Chapter 189: Extra — Wei Feng’s Story

[The competition list is about to be announced. Where have you run off to again?]

[The usual place.]

In a remote southeast corner of the First Military Academy’s living area, a tall, handsome Alpha youth wearing a military training fatigue uniform sat casually on a flight of stairs screened by flower bushes. He was covered in stray cats and feeding them. A pack of stray dogs squatted close by, staring eagerly at the bag beside him and waiting politely in line for their meal.

When Wei Mo arrived, he was greeted by the sight of Wei Feng surrounded by this massive wave of “senior brothers” and “senior sisters.” For a fleeting moment, Wei Feng resembled a romantic emperor enjoying his shengya (career/harem) surrounded by thousands of beauties, taking turns bestowing favor upon his beloved concubines.

Wei Feng had been extraordinarily popular with small animals since he was a child, and he never refused any of them. Unsurprisingly, his “harem” had grown larger and larger over time.

While others were working themselves to death during high-intensity training, he still had time to huddle in an empty corner with bags of cat and dog food, petting cats and dogs in a relaxed danse (nonchalant/unfazed) manner that made people green with envy.

“You’re here?” Wei Feng, with a large, beautiful calico cat resting on his head, waved at Wei Mo. “Come over and help me serve food to these dog brothers.”

Wei Mo walked over helplessly, picked up the large bag of dog food, and sat beside Wei Feng. He grabbed a handful of food for a dog that trotted over and said casually, “The results are coming out soon. Aren’t you nervous at all?”

“What’s there to be nervous about?” Wei Feng stroked the cow-spotted cat in his arms in a danse manner. “It’s just an internship opportunity.”

“Just?”

Hearing him speak so lightly, Wei Mo rolled his eyes at him. “Do you have any idea how rare it is for first-year students to get a chance for a frontline internship? Besides, the place we’re going this time is the Hurricane Legion, which ranks among the top three in overall strength. Out of tens of thousands of people in the entire grade, there are only ten slots!”

Everyone who managed to pass the exam into the First Military Academy had solid strength; what they lacked was actual combat experience. The more internships one completed, the more experience one could absorb, making it even easier to secure future internship opportunities.

It was a virtuous cycle.

In addition, as people born into ordinary families, it gave them the chance to get in touch with officers in the legion and receive more combat guidance.

This time, when the Hurricane Legion publicly recruited interns, most slots were targeted at second- and third-year students. First-year students only received a pitiful ten slots. Everyone was fighting tooth and nail for them; even the children of noble families were taking things seriously for once. Yet in Wei Feng’s mouth, it had become a trivial matter not worth mentioning.

“Even if you get a slot, a first-year student goes there mostly to do odd jobs,” Wei Feng replied indifferently. “I hate doing chores the most. I might even leave a bad impression on the guiding officer, so it’s better not to go.”

Wei Mo: “…”

Wei Mo looked at him with a speechlessly blank face. “Then can’t you restrain yourself a bit and perform better?”

Wei Feng: “No, can’t do it. I’d be annoyed to death.”

Wei Mo: “…”

You really are a stubborn donkey.

After feeding the dog food, Wei Mo casually noticed another gunny sack behind Wei Feng, pressed under a cluster of furry kids and looking rather inconspicuous.

“What’s that?”

Wei Mo picked it up casually. It looked somewhat familiar, and his expression instantly turned subtle. “Is this a newly arrived sample?”

“Yeah.”

Speaking of this, Wei Feng grew interested. He opened the bag and said to Wei Mo with a grin, “The quality this time is pretty good.”

“…” Wei Mo cast a suspicious look at him and curiously flipped through the contents of the bag. He pulled out a strange wooden stump and opened it. “What kind of gizmo is—”

“Wait!”

Before Wei Feng could stop him, a fake hand sprang out from the moss-covered wooden stump, thrusting violently toward Wei Mo’s eyes.

Wei Mo reacted quickly, leaning back to dodge. However, the fingertips of the fake hand opened, suddenly spraying a strange mist.

“So spicy! My eyes—ACHOO!” Blinded by the spice, Wei Mo couldn’t open his eyes and sneezed repeatedly while tears streamed down his face. “What kind of poison gas is this?!”

Smelling the stench, the surrounding cats and dogs scattered on the spot, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

Wei Feng burst out laughing. Fearing Wei Mo might throw the thing away, he took it back and snapped it shut: “It’s just chili water spray.”

Wei Mo cursed, “A prank prop?”

Wei Feng explained solemnly, “No, it’s a hidden weapon.”

Wei Mo: “…”

Wei Mo then pulled out a gun that looked immensely like a toy. Aiming at a nearby tree trunk, he pulled the trigger. Instead of a bullet, a small honeybee flew out leisurely from the barrel, blew a kiss at him, and popped up a palm-sized virtual screen that displayed:

[Love Ya~]

Wei Mo: “…”

Wei Mo asked numbly, “Is this a hidden weapon, too?”

Wei Feng explained as a matter of course, “This is meant to confuse the enemy. If an enemy disarms you to counter-kill you and finds out it’s a toy gun, wouldn’t they be pissed off? Shattering the enemy’s mindset is the key to victory.”

Wei Mo: “…”

He didn’t know if the enemy’s mindset would shatter, but his own mindset had certainly collapsed.

Wei Mo turned the gunny sack upside down and looked at Wei Feng with a subtle expression: “You used all the prize money from the last competition just to exchange for this bag of trash?”

Wei Feng opened a cigarette pack, pulled out a stick, and dangled it from his lips: “How can you call it trash? Isn’t it pretty interesting?”

“You still dare to smoke?” Wei Mo snatched the cigarette away. “If the instructor catches you, you’ll be scolded again.”

“I’m good buddies with him,” Wei Feng said with total unconcern. “Besides, this isn’t a normal cigarette. It’s made of herbal medicine.”

Wei Mo: “What herbs?”

“All kinds.” Wei Feng pulled out several cigarette packs and handed them over. “There are ones for clearing heat and detoxifying, ones for treating constipation, ones for athlete’s foot…”

Wei Mo bared his teeth in disgust: “Sounds unreliable at first listen.”

“Trying it won’t hurt.” Wei Feng smiled and casually lit one.

Though Wei Mo advised him verbally, he was at an age where he was curious about everything. Enticed, he also lit one and put it to his mouth to smoke.

