158: Chapter 158 Unity of Hearts and Minds

The contracting took place in the barracks.

Qin Ce didn't separate these people, didn't hold any ceremonies, and didn't lay down any rules.

He just had these thirteen people stand face to face in the barracks and begin the contract.

"With my soul, I contract your spirit..."

The thirteen people simultaneously chanted the contract spell.

Their voices were uneven, some high, some low, some trembling, some exceptionally firm.

A strange atmosphere permeated the barracks.

Tension, anticipation, and an indescribable hint of solemnity.

The sound of eggshells cracking echoed one after another.

One fierce beast egg after another cracked open, and one young beast after another emerged from their shells.

Some were wet and unsteady; some hadn't even opened their eyes, emitting weak cries; some started gnawing on their eggshells as soon as they came out, making crunching sounds.

Then, auras began to spread.

Qin Ce stood nearby, his Nine-Star Insight silently operating, watching the information of each young beast appear in his mind.

One person's expression was the first to change.

He had chosen a military beast egg.

That egg was rated as "Upper Bronze Rank" by the military, considered good throughout the Wuji Army.

But at this moment, the young beast hatched from that egg had an incredibly weak aura.

It wasn't Upper Bronze Rank, it was Black Iron.

And it was Black Iron Mid-grade.

It hadn't even touched the Bronze Rank.

What made his expression change wasn't that his Pet Beast's potential wasn't Bronze Rank.

Because in the Wuji Army, there were many black iron rank Beast Tamers.

What truly made his expression change was the other side.

From the eight beast eggs personally refined by Qin Ce.

One Nightmare and one Ghost Wolf, their auras were so strong that the entire barracks fell silent. They were not Bronze, not Silver—they were Gold.

It was like the cry of the Azure Luan on the training ground back then, that kind of potential that emanated from the bones, impossible to suppress, like a knife, directly piercing into the hearts of everyone present.

Someone gasped. Someone subconsciously took a step back. Someone's mouth hung open, forgotten to close.

However, it wasn't just these two.

Even more shocking was Lei Gang.

The Black Iron War Ape he chose originally had only mid-grade Silver Rank potential.

But at the moment of the contract, the instant he established a connection with the young beast, a visible energy fluctuation erupted between them. The young ape's size visibly grew by a circle.

Its fur changed from gray to silver-gray.

Its eyes changed from chaotic to clear.

Its potential, from mid-grade Silver Rank, directly leaped to Low-grade Gold.

This was an extremely rare compatibility match.

The talents, physiques, personalities, and even destinies of both parties to the contract resonated at a certain moment.

This probability was so small it could be ignored, but it happened.

And it happened under Qin Ce's guidance.

The barracks fell completely silent.

Everyone looked at Lei Gang, at the silver-gray young ape, at the still-rippling energy fluctuations, their minds blank.

However, this was not an isolated case. On the other side, Wei Ran, who was a step slower.

She was the little girl in the old man's arms, who chose the Frostmist Wolf under Qin Ce's guidance.

Similarly, at the moment of the contract, a compatibility resonance occurred.

The Frostmist Wolf's potential leaped from Upper Silver Rank to Low-grade Gold.

Of the eight beast eggs refined by Qin Ce, four reached Gold Rank, and four were Silver Rank.

It was exactly as Qin Ce said.

Minimum Silver!

But...

How was this possible!

In contrast, the Wuji Army's five "superior beast eggs".

Two Black Iron, two bronze low-grade, and one mid-grade bronze.

Their claims of "minimum Bronze" and "maximum Silver" all became a joke.

Even the best one was very far from Qin Ce's worst one.

Moreover, Qin Ce's worst, a mid-grade Silver Rank, was not simple; it was even more valuable than Gold.

Because it was a Spirit Light Rabbit, with light-element healing attributes.

Among Beast Tamers, a healing Pet Beast is rarer than a Gold Rank offensive Pet Beast.

Its value cannot be measured by rank.

Zhang Yang, who had previously chosen a Wuji Army beast egg, stood there, holding the black iron rank young beast, his face ashen.

He remembered how much he had agreed with the statement, "Captain, you are Bronze Rank, so the beast eggs you refine can only be Silver Rank at most."

He thought that strength was everything, and the Pet Beast was his; once contracted, the Captain couldn't take it back.

After much deliberation, he chose the option most beneficial to him.

However, he lost completely.

He looked up at Qin Ce.

Qin Ce wasn't looking at him; he was talking to Lei Gang.

