41: Chapter 41 Old Acquaintances

As soon as Commander Han Tieshan finished speaking, the officers in the command center looked at each other.

Fortress No. 7 was located on the front lines of the Northern Wilderness, and usually, only personnel within the military establishment came here.

"Strangers? What is their background?"

The communications soldier wiped away sweat. "They said they are holding a letter of introduction from the Military District Logistics Department, requesting to be assigned a live combat kill mission. Judging by their attire, they look like they're from the interior, and they even brought two attendants."

Commander Han Tieshan frowned. "What level?"

"The letter of introduction states that it is to assist the local martial arts education system in completing a practical combat assessment, and they need to be arranged a kill opportunity for a Level 4 Demonic Beast."

"Level 4?" A battalion commander beside him sneered. "Civilian personnel from the interior running to Fortress No. 7 to kill a Level 4 Demonic Beast? Who approved this?"

The communications soldier pulled a copy from his pocket and handed it over.

Commander Han Tieshan glanced at it, and his brow relaxed.

"The seal of the Military District Logistics Department; it's a connection from Old Xiao's side. Fine, handle it according to procedure."

He turned his head and looked at Li Zhengyang.

"Didn't you just get back? Perfect, you take them. Just arrange the Level 4 mission while you're at it, as long as you don't let them die on my turf."

Li Zhengyang shouldered his spear and walked out of the command center, heading toward the South Gate.

When he arrived at the South Gate, he saw them from afar.

Two people were standing outside the checkpoint, followed by two attendants carrying backpacks.

The one on the left was about fifty years old, with his hair combed meticulously. He wore a wool coat, a scarf around his neck, and carried a briefcase in his hand.

The one on the right was in his early twenties, with his right arm in a brace, a sallow complexion, and wearing designer clothes, but he looked gaunt.

Director Wang, Director Wang Dewen.

The nephew, Wang Ming.

Li Zhengyang's footsteps slowed by half a beat.

He stood in the shadows inside the South Gate, not rushing over.

Director Wang Dewen, he remembered now.

Last time at the Academic Affairs Office, this Director Wang kept saying "let's discuss it," and slipped him two hundred thousand right under his nose to make him give up his spot. Later, he stirred up public opinion, hired thugs, and created liability waivers, trying to get the money back.

Wang Ming, that young master who spent two hundred thousand to buy a spot, the trash whose right arm meridians he had crippled with one punch in the arena.

These two ran to the Northern Border?

Here to get gilded?

Kill a Level 4 Demonic Beast, and upon returning, he could be directly admitted to the undergraduate martial arts program, adding a glittering "Northern Border Combat Experience" entry to his resume.

Li Zhengyang switched the spear to his other shoulder and walked toward the checkpoint.

The sentry at the checkpoint was verifying the letter of introduction.

Director Wang Dewen stood to the side, hands in his coat pockets, looking around, occasionally patting Wang Ming's shoulder and whispering a few words.

"Nephew, don't be nervous. Everything is arranged. There will be military personnel cooperating, so we just need to go through the motions. A Level 4 Demonic Beast—they will help beat it half to death, you just go up and deliver the final blow, take a photo, and it's done."

Wang Ming's expression was not very good.

Although his right arm wasn't completely useless, the meridians were severely damaged. Before coming here, he had visited several physicians, and they all said there was basically no hope of recovering to his original level.

"Uncle, this place is too desolate."

Wang Ming shrank his neck; the wind of the Northern Wilderness felt like knives on his face.

"It's only safe because it's desolate; no one knows us here." Director Wang Dewen lowered his voice. "Once we go back and the undergraduate spot is secured, who will care if your arm is crippled or not? As long as you get the diploma, that's all that matters."

Wang Ming nodded and glanced inside the fortress again.

Then he saw someone.

Dressed in a black training uniform, carrying a long spear on his back, he was striding over from inside the fortress.

His walking posture was very casual, but every time his foot landed, the gravel beneath him would bounce to the sides.

Wang Ming squinted his eyes.

"He looks a bit familiar..."

Director Wang Dewen followed his gaze, but didn't recognize him.

Mainly because Li Zhengyang looked too different from how he did a few months ago.

Before, he was a skinny student; now, changed into a military training uniform, his physique was well-proportioned, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and his entire demeanor had completely changed.

Li Zhengyang walked to the outside of the checkpoint and stopped five meters away.

The sentry turned back, saw him, and immediately stood at attention.

"Good day, Officer!"

"What's the situation with these two?"

"Report, they hold a letter of introduction from the Military District Logistics Department and are applying for a live combat kill mission."

Li Zhengyang took the letter of introduction, glanced at it, and then looked at the photo attached to the letter.

Then he looked up at Director Wang Dewen and Wang Ming.

He smiled.

That smile made the back of Wang Ming's neck turn cold.

"Director Wang."

Li Zhengyang folded the letter of introduction and called out slowly.

Director Wang Dewen was stunned.

This title was too precise; he was no longer at the school, having been suspended, and no one called him Director Wang anymore.

He carefully looked at the face of the young man in front of him.

Three seconds later, the color drained from his face.

"You... you are..."

"Oh, Director Wang, you have a short memory for important people." Li Zhengyang took a step forward. "Two hundred thousand to buy a spot, the liability waiver, hiring people to beat me—have you forgotten these things?"

Wang Ming's legs went weak.

He recognized him.

It was this person who slapped him flying in the arena and lifted him up by his neck with one hand.

The meridians of his right arm were crippled by this person with a single punch.

"Li Zhengyang?"

Director Wang Dewen took a step back, his lips starting to tremble.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm stationed here." Li Zhengyang patted the rank insignia on his shoulder. "Your live combat mission falls under my command."

