323: Chapter 322 Success is Good

Time always passes quickly.

Today, Zheng Yi is no longer the little girl who would cry for a long time after a single punch. Now, her name alone is enough to intimidate the entire Defense Department; she is one of the famous Three Flowers of the Defense Department.

Whether in military rank or ability, she has far surpassed the version of herself from ten years ago.

However, some things can never be erased by time. Even now, she can still clearly recall those years that are too painful to look back on.

Status, dreams—none of that mattered. They all had only one goal: to catch up, to catch up to The Figure in front, and then defeat him.

Unfortunately, until the training ended, no one ever succeeded.

This man stood above them all like a god of war, looking down upon them.

But...

Zheng Yi looked at the back in the wheelchair, a flash of complexity appearing in her eyes once again.

She had lost the chance to defeat this man forever.

She had never even imagined that she would stand together with this Chief Instructor again in such a way.

Instructor Duan Chengwu did not know what Zheng Yi was thinking behind him. He continued to look at the team in front of him, his smile slowly fading.

"From now on, you are members of the company, and I am your only superior. You can call me Manager, Boss, Captain, Chief, or whatever you like."

"But there are some things I need to make clear to you in advance."

"Our company's business... does not guarantee absolute safety."

Instructor Duan Chengwu's voice was calm, but for some reason, everyone felt a trace of pressure.

Zheng Yi was slightly taken aback. Not safe? What did that mean?

"You will get injured, and you may even die. If you cannot accept this, you may step out of line now."

Instructor Duan Chengwu said indifferently: "I will transfer you to the perimeter. You will still be members of the company and still enjoy all the rights of company employees, but by the same token, you will lose the chance to ever enter the company's core."

"We... only need elites, not trash. Trash should stay in the trash bin, and the company's perimeter group is your trash bin."

The crowd stirred; many soldiers looked indignant. Once upon a time, they were all elite talents from major military regions. When had they ever endured such treatment?

Especially after being discharged, only to be inexplicably brought to this company of unknown nature.

Immediately, someone shouted: "Report."

Instructor Duan Chengwu's gaze swept over. This was young man, about 1.78 meters tall, around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. He wore his simple training uniform very neatly, with a brand-new sash hanging on his shoulder. It was clear he had been brought straight from the train station.

Old Zheng's way of doing things was still so simple and rough.

Though feeling somewhat speechless inside, his face remained calm as he said indifferently: "Speak."

"I want to know, why must we join this company?"

Instructor Duan Chengwu glanced at him: "Did your squad leader in the army not teach you to state your name and unit clearly when reporting to a superior?"

The soldier was stunned for a moment. His eyes swept over Zheng Yi, who was standing behind Instructor Duan Chengwu. He saw the senior colonel's shoulder insignia very clearly. Seeing that Zheng Yi made no indication, the soldier then said loudly: "Captain Li Liancai, retired scout from the Special Reconnaissance Company of the Western Theater Command of China."

Instructor Duan Chengwu nodded slightly. Old Man Zheng had really brought out his best assets this time. This soldier in front of him was clearly not retired through the normal batch; it was more likely an ad-hoc arrangement by Old Zheng.

"You haven't reached your retirement date yet, have you?"

Instructor Duan Chengwu asked suddenly.

The young soldier was stunned again, then fell silent.

Clearly, Instructor Duan Chengwu had guessed correctly.

"If you had followed the normal batch, you should have at least seven years of service time left, am I right?"

The soldier remained silent again, pursing his lips without a word.

Instructor Duan Chengwu smiled: "What, are you unconvinced? Do you think you are the elite of your company, and retirement shouldn't have reached you? Or do you even think your retirement was someone intentionally targeting you?"

The soldier remained silent.

Instructor Duan Chengwu raised his head, looking at the queue in front of him, and said indifferently: "This situation is surely not unique to one person. Who else among you was discharged abnormally? Step out."

The team remained silent, then stepped forward in unison.

This time, it was Instructor Duan Chengwu's turn to be speechless.

