Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Du Zhanpeng ignored Du Peng’s and Qin Fen’s existence. At the same time, Qin Fen ignored Du Zhanpeng’s existence. On the other hand, Du Peng, who usually ignored everything else, was a bit interested in Du Zhanpeng’s act.
A strange atmosphere grew in this silent location. The only sound was the crackling of the leaping flame.
Rustle…
The brush of the rain forest was pushed open by someone once more. This time three people jumped out. From their equipment and allocation, it looked like these recruits came from the same place.
The instant the three people appeared, Qin Fen was able to determine that the three people should be at the three-star strength just from the sound they made when they walked. Simply looking at their individual combat strengths and martial strength, they weren’t really that remarkable. However, the way they were coordinated with each other showed that they had clearly undergone training together. Their tacit understanding of each other was out of the norm.
Their way of fighting wasn’t completely based on one’s martial strength. The coordination between these three people was on an extremely deep level of connection with one another. At the same time, their bodies’ martial strengths weren’t weak. Adding it all together, the resulting effects unleashed weren’t as simple as a mere doubling.
If they were to truly meet on the battlefield, Qin Fen would rather face a single fellow four-star martial artist. He was unwilling to face these three three-star martial artists who had a deep level of coordination with one another.
The one who walked in the very front had his eyes flicker with a vigilance akin to that of apes and monkeys. He was the weakest of the three in terms of martial strength.
The recruit in the middle was incomparably quiet. He had a face that looked like everyone owed him a ton of money. He was the strongest of the three based purely on martial strength. From looking at his position and movement, he should be the commander of the three-man team.
The last recruit had a height of over two meters. He exposed a simple and honest smile toward Qin Fen and the three other people by the bonfire. “You guys came so early, man. I really believed that we would be the first to come here.”
“Oh? There’s a girl too?” The one who walks at the front of the three-man team was the first of the team to discover the woman on the tree.
“Snake Head.” The recruit with the simple and honest smile and a height that exceeded two meters made his way to the very front of their team. “This time you discovered her a bit late.”
Snake Head had the responsibility of being in the role of scout in their team. He didn’t retort, instead, he nodded very seriously. “You are right, Big Rock. It’s my bad. Fortunately, this time the training didn’t test actual combat. Otherwise, we would have likely all died. We need to learn a lesson from this before we proceed.”
The person in the middle, who had been silent all this time, patted Snake Head on the shoulder. Snake Head turned and patted his companion on the arm as well. “Mute, there is no need to comfort me. I didn’t discover her, and that is just how things are. There’s nothing for me to lose face of from this.”
Qin Fen held a bowl of mushroom soup, freshly filled. He gave an indication of invitation toward these three people who had just rushed over.
Big Rock, the man with the height of two meters, was the first to get up and arrived by Qin Fen side. Snake Head and Mute came in respective order.
“Thank you. Just so happened to be hungry now.” Snake Head held the bowl of mushroom soup. He first sniffed the soup for a moment, and his eyes immediately lit up. “Seems like all the recruits here in training are skilled! There are so many fungi and shrooms in this, yet none are poisonous. When putting them all together, not only is the smell very good, the food is extremely nutritious. Respect, respect.”
When hearing Snake Head describe the soup in this manner, Big Rock and Mute blew on the steaming mushroom soup. They slurped the food quickly down their throats and into their stomachs.
Qin Fen ladled another bowl for Du Peng. Only then did he ladle a bowl of mushroom soup for himself.
When Qin Fen looked at the three-man team before his eyes, he felt like he was looking at himself and Enzo Rota, and also Lin Liqiang. Such a scene superimposed on the sight before him.
They waited for five hours, and other recruits hurried to this training ground one after another.
They had started with eight people, after these five hours there were now nearly a hundred people.
Some of these people came by themselves, and some of these people came in small teams. The people who arrived later had more fatigued looks on their faces.
The last few batches of people who hurried over not only had expressions that were somewhat fatigued, their bodies even carried some visible and bloodied wounds. It looked like the road they took to get here in a hurry was not peaceful nor safe.
The number of people increased, and the number of people that congregated by Du Zhanpeng side increased as well.
Of the near hundred or so recruits, there were actually nearly 20 of them assembled by Du Zhanpeng side. They were none other than the team with the most power of everyone here.
Big Rock looked at Du Zhanpeng’s influence and was shocked as well. He whispered to his companion, “Snake Head. What’s the background of this person?”
“Du Zhanpeng. He is the son of General Du Yu of the East Asian Military Region.” Snake Head whispered in his explanation an answer. “Ignore the fact that there are quite a few generals and East Asia. Those that possessed true power and authority aren’t many. This Du Yu is one of the generals with true authority. And, it can be said that the Du Family is an influential military family.”
“Du Yu?” Big Rock’s gaze turned a bit doubtful. “General? Never heard of him before.”
Snake Head didn’t explain further. Instead, he asked, “What about Du Hen then?”
“Du Hen?” Big Rock’s eyes rolled in his head. “That’s none other than General Du Hen, who possesses the title of Viper King?”
Snake Head was very satisfied with Big Rock’s response. He slowly nodded his head. “That is right. Viper King Du Hen. Du Yu is none other than that old man’s son. This General keeps more of a low profile. Only someone like me, who is a fan of military matters, will pay attention to this low-key General. This Du Zhanpeng is none other than Du Yu’s son.”
