Chapter 476 The Top Ten Who Advanced (Revised) (ps, it has been revised and you can read it with confidence.)

Lei Kuan's voice rang out again, like a boulder thrown into a lake that had just begun to ripple, instantly drawing everyone's attention back.

The silent area in the center of the playground, composed of more than forty eliminated contestants, is like a huge scar, branded on the retinas of every survivor.

They hung their heads, like crops wilted by frost, each back view filled with resentment and desolation.

The once crowded queue has now become sparse, with only ten people standing alone.

These ten people, however, became the focus of the entire event at that moment.

They are survivors.

The ten people in the queue all breathed heavily, their hearts pounding in their chests.

They knew they had stayed, but the ways they stayed varied greatly.

However, their ranking will determine their initial status and influence in this stronghold where the strong are respected.

This is not just about honor, but also about the value they have cultivated with their blood and sweat in this inferno.

“Based on the final ranking…” Lei Kuan paused, his gaze sweeping over the ten pale, tense faces in the queue, before slowly speaking.

"Tenth place, Zhou Zhihui!"

The moment the name was uttered, the entire room fell into a deathly silence, followed by an overwhelming chorus of whispers.

"Who? Is there something wrong with my ears? Zhou Zhihui?" A male soldier picked at his ear in disbelief and turned to ask his comrade next to him.

"Holy crap, did I hear that right? Is that the same guy who used to follow Zhao Yan around like a shadow? The one who got knocked out by Su An with a handful of itching powder during the mountain assessment?"

"She actually made it into the top ten? How did she get in? I didn't even pay much attention to her during the competition, where did she get those points?"

Questions, discussions, and gasps of disbelief merged into a cacophony of noise.

All eyes turned to the figure at the end of the line.

The expressions on everyone's faces in the advancing queue were also quite varied.

Gao Kai frowned deeply, Zhuo Yue looked incredulous, and even the usually composed Jiang Yan showed a hint of surprise in his eyes, clearly this result was beyond his expectations.

Zhou Zhihui herself was also bewildered in the queue.

She stood there dumbfounded, almost thinking she was hallucinating. The gazes around her felt like needles pricking her, making her extremely uncomfortable.

She... ranked tenth?

Did she stay?

A tremendous, overwhelming joy, like being struck by a pie falling from the sky, instantly engulfed her. She instinctively covered her mouth, and tears welled up unexpectedly—unbelievable, ecstatic joy.

She turned her head and looked at Zhang Man at the front of the line with a complicated expression. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Zhang Man didn't turn around, as if she hadn't heard the surrounding discussions or felt Zhou Zhihui's gaze.

Su Tang's gaze swept over Zhou Zhihui indifferently, her heart unmoved.

Zhou Zhihui's ability to stay may seem unexpected, but it was actually inevitable.

This woman lacks ability, but she has one great advantage—she is clever.

Or rather, she was adept at assessing the situation. Like a hyena on the savanna, she never hunted the powerful buffalo head-on, but followed behind the pride of lions, relying on pulling and scavenging, and quietly snatching a piece of meat when others were fighting to the death.

During the second round of assessments, Su Tang caught a glimpse of Zhou Zhihui from afar. Her opponent was a male soldier who was exhausted. Instead of forcing her way in, she circled around him, provoking him with words to wear down his last bit of patience until he slipped up and fell. Only then did she finish him off.

Her strategy is to avoid greed and recklessness, and only pick the safest bargains.

In the face of brutal elimination rules, sometimes, survival is more important than defeating the enemy.

"Ninth place, Zhao Tiejun!"

The name didn't cause much of a stir.

A short but extremely strong male soldier with dark skin suddenly raised his head, his face full of simple surprise.

His fellow villagers and comrades-in-arms immediately pounded his back excitedly, "Tiejun! Well done! You stayed! Remember to treat us when you get back!"

Zhao Tiejun, true to his name, was like an iron ox; strength and endurance were his strengths. His fighting skills were rough, but he was extremely resilient. He scratched his head憨厚ly, grinned, revealing two rows of big white teeth, and chuckled.

For him, being able to stay was a huge victory; he could write letters home and brag about it.

"Eighth place, Liu Landi!"

Liu Landi's body trembled slightly. She raised her head, a glint of light flashing in her eyes. Her clenched fist loosened a little. For her, eighth place was a good ranking.

She subconsciously looked at Su Tang, but the joy in her eyes quickly dimmed and became misty as she thought of Chen Xiaocao, whose life was hanging in the balance in the infirmary.

She stayed, but Little Grass... that silly girl...

Su Tang sensed her emotions and, without making a sound, reached out and gently touched the back of her hand.

Liu Landi was startled and turned to look at Su Tang. Su Tang didn't look at her, her gaze still fixed straight ahead, but the slightly cool touch from her fingertips felt like a silent force, calming her wildly beating heart a little.

"Seventh place, Xu Gaogui!"

"I...I?" Xu Gaogui, who was wearing glasses, swayed, almost thinking he had misheard.

He adjusted his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses gleaming with the ecstatic joy of surviving a catastrophe.

He adjusted his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses gleaming with the ecstatic joy of surviving a catastrophe. He had actually managed to squeeze into a respectable ranking in this monster-infested place, relying solely on theoretical knowledge and tactical analysis!

The surrounding male soldiers also cast surprised glances, but quickly understood. Xu Gaogui might not be good at fighting, but he was certainly intelligent.

In previous assessments, he always managed to use some incredible calculations and tactical planning to help the team avoid risks and get some unexpected scores.

He proved with facts that intelligence is also a part of combat effectiveness.

"Sixth place, Lin Feng!"

A tall, thin male soldier with sharp eyes nodded coldly, his face expressionless.

He was a born assassin, demonstrating exceptional stealth and tracking skills in previous assessments. Like a lone wolf, he was taciturn, but no one dared to underestimate him. This ranking was well-deserved.

"Fifth place, outstanding!"

It was also the popular choice. His outstanding overall strength had consistently placed him among the top performers; calm and decisive, he was Jiang Yan's most capable deputy. He simply let out a calm breath, as if this result had been expected all along.

The atmosphere became increasingly tense at this point.

They're in the top four now.

"Fourth place..." Lei Kuan's voice trailed off. He glanced at the list in his hand, then looked up, his gaze slowly sweeping over the four people at the front of the line. Finally, he read out the name in an almost solemn tone.

"Zhang Man!"

boom--!

If Zhou Zhihui's advancement was a "shock," then Zhang Man's fourth place was a bombshell that exploded in everyone's minds!

Immediately afterwards, a discussion ten times more intense than before erupted!

"She...fourth?"

"What a joke! How could she possibly rank higher than Zhuo Yue and Lin Feng?"

"Where did she come from? How come I've never paid attention to this female soldier before? I only remember her always following behind Qiao Lin and not saying much."

"Cheating! Absolutely cheating! How could she be fourth!"

Fourth place...

This woman, who had always followed Qiao Lin quietly like a little follower, actually climbed to fourth place!

Su Tang turned her gaze to Zhang Man and scrutinized her closely.

She suddenly recalled the scene at the summit during the mountain assessment: Zhang Man's frighteningly calm gaze and her resolute decision to abandon her teammates...

In the dormitory, when Qiao Lin and Zhao Yan got into a fight, she cleverly smoothed things over, clearing herself of any wrongdoing with a simple sentence.

She appears to be Qiao Lin's follower, but in reality, she has been using Qiao Lin's arrogance and foolishness as a cover to hide her own strength.

Her subsequent betrayal of Zhao Yan was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather a plan she had long ago.