Chapter Ninety-Four: A Show of Force

By ten in the morning, the speeches were finally over. In the meantime, three students, unable to endure that perverse sunbath, were honorably sent to the infirmary to rest. Fortunately, those “heroes” had appeared; otherwise, who knew how long that bunch would have gone on talking.

The instructor turned around, and Dragon Soar finally got a clear look at him: thick brows, large eyes, not especially tall, but with a sharp, formidable look that made it obvious he was no easy man to deal with. Because he wore a cap, his head could not be seen. If there was anything distinctive about him at all, it was this: beneath his nose was a bright red mole, and no one could tell whether it was truly a mole or just a pimple. From Dragon Soar’s experience, though, it looked like neither; it was more like a boil. What puzzled him was how such a thing could end up under the nose. Had it mutated? Or grown in the wrong place?

“Hello, everyone. I am your instructor. From this moment on, you are my men. My surname is Wu, and my given name is Pine. Yes, it is a little like the name of that tiger-slaying hero from the Marshlands, the same pronunciation but different characters. All right, from now on you may call me Instructor Wu, or simply Instructor. Now listen to my command: target, Transport Vehicle Number Six. Run, move out!”

Wu Pine’s introduction was so absurd that Dragon Soar almost laughed aloud. That boil on his nose was odd enough already, but even his name was so full of character?

Dragon Soar was the first to climb into the truck. The cargo bay was fairly large; forty people standing inside did not feel cramped, but once the rear doors were shut, the air grew stifling. If before they had been under the blazing sun, now they were truly like dumplings in a steamer basket. Thankfully there was still a hatch in the roof; otherwise, within minutes someone might have fainted from suffocation.

Everyone was excited. Most of them had probably never experienced such formal military training in all their lives. Thinking about going to a green military camp, the students began chattering excitedly. Dragon Soar leaned against the back wall and closed his eyes to rest. In truth, quite a few of the students knew him, but just as few of them wanted to speak to him. So he could only shut his eyes and conserve his energy. Besides, he had no desire to chat with any of them.

The truck drove for about half an hour, and the students still chattered without end. Dragon Soar was frowning when, with a squeak, the window beside him was shoved open by the instructor in front. Leaning his head into the narrow gap, he said fiercely, “I hereby announce that because you have no respect for discipline, when we arrive at camp you will first run five thousand meters with full packs before you are allowed to eat lunch. If you insist on continuing this discussion, then you can forget lunch altogether and go straight into a thirty-kilometer cross-country training run!”

The instructor’s head disappeared from the window, and he yanked it shut from inside with a loud clang.

Dragon Soar merely smiled. Five thousand meters? Nothing to it. He remembered that when he had once trained at Hunter School, the instructor had similarly found every possible way to torment him on the very first day in camp. That day, Dragon Soar had not eaten a single bite, nor drunk a drop of water. Perhaps these instructors were using the same method to deliberately test everyone’s willpower. Of course, more importantly, they were surely trying to establish authority on the first day, so that no one would later treat the training lightly.

Dragon Soar did not care, but that did not mean everyone else felt the same. Almost all the students frowned. Some even wanted to protest, but the moment they opened their mouths, they found every pair of eyes in the truck glaring at them. It felt as though anyone who spoke again would be thrown straight off the vehicle. So no one said another word. Even if they were angry, they could only swallow it and suffer in silence.

Fortunately, after a while there was nothing left to complain about. After all, the people talking just now accounted for ninety-nine percent of the truck. Probably everyone except Dragon Soar had been chattering, so the punishment was not entirely unfair. If anyone truly had grounds to complain, it would only be Dragon Soar.

The military truck slowly left the city. By Dragon Soar’s estimate, it had probably already reached some small town in the eastern district, and a town that had not yet been much developed, because the truck had already begun to jolt and bounce.

Two hours later, Dragon Soar knew they had arrived, because he heard the bugle sounding from the camp. If he had guessed right, it must be the call for lunch. At that thought, his stomach began to rumble in protest.

Sure enough, the truck stopped. A soldier opened the cargo bay, and everyone jumped down one after another, drenched in sweat. Only Dragon Soar seemed exactly as he had before boarding, not a drop of perspiration on his face. The instructor standing nearby took note of this.

