On the first day of new recruit training, physical activities were generally not scheduled.

The two instructors had originally planned to hold an ice-breaking game as usual, and then officially start the training the next morning.

But with Extreme Shadow staring at them from just a few hundred meters away, their mentality had already collapsed several times, and they had no mood for any games.

For a time, an awkward and heavy atmosphere enveloped the new recruit group.

Chi Yao saw Jing Xi taking his crew members for a walk nearby. With a wave of his hand, he had the new recruits follow.

The round-faced instructor swallowed nervously and asked hesitantly, “Following behind a star pirate crew, isn’t that inappropriate?”

The dark-skinned instructor’s heart was pounding. “Or maybe we should go in the opposite direction—hey, sir?!”

Before he could finish, Chi Yao had already gone over.

The round-faced and dark-skinned instructors exchanged a look, and with a determined heart, had all the new recruits follow.

In any case, the officer was there to take responsibility. Charge!

When the new recruits heard they were going to be with the star pirate crew, their eyes lit up, eager to try.

They had lost the slogan shouting contest just now, so they had to make up for it and show Major General Jing their strength!

“The most important thing in a new environment is to familiarize yourself with the terrain—”

Jing Xi walked in front, habitually explaining some simple but often overlooked knowledge points to the soldiers under his command.

After walking a few steps without any response, he suddenly realized.

He was now leading a star pirate crew.

Jing Xi turned his head to look behind him.

The team that had been somewhat orderly a few minutes ago was now unrecognizable. They were in groups of two and three, arms around each other’s shoulders, talking and laughing as if they were out for a stroll.

Further back, Chi Yao was also coming over with the new recruit group.

Li Yuan had his arm around Fang Liang’s shoulder, drooling as he discussed which wild game was delicious. Noticing that the boss had stopped, he asked, puzzled, “Boss, did we go the wrong way?”

Before Jing Xi could answer, a group of new recruits walked past them.

Li Yuan was immediately displeased.

“What are they doing here? Looking for a fight?”

“At your middle age, don’t be so irritable,” Jing Xi’s voice was chilly. “It’s easy to burst a blood vessel.”

Li Yuan: “…”

Li Yuan felt wronged, “I’m only in my early forties. I’m still a baby.”

Chi Yao passed by him and commented, “An old King Kong Barbie?”

Li Yuan squinted at him, “Who the hell are you?”

Chi Yao: “Your father.”

“Fuck!” Li Yuan rolled up his sleeves and said fiercely, “Don’t think I won’t hit you just because you’re pretty. I’m not our boss; looks have no effect on me.”

Chi Yao: “…”

You just wait, kid.

Suddenly remembering the photo in Chi Yao’s album, Jing Xi: “…”

Fang Liang desperately pulled Li Yuan back. “Forget it, forget it, forget it. An old Barbie is still a Barbie. It’s quite cute.”

Li Yuan: “…”

Are you being polite?

---

The path up the mountain was narrow. Neither of the two groups was willing to walk behind, so it ended up becoming a parallel march, with the line stretching out for a long way.

Chi Yao walked beside Jing Xi, his peripheral vision on the movements behind them. He said in a low voice, “It’s a pity. I thought I could play with this body for a few more days.”

Jing Xi looked ahead, showing no reaction to his deliberately provocative words.

“Do you know how to switch back?”

Chi Yao touched his chin and thought seriously, “Just sleep and we’ll switch back, right? That’s how it’s done in TV shows.”

Jing Xi looked at him coldly, his lowered voice very magnetic.

“How do you want to sleep?”

Chi Yao sneered and went along with his words, “Then of course, however is most satisfying is how I’ll sleep.”

Walking close by and happening to hear the last two sentences, Fang Liang: “………”

Why can these two people discuss such a topic with such calm faces?

Walking behind, the new recruit group and the star pirate crew looked at each other with disgust.

The star pirate crew wished they could beat up this group of new recruits and then erase the memory of the slogan from their minds.

The oldest in the new recruit group was only 22. A group of young people who hadn’t seen much of the world, they had no idea how terrifying Extreme Shadow was. Seeing the two leaders walking together amicably, the little fear they had had mostly dissipated.

“Instructor, can we sing a military song?”

Someone in the group asked.

The round-faced instructor had been on high alert the whole way, suffering from severe internal friction. By the time they reached halfway up the mountain, he was almost exhausted.

Hearing this, he thought it was a great idea.

Singing to boost morale!

