Chapter 265

Tan Xiaolin was safe, but Liu Xiaotian's two arms suffered multiple skin abrasions from being dragged by the rope.

Qin Yuxi's eyes filled with heartache as she pulled Liu Xiaotian toward the Health Team to treat his wounds.

But before they could leave, He Zhijun's jeep appeared again at the entrance of the Thunder Strike Team.

This time, the driver of He Zhijun's Level 2 non‑commissioned officer had become clever; he didn't drive straight to the training ground but stopped at the gate and walked in accompanying Brigadier He.

Upon seeing Liu Xiaotian from afar, He Zhijun's heart sank sharply.

He could certainly see that Liu Xiaotian was injured.

Although since Liu Xiaotian returned from the Warrior School that day, he had never seen Liu Xiaotian make a move, yet from his demeanor and gaze He Zhijun could determine that this rookie, in whom both he and Fan Tianlei had placed high hopes, had truly grown to a level that would satisfy everyone and even earn admiring looks.

This is also the fundamental reason why he and Fan Tianlei dared to entrust the Fire Phoenix to Liu Xiaotian for training.

This time, Liu Xiaotian directly took out Hu Sha; although nominally it was an action of the Warrior School, eighty percent of the hostages rescued were Easterners, so this merit could not be directly awarded, but it could be added on the side.

At first glance, there's nothing, just one wrong version.

In the previous two missions, although He Zhijun had not personally seen Liu Xiaotian's performance during the mission execution, he could easily imagine it.

Of course, special cases still occur, such as Tang Xinyi and Ye Cunxin, who were directly specially recruited from their institutions and, after short‑term training, were granted officer ranks.

But after sounding out the superiors, he temporarily abandoned that idea.

Precisely because of this, his promotion approval proceeded so quickly.

Before this visit, He Zhijun had considered many possibilities, such as one of the eight female soldiers dropping out due to inability to endure high‑intensity training, but he never imagined Liu Xiaotian would be injured.

A few years ago, the Wolf Fang was ordered to deal with them; although to some extent it inflicted damage on their forces, it also suffered a near‑crazy retaliation from Hu Sha.

This is extremely rare among cases of soldiers being directly promoted.

In fact, the superiors' positioning of the Fire Phoenix Women's Special Forces Team is similar to that of the Thunder Strike Team, strictly speaking it is one level lower, with a personnel setting of forty to sixty.

Therefore, not only did they approve Liu Xiaotian's promotion, they also directly granted him the rank of lieutenant.

Moreover, the Fire Phoenix is not limited to just Tan Xiaolin and the other eight female soldiers.

Approve the promotion and directly confer the rank of lieutenant.

You should know that, according to the system's earlier statement, in this Level‑1 script world's army, the biggest difference from his former world lies in the regulations concerning military personnel and ranks.

After all, even if we have to settle for second best, we must first get this team integrated.

The superiors consider that such a talent might, during training, break the reality that female soldiers' physical quality and strength limits are weaker than male soldiers', and perhaps forge a women's special forces team whose strength could rival the Red Blood Cell Group.

Otherwise, the only son of Fan Tianlei and Zhang Lina would not have come to harm.

The reason Tan Xiaolin and the other eight female soldiers were singled out to be trained by Liu Xiaotian is that more than fifty percent of it stems from the fact that Liu Xiaotian had just finished his training at the Warrior School, had even been granted early graduation, and furthermore had served as an instructor there.

The Thunder Strike Team certainly has missions, but it's not so busy that not even an instructor can be spared. I won't elaborate on the principle; suffice it to say that anyone who has served in the military for over five years, whether officer or enlisted, will understand the reason.

For example…… the promotion application submitted last time that had not yet received approval.

The gist of the approval document reads: Private Liu Xiaotian, versed in both civil and military arts, brave and strategic, having undergone training at the Warrior School, bringing glory to the country and the army, and also making major contributions in scientific research.

In that mission to capture the owl, judging by mission difficulty and Liu Xiaotian's performance, a personal second‑class merit was certainly not missed.

In short, this is a rare talent who also meets the relevant provisions in the regulations for promoting highly talented personnel specially recruited from higher education institutions.

Thus, after He Zhijun and Fan Tianlei alternately submitted requests, the superiors' approval soon came back:

Had it not been for Brigadier He and Chief of Staff Fan wanting to keep this talent in Wolf Fang to build the Red Blood Cell Group, Liu Xiaotian, even if he enlisted, would surely have received an officer rank straight away like Tang Xinyi and Ye Cunxin.

Moreover, rank advancement is not the traditional three‑years‑per‑star, five‑years‑per‑bar system; it depends on military merit.

The superiors' reply was: After all, he is still too young, and he has earned merit only in a single mission; using that as grounds for promotion would seem unfair to his outstanding soldiers. Indeed, since several years ago the practice of directly promoting soldiers has been tightened, and in theory one would not normally grant a soldier a direct promotion but instead award points for military academy entrance as a reward.

However, given the urgent timeline, if this weren't possible, those eight female soldiers would have to return to their units immediately and train together with the other dozens; therefore the superiors set such a short training period for Liu Xiaotian.

But after the merit report was sent up, the superiors delayed approval without rejection, giving He Zhijun and Fan Tianlei—these two 'old and sly' Wolf Fang chiefs—a glimmer of hope.

Regardless, after just a year, this officer rank not only was secured but directly became a lieutenant—a pretty good deal.

But this time, Liu Xiaotian led the team on this rescue mission under the banner of the Warrior School; although the methods and means employed were somewhat radical, the outcome was perfect.

In Liu Xiaotian's original world, when the military began large‑scale recruitment around the turn of the millennium, bachelor's degree graduates who enlisted were directly awarded lieutenant rank after three years at a military academy.

Ultimately, how it will be finalized depends on the training performance of the provisional personnel, after which a further decision will be made.

In fact, since the successful mission to capture the owl aboard the Vinsen ship, He Zhijun and Fan Tianlei have already been discussing applying for Liu Xiaotian's promotion together with the merit report.

But here, it can only be a second lieutenant.

Let's not dwell on the previous owl; speaking solely of Hu Sha, he is already a notorious pirate leader of many years' standing.

Without military merit, advancement in post is difficult; once the age passes, one can only reluctantly take off the uniform and return home to one's profession.

Not a few people switch careers around age thirty while holding the rank of second lieutenant.

"Liu Xiaotian, what's going on?!"

He Zhijun shouted from afar.

(End of chapter)