Chapter 18: The Greenhorn (Part 2)

  A faint sweet fragrance wafted through the air, causing several people's fingers to move involuntarily, and their stomachs growled loudly.

  "I've told you, from today on, you'll be entering the special forces training program, and of course, you'll receive the highest treatment." The major smiled slightly, letting the soldiers dump everything in the box onto the table.

  Suddenly, a pile of unknown plant leaves, fruit, insect corpses, raw meat and about seven or eight snakes curled up together with triangular heads appeared on the table.

  "This is also your first theoretical lesson, and the instructor is me." The major smiled slightly and said faintly: "These things may save your lives in the future."

  "You may know that as special warfare personnel, the tasks you will receive are the most arduous. The major paused and continued: "Some tasks may be difficult to complete in a month, and at this time you may have to stay in the mountains or primitive forests for a month. You have no way to bring enough food, the only way is to think of a solution yourself."

  "In this lesson, I will mainly explain some food identification and eating methods for wilderness survival, so that you won't be mysteriously poisoned to death in the wild."

  "Of course, avoid poisoning yourself, that's just common sense. To ensure you all can focus on the lecture, among these edible things, some of the poisonous ones happen to be neutralizable."

  "So, I will have 40 minutes to explain, and leave you with 10 minutes for assessment. The content of the assessment is to choose at least two toxic foods to eat on your own, and complete today's breakfast and lunch according to the eating method I taught you."

  "Did you all understand?"

  "Understood." The eight of them shouted in unison, joking that this was a matter of their own lives, how could they not understand?

  The lieutenant seemed satisfied with their answers and began to systematically start from the first plant. Xu Ming had always thought that all plants should be edible, as he had often heard villagers talk about how during times of famine, people would peel and eat tree bark, leaving no roots or plants within a 30-mile radius.

  It wasn't until I heard the lieutenant's lecture that I realized not all plants are edible. Some plants are even highly toxic, such as the wild celery in the lieutenant's hand, which looks no different from ordinary celery. In fact, it is a plant called poisonous hemlock, which contains a large amount of central nervous system stimulant toxin, and a dose of 120 milligrams can be fatal to humans.

  There is also a very beautiful wisteria, when Maya first saw it, her eyes were very excited, the wisteria was too beautiful, with a romantic flavor. Unfortunately, as soon as Shao spoke, Maya was stunned. The toxicity of wisteria can actually rank first among plant species, even more deadly than the poisonous arrow wood that sees blood and chokes.

  The lieutenant colonel spoke non-stop for twenty minutes, spitting wildly, while the eight seated people listened with cold sweat dripping down their faces, their hearts racing and trembling, constantly swallowing saliva.

  When the last insect corpse was put down, the major looked at his watch with satisfaction. After drinking a sip of water handed over by the soldier, he continued to say: "Distinguishing edible ones is just a basic skill, and what I teach you are relatively common poisonous plants and animals. Now there are still more than ten minutes left, it's about the eating method of food materials."

  "As a special forces operative, there is one thing you must remember at all times. That is to strictly prohibit starting fires during the execution of missions. The smoke produced by fire will expose your position, and its high temperature will also expose your position. You should know that radar detection systems used in general areas are based on the principle of capturing wireless frequencies and heat sources, so starting a fire means death."

  "At this time, how to eat these foods has become a problem. In fact, plants are a good choice, but unfortunately, the energy supplemented by plants is not much, and the best choice among meats is the water snake."

  The lieutenant colonel skillfully caught a water snake, the water snake was pinched at seven inches, and was shaken twice, and it stood still in the lieutenant colonel's hand.

  "Water snake is a high-nutrient animal, non-toxic, and its flesh and blood are relatively tender and easy to digest. More importantly, its parasitic bacteria are hidden in its scales, thus completely protecting the meat."

  "We just need a handy knife."

  The major said, and then pulled out a military dagger from his boot, inserted it into a small hole at the snake's tail, and with a few quick cuts, the blade came alive, and in just a few breaths, a still-wriggling but bloodied water snake was presented intact on the table.

  "Snakes are cold-blooded animals, their meat retains its energy well and tastes pretty good." The major nonchalantly chopped off the snake's head and threw it aside, using his dagger to pick up a piece of meat from the snake's spine and put it in his mouth. "Mmm, not bad, feels nostalgic... who wants to try some?"

  The eight young men's stomachs churned in unison as they gazed at the quivering, bloody thing, and it wasn't just their appetites that were affected - goosebumps rose on their skin.

  The lieutenant colonel picked up another piece of meat and put it in his mouth, saying lightly: "If you can't even pass this level, that's unfortunate. You will be eliminated."

  The boys suddenly fell into a cold war, staring at the bloody thing with a sharp gaze, but ultimately didn't dare to take action. It was surprisingly Kap who first pulled out a dagger, imitating the lieutenant colonel by picking up a piece of snake meat and putting it in his mouth to chew vigorously.

  With the first person eating crab, others felt that it was not so unacceptable. They all took out their knives and cut a piece of snake meat, stuffed it into their mouths.

  Xu Ming also endured the rolling of his stomach and forced himself to put a piece into his mouth. To be honest, it was his first time eating raw meat. Strangely, the intense fishy smell he had imagined, as well as the situation where the raw meat couldn't be chewed thoroughly, didn't occur.

  The lieutenant was right, the snake meat was fresh and delicious, although it still had some blood on it, but only a faint fishy smell, and the snake meat was tender, even more tender than fish meat. After savoring it carefully, it was actually not bad.

  "How's that? I didn't cheat you, did I?" The lieutenant hehe smiled and put the raw meat in front of him, with a nostalgic expression: "Eating snake meat is a kind of luck, but raw pork is the food you encounter the most..."

  Ten minutes later, the lieutenant walked out of the bungalow with a pleased expression, followed by eight young men who looked pale and crazy, rushing out together. As soon as they reached the door, they couldn't help but hunch over and vomit profusely.

  The lieutenant and the surrounding soldiers were all laughing loudly, but there was no ridicule in this laughter. There was only that kind of hearty laughter, everyone had come from being a rookie, and that period of time was what touched their hearts the most.

  Rookies sometimes have more luck.