Refusal

Around this time, over where Regiment 425 was gathered, the recruits—who had long since grown familiar with one another—were staring in collective astonishment at someone standing among the captains and vice-captains of their regiment's squads. Lao Jian, their Head Instructor Lao for the latter half of their training, was standing there all by himself. "Why is Instructor Lao there too? Is Squad 752 looking for replacements?" "No, open your eyes and look. It's a newly formed squad, designated 1777." "Huh? So Instructor Lao isn't going back to his old squad? Didn't he always say he'd go back as soon as our training was over?" "He can't go back. I just heard someone say that ever since Instructor Lao lost that metal chunk in his original squad and came to regimental headquarters for review, he was never let back. Rumor has it the army felt it was better to separate him from his former squad members. Besides, their acting captain is doing a great job now, so that's that." The recruits traded whispered rumors, all prefacing their words with 'I heard.' Naturally, these words had leaked from the mouths of captains and vice-captains of other squads in the regiment. After all, they were competing against one another today, and the rumors were basically true. Lao Jian losing the metal chunk and undergoing review was a fact, though saying he had been expelled from his former squad went a bit too far. The reason Captain Lao was stuck here building a new squad from scratch, miserable and put on display for everyone to gawk at, was largely because Milla's appointment as captain had been rejected earlier. Forming a newly established squad meant recruiting ten veterans within the regiment and another ten army-wide, plus finding a vice-captain and taking in a batch of recruits. All in all, it was an exhausting ordeal—tormenting to oneself and everyone else involved. As such, approvals for newly formed squad quotas had always been difficult to secure. Regiment 425 had fought hard to get this one approved in the first place, so they certainly were not going to give it up just because Milla's appointment fell through. In a way, this could be considered a form of karmic retribution between Blood Calabash Baby and Han Qingyu: you roped me into coming here, and I trapped you so you couldn't go back. "Squad 1777, first round of mutual selection... Please raise your hand... Does anyone choose Squad 1777?" The chief of staff called out twice. Seeing no hands raised, he had no choice but to repeatedly introduce Lao Jian, highlighting his strength and combat record. Even so, there was still zero response from the crowd. It was a newly established squad, after all. A new squad could indeed recruit some veterans, but at least half of it would consist of raw recruits. In the past, newly formed squads usually had to hitch their wagons to neighboring patrol zones just to survive the initial period... In essence, it was a pit. So even though Lao Jian had served as their head instructor for quite a while, not a single recruit was willing to be the first to choose him. "Squad 1777..." the chief of staff repeated, looking utterly helpless. Lao Jian still stood there alone, trying his best to act as if nothing was wrong, but deep down, he was on the verge of tears. If this kept up, he would have to wait until the very end and pick up all the leftovers discarded by every other squad. Finally, a voice spoke up. "Me. Instructor Lao, will you take me?" Scores of people turned their heads in unison, followed by a burst of laughter. The speaker was Liu Shiheng. His Grade D fusion was actually not terrible; within Regiment 425, most squads would normally have welcomed him. The problem was that he was the single recruit in the entire camp most famous for refusing to take the field. Amidst the chorus of good-natured chuckles, Lao Jian waved him over. "Come on over." Once Liu Shiheng reached his side, Lao Jian gave a wry smile and whispered, "At least we can talk about Han Qingyu together in the future. We're both his acquaintances, so having someone to chat with will keep things from getting dull." Sudden gasps of surprise rang out. Lao Jian looked up, only to find in utter astonishment that... Milla had walked over to stand beside him in the role of vice-captain. "Y-You, Miss Milla?" Lao Jian grew nervous. Back then, he had foolishly tried to adopt her as a goddaughter, offending her in the process. Considering Milla's recent mood could not possibly be good either, why would she be willing to serve as his vice-captain? Was she messing with him? While he hesitated, Milla cast him a glance and asked coldly, "Not