In reality, the new cadet regiment received the letter of challenge even earlier than Ling Lan had predicted. Two days after their discussion 1 , the new cadet regiment's public regiment commander, Wu Jiong, received Leiting's letter of challenge!
On that day, around noon, Qi Long, Wu Jiong, and the others from the Mecha Piloting Class-A had just completed their brutal physical training for the morning. Dragging their tired selves to the large military academy canteen to eat, they had barely sat down and taken a few bites when a raucous commotion broke out by the canteen doors, causing the initially noisy canteen to instantly fall silent.
"Which of you is the regiment commander for the new cadet regiment? Show yourself to accept this letter of challenge!"
The one who spoke was a cadet dressed in a blue military-style uniform. He swept a gaze over the people within the canteen, his haughty expression seeming to view them as trash. Behind him were five or six cadets also dressed in the same uniform. Based on the uniform colour alone, it was clear that they were definitely part of the top 500 brilliant students within the military academy.
The basic colour of the military academy uniforms was green, signifying the average student. Blue represented the top 500 outstanding cadets in the school, based on their cumulative grades from all aspects. Meanwhile, the dux 2 of each specialization of each year would be wearing the glorious white uniform exclusive to them. This was a reward for the elite of the elites, as well as a type of respect accorded to them. Take the Thunder King for example. He was the dux of the 4th year mecha piloting specialization, so his uniform was the only white one among those of that year within that specialization.Initially, there had been a few other people dressed in blue uniforms who had been eating, who had turned with expressions of irritation at being disturbed, but when they saw the badge pinned on the chests of the interrupting group, their expressions shifted, and the rage on their faces faded away. This was because they knew which faction that badge represented — it wasn't something they could afford to go up against ...
Wu Jiong and Qi Long shared a knowing glance. That night, Ling Lan had already assembled them and told Wu Jiong, Li Yingjie, and the other team leaders of her suppositions. Thus, they had constantly been waiting for Leiting's move, and now they had finally come.
"What? Is the new cadet regiment so gutless, not daring to accept our Leiting's letter of challenge?" mocked the youth in the blue uniform. He had already been informed by the upper ranks that he must enrage the leaders of the new cadet regiment, so they would accept the letter of challenge on impulse. Of course, if they refused to accept no matter how he taunted, then he would throw down this ultimatum — the regiment commander of the new cadet regiment would have to go to Leiting's headquarters to apologise personally to the vice regiment commanders, otherwise they would not be spared.
Qi Long threw a glance at Wu Jiong — for this type of antagonistic scenario, his affable face was not at all suitable. In Boss Lan's words, Qi Long had a goofy nice-guy face, much more suited for acting innocent and shifting blame after the new cadet regiment had gone out to bully others.
Wu Jiong understood tacitly what he should do. He used his chopsticks to rap the dishware before him, and then with a harsh throw, his chopsticks smacked loudly onto the metal table, emitting a crisp loud clang. The atmosphere of the initially silent canteen became fraught with tension due to this sharp noise.
With a subtle smirk on his lips, Wu Jiong leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed before him as he said evenly, "I am the regiment commander of the new cadet regiment. Speak if you have something to say, fart if you have to 3 !"
Boss Lan had said before — they absolutely could not lose in terms of attitude!These past few years, although Wu Jiong had always been suppressed by Ling Lan and Qi Long, he had still been an active participant and leader in the grand armed melee back then, as well as in the fight for the spaceship's administrative rights. These victories made him composed and confident, and because he had always been pressed down by others more exceptional than him, he had not become overconfident and arrogant. Right now, even though he was facing the military academy's number one faction Leiting, his heart was as calm as ever, not at all apprehensive.
This attitude of Wu Jiong's was clearly out of Leiting's expectations. Rage emerged on their faces, and the lead youth in particular took one step forward and yelled, "Punk, you watch your mouth!"
Wu Jiong threw a cool glance over and said calmly, "What? You have something to say?"
The clear contempt in Wu Jiong's gaze made those people step forward instinctively, faces overcome with rage as they seemed intent on teaching Wu Jiong a lesson.
