Chapter 442: Why is he just like an old slickster?

Lu Yang felt as if he had seen a ghost, his heart thumped, and he quickly lay down and pretended to sleep.

Chief of Staff Zhao Haishen turned back to glance toward the training field, walked in to ask about the situation, then with a mischievous grin walked to the bedside.

"Kid, faking illness isn't a good habit; one must learn to avoid bad omens—if you truly fall ill someday, it won't be good."

"Fine, stop pretending. I know you're not asleep."

Seeing he could no longer keep up the act, Lu Yang could only open his eyes.

"Chief of Staff, I've changed my mind."

"Got it?"

"Mm."

Zhao Haishen secretly rejoiced; he hadn't expected the kid to be so impatient.

Seems the tactic worked; the more soldiers crave advancement, the more they fear being singled out.

But he didn't answer outright; with a regretful shake of his head he said, "It's too late to change your mind now; the registration forms have all been submitted. I let you stay before, you refused, and now even if you want to, it's useless."

"Ah, then what do we do?"

Lu Yang put on an eager expression and asked if there was any solution.

Zhao Haishen said reluctantly, "Alright, first go back and write a voluntary application to join—make it longer and neater. I'll plead with the battalion commander to see if an exception can be made; I can't guarantee it will work."

"Actually, I'm still very confident in you—brave, clever, willing to fight and strive; if you stay in Jiaolong, I guarantee your future achievements will certainly surpass Bai Yuan."

"With your ability, in the next three to five years you won't just become a squadron leader; gather more experience and contacts, and when I retire, I'll use my influence to support you becoming Chief of Staff."

"Really? I could have a chance to become Chief of Staff?!"

Lu Yang's eyes flashed with light, looking extremely excited, his face showing disbelief.

Zhao Haishen smiled and nodded, "I say you can, and you will; I never misjudge people. In the future, you might become the backbone of our group."

"I have to go handle something now; come back tomorrow morning with the application, and I'll talk to the battalion commander—maybe I can use my old face to secure a spot for you."

"Just stay here and rest; if you get bored, you can wander around. Though the paperwork isn't done, in my eyes you're already half one of us."

"Thank you, Chief of Staff!"

After seeing Zhao Haishen off, Lu Yang's face changed in an instant, his smile gone, and he muttered "old fox" under his breath.

He almost bought that cake‑in‑the‑sky promise.

Again the squadron leader and the Chief of Staff, making it seem like the unit is run out of your own home.

Since the other side is painting a cake, Lu Yang can naturally stuff the cake into his mouth; after all it's just a blank check—so long as it isn't cashed for a day, he can learn something for another day.

What Lu Yang never expected was that the old fox Zhao Haishen still had a trick up his sleeve; he lifted the restriction on Lu Yang's confinement but still barred him from any training activities.

The point is simple: if a day isn't a Jiaolong enemy, then that day you're not allowed to train with them, making you drool with envy!

Watching Lu Yang take a dusty blow to his nose and walk away dejectedly, Lao Mao wore a sly grin.

"Kid, taking on the Chief of Staff, you're still a bit green!"

"As long as your household registration file hasn't been transferred, don't even think about stepping onto the training field!"

Lu Yang, helplessly, sought Bai Yuan's help, but the other party said they were powerless to assist.

Previously, he had already been warned repeatedly by the Chief of Staff and the battalion commander for violating rules by secretly taking people to the "Shipyard," and a further violation would bring punishment.

After being rebuffed at every turn, Lu Yang was quite upset, feeling a futile sensation like a fist striking cotton.

No wonder they're into tactics; the disgusting guy really has a method.

Lu Yang rubbed his chin, trying to adjust his thinking.

Since we're here, we'll make the best of it.

Since training is impossible, he simply switched to a "slacking and lying flat" mode, using the days to rest properly.

Afternoon, the sun blazed, and the temperature surged to 38 °C.

The training ground was thick with killing intent, and the warriors stared with angry, bulging eyes, letting out snarls.

Like tireless beasts, they repeatedly hammered various military skills, risking everything to boost combat proficiency.

On the beach, Xu Ce and others stood waist‑deep in the sea, practicing takedowns; under Lao Mao's stern supervision, they exchanged blows back and forth, faces flushed.

Tu Hongwei was even tightly choked by his opponent Xu Ce, forced down into the water, compelled to admit defeat.

Jiaolong's training methods are extremely brutal, everything premised on real combat,

Not only is the intensity several times that of ordinary amphibious soldiers, but the training also regularly induces near‑death sensations.

Lao Mao, wearing a fisherman's hat, shouted at everyone, "Jiaolong is the King Yama's hall; you're a bunch of little devils who have entered the hall of the King of the Underworld! Once you're here, don't expect comfort or ease!"

"In this combat drill, as long as even one person doesn't see red, it will go on forever; want water, want rest? No way!"

