100: Chapter 100 A three-second delay does not mean a judgment will be made only after three seconds.

[Rule Six: Prompts from the off-site protection judge will have a three-second transmission delay.]

[Explanation: When the Protection Role is absent, the team cannot enjoy real-time protection feedback.]

Once the White Shield Sample finished speaking, the slight warmth that had just built up in the training ground was instantly doused like being splashed with cold water.

The smile on Chen Ye's face froze.

Three seconds.

In a normal fight, one second is enough to get slashed twice.

Let alone the course rift pre-loaded from the White Tower's bill that they had to face tomorrow.

Chen Ye stood in place, gripping his shield, silent for a long time.

Zhou Heng stared at the White Shield Sample, electricity crackling wildly on his Thunder Spear.

"It even isolated your mouth."

Shen Tingxue looked at the supplementary rule, her voice turning cold.

"It's not limiting the prompts."

"It's limiting real-time judgment."

Chen Ye looked down at his shield and suddenly chuckled.

This chuckle was much lower than before.

"And here I thought I'd found a way."

"Turns out it's saying that tomorrow, by the time you hear me shout, the damage will have already landed."

After saying this, he looked up at the White Shield Sample.

"You really know how to twist the knife."

The White Shield Sample replied calmly,

"I am merely stating the course rules."

Just as Chen Ye was about to curse, Lin Jin suddenly spoke up,

"No, that's not right."

Everyone looked at him.

Lin Jin stared at the line [three-second transmission delay], his eyes gradually lighting up.

"It says 'prompt transmission delay is three seconds.'"

"It doesn't say your judgment can only be made after the damage appears."

Chen Ye froze.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Jin walked to the edge of the training ground and wrote on the floor with chalk:

[What is delayed is the transmission, not the judgment.]

[A reminder received three seconds later can be a prediction made three seconds earlier.]

Zhou Heng narrowed his eyes.

"In other words, Chen Ye can't shout 'dodge now'."

"But he can shout 'dodge in three seconds'."

Shen Tingxue chimed in,

"As long as his judgment is far enough ahead, the delay will actually be neutralized."

Chen Ye was stunned for a moment, then suddenly snapped his head up.

"Predicting three seconds ahead?"

Lin Jin nodded.

"During training just now, you were constantly making judgments based on the warning signs of the impacts."

"The pressure on the left is a feint, the second wave targets the feet, the crack on the right foot is a fake opening."

"These don't only appear after the damage lands."

"They all have a buildup of pressure."

Chen Ye looked at the simulated rift in the training ground, his breathing gradually stabilizing.

"Right."

"Before the shield face took any pressure, the air would always grow heavy first."

"Ground cracks would shift by half an inch first."

"Before an impact arrived, the edges of the rift would contract briefly in reverse."

"Back when he used to stand at the very front, his body moved faster than his brain."

"The shield would brace against it first."

"He rarely spoke it aloud."

"Because speaking was too slow."

"But now, since the White Tower wouldn't let him give real-time warnings, he had to translate those physical premonitions into commands issued three seconds in advance."

Chen Ye suddenly cursed.

"Damn."

"This is way harder than taking a beating."

Zhou Heng said coldly,

"You finally realized?"

Chen Ye glared at him.

"Stop being a pain."

Shen Tingxue, however, had already turned serious.

"Let's practice again."

"This time, you're not calling out the current impact."

"You're calling out the impact that will happen in three seconds."

Qin Shanhe stood by the side and checked the time.

"An hour at most."

"Any more and you'll all be exhausted tomorrow."

Chen Ye raised his shield and took a deep breath.

"Let's go."

The simulated rift restarted.

The first wave of pressure hadn't fully formed yet, and Chen Ye didn't shout immediately.

He closed his eyes briefly, tilting his shield slightly to feel the wind that had yet to crash into him.

The next second, he spoke:

"In three seconds, fake pressure on the left, real crack at the right rear foot!"

His voice fell.

Lin Jin, Shen Tingxue, and Zhou Heng didn't move immediately.

Three seconds.

For the first time, they truly waited for three seconds.

At the end of the third second, the pressure on the left indeed feinted, and a real rift stabbed out diagonally from the right rear.

