8: Chapter 8 Camp, Yuan Shoucheng

Outpost No. 9, 2nd Armored Infantry Regiment, Seventh Battalion.

The heavy steel gates closed behind them with a booming crash, sealing off the world outside where the roars of beasts never ceased.

However, the scene inside did not offer much of a sense of security.

As soon as everyone got off the vehicles, their gazes were drawn to a soldier standing guard at the gate.

He was a young soldier who looked to be in his twenties, not much older than freshman students like Lin Mo and the others.

Almost half of this soldier's body was wrapped in white bandages. He held an assault rifle steadily with his uninjured right hand, his face showing no emotional fluctuations whatsoever.

"Why is he still on guard duty if he's injured?"

Someone in the crowd immediately whispered.

But they soon discovered that this was not an isolated case.

Many of the soldiers walking around the camp area were carrying injuries.

Some had gauze taped to their foreheads, some had their arms in slings, and some walked with a clear limp.

Yet, their movements showed no sluggishness. Those meant to move supplies moved supplies, and those meant to maintain equipment maintained equipment, as if those wounds were merely decorations.

"Doesn't it... hurt?"

A girl asked with a trembling voice.

"Of course it hurts! They're human too! But the bastards in the Nanling Mountains don't give my soldiers a moment to breathe."

A man with a massive scar on his left cheek walked toward them.

"He's a Lieutenant Colonel. It looks like the person in charge of this outpost has arrived!" Lin Mo glanced at the man's epaulets and made a secret guess.

Sure enough, Vice Principal Luo, who was leading the group, immediately went to meet him.

"Battalion Commander Yuan, all the freshman faculty and students of Jiangcheng University salute you!"

"I, Yuan Shoucheng, represent the Southeast Military Region, as well as the three provinces, eleven cities, and fifty-three million people behind me who are still under the threat of vicious beasts—"

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the young faces below. He raised his right arm and gave a standard military salute.

"Thank you for coming!"

Seeing this, Vice Principal Luo immediately returned a somewhat non-standard military salute.

"Apologies, Principal Luo. With military duties on my shoulders, I couldn't welcome you from afar. And as you can see, I have no welcoming flowers or grand ceremonies here—only barbed wire waiting to be mended, wounded soldiers in urgent need of treatment, and... the endless bastards in the mountains!"

Yuan Shoucheng said with a smile.

"Battalion Commander Yuan, you are too kind!"

"We, the faculty and students of Jiangcheng University, did not come here for flowers or ceremonies, but to kill the enemy!"

Principal Luo said solemnly.

"Good, well said! Everyone, follow me!"

Yuan Shoucheng led the more than six hundred freshman faculty and students from Jiangcheng University deeper into the camp.

Soon, everyone arrived at a vast open space.

Lin Mo noticed that there were students from other schools here as well. Their numbers were quite significant—likely over a thousand.

"Huh, there are students from other schools? I wonder which ones?"

"They're from Lingwu University and Sishui University..."

Some well-informed students quickly determined where these people came from.

Lingwu University was the best martial arts university in the neighboring Lingwu City, with an overall strength a notch higher than Jiangcheng University.

Sishui University, like Jiangcheng University, was also located in Jiangcheng, but its overall strength was slightly inferior to Jiangcheng University.

Yuan Shoucheng walked to the center of the open space and, facing the nearly two thousand students, spoke:

"Everyone, I, Yuan Shoucheng, welcome you to Outpost No. 9 and sincerely thank you for traveling a thousand miles to support my troops. However—"

"Now that you are here, forget your status as students!"

Yuan Shoucheng's voice was full of penetration. He didn't use any amplification equipment, yet it made everyone's eardrums buzz.

"The land beneath your feet is the Southeast Frontline! What you are facing are beasts that want to devour humans and exterminate our race!"

His gaze was like a blade, sweeping across every tender face below.

"Here, there are no students, no precious darlings. Here, there are only two kinds of people—"

Yuan Shoucheng paused briefly, letting the silence spread.

"Soldiers, and dead people!"

The night wind blew across the training ground, kicking up dust.

Many students couldn't help but shudder.

"Do you understand?!"

Yuan Shoucheng barked.

"Understood..." The response was scattered and weak.

"Didn't you eat?! Do you understand?!"

The second roar was even louder than the first.

"UNDERSTOOD!!"

This time it was more uniform, but still a bit hollow.

Yuan Shoucheng was clearly dissatisfied, but he didn't press the matter further.

He picked up a list and began making arrangements according to the groups.

"Logistics Support Team, step out and stand to my left!"

