Chapter 3: Boastful Provocation

  Since you are here, then make yourself at home. After going through a week of military training in the camp, Lui gradually got used to life here, which can be attributed to his many years of special forces training career, as well as his strong will, and...

  Their trained weapons are nothing but long guns, iron picks and the like, equipped with shields, simple stabs and blocks, without any new ideas.

  "Even cannon fodder soldiers can't be trained like this all the time, right?" After another dull and uninteresting training session, Rain finally became dissatisfied and protested in the dormitory.

  "This is the training method of the 'cannon fodder' military camp, what can be trained in just three months? To be honest, I really want to train for a year and a half, haha!" The bearded Russian laughed loudly, and others also followed suit.

  In just a short week, Lain has become very close with his companions and has blended into their daily lives. Without any "noble young master" airs, Lain is extremely diligent, sweeping the dormitory spotless, even scrubbing the toilet to remove any unpleasant odors (mainly because he didn't want to be bothered by them himself).

  "Comrades! I..." Rayn said up to this point, suddenly paused, feeling that he had misspoken, this was indeed the greeting tone of their place.

  "What does 'comrades' mean?" Some people raised objections on the spot, making Raine a bit embarrassed.

  "Haha, that's what friends mean, just a slip of the tongue, hehe." Rayn explained, his face turning red as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

  "Friends, as 'cannon fodder', we can't just sit and wait for death. We must strive to create a new training model, we must take responsibility for our own lives." Rayn cleared his throat and said loudly.

  "A new training mode?" Everyone was drawn to his words, hitting them right in the heart. Who would be willing to charge forward foolishly and die for nothing?

  After a week of military training and conversations with his comrades (including memories of his original owner, Rain), Rain has new ideas about the current war and soldier training methods.

  The two armies faced off, with the infantry phalanxes advancing forward in unison, guns raised and bayonets charged. Under the hail of arrows from the enemy's archers, they couldn't hold out for long before launching into a frenzied charge, plunging into chaotic melee (pretty stupid, huh!).

  If you manage to break through the danger of archers during a charge, you will then face enemy soldiers holding long spears and shields. The combat is with long weapons and at close quarters, making self-defense difficult. How can one kill the enemy?

  "Being a 'cannon fodder' means to charge forward and die, to break through the enemy's lines even if we strengthen our training, it is impossible to escape the fate of becoming 'cannon fodder'! Such bitter suffering is not worth it!" Someone sighed, with a very indifferent attitude towards life and death.

  Death might be the best destination for these soldiers who are about to become cannon fodder, their families can receive compensation and barely survive on a meager income, their lives and deaths have long been disregarded.

  "Comrades, we're no longer afraid of death, what's there to fear about training?" Russ agreed with Rain's point of view, still needing to strengthen his own training pattern.

  "Right! Right!" everyone chimed in unison, all eyes on Rain, waiting for his good suggestion.

  "You need to have a strong body first, so that you can better engage in intense training, and..." Just as Ren said this, he was drowned out by everyone's thunderous laughter.

  "What are you laughing at?" Rain was at a loss, thinking he had said something wrong again. He carefully recalled the words he had just spoken, but didn't find anything out of place. He scratched his head, looking at everyone with a puzzled and bewildered expression.

  "Rhein, forget it! Look at you, with that small build of yours... Heh heh... When will you ever become strong? Besides, three months is too short a time, which is why our military training consists of only two simple moves: thrust and parry." Rus countered, everyone else also sizing up Rhein's slender physique again, bursting into laughter once more. After a while, they all dispersed, bored.

  Ren's frail body, clad in an ill-fitting blue soldier uniform, looked rather comical. There was no tailor here, and if he wanted to get it altered in the nearby town, there were three weeks of time left before he could get a chance to go out (to the town) after spending a month in the military camp. During training, mistakes couldn't be made, or else the outing qualification would also be cancelled (or death).

  "Is my body really that weak?" Rain asked back, but everyone had already dispersed and no one answered his question, not even bothering to give him a second glance.

  "Alright then, so you guys think my body is weak and can't withstand a blow? Does anyone among you dare to come out and exchange blows with me?" As soon as Rain's provocative words fell, the dormitory was like a pot that had been stirred up, everyone's eyes were fixed on him in disbelief, staring at him, some even came over to touch his head, suspecting that he had gone crazy.

  "Go away, I'm serious!" Rain angrily pushed away the arm in front of him and followed up with a beautiful grappling move, taking down his opponent...

  "Ah? Lain... easy does it!" The young man, Dakore, who had been burned by Lain earlier, was now bowing his head, his hands tied behind his back, and was begging for mercy.

