?Chapter 1328:


    Michael clicked his tongue again.


    Meanwhile, the moment they left the site, Moss started grumbling. “The captain is so damn harsh. We barely had enough to eat, and now he’s taken even more?”


    “This ce is nothing but traps,” Riley muttered with a sigh. “I really miss home.”


    The rest joined in with collective sighs of their own.


    Of them all, Trent had managed to hang on to the most food.


    Remembering what Trent had said earlier, Cade asked with curiosity, “Trent, how’d you know it was a trap?”


    “Something about Michael’s words didn’t sit right,” Trent said slowly, his gaze sharp and discerning. “All the time we’ve been here, have you ever seen Ellis’s soft spot?”


    Expecting sympathy from that man was nothing short of delusion.


    “Should’ve listened to Freya,” Greta groaned, clearly regretting her earlier decision, now worrying over how they’d make it through.


    Moss pressed her for more. “What do you mean?”


    “She said she thought it was a trap. Riley and I didn’t believe her,” Greta said with a sigh. “We should’ve listened.”


    “Even if we hadn’t taken anything from Michael, Ellis would’ve just found some other excuse to take our food,” Freya guessed aloud.


    Trent nodded. “Exactly.”


    The others stared at him, confused, and asked, “Why?”


    “This whole exercise is about surviving in the wild,” Trent exined calmly. “I’m guessing he only meant to give us enough food and water for one day right from the start. After that, we’re on our own.”


    The realization hit like a punch to the gut. Everyone’s morale instantly sank. Greta and Moss vented all their frustrations out on Ellis. They had no idea that inside the rest tent, Michael and Ellis heard every single word.


    Michael let out a softugh. “Freya and Trent really have you figured out.”


    “Knowing too much just makes them harder to deceive,” Ellis murmured, eyes fixed on the screen in front of him, already calcting his next move.


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    “Don’t push them too far,” Michael said, his tone gentler. “What if they break down mentally?”


    “They’ll adapt after breaking a few more times,” Ellis replied with cold indifference.


    Michael’s lips twitched. Heartless. Absolutely heartless. He couldn’t help but mutter, “Good thing we were team members back then. If I hadn’t, I can’t imagine how badly you would’ve tricked me.”


    Ellis repliedzily, his voiceced with amusement born of their long-standing closeness, “Better to get conned by me than be chewed up out in the real world.”


    Michael fell silent again. He wanted to argue—but couldn’t. The logic was too solid.


    Ellis’s recruits were clearly in a league of their own. Like him, they were cunning, always setting traps whether in missions or training drills, and it was precisely why his squad consistently came out on top.


    More importantly, as Ellis had always said, being tricked and ambushed again and again during training built up a kind of mental resilience far beyond that of any other team.


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