Chapter 80

The first rain of June came unexpectedly. Two days ago, the sky was clear and sunny, but by the evening of the day before yesterday, dark clouds had gathered, and a torrential downpour began. It didn't stop, continuing from the night before last until last night.

Because it rained all day yesterday, most of the trial students chose to stay in their bases. The brothers of the Airplane Brotherhood also spent the day in their treehouse, not going anywhere. Barry, for some reason, found a deck of cards, and the guys spent the whole day playing cards in the treehouse. Surprisingly, it felt quite pleasant. Outside, the rain poured heavily, but inside the treehouse, there was a different kind of warmth and happiness. In the valley, the only sound was the raindrops hitting the leaves; all the insects and birds had hidden away, and the usual chirping and singing were nowhere to be heard. In such weather, the animals all hid, making hunting less effective, so everyone was happy to have a day off.

This was the eighth day of the survival trial, and the heavens had given everyone a day off with the rain...

In these eight days, the treehouse base had changed significantly. The original three-story space had been expanded a bit during the evenings when everyone was bored or when there was no firewood to burn. Each person's sleeping area had become more spacious. The entrances to the upper and lower treeholes were now covered with bamboo curtains, which the group had traded for food at the square from a group of girls. Additionally, they found some old tree vines and spent a night weaving a simple vine ladder for everyone to use to go up and down. In the newly expanded areas, they left a few spots the size of flower pots, dug small holes, and transplanted some soil and wildflowers and green plants from the valley, making the treehouse more lively.

Below the treehouse, the guys from the Airplane Brotherhood dug a small pond about two square meters in size, lined the bottom with pebbles and river stones, and dug a small ditch about thirty meters long. They cut several bamboo poles, split them in half, hollowed them out, and placed them in the ditch to create a mini water diversion system. They then started raising fish in the pond.

Although the pond they dug on the ground was lined with stones and could still seep water, the continuous flow of new water kept the water level at more than fifty centimeters, enough for a group of fish to thrive.

After these renovations, the treehouse base had completely transformed. A few days ago, Barry and the others successfully invited a group of girls to visit the treehouse base for a fish barbecue. The unique charm of the treehouse base greatly surprised the girls, who were very excited and toured the three-story treehouse. After the girls spread the word, the treehouse base of the Airplane Brotherhood became well-known among the girls in the Wild Wolf Castle. Many girls knew that a few boys lived in the treeholes of a big tree and raised fish under the tree. If invited to visit, they could enjoy delicious fish soup and fresh grilled fish. The boys seemed very capable, able to hunt other wild animals besides fish. In short, besides being fun, the treehouse base always had an abundance of food, and the boys never returned empty-handed from their hunts...

The reason the Airplane Brotherhood never returned empty-handed was the traps that Zhang Tie taught them to dig. In recent days, with the group's hard work, Barry and the others had dug two six-meter-deep traps within one to five kilometers of the treehouse. These two traps, along with the fish-catching trap set by Zhang Tie and other small traps made of branches and stones for small prey, greatly improved the group's life. On the sixth day, the first pit trap they set, using a pile of stinky fish guts as bait, successfully captured a wild wolf. The wild wolf that fell into the trap became the target of "Iron Gate - t21" and died a very miserable death. On that day, the Airplane Brotherhood ate their first grilled wolf meat and obtained their first wolf skin in the trial. This success made everyone experience the joy of using traps. If it hadn't rained, the Airplane Brotherhood would have already finished digging their third deep pit trap.

The first trap's success and the growing fame of the treehouse made the guys from the Airplane Brotherhood more active in inviting girls to the Wild Wolf Castle. In recent days, some lucky guys had successfully formed teams with girls for the trial. The girls in these teams were free to act as they pleased, except that they still had to return to the Wild Wolf Castle every night. This news made some boys work even harder, and the hunting range of many trial teams gradually extended deeper into the Wild Wolf Valley, where the beasts truly thrived. The prey brought back by these advancing teams gradually became more advanced.