The next moment, blood-curdling screams echoed from the quiet corner. The “senior brothers” and “senior sisters” who had been quietly sneaking back were frightened into fleeing once again, disappearing without a trace.

“So stinky! Ugh…! It’s a hundred times stinkier than smelling your smelly shoes head-on!”

“When did you smell my shoes behind my back? That’s so perverted.”

“Is that the main point?!”

“This kind is so sour. Tsk, my stomach feels awful, I wanna throw up!”

“Try this one, it smells sweet.”

“So bitter! You call this sweet? Is there something wrong with your nose?”

“It smells way better than our dorm room.”

“…Well, that’s true.”

After testing them one by one, Wei Mo advised Wei Feng with utmost seriousness: “You’d better stop making these weird investments. Isn’t it better to save the money?”

Since long ago, Wei Feng had enjoyed buying odd and peculiar things. After age twelve, he participated in various mecha and intelligence competitions, using the large prize money to double down on funding bizarre projects nobody cared about. Naturally, the result was a total loss without return.

Wei Mo had advised him countless times, only to be rendered speechlessly shut down by Wei Feng’s line: “Encouraging inventions and creations.”

Wei Feng: “But I only joined those competitions to get money for investments. If not for investing, why participate? Why make money?”

Wei Mo: “…”

Classic words only you, Wei Feng, could say.

Wei Mo: “Save it up! Then you can use it when you need to spend money.”

Wei Feng found this incomprehensible: “Can’t I just make money when I need to spend it? Making money isn’t hard.”

Wei Mo gritted his teeth bitterly: “It’s not hard for you!”

As they spoke, Wei Feng’s terminal suddenly rang.

Seeing it was Hu Xing, Wei Feng answered: “Xingxing, what’s up?”

“Don’t call me gorilla!” A rough voice came from the other end of the communication, sounding extremely excited. “The competition list is out!”

Hearing this, Wei Mo leaned in and asked nervously, “How is it?!”

Hu Xing shouted proudly: “A-Feng’s comprehensive score is 199.9, far ahead of second place! He securely took first place!”

“Awesome!” Wei Mo chuckled excitedly. “What about me, what about me?”

Hu Xing: “You? You’re far behind.”

Hu Xing’s sentence almost caused Wei Mo’s mindset to explode.

Wei Feng: “No matter how bad A-Mo is, he won’t be that bad.”

Wei Mo was somewhat touched: “You have that much confidence in me?”

Wei Feng: “It’s just that the others’ level is too poor.”

Wei Mo: “…”

Amid Wei Mo’s anxiousness, Hu Xing continued: “A-Mo’s total score is 168.6, second on the overall leaderboard.”

Hearing the first half, Wei Mo’s heart had cooled by half. Wei Feng got 199.9, and he was thirty points lower. With only ten people selected in total, he thought he definitely had no chance.

Hearing the second half, Wei Mo opened his eyes wide in surprise: “I’m fucking second?! Did I misread it?”

Hu Xing: “You didn’t misread it! My eyesight is great!”

Wei Mo let out a massive sigh of relief. “What about you?”

Hu Xing spoke in a somewhat smug tone: “Total score of 156, ranked ninth, successfully qualified!”

Wei Mo chimed in sarcastically: “And here I thought you did so well. You’re way worse than me.”

Hu Xing refused to accept it: “I performed beyond my usual standard this time! Can’t you praise me a little?”

Wei Mo: “You were the one who dissed me first.”

Hu Xing: “I was building suspense!”

Wei Mo: “Bullshit! You intentionally scared the hell out of me. Get lost!”

Wei Feng put his arm around Wei Mo’s shoulder and smiled: “With A-Mo around, I can rest easy.”

Wei Mo glanced sideways: “You don’t want me to help you do odd jobs, do you?”

Wei Feng smiled: “Good brothers help each other out. Isn’t that your strong suit?”

Wei Mo: “…”

“Third place this time is that Gao Zhe. I didn’t expect him to be so capable,” Hu Xing marvelled.

“Gao Zhe?” Wei Mo asked in confusion. “Is that the young master from the Gao family?”

“Right, he’s from the noble class,” Hu Xing said, his tone turning a bit sour. “I thought those rich kids were all useless slackers. Who knew their family background is better than ours and their strength is higher than ours, too.”

Wei Mo: “It’s only higher than yours.”

Hu Xing: “…”

Wei Mo: “Besides, their noble class uses the best teaching resources. It’s not surprising they get good results.”

“That’s true,” Hu Xing picked up the topic. “Out of the top ten this time, there are only two nobles: one is Gao Zhe, and the other is Yi Qian… Huh, the ranking changed!”

Wei Feng was listening to their idle chat with a cigarette in his mouth. Hearing this, he remarked, “That can be swapped?”

Hu Xing corrected himself: “A slip of the tongue. It’s not that the performance ranking changed, but the admitted personnel changed. The tenth-place person withdrew due to injury, so the eleventh place stepped up. His name is Meng Shan.”

“Meng Shan?” Wei Mo looked thoughtful. “It couldn’t be someone from that Meng family, right?”

“Which Meng family?” Wei Feng was puzzled.

Wei Mo: “Meng Qin, commander of the Viper Legion. Currently, his prestige in the military department is on par with Lieutenant General Zhan of the Hurricane Legion. But I heard he’s very good at networking, has better interpersonal relations than General Zhan, and his resources are slightly higher than Zhan’s.”

“Officialdom is such a pain.” Wei Feng picked up the remaining cat and dog food along with the gunny sack of items, rising lazily. “Let’s go, it’s mealtime.”

Hu Xing: “Then I’ll go line up first. Hurry over, you two!”

Halfway there, Wei Feng suddenly paused and gestured for Wei Mo to stop.

Puzzled, Wei Mo was led silently by Wei Feng to hide near a stairwell entrance. Only then did he notice the faint commotion in the distance, feeling surprised. A-Feng’s hearing was indeed better than his.

As footsteps approached, the sound of an argument became clearer and clearer.

“Meng Shan, don’t you dare leave if you’ve got guts! You dared to move against A-Kuan but don’t dare to admit it?!”

Even without seeing the person, Wei Mo could tell the speaker’s anger from the tone.

Soon, a second cold voice sounded.

“Stop clinging to me!”

