Chapter 17 Graduation
There was an unwritten rule in the Imperial Army that one could enter the Special Legion if they reached the age of a second class combat soldier before the age of eighteen. But the top ones in the special legions only recruited second grade combat soldiers who were less than seventeen years old. This was only the minimum threshold, and there were many other conditions that had to be met in order to be recognized by the most elite legions of the empire.
Qianye was already sixteen.
Igniting the nodes, consolidating his strength, and then preparing for the graduation exams all took time. If one had to be close to seventeen to reach the level two combat soldier, then Qianye was afraid that it would be difficult to get an acceptance into a special legion.
Almost all graduates of the Yellow Springs Training Camp would serve in the Imperial Army for a few years before seeking their own development. From the moment he walked into the training camp, Qianye had already secretly set his ambition. He didn't just want to walk out alive, but also to enter the top tier, or at least the first-rate, special forces.
Only then did Qianye feel that he wouldn't dishonor the surname he would be given, Lin.
Thousand Nights did not lack talent, but that age-old injury had nearly ruined everything for him! However, in this world of war and turmoil, everyone only looked at the results and no one cared about the process.
Thousand Nights was already sixteen years old, yet he hadn't broken through to the second level yet, and that was the result. And tonight, he was going to change that result!
Under the moonlight, Thousand Night's Force began to surge, gradually converging into a tide, and then step by step, he painstakingly pushed through the scarred area and began to impact the node barrier.
A round of tidal wave of Force was continuously generated, and the pain that was inhumanly bearable kept coming. But Qianye's heart was already blank, quietly waiting for the results.
The seventeenth round of Force Tide passed, and the eighteenth round of Force Tide finally arrived!
Thousand Night's face was pale, sweating like rain, and his entire body was constantly trembling under the powerful reverberations of the Force as well as the intense pain that hit him in a staggered manner. Each wave of the Force caused Thousand Night to have the feeling of dying and being reborn!
In the blink of an eye, from one wave to nine waves, when the ninth wave ruthlessly slapped at the node barrier, Thousand Nights seemed to hear a crunching sound of snapping, and the originally impenetrable barrier appeared countless cracks under the extremely powerful impact of the Force, and shattering was just around the corner!
The tide slowly receded, and the Force returned to calm. Thousand Night's mind finally loosened up, then his eyes went black and he fainted.
When Qianye woke up, it was already two days later.
He opened his eyes and saw the familiar classroom, underneath him was the cold metal platform, apparently Shen Tu had saved him once again.
"Nonsense! Simply nonsense!" This old man who never took living things seriously actually berated Chiyo like this.
Shen Tu's medical skills were indeed strong, Qianye had forcibly endured eighteen rounds of Force Tide and his internal organs were broken everywhere, such injuries could be cured by him, and it didn't leave any hidden dangers. Regardless of how Shen Tu reprimanded him, right now, Qianye's heart is only grateful to him.
With eighteen rounds of Force Tide as a foundation, a month later, Qianye finally ignited the node and became a second level combat soldier.
After becoming a level two combat soldier, most people would awaken a Force-related ability. Some of the lucky ones could also choose between several abilities. The originally amazingly talented Thousand Nights had the qualification to choose, and he could choose between Heavy Warhead, Force Jump, and Double Shot as his ability.
Thousand Night didn't do much thinking and directly chose Heavy Slug.
Heavy Warhead was a very common ability, specialized in Force Guns. When this ability was activated, it was possible to blast out a blow that was much more powerful than usual, and it was about one and a half times as powerful as a normal shot.
Once Qianye ignited the second Force node, he realized that the Force generated from this node was extraordinarily wild and extremely difficult to control. In this case, a heavy slug that focused only on power was the most suitable ability for him.
After another two months of careful preparation, Thousand Nights applied to take the graduation exam for the training camp. As he walked towards the Grand Canyon, in addition to one of the most basic battlefield daggers he was equipped with, he also carried a strange rifle behind him.
It was a Force rifle, and although it was only the simplest and most basic model, it was still a Force rifle!
The training camp would only issue each trainee a dagger during the graduation exam, and they were not allowed to carry any other equipment. But the exception was the trainee's own handmade equipment, which could be brought into the exam center no matter what.
Qianye's perfect score in all of his knowledge classes finally paid off at this point, as he started with the most basic material handling and actually made a Force rifle on his own! Although it was only the simplest and most primitive Force Rifle, the energy compression device could only store one Force Bullet.
Just like that, Qianye became the first cadet in thirty years to take the graduation exam with a Force Rifle.
The crystalline lizard was indeed a formidable enemy, but that was for the cadet with the rudimentary dagger. A hundred meters away from each other, Thousand Nights began charging the Force Gun, aiming, activating the heavy cartridge, and firing.
A ball of blazing red light flew out from the muzzle of the gun, directly blasting away the small half of the crystal lizard's head!
It was as simple as that, no one had stipulated that you couldn't use Force Guns, as long as you could build them. Moreover, this shot of Qianye's was extraordinarily powerful, and after the addition of heavy warheads, it was already equivalent to a strike from a third-grade battle soldier.
The third month after his sixteenth birthday, Thousand Nights finally graduated from the Yellow Springs Training Camp.
