Chapter 170: Arrogant Rookie (Part one)

Hu Bing was a new recruit, and because of his excellent physical stats and performance overall, he was transferred to the special ops department as a celebrity-level single-soldier to be trained to take the Three Swordsmen’s place. It could be said that the entire camp placed half of their hopes on him, and he also shouldered the pressure and took on the “Numba 1 Bro” title in the special ops division. A lot of veterans were weaker than him, so in terms of training resources, the instructors would make him an exception and focus more on him. He also didn’t let other people down and improved his skills at a steady rate. He was very talented, and it was said that they would develop tactics centering around him during the competition, so he became the focus of everyone and would likely be appointed the team captain.

However, just at this critical time, an unexpected person came back. That’s right, it was Xu Cheng.

If it was by seniority and qualifications, Xu Cheng would naturally be the captain if he was also participating in this competition. That was an undisputed thing, because as the former “Numba 1 Bro”, he was the guy that carried everyones’ azzes back then. Even if his abilities dropped a bit, he still had experience, and the instructors would for sure want a seasoned veteran to take the lead and carry the rhythm.

That was why the other people were saying that Hu Bing’s captain position and resources were going to be taken from him.

Hu Bing didn’t really care who the captain was, but he really cared about the original game plan that was developed around him. If that were to be canceled, he would be really pissed. If this game plan could work and he ended up proving himself, then he would be the rising star even if they didn’t end up with a good rank. Once his name gets out, then there would be better opportunities lined up for him even after he retires from the military, and that was what he really cared about. To be frank, everyone was selfish, and he wasn’t wrong for wanting to pave a road to a better future.

The army and the government was kind of like an industrial chain – as long as you became hot and popular during your time of service in the military, you would get transferred to other high-power positions in the country in advance. Even if you stayed for the whole term, many private companies or businessmen would pay large amounts to hire you to be their bodyguard. In fact, many rich people would only recruit from the military instead of those champions from martial arts tournaments, because they knew that those competitions could be rigged by capitalists. To be frank, most of them were a bunch of celebrities that performed for a living and didn’t really have much real life-and-death combat experience. The smart businessmen would only trust soldiers that had been baptized by the military.

So, Xu Cheng’s appearance could affect Hu Bing’s plan, and of course he wasn’t cool with it.

The instructor told the rookies and veterans of the special ops division to calm down first and let Xu Cheng and him get some food. Then, the instructor purposely introduced Xu Cheng to Hu Bing. He dragged him to Hu Bing’s table, laughed, and said, “Here, let me introduce to you, this is the representative of the rookies after you Three Swordsmen left – Hu Bing!”

Xu Cheng smiled and looked at Hu Bing. Reasonably speaking, the rookie should salute and pay respect, and then wait for the veteran to reply with a salute. But what was awkward was that Hu Bing just kept on eating and didn’t stand up to salute. This prompted a few veterans of similar seniority as Xu Cheng to elbow Hu Bing.

Hu Bing somewhat reluctantly stood up and saluted, “Hello, Captain Xu.”

“Hello.” Xu Cheng saluted back in response.

A few veterans that knew Xu Cheng were all pretty close with him, and seeing Hu Bing’s attitude, one of them didn’t hide his feelings and directly shouted, “What kind of attitude is that? Put your feet together, do you still need me to remind you?”

“It’s fine, Su.” Xu Cheng waved his hand. “Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

He didn’t want to stir something up right after coming back. Sometimes, Xu Cheng was pretty easy going. Because he lost his parents when he was young, most of the time he would cherish the things he could cherish; as long as someone didn’t offend him, he would be pretty nice to most people.

The instructor knew why Hu Bing was having this moodswing. He shook his head and didn’t say anything. They just sat down to eat with these soldiers.

“It’s sad that Luo Yi and Lei Wei aren’t here, or else we can bring back the Three Swordsmen era,” a veteran exclaimed.

Chapter 170: Arrogant Rookie (Part two)

Another veteran laughed and said, “Are you sure those three aren’t gay? Everytime I walk past their dorm, I could smell a special kind of stink.”

The veterans from those times immediately laughed upon hearing this.

At this moment, Hu Bing mumbled to himself out of the blue, “Even with the Three Swordsmen, it’s still 28th place.”

Another rookie tugged on Hu Bing’s clothes, a bit shocked that he would say such a thing out of the blue.

“What did you say?” The other veterans weren’t pleased to hear it.

“It’s fine.” Xu Cheng stopped what seemed like the start of a fight. He stuffed a bite of braised pork into his mouth, then he lowered his head and said a bit dejectedly, “Indeed there wasn’t a need to brag. Among the other military regions across the country, many people don’t even know who the Three Swordsmen are.”

“It’s enough if we know it!” A veteran slammed down on the desk. “Although we never got into the top 20, but with the special circumstances of our military region, we are proud enough if we can get into top 22!”

“That’s right. Only those that had been through that period of time know how unforgettable that era is. If you haven’t participated in one, don’t think too highly of yourself. Among the 1.8 million soldiers in the nation, there are 36 teams and each has 15 people. Do you know how many top tier elites and tactical groups there are?” The veterans looked at Hu Bing from the corner of their eyes. The rookies these years were really too arrogant.

“Okay, just cut it out.” The head instructor glared at both sides.

Hu Bing slammed the chopsticks on the desk, stood up, looked at the head instructor and asked, “Sir, you only picked 14 people and left one spot open, are you planning to save it for Captain Xu?”

“He’s qualified to join the team,” the other veterans snorted.

“Then are we still executing the tactic that centers around me?” Hu Bing asked.

“Uh…” The head instructor looked at Xu Cheng.

Xu Cheng smiled and answered for the head instructor. “Don’t worry, you are still the metronome of the team.”

Hu Bing’s other rookie comrades heard this and felt that Hu Bing should stop causing trouble since Captain Xu had said this. But, who knew Hu Bing would say, “Since we are still executing our old tactic, then before I understand Captain Xu’s current strength, I don’t have a spot on my team for him.”

“Hu Bing!” Several veterans couldn’t take it anymore. They slammed the desk and immediately began shouting at him, “You b*tchazz little piece of sh*t even dare to doubt Xu Cheng?”

Hu Bing replied, not humble nor arrogant, “I think everyone knows why Captain Xu left in the first place, and that’s due to him not being good enough! If that’s the case, what’s the point of adding him onto the team? Captain Xia Hai, you said as well, it’s an elite operation of 15 people, and having one fewer person means a drastic decrease in power. So, we must be cautious with assessing everyone’s abilities.”

The head instructor was angry too. “Hu Bing, Xu Cheng is someone I will shove into that name list no matter what. I already submitted it too, there’s no way to change it now, you know that?”

Hu Bing directly left these words. “Then I firmly refuse him training with us.”

Then, he just left.

The head instructor couldn’t be more pissed. “This little b@stard’s getting a bit arrogant now, knowing that we were relying on him on the competition this year!”