First person: “Make things clear! Was it your doing that broke A-Kuan’s leg?!”

Second person: “He wasn’t paying attention and broke it himself while walking. What the hell does that have to do with me?!”

First person: “If you hadn’t sent someone to push him, could he have fallen off the stairs?!”

Second person: “Why would I find someone to push him? Stop smearing people without evidence!”

First person: “If he got injured, you’d be able to qualify! An accident happening right at a time like this—do you take everyone for a fool?!”

Wei Feng and Wei Mo listened quietly. Moments later, they saw Meng Shan and Gao Zhe appear in their field of vision.

Meng Shan shoved away Gao Zhe’s hand blocking him with extreme impatience: “If you have evidence, go report it! If you don’t, stop talking nonsense here! I can sue you for defamation!”

Gao Zhe looked furious: “I will definitely find the evidence!”

“Then go find it!” Meng Shan raged right in his face. “Don’t think that just because you’re a noble, you’re superior to others and can slander people as you please!”

He spoke very loudly, and many students near and far overheard it.

Infuriated by this victim-blaming act, Gao Zhe grabbed Meng Shan’s clothes and threw a punch.

“Ugh!”

Meng Shan didn’t expect him to suddenly strike. He was almost knocked to the ground and retaliated recklessly in anger.

The two engaged in a brawl, scaring the surrounding students, who hurriedly rushed over to break up the fight.

Wiping his split lip, Meng Shan cursed loudly: “Psycho!”

“Fight me one-on-one if you dare!” Gao Zhe charged forward, only to be pulled back by a crowd of people. “This matter won’t end like this!”

Wei Feng watched the entire scene expressionlessly. Seeing that it had escalated into a fistfight, he lost all interest in watching further and signaled Wei Mo to leave.

Over there, Meng Shan snorted coldly and turned to walk away. Passing by the stairwell, he heard footsteps, turned his head, and happened to meet the eyes of Wei Feng walking down. For no reason, his heart tightened.

Wei Feng’s cold gaze—which seemed to see through everything—made him feel deeply uncomfortable, as if all disguises and cover-ups were completely futile in front of this person.

This was their first meeting, but Meng Shan had heard Wei Feng’s name since primary school. During middle school, he had lost to the other party several times in interstellar-level simulated mecha competitions. In Meng Shan’s heart, Wei Feng had always been his arch-rival.

Thinking of the score gap between them in this competition, Meng Shan’s face turned unsightly. Seeing the other party walking down the steps, he hesitated over whether to say hello so as not to lose momentum.

Yet before Meng Shan could decide, after a brief exchange of glances, Wei Feng simply walked past him, as if he were merely an insignificant passerby.

He treated Wei Feng as a rival during his shengya, yet Wei Feng didn’t even recognize him at all. This realization ignited an even fiercer rage in Meng Shan.

After dinner, Wei Feng and Wei Mo finished two hours of physical training.

Having showered, Wei Feng sat at the bar counter wearing boxer shorts, eating fruit while browsing for new investment projects.

Before long, Hu Xing ran into their dorm room, sat next to Wei Feng, and waved to Wei Mo in the living room, whispering mysteriously: “There’s a follow-up on that Meng Shan matter!”

Ending a video call with his young boyfriend, Wei Mo gathered around: “What happened?”

Hu Xing: “I heard Gao Zhe used his connections to bypass the student union and had the administrative office check the surveillance. They caught the student who pushed the guy, but that student insisted it was an accident and didn’t name Meng Shan. So… it ended up being dropped.”

Wei Mo said in disbelief: “Even with the Gao family’s means, they couldn’t deal with Meng Shan?”

Hu Xing: “Who knows? Anyway, the list is set now.”

Wei Mo shook his head with a tsk-tsk: “Having power and influence really lets you act above the law.”

Hu Xing: “Maybe it really wasn’t done by Meng Shan.”

After the two talked for a long time, seeing Wei Feng looking very intently at the display screen, Wei Mo asked: “A-Feng, what do you think?”

Wei Feng didn’t even raise his head: “Meddle less in matters that have nothing to do with us. There’s no benefit.”

Wei Mo rubbed his chin thoughtfully: “What about purely from a gossip perspective?”

Wei Feng: “I’m not interested in ugly humans.”

Wei Mo: “…”

Hu Xing: “…”

Yet you’re extremely doting toward furry kids that are ugly as sin.

A few days later, they set off with the second- and third-year students to rendezvous with the Hurricane Legion.

The first-year internship mission was just as Wei Feng had anticipated: let alone participating in actual combat, they didn’t even get a chance to visit the front lines.

Because it was their first internship, they were assigned to various logistics departments to familiarize themselves with the internal operating mechanisms of the legion’s second-line units.

After joining the legion for two days, Wei Feng spent two days auditing accounts, counting towels on shelves every day, and being arranged to move cargo everywhere.

Driving a small freight cart, Wei Feng said to Wei Mo in the adjacent cart: “Don’t we look like child laborers who entered a black sweatshop?”

Wei Mo: “…A little bit.”

Working themselves to death without even getting paid.

Wei Feng sighed softly in a danse manner: “It’s worse than attending classes at school; at least there I could pet cats and dogs.”

Wei Mo braced himself to comfort him: “Be optimistic. After this, we’ll know the transportation process for supplies.”

Wei Feng: “You’re too optimistic. Before the second half of the semester, it’ll probably all be this kind of work.”

Wei Mo: “…”

Hard to argue with that.

Wei Feng: “I won’t participate next time. I’ll leave the opportunity to people who need it.”

Wei Mo: “…I thank you on their behalf.”

Right after he spoke, a small freight cart drove past nearby. Wei Feng turned his head and happened to see Meng Shan pulling back his gaze. For a split second, it gave him an extremely unfriendly feeling.

Wei Feng looked at the direction Meng Shan left, lost in thought.

His intuition had never been wrong.

That gaze just now—was he targeted?

During lunch, since only ten first-year students came, everyone sat together even if they weren’t very familiar with each other.

“This pork chop sprinkled with chili powder is so delicious! A-Mo, have some! A-Feng—” As Hu Xing spoke, he took a chili bottle and sprinkled some for Wei Mo, then prepared to sprinkle some onto Wei Feng’s plate.

Wei Feng raised a hand to decline: “I’m severely allergic to chili. Eating even a little bit gives me vomiting and diarrhea that takes half my life away.”

