The next morning.

Zoe Pierce had thought she would wake up early. Maybe it was because she had slept during the first half of the night, but she didn’t sleep well in the latter half. The moment she felt the sunlight on her eyelids, she woke up.

But to her surprise, everyone else was already awake. She was the only one still wrapped in a blanket inside the cave.

They were even busy with their own tasks.

’Good heavens, do they even need to sleep?’

They hadn’t been asleep when she went to bed last night. Now that she was awake, it looked like they had been up for a while.

She let out an involuntary yawn, looked around, and walked over to Chase Shaw. "Need any help?"

The fire at the cave’s entrance had burned down to ash, leaving only a pile of soot.

Chase Shaw had gathered more wood and built a new fire.

A small iron pot was now sitting on top of it.

Zoe Pierce glanced inside. It was full of mush, probably from a can they’d gotten from the supply crate at the checkpoint.

Leaning against a nearby tree, Erin Xavier saw the unappetizing mush and couldn’t help but complain, "What are those old fossils at the academy thinking? They might as well have given us nutrient solution instead of this stuff."

Nutrient solution was so much easier. You just downed it in one go—no need to go to the trouble of building a fire for a hot meal.

The stuff you made with it looked disgusting, the texture was slimy, and they’d be better off eating some fruit.

If this canned stuff didn’t have ingredients to stabilize spiritual power, not even a dog would eat it.

Sometimes, you really had to wonder if the academy was just trying to make them suffer for the sake of suffering.

Stripping them of all technology, from Mechas to nutrient solutions, it was as if they expected them to one day be stranded somewhere without any technological civilization.

Erin Xavier, of course, had no idea his private complaints would one day come true. He glanced at the just-awakened Zoe Pierce. ’If her soothing ability is really that powerful, maybe we don’t need to eat this stuff at all.’

He frowned, considering the possibility.

Chase Shaw saw the curious look on Zoe Pierce’s face and looked up. "Want some?"

Perhaps because he’d held her last night, there was now a deliberate slowness in his speech, and his attitude could even be described as gentle.

Zoe Pierce had heard before that Chase Shaw was the most impatient of the group and had a quick temper, but she wasn’t sensing any of that now.

It was mainly that when Chase Shaw spoke, his voice was distinctive—a smoky rasp that perfectly matched his pheromones. The slight pauses made it sound completely different.

Last night, under the pressure of his killing intent and volatile spiritual power, Zoe Pierce hadn’t noticed anything special about his voice. But now, in the light of day, the bloodstains were gone from his body.

His expression was relaxed as he sat with his legs casually apart, the sharp lines of his features softened, giving him a wild, unrestrained air.

So different from last night.

Noticing Chase Shaw’s gaze fixed on her face, Zoe Pierce quickly said, "I might have had it before... I forgot..."

Chase Shaw grunted in acknowledgment.

’Miles had mentioned something about it before, but he hadn’t paid it any mind.’

He looked at the steaming mush, picked up a bowl roughly carved from wood, and filled it halfway before handing it to Zoe Pierce.

Nothing made you happier than a hot meal in the morning. Zoe Pierce smiled at Chase Shaw instinctively.

Erin Xavier watched as Zoe Pierce cautiously took a bite.

She was indeed being cautious. After all, she’d never had it before, and it didn’t look very appetizing.

But once she tasted it, it was no different from plain congee.

It just lacked the aroma of rice and was much thicker. It wasn’t exactly delicious, but it wasn’t completely inedible either.

Her gaze fell on something near Erin Xavier’s feet. She suddenly set her bowl aside and walked toward him.

Erin Xavier narrowed his eyes, about to demand what she was doing, when he saw Zoe Pierce grab a handful of weeds from beside his feet and trot back.

She presented it to Chase Shaw as if offering a treasure. "Adding this should make it taste better."

’Who would dare add some random herb like that?’ Erin Xavier looked toward Nathan Lockwood. When it came to herbs, Nathan was the expert.

As soon as Nathan Lockwood walked over, Zoe Pierce held out the handful of weeds for him to see.

’She wasn’t trying to poison anyone; she had to eat it too, after all.’

Zoe Pierce couldn’t speak for other herbs, but she clearly remembered this one. Although it looked nothing like a sugar beet, it was actually very sweet, especially after being steeped in hot water, which would draw out all its flavor.

Nathan Lockwood examined it for a moment and said, "Sweetroot. It can be used for flavoring."

Zoe Pierce immediately shot him an I-told-you-so look.

After rinsing the sweetroot and putting it in the congee-like mush, it instantly tasted like hot porridge with sugar.

It was both satisfying and comforting.

Zoe Pierce drank the entire bowl, a satisfied smile appearing on her face when she was finished.

After they ate, Miles Sherman began to assign tasks. The squad was assembled; they needed to start eliminating people from other teams.

"We need to split into two groups. One will stay here on guard, and the other will come with me to eliminate the others."

Without a doubt, as the Omega, Zoe Pierce was assigned to stay behind. Obviously, an Alpha would have to stay with her today as well.

"I’ll stay." Nathan Lockwood spoke up as soon as Miles Sherman said someone had to remain.

Miles Sherman glanced at Nathan Lockwood, who was being a little too eager to volunteer.

Normally, after doing this kind of Omega-guarding duty once, he would always pass it off to someone else.

But in terms of reliability for the whole squad, Nathan Lockwood was clearly the most dependable compared to the other two.

Miles Sherman agreed on the spot.

"All right. You and Zoe Pierce will stay. Chase, Erin, you’re with me."

Once the teams were decided, Miles and the others quickly cleaned up the leftovers from their meal, and the three of them headed into the woods. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The dense forest was still shrouded in a light mist. Dewdrops clung to the leaves of the undergrowth, giving off a faint vapor.

"Miles, don’t you think this is too weird?" Erin Xavier spoke first as the three of them strolled along, extending their spiritual power to scout ahead. "Usually, Nathan is the one who does this kind of scouting work, right?"

After all, Nathan Lockwood’s spiritual power was stronger for scouting than any of theirs. There’s never been an exception.

"Why would he volunteer to stay behind with Zoe Pierce?" ’Has he really fallen for her?’

He admitted that Zoe Pierce was a bit better-looking than most, but Nathan Lockwood wasn’t the type to be blinded by lust.

"I just feel like something’s off."

Here it comes. No one knew why Erin Xavier, whose spiritual power didn’t specialize in sensitivity, always had a sixth sense so sharp it was almost uncanny.

Whenever he said something like that, there was bound to be something wrong.

Chase Shaw’s eyebrows twitched.

"How about..." Erin Xavier began with a sly grin. "We pull a fast one and double back to see what they’re up to?"

He was the type who just loved to stir up trouble.

"I think they’re hiding something from us."