44: Chapter 44 King Wu's Presence

Fortress No. 7, Command Headquarters.

The alloy door at the end of the corridor was tightly shut, with two fully armed guards standing outside, their auras steady.

This was no ordinary conference room.

Those who could enter through this door were either officers with real authority in the fortress or personnel specially approved for the front lines.

Ordinary soldiers passing through the corridor would lighten their steps.

Li Zhengyang walked over from the other end of the corridor, his pace unhurried.

Yet the fluctuation of his life force made the two guards instinctively grip their rifles tighter.

One of them recognized him.

"Sergeant Major."

Li Zhengyang nodded and did not stop.

The other guard was just about to verify his identity when his companion nudged him with an elbow and whispered, "Don't stop him, that's the new guy transferred to the Blade-Breaking Force."

"The one from this morning?"

"Yeah. Also the one from this afternoon."

The second half of the sentence was spoken very softly.

The one from this afternoon naturally referred to the news that had just spread from the logistics exchange counter.

Thirty-six Grade 4 Rift Scorpions and one Grade 5 Abyssal Giant Lizard.

There was no shortage of ruthless people in the fortress, but there were truly very few who could plow through the Northern Wilderness Rift Zone on their very first day of reporting for duty.

The heavy alloy door slid open silently to both sides.

Inside the huge circular conference room, the lights were as bright as day, and in the center was a massive holographic sand table simulating the terrain of the Northern Wilderness.

Over a dozen officers were seated on both sides of the sand table, each wearing crisp military uniforms, their shoulder insignias reflecting a metallic luster under the lights; the lowest rank among them was a Major.

These people were the true core of power in Fortress No. 7.

The moment Li Zhengyang stepped into the conference room, all conversation ceased abruptly.

A dozen gazes focused on him simultaneously, locking onto him like searchlights.

Scrutiny, contempt, curiosity, and undisguised hostility.

A young man covered in blood and grime, with a disheveled uniform, had just barged into the highest-level combat meeting of Fortress No. 7.

Combat Staff Officer Song Qing was standing by the door, and seeing him in this state, her facial muscles twitched.

She had just submitted that "death report," and the ink on the paper hadn't even dried yet, when this person walked in covered in beast blood.

"Report! Blade-Breaking Force, Sergeant Major Li Zhengyang, reporting for duty!"

Li Zhengyang's voice was not loud, but it was neither servile nor overbearing.

No one in the conference room replied.

Li Zhengyang didn't wait for anyone to offer him a way out either; he walked to an empty seat at the very end. That position was the furthest from the main seat, and a temporary number was stuck on the back of the chair, clearly reserved for him.

At the main seat, Commander Han Tieshan lifted his eyelids.

His face, marked by a scar, showed no signs of joy or anger; he simply tapped his fingers on the tabletop.

"Li Zhengyang."

"Present."

"You arrived at the fortress at ten this morning and the meeting is at three this afternoon. In the five hours in between, you went to the Northern Wilderness Rift Zone and even stopped by the territory of the Abyssal Giant Lizard."

Commander Han Tieshan's voice was very flat, as if he were stating something trivial, "You killed thirty-six Grade 4 Rift Scorpions and one peak Grade 5 Abyssal Giant Lizard. And you 'unfortunately' managed to lose two VIPs sent over by the Military District Logistics Department."

The air in the conference room instantly grew colder.

Several battalion commanders looked at Li Zhengyang with the implication of looking at a dead man.

For a rookie to cause such a huge mess on his first day, and right in front of the Commander-in-Chief, no less.

"Yes," Li Zhengyang replied crisply and cleanly, without explaining a single extra word.

"I read your report. It was written very concisely," Commander Han Tieshan picked up the crumpled slip of paper, "You said they ignored your warnings and acted without authorization. Do you have any proof?"

"None," Li Zhengyang answered.

"Does that mean this is just your side of the story?" A burly battalion commander next to him spoke up; his name was Battalion Commander Zhao Meng, the commander of the 1st Battalion, and he was famous for his explosive temper. He slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Li Zhengyang's nose.

"Kid, do you think the command headquarters is a playground? It was people from the Military District Logistics Department who died. When the Military District comes to hold someone accountable, who is going to cover for you? A rookie who just came out of Fortress No. 13, do you really think that winning a selection trial makes you big enough to run wild in Fortress No. 7?"

Li Zhengyang finally had some reaction.

He raised his head and looked at Battalion Commander Zhao Meng.

The moment he raised his head, an invisible pressure centered on him suddenly spread outward in all directions.

Battalion Commander Zhao Meng's hand, which had been pointing at him, froze in mid-air, and his face instantly flushed red. He felt as if his chest was being crushed by an invisible mountain, making it difficult to breathe.

The Martial Master life force within his body surged frantically, trying to resist, but it was like a stream hitting a dam, suppressed completely.

The expressions of the other officers also changed.

They were all Martial Masters and could most clearly feel the terror of this pressure.

This was not an aura a Martial Master could possess!

Combat Staff Officer Song Qing's face turned deathly pale, and she instinctively took half a step back. She felt that what she was facing was not a person, but a primordial beast that had just woken up.

Only Commander Han Tieshan at the main seat remained seated steadily.

But his fingers tapping on the tabletop stopped, his eyes narrowed into slits, and the muscles under his scar twitched slightly.

"A Martial King!"

This thought exploded in his mind.

This kid is a Martial King?

No, his aura is unstable, like he just broke through and can't control it perfectly yet.

But that essential pressure could not be faked.

A twenty-year-old Martial King?

These words, if mentioned at any meeting in the Northern Border Military Region, would make a group of old fogies jump out of their chairs.

What was even more fatal was that this kid was only a Grade 5 Martial Master when he arrived this morning.

What happened in between?

Sold materials, exchanged for military merit, found a corner to sit for a while, and then broke through his realm?

Commander Han Tieshan had seen geniuses and madmen.

But someone who was both a genius and a madman, this was his first time seeing one.

Li Zhengyang's gaze lingered on Battalion Commander Zhao Meng's face for two seconds, and then he slowly withdrew that released aura.

Thump.

Battalion Commander Zhao Meng sat back down in his chair as if his bones had been removed, gasping for air, his forehead covered in cold sweat. When he looked at Li Zhengyang again, his eyes were filled only with horror.

"I will say it again," Li Zhengyang's voice remained flat, "They sought their own deaths. My mission is complete."

"That's enough," Commander Han Tieshan finally spoke, breaking the suffocating silence.

He took a deep look at Li Zhengyang and then scanned the entire room.

"Regarding the death incident of Director Wang Dewen and Wang Ming, let Li Zhengyang's report be the final word; close the case and file it."

Combat Staff Officer Song Qing looked up abruptly, her face full of disbelief.

"Commander!"

"This is an order," Commander Han Tieshan's voice was unquestionable, "Fortress No. 7 is a battlefield, not a resort. If you don't have the ability but still want to run around everywhere, then you should accept your fate when you die."

He changed the subject and looked at Li Zhengyang.

"From today on, Li Zhengyang, you are assigned to the 1st Battalion."

He pointed at Battalion Commander Zhao Meng, who was still slumped in his chair gasping for air.

"You are under his command."

...