Fire Phoenix Training Base.
The scorching sun beat down, baking every inch of the training ground.
A fully armed special commando team stood ramrod straight under the blazing sun.
They were the Thunderbolt Commando Unit.
The sharpest blade in the entire Southeast Military Region.
Yet, at this moment, the faces of these chosen ones were filled with displeasure and irritation.
"What the hell is going on? A Chief Instructor suddenly parachuted in?"
A team member code-named Harley whispered, complaining to his teammate beside him.
"And he stripped Captain Lei of his command?"
"You can say that again."
Another team member, "Yuanbao," pouted.
"I heard he's just a fresh-faced kid who just graduated from military academy, barely twenty, but his rank is terrifying: Major! He's here to get gilded, isn't he?"
"Quiet!"
The man at the front of the team barked.
Lei Zhan.
The Captain of the Thunderbolt Commando Unit, code-named "Lei Shen," a soldier king who had fought his way through a hail of bullets.
His brows were tightly furrowed, and his gaze was complex as he looked towards the entrance of the base.
The Military Region’s order had come too suddenly, too strangely.
An unknown young man was directly appointed as the Chief Instructor of Fire Phoenix, with full authority over the upcoming training plan.
This meant that their Thunderbolt Commando Unit, including him, their Captain, would have to obey this kid's command.
This was a bitter pill to swallow, not just for his unruly soldiers, but for him as well.
Why?
Just because his rank was high?
Lei Zhan felt a fire burning inside him, but a soldier's duty was to obey orders.
He wanted to see just how capable this parachuted Major truly was.
Just then, the roar of an engine grew from distant to near.
A military off-road vehicle appeared in everyone's sight, kicking up dust.
He's here!
Everyone in the Thunderbolt Commando Unit instantly shed their casual expressions, standing as straight as javelins, though their eyes still held scrutiny and challenge.
The military vehicle stopped steadily.
The door opened, and a young man in a training uniform was the first to step out.
He indeed looked very young, his face even carrying a hint of lingering youthfulness, but his eyes were exceptionally calm, showing no sign of the nervousness one might expect when taking over an elite unit.
It was Qin Qian.
The team members of the Thunderbolt Commando Unit frowned even deeper.
That's it?
He looked delicate and fair-skinned, completely out of place among their rough and tough selves.
However, when the passenger door opened and another person stepped out, the atmosphere of the entire training ground instantly changed.
That was a man as silent as a mountain.
Team Zhao.
He simply stood there quietly, doing nothing, yet an invisible, palpable oppressive aura instantly enveloped the entire scene.
Cold, heavy, filled with the scent of iron and blood.
The Thunderbolt Commando Unit members’ breathing hitched.
What a powerful presence!
Lei Zhan's pupils suddenly constricted, and his heart gave a violent thump.
He stared intently at Team Zhao, his muscles instantly tensing, the most instinctive reaction of a body encountering a top predator.
Danger!
Extreme danger!
This man was definitely a killing god who had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!
Lei Zhan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart, and turned his gaze to Qin Qian.
He strode forward, stopped three paces from Qin Qian, and sharply raised his hand, giving a standard military salute.
"Reporting, sir! Captain of the Thunderbolt Commando Unit, Lei Zhan! Ordered to await your instructions here!"
His voice was loud, and his posture impeccable.
Qin Qian returned a military salute, a faint smile on his lips.
"Captain Lei, I've heard much about you. The Thunderbolt Commando Unit is indeed the ace of our Military Region, with a formidable reputation."
Polite words.
Lei Zhan knew it well. He probed without changing his expression:
"Sir flatters us. We're just a bunch of ordinary soldiers. It's you, sir, who is so young yet already a Major, and entrusted with such an important task. Your future is truly boundless."
These words sounded like flattery, but in reality, they were questioning Qin Qian's qualifications.
Translated, it meant: Why should a young kid like you be in charge of us?
How could Qin Qian not hear the thorns in his words, but he just smiled, unconcerned.
"Just good luck."
He said lightly:
"In the days to come, I hope Captain Lei and the brothers can cooperate more, and we can work together amicably."
Amicable cooperation?
Behind Lei Zhan, the members of the Thunderbolt Commando Unit stood with cold faces, arms crossed, their disdain and defiance practically overflowing from their eyes, and no one responded.
The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.
Qin Qian ignored it.
He turned sideways, pointed to Team Zhao beside him, and said to Lei Zhan:
"Let me introduce you, this is Team Zhao, my deputy."
He paused, then announced in a relaxed, even somewhat casual tone.
"From today onwards, all training matters at this training base will be taken over by him."
After speaking, Qin Qian didn't even look at Lei Zhan again. He nodded at Team Zhao and turned to walk towards the barracks, as if he had only come to announce a trivial matter.
He just dumped such a big responsibility directly on his deputy?
He himself was going to be a hands-off boss?
Everyone was stunned, including Lei Zhan.
What kind of move was this?
He was treating their Thunderbolt Commando Unit with too little regard!
Just as everyone was astonished, Team Zhao, who had been silent, took a step forward.
The cold oppressive sensation instantly surged!
His emotionless eyes, like a hawk's, slowly swept over every single person in the Thunderbolt Commando Unit.
Every team member he gazed upon felt a jolt in their heart, as if they had been seen through from inside out, and any pretense was meaningless.
Finally, Team Zhao's gaze settled on Lei Zhan's face.
He parted his lips slightly, his voice like two pieces of steel rubbing together, cold and clear.
"From now on, the Fire Phoenix Training Base."
"Is taken over by us!"