After speaking, Wei Feng noticed out of the corner of his eye that Meng Shan cast a subtle look toward him before continuing to bury his head in eating as if nothing happened.

Hu Xing was puzzled: “Didn’t you use to eat spicy food very well?”

Wei Feng: “I can only eat the chili from my hometown.”

Wei Mo: “…”

Nonsense again.

Wei Mo sharply noticed something. When Hu Xing was itching to persuade Wei Feng to try a bit, he spoke up to stop him: “If his whole body swells up red and he’s bedridden, will you take responsibility? There are still so many tasks to carry out later; don’t make trouble here!”

Scolded, Hu Xing shrank his neck and had to drop it.

The next day at lunch, a small amount of chili was placed in the dish served to Wei Feng. The amount was very small, but with Wei Feng’s sense of smell, he smelled it before opening the meal box.

Out of the six surrounding tables, only his portion had chili added.

Although chili was a common seasoning, considering that not everyone could tolerate it, it was impossible for the legion to add it to the distributed food; if one wanted to eat it, it had to be added extra.

Wei Feng opened it as if nothing had happened, observing Meng Shan’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. He was almost certain the other party had tampered with it.

Wei Mo, sitting opposite, naturally smelled the chili scent as well. Remembering yesterday’s conversation, he instantly understood and intentionally swapped his meal box with Wei Feng’s: “You don’t eat grilled fish; I’ll swap with you.”

Watching his favorite grilled fish being swapped away, Wei Feng said with great reluctance: “…Fine then.”

After the swap, Meng Shan’s face instantly collapsed, unable to hide his frustration.

Returning to the rest cabin, Wei Feng warned Wei Mo and Hu Xing in a low voice: “Stay away from people like Meng Shan, or you’ll suffer bad luck.”

Wei Mo nodded. Even without Wei Feng’s warning, he had already seen through it.

Meng Shan was narrow-minded and couldn’t tolerate anyone better than him. He was like a venomous snake that would unexpectedly leap out and bite you.

Hu Xing was still out of the loop: “Was the chili in the lunch placed by him?”

Wei Mo: “It’s a safe bet that he was also behind the push down the stairs last time.”

Hu Xing cursed softly: “How dare he mess with us.”

Wei Mo sneered: “Why wouldn’t he dare? His family is at the peak of their influence right now; even the Gao family can’t do anything about them.”

“Not necessarily,” Wei Feng said casually. “It’s just not worth it.”

To make another enemy for the sake of an irrelevant person—the Gao family wasn’t that stupid.

While eating, Gao Zhe had sat at the table right next to them, witnessing the whole process. After lunch, he secretly leaked the matter to the legion.

At night, when there were no tasks, Wei Feng felt thoroughly bored. He found an empty smoking room, squatted in a corner, and lit a stick.

Exhaling a cloud of white smoke, Wei Feng grimaced and bared his teeth: “It really is so bitter…”

There was a noise at the door, and a middle-aged Alpha wearing a military dress shirt and trousers walked in.

The two paused slightly upon seeing each other, neither expecting anyone else to be in a place like this at this hour.

Zhan Qiming looked Wei Feng up and down in his academy training uniform, scowling with a heavy, stern reprimand: “Are you a cadet? How old are you to be smoking? Believe it or not, I can fail your assessment!”

Wei Feng was also sizing up this burly middle-aged uncle. Instead of acting rashly, he thought quickly and decided to play dumb. Blinking innocently, he said, “I’m of age.”

“Being of age means you can smoke?” Zhan Qiming countered.

Wei Feng: “The military department doesn’t have a rule against smoking.”

Zhan Qiming was about to lecture him further when he suddenly caught a strange smell. His gaze swept over the cigarette in Wei Feng’s hand, his brow furrowing in disgust: “What kind of cigarette is that? It smells weird. Which trash can did you pick it up from?”

“…No, it’s a medicinal cigarette. It relieves fatigue,” Wei Feng talked utter nonsense with a straight face.

As an old smoker, Zhan Qiming was deeply intrigued.

Medicinal cigarettes—this was his first time hearing about such a thing.

Dangling his own cigarette, Zhan Qiming walked over, squatted beside Wei Feng, and stared at the cigarette in his hand: “What kind of tobacco shred is used? Is it fragrant?”

Wei Feng couldn’t help glancing sideways.

This strange old man was lecturing him just now, yet he snuggled over so quickly.

Looking at this eager expression, he seemed to be craving it.

Wei Feng thoughtfully handed him a stick: “It’s alright.”

“You kid are surprisingly polite.” Zhan Qiming took it, tucked his own cigarette behind his ear, and lit it up happily. Taking a deep puff, he almost passed away on the spot.

“Cough, cough, cough… So bitter! Is this fucking made for humans to smoke?!”

You were the one who wanted to smoke it. Wei Feng put on an indifferent front: “It’s not bitter.”

Seeing Wei Feng’s natural expression, Zhan Qiming suddenly began to doubt if it was his own problem. Refusing to accept defeat, he took another puff, directly tearing up from the bitterness. Refusing to accept defeat again, he took another puff… and another… and another…

Zhan Qiming wiped his tears: “No way, this stuff really can’t be smoked!”

Wei Feng, dangling his cigarette: “Beginners are like this. Don’t force yourself.”

Zhan Qiming: “…”

As an old smoker, Zhan Qiming felt his dignity had been challenged. Biting the bullet, he smoked the entire stick to the end. Upon careful aftertaste, it was actually somewhat addicting.

“Hey, don’t say, the effect of this medicinal cigarette is really good. I feel energized all over.”

“Right?” Wei Feng put on airs and said, “Elders around me with good taste all love smoking this. It’s not addictive, doesn’t harm the body, and has no second-hand smoke hazards.”

Zhan Qiming instantly straightened his back and cleared his throat: “Such a unique flavor is naturally not something just anyone can appreciate.”

Wei Feng sighed softly: “Just because there aren’t many who know the trade, this cigarette is about to go out of production.”

Zhan Qiming: “Why?”

Wei Feng: “The leaves used are all top-grade bitter celery. The cost is too high, sales are bad, and the capital chain can’t hold up.”

Having nothing better to do, Wei Feng gave the man a whole lecture on bitter cigarettes. As a result, instead of being punished for smoking, he unexpectedly pulled in a huge sum of sponsorship funds.

