority was not insurmountable.

More importantly, this monkey swarm gathered by Qin Ce—with their formation loose from the chase and their attention focused on him—was like a plate of enticingly fragrant delicacies placed right in front of these "hungry men"!

Qin Ce could pull the mobs alone, but could he really clear these hundred-plus Shadow Monkeys alone in an instant?

Impossible!

He would inevitably need time; he would need to maneuver.

So, during that process...

Once this thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.

"Captain," a member of the Gale Squad swallowed, "should we... get a bit closer and look?"

Zhao Rui stared intently at the azure shadow in the air, then looked at the surging tide of monkeys behind it, his eyes flickering.

"Everyone, move toward Qin Ce's flight path," he ordered through gritted teeth. "Maintain distance and stay alert. If... if he can't hold out, or if the swarm scatters, we'll—"

He didn't finish, but the team members all understood.

Picking up the scraps.

By the time the other teams realized what was happening, the five squads had tacitly formed a loose semi-circle, following far behind the monkey swarm.

They were wary of each other, yet temporarily "united" by the same goal.

In the air, Qin Ce glanced down at the light spots gradually gathering below, the corners of his mouth curling into a barely perceptible arc.

They took the bait.

He suddenly made a sharp turn, the Azure Luan carving an acute angle almost brushing the treetops. The monkey swarm behind him followed suit, their angry screams becoming even denser.

The direction of the turn was straight toward the teams behind him.

"They're coming this way!" someone cried out in alarm.

The tide of monkeys, like a black torrent carrying anger and madness, swept toward the teams behind.

"Engage the enemy!!"

Someone roared, and the formations of the various teams instantly deployed.

The Fire Fox of the Gale Squad spat out a wall of blazing fire, attempting to block the frontal impact;

The Rock-Armor Earth Dragon of the Mountain Team roared and slammed the ground, sending up layers of earthen waves;

Members of the Shadow Squad merged into the shadows, their daggers flashing with cold light;

The Frost Blade Team summoned Frost Wolves, and a chilling mist spread...

The light of skills interlaced and collided in the night sky, blending with the sharp screeches of the Shadow Monkeys.

In the first wave of contact, flesh and blood flew.

Three Shadow Monkeys charging at the front hit the fire wall and fell screaming; two attempting to ambush from the flanks were impaled by rock spikes; a bronze low-grade Shadow Monkey sub-leader tanked an ice spike and tore open a team member's shoulder with its claws.

"Fill the gaps! Don't panic!"

"Healer! Quick!"

"Control that Bronze one!"

It was chaotic, but there was order within the chaos. After all, the teams that could enter the Elite Class all had solid combat experience. After the initial panic, each team quickly found its rhythm—frontline tanking, long-range damage, healing support, and crowd control.

Qin Ce hovered about thirty meters above the battlefield, watching quietly.

The Azure Luan's wings shimmered with a cyan-green glow under the moonlight. He sat on the bird's back like a monarch overlooking the battlefield.

The battle below grew more and more intense.

The Shadow Monkeys' numerical advantage was gradually neutralized by the coordination between the teams. One after another, Shadow Monkeys fell heavily injured, their blood staining the ground and branches red.

"Success!" a member of the first team to complete a kill shouted excitedly. The captain responsible for recording immediately checked the team badge. "Kill count +1!"

Then, on the badges of each team, the mission progress jumped rapidly:

[Current Kill Count: 7/50]

[Current Kill Count: 8/50]

[Current Kill Count: 2/50]

...

Seeing this, all the teams became even more energized, their attacks becoming increasingly vigorous.

They temporarily forgot Qin Ce's existence, their eyes only on the Shadow Monkeys that represented points and mission progress.

High in the sky, Qin Ce felt the chaos caused by the attacks on the monkey swarm behind him, and the cold smile on his lips finally became clear.

Finally, just as one team had beaten a Shadow Monkey down to its last breath and a member's Pet Beast leaped high, its sharp claws about to descend—

Whoosh!

A Wind Blade, condensed to the extreme and so fast it was almost just an azure shadow, shot down from a tricky angle in the sky like a precision-guided missile. An instant before the claws hit, it accurately buried itself into the Shadow Monkey's brow.

Pfft.

Brains splattered.

On Qin Ce's team badge:

[Current Kill Count: 1/50]

Below, the smiles on the faces of those two team members froze, and the cheers they were about to let out got stuck in their throats. They stared blankly at the decapitated Shadow Monkey on the ground, then looked up vacantly at the figure silently hovering high in the sky.

"He... he stole our mob?" a team member muttered in disbelief.