Chapter Ten: The Will to Rape

  "What? You want me to go on a mission with you? Are you crazy? I thought you wanted me to do some backstage work for you, not go to the front line! I'm not a soldier! I don't know how to fight! Do you want me to die?" I yelled at Butcher in desperation.

  "Do you know why I brought you here? It's because I like the decisive reaction you showed in the mall shootout, your unwavering determination and means after making up your mind, as well as your exceptionally extensive military knowledge that surpasses ordinary people. And most importantly, I found out that you have an extremely strong battlefield reaction and danger intuition! As well as composure in the face of death! These are all necessary conditions to become a top-notch soldier, which ordinary soldiers can only acquire through very long and intense training! But there is one type of person who is born with this ability, do you know? They are naturally excellent soldiers. And you are that kind of person!" The butcher said calmly to me. "And I won't let such a good material slip away from me!"

  "I'm not as good as you say! In the building, I wasn't even conscious, it was all luck. My military knowledge is just from browsing the web unintentionally and it's not professional at all. In the forest, I didn't even discover that scout who was tracking us. And I'm afraid of pain, afraid of death, afraid of seeing blood, I had never killed any living thing before that, and I didn't want to be a soldier in the first place!" I strongly refuted.

  "Unconsciousness is your instinct, and your instinct determines that you are a born killer!"

  Being able to quickly remember the latest intelligence in any situation is a scout's most needed ability!

  The scout in the forest is a formidable role, and we also discovered it through years of intuition. He didn't have malicious intentions, so you not noticing him is normal. When you approached the camp, you could feel the killing intent from the captain and others, which means your sense of crisis is very keen!

  We are all afraid of pain, afraid of death. As for being afraid of seeing blood, how come I didn't see you being so scared when you were killing people in the marketplace? And besides, I swear you will fall in love with them!

  Besides, luck is important, at least you won't get your head blown off by a stray bullet.

  Besides, if you don't want to be a soldier, then just don't be one. If you can beat me, I'll let you go back unconditionally." The butcher-like man slowly and calmly told me the "reason", while taking off his shirt to reveal steel-like muscles, showing me the only "way out" I was facing.

  Looking at the butcher's ferocious smile and mountain-like muscles, I realized that a free and peaceful life was getting farther and farther away from me. "You're very good at 'persuading' people, Butcher. However, my physical condition isn't up to par, old wounds haven't healed yet, and after running in the mountains for several days, my body is severely overdrawn. I'm currently unable to go into battle. Moreover, don't soldiers need to receive training before going onto the battlefield? How about letting me rest and recover first, then receive some training, and finally participate in action?" I revealed the still-red-and-swollen wounds on my body, pointing at the dark circles under my eyes, using a delaying tactic.

  "Of course, I've noticed your physical condition. The operation is scheduled for half a month later and we're currently in the data collection phase. By then, you'll be fully recovered and can start training. Starting tomorrow, I'll arrange it. Also, facing strong enemies requires adaptability and not being reckless is a basic requirement for a team commander. Apparently, you also possess this quality, and I'm increasingly optimistic about you! By the way, let me remind you that this isn't China. Even if you manage to escape, don't think you'll be able to make it back alive. Besides, the mercenary living next door is worth 25 million!" The butcher finished speaking, picked up his clothes, and walked out the door.

  This is a military camp in Cambodia. We arrived here by plane yesterday, and as I watch the soldiers coming and going outside, I become more and more bewildered.

  "It's obvious the butcher likes you! He actually talked to you that much!" A soldier carrying a medical tray but not wearing a doctor's uniform walked in. "My name is Charlie, everyone calls me Doctor, and you can call me that too!" He said while examining my wound.

  "Are his words still few? His many words are almost catching up with the broadcaster. And don't use the word 'like'!" I couldn't believe it a bit.

  "Do you have a prejudice against homosexuals?" The doctor said while dressing my wound, "No, their love is their freedom, but if it's imposed on me, I won't be happy." I emphasized.

  "Haha, Big Bak told us about what happened on the road and I'm dying of laughter. Haha, to repay you, I'll let him give you a day off, but there's no way tomorrow!" The doctor smiled and said to me "Thank you, if you can tell him that I won't be able to participate in military action, it would be heaven-sent." I said hopefully.

  "I can't help you, although I'm a doctor, everyone knows medical skills, can't deceive them! Sorry" The doctor left with a sorry expression.

  A day later... "Ok. Let's review some common sense on the battlefield. Trees, usually use their back to hide your body and shoot from the right rear side. When using large trees, you can take standing, kneeling, or lying down postures; when using small trees, usually take a prone posture...... If you get lost in the forest, put your watch horizontally and point the hour hand towards the sun, the direction indicated by the 12 o'clock mark is roughly north. For example, if it's currently 16:00, the 8 o'clock mark points towards the sun, and the 12 o'clock mark indicates north...... If you've run out of food, I suggest eating things with meat first, then insects, and finally plants if there's nothing else. Here's a chart of what's edible. By the way, centipedes don't taste very good. Fried ants with mushrooms are extremely delicious! It's best not to drink water from weeds, but instead choose clear water from cliffs or rocks......"

  "I think anyone who is woken up in the middle of sleep, thrown to the ground, tied up and forced to run 10 kilometers, then forced to do 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups at gunpoint. After a series of tactical training sessions, having your unfinished lunch taken away within 30 seconds, and then being forced to endure a long and unpleasant lecture in the afternoon would make anyone's mood as bad as mine. And that's not even mentioning the extra meal I have to wait for tonight, which is supposedly a privilege because I'm injured..."