Before leaving, Zhan Qiming confiscated Wei Feng’s cigarette pack.

“Little brat, don’t learn from adults to smoke! I’ll let you off this time, no next time!”

Cursing verbally, Zhan Qiming tucked the cigarette pack into his pocket very smoothly and left satisfied.

Wei Feng: “At least leave me one.”

Zhan Qiming: “Any more nonsense, and you can wait to write a five-thousand-word self-reflection!”

Wei Feng: “…”

What kind of people are in the military?

Wei Feng sorrowfully opened his terminal, wired money to the manufacturer of the medicinal cigarettes, and left a comment on their official website.

[It’s not at the end of the rope yet. Hang in there and you’ll be a hero again.]

To his surprise, he received a reply very quickly.

[Sob sob sob, thank you sponsor papa for the support! No matter how bitter or hard it gets, we will find a way to pull through!]

Wei Feng: [It would be even better if you could improve the flavor a bit, instead of acting completely indifferent to whether people live or die like right now.]

Manufacturer: […Okay, got it.]

On the other end, Zhan Qiming returned to the command floor and happened to run into his adjutant coming over to report work.

After arranging the work, Zhan Qiming asked an extra question: “Is there an intern named Wei Feng among the interns this time?”

Adjutant: “I was just about to tell you about this matter.”

Zhan Qiming: “What happened?”

The adjutant opened two surveillance videos and said in a low voice: “Someone from the cooking squad at Restaurant No. 9 tampered with Wei Feng’s food. It has been confirmed that this person has connections with Meng Shan.”

“Meng Shan?” Zhan Qiming frowned impatiently. “It couldn’t be that old fellow Meng Qin’s son, right?”

Adjutant: “Yes, he also came to our legion for an internship this time.”

Zhan Qiming recalled Wei Feng looking lively and well earlier, seeming completely fine, wondering what kind of trick could have been played.

However, after watching the surveillance, he overturned his thoughts.

This kid Meng Shan was just like his father—crooked-minded and capable of doing any dirty trick for his own benefit.

Adjutant: “There’s one more thing. Meng Shan actually failed to make the cut this time, but the tenth-place student was injured, so he stepped up as a substitute. I learned from some channels that Meng Qin exerted pressure on the military academy to suppress the matter.”

Saying that, the adjutant pulled out another record: “The person who reported it this time was Gao Zhe, and the injured student happened to be his friend.”

Zhan Qiming took a glance and snorted: “Prestigious families just love playing these underhanded tricks.”

Adjutant: “Does it need to be handled?”

Zhan Qiming thought for a moment and had the adjutant pull up Wei Feng’s data.

It was fine without looking, but once he looked, he was deeply fascinated.

A favored child of heaven was nothing more than this: outstanding since childhood, taking first place in every competition he joined, practically invincible across the world. Crucially, he even shared the same strange taste as him.

If such a good seed that suited his taste so well were allowed to run off, he would never encounter another one.

With a grand wave of his hand, Zhan Qiming transferred Wei Feng to work by his side. Fearing that his two clever little companions would suffer retaliation, he also bundled Wei Mo and Hu Xing along, intending to dismiss the soldier who took action after the internship ended.

Failing in one scheme, Meng Shan secretly had someone smear chili powder in places Wei Feng might come into contact with, and also instructed someone to give Wei Feng incorrect task prompts to ensure Wei Feng would fail his mission.

Yet, never in his wildest dreams did he expect that when everything was ready, the person had run off.

During assembly, Meng Shan didn’t see the trio of Wei Feng. He raised his hand to signal the leading instructor: “Report, Wei Feng and his group haven’t arrived yet.”

Instructor: “Last night we received a notice from the legion. Wei Feng, Wei Mo, and Hu Xing performed exceptionally well and have been transferred to the command department for their internship.”

Whoa!

The other students present opened their eyes wide, green with envy.

They went straight to the command floor! That was a place where one could meet the commander, coming into contact with senior officers!

How much could one learn spending a few days there!

Meng Shan gritted his back teeth, driven utterly insane with rage.

At the same time, Wei Feng saw the strange old man wearing a lieutenant general’s uniform and secretly felt relieved that he hadn’t scammed too much money from the other party last night.

As a lieutenant general, he must be richer than him and wouldn’t haggle with him over one or two million… right?

Hu Xing nudged Wei Feng with his elbow, his eyes sparkling: “A-Feng, you’ve hit the jackpot again.”

Wei Feng: “…”

Or maybe I’m encountering terrible luck.

Wei Feng ended his boring cargo-moving task in a way he hadn’t anticipated, skipping countless steps to directly learn actual combat command under Zhan Qiming.

When the one-month internship period ended, Zhan Qiming was still reluctant to let his new apprentice go. He made an agreement to call him over again next month, and also had his adjutant arrange a teaching post for him at the military academy—on the surface to occasionally give lectures, but in reality to check in from time to time, fearing his beloved apprentice would be snatched away by others.

Half a month after all students returned to the military academy, they received the internship assessment scores returned by the Hurricane Legion.

Wei Feng was the undisputed highest score, followed by Wei Mo and Hu Xing.

Meng Shan thought that no matter how bad he was, he could at least rank fourth.

After all, the Hurricane Legion wasn’t his family’s force; as long as he could scrape together military merit and experience, it was fine as long as the score wasn’t too ugly.

“Meng Shan.” The instructor looked at Meng Shan in the formation with a solemn face. “Your assessment this time is unsatisfactory.”

Meng Shan was stunned.

The other students in the same class were also stunned.

It was extremely rare for a student to receive an “unsatisfactory” evaluation from a legion; at worst, the score would just be a bit lower.

“Why?!” Meng Shan questioned in disbelief.

The instructor sent the document to him: “See for yourself.”

Meng Shan skipped through all the item scores and looked directly at the final comment—

[This student possesses excellent learning ability and good task performance, but lacks moral character. This assessment is unsatisfactory. It is hoped that corrections will be made in a timely manner.]

Meng Shan’s eyelids twitched violently as he read it.

Realizing all his petty actions had been discovered, his face burned hot. He felt both humiliated and furious, suddenly feeling like a jumping clown himself.

Just after returning to the dorm in the afternoon, Meng Shan received a communication from his father.

As soon as it connected, the other party cursed furiously.