The Wild Wolf Valley was naturally the domain of the wolf clan. According to the most common animal classification standards, even within the wolf clan, there were many different types and levels of wolves. The most common were wild wolves, which were no different from the wild wolves before the Great Catastrophe. In the most common animal classification, these wild wolves were called zero-level creatures, with combat power roughly equivalent to human combat workers. Above the wild wolves, the creatures that reached the first-level standard were the giant wolves, which had undergone a mutation and evolution in size after the Great Catastrophe. Giant wolves were much larger than ordinary wild wolves and had stronger and more agile attack and reaction abilities. Above the giant wolves, the creatures that had undergone another mutation and evolution and reached the second-level standard were the golden wolves. Golden wolves were even larger than giant wolves, with fur that was a magnificent golden yellow. It was said that an adult golden wolf could easily take down three human first-level combat soldiers. Above the golden wolves were the third-level blood wolves and the even rarer fourth-level shadow wolves. Fourth-level was the highest level of all the beasts and magical creatures discovered in the Wild Wolf Valley in the past few decades. In the past ten years, there had been very few sightings of creatures above the second level in the Wild Wolf Valley. If not for this, the place would not have been chosen as the trial base for the students of Black Flame City.

It was said that the reason no magical creatures above the fourth level appeared in the Wild Wolf Valley was due to the nest of gold-eating pythons that once inhabited the area. Even though these pythons had been killed, the aura of high-level creatures still lingered in the valley. The higher the level of the beast or magical creature, the more sensitive they were to this aura, and the more they avoided it. This was the most authoritative explanation Zhang Tie had heard in the past two days about why no magical creatures above the fourth level appeared in the Wild Wolf Valley.

On the sixth day of the trial, the day before the rain, a hunting team led by Bulvik from the Seventh Middle School successfully hunted four giant wolves. This was the first time students had hunted first-level magical creatures in the trial, and they managed to get four at once. Bulvik once again caused a sensation in the Wild Wolf Castle, and many girls' clubs and trial teams proposed teaming up with him. Compared to the misfortune of Gris in the past two days, Bulvik was basking in glory.

A week into the trial, the outstanding individuals from the various schools began to stand out and shine.

When Bulvik captured the giant wolves, another boy from another school, the one Zhang Tie and the others had mentioned who used a bow, had already earned the name "Archer Bruce." Compared to Bulvik's achievements through teamwork, Archer Bruce climbed a tree alone and used his bow to take down two giant wolves. Bruce's lone-wolf, hero-like actions seemed to touch the hearts of many girls, and "Archer Bruce" became the prince charming in the hearts of all the girls in the trial.

Of course, there were more than just these two outstanding individuals among the four schools...

The iron smelting workshop in the Wild Wolf Castle was always busy, with smoke billowing 24 hours a day. The knives, swords, and production tools produced in the workshop were already being sold in the Wild Wolf Castle. It was said that someone had already started making molds for the first steam engine in the workshop.

There were also powerful individuals in the two girls' schools. It was said that some girls had shown exceptional plant identification and affinity skills, easily discovering hundreds of pounds of buried yams. Others demonstrated high-level administrative and management skills, organizing the inner castle of the Wild Wolf Castle efficiently. Still, others, showing no less courage than men, had already gone out hunting as first-level combat soldiers with a few partners, thoroughly embarrassing a bunch of men who were still combat workers.

These gradually emerging elites were making the trial increasingly exciting.

Compared to these shining stars, Zhang Tie's tragic mining career seemed to have just begun. Two days ago, he and his brothers went to dig traps, and yesterday, they rested because of the rain. According to the rules, if Zhang Tie did not submit more than 300 kilograms of iron ore today, he would no longer be able to continue as a miner.

So, as soon as the rain stopped last night, early this morning, with the silent mourning and sympathy of his brothers, Zhang Tie, like a resigned slave, checked his tools, silently shouldered the ugly mining basket, and set out on his journey.

"Truly tragic!" the brothers sighed as they watched Zhang Tie's back...