74: Chapter 74 The New Battalion Commander
Before the camp could even be rebuilt, the transfer order from the War Zone Command Headquarters arrived.
On the day the new battalion commander took office, the surviving veterans lined up to welcome him. Only a sparse group of about twenty people came out of the camp, standing in two rows to greet the new arrival.
When Li Chengxi stepped out of the off-road vehicle, he was wearing a brand-new combat uniform, and his shoulder boards had changed to two bars and two stars. It really was true: having a good father meant fast promotions.
Six people followed behind him.
Two were late-stage Tier 4, three were mid-stage Tier 4—all unfamiliar faces—and there was also Uncle Zheng, who was a late-stage Tier 3.
"Hello everyone!" Li Chengxi stood still, his voice loud and clear.
"I am the new battalion commander, Li Chengxi! From today on, I will shoulder the burden of the Seventh Battalion!"
No one applauded.
The smile on Li Chengxi's face stiffened for a moment, but he quickly recovered.
He certainly knew why.
Yuan Shoucheng had died less than three days ago; his body hadn't even gone cold yet, and here he was, an air-dropped battalion commander. Anyone would feel uncomfortable about that.
But he didn't care.
If they were uncomfortable, so be it; they'd get used to it in time.
He swept his gaze over the veterans, searching for something in the crowd.
Lin Mo was not there.
Li Chengxi frowned, almost imperceptibly.
"Young Master, that kid didn't come," Uncle Zheng whispered.
"I know. No rush."
He certainly wasn't in a rush.
Lin Mo couldn't run away.
Now that the entire Seventh Battalion was his, even if Lin Mo hid at the ends of the earth, he would still have to come back and report.
However, he rubbed his chin.
This kid not showing up to greet him—was it because he didn't know the rules, or was it intentional?
"Let's go. Let's look at the camp first."
The group walked into the camp.
...
When Lin Mo returned to his dormitory, he had barely sat down when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Li Chengxi walked in.
He held a tablet in his hand, a smile on his face.
"Lin Mo, did I disturb you?"
"Staff Officer Li? Why are you here?"
Lin Mo truly didn't know that the person replacing Yuan Shoucheng would be Li Chengxi, a young master who only knew how to talk on paper.
Li Chengxi didn't mind. He sat down on the edge of the bed of his own accord and said with a smile:
"I'm not a staff officer anymore. I'm your battalion commander!"
"Battalion commander?"
Lin Mo glanced at Li Chengxi's shoulder boards and realized this guy had been promoted again.
"Of course. Given our relationship, calling me 'Battalion Commander' is too formal. When no one's around, you can just call me Brother Li..."
Li Chengxi patted Lin Mo on the shoulder. Seeing that Lin Mo had no reaction, he had to continue:
"I came to find you because there's some good news—your military merit points have been credited."
Lin Mo glanced at his communication bracelet.
[Name: Lin Mo]
[Military Merit: 134,240]
One hundred thirty-four thousand two hundred and forty!
"Congratulations," Li Chengxi said with a smile.
"One hundred thirty-four thousand military merit points; that's enough for you to exchange for quite a few good things."
Lin Mo raised his head and looked at him.
"You didn't come to find me just to specifically tell me this news, did you?"
Li Chengxi paused, then smiled.
"Lin Mo, do you have a problem with me?" He spread his hands.
"I know I didn't do well enough when I was at the Second Defense Line, but now I am the battalion commander of the Seventh Battalion, and you are currently a soldier of the Seventh Battalion. We are in the same boat."
Lin Mo didn't respond.
Li Chengxi wasn't embarrassed and continued:
"I came to tell you how to spend your military merit points most effectively."
He took out a tablet from behind him, displaying the military merit store page on the screen.
"Look, there are cultivation techniques, weapons, and spirit medicines here, but the most worthwhile thing is the Talent Strengthening Fluid."
Lin Mo's gaze fell on that item.
[Genetic Strengthening Fluid (Grade B): 2,000 military merit points]
[Genetic Strengthening Fluid (Grade A): 10,000 military merit points]
[Genetic Strengthening Fluid (Grade S): 100,000 military merit points]
"I see you're about to break through to Tier 3. You probably don't know that you can use Genetic Strengthening Fluid after reaching Tier 3. This stuff can strengthen your specific attributes, but there's a problem—"
He paused and held up a finger.