"Can't even handle a few unknown thugs, yet you still need others to rescue you—I'm ashamed for you!"

Cutting‑sharp, scathing remarks kept ringing in their ears, and the fight entered a white‑hot "life‑or‑death" stage.

Everyone was so worked up they could no longer tell whether this was training or a genuine fight for survival.

"Don't abandon, don't give up" was temporarily tossed aside; each person focused solely on crushing the opponent.

Right there, fists pounding flesh and splashing water, an "uninvited guest" arrived on the beach, pulled a stool and plopped down.

Lu Yang fished out a pair of sunglasses of unknown origin from his pocket, then grabbed a bottle of ice‑cold soda, unscrewed it and took two sips.

Lao Mao frowned, "Why are you back again? Is the application finished?"

Lu Yang replied brightly, "Still thinking it over, still working on it."

Lao Mao rolled his eyes and said nothing more.

Turning his head, he saw everyone pause, eyes glued to the bottle of ice‑cold cola in Lu Yang's hand, constantly gulping, clearly craving it.

Lu Yang gulped several more mouthfuls, let out a long belch, and pulled a small pudding from his pocket, bought at the service club.

Lu Yang, with an ice pop in his mouth, jabbed his chin toward them, "You train yours, what about me?"

Lao Mao's eye twitched, "Lu Yang, are you feeling itchy?"

Lu Yang gave a hehe laugh, picked up a stool and retreated several meters back, sitting down in the shade.

The main point is just this: I'll watch, not participate; I watch my own, you train yours.

Lao Mao snorted a burst of hot air from his nose, turned his head and let out a low growl at the crowd.

"Continue!"

The training continued, but it had lost the previous fierce vigor.

Jiang Dahai's eyes stared, he gulped saliva wildly: "This is totally against the rules, too torturous!"

Tu Hongwei: "They deliberately ran right up to us to drink cola and eat ice cream—who could stand that?"

Xu Ce: "I really want to take a sip, even just one!"

Over the next few days, Lu Yang completely entered a lay‑back, slack‑off mode.

Eat, sleep, eat, sleep; when there's nothing to do he just wanders around the camp, basically not training at all.

He even went to the club's computer room to play single‑player games, having a blast.

Zhao Haishen had looked for him and talked several times; when asked, he said the application report wasn't finished yet, still being planned.

Zhao Haishen was so angry his eyebrows were about to burn; though young, he was as sly as an old fried dough stick.

Lao Mao was likewise fed up, went to the Chief of Staff to complain: "Chief of Staff, this trick isn't working!"

"That brat sleeps till he wakes naturally every day like he's on vacation, runs to the little store whenever he feels like it, and even puts it on my tab!"

"If it really won't work, we'd better send him away quickly—with him around I can't even conduct normal training subjects!"

Zhao Haishen held back his anger inside, but he was mostly unwilling to accept it.

"If he can't beat the old ones, and can't beat the young ones either, where does he put his face?"

"How could a Chief of Staff who schemes tactics, versed in dark arts and complex human nature, be led by the nose by a twenty‑year‑old greenhorn?"

"By now, even if Lu Yang isn't that outstanding, he absolutely cannot let him go; Zhao Haishen wants to use Lu Yang to give Zheng Chengfeng a hard slap in the face, to avenge that case of Maotai!"

Zhao Haishen said solemnly: "Tomorrow morning, the General Headquarters will send someone to award the previous mission's honor medals; I plan to praise Lu Yang thoroughly at the commendation meeting—this is 'suppress before exalt'."

"As long as he's willing to stay, I'll promise him a staff position and promote him to lieutenant rank; with such generous terms, I just don't believe he won't be moved!"

Lao Mao exclaimed in shock: "Then, then that's not the same as me, is it?"

Zhao Haishen comforted him: "Even though the duties and rank are the same, I still value you more; in my eyes, you remain the best choice for commander of the 4th Company, bar none."

"Later, I'll assign him to work under you as your deputy; I wouldn't trust anyone else with him."

Lao Mao felt the weight of responsibility, nodded immediately: "No problem, I'll definitely train him well!"

In the blink of an eye it was the next day; Zhao Haishen, representing the Jiaolong unit, early on brought people to wait eagerly below the Regiment Headquarters.

Not long after, two military vehicles approached from afar; as soon as they stopped, Zhao Haishen couldn't wait to pull open the car door.

This is the Jiaolong's honor; as a member, how could he not be happy and excited?

"Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome to the commanders......"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Haishen's smile froze on his face.

Because the person who got out of the passenger seat was no one else—it was Zheng Chengfeng, who had screwed him over.

Upon seeing his face, Zheng Chengfeng broke into a brilliant smile and grabbed his hand.

"Oh my, it's Little Brother Zhao! Long time no see, I've been thinking about you!"

"Is the Maotai good? I've got more over there—if it's not enough, just tell me, anyway I'm not paying for it, hahaha!"