Chapter 25 of 100

Chapter 25

17 min read4,205 words

Chapter 26: Forced Military Service

Qian Xing's gaze swept over the helmet of the small squad leader. Inside the city gate, several human-shaped objects were swaying in the wind on wooden poles with mottled bark—bodies, they were several corpses. One of the corpses was still wearing a green windbreaker—the famous US Army M46 windbreaker. Back when Qian Xing read about it in a magazine, he dreamed of getting one to show off.

The owner of the windbreaker had blond hair that was now a messy tangle.

Clearly, this was a European or American beast fighter.

Qian Xing's face immediately broke into a lecherous smile: "Sir, I really don't have any red shells!"

Damn, he still had a few red bills in his pocket, but even a toe could tell that these were practically worthless.

The squad leader pursed his lips, and a soldier stepped forward, aiming a strange, crimson cylinder at Qian Xing. A red beam of light shone on Qian Xing.

Qian Xing was already prepared to transform and fight to the death. If he couldn't pay the entry fee, they were going to kill him, right? He couldn't be that unlucky!

Fortunately, the thick red beam didn't make Qian Xing feel any discomfort.

"Report, squad leader, this person is a first-rank warrior."

So, this thing was a strength detection device.

The strange crimson cylinder displayed two peculiar symbols, which should be the text for "first-rank."

This beast arena could make the language of incoming tasks the same as the local language, but it couldn't make the local writing understandable.

Therefore, unless a beast fighter had been to the area before or was a super language genius, or if the scene they were transported to was similar to their own civilization, any beast fighter transported to the area would basically be illiterate.

Qian Xing, who had never passed an English test, naturally fell into the illiterate category.

"Wild warrior, since you can't pay the entry fee, if you want to stay in the city, you must join the Black Mountain Patrol Team. If you don't join, turn around and leave immediately! Otherwise, you will be killed on the spot!"

The squad leader's eyes softened upon hearing the test results and immediately recruited Qian Xing.

When he first entered this world, he had to survive in the wild, fending off various monsters. That was the first test. Entering this city, he had to pay red shells. If he didn't want to pay and tried to force his way in, he would be killed on the spot. That was the second test.

The mission prompt said this was a beginner's task. The creatures entering this scene wouldn't be too strong, and even the small soldiers guarding the gate were quite powerful.

It was a step-by-step test of survival! Qian Xing was already on high alert. He obediently followed a soldier to the patrol team's barracks.

After deliberately trying to be friendly, this soldier named Bing Jun revealed a lot about the world to Qian Xing. Black Mountain City was one of the few large cities. Outside the large cities, human settlements were small towns and caves, but these small towns and caves were very unsafe, often attacked by monster waves and the Chen people, who lived on a plain shrouded in thick white fog.

Many people wanted to settle in large cities like Black Stone City, but to enter a large city, one had to pay three red shells each time. To live there long-term, one had to pay even more, including purple and blue shells.

Otherwise, they had to join the military.

"Wild people like you from outside the city usually join the Black Mountain Patrol Team, patrolling the routes between large cities, small towns, and caves, escorting tributes and goods. This is called 'from where you came, to where you go!'"

Bing Jun looked at Qian Xing, the wild man from outside the city, with the eyes of someone looking at a dying person!

Joining the patrol outside the city meant frequently fighting various monsters and Chen raiders. Out of ten, only one or two could survive and gain the right to live in the large city.

This wild warrior seemed quite obedient, but being only a first-rank warrior, he was better off guarding the city. Going out on patrol, his chances of survival were not great.

So it was like this! Qian Xing felt a chill in his heart. If he didn't die from being surrounded by various monsters in the wild, he would be cannon fodder, dying in battle!

Even beast fighters who landed on the Chen side would likely face the same fate!

Legend has it that a dog can have nine puppies. If you keep these nine puppies in a sealed place and only provide them with half the food, after they kill each other, the last surviving puppy is the king of dogs—the mastiff, which even wolves fear!

This was the origin of the mission name "Mastiff"!

Why didn't this damned beast arena give an end time for the mission?

Entering the patrol team's barracks, sure enough, more than half of the "wild warriors" were dressed in strange costumes!

With the experience of the armored sword demon and the green-haired zombie, Qian Xing couldn't determine who was a real local wild warrior and who was a beast fighter.

After receiving his number, Qian Xing silently entered the barracks of the third patrol squad. Each patrol squad had twenty people, living in two large rooms. Fortunately, it wasn't a large dormitory, but each person had a bed made of black stone. Each bed was covered with a large canopy, similar to a mosquito net on Earth, but made from the stems of a purple plant. These purple plant stems were very fine and had a faint minty smell.

The barracks were quite clean. Finding his own black stone bed, Qian Xing tried to chat with his roommates to gather information.

Unexpectedly, three men in animal skins were snoring loudly on their beds, not even bothering to lower the purple canopies.

These three must be local wild warriors.

The other six canopies were all lowered. Through the slightly transparent purple canopies, he could see six people sitting cross-legged in silence.

Qian Xing felt a chill. He knew that even if these six were beast fighters, they didn't want to easily interact with outsiders.

He had no choice but to sit cross-legged in silence.

Each patrol squad gathered once a day on the flat ground in front of the barracks for about an hour. Three patrol squads gathered at the same time, and if there was an emergency, they would be called to action. There were a total of thirty-six patrol squads, with 720 patrol members outside the city.

Each member received a number. Qian Xing's number was thirteen.

The squad leader used the numbers to command the members, and each number corresponded to a position in the patrol squad.

The smallest number, one, was at the back of the line, while the largest number, twenty, was at the front.

The squad leader, number ten, was in the middle, which was the safest position.

Qian Xing's position was in the middle of the line, close to the squad leader, who was a second-rank warrior.

This made Qian Xing both happy and sad. He was happy to be close to the strong squad leader, which made him safer, but being too close to the squad leader made it very inconvenient to run away.

Two days later, they finally received a mission: to escort a "Fog-Avoiding Pearl" to a settlement that had submitted to "Tiger Cave."

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