Hearing someone give an introduction to his family background, Du Zhanpeng, who had ignored everyone all this time, somewhat puffed up his chest at this very moment.
In the very initial years of the interstellar migration era, humanity had just truly and completely conquered the moon, living on a huge area of the moon. At the time, the general stationed there conspired to mutiny, seeking to have the moon become an independent nation.
In the end, this mutiny didn’t even last for a month. The Viper King Du Hen eliminated all the troops that were part of the mutiny.
He commanded like a surgeon with his knife. His accurate orders were an enthusiastic discussion of all military fans.
As Du Zhanpeng puffed up his chest, Qin Fen could feel the circulation of blood increase in speed within Du Peng’s body next to him. Du Peng’s callous eyes also gradually radiated with an ominous glow.
The moment Snake Head spoke of Du Hen’s name, Qin Fen could clearly feel an ice-cold killing intent envelope the entirety of Du Peng’s body.
Big Rock was shocked for a moment before recovering to his simple and honest appearance as always. “Oh man! Who cares who he is. I just want to safely complete my service in the military. Then I can go back home and help out my old mom.”
Snake Head smiled. “Yeah, let’s do things well. When you leave the military, having a bit more money to help out your family’s livelihood is quite a decent thing to do.”
Mute, who never said a word, revealed a bit of tenderness on his face.
“Hey, little brats”
The rough roar was like thunder, suddenly exploding in the ears of the near hundred people. Quite a few people who were in the middle of chatting were surprised.
Someone who looked to be approximately forty years old stood atop the short and small building. This person was taller than even Big Rock by around ten centimeters.
Qin Fen visually estimated the body mass of the soldier who had a tough and stocky build. The soldier looked like he weighed a hundred and thirty kilograms at the very least.
His blue eyes swept across each and every recruit. His penetrating gaze caused quite a few people to subconsciously take a step back. Qin Fen and a few others didn’t take a step back, but in their minds, they felt as if a wild beast was looking at them.
“Before you guys came here, I heard that they were sending me only elites. I never thought that…” The middle-aged soldier shook his head, very displeased, “Do they think that this boss’s place is a garbage dump? Oh, they gave me was a group of trash that can’t even be recycled and reused at all!”
Each and every one of the people here were top-notch characters of their respective barracks. They were full of confidence before they came here, but their expressions all turned unsightly when they heard this drill instructor readily call them trash.
Qin Fen gave a bored yawn. Was this sort of psychological warfare via an initial short strength something that each and every drill instructor like to play at least once? Could it be that scolding others as trash would make one appear more useful?
“What is wrong? You don’t believe me?” The drill instructor had a fierce and nasty smile on his face. It possessed a sort of terror that was hard to describe. “Y’all feel that you possess some skill?”
“I don’t accept this! We are not trash!”
The majority of recruits smashed him and his roaring voice. Each and every one of them had true energy circulate at high speeds within their bodies. There were many who had the intent of ganging up and beating up this drill instructor.
“Whether or not you’re trash, your words hold no weight.” The drill instructor pointed at himself. “My words are also not the determining factor!”
The recruits all became puzzled. One of them asked in a low voice, “Then who has the final say?”
The drill instructors shook his fist, which was just a bit smaller than the person’s head. “We are all soldiers. At the same time, we are men! Therefore…”
Boom!
The drill instructor took out a metal box with the circular top from behind him. “There are numbers in here equal to the number of your people. There are two of every single number. Those who draw the same number can discuss with one another whether or not you want to fight with punches or kicks or compete in other military skills. If both sides agree, then the winner out of the contest will remain behind, while the loser will be assigned to the trash group.”
“What happens if neither side is able to reach an agreement on what to compete on?” Of the recruits, someone raised this question which everyone believed to be very constructive.
After all, not all of the people who made it here were amazing in the art of fighting. Some people were good at working in a team. Some people were good at using firearms. Some people were even good at electronic warfare. And some people were perhaps good at piloting mobile armors. Everyone had a different specialty, and choosing one would often leave things unfair to someone else.
“Then you decide by rock paper scissors! People must go with the flow in this world, after all! Sometimes we just get screwed. Everyone knows how to play rock paper scissors, right?” The drill instructor waved his arm. “Just use this to decide, and the victor will have the right to decide what to compete in.”
“Drill Instructor, isn’t this taking things not seriously enough…”
“Nonsense! Luck is also a type of strength!”
When faced with such a hegemonic method, everyone could only agree for the time being.
The drawing of numbers was quickly completed. At this time another recruit yelled out, “Drill Instructor, I want to ask you something. Where are our rooms? I haven’t seen them yet?”
“Your rooms?” The drill instructor looked at the recruit as if he was looking at an idiot. He raised his finger and pointed at the surrounding treetops. “You think you can’t rest in these places? You think you came here for a vacation? There are no buildings here. If you get killed by the bite of a viper in your sleep, then that just serves you right. Okay! Right now go find someone with the same number as you.”
Qin Fen took the number in his hand, fifty-one, and went in circles for quite a while. After comparing his number with everyone else, he actually was unable to find his opponent.
“Kid, you are number fifty?” The drill instructor’s eyes had an excited smile.
Qin Fen looked at the drill instructor’s expression, and he was able to speculate what was going on. He took two steps back and asked, “Is there is only one number fifty-one? Are you my opponent?”
