37: Chapter 37: To be alive is the only way to get full marks.

Station Chief Zhou Ke's gaze was nailed firmly to the top right corner of the projection.

That line of military service records was very short.

But every single word was like a hammer pounding against his heart.

Commander Huangfu Jing.

Who among those who had spent years on the front lines of the Source Abyss hadn't heard this name?

Thirty years old, the youngest colonel in the Southern Military Region.

A peak Tier 5 Awakened.

She had held the Abyss defense line alone for one hundred days.

The number of high-tier Source Beasts slain by her blade was so high that a single page in the military merit system couldn't even list them all.

And the Vermilion Bird Corps!

That was no ordinary field unit.

It was the sharpest blade in the entire Southern Military Region, the ace unit guarding the thirteen entrances to the Abyss!

Anyone capable of joining this unit was at least a Tier 3 Silver, and every one of them had killed a Source Beast of the same tier!

Station Chief Zhou Ke's Adam's apple bobbed.

What had he just done?

He had yelled, pointing at the nose of this killing god's student.

Called her a flower in a greenhouse?

And told her to get back to Jiangcheng?

This wasn't just stepping on a landmine.

This was hugging a landmine and jumping into a bonfire.

Station Chief Zhou Ke's back was instantly drenched in sweat.

The communicator almost slipped from his hand.

Su Ming sat in the passenger seat, silently watching this scene.

He had originally thought that the instructor Shen Qingci had called over was just an ordinary one.

He hadn't expected this.

This backing was ridiculously strong.

No wonder Miss Shen had been as steady as if she were taking a walk in her own backyard the whole way.

So it wasn't that she didn't see the danger.

It was because her teacher was more dangerous than these dangers.

In the projection.

Commander Huangfu Jing seemed not to notice the stiffness on the checkpoint side.

Someone behind her was shouting.

"Commander! The left flank is pushing up again!"

Commander Huangfu Jing turned her head and casually took a long blade from the hand of someone beside her.

The blade was still stained with wet Source Beast blood.

She didn't turn off the projection.

Nor did she explain.

She just raised her hand and swung it.

A muffled sound came from the distance.

The communication screen shook twice.

The eyelids of several veterans twitched wildly.

This colonel was truly taking a call on the battlefield.

Station Chief Zhou Ke abruptly retracted his outstretched neck.

Putting force into his heels, his military boots slammed onto the ground with a "clack."

He straightened his back into the most standard posture of his life.

His remaining right arm swung toward his temple like lightning.

He gave an impeccable military salute!

"Southern Military Region, Outpost 32! Station Chief Zhou Ke of the Third Checkpoint at Entrance 3! All guards —"

His roar tore through the air, carrying a tremor and fanaticism he hadn't even realized himself.

"—Salute to the Commander!"

This roar was like an invisible electric current, striking into the spines of everyone present.

All the veterans who had gathered around.

Almost at the same instant, they withdrew their guns, stood at attention, and brought their legs together.

Toward the direction of the off-road vehicle's front, they gave the most solemn military salute.

Those gazes were no longer cold and disgusted.

They had turned into a burning, bone-deep awe.

Su Ming, in the passenger seat, was also moved to look sideways.

He had seen Zhao Kuo use money and power to suppress others, and had seen Shen Hongyuan use strength to suppress others.

But just by a name alone.

It made a group of battle-hardened veterans who had just crawled back from the gates of hell perform such a collective salute.

This was something that money couldn't buy.

Station Chief Zhou Ke's eyes shone with a fanatical light as he continued to roar at the communicator:

"Requesting special approval for the Independent Regiment's mission sequence to take priority!

The No. 1 heavy gate leading to the core area—open it fully!"

After speaking, he handed the communicator back to Shen Qingci with both hands.

His movements were as respectful as if he were presenting a holy relic.

There was no more suspicion in his eyes, only an understandable relief.

No wonder.

No wonder she had such temperament and strength at such a young age.

So she was that woman's student.

Then everything made sense.

In the holographic projection.

Commander Huangfu Jing's gaze shifted faintly from Station Chief Zhou Ke.

It fell back onto Shen Qingci's face.

In her ruthless, soldier-like tone.

There was a rare touch of warmth that only her own people could understand.

"The battle records of the dead are worthless."

"Surviving is the only perfect score."

Having said that, her gaze inadvertently swept over the passenger seat.

When she saw Su Ming's face, her gaze paused for a moment.

The tail of her eyebrow lifted very slightly.

Su Ming's heart skipped a beat.

Captivating both old and young?

…Has the charm of this face of mine already transcended class?

Even this iron-blooded war god can't handle it?

Su Ming remained calm on the surface, but internally he was already starting to add drama to his own role.

Rumble!

Before he could figure it out, a deafening sound of metal grinding came from in front.

