Training camp.
The half of the camp that had been blown away by missiles has now been restored to its original state. Even the road signs have been repainted. If it weren't for the few scorch marks still remaining on the surface of some buildings, no one would believe that this place had suffered a great calamity.
The empty canteen was long gone, with no sign of the new recruits. At this moment, a dozen or so instructors were sitting around a long table, leisurely eating their lunch.
"Sigh, don't even mention it. After these new recruits left, life feels a bit dull," an Instructor remarked with emotion.
"No one to scold, so you're feeling uncomfortable all over?"
"Hahaha, if you put it that way, then there is indeed a bit of that..."
"Speaking of which, it's been so long since I've seen Han Li. Where did that kid go?"
"I don't know. It's not just him; several instructors in the camp have disappeared. They said they went out on a secret mission."
"A secret mission?" One of the instructors raised an eyebrow slightly. "Could it be related to the previous enemy attack?"
"I don't understand, but I have a feeling the atmosphere in the camp has been strange lately..."
"What's strange about it?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it, it's just a feeling, a kind of inexplicable sense of oppression..."
"I think you're just overthinking it."
"..."
The instructors chatted amongst themselves, and just as they were about to finish their meal, two figures walked into the canteen.
Upon seeing the leader, all the instructors stood up and saluted.
"Commander!"
"Greetings, Commander!"
With a stern face, Yuan Gang slowly walked up to them, his gaze fixed on one of the instructors, an inexplicable air of authority emanating from him.
Behind him, Instructor Hong held several documents, his expression perfectly calm.
Under the pressure of Yuan Gang's gaze, the instructor's face turned pale. He pursed his lips, and his arm, which was holding a military salute, began to tremble slightly.
The other instructors seemed to realize that something was wrong and didn't dare to breathe.
"Why?" Yuan Gang asked slowly.
The instructor opened his mouth, then said hoarsely, "Sir, what do you mean by this...?"
"Li Yaoguang, you joined the army in 1989. I remember you. Back when I was a captain, you were one of my soldiers." Yuan Gang calmly called out his name.
"Commander..."
"Why?"
"..." Li Yaoguang's body trembled uncontrollably, and he lowered his head, his face completely drained of color.
"Li Yaoguang." Instructor Hong, who had been standing at the back, spoke calmly, the document in his hand already open. "At 9:42 pm on November 14th, the surveillance cameras at the southeast gate captured footage of you sneaking out of the camp. Where were you going at that time?"
"On November 26, when the new recruits left the camp for extreme training for the third time, you disappeared from the scene for two hours. Where did you go during that time?"
"On December 7th, two sums of money of unknown origin were deposited into your parents' online banking account: one was 2 million and the other was 3 million. Where did this money come from?"
"On the day the training camp was attacked, you transmitted two encrypted messages using a satellite phone. Half a minute later, another 3 million appeared in your bank account. You…"
"Stop talking!"
Li Yaoguang suddenly shouted, as if all his strength had been drained away. His face was as pale as paper. He covered his face with his hands, trembling, and cried out:
"I didn't want to... I didn't want to either, but they captured my parents back home, I..."
Yuan Gang stared at Li Yaoguang for a long while, then looked away and said calmly, "You don't need to tell me these things. When we get to the Night Watchers' Tribunal in Shangjing City, someone will naturally ask..."
"If nothing unexpected happens, the rest of your life can only be spent in the Zhaijie Institute."
Before everyone could recover from the shock, Yuan Gang uttered two more names.
"Wang Gui, Wu Ruotong."
The two instructors whose names were called shuddered, and their faces turned equally grim.
"Unbelievable, truly unbelievable... that my little recruit training camp actually had three spies planted by those people. What a grand scheme!"
Yuan Gang sneered.
The other instructors turned to look at the two of them with disbelief in their eyes, while Wang Gui and Wu Ruotong exchanged a quick glance and sprang to their feet!
Clang—!
Two short knives appeared in their hands and swiftly stabbed towards Yuan Gang's throat!
Their movements were so fast that the other instructors didn't even have time to react; they were so fast that only their afterimages remained in the air!
Yuan Gang snorted coldly, and a golden ripple exploded outward from him. The terrifying force was like two giant hammers, slamming heavily into Wang Gui and Wu Ruotong's chests and sending them flying backward.
Their figures crashed onto the surrounding tables and chairs, overturning a large number of tableware with a clattering sound. They struggled to their feet, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Yuan Gang walked up to them with his hands behind his back and an expressionless face, his eyes as cold as a deep pool.
"Hehe..." Wang Gui struggled to get up from the ground. Despite the huge difference in strength, he did not despair. Instead, a look of madness appeared in his eyes!
"Yuan Gang, The[Dreaming] Master asked us to bring you a gift..."
Wang Gui and Wu Ruotong simultaneously grinned into ferocious smiles, and the next moment their bodies swelled up like balloons, with a strange red light bursting out from their bodies!
Yuan Gang frowned, snorted coldly, and stomped his right foot heavily on the ground. Golden ripples rose up as if they were real, like a golden bell, enveloping the two of them and completely isolating them from the surrounding environment!
Bang—!!
The two bodies exploded in the red light, their mangled flesh and blood splattering onto the golden bell's walls. A visible red shockwave surged within the bell, yet it could not break through. Finally, it exploded vertically, blasting a bottomless circular trench into the ground.
As the red light dissipated, Yuan Gang also waved his hand to disperse the golden ripples. Messy flesh and blood flowed down the walls of the deep trench, and a stench spread.
The expressions of the surrounding instructors changed instantly.
"[Dreaming]?" Instructor Hong frowned as he looked at the scene and said in a deep voice, "So it was brainwashing... When exactly did these people from the Ancient God Church do this?"
Yuan Gang looked down at the blood and flesh on the ground, his eyes filled with boundless rage, and his chest heaved violently.
He snorted coldly, turned around and walked out of the cafeteria. A faint gold light appeared in his eyes, and a powerful pressure erupted from him, making it hard for people to breathe.
"This farce has gone on for so long, it's time to end it..."
He walked out of the cafeteria and headed step by step toward the gate of the training camp. Although his steps were not fast, his figure left afterimages in the air.
In a short while, Yuan Gang's figure disappeared from everyone's sight.
As Instructor Hong watched Yuan Gang's departing figure, he murmured to himself:
"The commander... is angry."