"Drug resistance."
"The human body develops resistance to strengthening fluids. The more you take, the worse the effect becomes."
He pointed to the screen.
"So I suggest you go straight for Grade S and Grade A. Buying the Grade B stuff is just a waste of your resistance tolerance."
Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Li Chengxi smiled.
"Because I hope you can become stronger. You are a soldier of the Seventh Battalion; only when you become stronger can the Seventh Battalion become stronger."
"How much of an increase can it provide?" Lin Mo asked.
"It varies; it depends on the person! I've heard the upper limit is about increasing one main attribute by around 30%. You know I'm only a Tier 2, Stage 2 Awakener; I haven't used it myself. This is all hearsay."
"The upper limit is at most a 30% increase to one main attribute?"
Lin Mo was somewhat tempted.
But when he thought of the price, he hesitated again.
The price of a Grade S Genetic Strengthening Fluid is enough to exchange for one dragon blood ii.
For Lin Mo, dragon blood ii was still more attractive.
"It's good stuff, but I still want to exchange for dragon blood ii. One hundred thousand military merit points—just enough!"
Lin Mo said directly.
Li Chengxi nodded: "Right, dragon blood ii is indeed good stuff, and each person can use it at most once. Exchanging for this is definitely worth it!"
"However, I still want to advise you not to exchange for dragon blood ii for now!"
"Why?" Lin Mo asked.
"dragon blood ii costs one hundred thousand military merit points per vial. Although you do have enough military merit points on hand right now, I don't suggest you use your points to exchange for it."
"Because I can help you apply for a free vial of dragon blood ii!"
After Li Chengxi finished speaking, he looked at Lin Mo with burning eyes.
"Free?" Lin Mo asked.
"Yeah!"
Li Chengxi nodded with a smile.
"When I was in kindergarten, my teacher told me that the things that are free in this world are actually the most expensive..."
Li Chengxi's expression immediately soured.
This guy was really impenetrable; he wouldn't give him a single chance.
"What's our relationship? It's truly free, no other conditions..." Li Chengxi's voice grew quieter as he looked at Lin Mo.
"Fine, the only condition is..."
"Don't look at me like that. The condition I'm talking about is that I hope we can become friends in the future. Stop speaking to me with such a hostile attitude. That's the only condition, I promise!"
After hearing this, Lin Mo finally smiled.
"Alright, we're old acquaintances anyway. Of course we're friends."
As a person, Li Chengxi really wasn't much, but at the end of the day, he was just a spoiled rich kid. His only fault was being sent to the front lines by his father.
When Li Chengxi heard Lin Mo say "of course we're friends," he finally felt at ease.
He put on a smile and leaned in a little closer.
"Lin Mo, we can consider this a case of not knowing each other without fighting. Regarding the incident at the Second Defense Line before, I was a jerk, I admit it. But I guarantee that something like abandoning my post will never happen again!"
Lin Mo looked at him without speaking.
Li Chengxi didn't mind and continued:
"I know you have opinions about me, thinking I'm a spoiled brat who got here by relying on my father. I don't deny it; I am. But my father didn't send me to the front lines just to slack off."
He paused, lowered his voice, and said:
"He sent me here to make friends."
Lin Mo raised an eyebrow.
"Make friends?"
"Yes," Li Chengxi nodded, "to make friends like you."
"dragon blood ii—my father will arrange for someone to deliver it in a few days. It's free, with no strings attached. If you're willing to take me as a friend, we're friends; if you're not willing, I'll still give it to you."
Lin Mo raised his head and looked at Li Chengxi.
"Your father told you to make friends, and this is how you do it?"
Li Chengxi paused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that your father told you to make friends, not to give away gifts. Things bought with gifts aren't called friends."
Li Chengxi fell silent.
He looked at Lin Mo, his eyes complex.
"Then you tell me, how do you make friends?"
Lin Mo didn't answer. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
He was hesitating whether or not to tell Li Chengxi that Zhou Xiong and Shen Yi were Mimics.
