Chapter 150: Troop Training (1)

Because time is really pressing, and yet nothing has been prepared for what needs to be prepared—for example, long-range weapons such as bows and arrows, catapults, etc. —none have been made yet.

So Zhang Fan is now frantically busy, constantly occupied with preparing the training plan and arranging weapon preparations.

Although the tribe does not lack these weapons, they were originally custom-made according to the male beastmen's body proportions, and for the females' builds they are completely unusable!

And the most important thing is that nobody has received formal training. Of course, this "everyone" includes Zhang Fan himself.

Zhang Fan, as an utterly ordinary college student on Earth, had never experienced live-fire combat, but fortunately he had participated in military training three times total from elementary school through university.

Although each military training session varied in length, fortunately the content was basically the same—mostly basic physical‑fitness drills. And these basic drills are exactly what is most needed at this stage.

Even though they are basic drills, the intensity is still considerable, so whenever Zhang Fan recalls his miserable appearance during past military training, he can't help asking himself: How the hell did I manage to endure that?

Getting back to the point, Zhang Fan is now preoccupied with tomorrow's training start. He silently mulls over which drills to schedule first, and whenever something occurs to him he immediately writes it in his notebook, fearing he might forget something.

Even while eating dinner, he couldn't bear to put down his notebook and pen.

Seeing Zhang Fan so obsessed with training that he's practically hopeless, Ba Ke Er gradually begins to regret in his heart, wishing he had known that agreeing to Fan Fan's drill would lead to this.

Back then I should have made him give up that idea, even if I had to cry, shout, beg, and raise a fuss! Look—training hasn't even started yet, and he's already busy planning drills during mealtime.

If it really gets underway, won't it turn into not eating or drinking, neglecting sleep and meals?

Ba Ke Er feels that just thinking about this is terrible! Good heavens! If that were the case, what would become of this home? Who would look after the children? If they were lost, what could we do?

Zhang Fan finally finished his chores, picked up his chopsticks to start eating, and saw Ba Ke Er sitting opposite, staring at him with a thoughtful expression.

Zhang Fan thought for a moment, then reached out and tapped Ba Ke Er's shoulder, asking, "Ba Ke Er, you're staring at my face—what are you thinking about? So deeply?"

That tap snapped Ba Ke Er out of his reverie. He came to, looked blankly at Zhang Fan, and said, "Ah? Ah? Ah? What's wrong? Fan Fan, did something happen?"

Seeing Ba Ke Er's reaction, Zhang Fan knew he definitely hadn't heard the question just asked; after rolling his eyes, he patiently repeated the question.

This time, after Ba Ke Er clearly heard Zhang Fan's question, he just scratched the back of his head, didn't tell Zhang Fan what he had been thinking, and mumbled, "Um… nothing, you go ahead and eat, Fan Fan; I'll go check on the kids."

Having said that, Ba Ke Er hurriedly rose from the stool, stumbled into the side room, and went to look after the dragon egg.

Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er leave like that, thought it over, didn't immediately chase after him for clarification, but sped up his meal, planning to ask for details after he finished eating.

By the time Ba Ke Er emerged from the side room, Zhang Fan had already finished eating and was clearing the dishes. Seeing this, Ba Ke Er rushed over, took the bowl and chopsticks from Zhang Fan's hands, and went to wash them first in the kitchen.

Watching Ba Ke Er leave again, Zhang Fan held back from calling him out, instead went to the side room to check the dragon egg. Upon seeing it, he realized something was off.

Zhang Fan clearly remembered that when he first adopted it, the dragon egg's diameter was only about fifteen centimeters, but now it had grown to a full twenty centimeters! He was stunned by his own discovery.

At first Zhang Fan thought he might have misread it, but after comparing it several times clearly, he had to accept the fact.

Upon leaving the side room, Zhang Fan felt his whole attention still on the dragon egg. It wasn't until he washed up at night and prepared for bed that he remembered to ask Ba Ke Er about it.

"Ba Ke Er, you said—when you were eating just now, what were you actually thinking about? I never expected this! How long has it been? You've already learned to hide things from me, right? Didn't we agree not to keep secrets from each other? Weren't we supposed to be each other's angels?"

Zhang Fan's sudden question caught Ba Ke Er off guard; he had thought he'd already fooled Zhang Fan, never expecting to be discovered anyway.

Thinking about this, Ba Ke Er felt a bit defeated. Indeed, in front of Fan Fan you can't harbor any little schemes—look, it's been noticed, how embarrassing!

