66: Chapter 66 They're all hot-blooded; it's normal for them to fight.

After about four or five hours on the road, the military vehicle stopped in front of a military fortress.

"Alright, I'm going to head to the veterans' building to rest now."

"Chen Mo, you'd better give it your all. This border combat isn't some simulated skirmish, nor is it a match where you stop at a touch."

"When you encounter an Abyss Warrior, never show mercy. Even if you kill them, you have to take their heads off to be sure!"

"I'm off! This old man will come to see you when I have time later!"

The little old man waved at Chen Mo and, led by a few non-commissioned officers, entered the veterans' building.

"..."

Zhang Lianqi remained silent for a long while before slowly opening his mouth.

"Don't mind him; the old man gets too bored at the sanatorium and loves chatting with people whenever he gets out."

"From today on, you are a soldier under my command."

"The National Joint Examination tests your practical combat ability, your ability to adapt on the spot, and your mental state in high-pressure, high-risk environments."

"The entire National Joint Examination will last thirty days, and I will be the one determining your final scores."

"Now, you can go and get to know the five comrades you'll be spending the next thirty days with."

With that, Zhang Lianqi took Chen Mo into the recruit barracks.

That said, the higher-ups still treated these exceptionally talented children differently than they treated ordinary green recruits.

The candidates participating in the Joint Exam were all housed in triple rooms, living alongside the military officers.

As soon as Chen Mo walked into the room, he saw several familiar faces.

"Yo, Chen Mo's here!"

Lin Ye still wore that grinning expression, and his words drew the attention of the others to Chen Mo.

Lin Ye, Xia Li, and Su Qingyue—these three were already old acquaintances.

Aside from that one unfamiliar face, the last person was the one who shocked Chen Mo the most.

"Wen Wan?"

"Why are you here?"

Wen Wan scratched her cheek, not knowing how to explain that she had used connections to participate in the Joint Exam.

"Why do you care how she got here!"

Lin Ye familiarly threw an arm around Chen Mo's shoulder and led him to sit down.

"Let me introduce you. This is Shen Zhou, and his talent is in the Time attribute under the Rules category."

"If I recall correctly, it's called Time Dilation, right?"

Lin Ye asked the seemingly cold youth by the window.

"Yeah."

Shen Zhou nodded without saying much else.

"This guy just looks cold, but he's actually pretty easy to get along with."

Lin Ye scratched his cheek in embarrassment; Shen Zhou's personality had caused a bit of an awkward silence.

Fortunately, Chen Mo wasn't someone who cared about such things. He naturally set down his backpack and lay down on an empty bed.

"By the way, what's the process for this National Joint Examination?"

"Captain Zhang didn't explain it clearly earlier; he just told me he'd be the one giving us our final scores?"

Except for Wen Wan, the others all shook their heads.

"I know."

Wen Wan suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.

"We'll first go through a week of systematic training to understand the basic functions and tactics of a Scout Squad."

"Then comes the exam, and the test scores will count toward our final total."

"After establishing the foundation for scouting, the military will release tasks ranging from A to E grade for us to choose from."

"Each completed task earns merit points, and the final ranking is determined by the test scores, total merit points, and examiner evaluations."

"That's all my grandfather told me, and he told me not to push myself too hard..."

Wen Wan trailed off and shut her mouth. She shrank her neck and instinctively scooted backward.

The reason was simple: everyone in the room was staring straight at Wen Wan.

"As expected of the little princess of the Wen family, you can get quite a bit of information in advance."

Shen Zhou sneered, shook his head, and turned away.

"Hey! Buddy!"

Lin Ye wasn't happy. Wasn't Wen Wan being kind by willing to share this information with you?

"What do you mean by that? If you don't want to listen, you can cover your ears."

"Besides, this is something we'll find out in a little while anyway; Wen Wan was just telling us a bit earlier."

"Alright, don't mind him."

Chen Mo patted Lin Ye's shoulder, stood up, and shook his head at him.

Lin Ye didn't speak, just watched as Chen Mo walked step by step toward Shen Zhou.

"Looks like you have a lot of opinions about us?"

Chen Mo said calmly, staring at the back of Shen Zhou's head.

"What if I do?"

Shen Zhou also stood up, but he wasn't very tall—just a little over 1.7 meters—so his head only reached Chen Mo's stomach.

"Big oaf, if you ran into me, you wouldn't even make it past the first round of the arena battle."

Shen Zhou sneered again. He was a favored son of heaven from Shanghai, yet he had been assigned together with these people from Henan Province.

How unlucky!

He was already feeling quite depressed; his family hadn't given him a single piece of useful information to ensure they didn't break any taboos.

Hearing how doted upon Wen Wan was by her family, his words were laced with thorns.

"Alright then, let's spar."

Chen Mo had originally just wanted to reason with the guy, but looking at his arrogant, unyielding attitude, he figured if he didn't beat him into submission, he probably wouldn't cooperate during the Joint Exam.

"You?"

Shen Zhou glanced at Chen Mo without even turning his head.

"Yes, me!"

With that, Chen Mo swiped a palm toward Shen Zhou's head.

The air was torn apart, emitting a piercing shriek!

Shen Zhou's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected that Chen Mo would actually dare to make a move on him in Luofeng Fortress!

As the first-place winner of the Shanghai arena battle and the first-place winner of the Shanghai Simulated Defense Battle, Shen Zhou's own combat aptitude and talent were extremely high.

He reacted in an instant, and Chen Mo's palm slowed down at a speed almost visible to the naked eye.

"Someone who only uses brute force..."

But before his mocking words could be uttered, Chen Mo's arm emitted a crunching sound like steel cables twisting together!

Crack!

The Time Dilation that had restrained Chen Mo's arm cracked bit by bit, as if Chen Mo's palm had shattered the surrounding space.

Lin Ye and Xia Li were quite familiar with this scene.

Chen Mo had broken their talents with brute force back then, and they still remembered that sense of oppression clearly to this day.

Bang!

Outside the dormitory building, the officers who were discussing how to drill these kids suddenly looked up and saw a figure fly out like a broken ragdoll.

"What the hell? They're fighting?"

"No duh. Did we fight any less when we were in the recruit barracks back then?"

"They're all young and hot-blooded; it's only natural for them to fight!"