Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations
The girl sitting behind the desk was of rather average looks, and being called that by Zhou Weiqing, she was rather pleased, and her attitude was extremely nice. “Alright, what’s your name, age, gender… uh, that one isn’t necessary. Also, your field of study and whether or not you are a noble.”
“I’m Zhou Weiqing, 16 years old… uhh… field of study… wait, let me ask.” Turning his head around to Shangguan Bing’er, he asked: “What are we registering as our field of study?”
Shangguan Bing’er was struck speechless by him, sighing in resignation as she replied: “Military Command.”
Zhou Weiqing turned back and said: “Military command. I’m also a Viscount in the Heavenly Bow Empire, does that count as a noble?” His father was after all the Commander-in-Chief of the Heavenly Bow Empire, and he had nothing against nobles; furthermore, it meant lowering the acceptance score.
The girl in charge of registration said apologetically: “I’m sorry, only nobles from the Fei Li Empire are recognized as nobles, for other countries, only the royal family will be considered nobles. Unfortunately, you can only register as commoners.”
A cold light flashed in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, and he said passively: “Commoner it is then.” A sense of humiliation and sorrow welled up in his heart, as a weak country, even their noble status weren’t recognized; this was even in their ally Fei Li Empire. With their country so weak, they weren’t even able to hold their heads up high as citizens. In that very instant, he suddenly understood why his father spent all his time training his soldiers and battling. This was all to strengthen their own country!
Shangguan Bing’er sensed the change in Zhou Weiqing’s emotions, quickly registering as well before they headed into the academy.
“Little Fatty, don’t think so much. We are here for the sake of making our country stronger in the future! We need to endure and tolerate everything, we are here to learn, and once we have grown stronger, only then can we repay our country and strengthen it! Your talent is so high, in the future, you will definitely be able to lead our country into prominence.”
Zhou Weiqing nodded his head, holding Shangguan Bing’er’s hands and said: “Not me, it’s us. No matter where I am, I will not allow you to leave me.”
Shangguan Bing’er saw the resolution in his eyes, and she suddenly realised that, her Little Fatty had somehow changed in that instant, no longer just that Zhou Little Fatty who was joking around all day. With a tremor in her heart, she couldn’t help but think: My Little Fatty has grown up!
The registration point was at the entrance of the Fei Li Imperial Family Military Academy, while the actual examinations were within the academy itself. With the admission identification card in hand, Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er entered the Academy.
As soon as they entered, they saw a wide open main square, just like a drilling ground, and this wide main square was surrounded by a 800 metre long running track. On the other end of the main square, there was a huge 6 story building which was more than 300 metres wide – it was the main academy building. The entire building was a metallic grey colour, giving forth a thick and serious killing aura.
The three registration examinations were all held in the large main square, and the outcome would be determined there and then, as such there were very clear specifications for the new registrees.
Zhou Weiqing looked towards Shangguan Bing’er and asked: “Bing’er, what shall we go for first? Looks like you will not have any problems with the registration examinations, sigh, but I’m not so certain about myself.”
Shangguan Bing’er said curiously: “Why wouldn’t I have any problems?”
Zhou Weiqing said: “Didn’t you see that one of the examinations is a face to face interview? With our Bing’er’s top beauty, that should be a full marks! As for the other two, you can just casually get any marks and you will still pass. Sigh, as for me, with this face of mine, I doubt I will score high. As for the written military examination, I’ll be happy if I do not get 0 marks.”
Shangguan Bing’er giggled, hitting him on his shoulder: “Do not put yourself down, how would you know without trying. Come, let’s try the military examination first then, since you aren’t confident.”
The written examination on military affairs was in the east side of the square, while the personal combat ability examination was on the west. The central portion of the square was where the interviews were held; this would prevent the noise from the combat examination from affecting the written examinations.
As the two of them entered the written examination area, they noticed that there were only a few empty seats left. Someone passed them a copy of the examination, and the teacher in charge told them no communication was allowed as soon as the tests started, and they could hand in their paper after they had finished. At the front, there were over a dozen teachers reading some completed papers. Clearly, the papers would be graded there and then, so the results of the examination could be received as soon as possible.
There were stationary provided on the table, and Zhou Weiqing sat there and looked at the paper, and he was given a pleasant surprise. If the examination were to be on details of military command like the formation of troops, he would definitely score a big zero. After all, in his younger years when his meridians were still blocked and he did not have his Heavenly Jewels Awakened, Admiral Zhou did not hope for him taking over and inheriting his duties. As a result, he had not been taught anything about the military. However, the question in the paper was not about the normal military knowledge, but an example of a battle situation.