He hadn't expected Old Man Zheng to be so ruthless, forcing thirty-one abnormally retired soldiers on him. These were no ordinary people; they were the prized assets of their respective companies or even military regions, at the very least, soldier kings who were one in a thousand.

These people didn't even need training; give them Weapon equipment and they could immediately go to the battlefield and be enough to destroy any enemy.

This time... he owed a huge favor.

Now the headache was how to tame these people.

Don't look at how honest these people are now; that's because General Zheng gave them military orders. Even so, one person refused to obey and chose to be discharged directly.

That's just how spirited they were.

In the past, he would have had only one method: fight.

Go on the field himself and fight until they submitted.

Soldiers always admire strength. Whether it was combat, shooting, physical fitness, or professional skills—whatever they could think of or suggest, he could make them feel what despair was like in the fields they thought they were good at.

But now...

Instructor Duan Chengwu looked at his own body and shook his head helplessly.

"I know your anger, and I also know your confusion."

Instructor Duan Chengwu looked at everyone and said: "In this situation, you are still able to control your emotions and absolutely obey orders. That is very good. The squad leaders, company commanders, and units that trained you are all very good."

"But, just as I said before..."

Instructor Duan Chengwu pointed at the building behind him.

"This company is far from being as simple as a security company, and joining a company as a security guard is not as simple as you think. Your superiors sending you here in this way is an expression of their absolute trust in you. They believe that you will be better and more outstanding here than in your units!"

"Do you know why we only want elites? Do you know why we want to select elites from among you? Because what you are about to face... is more cruel than the battlefield!"

"Only elites can ensure they can successfully complete the mission, and only elites can ensure they can survive until the mission is complete!"

"You are all very good, but it is not enough!"

Instructor Duan Chengwu slowly scanned the young team in front of him, his tone merciless.

"At least in my eyes, you are still very weak—weak to the point of being self-righteous, weak to the point of being complacent!"

"You have never seen true experts."

The team stirred again, but no one spoke; discipline still prevailed.

Instructor Duan Chengwu smiled indifferently: "You might think this is me exaggerating to intimidate you, but it doesn't matter. Whether you are truly elites or not, we will know very soon."

"I have a training syllabus here. From now on, you will train according to this syllabus. The time limit is one week."

"After one week, I will conduct a unified test for you."

"I will let you know that even among you, not everyone is an elite."

Seeing the young faces in the team showing resentment, Instructor Duan Chengwu pointed to the building behind him.

"The building behind me will be your future base. The rooms on the third and fourth floors will be your dormitories. If you want new dormitories, build them yourselves."

"Tomorrow morning, we start formal induction training."

"Now, Dismissed."

Having finished, he pressed the button and turned back, heading into the building.

Zheng Yi said nothing and turned to follow.

Until the two disappeared into the building, the team finally had obvious movement, and the soldiers began to whisper.

Captain Li Liancai pursed his lips and returned to the transport vehicle without a word, taking out his luggage bag.

Someone beside him patted his shoulder.

Captain Li Liancai turned back. A soldier, also wearing a military uniform and a sash, stood beside him with a smile on his young face: "Captain Li, we meet again."

Captain Li Liancai frowned: "Who are you?"

"Fang Congshan." young man said with a chuckle: "You might not remember me. I'm also from the Western Theater Command. We met at the previous military region review, and Captain Li's performance left a deep impression on me."

Captain Li Liancai thought for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly: "Fang Congshan from the Western Theater Command headquarters?"

"You remember me?"

Fang Congshan was a little surprised, then smiled: "You guys in reconnaissance are really that good? It's been over five years, and you actually still remember me."

Captain Li Liancai shook his head slightly: "It's mainly because your name keeps appearing in military region newspapers and reports."

Fang Congshan: "..."

Alright, he had overthought it. Scouts are human too; it's normal not to remember someone seen only from afar five years ago.

Seeing Captain Li Liancai walking further and further away, Fang Congshan quickly picked up his backpack and chased after him, saying mysteriously:

"Captain Li, do you want to know why you appeared on the retirement list this time?"