  The nightmare continued. Two weeks later, all the wounds on my body had healed, but I had completely given up my plan to escape. After being caught three times, one of which I saw the city, but was mistaken for a spy by local soldiers and almost shot dead because of language barriers.

  After I finished 50 kilometers of running, 500 sit-ups, and 500 push-ups as well as other routine physical "recovery" training, I was summoned to the conference room. Looking at my colleagues present, I knew what was going to happen!

  "Hello, partners!"

  "Good morning, sir!"

  "Frankly speaking, our mission this time is very simple. As everyone knows, on December 25th, 1998, the leader of the Red Khmer, Jo Sen Pan and Nong Xie, surrendered to the Cambodian government. On February 9th this year, the last 1700 Red Khmer soldiers were incorporated into the Cambodian government army in Anlong Veng. On March 6th, the last leader of the Red Khmer, Che Chun, was captured by the government army. The Red Khmer, one of the most notorious radical organizations in the world today, has finally come to an end. However, there is a group of about 100 die-hard Red Khmer members who refused to surrender and have vowed to take revenge. Their latest whereabouts were spotted near Bay Lin... here... here... We will be entering the mountains tonight, our mission is to find them and make them surrender. Any questions?" Captain Roger asked after finishing his briefing.

  "What if we don't surrender?" I whispered to the cowboy beside me.

  "Kill them!"

  "Why? You're ruthless! No grudges!"

  "You can imagine what kind of bad things they've done, like in the more than three years that they were in power, at least one million people died abnormally in Cambodia, while the country's total population was only seven million." The cowboy said "Who hired us to do this? Why didn't the government troops do it?"

  "The Cambodian government is in a difficult situation! But who cares about that? Just give them money and it's fine!" said Di Huo, taking over the conversation.

  After the meeting, everyone was preparing to gear up. Buck walked in front of me and said: "Xing Tian, this is your military uniform and equipment! Gear up and then go to the hall for assembly!" After finishing speaking, he put down an M16 rifle, a Beretta 93FS pistol, a large package of field equipment, and ammunition. He turned around and was about to leave.

  "Wait a minute, Buck. I don't want to use the M16, its failure rate is too high! Can I switch? " I glanced at the M16 on the ground. "Haha, how would you know? What gun do you want to use? I forgot that Chinese people all like using AK series. Let me go get one for you." Buck seemed to be without malice, quite sincere.

  "The Chinese are not just familiar with the AK, I think of using the HK33/SG1 rifle or the SIG550 assault rifle. If there's really no AUG, then even an M16 would make me feel more at ease." I don't like it when others, whether intentionally or unintentionally, look down on the Chinese.

  "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. You know what I mean. We don't have the HK33/SG1 and AUG for now, but we do have the SIG550. Wait a minute, let me go swap it out for you!" Baku is a very considerate person. He picked up on my tone of dissatisfaction and quickly apologized.

  "No, it's okay, I know you didn't mean to. Sorry, Bak, I'm just nervous because we're about to go into battle... sorry." I also apologized for my tone to Bak.

  "Heavens, don't be nervous, it's all right. Everyone is like this on their first battlefield, and I'll take care of you!" Buck said with a sincere expression that moved me deeply.

  "Also cowboys, why are they so quiet every day?" I wanted to chat with Buck to relieve some pressure.

  "Hmm... That's just how they are..." Buck muttered.

  "Because they don't trust you. So they won't tell you too much." The butcher pushed the door open and came in with a sic550 assault rifle in his hand. He put the gun on the table, and then said: "The trust among soldiers is not that easy to get, if you do something stupid during the action that threatens their safety, they will directly take you out, remember." After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.

  "It's okay, he's exaggerating, nothing like that will happen, no one is going to kill you!" Buck hurriedly mediated, seeing my expression was off.

  "It doesn't matter, Bak. Once I'm caught by the butcher, I wasn't planning on living anyway. I've mentally prepared myself! You go prepare first, I'll be right there!" My face turned pale, my stomach contracted repeatedly, and acid surged up to my throat again and again.

  After sending Bak away, I ran into the bathroom and dry-retched for a while, but nothing came out. I washed my face and looked at myself in the mirror, pale complexion, panicked eyes. I gave myself two slaps on the ears. Then I walked out of the bathroom, put on 100% anti-scratch jungle camouflage uniform, wore jungle combat boots, checked the supplies, guns, knives, adjusted the sights, loaded the bullets, wore a sun hat, opened the door and faced everyone's gaze. There was no warmth in their eyes. I slowly stood among the crowd, but the many comrades around me couldn't bring me a sense of security.

  The captain came before us, scanned the crowd, his gaze lingering on me for a moment, then nodded and said: "I'll reiterate the discipline once more. No unnecessary noise, no unnecessary movement, no stupid behavior. The team will advance in three small squads, 10 meters apart, in standard two-cover-two formation. Upon arrival, we will deploy in a horizontal search formation with three small squads. If you encounter the enemy, immediately retreat and contact others before taking action. Got it?"

  "Yessir!" Everyone responded loudly. I was moved, because these were the basic common sense of jungle special warfare, and everyone present was a master, there was no need to say it again, the captain reiterated it again, obviously reminding me again, afraid that I would get into trouble.

  "Alright, let's go!" The captain waved his hand and led everyone onto the Black Hawk helicopter, flying into the continuous mountains at sunset.