Chapter 148-2: Reshaping Order, Taunt Tactics (2) |
Early the next morning.
All trainees gathered on the training field.
Chief Instructor Rock Sand pointed toward Li Zheng and the others at the end of the ranks and introduced.
“They are player race trainees. Starting today, they officially join this phase of the training camp. Get along well.”
Hearing this, Li Zheng and the others felt a bit embarrassed.
In their ears, Rock Sand’s words did not sound like a call for peaceful relations so much as a cue for the other trainees to ‘take care’ of them.
It seemed Rock Sand also regarded them as having connections.
But the Grind Kings players were unafraid.
They were already familiar with the training camp’s rules. Here, fists did the talking. There was no conflict that could not be solved with fists.
Starting today, they would crank up the intensity for the second phase trainees.
Just then, Phantom Duck at the front of the line turned his head toward them, grinning with a provocative look.
“Welcome, newcomers.”
In response, Li Zheng and the others decisively raised their middle fingers together, leaving Phantom Duck momentarily stunned.
Their focus sharpened, and Phantom Duck’s relevant information surfaced in their minds:
[Phantom Duck]:
Hunt Level: 52
Target Introduction: A reserve trainee of the Anti-Tide Legion’s Skybreak race, hailed as the strongest new-generation trainee of the Skybreak race, proficient in various battlefield close-combat arts.
—
Seeing Phantom Duck’s Hunt Level, Li Zheng and the others understood why Ghosty and the rest had been suppressed.
A Hunt Level of 52 was already a tier breaking strength in the second phase training camp.
The average level of their strongest single Inherited soul was level 43, leaving a considerable combat gap with Phantom Duck.
Add in mastery of close-combat techniques, and in a real fight they would be destined for a beating.
But in the eyes of the Grind Kings players, this was not a problem at all.
No matter how strong, he still had to go hungry.
After introducing the morning training items, Rock Sand had the other instructors take the trainees away, leaving only Li Zheng and the other Grind Kings players behind.
Just as Rock Sand had said yesterday, they needed extra lessons to make up all the training items they had missed before.
The first training subject was actual combat training. Li Zheng and the others needed to catch the energy orb released by Instructor Rock Sand within the allotted time. If they failed within the time limit, they would undergo physical punishment training, repeating in cycles.
After introducing the training item, Rock Sand said in a deep voice.
“Are you ready?”
Curious, Murderous Intent Rising raised his hand.
“Instructor Rock Sand, can we use all methods?”
“You can. You may use any and all abilities. As long as you can catch the energy orb I release, it counts.” Instructor Rock Sand nodded, then raised his hand to condense a glowing black ball and tossed it into the air.
Under his mental control, the black ball moved quickly through the air.
“Seems not that hard.”
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Murderous Intent Rising’s face.
But his smile made Rock Sand’s expression turn cold. He felt he had been provoked.
“Begin.”
At Rock Sand’s command, the Grind Kings trainees did not move. Instead, they all turned their eyes to Murderous Intent Rising.
Murderous Intent Rising struck a very flashy archery pose.
At once, a domineering flaming bow took shape in his hands. His gaze locked onto the rapidly moving black light orb.
A green Mark sigil appeared on the orb’s surface, visible only to him and his teammates.
He placed his hand at the center of the string and slowly drew it back. A blazing vitality arrow condensed.
Seeing this, Rock Sand grew interested.
This was also his first time seeing the player race display their racial ability, and he was very curious.
But he did not believe that the vitality arrow could hit the energy orb under his control.
Twang!
The bowstring quivered, and a sharp wind-tearing whistle rang out.
The vitality arrow pierced the air barrier, shooting straight toward the orb and trailing two spiraling streams of air as it advanced.
With a flicker of thought, Rock Sand made the orb suddenly sidestep, and the arrow passed straight by on one side.
At that moment, Murderous Intent Rising activated the Mark Inherited soul trait.
At once, the arrow traced a flight path in the air and curved back toward the black light orb.
Rock Sand was taken aback, but still decisively controlled the orb to dodge.
“Leopard, Bind!”
Murderous Intent Rising suddenly spoke in the voice channel.
Leopard-Headed F2P, who had long been poised to act, raised his hand and pointed toward the black light orb floating in the air. The Bind Inherited soul trait activated abruptly, generating an invisible cage.
At the same time, Murderous Intent Rising activated the Extreme Speed trait and instantly fired dozens of vitality arrows.
This scene left Rock Sand dumbfounded.
He even felt that Murderous Intent Rising, in his archery state, displayed behavior that violated physical presentation. His body suddenly shook violently, and arrows poured out like raindrops.