The news of Thousand Night's graduation quickly spread out. A few days later, Shi Yan drove a heavy-duty truck to the mouth of the valley where the training camp was located.
In a flash, Thousand Nights had been in the Yellow Springs Training Camp for nine whole years.
At this time, Thousand Night was already one meter eight and a half, not much shorter than the lanky Shi Yan. His body is not like Shi Yan like muscle pancake block clear, but never thin feeling, body volume proportionate slender, every line is full of tension.
Shi Yan is still the same, only the corner of the eyes of the eyebrows more traces of age, let a person suddenly surprised to realize the ruthlessness of time.
Seeing Qianye, Shi Yan's mute face suddenly gained a bit more vigor, he raised his hand and seemed to habitually want to touch Qianye's head, then he heavily punched Qianye's chest and praised: ''Good boy! Finally came out alive! Come here and let me take a good look!"
Thousand Night's features were pure and clear, still very clean, but he didn't even wobble a bit after taking Shi Yan's punch just now, making Shi Yan even happier, tugging at the knife-like, raw lines on his face to turn it into a smile.
Shi Yan greeted Thousand Nights and jumped into the cab of the heavy-duty truck. This soldier who couldn't smile more than a few times a year had a fondness for this rugged style of heavy-duty truck.
After Chiyo also got on board, Shi Yan drove off and sped away.
In the cab, Shi Yan said, ''Marshal Lin was very happy to hear that you graduated and immediately had me come to pick you up. But unluckily, Marshal Lin is recently sitting on the western border of the empire and is completely unable to get away, so I'm afraid you won't be able to see him for a short while."
"Did something happen over at the Western Frontier?" Qianye asked.
"There was a rebellion in two provinces that wanted to become independent. It's not a big deal, it's just a bit troublesome to deal with. Those rebels are very cunning, and they would always hide in some civilian's home, using it to hide their identity."
"Rebels?" It was the first time Chiyo had heard this word.
Shi Yan said in disgust, "It's just a bunch of fools who don't know the heights of heaven! The empire has been fighting the dark races with all its might, and instead of going to the front lines to contribute, these guys are constantly messing around in the back. Want to overthrow the Empire? Hey, the empire has been established for 1,200 years, and now has a total of 300 provinces spanning four continents, so how can these clowns be brought down?"
Qianye quietly listened. If the strength of two provinces could drag Lin Xitang to the Western Frontier, then the rebels certainly wouldn't be as untouchable as Shi Yan said.
Shi Yan drove in silence for a while before saying with a slight heaviness, "The rebels are troublesome. As I said earlier, they tend to hide amongst the common people, and the people in those two provinces are also very ignorant, many of them would rather themselves and their friends and relatives be implicated and executed than give them shelter. Lin Shuai couldn't help them for a while, so they thought they had it in the bag. Hmph, these fools, what do they actually know! Marshal Lin was just unwilling to hurt the innocent people, and didn't use the iron fisted tactic of holding the wall, which delayed the war."
Speaking here, Shi Yan paused for a long time before exhaling heavily, "These days won't be long. After some more time, if there is still no progress, Marshal Lin will change his defense, and the replacement will be a general from another faction. No matter which one of these great generals it is, those two provinces will ...... bleed to death!"
Qianye suddenly felt inexplicably heavy. Even Shi Yan had to be described in terms of rivers of blood, so how many people would have to die?
In the Yellow Springs Training Camp, Qianye had killed people and had stopped treating human life as something not to be taken lightly. However, compared to these famous generals of the empire, Qianye is far from being anything. In the future, even if he becomes a generation of top killers, I'm afraid that all the people and dark races he's killed in his life won't be able to match a single flippant order from these generals.
The heavily loaded truck ran furiously all the way.
"Thousand Nights!" Shi Yan suddenly said.
"Hmm?"
"Starting tomorrow happens to be the day of the Imperial Military Department's recruitment, I'll bring you over to take the test. Perform well, this time there will be examiners present in two of the five elite legions of the Empire. If you perform well, you'll have a chance to get in!"
"I'll do my best!"
Shi Yan suddenly sighed and said, "I hope you can get into the elite corps and one day become a famous general of the empire in the future as well! Marshal Lin ...... has too many enemies in the military."
Hearing this, Qianye's heart suddenly sank.
Shi Yan took out an item from his bosom and handed it to Qianye, saying, "This is what Marshal Lin gave you."
When Qianye took it, he realized that it was a squarely folded special paper with a dark pattern on the surface, and when he unfolded it, he wrote the words "Lin Qianye" in a strong handwriting. However, the edges of the paper were a bit hairy, the creases seemed to have some age on them, and the ink was a bit dull.
"That was written by Marshal Lin nine years ago." Shi Yan seemed to know what Qianye was thinking.
"Nine years ago?" Qianye was incredulous. Nine years ago, wasn't that when he first entered the Yellow Springs Training Camp?
"When Marshal Lin asked me to send you to the Yellow Springs, he said that you would definitely come back alive." Shi Yan smiled.
The heavy-duty truck ran all the way, arriving at a blimp base late at night, just as a cargo airbag boat entered the harbor, and Shi Yan drove up with the vehicle.
The airship simply did a supply run and started back in the latter part of the night.
Destination, Xiangyang.
This largest military-industrial city on Qin land ranked third within the entire empire.