Chapter 7

"Hey, Noshia, why haven't you gone back yet?"

At that moment, a familiar light exclamation suddenly came from the right side of the training ground.

Saved!

Noshia quickly turned his head, looking at the approaching Roswandi, pretending to wipe his sweat, and said with a smile, "I'm about to go back. I still had some energy today, so I practiced a bit longer."

"Oh."

Roswandi nodded woodenly. He was wearing pajamas, holding a box of milk, and looked half-asleep, as if he were still in a dream.

Noshia knew at a glance that he had just come out of the dormitory—this guy had the habit of wandering out to buy a box of milk if he couldn't sleep, drinking it, and then going back to bed.

"Let's go, we can go together."

He took the coat hanging on the wall and walked out of the training ground gate with Roswandi, who hadn't even noticed what had happened, chatting and laughing as they headed toward the male soldiers' dormitory building.

He didn't look back the whole time, afraid to see Xia in the lamplight behind him, fearing that she might stop him and create a melodramatic scene.

It wasn't until they entered the dormitory building and reached the door of their room on the fifth floor that he glanced back at the training ground from the corridor railing.

The black lampposts still emitted a dim light in the night, but there was no longer the figure silently crying under the lamplight.

It seemed Xia had finally come to terms with it.

Noshia recalled the scenes from the training ground, pondered for a moment, and confirmed again that he hadn't felt the slightest hint of attraction. He only felt a bit of guilt because she was crying.

There was no problem then. Since he indeed didn't like her, he believed he should firmly and clearly reject her confession.

Indulging in a girl's beauty, half-heartedly responding, and playing ambiguous games were despicable acts of scum men, even if it was under the guise of earning points in a dating system.

Noshia wasn't an insensitive straight man. He just inherited the values of his past life, had a higher moral standard than most people in this world, and could follow his heart.

He stopped looking downstairs and turned to knock on the dormitory door.

A moment later, the door was pulled open from the inside, and Xilu, with a hostile expression, appeared.

"Hey, our overtraining fanatic, you finally decided to come back?"

Xilu, who was over three meters tall, looked down at Noshia from above, not hiding his irritation at being woken up, and sneered, "You usually come back by eight at the latest. It's almost ten now. If you had knocked any later, I would have thought it was already morning and time to gather at the parade ground."

"And you!"

Xilu suddenly looked up and noticed the half-asleep Roswandi, seeing the unopened box of milk in his hand, and became furious, "You go out to buy milk in the middle of the night and don't even remember to bring your key?"

"I... I..."

Roswandi was startled, instinctively took a step back, and weakly said, "I wasn't very clear-headed, just thinking about going out to buy milk, and I... I forgot..."

Xilu's gaze became predatory as he scanned Noshia and Roswandi's faces.

"I promise, I'll come back earlier next time."

Noshia apologized sincerely, his expression serious, his right hand on his chest, almost swearing to the heavens.

"Me too, I'll remember to bring my key next time!" Roswandi followed suit.

"..."

Xilu stared at the two of them in silence. Although he was still groggy from just waking up, he vaguely remembered hearing similar promises many times over the past year...

A few seconds later, the two were let in and obediently closed the door for Xilu.

Only to find themselves with a few lumps on their heads, which were smoking under the light.

At that moment, Xilu, taking advantage of Roswandi's unpreparedness, suddenly snatched the box of milk and drank it all in one go.

Looking at the stunned blonde boy, he finally felt much better, climbed into bed with a satisfied groan, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

"Noshia..."

Roswandi, coming to his senses, turned to look at Noshia pitifully.

"That's to prevent you from being woken up by the urge to urinate in the middle of the night. Xilu is just looking out for you. Go to sleep, go to sleep."

Noshia replied dismissively, not even looking up.

He was at his desk, reading the letter from his family that Kaku had brought during the day, and had no time to be a righteous hero.

As a member of the elite camp, the living conditions were quite good, far better than those of ordinary soldiers. Most dorm rooms housed only two or three people, with ample space and a variety of furniture, including desks, wardrobes, and refrigerators.

Noshia's desk was piled with books, including training manuals like "Summary of Six Styles Basics" and "Introduction to Swordsmanship," as well as large volumes covering various subjects such as military theory, ship knowledge, and battle examples.

After all, the purpose of the elite camp was to cultivate high-level naval officers, and while "cultural courses" didn't take up much time in daily training, they were essential.

"Still so nagging..."

Noshia scratched his head after reading the letter, put the white sheet of paper together with Belmer's pink note into an envelope, and carefully stored it in his desk drawer. Then, he bit the pen and began to think hard about how to reply.

The letter from his parents contained no surprises, just the usual nagging advice to work hard at headquarters, not to let down Vice Admiral Kaku, avoid conflicts with colleagues, and pay attention to building good relationships...

He understood his parents' intentions and felt that in this world, having family who cared and remembered him, even if they were nagging, was a very happy thing.

However, in the past, when Noshia's training progress was not going well, he always felt a bit ashamed when replying and often avoided the topic. But from today on, everything would be different.

After organizing his thoughts, he finally put pen to paper and began to write the reply. At first, he responded seriously to his parents' concerns, but as he got into the flow, he started to boast without limits.

In the letter, he confidently promised that by the time he graduated from the elite camp next year, he would at least be a lieutenant colonel at headquarters, outranking his father, who was a major in a branch.

And in the future, he would become a naval admiral, owning a large villa in Marineford, and when his father retired, he would bring the whole family to live there, making everyone from his hometown envious.

By the time he finished the letter, it was already eleven at night. Roswandi, without his milk, eventually fell asleep, his snores mingling with Xilu's in Noshia's ears.

Noshia sealed the letter, planning to send it to the East Blue through the navy's internal channels the next day.

He dimmed the desk lamp, stretched, and stood up from his desk, preparing to take a shower and go to bed. He accidentally opened the system panel and glanced at it.

The text in the information box made him freeze in place, stunned.