Chapter 47

Chapter 47

He Yilan naturally noticed the arrival of the representatives from the Four Great Legions. Looking up, he saw Bai Luming rushing back and instantly understood what had happened. "Do you know what you look like right now?"

Bai Luming raised his eyes with a questioning glance.

He Yilan's lips curled into a smirk, a classic expression of someone enjoying the show without any concern for the chaos. He slowly uttered two words: "On the run."

Bai Luming: "..."

Bai Luming's gaze swept up and down He Yilan, taking in his calm and leisurely demeanor, which told him everything he needed to know.

Upon closer thought, although Mr. He from Zhong Sheng Machinery had always maintained close cooperation with the military, his daily interactions were likely limited to top figures in the Azure Shadow Legion. He rarely engaged with management from other legions, let alone someone like Duan Heguang, who served in the Azure Shadow Legion’s Mecha Unit 13. It made sense that He Yilan wouldn’t be recognized.

He was certain there was no chance of being identified.

Bai Luming had initially held onto a sliver of hope when he saw Huo Mingyue, but now, seeing He Yilan’s utterly unbothered attitude, even that hope felt hollow.

Indeed, when not everyone is equally unlucky, the one truly suffering can’t help but feel resentful.

He Yilan caught Bai Luming’s expression and saw right through his thoughts. "Running away is one thing, but don’t drag me down with you."

Bai Luming had just begun considering the possibility of pulling He Yilan into the mess when he heard this. Far from feeling guilty, he replied cheerfully, "Yeah, I’ll consider it—depending on my mood."

He Yilan let out an "Oh," his tone with a subtle rise, but he said nothing more.

There was really nothing else to say—or rather, there was only one possible outcome. Based on his understanding of Bai Luming over this time, if something unfortunate were to happen, there was no doubt this guy would drag him down to "go down together."

Not far away, the group at the entrance began filing into the training ground.

Bai Luming ducked into his virtual pod, opting for "out of sight, out of mind." He Yilan remained silent but also opened his own pod door.

The reception officer was arranged by the Nawei Military Region. Hosting the event at this training ground, where Nawei trainees were stationed, was also a move to gain more exposure.

After all, opportunities like this were rare. If one or two promising trainees caught the attention of the Four Great Legions’ officers, it would be enough to bring significant recognition to their military region.

Seeing the interest from the representatives, the reception officer enthusiastically began his introduction: "The training program here has just started, so the current focus is on basic training for the trainees. This way, please... Over the past few days, many trainees have already earned some military points through the training programs on the military network. According to the current statistics, among the top 20 trainees with the highest military points, eight are from the Nawei Military Region."

The introduction sounded objective, but upon closer listening, it was clear the reception officer was subtly boosting the Nawei Military Region’s presence.

As he spoke, instructors from other military regions followed behind, unable to butt in but rolling their eyes hard.

Liang Deng, at the back of the group, kept signaling Xiao Nuoya with his eyes, urging him to find a way to deal with these annoying Nawei Military Region guys.

Xiao Nuoya gently touched his own face, indicating he wasn’t thick-skinned enough for that, then silently made a "please" gesture, telling Liang Deng to handle it himself if he thought he could.

Liang Deng felt like kicking him right then and there: "..."

Usually so shameless, but now suddenly concerned about image? What good are you?!

Through each virtual pod’s small screen, basic data of the operator could be easily viewed.

As they walked, whenever they encountered a trainee with decent military points, the reception officer would immediately pull up their personal file and introduce them to the representatives of the Four Great Legions.

His spiel sounded objective at first glance, but it was actually filled with exaggerated praise for his own military region’s trainees—almost as if he had "passionate sales pitch" written all over his face.

However, at the level of these new trainees, the military points they’d earned were far from impressive to the representatives of the Four Great Legions.

After touring the area, the representatives seemed mostly bored. Only occasionally would they glance at trainees whose military points were noticeably higher than others’, but even then, they didn’t seem particularly impressed.

Soon, they had finished touring the Nawei Military Region’s training grounds. Just as the reception officer was about to lead the representatives out, Liang Deng seized the moment and spoke up clearly: "Actually, our No. 6616 Military Region has performed quite well this year. If you’re interested, sirs, we could head over to check out our side."

The reception officer glared at him, but could only maintain a professional tone: "We’ve already spent enough time in this training ground. There are many other places to visit, so we should probably move on."

"Since we’ve already seen half, we might as well finish the other half," Liang Deng said, seemingly oblivious to the reception officer’s death glare. He flashed a bright smile toward the representatives of the Four Great Legions. "You may not know this, but before the first elimination assessment, our trainees participated in a simulated exercise against the regular forces of the Nawei Military Region and scored impressive results."

The phrase "scored impressive results" made the reception officer’s face go pale.