"Actually, Fan Fan is like this—see, now that you've taken charge of the guard team, you don't even forget to think about training plans while eating. I'm wondering, if you start training, will you even forget to eat and sleep?"

Let me tell you, Fan Fan, you can't keep doing this! It's really bad for your health! I won't allow it—I'll worry about you~! Also, Fan Fan, you said you're out training the troops; I also need to go hunting in the morning—who will look after the kids at home?

What if something happens to them—what would we do then?"

As soon as Ba Ke Er finished speaking, Zhang Fan suddenly burst out laughing, and his laughter grew louder and louder. In this empty room with just the two of them, his laugh rang out especially clearly, even with a faint echo.

Seeing Zhang Fan laughing happily before him, Ba Ke Er was first puzzled, then suddenly enlightened; he smacked his forehead and exclaimed excitedly, "Fan Fan, we can drop the kids off at Am's place in the morning! Let him and Uncle watch them, then after my older sister returns we'll go pick them up!"

Upon hearing Ba Ke Er say that, Zhang Fan also thought of a problem. Although the tribe currently has few children, that doesn't mean there won't be more later.

If that's the case, wouldn't the tribe's children just be idle all day, stuck at home bored, or sneak out when the adults aren't looking to go play?

If nothing happens, that's fine; but if they meet with an accident, it would be a major loss for the tribe, and an even greater disaster for their families.

Thinking this over, Zhang Fan became more determined to build a school—only by centrally managing the children could such incidents be effectively prevented. However, since this idea hasn't yet taken shape, he hasn't mentioned it to Ba Ke Er.

The next morning, before dawn, Zhang Fan got up early together with Ba Ke Er. After breakfast, the sky was just beginning to lighten. Zhang Fan glanced at his watch and saw it was already 6:30 a. m.

Because of the season, dawn is coming later and later. After Zhang Fan readied his little notebook, he and Ba Ke Er left the house carrying the dragon egg.

Upon arriving at Lei Ya's house, Ba Ke Er stopped, went up and knocked on the door, while Zhang Fan didn't pause but kept walking toward the Tribe Center Square with his notebook.

When Zhang Fan reached the Zhongxin Guangchang, he saw that about forty people were already standing there. He didn't need to think to know they were the elected squad leaders.

Seeing the females standing neatly in the center of the square, Zhang Fan inwardly nodded in approval, though outwardly he pretended to be unmoved.

After taking his position before the ranks, Zhang Fan spoke: "First, congratulations on earning your comrades' trust and being elected squad leaders. Second, I hope you will be strict with yourselves and conscientiously follow my arrangements!

Besides achieving your own training goals, you should help your teammates and foster unity and friendship! Of course, to make everyone take this seriously, I have decided to implement a series of reward and punishment measures in our guard team.

Depending on how each day's training tasks are completed, I will give different treatment to the best and worst squads. Oh! Right! To ensure everyone's training and rest times keep pace, I already filed a report with the clan chief yesterday.

From now on, the guard team's lunch will be eaten here at the Zhongxin Guangchang every day, with an elder female from the tribe responsible for cooking our meals. This also spares us the hassle of going home at noon to cook.

Of course, wasting food is absolutely not allowed! Moreover, each person has a fixed portion—how much rice one can get at a time is also determined by everyone's training performance.

As for today's training items, I'll keep it under wraps for now. Once everyone's assembled, you will pass on what I've just said. After everyone understands the rules, we'll then discuss today's training plan.

All right, that's all I have to say for now. Dismiss! If anything is unclear, you can come ask me or discuss it among yourselves.

After Zhang Fan finished speaking, the females below began to whisper among themselves—at first softly, but later their voices grew louder and louder.

Zhang Fan naturally welcomed this scene, so he didn't interrupt but gave everyone ample time to speak freely. Occasionally a few would come over to ask questions.

Among them, Fei Er, the big talker, is representative. It's not that he has many things he doesn't understand; rather, he simply feels that seeing Zhang Fan standing alone there, ostensibly out of concern for his loneliness, he keeps coming over again and again to strike up conversation.

Fei Er's behavior made Zhang Fan frown repeatedly. After shouting at him several times to no avail, Zhang Fan eventually stopped paying attention to him.

Seeing Zhang Fan start to ignore him, Fei Er tactfully refrained from bothering him further, instead running off to huddle with Nuoya and the others for discussion.

When the first pale light finally appeared in the east, the members of the female guard team surged in from all directions of the tribe like a tide. Seeing this, Zhang Fan quickly ordered the forty squad leaders to temporarily halt their chatter and get their units in order.