“Useless trash! You managed to mess up even a small internship! It took so much effort to send you over, and in the end, you got an unsatisfactory! All of the Meng family’s face has been lost by you!”

Meng Shan felt aggrieved and angry: “It must be Wei Feng’s doing!”

Meng Qin: “Your strength can’t compare to his, and even your means can’t match his, yet you still have the nerve to yell at me?! Why was he able to get close to Zhan Qiming while you got an unsatisfactory?!”

Meng Shan: “Who knows what he bribed him with!”

Meng Qin: “You don’t even know what means he used! How did I give birth to a bucket of rice (good-for-nothing) like you!”

Meng Shan roared: “You and Zhan Qiming are secretly at odds! What good face could he give me?! My getting an unsatisfactory is largely thanks to your contribution!”

Meng Qin: “You still dare to talk back?!”

Father and son had a massive fight.

Meng Shan suppressed a belly full of fire. Getting the sole unsatisfactory in his first internship meant countless people were bound to be laughing at him behind his back.

During the afternoon practical training class, many classes were taking lessons in the same training venue.

Suddenly hearing a burst of excited cheers, Meng Shan looked over just in time to see Wei Feng crossing the finish line, with the large words [New Record] flashing on the virtual screen in midair.

Hearing everyone around praising Wei Feng, Meng Shan couldn’t bear it anymore and erupted, rushing up to Wei Feng recklessly: “Was my assessment score your doing?!”

Wei Feng raised his eyebrows slightly, somewhat surprised.

Meng Shan had left him with the impression of an insidious hypocrite; he didn’t expect him to throw a tantrum in public, venting his anger so groundlessly.

Wei Feng found it troublesome. To settle matters peacefully, he said casually in a danse manner: “If I had the authority to score your assessment, I would definitely give you full marks.”

His tone was casual, but to onlookers, it was brimming with mockery.

Compared to Wei Feng, Meng Shan was at best a 70-pointer; how could he deserve full marks? Wasn’t Wei Feng saying this just to ridicule him?

This single sentence blew Meng Shan up. Hearing the laughter around him, his face turned bright red: “Don’t change the subject! If you hadn’t said something to Zhan Qiming, how could my score possibly be unsatisfactory?!”

“Then you should ask yourself,” Wei Feng said, wiping his sweat with a towel. “Don’t you know in your heart why it’s unsatisfactory?”

Meng Shan: “Stop acting! I didn’t expect you to be such an insidious villain! To highlight yourself, you used such underhanded means to suppress your rival!”

The surrounding people originally didn’t believe it, but hearing Meng Shan’s hysterical roaring, they gradually began to wonder if it really was Wei Feng’s doing.

Meng Shan was at least ranked eleventh in the competition; he shouldn’t have gotten an “unsatisfactory” no matter what.

Wei Mo and Hu Xing couldn’t stand watching anymore. Standing beside Wei Feng like left and right guardians, they were ready to help fight at any moment.

Seeing this stance, Meng Shan’s sidekicks rolled up their sleeves and charged over, too.

Wei Feng was amused by Meng Shan’s words: “Rival? Throughout my entire shengya, I’ve never regarded you as a rival. What have we ever competed in?”

Everyone around opened their eyes wide.

Wei Mo and Hu Xing couldn’t help glancing at Wei Feng, thinking to themselves that A-Feng definitely said this casually without any underlying meaning.

Yet precisely because of this, the insult value of the sentence was doubled.

Meng Shan’s eyes turned red with rage. Grabbing Wei Feng’s collar, he wanted to beat him to death.

Wei Feng caught Meng Shan’s wrist, twisted it, and threw him to the ground single-handedly.

Before the subordinates on both sides could react, the battle was already over.

Wei Mo and Hu Xing looked disappointed.

They thought a fierce one had come, but it turned out to be a pushover.

Having his face-to-face provocation insta-killed and his face slammed onto the cold floor, Meng Shan’s sanity burned away completely. Scrambling up on all fours, he wept and cursed at Wei Feng: “Wei Feng! Fight me one-on-one!”

Wei Feng: “Haven’t we already fought?”

Meng Shan: “Your sneak attack just now doesn’t count!”

Wei Feng was exasperated to the extreme. Truly lacking the patience to deal with it, he waved his hand, turned, and left: “Fine, fine, fine, let’s say you won, alright?”

This impatient tone was simply adding fuel to the fire.

Seeing that Meng Shan had genuinely developed a murderous intent, a group of students rushed up to stop him. In the end, the instructors who arrived upon hearing the news broke up the wild Meng Shan.

Afterward, Meng Shan was required to make a public apology.

Hearing about this matter, Meng Qin directly sent people to bring Meng Shan home and beat him up severely. Father and son sat in the study and talked all night.

Most students felt that the feud between Meng Shan and Wei Feng was officially formed and there would be no peace in the future. Yet to everyone’s surprise, from then on, Meng Shan acted as if nothing had happened, never looking for trouble with Wei Feng again.

From the military academy to entering the military force, Wei Feng walked every step of his shengya very steadily. Using only one-third of the time an ordinary person needed, he was promoted to colonel, accumulating illustrious battle merits and standing just one step away from the general rank.

At the same time, under Meng Qin’s painstaking management, Meng Shan also accumulated enough military merit through another method.

Although the Meng family was adept at manipulating public opinion to boast of their achievements, it couldn’t stand against Wei Feng’s battle record over the years being far too brilliant. Whether in military-political circles or external prestige, Wei Feng completely crushed Meng Shan, forming a powerful new force with supporters like Zhan Qiming, constantly impacting the innermost core power circle at the top of the Empire.

Meng Qin and several large and small nobles were very uneasy. A transition of power would affect the whole body, with an impact range no one could fully predict. Perhaps one was in heaven today and would fall to hell tomorrow.

Particularly for a new noble like the Meng family who had risen to power not long ago, facing the risk of being stepped on at any time, they finally couldn’t help joining forces with numerous high-ranking officials to secure a non-routine competition slot for a general-rank officer.

The person selected would not only be promoted to general rank, but could also form their own legion and possess naming rights over it.

Meng Qin wanted to elevate Meng Shan to a higher position in advance to stabilize the Meng family’s status while suppressing Wei Feng and cutting off the momentum of this new force.

Even the senior officers participating in the evaluation had been arranged to ensure Meng Shan would definitely be selected.

