The base of the Cang Dragon was hidden somewhere deep inside mountains of Jiang Bei.
As the elite group of the Disciplinary Units, Cang Dragon’s ranks were less than a hundred. However, the auxiliary teams that serviced the facilitate were ten times that number. Therefore, the base had a decent population.
When Chen Fan was on his way to the base, many members of the Cang Dragon units gathered at the training ground, waiting for the arrival of the new sergeant.
“Balls! They said he is going to come three months ago. How long do we have to keep on waiting? I am getting sick of this!” A bald soldier in dark green uniform complained.
Being the cream of the crop in the military, members of the Special Unit all carried the pompous air and were difficult to make them obey orders willingly.
“This new Head Sergeant think he is some kind of hot shot.” A young man with a cold face said lightly.
“Rumor had it that he was invited here by the head of the HQ personally. He is not even twenty yet and he will be in charge of our personal combat training.” A young soldier who looked much more refined than the rest pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and said thoughtfully.
“Less than twenty years old?”
Those who heard the news for the first time were taken by surprise. Many soldiers who had been daydreaming in their ennui nearly jumped up after hearing the revelation.
“When Boss Xu finally become the Head Sergeant, he was already in his forties. He had worked hard to get to this position. What makes a less than twenty-year-old fledgling who had done nothing in his life worthy of the post of the Head Sergeant?”
The brawny bold man complained hotly.
“No kidding. He has neither the experience nor the skills. Perhaps he had never even seen a drop of blood before. I bet he is an obnoxious twat from some rich family coming to the military just for show.” Someone put in.
“We are not in a position to question our leader’s decisions. We are soldiers and we do only one thing: Obey the order.”
The man with a square face stood at the front of the column announced heavily.
He stood upright in a perfect posture that he had kept ever since this morning. However, his example was not followed by the other soldiers, as some of them slumped their shoulders and some even sat down on the ground.
“Yes, Captain!”
Everyone shouted a reply in unison. Their replies sounded more like a conditioned reflex than a true agreement.
After they had said that, they looked to the square-faced man with a great measure of admiration.
His name is Yue Jianqiu, the captain of the Cang Dragon unit.
He was a man of high standards, particularly toward himself. Meanwhile, he was also a perfect soldier.
He had led his team in and out of danger numerous times and had successfully finished countless impossible missions. For the Cang Dragon soldiers, they respected their captain much more than their sergeants.
However, a few fleeting moments after, the soldier’s newfound mustered spirit was already gone. Many members of the unit returned to their slouching position and some even sat down to take a break, except for one young man. The young man looked eighteen or so and he had kept a good posture ever since this morning just as the captain did.
“Xiao Chu, you have just joined Cang Dragon. There is no need to be too uptight all the time. Our team is pretty laid back, except for when we are on a mission.”
Seeing Chu Minhui’s rigid body and tight face, an older soldier came to him and said.
“But, look at Captain Yue…”
Chu Minhui murmured.
“That’s just him. He always has high standards for himself and everything has to be by the book. He even has a specific location for the placement of his cups, but he never expected others to be the same.” The old soldier cracked a smile. “Our captain leads us by setting an example, but he doesn’t care if we follow it or not.”
“And because of this, we respect our Captain more than anyone.”
“I see…”
Chu Minhui looked to Yue Jianqiu with newfound admiration. His determination to follow the example was not swayed by the old soldier. He straightened his back and corrected the minor imperfections in his posture.
The old solder cracked a friendly smile and didn’t press on. He knew that the new boy was under the captain’s influence.
“It’s easy to do it for a while, but nearly impossible to hold such high standards for a long time. Not everyone can be as determined as Captain.”
He lamented in his mind.
By then, the brawny bold soldier was complaining loudly again.
“Hey, how about let’s teach this new Head Sergeant a lesson as soon as he arrives?” The baldy man suggested with a mischievous smile on his face.
“Quit it, Tank! Captain Yue had told us to obey the orders, haven’t you heard that?” The refined looking soldier said with furrowed brows.
“I didn’t say we had to defy the orders, did I? I have no problem at all with following the Head Sergeant’s orders if he can prove himself worthy. He will have to show us what he has, don’t you think?” Tank said with a smile.
“If he can’t prove himself, we can’t tolerate him here. He can have his title as the Head Sergeant, and has to stay away from our training routines.”
“I agree with Tank!” Many Cang Dragon soldiers chimed in.
“What are we going to test him on? Shooting, knife skills or endurance?” Someone asked.
“It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Since he is our Unarmed Combat Sergeant, why don’t we just spar with him with bare handed?” The bald soldier said with a cold smile. “If he can’t defeat us, what makes him worthy of being our sergeant?”
“Agreed!”
Everyone nodded.
Meanwhile, a helicopter was approaching the Cang Dragon’s base from a few hundred meters above the ground.
“Head Sergeant Chen, we are almost there.”
Yu Qin shouted.
It was very loud inside the helicopter and therefore communications were difficult without raising one’s voice.
Chen Fan sat steadily in his seat.
Although it was his first time take a helicopter ride, he didn’t seem too excited. As the North Mystic Celestial Lord, he considered a ride in a Galactic battlecruiser mundane, much less a helicopter ride.
In his past life, he had fought against numerous galactic civilizations. One of which wanted to conquer the earth using their mighty fleet. However, their plan was discovered by Chen Fan so he destroyed their flagship, a few hundred-mile long galactic battlecruiser. In the end, the former superpower in the known universe had to surrender before the unimaginable power of Chen Fan.