It was as if his body accelerated in an instant. The image was very abstract.
But this kind of acceleration seemed highly unreasonable to Rock Sand. Other things could be explained as driven by burning vitality, but even the bowstring return speed of the flaming bow in his hands synchronized and sped up under this inexplicable accelerating force.
Murderous Intent Rising then activated the Mark trait again. Dozens of arrows weaved and roamed through the air, forming an aerial cage of arrows.
One of the arrows precisely struck the black energy orb that had broken free of the encircling bind.
Letting the Scatter Arrows bow in his hand dissipate, Murderous Intent Rising seemed to age several years in an instant. Supporting himself on Dirt Poor’s shoulder, he looked at Rock Sand.
“Instructor Rock Sand, does this count as passing?”
Hearing this, Instructor Rock Sand was not angry at all. Instead, a smile lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Pass.”
Hearing this, the Grind Kings players cheered one after another.
It could be seen that the Anti-Tide Legion’s training items had always been results-only, never caring about conduct during the process.
This could also be referenced with the God of Wealth.
No matter how excellent one was during the training camp, if the trial was not cleared, one had to retest.
They had sacrificed themselves on the road from the first phase to the second phase training camp and paid a huge price, but since it was not completed, they had to retrace it. Only the result mattered, not the process.
Just as in the eyes of Anti-Tide Legion warriors, victory is the only goal. In the process, all warriors are chips toward victory, and anything may be sacrificed to reach the goal, including oneself.
The saying that participation matters does not work in Monster World, or rather, not in the Anti-Tide Legion at all.
“Now begins the second training item. Attack together and try to defeat me.” Rock Sand spoke at this moment.
Hearing this, the smiles on the faces of Li Zheng and the other Grind Kings members froze.
“Instructor Rock Sand, how could we possibly defeat you? Is this training item meant for us to get beaten?” Dirt Poor asked in confusion.
“Correct. Show me the limit of your combat power. Make your move.”
As Rock Sand spoke, he clenched his fist abruptly. The air popped with a sonic crack, and the aura around him climbed step by step.
Li Zheng also released Vital Qi at this time and entered a combat state.
But they all knew very well.
There was no possibility of victory in this battle. It was purely a beating.
What they had to do was hold out as long as possible, let Rock Sand see their limit, and thereby, on the basis of the fixed training items, formulate a more professional additional training plan.
—
As noon arrived.
Li Zheng and the other players walked straight from the infirmary toward the canteen.
Recalling Rock Sand’s heavy punches, they could not help baring their teeth.
When they arrived at the canteen, the other trainees had also gathered in front of it, ready to enter.
The second phase training camp’s canteen provided three meals, which was one more midday meal than the first phase training camp.
After entering the canteen one after another, Li Zheng looked toward Ghost Eye and the others sitting not far away.
They exchanged a smile, and everything was understood without words.
When all the trainees had finished getting their dishes and taken their seats, Li Zheng suddenly stood up, raised his hand, and slapped the table hard to draw everyone’s attention.
Even Chief Instructor Rock Sand looked at Li Zheng with curious eyes.
“We of the player race are new here, and today we are going to announce something to everyone.”
Under the puzzled gazes of all the trainees, Li Zheng lifted his right foot onto the table. In an arrogant tone he stretched out his hand and pointed at Phantom Duck of the Dragon Valley training camp.
“All the hierarchical order you established before is null and void. Starting today, everything will be rebuilt around our player race. The first rule today: lunch is canceled. Nobody eats.”
Hearing Li Zheng’s arrogant words, Phantom Duck lowered his head, took a bite of roast meat, then stood up and looked at Li Zheng, his eyes full of provocation.
“Beat him up.”
Li Zheng activated Vital Qi to swirl around his body and lunged straight at Phantom Duck.
The trainees from the Snow Valley training camp also flipped their tables and followed Li Zheng in a charge at Phantom Duck.
The second phase hunger-tanking training thus began.
Li Zheng and the others had never thought they could make Phantom Duck yield through a single canteen brawl.
The essence of this tactic lay in time, chipping away at the challenger’s mental will bit by bit until the opponent’s spirit collapsed.
Trays flew, Spiritual Food and soup splattered, and fists thudded into flesh… the scene spun out of control in an instant.
The trainees from the Snow Valley training camp also upheld the core definition of this tactic, which was that nobody eats. They had to drag all the trainees into this struggle of hunger.
In the words of Family-Sharing Stepdad: do not ask why. This phase, meeting us, they are just unlucky.
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