Chen Liu returned to their lodging, his team asleep. He took a cold shower, the chill grounding him after Zhong Yong’s killing. Blood on my hands, no turning back, he thought, then began his nightly cultivation—energy vortex, visualization—until dawn. After a brief nap, he rose at 7:30 AM, noticing Zhang Chong and Yu Na dressed sharply. Big day for Jinghu, he thought, the team’s four-star promotion looming. At the door, he ran into Li Biao, his struggling three-man team on the brink. “Join Jinghu?” Chen Liu offered. Li Biao gaped, “Really?” Zhang Chong smacked his head. “Say yes, idiot!” Li Biao and his teammates eagerly called Chen Liu “Captain,” their relief palpable. Not just for Zhang Chong’s old plea, Chen Liu thought, I need numbers to hold weight in the base. His cold resolve from last night drove him to expand Jinghu swiftly.[^1]
At the crowded service center, the mission’s four squads gathered. The Brothers Squad, once brash, was reduced to Zhang Jun, cowering alone. “Where’s your captain?” Fu Guo’an asked. “Shot dead,” Zhang Jun muttered, shaken. He’s terrified, Chen Liu thought, noting Gao Xiaomei’s fleeting glee. She knows, he suspected, her grudge against Zhong Shan fulfilled. “What’s your plan?” Chen Liu asked Zhang Jun. “I don’t know,” he stammered, revenge unthinkable without a culprit. “Join Jinghu,” Chen Liu said coolly. Zhang Jun’s shock mirrored Li Biao’s. “You want to?” Chen Liu pressed. “Yes!” Zhang Jun nodded frantically, desperate for protection. Gao Xiaomei hesitated, “Captain—” Chen Liu cut her off. “They’re dead. We fought together. Let it go.” She relented, and Zhang Jun sighed, “Captain!” No one suspects me, Chen Liu thought, his merger erasing any link to Zhong Yong’s death.[^2]
Jinghu absorbed Nightingale, Li Biao’s squad, and the Brothers, swelling from four to twelve members, gaining 1,200 contribution points at a 50% transfer rate—enough for four-star status and villa eligibility. Mission rewards from Nightingale and Brothers now funneled to Jinghu, but Chen Liu knew, More power, more responsibility. Fu Guo’an seethed, having eyed the Brothers’ resources—crystals, supplies, points. Chen Liu swooped in, he fumed, calling it “shameless.” If he knew I killed Zhong Yong, he’d choke, Chen Liu thought, his preemptive strike doubling as a cover. Merging Zhang Jun deflected suspicion—who shelters a killer’s ally? Zhao Tinglong’s report on the power plant cleanup awaited reward collection, and Chen Liu, as Jinghu’s leader, anticipated a hefty payout, his cold pragmatism masking a calculating ascent.[^3][^4]