For the next ten-plus minutes of the journey, the bus remained utterly silent, even shrouded in the unintentional gloom cast by the children’s anxious faces.

With a creak, the bus stopped in a mountain hollow—the destination had been reached.

“Off the bus! Off the bus!” The male officer banged on the door, herding all twenty-four children out.

The children crowded together after getting off, their terrified eyes staring at the two officers.

“See that rainforest?” The male officer pointed to the subtropical rainforest to the west and shouted at the twenty-four children, “Now listen carefully to what I say. If you don’t pay attention and go the wrong way, I guarantee you’ll be torn to pieces by hungry wolves.”

The children nodded desperately, craning their necks to listen.

“Follow the direction of my finger, go straight ahead and you’ll see two huge rocks. Go between the rocks and keep walking forward until you’ve passed through. It’s very simple, right?”

“Awooo…”

Just then, a chilling wolf howl echoed from the western rainforest, making everyone’s skin crawl in terror.

Some children had already started crying, calling for their mothers.

The female officer began handing out equipment: each child received a military knife.

The twenty-four children gripped the heavy knives with both hands, each reacting differently.

“All right, go on now, and don’t get sent home!” The male officer waved with a smile, then jumped back onto the bus with the female officer.

The bus started up, turned around, and drove back the way it had come.

“Waaah…” One child burst into loud sobs, threw down the knife, and ran after the bus with all his might, legs pumping: “I want to go home, I don’t want to be wolf food here, waaaah…”

One child’s crying and chasing after the bus immediately set off two, three, four more…

The sound of crying filled the air, and knives were scattered all over the ground.

Baby Duke squatted down, stuck her knife into the ground, put her right foot on the handle, rolled up both sleeves, and put her hands on her hips.

“No one is allowed to cry!”

“No crying!”

Two voices rang out at the same time—one was Baby Duke, the other was the tall child.

Baby Duke glared at the other child, her face full of defiance.

The other child’s gaze lingered on Baby Duke’s face for a moment, radiating intense hostility.

He raised his knife and said in a deep voice, “If you don’t want to be sent back as a failure, you can only move forward. My name is Arthur Blake, I’ve had military training since I was little. Who wants to come with me?”

“My name is Baby Duke, I’ve never lost a fight since I was little, everyone follow me!” Baby Duke lifted her chin and shouted proudly, “I’ve even killed chickens—five hundred and thirty-two of them!”

At a moment when fear was spreading, what was needed most was someone to rally everyone together to resist the onslaught of terror. Anyone who could do that definitely had leadership qualities. Even though these were just children, their innocence made their true natures all the more apparent.

With two people stepping up at once, the group immediately found its backbone. Ten children gathered around Arthur Blake, while only six went to Baby Duke, including Edward Baldwin: four girls and one boy.

“Let’s go!” Arthur Blake pointed his knife toward the western rainforest.

A group of children followed behind him, hefting their heavy knives as they marched off.

Baby Duke stomped her foot in frustration—she had fewer people than Arthur Blake, which made her very unhappy.

“You guys!” Baby Duke angrily pointed at the children who were still crying and too scared to move, and threatened arrogantly, “My grandpa is a general, my dad is a lieutenant general, my uncle is a provincial governor, and my mom is a company president. If you don’t come with me, I’ll have my grandpa arrest all your parents!”

After this round of threats, a few crying children wiped their tears and obediently stood by Baby Duke. But there were still two children sitting on the ground, crying uncontrollably, too scared to move.

“Looking for a beating!” Baby Duke puffed out her cheeks, rolled her sleeves up even higher, and shouted, “Edward Baldwin, beat them up for me!”

Edward Baldwin looked at the two crying children, then at Baby Duke, and asked very seriously, “Baby Duke, do you actually want to be friends with me or not?”

This question had been bothering Edward Baldwin, because he considered Baby Duke a friend, but Baby Duke hadn’t said she wanted to be friends yet.

“Of course!” Baby Duke kicked Edward Baldwin and said fiercely, “Help me beat them up!”

“But I don’t know how to fight,” Edward Baldwin replied honestly.

At that moment, a boy nearby rushed over and started punching and kicking the two crying children, forcing them to join Baby Duke’s group.

Under both psychological and physical threats, Baby Duke proudly swung her little arms and skipped off toward the rainforest with the rest: she now had twelve people, while Arthur Blake had only ten.

Chapter 0009: Born Leader

The Ten-Thousand Mountains belong to the subtropical rainforest biome, with high temperatures year-round and an average annual temperature above 20°C. Seasonal changes in prevailing winds are pronounced. During the summer half of the year, the area is dominated by equatorial air masses, bringing abundant rainfall and forming a rainy season. The climate is similar to that of tropical rainforests.

The rainforest contains roughly 15,000 species of plants, over five hundred species of mammals, and more than 1,300 species of birds. As for insects and reptiles, their numbers are simply beyond counting.