“You, come here!” Wu Pine pointed at Dragon Soar.

Dragon Soar froze for a moment, then ran up to him and asked in surprise, “Instructor, are you looking for me?”

“From now on, you are the captain of this company. Come with me to the barracks and take a look at where you will be staying later. After that, you will join the others for the five-thousand-meter weighted run!” Wu Pine said sternly. Then he turned and saw several students vomiting uncontrollably from motion sickness, and could not help frowning.

“Everyone listen carefully. Now run ten laps around the parade ground. When you’re done, your captain will take you to store your luggage and eat lunch. Remember this: whoever finishes in the last five places will spend a week cleaning the camp latrines and will not be allowed to eat lunch!”

Wu Pine’s face remained expressionless.

Dragon Soar broke into a sweat. As he followed Wu Pine toward the barracks, he glanced at the parade ground. Good heavens, it really was lively. More than a thousand students, and more than half of them were already running. So his guess had been right after all: once you reached the military camp, the first thing the instructors did was establish authority through a display of force.

After leading Dragon Soar around the camp and showing him the students’ quarters and the mess hall, Wu Pine took him back to the parade ground and asked, “What is your name?”

“Dragon Soar.”

“Good. Listen to my command. Immediately join the five-thousand-meter weighted long-distance run. I hope you do not disappoint me. I also do not want the captain I chose to be sent to scrub toilets on his first day. Besides, the food in our camp is actually quite good. Missing lunch would be a shame.”

Wu Pine strode off.

Dragon Soar could only curse after him under his breath.

Damn it, who wants to be your captain? If you really piss me off, what can you do if I refuse to take this stupid training?

Still complaining bitterly, he suddenly heard a voice behind him. “Insulting the instructor behind his back? You’ve got some nerve!”

Dragon Soar turned around and almost kicked out on the spot. It was Luo Hongli, who had brought two soldiers with him and was grinning at him, winking constantly to signal Dragon Soar.

“All right, you two can go eat lunch. I’ll settle accounts with you this afternoon!” Luo Hongli said, turning his face stern and giving the two soldiers a scolding. Once they had gone some distance away, he broke into a mischievous grin. “I thought the person Wu Pine brought in looked kind of familiar just now. Then it hit me. Damn, it’s you! Hah! Never thought you’d come here for military training!”

Dragon Soar also chuckled. “I never thought I’d run into you here either. Still, that’s fine. At least after this I won’t be easy for people to bully. By the way, do you know that Wu Pine guy?”

Luo Hongli laughed. “That fellow’s pretty good. In our division, he’s one of the more promising soldiers. Aside from being a little too proper, he’s good at everything else. Especially fighting—he’s a real hand, hahaha. Though he’s no match for me!”

Damn, what a way to say it. So being proper was a flaw now?

He made an acknowledging sound, then Dragon Soar suddenly asked, “What are you doing here? Looks like your rank isn’t small, huh?”

Luo Hongli coughed twice. “Nonsense. This is the garrison area for our division. What do you think I’m doing here? This is my base in Skysea!”

“So what exactly do you do?” Dragon Soar was genuinely curious.

“I’m the boss here. No, no, I’m the division commander. Everything here is under my control!” Luo Hongli said proudly. “Oh, right, brother, did you sleep with that girl last night?”

Go sleep with your head. Dragon Soar cursed inwardly.

“All right, I’m not talking to you anymore. I’ve got to go train. You and your men are something else, you know that? I only just arrived and they’re already making me do some long-distance run. They even said if I finish in the last five, I won’t get lunch and will have to clean the latrines. Tell me, is Wu Pine a freak or what?” Dragon Soar turned to leave.

“No problem. I’ve got your back. He wouldn’t dare do anything to you!”

So Luo Hongli was no angel either. As a division commander, he could still say things like that.

Fortunately, Dragon Soar still knew where to draw the line. Without looking back, he jogged off, throwing back three words: “Don’t need it.”

That made Luo Hongli jump in place behind him, cursing loudly, “Damn it all, you ungrateful brat! If it weren’t for Dani, I wouldn’t even bother with you!”