Director Wang Dewen's face turned completely white.

He instinctively scanned his surroundings, wanting to find someone to ask for help.

The sentry at the checkpoint stood straight, and two passing patrol soldiers had no intention of striking up a conversation.

Wang Ming tried to be tough. "We have a letter of introduction from the Military District Logistics Department, you..."

Before he could finish speaking.

The sentry beside him raised his hand and slapped him.

Slap.

Crisp.

Wang Ming's left cheek immediately swelled up, and blood seeped from half his gums.

"Show some respect." The sentry's voice was neither too loud nor too soft. "This is our Sergeant Major; do not be rude."

Director Wang Dewen and Wang Ming were simultaneously petrified.

The two looked at each other, their minds buzzing.

This kid was just a poor student a few months ago, and now he's a Sergeant Major in the Northern Border Military Region? The soldiers under him stand at attention and salute him, and he can just slap them in the face as he pleases?

Director Wang Dewen forced a smile.

"Zhengyang, I didn't expect you to do so well. The things back at school... they were all misunderstandings, and your uncle was helpless in that situation..."

"Alright, stop acting." Li Zhengyang waved his hand. "Didn't you want to kill a Level 4 Demonic Beast? I will lead you there personally."

Personally lead.

Hearing these three words from Li Zhengyang's mouth, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Director Wang Dewen's back.

"No... no need to trouble you, just arrange someone else."

"It's no trouble." Li Zhengyang had already turned around and was walking into the fortress. "The commander personally instructed me to lead the team. Let's go, while it's still bright."

Wang Ming tugged at Director Wang Dewen's sleeve, his voice very low.

"Uncle, something's wrong; this guy has a grudge against us."

"I'm not blind." Director Wang Dewen's voice was also shaking. "But what can we do now? Run? Where to run? This is a Northern Border military fortress."

The two looked at each other for two seconds, then bit the bullet and followed.

Li Zhengyang led them to the Quartermasters Office to receive basic equipment, then took them to the tarmac.

Passing by the training ground on the way, several soldiers who were sparring stopped when they saw Li Zhengyang.

"Sergeant Major!"

"Good day, Sergeant Major!"

Every time Director Wang Dewen heard a shout, his face turned a shade paler.

On the tarmac, a light reconnaissance aircraft was parked.

Li Zhengyang said a few words to the pilot, and the pilot nodded and started the engine.

"Get on."

Director Wang Dewen and Wang Ming climbed into the back seat, and the two attendants squeezed in as well.

The aircraft took off and flew north.

They flew for twenty minutes.

The terrain below changed from wilderness to black rocky ground, with no grass growing, and there were large patches of dried, dark red stains on the ground.

That was blood.

Old blood. The blood of many demonic beasts mixed together, seeping into the rock crevices, never fading year-round.

Director Wang Dewen leaned against the porthole and looked down, and the more he looked, the more wrong it felt.

"Sergeant Major Li, where are you taking us?"

"To kill a Demonic Beast, didn't you want a Level 4?"

"This direction doesn't seem to be the activity area for Level 4 Demonic Beasts, does it?"

Li Zhengyang didn't turn his head.

"Level 4 is too weak, and it wouldn't look good to kill one. I'm arranging a big one for you; it will look better on your resume when you go back."

Wang Ming's face had no color left.

"What do you mean by a big one? How big?"

The aircraft began to descend.

In the center of the rocky ground below, there was a collapsed area of the surface, forming a sinkhole-like depression.

The edges of the depression were scorched black, as if they had been repeatedly crushed by something huge.

A strong, foul stench permeated the air, seeping in through the gaps in the cabin's seals.

Director Wang Dewen's pupils contracted sharply.

He wasn't a martial artist, but he had worked in the martial arts system for over twenty years; he knew all too well what this aura meant.

"Stop! Make him stop!" Director Wang Dewen grabbed the front seat violently. "This is not the territory of a Level 4! This aura..."

It was too late.

The aircraft had already landed.

Li Zhengyang was the first to jump down, taking the dragon gall golden spear off his back and planting it on the ground.

He looked back at Director Wang Dewen and Wang Ming, who were still sitting in the cabin, their faces pale.

"Get down."

"What are you trying to do!" Director Wang Dewen's voice changed pitch.

"Director Wang, didn't your nephew want a practical combat assessment? Three hundred meters ahead, there is a Level 5 Demonic Beast, the Abyssal Giant Lizard."

Li Zhengyang pointed at the collapsed area ahead.

"This is a mission Commander Han Tieshan gave me. I originally intended to go by myself, but since you've come, let's do it together."

Wang Ming had already started shrinking back into the depths of the aircraft.

"I'm not going! I'm not going! A Level 5 Demonic Beast is at the Martial Master level! You're crazy!"

Li Zhengyang walked back to the side of the aircraft, grabbed Wang Ming's collar with one hand, and pulled him out of his seat.

Wang Ming kicked his legs in the air, but the strength of a Level 3 martial artist was no different from a baby's in front of a Martial Master.

"Put me down! Put me down!"

Li Zhengyang put him on the ground.

Then he looked at Director Wang Dewen.

"Director Wang, you get down too."

Director Wang Dewen gripped the seat armrest, not daring to let go.

"You want to kill us."

"Why would I want to kill you?" Li Zhengyang's tone was very light. "I'm just taking you to complete a mission. A Level 5 Demonic Beast—if you kill it and go back, let alone an undergraduate program, you'll have enough for direct admission to a key martial arts university."

"What a great opportunity."

The lighter he said it, the more afraid Director Wang Dewen became.

From the collapsed area three hundred meters away, a low, deep breath could be heard.

The ground trembled slightly.