Chapter 86

Jerome, who was investigating the accident on-site, walked through the path cleared by the students and approached the scene. Every year, there are casualties during the students' survival trials. As organizers of the trial, the temporary supervisory committee is not responsible for the students' injuries or deaths, but they still need to provide an explanation to the school and the students' parents. All students who die unexpectedly during the trial must have an accident investigation report jointly issued by seven teachers from the three schools of the temporary supervisory committee. This is a bureaucratic but necessary process, as human lives are at stake. Although the teachers and instructors are not responsible, they must inform the students' families of how their children died.

After the news of Zhang Tie's accident reached the Wild Wolf Castle, Captain Collin and Jerome, along with six other teachers and instructors, arrived at the scene to investigate.

Jerome, the most skilled at analyzing clues, walked back and forth from where Zhang Tie had dropped his mining basket to the edge of this dark hole. He even squatted in the grass where the wild wolves had been lying in wait for a long time. Finally, Jerome returned with a strange look on his face.

"How is it, Jerome?" Captain Collin's face was slightly dark. He remembered Zhang Tie, one of the few graduates who had left an impression on him. He never thought this guy would be the one to have an accident, which made Captain Collin feel uneasy. Zhang Tie's death reminded him of the days when familiar comrades and friends would often leave the world after a battle. This made Captain Collin's mood worse.

"Scary, very scary..." Jerome's face was very serious.

"Of course it's scary to encounter such an incident. There hasn't been a group of wild wolves attacking trial students within five kilometers of Wild Wolf Castle for over a decade. During non-trial periods, the castle's garrison often sweeps the area, scaring the wolves away. I wonder why a group of wild wolves appeared so close to the castle this time?" A female teacher looked at the two wolf corpses on the ground and shook her head slightly. "It's a pity. Judging from the wounds on these two wolf corpses and the accounts of the eyewitness students, this student named Zhang Tie seems to be a promising talent. He was brave, decisive, and smart, capable of taking down three wolves alone. His strength ranks among the top among his peers..."

"I'm not saying the incident is scary, I'm saying this student named Zhang Tie is scary..." Jerome shook his head.

Jerome's words drew the attention of all the teachers.

"What's so scary about this student?" a teacher asked.

Jerome smiled faintly and did not answer the question. Instead, he turned to Captain Collin, "How does this student named Zhang Tie usually perform in school? Is he one of the recommended students this year?"

"This student's performance in school is quite ordinary. Over the past three years, he hasn't stood out much. He's just a bit clever and has a good mind... He has a decent personality..." Captain Collin frowned slightly. Although he was a bit uncomfortable with Jerome's way of speaking, he answered truthfully, "By the way, this guy is also good at running away and looking out for himself. As for the recommended student, this year, the most favored candidates for our school's recommendation are Griss and a student named Bulvik. This student's performance in school doesn't meet the requirements for a recommended student. Jerome, why are you asking such a question? And what do you mean by saying this student is scary?"

"Such a person isn't even your school's recommended student?" Jerome looked at Captain Collin in surprise and then laughed, "You didn't even recognize such an outstanding individual. I carefully examined the area from the grass to this hole and calculated it in my mind. Do you know what I found?"

"What?"

"That student decided to jump into this deep hole to save his life the moment he saw the seven wolves emerge from the grass?"

"Is that strange?" A teacher asked, puzzled, "I don't see anything strange here. Running away when encountering wolves is a human instinct when one's strength is insufficient..."

"Of course it's strange..." Jerome said calmly, "Running away when in danger is a human instinct, but knowing how to run away in danger is what's scary. This hole is about two hundred meters from where he encountered the wolves, and it's the only place in the surrounding terrain within that distance that could give him a chance to escape the wolves. Many people in that situation would run towards Wild Wolf Castle or where there are more people, but this guy ran towards this hole and chose the optimal escape route. That's what makes him scary. In the moment he decided to run, he had already calculated all the possibilities of running in every direction, even the time it would take for the wolves to catch up and the distance he could run in that time..."