welcome?" "W-W-W-Welcome! Of course! Thank you, thank you for being willing to come, Miss Milla... How about this: moving forward, I'll be captain in name, but in practice, you are too!" Terrified she might turn on her heel and walk away, Lao Jian spoke rapidly in a sycophantic whisper. He had not even reached out to a candidate for vice-captain yet. As a vice-captain, whether in battlefield support or administrative duties, Milla was undeniably an outstanding choice—something she had already proven over the past five years. At the same time, she likely still retained the veteran resources she had previously contacted for her own prospective squad. With that in mind, Lao Jian saw that although Milla did not speak, she remained standing in place. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. Right at that moment, a sudden round of clapping echoed: *Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.* A middle-aged officer came strolling toward Regiment 425, clapping his hands and beaming with a broad smile. Walking straight up to Regimental Commander Li Wangqiang, the man leaned down... and started clapping right in his face. "Congratulations, Old Li! Congratulations on sending two outstanding recruits to the army in one go this year! An extraordinary contribution, hahaha!" the man roared with laughter. Li Wangqiang cut his eyes toward him and said nothing. "Especially that Han Qingyu—he's bound to achieve great things in the future, right?" the man continued. "I just wonder if anyone will even remember he came out of your 425 when the time comes, hahaha! You know how it goes. In the future, when people bring him up, they'll usually only mention which squad he came from." Unable to hold back any longer, Li Wangqiang looked up. "Yang Wudong, do you have a death wish?!" The man took no offense. Still grinning, he said in an exaggerated, affected tone, "Now that's no way to speak, Old Li. With our relationship, I came here to congratulate you with complete sincerity." With the two of them trading barbs and making a fuss, Regiment 425's recruit mutual selection came to a temporary halt as everyone stopped to gossip. "Who's that guy? How can he be so out of line, deliberately poking our commander's sore spot in front of so many people?" "The commander of 439, Yang Wudong! Did you forget?" "...I forgot." "Back in September on our way back from the source energy field, he was the one cutting in front of our convoy and arguing with Commander Li... And he was the first to leak that Qingzi was Grade A, and he even kicked Qingzi right there on the spot!" "Oh, I remember now... Commander Li's old romantic rival." "Yeah, the old romantic rivals who both lost out." "No wonder, then. They were already sniping at each other back then... Whoa, the commander just stood up! Are they going to fight?" "Let them fight! Fighting might even be good—the commander's been feeling miserable anyway, so he can use this to blow off some steam." Things were descending into chaos on Regiment 425's side. *** "Golden Eraser recruit selection commences. Golden Eraser, mutual selection begins..." The broadcast suddenly boomed from the rostrum. In an instant, a massive wave of confident recruits, along with those hoping to try their luck, surged in a dead sprint toward the commander's platform to compete for the single remaining spot everyone presumed was left. As for the other spot, that undoubtedly belonged to Han Qingyu. "Wait, where's Han Qingyu?" "Yeah, where is he?" "I don't see him..." Even if it was set in stone, he still had to go through the formalities, right? As people asked around, they searched the area, only to confirm: Han Qingyu had not come over at all! Some of the more anxious recruits turned around and stood on their tiptoes to peer into the distance, only to discover that he was still standing not far away, in the original formation. Not many people remained there now. "Qingzi, are you sure you're not going to Golden?!" Only now did He Tangtang finally work up the nerve to ask outright. He had made up his mind to follow Han Qingyu, but if Han Qingyu joined Golden Eraser, there was no telling whether they would accept him too. The moment he asked, everyone still lingering in the formation gathered round to listen. "Yeah." Han Qingyu gave a nod. Just like that... An enormous uproar erupted, swiftly rippling all the way around the commander's platform. The news traveled straight to the front of the platform: "Han Qingyu isn't going to Golden!" "What? Really?!" "It's true, he just said so himself! Look over there, he really didn't come!" "...This is crazy. I mean, I'm going crazy."