Shi Lang was put on the table and John left the infirmary. Dalia shook her head when she checked the boy’s condition and then carried him to pod-like equipment. The equipment was like a pod, on the sides of the pod, there were injection mechanisms attached.
She placed the boy inside and pressed a few buttons on the side panel. The transparent pod hatch closed, Dalia again pressed a few buttons, and the injecting mechanism came into play. The substance injected inside his body was all high-grade medicines. The effect was instant and the swelling on his face began to reduce visibly.
…
Charlotte Knight made a call to Dalia and asked, “What is the situation?”
Dalia said, “It will take twenty-four hours before he is completely healed. The skull is riddled with hairline fractures, the wound on the chest needs flesh regeneration. The ripped-away toenails are also needed to regrow.”
The camp master sighed and said, “Very well, fix him up and teach him medical knowledge needed for him to pass the training.”
Dalia nodded and began to complete her work. She glanced at the simulation pod and shook her head. She mumbled, “Why did you opt to come here, kid?”
She sighed and initiated the simulation program from the console on the side.
…
Shi Lang opened his eyes and found himself inside a lab space. He looked around to find various apparatus set up on the shelves, with a lot of other stuff. Suddenly, Shi Lang heard Dalia’s voice, “Student Lang, this is a simulation. In the time your body heals, I suggest that you learn some medical knowledge. The rest will be described to you by the automated voice. All the best.”
Shi Lang became alert when he heard the words, ‘All the best’
As Dalia said, the automated voice began to feed Shi Lang the knowledge he needed. Inside the simulation, the time flow could be adjusted, it was a trick that made the neurons think they had spent a long time inside. The boy was like a sponge, he absorbed everything the system taught him. His self-studies during school also played a big role in this.
Shi Lang thought that he spent a week inside the lab learning various things regarding the human body. He learned a variety of ailments and cures one could face on the battlefield. The cures surprised him sometimes while sometimes he felt grossed by it.
One of such gross cures was, if you are poisoned outside the base on this planet, then you should look for a reptile, boon lizard, a name designated by terrans. This lizard was one of the most poisonous creatures on this planet and its flesh could detox every poison until it belonged to itself. The only disgusting feature was that this lizard smelled like shit.
The pearls of knowledge were bestowed to Shi Lang with all generosity and the boy memorized almost all of them. When the simulation ended, Shi Lang was told that he had spent twenty-four hours inside the simulation.
The boy opened his eyes and sat up slowly. He found himself inside a pod. Dalia’s voice sounded, “Go, your training of firearms will begin slowly.”
The boy nodded and after saying thank you to the lady he left. Next, he trained with Yuu and mastered as many weapons, both cold and hot, as he can. Then from John, he learned things on how to move in around unnoticed and even better, suffered brutal torture. Later he would be patched up in the infirmary and the cycle repeated itself.
However, even after all the torment, Shi Lang did not let his guard down, in the past few weeks he suffered twenty-five sneak attacks, even in the infirmary. These attacks were all fatal and he was using his ability constantly. Carlos was a sadist as they said he was.
This guy would bring him out and intentionally trigger traps inside the maze hallways, Shi Lang would have to do a complete course run and if he did not follow the path Carlos decided for him, the traps will become certain kill pits.
After a few weeks, even the angel in his mind, Dalia changed into a demoness from the depth of hell. She began to ‘teach’ him about poisons. After every session, he would be left with a different color and twitching or other symptoms. These sessions made him develop a resistance to the poisons to some extent. He also became more proficient in detecting poisons.
Just when the last week was left to survive, Shi Lang was called by Charlotte Knight. The guy heard the message on the communicator and had a bad feeling about this. He walked to the office and knocked on the door.
“Come in.” a voice sounded.
Shi Lang entered and saw the War Maiden sitting behind the desk. He saluted her and said, “Student Shi Lang reporting madam.”
Charlotte nodded and said, “At ease.”
Shi Lang acknowledge and the lady continued, “You are called here because the graduation task for you has been determined.”
Shi Lang gulped and nodded. Charlotte continued with a poker face, “You will be promoted to the status of an honorary cadet in for the next one week. You will be dropped at a location in the middle of nowhere. You will be given a terrain map and an advanced weapon pack. Your task is to assassinate the leader of a shamantis clan. This guy is responsible for killing two hundred assaulters.
We offered them a settlement, but this guy did not. If he had killed the assaulters only it would not have been so enraging but they removed their organs to feast on. You only have to assassinate this guy. Do you accept?”
Shi Lang thought in his mind, ‘Who said you should go claiming their land? And you ask me as if I have a choice, do I not know that you will kill me if I said no?’
He nodded and said, “I accept, Madam.”
Charlotte nodded and said, “Good. Find Yuu, she will lead you to the army base, where you will get your gear and supplies. Godspeed.”
Shi Lang saluted and walked out of the cabin. He closed the door and sighed. Then he made his way to the weapon training grounds. Yuu would spend most of her time there, playing.
When he reached the place, he found Yuu was already wiping off her sweat. She nodded to him and said, “Let’s go.”
Shi Lang followed her silently. After a few minutes, Yuu said, “What is it?”
The boy asked, “I was just thinking if they will give me some condiments. I would like to hunt some game.”
Yuu said, “Good, positive attitude helps you stay calm in distressing situations.”
The two had become more open with each other and Yuu was a complete black belly tsundere. They came to the threshold of the camp and Shi Lang suddenly jumped two steps forward. Yuu held a knife in her hand, and if not for the jump, it would have been stabbed inside the guts of the former.
The lady nodded and led him to the place called the armory. The base was very simple. It had one huge building, which consisted of a commanding room, accommodations, pantry, and weapon depot. It was a whole complex, but to make it safer they made it all in one building. Yuu was not stopped anywhere and the soldiers even saluted her at every turn.
Shi Lang could tell that her rank was high. However, he did not ask anything and kept on following her silently. The lady led him to the armory. On the way, Shi Lang passed the pantry and mess hall and he smelled the fragrance in the air.
He asked, “Ma’am, can I have a meal here?”
Yuu replied, “If you manage to not become a meal out there. It will be my treat.”
Shi Lang felt a twitch on his lip and thought, ‘You just wait, I will eat you bankrupt.’
Inside the armory, the lady asked him to scan his communicator watch in a module. His credentials showed the words, Hon. Cad. Shi Lang.
Then he was asked to select a gear for himself. The boy selected a sniper rifle, three trip mines, three grenades, one standard army sword, and a knife for weapons, for gear a standard camouflage suit, and boots. For supplies, he choose clean water and some high-energy compressed chocolate bars.
Yuu then led him to the tarmac where he was to board a nuclear-powered helicopter. This flight will drop him at the target location. He saluted Yuu and walked to the chopper. Only to hear a faint, “Take care out there and come back alive.”
He turned back to see a faint cloud of dust where Yuu was standing earlier. He shook his head and with the gear over his body boarded the chopper. The pilot asked, “Ready?”
He gave him a go signal and the flight took off.
…
In the monitoring room, John walked in and said, “I found out how he knew that we put him in a simulation.”
Dalia asked, “How?” the others also looked at him.
John said, “A few strands of hair fell on his pillow. We did not take them into account and that was it.”
Charlotte chuckled and said, “I see, interesting fellow.”
…
As they were discussing him, Shi Lang was looking outside the window and he was monitoring the terrain. He sighed and said, “This will be tricky.” and the chopper kept on moving through the clouds.