The alloy blast gate, several meters thick.

Slowly rose amidst the piercing roar of hydraulics.

Revealing a more profound, gray, and vast area behind it.

Shen Qingci stepped on the accelerator.

The military off-road vehicle's engine let out a roar.

It drove without hesitation into this gray forbidden zone, which Federal soldiers referred to as the "meat grinder."

As the car passed through the gate, Su Ming subconsciously glanced through the rearview mirror.

Amidst the ash flying all over the sky.

That group of remnants who just a moment ago were itching to tear them apart alive.

Still maintained their military salute, motionless.

Figure after figure stood in the dust and smoke.

Like steel rods driven into the soil.

Solemnly watching them go, until the off-road vehicle completely disappeared into the abyss's mist.

Su Ming withdrew his gaze.

He was silent for several seconds.

Then he turned his head, a cheeky, gossipy smile breaking the silence inside the car.

"Miss Shen, your teacher is so strong, what's her background?"

Shen Qingci gripped the steering wheel.

Staring straight ahead at the increasingly rugged road.

But there was a rare, almost fanatical awe in her eyes.

"In the Southern Joint Military Academy, there are two types of instructors."

Her voice remained cold, but it had an extra hint of something different.

"One type teaches you how to get high scores in mock battles, and how to receive medals at graduation ceremonies."

The car crushed over the remains of an unknown exotic beast.

Making a "creak" sound.

"And the other type teaches you how to come back alive from every mission."

Shen Qingci looked straight ahead at the gray horizon.

"My teacher is the latter."

A few sparse words, with no flowery language.

Yet it sketched out a sea of corpses and blood in front of Su Ming.

A woman, stepping on the corpses of countless Source Beasts, standing bathed in blood.

Pulling her students back from the line of death one by one.

Su Ming didn't reply again.

He recalled Commander Huangfu Jing's beautiful yet sharp face.

And the corpse of the giant beast behind her that had been split in two.

This world...

Is really damn interesting.

He licked his slightly dry lips and cast his gaze out the window.

As the off-road vehicle drove deeper.

More and more clearly visible signs of battle began to appear on the roadside.

Huge claw marks, charred craters blasted out by energy cannons.

And... the remains of exotic beasts scattered everywhere.

Su Ming's eyes changed instantly.

Whatever legendary instructor, whatever iron-blooded military soul, were all thrown to the back of his mind.

In his eyes.

Only that twisted flesh and blood, radiating residual energy, remained.

Those weren't corpses.

They were walking mass points.

They were the steps to Tier 3 Silver!

Su Ming began to wantonly imagine his wonderful mealtime.

...

Deep in the Source Abyss.

On a battle line designated as the "Scarlet Forbidden Zone."

A high-intensity hunting operation had just ended.

Commander Huangfu Jing stood beside the corpse of a Six-Eyed Ghost Spider.

Pulling the two-meter-long wide giant sword out of the Source Beast's eye socket.

It dragged out an arc of ghostly purple flames.

She stood up.

Her short gray hair was blown into disarray by the heat wave.

Her combat suit was splashed with the thick, dark bodily fluids of the Source Beast.

Giving off a pungent, fishy sweetness.

She casually stabbed the giant sword into the ground and turned to look at the three team members behind her.

All three people were still standing.

Their armor was damaged, some were clutching their ribs and panting heavily, but no one had fallen.

The corners of Commander Huangfu Jing's mouth relaxed imperceptibly.

A close call, but safe. They were all alive.

That was enough.

"Collect the corpse; we can report the situation to headquarters now."

Her tone was as concise and crisp as ever.

But the team members who had followed her for many years knew.

The commander hadn't checked their injuries immediately after the battle ended.

For this red-haired female Asura who was accustomed to seas of corpses and blood.

Not missing any arms or legs was already the best battle report for today.

The three team members responded in unison.

They quickly began to process the battlefield.

Commander Huangfu Jing narrowed her eyes.

Her gaze cast toward the deeper direction of the Abyss in the distance.

Under the gray sky.

The outline of some behemoth was vaguely moving slowly in the thick fog.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The earth trembled.

Five heavy Source Energy mechs, ten meters tall, spat out blinding tail flames.

They slammed down from the sky above the broken valley, surrounding Commander Huangfu Jing in a semi-enclosure.

The chest cabin of the silver commander mech in the center let out a hissing sound of pressure release.

It slowly opened.

A young man wearing a high-grade anti-radiation military uniform.

Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, stood on the pilot platform.

The young man had a gentle and refined smile on his face.

On his chest, he wore a silver badge representing the Federal Research Institute.

He slowly and methodically adjusted his gloves.

Looking down at Commander Huangfu Jing from a high vantage point.

"Colonel Huangfu, I trust you've been well."

"The Lu Family of the Imperial Capital has come specifically to greet you."