Although Li Chengxi's character wasn't great, he was at least reliable for the time being.
Lin Mo thought for a long time, but in the end, he dismissed the idea.
Zhou Xiong had been lurking for so long, and even three days ago, he had gone as far as creating that attack just to hide his identity. There must be a bigger secret hidden behind it.
People like that wouldn't expose themselves easily. Rather than alerting the enemy, it was better to play the long game.
The same went for Shen Yi.
For Mimics of their level, the flesh and blood of ordinary Awakeners had very little attraction. For the time being, the others in the camp were still safe.
"I'm a bit tired. Does the battalion commander have anything else?"
Lin Mo sighed; he did not intend to tell Li Chengxi about Zhou Xiong for the time being.
Li Chengxi stood there for several seconds.
Then he smiled.
That smile was different from before; it wasn't as deliberate, but rather a bit helpless.
"Alright, get some rest."
He turned and walked to the door, then looked back.
"Lin Mo, no matter what you think, I'm still giving you this thing. It's not because I want to trade for anything, it's because..."
He thought about it, but couldn't come up with the right words.
"Forget it. Consider it me owing you."
The door closed.
He had fulfilled his father's request.
He now had this layer of connection with the genius Lin Mo.
After Li Chengxi left.
Lin Mo looked at the tablet computer he had deliberately left behind, his gaze lingering on the Talent Strengthening Fluid entry for a long time.
His current agility was 147, but this was an attribute boosted by the God Speed passive; his base agility attribute should be around 100 points, just reaching the threshold of a Tier 3 Awakener.
If he used the Genetic Strengthening Fluid to reach the limit, increasing his base by 30%, that would be 30 points of agility.
With Starlight Moon Condensation activated, these 30 points of agility would be equivalent to 30 points of strength.
It would be equivalent to having 30 more attribute points than others out of thin air.
Calculating it this way, it was indeed very worthwhile.
Lin Mo's fingers swiped across the screen.
He found the Agility Attribute Strengthening Fluid.
The prices were the same as before: Grade B, 2,000; Grade A, 10,000; Grade S, 100,000.
His current military merit was 134,000.
Buying one Grade S would leave 34,000.
Buying three Grade A would be just right.
However, this stuff could only be used after reaching Tier 3.
If one's cultivation hadn't reached Tier 3, although it would still have an effect, it might affect the foundation and lead to slower cultivation speed in the future.
"The urgent priority now is to obtain slaughter value. Reaching Tier 3 cultivation requires slaughter value, and advancing God Speed also requires slaughter value!"
Lin Mo lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
His wounds had almost healed.
His body, strengthened by the system, recovered three times faster than an ordinary person's. The scratch on his left shoulder, which had been deep enough to see bone, now only had a pale pink scar left.
During the few days he spent recuperating, he had stayed in the camp and hadn't gained a single point of slaughter value. The number on the system panel was still 9,465.
He was still short 535 points.
As long as he killed a few more Tier 2 or higher fierce beasts, it would be enough.
But he didn't just want enough.
He wanted more slaughter value.
Zhou Xiong was still alive, and Shen Yi hadn't been exposed, either. Furthermore, as soon as they found an opportunity, they might try to kill him.
Those two people—one was late-stage Tier 4, and the other was at least peak Tier 4.
Even if God Speed was successfully advanced, he probably wouldn't be a match for those two.
Unless...
Lin Mo turned over.
Unless, after God Speed advanced, he broke through to Tier 3, or even rose to late-stage Tier 3, and combined that with Aurora Flowing Cloud Slash and Starlight Moon Condensation—
Only then would he have the power to protect himself.
The urgent priority now was slaughter value.
He stood up and walked to the window.
Outside the window, the camp was busy. The students were undergoing training, and those few Tier 4 experts of Li Chengxi's were giving them lessons.
On the ruins in the distance, people were still burying bodies.
It had been three days.
Many severely wounded patients still hadn't been saved...
Lin Mo withdrew his gaze and looked toward the north.
Deep in the Nanling Mountains.
Tomorrow, set off for the Nanling Mountains!