Chi Yao and Jing Xi were just about to continue discussing how to sleep when they suddenly heard loud singing from behind.

The new recruits were all glaring at the star pirate crew members, their expressions fierce.

“We are all crack shots, every bullet annihilates an enemy!”

The star pirate crew was startled, their fists almost flying.

Is this singing? It’s clearly intimidation!

Tie Xiong, being carried by the big dog, was following behind Fang Liang, just about to fall asleep. Startled by this, he slipped off the dog’s back.

He struggled to grab a tuft of dog fur, kicking his short legs and shouting.

“This young master’s daddy is about to fall!”

“They’re being too damn bullying!”

Li Yuan hadn’t gotten over his previous anger, and now his temper flared up again.

He had been in the crew for the second longest time, only after Fang Liang, and held a lot of sway among the members.

The others were already provoking them to their faces. Not fighting back wasn’t the style of Extreme Shadow.

The new recruit group was very proud.

Although they lost the slogan shouting, they won at singing!

Rounding up, it was basically equivalent to defeating Extreme Shadow.

This could even be written on their personal resumes!

Suddenly, all the star pirate crew members took a step closer to the new recruit group and roared with ferocious faces, “We are also crack shots, every bullet annihilates ten enemies!”

The new recruit group: “…” Holy crap!

After a moment of stunned silence, they roared back even louder, adding gestures to it.

The star pirate members saw this and thought, “Hmph! We want to do that too.”

The boss hadn’t said to fight yet, so it was fine to just go through the motions of a fake fight to get their fix, right?

“Crack shot, bullets biu biu biu!” Tie Xiong climbed back onto the dog’s back, waving his hands and trying to keep up with the rhythm.

The big dog clapped its front paws, “Awoo awoo woo—”

Walking at the very front, Chi Yao and Jing Xi were dumbfounded.

What are they doing?

Chi Yao was suffocated by his subordinates’ actions.

He suddenly felt it might be good not to switch back.

Seeing that the two instructors leading the new recruits were also singing along, Jing Xi’s temples throbbed.

Fortunately, they were far from the mining area, otherwise they would have attracted all the mutated beasts over.

---

Returning to the camp, the people from both sides sat down dejectedly and drank water fiercely.

The solo match didn’t determine a winner, their brains were hypoxic from shouting, and their throats were sore.

In the middle of the night, the valley that had been noisy for a long time quieted down again.

Jing Xi opened his eyes, looked at the big guard dog sleeping by the bed, and Tie Xiong sleeping on it. He pulled a blanket over him and quietly left the tent.

Just as he went out, the guard dog raised its head and glanced at the door, pulling Tie Xiong into its arms and continuing to sleep.

Jing Xi was very familiar with the military’s shift rotation. Plus, Chi Yao’s tent was closest to the mountain body. Jing Xi went around from the foot of the mountain and silently slipped in.

In the tent, Chi Yao was sleeping soundly under the covers.

Seeing that he wasn’t awake, Jing Xi patted him, “Get up.”

Chi Yao rolled over, turning his back to him, and continued to sleep.

The blanket slipped down slightly, revealing his bare back.

Jing Xi flung off the blanket, his eyes turning cold.

In this environment, he dared to sleep naked in his body?

“If you don’t get up, I’m going out to streak.”

Chi Yao: “…”

He sat up, ran a hand through his long hair, and looked at Jing Xi with sleepy eyes, opening his arms. “Come sleep.”

Jing Xi ignored him and said in a low voice, “I’ll sleep on the bed, you sleep on the floor.”

Chi Yao: “This is my bed.”

Jing Xi couldn’t be bothered to say more and directly went for it.

Chi Yao kicked him away with his leg. Back and forth, the two started fighting in the tent of less than ten square meters.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

The dark-skinned instructor’s inquiry came from outside the tent.

Chi Yao grabbed Jing Xi’s wrist and said to the outside, “It’s nothing.”

The dark-skinned instructor said worriedly, “I think I heard fighting sounds?”

Chi Yao looked at Jing Xi and said slowly, “I’m practicing boxing.”

The dark-skinned instructor: “…”

When he went back, the round-faced instructor was just getting up to relieve him.

Seeing him looking thoughtful, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

The dark-skinned instructor shook his head and sighed lightly, “As expected, geniuses all like to study secretly in the middle of the night.”

The round-faced instructor: “???”

---

Inside the tent, the two had not yet determined a winner. Chi Yao’s sleepiness was almost gone.

