Chapter 41: Tool Kits

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Tool Kits

The camera quality is crystal clear. Lynn Miller, amused by the class leader’s expression, runs ahead and sings: "Arise, arise, you who refuse to be slaves..."

Renee Morgan follows behind her, singing along.

The camera shakes a bit, taking a while to steady, and in the frame you can see the back of one of the crew members chasing after Renee Morgan, panting hard, clearly struggling.

Renee Morgan slows her pace, her gentle voice tinged with concern: "It’s not live right now, why are you still recording?"

On screen, the PD crew member carrying the camera scratches his head, then replies: "The director said we can use this for a livestream playback."

All the way to the end of the video, the two keep a distance, one ahead, one behind, with nothing remotely intimate going on.

Netizens finish watching, full of questions. They thought Wendy Aldridge’s "they’re about to kiss, right?" would at least show something open to misunderstanding, but this? This is nowhere close to kissing. What is she even talking about?

It’s kind of baffling—could Wendy Aldridge be any more ridiculous?

Wendy Aldridge’s face is pale, her body trembling. She never expected...

The instructor fixes his stare on her, his dark gaze exuding pressure: "Wendy Aldridge, was this what you meant by Renee Morgan and the crew behaving ambiguously?"

Wendy wants to say no—she saw more than just this—but remembers that none of the PD crew filmed all the way to the end that day, they left halfway, all the evidence is traceable, she can’t deny it.

"I... I wasn’t that close, I was far away so I couldn’t see clearly. I thought they... it must have been the angle. Yes, just the angle. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it was my misunderstanding that caused all this trouble." Wendy’s tears flow uncontrollably, her eyes full of innocence and regret.

The truth is out!

Everyone watches Wendy sob like a pitiful flower, but can’t muster any sympathy. This concerns Renee Morgan’s reputation; if not for Miles Yates’s exclusive PD, who happened to capture the scene, the rumors about Renee and the crew being ambiguous might never end. Even if Renee does have a chance to make it big in entertainment, this would become her black history.

The instructor looks at the steadfast Renee Morgan, his gaze cold and composed: "Regarding the self-reflection letter, both your class leader and I are at fault. I failed to supervise properly, so I’ll write a report and accept punishment from the higher-ups."

"Wendy Aldridge will be docked 20 more points, must apologize to you and the crew, and clarify what happened. If you refuse to forgive her, once we return, I’ll help you file a legal suit against her for illegal detention."

Wendy Aldridge never thought it would get so serious. Her face is now paper-white, looking at Renee Morgan with tearful, pleading eyes, praying Renee will have mercy.

Renee is dissatisfied with the instructor’s punishment, but knows the matter must end here. The instructor has essentially shouldered half the blame for Wendy, so if she keeps pushing, she’ll just seem unreasonable—no good comes of it.

"Reporting to instructor, I accept your punishment, but I don’t accept Wendy Aldridge’s apology and I don’t forgive her." Renee Morgan salutes and returns to her squad.

The instructor is silent for a few seconds, then replies: "Alright."

Wendy Aldridge returns to the group, looking utterly lost and dejected. Whenever she looks at Renee, her eyes are filled with apology.

The matter of the reflection letter is settled; the class leader doesn’t return, and the instructor personally hands out the tool kits to everyone.

Zara Chapman and Lionel Lincoln don’t get one. Zara’s a bit desperate: "Instructor, I heard the forest is really dangerous. If we don’t have a tool kit, won’t we get stuck in there?"

The rules said before: you can quit if you can’t hold out, even mid-way, but that’s with a tool kit. Without one, isn’t it super dangerous?

The instructor glances at her indifferently: "You can give up now."

Zara: "..." So cold-blooded?

Once the tool kits are handed out, the group leaves the assembly area. Outside, two Lynx ATVs are parked.

Class One and Class Two each take one; the instructor sits shotgun in Class Two’s vehicle.

As soon as they get in, Lynn Miller starts rummaging through her tool kit, gasping in awe and holding up things she’s never seen, asking Renee Morgan about them.

The instructor, up front, suddenly explains: "There’s a product manual inside the tool kit. Each tool’s function is listed out." He had reminded everyone when handing them out.

Lynn Miller replies "Oh!" and quickly finds a manual, staring in amazement at Renee Morgan: "It really is a military-grade knife. I thought it was just a regular pocket knife."

Renee Morgan is surprised, too, and her expression grows more serious; looks like they’ll have to stay alert in the forest.

While Lynn Miller keeps checking out the kit, the other teammates also open theirs, sparking lively discussion.

Zara Chapman, tool kit-less, feels pretty frustrated as she listens to their chatter. She looks at Wendy Aldridge and says, "Let me see your tool kit."

Wendy Aldridge has just finished with the manual and is curiously sifting through the bag. Hearing Zara’s words, her hands freeze, then she acts like she didn’t hear and keeps searching.

Zara prompts her again, but Wendy clutches her tool kit, turns her back on Zara, and asks Gael Prescott how to use a certain item, completely ignoring her.

Zara is furious; if not for being on the car, she’d definitely confront Wendy about what she means by this.

After memorizing the functions of every tool from the manual, Renee Morgan stops fidgeting with the kit and leans back to rest her eyes.

The dangers in the base’s forest are still unknown, so she needs to save up her energy. She has no illusions about Merrick’s permanent residency or base pass, but her stubborn nature pushes her to always give her all and never back down.

No one knows how long the ride lasts. As Renee Morgan is getting sleepy, she hears Lynn Miller’s excited shouts. Used to this, she just pulls her hat down to cover her face and keeps napping.

Lynn Miller suddenly grabs her arm and shakes her hard: "Morgan, look, look, isn’t that the fight arena? Wow, so many international fighting superstars!"

Renee’s hat falls off, the harsh sunlight making her squint painfully before she adjusts. She turns her head and sees the car pass by a wall lined with giant posters, each featuring an international fighting super-star or legendary figure.

Renee Morgan doesn’t recognize them herself, but the bold banners alongside make it obvious who these people are.

The director’s car zooms past the wall, and they even give the posters a big close-up on camera.