However, shortly after the royal family approved this competition, an elderly admiral among them withdrew due to health reasons. Meng Qin originally wanted to arrange his own person to fill in, but the royal family specified Zhan Qiming to step up instead.

Fearing unexpected complications, Meng Shan set aside the grudge from years ago and personally paid a visit, humbling himself to the extreme just to secure the slot.

Hundreds of colonels participated in the competition, but everyone knew in their hearts that this was a battlefield between Wei Feng and Meng Shan.

Wei Feng performed steadily as always, suppressing Meng Shan in every assessment project.

All senior officers participating in the evaluation submitted their recommended personnel lists based on the assessment results.

The day before the results were announced, the master and apprentice, Zhan Qiming and Wei Feng, nestled together drinking alcohol and eating meat, which made Wei Mo so anxious he couldn’t eat a single bite.

“Aren’t you two worried at all?” Wei Mo asked.

Wei Feng: “Let’s leave it to fate.”

Zhan Qiming bumped glasses with him: “Worrying can’t be done on an empty stomach either.”

Wei Mo: “…”

As expected, people who aren’t of the same family don’t enter the same door.

Master and apprentice lacked the exact same sense of urgency.

The next day, everyone arrived at the conference hall on time.

Wei Feng and Meng Shan’s votes were neck and neck, and no victor was decided even as the meeting neared its end.

The officer reading the votes picked up the final recommendation letter, glanced at it, and swept his eyes over everyone present: “Recommended… Wei Feng.”

“Great—!” Wei Mo excitedly hugged Wei Feng and patted him hard, “A-Feng, you won!”

As the person involved, Wei Feng was much calmer, merely smiling: “When have I ever lost during my shengya?”

“A-Feng, you’ll be a legion commander in the future, so work hard for me!” Zhan Qiming stood up, walked over, and rubbed Wei Feng’s head, treating him even closer than a real son.

Meng Shan’s face turned ash-green. Watching this scene, he understood everything.

Zhan Qiming simply didn’t buy his act and remained unmoved by the benefits he offered, firmly choosing Wei Feng over interest.

After exhausting all schemes, he had ultimately built a bridge for Wei Feng!

If not for Zhan Qiming, the winner would have been him.

Meng Shan clenched his fists, murderous intent rising once again after many years.

Rank promotion procedures, legion formation procedures, legion commander approval procedures… Wei Feng bustled about for these every day, so busy his feet didn’t touch the ground.

Hearing that they had reached the member recruitment stage, Wei Mo actively submitted an application to transfer over.

Yet Wei Feng unexpectedly disapproved: “With your capability, leading a legion independently is more than enough. If you come to my place, I won’t let you leave again.”

Wei Mo: “Without me around, who do you plan to hand over those odd jobs in the legion to?”

Wei Feng choked: “There will always be a way.”

Wei Mo’s face was solemn: “I actively volunteered. You won’t disallow me face like this, right? Am I not qualified to be your deputy?”

Hu Xing squeezed over: “Then the position of vanguard commander belongs to none other than me.”

Wei Feng broke into a laugh, bumping fists with them one by one: “Welcome to the team.”

Wei Mo: “By the way, what do you think about the legion’s name?”

Wei Feng said helplessly: “Do you guys have any suggestions?”

Hu Xing thought for a moment: “Call it the Aotian (Proud Sky) Legion. Domineering!”

Wei Mo: “Teacher Zhan’s is called Hurricane, so we’ll be called Tornado. Typhoon isn’t bad either.”

Hu Xing clicked his tongue in disgust: “This legion sounds unorganized upon hearing it, like a makeshift crew put together by a group of psychos.”

Wei Mo retorted furiously: “Is your Aotian not psycho enough?!”

Wei Feng: “…”

Can’t rely on them at all.

Listening to Wei Mo and Hu Xing argue, Wei Feng thought for a long time: “How about calling it Jinyuque (Golden Feathered Sparrow)?”

Wei Mo and Hu Xing paused simultaneously, their hearts instantly gripped tightly by this name, their whole bodies surging with excitement. A voice in their ears told them—yes, that’s the one.

“Good,” Wei Mo said excitedly. “Let’s call it Jinyuque!”

The formation of the legion went even smoother than they had anticipated. Before open recruitment, Wei Mo and the others were worried that no one would come, leaving them no choice but to settle for second best and pick people from second-class soldiers or garrison troops. They didn’t expect it to be packed to capacity on the very first day, allowing them to pick whoever they wanted.

Someone initiated an intention survey on the military academy’s internal network, and the result showed that nearly half of the cadets wanted to go to Jinyuque, one-third of whom expressed that they would prioritize Jinyuque even if accepted at a lower rank.

This result truly shocked the Meng faction and a crowd of nobles.

They all knew Wei Feng had high prestige, but they didn’t expect it to have reached such a level.

Everything was developing in a good direction. With Zhan Qiming personally guiding him and a group of reliable companions around, Wei Feng led Jinyuque to fight five brilliant insect tide defense battles in just three short months, one of which even refreshed a historical record.

At this point, the name of the Jinyuque Legion resounded throughout the entire Empire.

One day, Wei Feng finished handling official duties and returned home. After hastily eating dinner, he went to the study to gather his subordinates for a meeting.

Just as the meeting started, Wei Mo suddenly received a communication from below, his expression changing drastically.

Noticing his abnormal expression, Wei Feng asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wei Mo remained silent for a long time, gritted his teeth, and looked at Wei Feng, his voice heavy and raspy: “Teacher Zhan suffered a sudden cerebral infarction on the frontline. He failed to receive timely emergency rescue… and passed away.”

Wei Feng stared blankly at Wei Mo, taking a long while before speaking: “Say that again?”

Outside the window, the sky darkened and brightened again, repeating two cycles.

Wei Feng locked himself in his study for two days, sitting withered in front of his desk. A cigarette was clamped between his fingers, left to burn out before he numbly lit another one.

Before departing, his master had still been asking him for bitter cigarettes. Yet the cigarettes were delivered, but the person had left forever.

His master’s physical condition was very good; a recent physical examination showed all indicators were excellent, making a sudden cerebral infarction highly unlikely.

Even if it were true, there were many emergency rescue channels. With his master possessing such rich frontline experience, it was impossible for him, as a commander, to fall into a situation of sudden illness without anyone to treat him.