“Head Sergeant, I want to give you a heads up.” Yu Qin hesitated for a second and then continued. “The Cang Dragon was a proud unit. So be prepared for some challenges.”
“Of course you could ignore them, but they might take it as a sign of weakness and became impossible to command during training.”
“I understand. The soldiers admire only strength, that’s the way always had been.” Chen Fan nodded calmly.
Compared to the civilian world, the military’s dogma was more akin to that in the realm of cultivation. It was the survival of the fittest and whoever could punch the hardest and killed more enemies would be considered the leader.
Seeing Chen Fan’s inattentive expression, Yu Qin furrowed her brows.
“He is going to learn some hard lessons when he arrives at Cang Dragon.”
Yu Qin was only a staff officer and therefore the best she could do was to give her earnest advice since she could not issue direct orders.
However, Huo Donglai who sat quietly right beside the two gloated over Chen Fan’s imminent failure in his mind.
“Look! The helicopter is here.”
“That’s the new Head sergeant I bet.”
“Hey, Tank! We will be counting on you. Don’t hurt him too badly, he might be delicate.”
Many soldiers jested with each other and guffawed loudly.
Tank rubbed his hands together and was ready to execute his plan.
Chu Minhui still held the perfect standing posture. He didn’t do it for the Head Sergeant, he did it out of pure respect toward Captain Yue.
“Chen Fan, let’s wait and see.
“One day, I will become as strong as Captain Yue, or maybe even Head Sergeant Xu.
“By then, I will return to Chu Zhou City and show you what it means to be a real man.”
A flame started to grow inside of him.
After a few moments, the helicopter stopped in the air right above the landing pad.
“Boss, we are here, should we land right now?”
The pilot asked.
“Yes, land right —” Yu Qin was cut short by Chen Fan’s waving of the hand. He said: “Not yet, stay in the air for now.”
After he said that, he unbuckled, and rose from his seat and made his way to the exit.
The gate was already open. Chen Fan looked down from the lip of the opening and saw the buildings on the ground were the size of matchboxes. He noticed a group of people gathered beside the landing pad, each the size of an ant. It would be a terrifying sight for anyone who was afraid of heights.
A wild gale came up and the wind blew into the helicopter through the opening.
“Head Sergeant Chen, what are you doing?”
Yu Qin and Huo Donglai asked concernedly.
Was he planning to let his arrival set in for the people below? They had been waiting ever since this morning.
“Uh? Why did the helicopter stop?”
Soldiers were perplexed by the inactivity of the helicopter.
“Looks like the gate is open. Are they going to parachute out?” Someone asked confusedly.
“That’s impossible. There’s not enough height for parachuting. It’s only a hundred meters or so above the air; the minimum distance for military parachuting was three hundred above ground. If he jumps off from where he is, he would be smashed into a moosh before the parachute fully opened up.”
“What about a rope drop?” Someone asked again.
The so-called rope drop involved dropping a rope off from the edge of the helicopter, and the solider would descend by slowly lowering himself along the rope. This was a common trope used in TV shows and in reality, it was quite rarely deployed.
“That’s impossible.” The refined looking young man said as he pushed his glasses up. “It’s common knowledge that the maximum effective range for rope drop is thirty meters. They are a hundred meters above ground, so not only that they might not have a rope that is long enough, but the wind will also make their descending impossible.”
“He is not going to parachute, neither the rope drop… hmm… He must be showing off then.”
The stone-faced young man said with a smirk.
“Hehe, he is going to hover above us so that we have to stand here for a few more hours just for him. He is playing his opening gambit on us.” The brawny bold man said as he shook his head. “I hoped that he could do better, but this is pathetic. I am disappointed.”
The other soldiers also shook their heads as they sneered at the new Head Sergeant.
Those who treated their subordinates spitefully might be able to do well in the civilized world, but they were looked down upon by everyone in the military.
Chu Minhui was disappointed as well. He looked away from the helicopter and landed his gaze on Captain Yue, his only hero. Captain Yue’s upright stance didn’t waver in the slightest.
Amidst the murmurs of disappointment, the refined looking young man pushed his glasses up and felt something was amiss.
“Head Sergeant Chen, what you are doing is pointless to the soldiers of Cang Dragon”
He thought that he had seen through Chen Fan’s ploy, Sergeant Huo sneered at Chen Fan.
Chen Fan didn’t reply. He looked to Yu Qin and said calmly: “Didn’t you say that I need to give them a display of my strength before they would obey me?”
Yu Qin was taken aback by the question, unsure what Chen Fan was getting at. She paused a second and then answered: “Yes. These soldiers are the cream of the crop and hold themselves in high esteem. If you can’t prove yourself that you are worthy to lead them, you might as well quit your job now.”
“Very well.”
Chen Fan nodded. He poked his head out of the opening and tilted his body forward.
“You can’t just jump out. We are over a hundred meters above the ground. Without a parachute or a rope, that is suicide. Don’t play hero, you are not Captain America.” Huo gloated at Chen Fan.” Order the helicopter to land right now; keep them waiting for too long, they might as well dismiss themselves.”
“You are right about one thing. I am going to jump out.”
Chen Fan looked back at him and cracked a smile. Under the shocked and terrified gazes of his companions, Chen Fan took a step forward and hopped off the edge out of the helicopter.
He fell from a hundred meters above the ground without anything protection him.