Lei Gang stood ramrod straight, his expression changing from shock to ecstasy, and then from ecstasy to worship.

Zhang Yang lowered his head, looking at the young beast in his arms.

The young beast, unaware of its owner's mood, nudged his hand with its wet nose, emitting weak cries.

Zhang Yang felt as if something was lodged in his heart, unable to swallow or spit out.

It wasn't because the military's beast eggs were bad, but because he hadn't trusted Qin Ce. Not that he dared not to trust, but that he was unwilling to trust. He thought he saw things clearer than anyone, that his experience was richer than anyone, and that the eighteen-year-old youth had merely gotten lucky.

And the result?

He chose Black Iron. Others chose Gold.

In the barracks, no one mocked him.

No one mocked anyone.

Because everyone knew that if it were them, they might have made the same choice.

Trust a stranger known for two days, or trust the Wuji Army?

Logically, choosing the latter was not wrong.

But the reality was, those who chose the latter lost.

Those who chose Qin Ce's beast eggs stood there, holding their strong-aura young beasts, their expressions slowly changing from ecstasy to relief.

They were glad they had trusted Qin Ce.

And those who, unable to get the military's beast eggs, could only choose Qin Ce's fierce beast eggs, now felt an inexplicable sense of faith.

As if they had chosen the beast eggs because they believed in Qin Ce all along.

This kind of reverse causality is a special compensation mechanism in psychology.

They didn't understand it, but Qin Ce did.

And those who chose the military's beast eggs, their regret made them wish they had trusted Qin Ce earlier.

Because they knew that from today on, the gap between them and those others was not just a little, but a lifetime.

This also deepened their impression that going against Qin Ce would lead to failure.

This caused a huge shift in the entire squad's attitude towards Qin Ce.

A true sense of conviction emerged.

...

At this moment, Qin Ce spoke.

His voice was not loud, very flat, as if he was talking about a very ordinary matter: "Clean up. Pack up the eggshells and mop the floor."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone moved simultaneously.

Not perfunctorily, but with a rapid, responsive movement.

Someone squatted to pick up eggshells, someone went outside to fetch water, someone looked for rags to wipe the walls, someone tidied the beds, someone wiped the windows again and again.

They worked so diligently, as if they wanted to polish the mottled walls to a mirror-like finish.

Qin Ce stood there, watching their busy figures, and a slight smile touched the corner of his mouth.

He knew that from today on, things were different.

There was no need for two more such choices.

The entire team was now ready to be led.

He turned and looked at the half-crippled soldier who had been sitting in the corner—Jiang Mo.

From the first day Qin Ce arrived at the Seventh Squad, Jiang Mo had followed him. Now, he completely regarded Qin Ce as his captain, no longer having his initial defeatist attitude.

Qin Ce walked up to him.

"Come upstairs with me. I'll cure you!" Qin Ce said, then raised his hand and summoned Tianlu from his tattoo space.

Its purple-gold scales gleamed with a warm luster under the dim barracks lights, the nine-colored light on its antlers flickered, and the bell on its chest jingled softly.

Tianlu landed at Qin Ce's feet, yawned, then raised its head and swept its golden eyes across the people in the barracks.

The new recruits who had just contracted young beasts, their Pet Beasts recoiled instinctively when Tianlu's gaze swept over them, not out of fear, but with the ingrained reverence of lower-ranked Pet Beasts encountering a higher-ranked one.

Jiang Mo looked at Tianlu, and a different light finally appeared in his cloudy eyes.

He propped himself against the wall and slowly stood up. His leg, in a splint, hung in the air, not daring to touch the ground.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, but his lips were tightly pressed, not uttering a sound.

Qin Ce didn't help him, didn't ask if he could walk.

He just turned and walked towards the stairs.

Jiang Mo followed behind, limping.

Each step was slow, each step trembled, but he didn't stop.

Behind him, the people who were cleaning the barracks stopped their work, watching the limping figure disappear at the stairwell. No one spoke, but their eyes had changed.

No longer simple relief, no longer mere admiration, but something deeper.

They knew that the cripple who went upstairs with Qin Ce might not be a cripple when he returned.

In the barracks, the sound of sweeping grew louder.

The wiping of walls became more vigorous.

No one slacked off, no one was perfunctory.

They were all waiting.

Waiting for that young man to come down from upstairs.

Waiting for that cripple to walk down from upstairs.

Waiting for this captain to create another miracle!

...