Chapter 247 How am I supposed to explain this?

The rankings on the light screen only went up to one hundred, seemingly announcing that a hundred cities were participating!

As the text slowly faded away,

That number remained seared into everyone's vision—29,847 points!!!

A massive lead in first place!!!

More than the sum of second through tenth place combined!!!

The boat was silent for a moment, and then cheers erupted!!

"Holy crap! Twenty-nine thousand?! Nearly thirty thousand!"

"We're first!"

"The kind of first place with a massive gap!"

"Captain Han! It's all thanks to you!"

Han Cheng stood at the bow, unable to suppress the smile on his face!

Before the rankings came out, he was still calculating in his head where he would place!

But he had forgotten that the team's total score was the sum of all its members!

He himself had lasted until the fifth door,

A full two and a half minutes of survival time.

In reality,

He had already guessed during the game that the number of participants who lasted two minutes wouldn't exceed five!

The facts proved him right!

"Alright, look how happy you all are. This is nothing!"

He waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "With the intensity of the first stage, as long as you maintain your rhythm, lasting five minutes isn't actually hard. I just chose to be steady."

Ding Shouchang immediately chimed in, "Captain Han is too modest! At that intensity, let alone that long, I almost didn't make it past the third door. Captain Han is the only one who can stay so steady!"

The twins also chimed in, "This is a true display of strength..."

Hearing these compliments, Han Cheng's smile widened a bit more, but he still said, "Not at all, it was a group effort, hahahaha..."

He paused, turned his head, and looked at Song Xingmian. "Mianmian also lasted over two minutes. She's the team's second greatest contributor."

Song Xingmian didn't respond; she just looked at Chen Yu's face with an odd expression in her eyes.

Han Cheng saw that she was ignoring him, but then she went to look at that Lu Heng again?

That guy... besides having a somewhat standout temperament,

Was there anything else likable about him?!!

And Mianmian isn't such a superficial person, right?

Chen Yu turned his head and asked naturally, "You lasted two minutes? Really?"

Song Xingmian smiled slightly. "Of course. As the owner of the Resonance Radio Talent, my tactical status in the Huaxia Military District is very high, so I was allocated more life-saving items."

Chen Yu nodded, retracted his gaze, and looked at the sea ahead. "Mhm."

The importance of the Resonance Radio Talent was indeed extraordinary.

But Song Xingmian's true identity probably played a significant role as well.

Zhang Lieyang suddenly turned around. "Lu Heng, how long did you stay in the Arena?"

Before Chen Yu could even speak, Han Cheng answered for him, "Officer Zhang, enough... Since our points lead is so massive, there's no need to humiliate the guy!"

Zhang Lieyang: "..."

Ding Shouchang continued to smile. "Under Captain Han's leadership, I'm afraid the entire Huaxia Haicheng team is really going to be unleashed!"

Han Cheng burst out laughing!

Chen Muqing spoke up at an inopportune moment, "Captain Han, don't celebrate too early..."

Han Cheng was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Chen Muqing explained patiently, "First, your Talent doesn't support large emotional fluctuations; otherwise, it could easily erode your self-consciousness. It wouldn't be good if that were caught on camera..."

At this, Han Cheng's expression stiffened, and he looked at Song Xingmian.

Chen Muqing: "Secondly, there hasn't been a notification for the second stage mission yet, which means we haven't triggered the rule point. If we don't speed up, we might actually fall behind!"

Han Cheng's face darkened as he asked, "Then what do you think?"

Chen Muqing spoke seriously, "I suggest you and Officer Zhang row in the front, while Vice-Captain Ding and Xu Yuanzhou row in the back. Only this distribution will maximize our speed."

His tone left no room for negotiation,

As if he were stating a pre-calculated result.

Han Cheng's face turned dark. He looked ahead at the boundless grey ocean.

"Dammit."

"You four, get out of the way."

As he spoke,

Han Cheng walked to the front rowing seat and sat down, with Zhang Lieyang beside him.

The back row was also replaced, with Ding Shouchang and Xu Yuanzhou each gripping their oar handles.

The boat started moving again.

The speed indeed increased significantly.

This was a pure difference in strength.

Chen Yu felt more and more that being a useless person was sometimes quite nice—at least for now.

It would be even better if Song Xingmian talked a bit less.

Chen Yu even began to wonder if his charisma points were too high?

"Lu Heng."

"Hm?"

Song Xingmian whispered, "I have to remind you, the more silent you are, the more Han Cheng will think you're a pushover."

Chen Yu: "Oh."

Song Xingmian was choked by his response. "Don't you have anything else to say?"

Chen Yu nodded. "No."

Song Xingmian said helplessly, "You're still as taciturn as ever."

Chen Yu: "Mhm."

Song Xingmian tilted her head to look at him and suddenly said, "Sometimes I'm like this too, staying alone, not wanting to explain to anyone what I'm thinking."

Chen Yu answered bluntly, "Yeah."

Song Xingmian asked seriously, "Do you know that feeling?"

Chen Yu let out an 'uh'. "For example... you could also stay alone right now?"

"..."

Hearing "Lu Heng's" cold and heartless words,

Song Xingmian was stunned. She was silent for a long time before saying, "Fine, you really don't know how to carry a conversation. Lu Heng wasn't such a buzzkill..."

Chen Yu's pupils constricted sharply. His body didn't move, but his gaze returned from the distant horizon.

"Unfortunately, after all these years, I've become a buzzkill."

Song Xingmian smiled slightly and whispered, "How long do you plan to keep acting?"

Chen Yu looked innocent. "Acting like what?"

Song Xingmian shook her head and spoke as if to herself, "Actually, Lu Heng and I aren't old friends who haven't met in over a decade. Three years ago in the Capital, we met a few times."

Chen Yu was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled as well. "Of course I remember. Back then..."

Song Xingmian interrupted, "Lu Heng wasn't taciturn as a child either. On the contrary, he was very lively. He would climb trees to raid bird nests and lead us on adventures in the back mountains."

This time, Chen Yu fell silent.

That damn Zhou Zhenguo,

Didn't give me any information and left me to make it all up.

This time, the lie backfired.

How the hell am I supposed to fix this?