A massive crowd of over a thousand people stepped out, accounting for nearly more than half.

Most of these people had ranked in the middle to lower tiers in their school evaluations and were assigned to relatively safe logistics positions.

Looking at this group, Yuan Shoucheng's expression softened slightly.

"You should all see the current state of the outpost. Medics, the mess hall, the armory, and the fortification maintenance teams are all desperately short-handed! You will be split up and assigned to specific posts, where veterans will guide you through your respective duties."

He paused and added with emphasis:

"Remember, securing the frontline is securing your own lives! If anyone slacks off and messes things up, causing frontline supplies to be cut off, the wounded to go untreated, or fortifications to be left unrepaired—"

"You will be dealt with by military law!"

The last few words were spoken with iron-clad finality.

The logistics students, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, became tense again.

Although the Logistics Support Team was a relatively safe position, the responsibility was equally heavy.

"Regular Patrol Team, step out and come to my right!"

Another five or six hundred people stepped out. These were students who had performed at a mid-tier level in the school tests.

"You will be incorporated into existing patrol squads to familiarize yourselves with the defense sectors and carry out boundary patrol and sentry duties."

Yuan Shoucheng's tone was serious.

"Remember, keep your eyes sharp and your ears open! Report immediately if something feels wrong! Your lives, and the lives of your teammates, may depend on you discovering the enemy just one second sooner!"

The students in the patrol team looked nervous.

This meant their tasks required them to leave the camp and enter truly dangerous territory.

Finally, Yuan Shoucheng's gaze fell upon the remaining hundred or so people.

These were the elites of the three universities, students who ranked in the top ten percent of their school tests.

According to the military region's orders, they were to be organized into the Elite Assault Team. Theoretically, they should be assigned to the most elite reconnaissance companies and assault squads.

But Yuan Shoucheng's expression clearly wrote 'unwelcome' all over it.

"Elite Assault Team?"

He snorted and slowly walked forward a few steps, coming before this group of self-important elite students.

In his eyes was undisguised disdain.

"In school, you might be top students, treasures, pampered by teachers and put on a pedestal by classmates."

Yuan Shoucheng's voice wasn't loud, but it was very grating.

"But here, in my eyes, you are just a bunch of—"

He deliberately paused, his gaze sweeping over several students who were standing tall, trying to project an aura of strength.

"Rookies who have never been stained with blood or smelled the scent of guts! Trash!"

The faces of several Lingwu University students flushed red.

Their school was famous for its fierce martial spirit, and many of them considered themselves to have seen the world.

"Not convinced?"

Yuan Shoucheng sneered and walked up to a Lingwu student. That student instinctively assumed a standard fighting stance used in their usual sparring sessions, his movements precise and posture elegant.

And then...

Yuan Shoucheng simply kicked out at him.

It wasn't a complex attack, just a very simple kick to the side of the calf.

Caught off guard, the student stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Who's going to strike a pose with you on the battlefield?!"

"Do you expect the beasts to wait for you to warm up?! Do you think they'll wait for you to get into position before they pounce?! Idiot!"

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him with pure contempt.

The student's face was beet red, filled with shame and indignation, yet he didn't dare say a word.

"Putting you into my Elite Assault Team?"

"That's just dragging us down! It's making a mess for me! It's making my battle-hardened veterans have to spare effort to look after you little ancestors!"

Yuan Shoucheng walked back to the front, his voice full of distaste.

The students assigned to the Elite Assault Team hung their heads, their fists clenched tight.

A sense of humiliation permeated the air.

"However... an order is an order."

"Since the orders from above have come down, I won't go around disobeying orders on the battlefield!"

Yuan Shoucheng's tone was icy.

"From today until we have a combat mission, you have no rest time! Follow the veterans assigned to you and learn!"

"Throw away those flashy tricks from school! Learn how to hide in the jungle, learn how to identify beast tracks and traps, and learn how to use your weapons to take down your targets in the shortest possible time!"

Finally, he glanced at this group of so-called elites and said:

"Look at you pathetic lots. You'd better be damn sharp! Be prepared—getting beaten or scolded is the least of it! On the real battlefield, being a second too slow means death!"

"Now, each of you find your pre-assigned squad leaders and report!"

Dismissed!"

The students of the elite team felt as if they had been granted a grand pardon. They immediately dispersed to find the veterans who had been waiting nearby.

But just then, the voice of an adjutant suddenly came from behind.

"Battalion Commander Yuan! Did you forget? There are still students for the Mobile Bait Post who haven't been assigned!"