Zhou Heng almost instinctively wanted to turn and break the obstacle.

Shen Tingxue was faster than him, however, sealing the crack at the right rear foot with a line of ice first.

Lin Jin crouched down at the same time, lightly tapping the ground with his wrench, twisting the faulty stress at the edge of the crack back by half an inch.

The impact brushed past the trio's formation.

It missed.

Chen Ye's eyes lit up.

"It worked!"

The White Shield Sample stood by the edge of the training ground, its silvery-white giant shield remaining still.

But the temporary school badge on its chest flashed.

[Off-site prediction training record generated]

[Validity: To be verified in combat]

Seeing this, Chen Ye sneered,

"Keep recording then."

The second round began.

This time, the rift warning signs were even more chaotic.

Sweat began to bead on Chen Ye's forehead.

He couldn't rely on his shield face to block it head-on; he could only grasp the next three seconds from the subtle pressure.

"The frontal pressure is fake!"

"In two and a half seconds, diagonal fall from overhead!"

"In three seconds, a second opening will appear under Zhou Heng's feet, don't charge straight ahead!"

Zhou Heng's face darkened.

"I know!"

Three seconds later, a second opening indeed cracked open beneath his feet.

Zhou Heng forced down his instinct to charge forward, driving his Thunder Spear to the side, using a Buffer Barrier-Breaking Nail to turn the crack into a semi-arc.

Shen Tingxue's ice line followed the semi-arc, while Lin Jin repaired the disconnected part from the middle.

The second round passed.

The third round.

The fourth round.

Chen Ye's voice grew increasingly hoarse.

But it also became more and more accurate.

He stopped shouting "dodge."

Instead, he shouted:

"Left three, don't retreat."

"Downward pressure, leave half a step."

"Don't seal the ice completely, Zhou Heng, don't be greedy for a straight line."

"Lin Jin, don't repair the bright ones, repair the dim ones."

Every sentence was like a shield thrown three seconds in advance.

The shield wasn't on the field.

But the judgment was.

An hour later, Qin Shanhe forcibly stopped the training.

Chen Ye sat on the ground, his voice so hoarse he could barely speak.

Lin Jin handed him a bottle of water.

Chen Ye took it, gulped down a large mouthful, and gasped,

"Will this work tomorrow?"

Lin Jin looked at him.

"I don't know."

Chen Ye's face fell.

"Can't you say something nice?"

Shen Tingxue retracted her ice line.

"We can hold out much longer than before."

Zhou Heng hoisted the Thunder Spear back onto his shoulder.

"Provided you don't call it wrong."

Chen Ye rolled his eyes.

"If you don't charge blindly tomorrow, I can cut my mistakes in half."

Qin Shanhe walked over, his expression still solemn.

"Go back and sleep."

"Tomorrow isn't training; it's a bill event."

"What you are winning isn't a course grade, but a definition."

The four of them nodded.

Yet everyone knew they probably wouldn't sleep very soundly tonight.

The next morning.

Outside Dungeon Hall No. 3, three layers of blockades had already been set up.

Academy mentors, Abyss Processing Bureau personnel, and the Department of Education's monitoring panel had all arrived.

This was no ordinary open class.

This was the first detailed event of the White Tower's first-tier cost bill.

At the entrance of the Dungeon Hall, the White Shield Sample was already standing there early.

Its silvery-white giant shield stood by its side, and the temporary school badge clearly read:

[White Tower S-Class Defense Sample-01]

[External Control]

[Must not connect to the squad's Mutual Verification Contract]

Chen Ye seeing these lines, snorted.

"At least it's not called Chen Ye today."

Lin Jin said,

"Don't let your guard down."

"Just because it's not called you doesn't mean it doesn't want to replace you."

Five minutes before the class started, a medical observation pod rose from the side door of the Dungeon Hall.

A white light shone on Chen Ye.

[Protection Role Chen Ye: Pressure Overloaded]

[Will enter the medical observation pod three minutes before the class starts]

[During observation: Cannot hold a shield, cannot enter the dungeon area, cannot provide protection skills]

Chen Ye looked down at his shield.

