Chapter 57: Welcome to

That afternoon, two heavily modified military Humvees slowly came to a stop a hundred meters outside Xuanwu City.

The car doors opened, and Gui Ying and Wu Ya stepped out one after another.

At the same time.

"Boom—"

Accompanied by a dull thunderous roar, the two-meter-thick earthen stone wall of Xuanwu City split open a huge gate.

A stone staircase protruded from within the gate, extending midair and stopping steadily before them.

"Please, two instructors."

Lin Yue's voice came from atop the wall.

The moment the two stepped onto the wall and took in the sight within, even hearts as hard as iron could not help but feel a strong shock at the scene before them.

Especially Gui Ying.

This was his second time ascending Xuanwu City.

He clearly remembered that not long ago, this place was merely a rough platform made of dirt and rock, with only two crude shacks and nothing else, barren and desolate.

But now… what did he see?

The leveled land was laid out neatly; in the several-thousand-square-meter fields, rows of tender green sprouts pushed up from the soil, so full of life.

Within the intersecting canals, clear water flowed slowly.

The air held no hint of the rotting, dust‑mixed stench typical of wasteland; instead, it carried a moist, fresh earth fragrance.

"My heavens…"

In Wu Ya's eyes, which were habitually scornful, astonishment now lay bare and impossible to hide.

He walked to the edge of a canal, squatted down, dipped his fingertips in the water, and brought them to his nose to smell.

"It's clean water…… How the hell is this possible?"

He muttered to himself, his face looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Their Third Prison Refuge possessed the Hangcheng area's top‑tier water purification equipment, yet even so, its efficiency was pitifully low; the daily output of purified water could barely guarantee basic drinking for a hundred thousand survivors, let alone irrigate farmland on such a massive scale!

Both were extremely curious.

This water…… where does it come from?

Has Lin Yue mastered purification technology far beyond that of the refuge?

Or does the giant beast known as Black Tortoise itself possess the ability to conjure water out of thin air?

Either possibility would be enough to drive any faction mad.

The two concealed their doubts without showing it, simultaneously resolving that within this month they must find a way to figure out exactly what is going on.

……

"From today onward, for the next month, we two will be your instructors."

On the training field, Wu Ya crossed his arms and surveyed the members of the Black Tortoise Guard with a scrutinizing gaze.

His voice carried undisguised contempt.

"Here, your names and pasts don't matter. You have only one designation: 'rookie'! And you have only one task—obey!"

"Now, the first item of training: weighted cross‑country!"

Gui Ying pointed to a pile of assorted stones nearby,

"Each person, fill your backpack with stones until it's full!"

As soon as he spoke, the members of the guard erupted in commotion.

"Fill it? … How heavy would that be?"

"You're joking! How could we run with that on our backs?"

Someone looked at those angular stones and couldn't help but wail.

Once their backpacks were full, they would weigh at least forty or fifty catties.

But in response, Wu Ya gave him a gaze as cold as a knife.

"What? Do you have an objection?"

"No…… no!"

That person shrank his neck, dared not speak another word, and honestly began stuffing stones into his pack.

Soon, all twenty team members hoisted the heavy packs; the immense weight made them grit their teeth, their waists barely able to straighten.

"Target: sprint around the outer edge of the fields! Those who can't keep up or come in last get no dinner!"

Gui Ying announced the rule coldly, then blew hard on his whistle.

"Toot—"

Everyone gritted their teeth and began the training.

The place they ran on looked level, but actually concealed a trick.

It was a mixed soil layer of varying hardness that Lin Yue had deliberately caused Black Tortoise to condense—deep in one step, shallow in the next, extremely stamina‑draining.

After running less than five hundred meters, everyone's strength was already utterly drained, sweat soaked their clothes, and the heavy packs made each step extremely arduous.

Everyone's breathing grew ragged, their lungs burned as if on fire, and their legs felt as though filled with lead—sore, numb, and weak.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! Haven't you eaten? You lot are weak‑legged shrimps! Even my grandmother could outrun you!"

Wu Ya kept pace alongside the formation, relentlessly delivering the most vicious verbal blows.

"Plop!"

Finally, someone couldn't hold on any longer.

A frail youngster's legs gave way; he collapsed in a heap, the heavy backpack pinning him to the ground, unable to move.

Immediately afterward, as if a chain reaction, several more team members collapsed from exhaustion.

Wu Ya jumped down from the vehicle, walked slowly to the thin, weak young man who was the first to fall, looked down at him from above, his face full of mockery.

"How? You can't even run anymore?"

"I… I…"

The man struggled to get up, but his body felt like it was falling apart, unable to exert any strength.

"Trash."

Wu Ya coldly spat out two words, without any hesitation, directly raised the Type 95 automatic rifle in his hand and viciously stabbed it toward the man's ribs!

"Bang!"

"A muffled thud!"

"Ugh!"