This matter was far too strange.

The terminal vibrated. Wei Feng opened it to find a report message from an intelligence officer.

[Before and after Zhan Qiming’s incident, there were indeed traces of activity from the Meng faction inside the Hurricane Legion, but it’s insufficient to serve as evidence of murder.]

Wei Feng stared at this message, reading it word by word. Suddenly tightening his fingers, the half-burned cigarette was crushed into pieces by him. The sparks burned his palm, but he felt it without awareness.

Over these years, the Meng faction had engaged in endless petty actions.

Two years ago, they had already begun collecting evidence, but unfortunately, the Meng faction acted cautiously, and the investigation progress was slow.

He didn’t expect that before bringing down the Meng faction, his master would fall into their hands first.

The more it reached a time like this, the calmer one had to be.

Wei Feng understood, yet he couldn’t do it. As long as he stepped out of this door, he wouldn’t be able to resist wanting to personally slaughter that pair of father and son from the Meng family.

The terminal vibrated continuously again. Wei Feng snapped back to reality and realized another half a day had passed.

Thinking it was another report from the intelligence department, Wei Feng casually swiped it open. The pop-up display screen revealed His Majesty’s young, slightly childish face.

Wei Feng knit his brows in confusion: “Your Majesty?”

Li Ye looked at him through the virtual screen: “Wei Feng, now is not the time to be despondent. I need you.”

For as long as Wei Feng remained locked inside, Wei Mo and Hu Xing had worried outside for just as long.

Hearing the door open, the two sitting on the stairs hurriedly went up to meet him.

“A-Feng, are you alright?” Wei Mo asked worryingly.

“I’m fine.” Wei Feng looked at them calmly. “Today is master’s funeral. Go clean up, and let’s send the old man off on his final journey together.”

Wei Mo wiped his face: “Alright!”

After seeing Zhan Qiming off, Wei Mo could clearly notice the change in Wei Feng. On the surface, he seemed the same as before, but he was deeper and more taciturn. Many times, even Wei Mo couldn’t see through what the other party was thinking. It was as if he had grown up overnight; the youth in memory who could be happy for a whole day just by petting stray cats was ultimately never coming back.

After secretly investigating for years, they finally found a suitable opportunity.

The Meng family attempted to use biochemical weapons to carry out a large-scale massacre against the Gaofeng tribe. They had precisely locked onto the location of the research institute, the personnel taking action, and the method of attack.

As long as they carried out arrests when those people took action, they could catch them red-handed with illicit goods, using this as an opportunity to uproot the Meng faction entirely.

Inside the study, Li Ye was having a secret discussion with Wei Feng.

Looking at the holographic map in front of him, Li Ye had a solemn face: “Although arresting those few people is easy, Zifu Constellation is after all the Meng family’s turf now. We still need to be cautious and prepare for them launching a full-scale counterattack.”

Wei Feng: “Jinyuque is more than enough to deal with garrison troops and one or two legions. However, to avoid being surrounded, we can have another legion control the nearest jump point, which can facilitate support while leaving an escape route.”

Li Ye nodded: “But who should we send?”

This was indeed a major problem.

This legion responsible for support had to be trustworthy first, had no recent expedition missions, and had to be close to Zifu Constellation so its actions wouldn’t be easily noticed by the Meng family.

Calculating back and forth, Li Ye found that those who could be trusted were very few, and to meet the other conditions as well, there was basically no choice left.

“Gao Zhe, what do you think of him?”

Wei Feng: “He holds a strong prejudice against the Meng family.”

Li Ye nodded: “The Gao family’s family style and status are right there; they can’t get along with the Meng family, so it’s impossible for him to be influenced by them.”

Wei Feng pondered carefully for a moment: “If the Meng family is dealt with, the Gao family will probably also fear their status being affected, right?”

Li Ye: “I’ve already let the Gao family participate. Is that not sincere enough?”

Wei Feng laughed, picked up the cigarette pack on the table, pulled out a thin cigarette, and dangled it from his mouth in a danse manner: “What if the Gao family doesn’t understand?”

Li Ye waved his hand in an unconcerned danse manner: “They’re smart as can be.”

As they were talking, there was a sound at the door. Both of them looked over at the same time to see a carved-jade-like milk toddler clinging to the door crack, peeking in slyly.

The two couldn’t help breaking into laughter.

“Dad… Daddy…” Seeing Wei Feng, the milk toddler excitedly pushed open the door and waddled over.

Wei Feng helplessly lifted and held the cub that threw itself against his leg: “I’ve told you many times, I’m not your dad.”

The cub’s eyes sparkled as it looked at him: “Daddy!”

Wei Feng: “…”

The Omega who followed it in apologized repeatedly: “Sorry for interrupting your meeting.”

Li Ye sat to the side, watching Wei Feng tease the child with small biscuits: “It’s fine, we’re already done talking.”

The Omega said helplessly: “It likes clinging to A-Feng the most.”

Li Ye laughed: “A-Feng is extraordinarily popular with cubs. Even my pet leopards act like copycats whenever they see him, following him wherever he goes, wishing they could go home with him.”

Wei Feng: “Are you jealous?”

Li Ye: “Do you have the heart to monopolize someone else’s son? Hurry up and give birth to one yourself.”

Wei Feng: “Give birth myself? Through binary fission?”

Li Ye: “…”

Li Ye looked at Wei Mo, who was making meeting records to the side: “You, as his brother, are failing your duty. You’re married with a child yourself, yet watching your brother remain single without persuading him a bit?”

Wei Mo smiled and took over the conversation: “When we return from this operation, I will definitely help him find a great beauty.”

Wei Feng teased the cub in his arms who was eating small biscuits like a little squirrel: “If I could give birth to such a cute child, getting married isn’t something I can’t consider.”

On the day of the operation, Wei Feng stood in front of Zhan Qiming’s memorial tablet, pulled out a bitter cigarette from the pack, lit it, and inserted it into the small burner before the tablet.

“We’ll be able to bring a closure soon. I will personally avenge you.”

Wei Feng wiped the Jinyuque exclusive shoulder badge with a soft cloth, put on his military coat, and walked out of the study.

Seeing Wei Feng come out, Wei Mo at the door unconsciously straightened his back: “Everything has been prepared!”

Wei Feng nodded slightly: “Let’s set off.”