  "Ah?" The onlookers were stunned, his speed was too fast, in just the blink of an eye, he had subdued Dakoet, who was a head taller and stronger than him, rendering him immobile.

  Lei En's slender figure, thin arms, black shorts, and piercing black eyes scrutinized others with a serious expression, as if provoking them.

  "Haha, I wasn't prepared just now, and you want to fight? I'll accompany you!" Dakoat, having regained his freedom, took off his upper garment, revealing strong muscles and furious eyes. He shouted loudly. As a former soldier and hunter who was forcibly recruited, he had been filled with anger all along, but couldn't find an outlet for it. Now, Rain's arrogant provocation gave him the opportunity to strike back.

  "Dakota, go easy on him. If Rane gets hurt and can't make practice, he'll be punished." Russ warned.

  "Rus, you saw what just happened! He was the one who started it, don't blame me. This kid is incredibly strong, my wrist almost got broken by him!" Dakot said angrily, showing off the bruise on his wrist, and indeed, there were still some blood clots there.

  "That's enough, otherwise..." Rus's shirt came off, revealing a more robust physique, his fists clenched tightly, his chest muscles trembling under his control, his tone extremely overbearing, as if he was the boss here (in fact, he was the boss, the boss of this dormitory).

  Ruth, with her generous personality and sense of justice, had stopped several fights in the dormitory before. Her warning was effective, and Dakota didn't have his earlier arrogant expression.

  The dull life in the barracks was suddenly enlivened by Rain's provocative shouts, and the atmosphere in the dormitory became exceptionally lively. The comrades developed an interest in this sparring match and started small-scale betting activities.

  Gambling is strictly prohibited in the Imperial Camp, but it's an exception for the Barracks of the Cannon Fodder. After everyone placed their bets, an awkward problem emerged - no one had bet on Rain winning. In other words, among the 15 people in the dormitory (excluding the two platoon leaders who didn't live with them), 13 were betting on Dakarte's victory.

  For such a result, Laine couldn't help but smile wryly, never expecting that he would be so disdained in everyone's eyes, even when using the special forces' signature martial art - grappling, didn't gain anyone's recognition.

  At this time, Dakota became more arrogant, hehe smiled, clenched his fists with both hands, ready to join the battle at any time.

  "Wait, if I lose, I'll pay three times the wager, how's that?" said Rain, and then pulled out a gold coin from his bosom, drew a beautiful curve in the air with it, and let it fall onto the pile of copper coins on the table with a loud clink, making it shine so brightly that it deeply attracted everyone's attention.

  "Haha, as expected of Master Green, born with a silver spoon! I'll add one too, heh heh, just one silver coin, come on everyone, place your bets!"

  "I'll add ten more copper coins."

  "Five silver coins!"

  “……”

  Everyone started betting crazily, although there wasn't much money involved, but the atmosphere in the dorm reached a small climax.

  The battle hasn't even started yet, and the dormitory is already in a state of jubilation. Even soldiers from nearby dormitories have come over to join in on the excitement. The dormitory is almost out of space, and the person with the most bets placed is still Dakore. The bet amount in front of Rain's name is still one gold coin.

  Raines and Dakotah had finished their pre-fight warm-ups in the arena, and with the arrival of other soldiers, the space between them was relatively smaller.

  Dakota let out a loud roar, swinging his fists wildly as he charged towards Lain with an air of disdain in his eyes and a fierce momentum.

  Lei Yin smiled slightly, dodged to the side and avoided his wheel attack with a quick movement. His feet were still jumping back and forth in rhythm, shaking his head and looking for an opening to counterattack at any moment.

  Dakota charged too fiercely and suddenly lost sight of Lain in front of him, almost pouncing on the surrounding soldiers. He steadied himself, furious, gritting his teeth and yelling loudly as he pounced at Lain again.

  "Hey!" Rain chuckled, this time not dodging, but instead came straight to Dakota's side, hands stretched out flat, quickly tapping his shoulder before swiftly moving to his back, still using the same move.

  "Ah!" Dakota involuntarily let out a cry of surprise, his hands had become unable to clench into fists. It turned out that the place where Rain attacked was his wrist and elbow, which also brought a tingling sensation, causing him to wave his hands back and forth in pain, panting heavily.

  His hands had lost their power, his legs couldn't keep up with Rain's speed. After a brief duel, Dako didn't have the arrogant look on his face anymore, he...he...he actually admitted defeat!

  The scene was in an uproar, with everyone blaming Dakota and calling him a coward, weakling, and other derogatory names. Dakota hung his head in silence, occasionally sighing.