Seeing that some people still didn't understand, Jerome used a branch to draw a point on the ground, "This point is where Zhang Tie encountered the wolf pack..." He then drew a circle around the point, "This is the maximum radius he could run before the wolves caught up, about two hundred meters..." After drawing the circle, Jerome pointed to a spot on the edge of the circle, "This is the hole, where we are now. This is the only place within this circle that could allow him to escape the wolves. In any other spot within this circle, he would have been torn to pieces by the wolves. That's why I say this student named Zhang Tie is scary. In that moment, with so many possibilities, he could find the only one that might save him. This kind of sharp judgment in danger and this ability to escape is truly terrifying!"

This time, everyone understood. Looking at the two points within the circle Jerome had drawn, everyone felt a slight shock. As Jerome said, from that central point, there were countless possibilities of running and being caught by the wolves, but among those countless possibilities, there was only one that offered a glimmer of hope.

"Could this be a coincidence?" a teacher hesitated, such quick judgment in danger is something many teachers might not even be able to do, let alone a student.

"Don't forget, according to the students, this guy was carrying a mining pick when he ran away..."

"What does that prove? Carrying a weapon when running from wolves isn't an instinct?"

"His weapon is a dagger, not a mining pick. The mining pick is a burden when running. The only reason he carried the mining pick was to use it to save himself when he jumped into the hole. The hole dug by the gold-eating python can't be completely vertical. As soon as the slope decreases, he could use the mining pick to slow his descent..."

"So, Zhang Tie might still be alive?" Captain Collin's mouth opened wide. He looked at the hole and then at Jerome, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"Such a person is hard to kill in my experience. Their resilience is stronger than a cockroach's!"

"I'm going down!" Captain Collin said.

"Wait for the rope from the castle. I'll go down with you..." Jerome rubbed his chin, curious about Zhang Tie. A student who could remain calm and find a way to survive in such a desperate situation was extremely rare.

The rope from Wild Wolf Castle arrived quickly. Over twenty students and teachers carried the rope, which was a standard strong rope purchased by the Black Flame City military. The rope, as thick as a thumb, was both slip-resistant and wear-resistant, capable of holding up to two tons. When connected, the ropes were over four hundred meters long.

"This is the longest rope Wild Wolf Castle can provide. No one knows how deep the hole dug by the gold-eating python is. If we don't find him within the length of the rope, we'll be helpless!" Jerome said to Captain Collin.

Captain Collin nodded, "If that happens, it's just bad luck for the guy. We'll do our best. I can't leave a student to fall into a hole without checking."

After securing one end of the rope to a boulder over twenty meters from the hole, Captain Collin and Jerome each attached a safety clip to the rope and took a green phosphorescent stick. They then jumped into the dark hole one after the other...

In the potentially bottomless hole dug by the gold-eating python, no one dared to be careless.

As the two people jumped into the hole, the students watching around them let out a gasp of surprise...

When they descended about twenty meters, the only light in the hole came from the phosphorescent sticks in Captain Collin and Jerome's hands. Using the high-quality phosphorescent stick, Jerome closely examined the walls of the hole. When the first buffer and bend appeared, Jerome's spirits lifted. He pointed to a fresh mark on the wall. The walls of the hole dug by the gold-eating python had strange spiral patterns. A straight scratch among these patterns was very noticeable, and its freshness was easy to identify.

"This is the point where the mining pick landed, and this is the scratch it made. See, that guy named Zhang Tie really used the mining pick to save himself. His mind is terrifying..." Confirming his hypothesis, Jerome's eyes sparkled, and his interest in Zhang Tie increased even more.

Captain Collin was also very excited. He never thought this guy was not only brave in words but also skilled in escaping.

Seeing the scratch, the two men's spirits lifted, and they continued to slide down the rope. The scratches on the walls were almost continuous, deep and shallow, like road signs. Although there were some forks in the hole, the two men followed the scratches all the way to where Zhang Tie had fallen...

The people at the hole's entrance couldn't see inside, but they watched the rope being swallowed by the gaping hole, 20 meters—30 meters—50 meters—80 meters—100 meters—120 meters—150 meters—170 meters—

The mood of the people above grew heavier as the rope descended. At such a depth, how could Zhang Tie still be alive?