Sure enough, his words piqued someone’s interest.

Duan Heguang from the Azure Shadow Legion looked over. "Oh?"

Liang Deng had been waiting for that "oh." He seamlessly continued, "In that simulated exercise, our trainee camp defeated the team led by Colonel Legrey of the Nawei Military Region and won the final victory in the inter-camp competition."

The reception officer could hardly bear to watch, closing his eyes in dismay.

Sorry, Colonel Legrey—you’ve just become famous among the Four Great Legions in this way.

Rong Wenyu from the Golden Plume Legion, listening nearby, suddenly recalled something: "I remember the Gold Army reserved a trainee from Planet 6616."

Liang Deng’s response was firm: "Yes. His name is Ji Xinghan, and he served as the overall commander in that simulated exercise. He’s now a trainee in our fortress’s command department."

"Not even officially on the reserve list yet, and already studying in the command department? It seems your military region has high hopes for him."

This time, even Wu Tian from the Red Feather Army grew curious about the No. 6616 trainee camp. "Since we’re already here, it wouldn’t be fair to only see the Nawei Military Region’s situation. Let’s take a look at the other side as well."

Liang Deng politely gestured for them to proceed, leading the group toward his own trainees’ training grounds. He shot a glance at Xiao Nuoya: See that? Useless. It’s up to me to get things done!

Xiao Nuoya nodded in admiration and gave a thumbs-up: Yes, yes, you’re the best. I could never match your level of thick-skinnedness.

Liang Deng shot him a glare: Get lost!

The reception officer tried to tag along, but Liang Deng subtly pushed him aside. Leading the way, he brought them to Ji Xinghan’s virtual pod, which happened to be located at the front.

Ji Xinghan had remained inside his pod the entire time and was unaware of the Four Great Legions’ arrival.

The information displayed on the small screen showed he was currently engaged in simulated training, and his military points were undoubtedly the highest among all trainees, including those from the Nawei Military Region. A quick check confirmed he was topping the rankings among all trainees.

Everyone present was familiar with the military network’s training system. Given how recently these trainees had started training, Ji Xinghan’s military points were impressive even by active duty standards.

Rong Wenyu was seeing this trainee, whom his legion had reserved, for the first time. After reviewing his stats, he looked pleased. "The recruitment departments across regions are quite responsible. The talent they’ve uncovered is truly exceptional."

Duan Heguang, representing the Azure Shadow Legion, sighed with a hint of regret. "You guys moved pretty fast this time. Well, we’ll keep looking. Maybe there are even better ones out there."

After a moment’s thought, Wu Tian remarked, "This trainee’s style actually seems more suited to our Red Feather Army."

Duan Heguang instantly caught the underlying meaning. "Your Red Feather Army’s style is all about grinding, isn’t it!"

Rong Wenyu cleared his throat lightly. "...Let’s be dignified. Is it appropriate to discuss poaching intentions so openly?"

As the three conversed freely, Liang Deng’s smile grew brighter, while the reception officer’s expression grew darker.

Huo Mingyue stood to the side, not participating in the discussion. His gaze swept around the nearby virtual pods, appearing disinterested in the conversation.

He remembered that the trainee Marshal Shen had placed in the No. 6616 Military Region was named Gu Anzhe. He would use this chance during the inspection to keep an eye out for him.

After leaving Ji Xinghan’s virtual pod, the group moved on.

This time, Liang Deng wasn't actually boasting. Judging purely by military points, although the No. 6616 Military Region camp didn't have a large number of entries in the top 20, there were indeed individual trainees with relatively high scores emerging one after another—besides Ji Xinghan, Chu Xiao, Tang Ruyan, and others also performed exceptionally well.

As they inspected one simulated cabin after another, reaching the innermost row, Duan Heguang's gaze swept across and he chuckled, calling out to Huo Mingyue, "Vice Commander Huo, come take a look! There's a trainee here whose name is quite connected to your White Flame Legion!"

The others also turned to look upon hearing this, then each cleared their throats softly. Though they instantly understood the meaning behind his words, some inside jokes were better left unaddressed.

Huo Mingyue's first thought was whether their undercover agent had been discovered, but when he walked over, a name caught his eye—Lu Ming.

Indeed, it was a name that was clearly connected to their White Flame Legion.

Liang Deng hadn't expected to attract the representatives' attention in this way either.

Eager to promote his trainees, he was about to give a proper introduction when Duan Heguang had already obtained the information from the attending officer. After reviewing it, he laughed and said, "However, this 'Lu Ming' is quite different from 'that one.'"

Liang Deng's words stuck in his throat, and he quietly leaned over to take a look. The military points displayed on the virtual interface came into view—a blatant, massive zero, so obvious it was almost painful.

Liang Deng: "..."

So this kid had been faking it in the virtual cabin for days without any results at all?!

