Chapter 45
Chapter 45: The Crown Prince Got Beaten, The Commander in Chief Is Mad, And Wants Us To Push The Cadets Past Their Limit
All thirty army corps commanders replied one after another. Ye Ying’s voice was the loudest and most forceful: “Received, Commander in Chief. I will send people to drive a pack of mutant giant crocodiles to chase that squad of eight that took out the other twenty-nine military academies.”
“And for the other cadets near the water, we will drive man-eating merfolk at them. For the ones in the forest, we will drive mutant giant ants. We will make sure we chase them until they cry for their dads and grandmas and push their bodies past their limits.”
“Received, Commander in Chief. In my Second Army Corps, I have not let a single cadet sleep. I am working hard to make them beg to give up and call for help.”
“Received, Commander in Chief. The Third Army Corps will not let any cadet off easy. We will train excellent talents that will be useful to the Nation.”
“Received, Commander in Chief. The Fourth Army Corps…”
The thirty army corps commanders spoke one after another, all making it clear that just because it was dark did not mean they would stop drilling the cadets.
The drill instructor group had always treated these cadets from thirty military academies like mice in a cat-and-mouse game, training and tormenting them. Their favorite thing was to watch the cadets throw down their surrender capsules, call for help, cry, shout for their mothers and dads, and curse them as dog drill instructors.
When Chong Ming finished listening to them, he said: “Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”
Then he cut off the shared frequency link with them.
The thirty army corps commanders switched to their own small shared channel. They all knew that even if the Commander in Chief was not personally listening, his information department would be. But they were used to it and could not change their habit of gossiping like crickets.
“Hey, hey, hey, brothers, did you not notice that the Commander in Chief’s deep, magnetic voice sounded a bit more irritable than usual?”
“Twelfth Army Corps, you are right, I heard it too. Why do I feel like the Commander in Chief is kind of… kind of all pent-up?”
“Fourteenth Army Corps Commander, Twelfth Army Corps Commander, why are you women so good at imagining things? Hasn’t the Commander in Chief always been like that?”
“Yeah, the Commander in Chief has always been like that. Also, I heard something. Our crown prince is also taking part in this Supremacy Tournament.”
“What, the crown prince is in it too? Now I get why his voice sounded different.”
“Why?”
“On my side, I eliminated three female dragon clan cadets and five male dragon clan cadets. Tell me, could the crown prince be one of those five male dragon clan cadets?”
“Wait, if you put it that way, I also knocked out a few dragon clan cadets on my side. Could it be that the crown prince really has been eliminated, and the Commander in Chief is disappointed and angry, so he is pushing us to train the other cadets harder?”
“Geez, I just took a quick look. Among the more than one point eight million cadets from thirty military academies, there are 25,080 dragon clan cadets between sixteen and twenty-two years old. The imperial military academies have the most, nearly a thousand.”
“Alright, alright, stop talking. My First Army Corps is just that awesome. I drill the most dragon clan cadets. I am not going to waste time chatting with you. I firmly believe the crown prince is in the imperial military academy group being drilled by my First Army Corps and has not been eliminated.”
“I, Ye Ying, commander of the First Army Corps, will become the first avian-type beastman to drill the crown prince. I am happy, I am honored. You all keep talking.”
The other twenty-nine army corps commanders: “…”
Look how pleased with himself he was, totally self-deluded.
They all secretly felt that the crown prince must be among the cadets they were drilling too.
They also believed they would be the first ones to drill the crown prince.
“Woof, woof, woof!”
The tropical rainforest was cold at night and full of poisonous insects. Huang Da Zhuang had turned into his beast form and lay at the edge of the tent, his dog ears pressed against the ground as he slept. When he heard a sound from far away, he barked at once.
The others, who had been asleep, shot up when they heard him: “What is it?”
Huang Da Zhuang shifted back into human form: “I hear something moving about fifty meters away, heading toward us. And there are a lot of them.”
Hearing this, Cheng Xiao Ting changed into his wolf form and pressed his wolf ears to the ground. Ten seconds later, he turned human again and said: “I admit it, Big Dog Huang, your dog ears are even better than my wolf ears.”
“About seventy-five meters away, dozens of four-legged giant things, each weighing no less than two tons, are running in our direction.”
Sui Xuan Chu made a quick decision: “Pack up and wake Jiang Tea Tea.”
