166: Chapter 166 Establishing the Soul of the Army

As Qin Ce stepped out of the ranks, a commotion arose behind him.

Someone called out "Captain" with a voice full of unease, and others reached out to pull him back, but failed to catch him.

Qin Ce stood ten meters in front of the formation, his back to his people, facing over a hundred Red-Scaled Earth Lizards.

His military uniform snapped in the northern wind, and Tianlu followed closely at his heels.

At this moment, he did not summon his Azure Phoenix, nor did he use any special methods; he did not even adopt a combat stance.

He just stood there like a nail, driven between the formation and the Earth Lizards.

The hundred or so Earth Lizards surrounding them, each the size of a truck, crouched around the formation, looking down at the squadron from a position of dominance.

Those blood-red eyes, currently fixed on Qin Ce as he walked out, looked as if they were sizing up a piece of meat delivered to their mouths.

The commotion within the formation continued.

Some were retreating, some were trembling, and some were whispering "It's over, it's over."

The Pet Beasts of the newcomers felt their masters' fear and began to whimper uneasily.

Although the Pet Beasts of several veterans stood their ground, their tails were tucked and their ears were pinned back.

Jiang Mo stood in the middle of the formation, clenching his fists tightly.

His Pet Beast had just been resurrected and its body had not yet recovered. He wanted to step forward to protect Qin Ce, but his Pet Beast, sensing the surrounding atmosphere, hesitated and did not move forward.

Lei Gang stood beside him; his stomach had gone down, his limbs were thick and sturdy, and his complexion was ruddy.

His Black Iron War Ape crouched at his feet, its silver-gray fur trembling slightly in the wind, its eyes fixed on the Earth Lizards ahead, also shivering.

Yet, even so, Lei Gang was inching closer to Qin Ce.

But apart from the two of them, everyone else was barely able to take care of themselves.

Qin Ce felt the commotion behind him.

He did not turn around.

He knew that this formation had not yet experienced a real battle.

They had practiced techniques, healed their wounds, and contracted Pet Beasts, but they had not yet seen blood.

People who have not seen blood will be afraid, will retreat, and will want to run when faced with hundreds of ferocious beasts.

This is instinct.

It is not their fault.

But he could not let them retreat.

Because once they retreated, the morale of the entire formation and the cohesion built up over these past few days would never return.

Therefore, he blocked the front of the entire formation and suddenly said.

"What are you panicking about?"

Qin Ce's voice was not loud, but it carried far in the northern wind.

The commotion behind him stopped for a moment.

"If there is real danger, I will block it."

He paused, his voice deepening.

Then, without giving anyone time to react, he said sternly, like a stone hitting water: "Now, follow my orders."

Swish!

In an instant, everything went quiet.

It was not the silence of being frightened, but a deeper silence that seeped out from the bones.

Twenty-four people and twenty-four Pet Beasts fell silent at the same time.

No one retreated, no one trembled, no one spoke.

They looked at Qin Ce's back, the back that stood at the very front of the formation, facing away from them.

On the hillside, those Wuji Army scouts stopped talking.

Beside the off-road vehicle, those people from the various families also stopped talking.

They watched that young man standing in front of hundreds of ferocious beasts, his military uniform snapping in the wind, with a month-old lion cub crouching at his feet.

Someone whispered: "Interesting."

No one refuted it.

Qin Ce stepping out voluntarily at this moment exceeded everyone's expectations.

Not to mention the Wuji Army, a deformed society that even had internal kickbacks and treated soldiers entirely like private slaves, even among the elite private soldiers sent by various families to explore ruins, one had never heard of a leader who would voluntarily stand up to block attacks for their subordinates.

Let alone heard of it, they wouldn't even dare to imagine it.

In their understanding, leaders sit in the back to command, hide in safe places to issue orders, and treat their subordinates as pawns.

How could there be a case where the commander is pushed forward before the pawns have even moved?

But this is precisely where Qin Ce was deeply influenced by his past life.

"Follow me" and "Go on," two styles of doing things, two different results.

In that era of highly developed information in his past life, he had seen too many examples on TikTok—those who shouted "Go on" had their teams disperse faster than anyone, while those who shouted "Follow me" always had people following them.

This kind of mindset, not to mention in this world, was a unique charm even in his past life across the hundreds of countries in that world.

Therefore, when Qin Ce stood out and said those words, all the people who had retreated, after being stunned for a few seconds, actually took the initiative to follow in Qin Ce's footsteps.

It was not because they were ordered, but because they were willing.

Some even automatically shielded Qin Ce.

Jiang Mo, who had been unable to take a step earlier, was the first to shield Qin Ce.

His Pet Beast had not yet been resurrected, and he had no weapon in his hand, but he stood out this time, using his own body to shield his captain.

Then came Lei Gang, whose Black Iron War Ape took a big step forward, shielding Tianlu.

Then came Sun Lie, whose Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino stepped forward, shielding everyone.

Then everyone followed.

In just a few seconds, the soul of the entire unit seemed to have been baptized, possessing a spirit of "a soldier will die for a soulmate."

Meanwhile, the onlookers and scouts around them stopped their teasing and mockery for a moment.

They still felt that it was impossible for Qin Ce to survive, but they couldn't help but feel a sense of pity in their hearts—if this young man didn't die, he might really be able to lead a different kind of team.

But they still thought he would die.

They just stopped mocking.

Then, the Earth Lizard's probing attack came faster than expected.

The three Earth Lizards that came out first, each five times larger than a crocodile, charged straight up from the front.

Dark red flames burned on their scales; this was an ability only acquired after mutation—not real fire, but a scorching domain formed by the overflow of underground magma energy.

When the three Earth Lizards charged over, the surrounding air twisted, as if it were being scorched by fire.

The ground was plowed by their claws into three deep furrows, with gravel flying and dust rolling.

Someone in the formation subconsciously closed their eyes.

Someone involuntarily took a step back.

Someone opened their mouth but couldn't make a sound.

Qin Ce's voice rang out at this moment, neither loud nor soft, as steady as a stone: "Young beasts in the center, Black Iron Mid-grade Pet Beasts on the outside. Focus long-range attacks on those three Earth Lizards."