The man let out a pained groan, his whole body curling up like a boiled shrimp, cold sweat instantly covering his forehead.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"No hitting people!"

This scene instantly ignited the anger of all the team members!

Several young men who were on good terms with that person immediately stopped, shouting angrily and wanting to rush forward.

"Everyone, stand still!"

However, a clear, cold shout!

It was Han Ya!

She had somehow returned and now stood coldly in front of everyone.

"Whoever dares to move recklessly must first get past me."

Her icy gaze swept over each angry team member.

"Captain… he…"

"Shut up!"

Han Ya loudly interrupted them,

"This is training! Not a dinner invitation! From the day you decided to join the guard, you should have this resolve! If you fear hardship and fatigue, you can get lost now!"

Everyone was cowed by her stern aura, and for a moment no one dared to speak.

Meanwhile, Wu Ya merely watched the scene coldly, then lightly prodded a few other fallen team members with his rifle butt.

"Get up! Don't lie there like dead dogs! Your captain is still standing up for you—how can you just lie there?"

The thin, weak young man gritted his teeth, endured the piercing pain in his ribs, and with all his strength slowly pushed himself up from the ground.

"I… I can still run…"

He looked at Han Ya blocking the crowd, a flash of shame crossing his eyes.

He couldn't let the captain down!

One person got up, then two people got up…

In the end, all those who had fallen helped each other and stood up again.

Gui Ying remained at the starting point, silently observing everything, a faint ripple unseen by anyone flickering in the depths of his eyes.

And Wu Ya's gaze lingered on Han Ya for two extra seconds.

I noticed yesterday—this woman is actually somewhat interesting.

…

Shooting training ground.

Everyone was exhausted like dead dogs, sprawled on the ground, unable to move a finger.

Loaded cross-country, they ran for a full three hours.

By the end, almost everyone was moving their steps solely by willpower.

"Have you rested enough, trash?"

Wu Ya's icy voice rang in everyone's ears.

"The next training is live-fire shooting."

Gui Ying pointed to an open space a hundred meters ahead.

"Where are the targets?"

Someone asked instinctively.

"Targets?"

Wu Ya snorted,

"You rookies don't even deserve to use targets?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the ground in that open space suddenly began to writhe.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Fist-sized stones were flung up from underground by an invisible force, flying wildly at high speed through the air with no pattern!

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"Target: moving stones. Each person, one hundred bullets. Shooting starts!"

Gui Ying issued the order coldly.

Even though everyone was exhausted and unwilling to train, they all gritted their teeth and picked up the Type 95 automatic rifle beside them.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!"

The gunfire instantly echoed across the entire training ground.

However, the result was too horrible to behold.

They've barely ever hit a stationary target, let alone this kind of high‑speed, irregular moving target.

Even if occasionally a few shots, like a blind cat hitting a dead mouse, strike a stone, they will be deflected outright due to the wrong angle.

"Are you guys setting off fireworks?!"

"Aim! Use your eyes to aim, not your butt!"

Wu Ya's mocking voice rang in their ears nonstop.

Half an hour later.

One by one, they hung their heads, faces full of defeat.

Their hit rate was appalling; altogether, they probably hadn't even hit twenty shots.

Only Han Ya, she didn't wildly spray like the others; instead, she fired in a rhythmic, controlled manner.

Although her hit rate wasn't high either, her shooting stability and anticipation of lead caused Gui Ying and Wu Ya beside her to take notice.

This woman was born a warrior.

After a day, everyone was tortured beyond human shape, bruised all over, both spirit and body suffering immense devastation.

Dinner was only a few hard, dry compressed biscuits and water.

Everyone returned to the dorm like zombies, collapsed onto their beds, too lazy to wash, and fell into a deep sleep.

They thought this hellish day was finally over.

However, they were still too naive.

……………..

Late at night, 2 a. m.

Just when everyone was sleeping the deepest.

"Beep——!!"

A piercing alarm blared suddenly, without warning, wildly exploding inside their independent dormitory building!

"What's going on?!"

"Enemy attack! Is it an enemy attack?!"

Everyone sprang up from their beds instantly, minds blank, hearts pounding nonstop.

Some didn't even have time to put on their pants before grabbing the rifle placed at the head of the bed and rushing out.

The entire dormitory building instantly descended into chaos.

By the time they all stumbled downstairs to the training field in disarray, it was already over two minutes later.

On the training field, Gui Ying stood with arms crossed, coldly watching them.

He slowly raised his hand and pressed the stopwatch.

"Two minutes forty-three seconds."

"Gathering twenty people took nearly three minutes. If a mutant beast sneaked into the city right now, guess whether you'd have time to load your bullets before it devours you."

Everyone lowered their heads in shame.

Gui Ying's face was full of disappointment.

"This is the second part of training—emergency assembly."

"If next time, anyone's assembly time exceeds one minute, or anyone's attire and equipment are not up to regulation…"

"then his fate will be grim."

PS: New book, please urge updates and collect!