Cheng Lin Yue was also beside the tent. She lifted the tent flap right away and rushed over to shake Jiang Tea Tea. “Sister Tea, Sister Tea, get up, get up…”
But Jiang Tea Tea, in her human-shaped tree branch body, could not be woken at all. She slept like an ordinary person, snoring softly. Even after Huang Da Zhuang had taken down the tent covering her, she still showed no sign of waking up.
Seeing this, Sui Xuan Chu said: “She killed more than a hundred three-headed giant pythons. She must be exhausted and in a deep sleep. We cannot wake her, so I will carry her.”
“Cheng Xiao Ting, Orange Sparrow, you two clear the way in front. Yan Yu, you and Huang Da Zhuang cover the rear. Zhang Yan Zhou, keep an eye on Cheng Lin Yue. Move.”
The others had no objections to Sui Xuan Chu’s arrangement. They slung their supply packs onto their backs, opened the way, and started running.
Beastmen of the canine and feline families naturally had night vision ability, sharp hearing, and an enhanced sense of smell, which gave them a huge advantage as they wove through the pitch-dark primeval forest.
The only thing bothering Sui Xuan Chu was that the Jiang Tea Tea in his arms felt very light, so light it was like he was holding only an empty skin with no weight at all.
He had no idea where all the more than a dozen basins of meat she had eaten had gone. How could she still be so light? What if she had some serious illness? After the Supremacy Tournament, he would have to find a healer to take a look at her.
“Oh my.” Ye Ying watched the members of the squad that had taken down the other twenty-nine military academies and complained to the drill instructor they had tied up in the imperial military academy camp: “Ye Lang, you from the canine family sure have quick little arms and legs. You run really fast.”
Ye Lang snapped a salute to him: “Army Corps Commander, please let me go down there to chase them. I want to get back the dignity I lost.”
Ye Ying rolled his eyes at him: “You have already had ten points deducted. If you go down again and end up in their hands again, I do not care if you get eliminated. I just cannot afford to lose that much face.”
Their army corps had been the first whose drill instructor got tied up by cadets. The commanders of the other army corps were all laughing at him. His old face was almost completely lost.
Ye Lang thumped his chest and promised: “Army Corps Commander, I will take more people from the drill instructor group with me. We can force them to use their forfeit grenades and give up.”
Ye Ying’s eyes widened, and he snapped at him bluntly: “If you dare make them use their forfeit grenades, I will break your dog legs.”
“Come, come, open your dog eyes and take a good look at the rankings for the thirty academies’ squad and personal points. Their squad earned eighty-nine thousand points at the start by helping others jump off the ship. Their personal base score of one hundred points has not dropped at all. They even got ten extra points each for catching you.”
“This afternoon, they also took out more than a hundred three-headed giant pythons and gained more than a hundred points. With their score, even if they used their forfeit grenades right now and lay around for the remaining three months of the Supremacy Tournament, they could still end up near the top and take the championship.”
“Is that why the Commander in Chief wants us to chase them? So they can forfeit? No. We are here to train them, to push their physical limits and their wilderness survival limits.”
Ye Lang was scolded into sudden clarity. He thumped his chest again and volunteered: “I will not make them use their forfeit grenades. I will drive aberrant beasts to chase them instead. Army Corps Commander, I can do it. Please give me another chance.”
Ye Ying thought for a moment, then agreed, not forgetting to warn him: “Fine. Paint more camouflage on your face. Do not let them recognize you. That would be embarrassing.”
Ye Lang saluted: “Thank you, Army Corps Commander. I will definitely not let them recognize me. I am going now!”
Sui Xuan Chu and the others had been running and escaping smoothly when Cheng Xiao Ting and Orange Sparrow suddenly came back: “There is a group of drill instructors ahead of us, at least ten of them. Change direction.”
“No good. There are drill instructors on the left too.” Huang Da Zhuang added: “And on the right. Only the back is clear, and there are aberrant beasts behind us.”
Sui Xuan Chu frowned deeply. “The drill instructors are doing this on purpose. They will not let us escape and are forcing us to pick a side and fight head-on.”
Huang Da Zhuang worried out loud: “Sister Tea is still not awake. Without our strongest fighter, how are we supposed to fight head-on?”
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes grew firm. “In front, left, and right, which side has fewer drill instructors?”
Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting answered at the same time: “All three sides have the same number of drill instructors, between ten and twelve each. And none of them are carrying colored artillery shell guns. They are all holding sticks, iron clubs made just for beating us.”