He fell silent for a moment, then handed the shield to Qin Shanhe.

"Dean, keep an eye on it for me."

Qin Shanhe took the shield, his voice deep.

"It is only temporarily out of your hands."

Chen Ye nodded.

"I know."

The white light fell.

Chen Ye was sent into the medical observation pod.

The transparent walls of the pod closed.

He could see the dungeon area and speak through the voice transmission talisman inside the observation pod.

However, a glaring prompt had already lit up on the voice transmission talisman.

[Off-site protection judgment transmission delay: Three seconds]

Chen Ye raised his hand and pressed it against the pod wall.

Lin Jin, Shen Tingxue, and Zhou Heng stood at the entrance of the field.

The three of them turned back at the same time.

Through the pod wall, Chen Ye grinned.

"Don't get beaten into fools."

Only three seconds later did the words reach the trio's ears.

Zhou Heng said coldly,

"This three-second delay is really annoying."

Shen Tingxue looked toward the center of the field.

"It's starting."

The simulated rift opened.

The grayish-white space was like a torn-open mouth, with layers of impact sounds echoing from within.

The White Shield Sample stood at the edge of the field.

It did not belong to the squad.

But the rules allowed it to provide protection from the sidelines.

[Rule Three: If the squad on the field accepts protection from the White Shield Sample three times, it will be deemed as acknowledging the necessity of a temporary substitute]

[Rule Four: If the squad on the field refuses the sample's protection, they must bear the rift impacts themselves]

[Rule Five: If any member on the field is severely injured, the protection deficit will automatically be established]

The class began.

The moment the first rift lit up, Chen Ye already shouted from the observation pod:

"In three seconds, fake pressure on the left, real crack at the right rear!"

His voice was swallowed by the talisman.

Only three seconds later did it reach the ears of the three on the field.

And at that exact moment, the real crack at the right rear erupted.

Lin Jin and the other two had already been counting the beats in their minds.

The moment they heard the voice, Shen Tingxue's ice line fell, Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear buffered, and Lin Jin repaired the crack.

The first wave of impact missed.

Low gasps of surprise came from the mentor seats off-field.

Chen Ye pumped his fist fiercely inside the observation pod.

"Beautiful!"

Only three seconds later did the three on the field hear this.

Zhou Heng's mouth twitched.

"This praise is really late too."

The second wave was faster.

Chen Ye stared at the rift, his voice hoarse:

"Don't stand on the centerline!"

"The right side of the White Shield will induce the rift to turn, don't go near it!"

Three seconds later, the voice reached the field.

The White Shield Sample had already raised its shield, standing in the position most likely to be hit by the impact.

That was the safest position.

It was also the most tempting position.

As long as Lin Jin and the other two retreated behind its shield, it would count as accepting the sample's protection once.

Hearing the warning, Shen Tingxue sealed off the left without hesitation.

Zhou Heng forced down his instinctive retreat path, his Thunder Spear steering clear of the right side of the White Shield.

Lin Jin darted through the middle, repairing the rift's induction point.

The second wave also passed.

The White Shield Sample finally spoke:

"Refusing protection will increase the probability of injury."

Three seconds later, Chen Ye's voice came through:

"Don't listen to its bullshit either!"

There was a brief silence off-field.

Qin Shanhe cleared his throat.

Inspector Han Su recorded the event expressionlessly.

When the third wave began, the rift suddenly changed.

All warning signs vanished.

The air was abnormally quiet.

In the observation pod, Chen Ye's expression changed.

"Something's wrong."

"This isn't impact buildup."

"It's targeting someone!"

The voice transmission talisman swallowed his voice.

The three-second delay began.

On the field, Lin Jin and the other two had not heard it yet.

At the center of the rift, a white line so thin it was almost invisible had already silently locked onto Lin Jin's toolbox.

The White Shield Sample raised its giant shield and took a step forward.

"Accepting protection is recommended."

"Target: Maintenance Position."

In the observation pod, Chen Ye slammed his hand against the wall, his voice practically screaming:

"Lin Jin! Don't protect the toolbox!"

"What it's really targeting is your hand!"

But these words would only reach the field three seconds later.

And the white line had already fallen.