The question was as follows: An isolated little city has been surrounded by enemy troops. Currently, there are only 5000 troops guarding the city, and several hundred thousand citizens, with many young and old dependents. The enemy troops number a hundred thousand, and they have completely surrounded the city. Reinforcements can only arrive in at least 3 days. Under such a circumstance, the enemy has driven citizens from the surrounding villages and used them as the vanguard in attacking the city. As the general in charge of the defence of the city, what would you do?
The examination consisted of only this one single question, and the rest of the paper was blank for their answer.
Zhou Weiqing hesitated for a moment, then started writing furiously, his pen flying over the paper. Perhaps because of the constant creation of Consolidating Equipment Scrolls recently, even his handwriting seemed a lot better.
Before long, he had completed a long section of words. He did not even read through it again, instead standing up in satisfaction, looking at Shangguan Bing’er at the side who was still writing, he headed to the front to hand in his paper.
The teachers at the front were busy grading, but since there was only one question, and these teachers were all experienced members of the Fei Li Imperial Family Military Academy, the grading was done pretty quickly. Zhou Weiqing had only queued for a short while before it was his turn.
The teacher who took his paper was a male of around 50 years of age. As soon as he read the first line, his brow furrowed. On Zhou Weiqing’s paper, the first line was: Kill! Kill! Kill!
As the teacher read on, he saw the following: If I were the general of the little city, I would unhesitatingly issue the order to kill. The civilians outside are the citizens of our country, but so are the citizens and troops in the city wall. At this time, any hesitation might cause the city walls to be destroyed, and countless of lives lost. At that point, would the enemy let those civilians they used as the vanguard go? Perhaps they might, but as the general in charge, I cannot take that risk, take the gamble, betting the lives of several hundred other civilians and my thousands of troops.
To defend the city, that is my first duty. The civilians who were forced to become the vanguard are innocent, alas, if I do not kill them, as a soldier, I have failed in my duty. Perhaps, the little city I am guarding is just a small one of no major consequence to the overall picture of the war, but as a general, I cannot think like this. I must do what I can to complete my task of defending the city, and to do so, I will not hesitate to kill and fight with all my might, down to the very last soldier.
If the enemy’s attack isn’t able to destroy the city, then during the night, I will pass on my duties to my vice commander, and go alone out of the city to attack the enemy, to take responsibility and revenge for the civilians outside. I will kill as many as I can. However, before I do so, I will ensure that the city has sufficient fuel and combustibles, and give my vice commander a final command. As soon as the enemy breaks into the city, then light up and burn the whole city, and fight to the death with the enemy. Even if the city is broken and everyone perishes, we will not leave them with a single grain of food, nor leave them with any living humans to use on the next city. Casualties are unavoidable in war, and I can only do the best I can to provide the best possible outcome in the final war. As to regards on how many people will die, I can only do my best to reduce it, but beyond that, I cannot do anything.
Looking at Zhou Weiqing’s answer, the teacher’s face grew ugly, feeling a sense of blood from it, he couldn’t help but cry out angrily: “Nonsense! This is absolute nonsense!”
Looking up at Zhou Weiqing, he said: “This is your ideal answer? I cannot imagine, if you truly become a general, how many people would die because of you. Your answer, gives me the images of mountains of corpses and blood. A general who doesn’t care about life, who can kill and cause destruction and doesn’t care about civilians, such a general would never be loved by the troops and civilians. Aren’t you afraid of a mutiny?”
Zhou Weiqing shrugged and said: “Mutiny? Why would there be one? Couldn’t I tell them those civilians are enemy troops in disguise? If I am the general, my duty is to protect the country, not just those particular civilians. I believe that no general in the world will be able to save every civilian. I do not need their love, I just need to ensure most of them stay alive. There are always sacrifices in war. What, should I have surrendered instead?”
The teacher cried out angrily: “Even surrendering would be better than your answer. No matter what your excuses are, I will give you a zero for this answer. In fact, from my perspective, I definitely do not hope that a young man with a character like yours will enter the academy and eventually go on the battlefield.”
Zhou Weiqing’s lip curled in scorn. “Pedantic fool.” Towards this exam, he had never expected much anyway. Zero, so be it. Besides, as long as he managed to get full marks for another paper, he should be able to pass. He was rather confident in the personal combat ability examination.
Just as the teacher was about to put a zero on the paper, all of a sudden, a clear voice sounded out. “Wait!”