Captain Li Liancai frowned: "You know?"

"Hehe, I'm at the theater headquarters, so I handle some documents; of course, I've heard some things."

Fang Congshan laughed twice and continued: "Do you know who the person who just spoke was?"

Captain Li Liancai shook his head slightly.

"You may not have seen the person, but you must have heard his name. His surname is Duan, and his given name is Chengwu."

"Instructor Duan Chengwu?"

Captain Li Liancai muttered, and the next moment his footsteps stopped abruptly, looking at the building in astonishment: "Chief Instructor?"

Fang Congshan smiled triumphantly: "Now you know, right?"

Captain Li Liancai was speechless.

Of course he knew; how could he not know?

Among scouts across the country, ninety-nine percent know this name.

This name is just too famous.

Even in the scout manual they use for training now, Instructor Duan Chengwu's name is still in the compilation column.

This man personally compiled a perfect scout skill training syllabus, as well as various enemy response plans and techniques, through his own actions.

No wonder, no wonder he always felt an aura on this person that made his heart palpitate; no wonder he always felt like he was facing a great mountain in front of this person.

If he is Instructor Duan Chengwu, then everything makes sense.

"Chief Instructor... why is he here?"

Captain Li Liancai asked in astonishment: "Didn't he retire?"

"Who knows."

Fang Congshan shook his head: "I only know that the transfer order was issued directly by the Central Military Commission. As for other things, I don't know very clearly. However, I heard that when Chief Instructor Duan was serving in Beijing, he had a good relationship with General Zheng of the Central Military Region Defense Department."

"I'm quite curious, since you didn't recognize him, why did you stay?"

Captain Li Liancai was silent, then said: "A soldier's order is to obey, even if the order is for me to retire and join a company."

Having finished, Captain Li Liancai continued to walk forward.

Fang Congshan smiled, picked up his backpack, and changed direction at a leisurely pace, walking toward another soldier.

"Brother, do you want to know why you retired?"

...

Upstairs, Instructor Duan Chengwu quietly watched this scene through the newly installed window, and Zheng Yi stood beside him.

After a while, Instructor Duan Chengwu said: "This person, this was your arrangement, right?"

"Yes."

Zheng Yi did not deny it and nodded calmly to admit it.

"Thank you."

Instructor Duan Chengwu said.

"You're welcome."

Zheng Yi smiled slightly: "Father said, if there is enough time, you have plenty of ways to make this group of people convinced, but... making them stay voluntarily is not just about beating them into submission."

"A good method."

Instructor Duan Chengwu nodded slightly and said: "However, after it's over, what about him?"

"Let him stay."

Zheng Yi's tone was flat.

Instructor Duan Chengwu raised his eyebrows slightly: "The danger I just mentioned is not just talk. This person's identity is not simple, right? Are the higher-ups really willing to let him take the risk?"

"I don't know what you are going to do, and I don't want to know."

Zheng Yi said calmly: "But first of all, he is also a soldier. You can train him using the same methods you use for other soldiers. There is no problem with that."

"Second, keep him and let him have more contact with Wang Shuo. It will only be beneficial to you, not harmful. Even if there really is any problem..."

Zheng Yi did not continue, but Instructor Duan Chengwu already understood.

He cast his gaze back to The Figure running around in the yard, but this time, it was like looking at a protective amulet.

After a brief silence, Instructor Duan Chengwu said: "General Zheng has put in the effort."

Zheng Yi nodded slightly.

For this matter, Father really put in the effort.

"In addition, there is one more thing Father asked me to pass on."

Zheng Yi looked at Instructor Duan Chengwu: "The matter in the west has had a result. They are already on their way back. Father wants you to... prepare yourself mentally."

Instructor Duan Chengwu's body trembled slightly, and he almost squeezed the words out through his teeth.

"The mission... was it successful?"

Zheng Yi nodded gently: "It was successful."

Instructor Duan Chengwu let out a deep breath, looked up, and leaned back on the wheelchair.

"Success... is enough."