But before they could get any closer, the new cadets who had originally been seated quietly in the canteen suddenly all stood up in a clatter. They glared angrily at the people from Leiting, as if warning them that if they dared step any closer, then the new cadets could not be blamed for not being courteous anymore.
Seeing 300 over people stand up altogether in one go, the expressions of the five or six people from Leiting paled abruptly. Their steps faltered, and after several changes in complexion, the head youth in blue actually began to laugh, "Haha, that earlier was just a joke! Seeing the new cadet regiment so united, we Leiting feel very heartened by this! You all are worthy to fight against Leiting!"
This person was extremely thick-skinned — even as he flattered the new cadet regiment, he did not forget to elevate his own faction. He smiled gently at Wu Jiong and asked, "This regiment commander, how may I address you?"
Wu Jiong uncrossed his arms to tap his fingers lightly against the surface of the table. He stared at the head youth with a half-smile — this familiar expression made Qi Long and those in his team feel an ache in their teeth. Please, no matter how much you idolise our boss, you really don't have to learn his mannerisms, right? They felt cold just looking at him.
Perhaps this expression of Wu Jiong's put a lot of pressure on the head youth, for his smile actually slipped off his face. In the end, he could only stand there awkwardly, unsure how to wrap things up.
As expected, this expression of Boss Lan's could really do a lot of damage ... he would have to use it more in the future; it was enough to subdue some minor characters. Wu Jiong tucked away this expression, satisfied, and opened his mouth to say, "My surname is Wu. You may call me Regiment Commander Wu!"
"Regiment Commander Wu, impressive as expected. With you to lead them, the new cadet regiment will certainly do well." The head youth immediately threw up a thumbs up in response, expressing his heartfelt admiration. Since mockery and pressure would not work, he could only try cajoling. As long as the other side accepted their challenge, he would find a way to avenge this humiliation.
No matter how the head tried to hide it, the indignation in his eyes had still been detected by Qi Long and the others. However, since they were already determined to clash with Leiting anyway, they really did not care whether the other was offended or not.
"May Regiment Commander Wu please accept this letter of challenge from Leiting? With such an exceptional opponent as yourselves, we of Leiting are also overjoyed!" Under the glares of over 300 people, the blue-clothed head youth nervously walked over to Wu Jiong, withdrew a rectangular card from his pocket, and handed it over with both hands.
Right then, a hand intercepted to take the card. It was Ye Xu, who was seated beside Wu Jiong. At this moment, he had already stood up, snatching the card over with one hand to then pass it to Wu Jiong.
Only then did Wu Jiong accept the card and open it. Inside, it was written that three days later, the two sides would engage in a physical skills showdown at the combat hall. Both sides would send 5 representatives, with winning 3 out of 5 being the winning condition. On top of that, there would be an additional wager involved, to be disclosed on the day of the showdown, and it cannot be refused 4 .
Sure enough, Leiting's objective was their new cadet regiment as a whole — Boss Lan's predictions were not wrong. Seeing this, Wu Jiong knew for certain what was going on. That wager was definitely for the new cadet regiment to join Leiting ...
"Alright, three days later, at the combat hall. Be there or be square!" Wu Jiong snapped the card shut again, and replied with firm conviction. This had already been pre-discussed, so Wu Jiong naturally dared to accept right away.
"Good! Regiment Commander Wu is refreshingly straightforward as expected. Three days later, we'll await your grand presence at the combat hall!" His mission complete, the head youth of the Leiting group was all smiles.
At this time, from another table, Li Yingjie threw a cold glare their way and said imperiously, "Since you're done with your bullsh*t, you can scram!"
The people from Leiting had been frozen in place by the sheer force of presence of Wu Jiong and those 300 or so people, and now they were being openly derided by some punk from who knows where. They were abnormally frustrated — they had no way to oppose the new cadet regiment's Regiment Commander Wu, but teaching this pompous brat should be fine, right? And so, several people began moving towards Li Yingjie with sinister intent.
Li Yingjie flicked his fingers and kicked away the chair behind him, saying with a cold smile, "What? Want to fight?"
With this one sound, a flurry of the screeching noises of chairs being shifted rose throughout the canteen. The 300 or so people who had been standing in place, glaring angrily at them, had actually pushed away their chairs and begun moving closer, several of them already rubbing their palms together in anticipation of a fight.