He immediately stopped and retreated.

“Can’t I just let you have it, brother?”

Jing Xi moved the mattress to the floor and took out a capsule from his pocket, throwing it onto the bed. “I’m older than you.”

Chi Yao: “Do you know how old I am?”

Jing Xi lay down and closed his eyes. “Childish.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Although the two had known each other for many years, every time they met, it was a hail of bullets, a life-and-death struggle. They had never been in the same space so peacefully.

Chi Yao lay down, letting his muscles relax.

In the quiet space, he could vaguely hear the other’s light breathing.

He thought he would have insomnia as usual and opened his terminal to find the children’s bedtime stories he had looked for last time.

But before he could choose which one to read, he couldn’t keep his eyes open and fell asleep.

---

In a mansion in the noble district of the capital star, Jing Rong sat in the courtyard drinking tea, a large virtual screen playing the live broadcast of the new recruit training.

His wife, Bai Qi, walked over with a plate of fruit and sat opposite him. “What are you watching?”

“Watching Xixi train soldiers.” Jing Rong frowned and lowered the volume. “This is the first time I’ve known that military songs can be sung like this.”

Bai Qi watched with him for a moment and pointed to the Alpha standing next to Jing Xi. “This young man is quite handsome. How come I’ve never seen Xixi bring him home to play?”

Jing Rong glanced at him. “Bringing him home is impossible. Bringing him to prison is still hopeful.”

Bai Qi: “???”

---

At the military headquarters, Huang Hao and a group of colleagues were watching the live broadcast replay.

“This is too wild! Actually competing in singing with Extreme Shadow?”

“Hahahaha, I’m dying of laughter.”

“Extreme Shadow’s cool factor has dropped drastically. Do you suddenly find them cute?”

“Led astray by the new recruits, hahahaha—”

Huang Hao was overjoyed. “Only a guy like Jing Xi would dare to play with Extreme Shadow like this. Let anyone else try?”

---

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Jing Xi was instantly awakened from his sleep.

He sat up, turned his head to the side of the bed, and his gaze met Chi Yao’s.

The two looked at each other, their faces full of doubt about life.

As expected, it wasn’t that simple to switch back.

Chi Yao sneered coldly, “We can’t switch back.”

Jing Xi got out of bed, pressed a button on the corner of the mattress, and the entire mattress quickly deflated and was stored back into the capsule.

“We’ll think of another way.”

He lifted a corner of the door curtain, observed for a moment, and then slipped out silently.

At 6:30 in the morning, the round-faced instructor used a loudspeaker to wake everyone up.

“Everyone, pack up and assemble in five minutes! Everyone, in five minutes—”

He had originally only wanted to call the new recruits, but the valley’s surround sound effect was too good, and it woke up the neighboring star pirate crew as well.

Li Yuan walked out of his tent with a dark face, looking like he wanted to fight to the death.

“Pancake face, are you looking for death?”

The round-faced instructor: “…”

You’re the pancake face, your whole family is pancake faces!

---

On the first day of intensive training, the star pirate crew stood in formation, exuding a low pressure. From top to bottom, their hostility was heavy.

Jing Xi looked at them with a cold face. “In actual combat, besides combat power, perseverance is also very important. Therefore, the morning training item is—standing at attention.”

Li Yuan and the others were dumbfounded.

It was bad enough that they weren’t fighting the new recruits, but they weren’t even allowed to fight mutated beasts, just stand there?

This was too damn uncomfortable!

Considering this group of star pirates had ADHD, Jing Xi added, “Those who can’t hold out for three hours will continue to stand in the afternoon until they meet the standard.”

Tie Xiong raised his hand. “Boss, where do I stand?”

Jing Xi: “It’s too sunny outside. You play with the dog for a while and then go back to the tent.”

Tie Xiong: “Oh!”

The star pirates: “…”

Blatant double standards, boo hoo hoo—

---

On the new recruit side, Chi Yao saw his people standing under the scorching sun, not even allowed to move. He leisurely walked over to the new recruits.

A moment later, Chi Yao looked at them standing ramrod straight. “The star pirates are already stronger than us. What reason do we have not to work hard? If you can’t stand for three and a half hours, it will be doubled in the afternoon.”

The new recruits: “…”

So this is Major General Jing’s training style, boo hoo hoo—

__

Author’s Note:
New Recruits / Star Pirates: Hugging ourselves, not crying.