The rope finally stopped at 190 meters. After a few minutes, according to the agreed signal, the rope was pulled three times, and the people above started to pull it up. The rope went down slowly, but pulling it up was much faster, especially for experts like Captain Collin and Jerome. With just a little leverage, they could climb up without any trouble...

A few minutes later, as the rope was almost fully pulled back, a long howl came from the hole, and Captain Collin and Jerome emerged like two large birds. As soon as Captain Collin landed, everyone's attention focused on the figure tied to his back.

"Zhang Tie is alive, he's just unconscious..."

Captain Collin shouted excitedly. In the crowd, the members of the Airplane Brotherhood almost jumped up, and everyone watching cheered. To everyone, it was like witnessing a miracle. A guy falling into a nearly two-hundred-meter-deep hole and still being alive was simply incredible...

With a "snap," Jerome dropped the wolf corpse and the mining pick on the ground. Everyone realized that this guy not only had a resilience stronger than a cockroach's but was also very capable, having taken down three wolves alone...

The wolf on the ground was limp, like a child's toy. Jerome rubbed his chin, thinking that Zhang Tie was even more impressive than he imagined. Not only did he think to use the mining pick to save himself when falling into the hole, but he also used the wolf's body as a buffer to protect himself. Without the wolf's body, Zhang Tie's bones would have been broken. Now, except for some injuries and bruises, he was unharmed, which was a miracle. Such a student was extremely rare...

While everyone was cheering, two people at the edge of the crowd, upon hearing that Zhang Tie was fine, not only didn't show happiness but instead changed their expressions and quietly slipped away.

Because Zhang Tie was still injured and unconscious, Captain Collin decided to take him back to Wild Wolf Castle.

What Captain Collin saw in the hole made him look at Zhang Tie with new eyes. He asked himself, if he had been in Zhang Tie's position at the same age, he would have been dead for sure. It was amazing that Zhang Tie thought to carry the mining pick when running away. Without the mining pick to slow his descent, his bones would have been shattered at the end of the over one-hundred-meter-long slope.

From the moment Zhang Tie was rescued and declared alive, Jerome quietly observed the people around the perimeter. When he noticed two people quietly leaving during the cheering, Jerome's eyes narrowed, and he memorized their backs...

...

Half an hour later, in a cave far from the scene where Griss and his group were staying, when they heard the news and the details from Zahir and Ganier, everyone was stunned.

"You mean Zhang Tie is still alive? How is that possible? Even if the wolves didn't kill him, how could he survive a fall into a several-hundred-meter-deep hole? Is this guy made of iron?" Sharron exclaimed.

"Everyone saw it. Captain Collin and the teacher named Jerome personally went down the hole and brought Zhang Tie up. The rope they used was about two hundred meters long before they finally pulled him up..." Zahir said, still shaken, "That guy has too much luck. I don't know how he survived such a deep fall."

"Damn it!" Griss, thinking of the effort he had put into setting up this trap and still failing to kill such an ordinary guy, became angry, "Zahir, what do we do now? Can we try to kill him again?"

Zahir's face turned slightly pale, "This incident has already attracted the attention of the temporary supervisory committee. If our actions are discovered, we won't have a good outcome. I also feel that the teacher named Jerome, who was investigating the scene, noticed something. If we make another move against Zhang Tie now, it would be too obvious and dangerous..."

"Do you mean we just let it go?" Griss asked, unwillingly. Thinking of the two times he had been humiliated by Zhang Tie, he felt it was a great disgrace.

"For now, that's the only option. Zhang Tie is too noticeable now. This incident can serve as a lesson for him. As long as you reach the third-level warrior and get the school's recommendation, we can deal with him when we return to Black Flame City. Taking such a big risk for him now would be a loss,"

Despite Griss's reluctance, he had to agree with Zahir, "Alright, let him live a few more days. We'll deal with him when we return to Black Flame City..."

This failure to kill Zhang Tie made Griss wary of him, a person he had never taken seriously. But he comforted himself, thinking that Zhang Tie would never catch up to him. His father was right; in this world, strength and power are supreme. As long as he always had the power to overwhelm Zhang Tie and make him despair, he could deal with him however he wanted one day.

---

5200-word chapter delivered. There's another chapter coming. Thank you for your support!