With that, they could not be unaware that this cocky punk before them was definitely someone from the upper ranks of the new cadet regiment. The blue-clothed head youth could no longer hold back the rage in his heart. He pointed an angry finger at Li Yingjie and said savagely, "Fine! Three days later, just you wait!"
That said, he led his posse to scurry away, sent off by a wave of raucous 'scram!'s from behind, compounding their shame. Ever since joining Leiting, they had always been above others, playing the role of the bullies; but today, they were treated to a taste of being bullied mercilessly by others, and it was almost enough to make them shatter and swallow their teeth 5 .
Seeing the people from Leiting scurry away, only then did Wu Jiong pass the letter of challenge to Qi Long across from him. Qi Long flipped it open to read, and instantly began to chuckle coldly, "As Boss expected. Leiting has really taken us, the new cadet regiment, for a fish fillet on the chopping block, ready for them to cut as they will."
At this moment, Wu Jiong was already anxiously looking for his chopsticks. Earlier, to create the right atmosphere, he had coolly thrown his chopsticks onto the desk, and now he had no idea where they had flown to ... his poor stomach was so hungry it was about to revolt. If he still did not eat, he would become the first regiment commander to faint from hunger. For the sake of aiding the new cadet regiment's stand, he did not have it easy ...
"I can't take it anymore. Lend me your chopsticks!" Seeing Qi Long's chopsticks set on the table, Wu Jiong could bear it no longer, taking it into his hands to begin eating rapaciously ... Boo hoo hoo, the morning's physical training had already squeezed him dry of his vital energy — if he did not replenish it, he would really starve to death.
"No! Those are mine!" Exasperated, Qi Long threw aside the letter of challenge in his hands, wanting to snatch his chopsticks back, but Wu Jiong was a step quicker. He dashed over to the next dining table, not forgetting to say as he went, "I supported you in acting out this scene. You should repay me somehow — lending me your chopsticks can be considered repayment."
Qi Long directed a rude gesture at Wu Jiong, but did not continue to give chase. Wu Jiong was not wrong; he should have been the one to step up and accept that letter of challenge ... but he was very hungry too! Although he had eaten a bit more than Wu Jiong earlier, his appetite was naturally voracious — how could those few bites earlier be enough to satisfy his stomach which was equally bawling from hunger?
His gaze turned, and he saw Han Jijyun eating seriously beside him, bite by measured bite, slow and methodical, not at all impatient or hurried. It was as if he were not at all hungry, and was only eating to complete the mission of eating ...
"Oh Jijyun, since you aren't that hungry, then first take care of your big bro here!" Qi Long cheerfully snatched away the chopsticks from Han Jijyun's unresisting hand and then began happily eating again.
Han Jijyun stared blankly at his now empty right hand, and then turned to look at the joyfully eating Qi Long. He almost wanted to dump the dishes before his eyes onto Qi Long's head — was there a sworn brother who would do such a thing? Not causing trouble for others, but troubling one of his own instead?
At another table, Lin Zhong-qing saw this scene and let out a soft sigh. He took out a small pouch from his waist, drawing out a few short metal sticks from inside it. Screwing them together, it took but a few moments for him to produce a pair of regular-sized chopsticks, which he then passed silently to Han Jijyun.
Receiving the chopsticks, Han Jijyun tamped down on his anger and resumed eating. In his mind, he decided that he would definitely not help Qi Long next time. No matter how much Boss Lan bullied Qi Long, he would turn his head and pretend he saw nothing 6 .
The news of the new cadet regiment's haughty acceptance of Leiting's letter of challenge soon spread throughout the entire military academy. Those various large factions which had always been suppressed by Leiting were naturally gleeful at their misfortune — it was unexpected that the forceful Leiting would also have times where they had their faces smacked so hard. However, they did not believe that the new cadet regiment could withstand Leiting's subsequent vengeance. They were all waiting for the new cadet regiment to disperse under the pressure, and were prepared to slip in in the aftermath to take advantage of the panic and chaos to bring those lost new cadets into their own factions.
Just as everyone was waiting to see the downfall of the new cadet regiment, only Li Lanfeng greeted the news with deep contemplation, his expression serious and considering.