Of course, everyone present knew who Duan Heguang was referring to as "that one." They simply laughed along and quickly changed the subject.

After all, this Lu Ming was not that Lu Ming.

Jokes aside, everyone knew the marshal's achievements were not something easily surpassed. At the very least, among those at the top of the overall military points leaderboard, there was only one person who had maintained their ranking for years without even logging into the intranet.

Following Bai Luming's zero military points, the group soon spotted another zero in the neighboring simulated cabin, a trainee named Yi Lan.

The receptionist, who had been displeased throughout the tour, finally broke into a smile. "The No. 6616 Military Region truly has hidden dragons and tigers! Over these past few days, scoring zero military points is actually harder than scoring high! The lowest score among the Nawei Military Region trainees we saw earlier was 10 points, wasn't it? Yet you have two zeros in a row—they're really not trying hard. If they truly lack the ability to earn military points, they could request some basic training if given the chance. It might help them improve."

Liang Deng, Xiao Nuoya: "..."

Dammit, this guy finally found an opportunity to mock them.

After wrapping up the tour of the No. 6616 trainee camp, the visit to the training ground officially concluded, and the group began moving to the neighboring training ground.

Liang Deng, having completed his temporary escort duties, gave Xiao Nuoya a look and didn't follow along. Instead, he slipped back to the training ground while the others weren't paying attention.

The earlier shock had been a bit too much—he needed some time to process it.

Returning to Bai Luming's virtual cabin, Liang Deng pressed the alert button with a complicated expression.

A moment later, a confused Bai Luming opened the cabin door and stuck his head out. "Colonel Liang? What brings you here?"

"What brings me here?" Liang Deng almost laughed at the question. "I came to see how your training's going! You've been in the simulated cabin all this time—must be working hard, huh?"

Bai Luming rubbed his eyes, which had just finished watching a full holographic movie, and replied, "Yeah, a little."

Liang Deng: "..."

He's really faking it! Working hard? Working hard to maintain that zero military points record?!

If it were anyone else, Liang Deng might have wondered if they truly lacked ability, but he had high hopes for Bai Luming. Such a glaring zero could only mean one thing—slacking off.

Liang Deng hadn't paid much attention before, but recalling the situation now, this person wasn't exactly a volunteer to join the military in the first place.

After several assessments, since he had made it to the second round of selections, Liang Deng had assumed Bai Luming had finally gained some enthusiasm for soldiering. But now it seemed he still hadn't changed his mind—slacking off to this extent meant he had no intention of pursuing this path at all.

Liang Deng had trained many soldiers, but never one with so little motivation.

Suddenly, he felt all his past experience was completely useless.

Hit by a sudden wave of defeat, Liang Deng's emotions grew even more complicated.

He looked at Bai Luming, wanting to say something but hesitating repeatedly. Finally, he spoke as calmly as possible, "Lu Ming, can you try just a little harder?"

Bai Luming: "Huh?"

Liang Deng urged sincerely, "If not for anything else, do it for the sake of your name! Try a little harder!"

Bai Luming looked even more confused. "What does my name have to do with it?"

Liang Deng couldn't bring himself to recount what had just happened. After a moment's thought, he said, "How about this: from what I know, the typical military score range in the military region is around 20. We're not asking for much—there are still two days left. If you have any questions, you can always come to me or Xiao. Don't hesitate to ask. Try to reach 40 military points as soon as possible. Is that okay?"

Bai Luming stared fixedly at Liang Deng, silently wondering: "?"

Of course, it was a problem!

Weren't they still giving the Four Great Armies a tour? How did the tour suddenly turn into pressuring him?

Liang Deng looked at Bai Luming with genuine hope in his eyes. "If you can't quite make it, that's fine—just do your best. Think of it as boosting our fortress's image. Okay?"

Bai Luming couldn't quite handle a man in his forties looking at him like that. Considering that earning 40 military points wouldn't take too much time, he asked one more question, "Earning military points is pretty exhausting. Are there any incentives?"

This was the first time Liang Deng had seen someone try to bargain over demonstrating their own abilities.

So, this kid really was just coasting along!

Liang Deng's jaw twitched violently as he forced out a few words: "One month meal plan!"

Bai Luming wasn't having it and even seemed a bit disdainful. "Our military region's image is only worth one month of meal plans?"

"..."

Liang Deng clenched his teeth. "I'll cover all your meals until the second elimination assessment is over. How about that? But let's be clear—40 military points, not one less! If you're short even one point, the long-term meal ticket is gone!"

Bai Luming finally nodded. "...Fine, I'll try."

His tone was hesitant, his attitude reluctant, as though he were the one getting the short end of the stick.

Liang Deng: "."

He had recruited himself a royal pain!

But at least he was willing to put in the work for the long-term meal ticket.