All Involuntary

Once inside the encampment, the truck stopped jolting, but it slowed its pace. Now and then, it let out a sharp blast of the horn to warn soldiers walking too close to the middle of the road or not paying attention to get out of the way. The soldiers scurried aside, grumbling under their breath and tossing back irritated glares. It was a subtle feeling, one that briefly struck Han Qingyu as familiar and warm. Or perhaps it was a sudden touch of mundane reality brushing against his nerves. Almost involuntarily, he made his way to the back of the truck bed. Looking out from the tailgate, the moving truck felt like a camera lens slowly zooming out, bit by bit unfurling the world into which these new recruits were about to plunge. The smooth paved road stretched endlessly beneath them. In the distance stood buildings of varying heights, their drab, dusty walls somewhat devoid of life, yet the clothes hanging to dry on the balconies were splashes of vibrant color—not least a substantial proportion of women's undergarments. Figures moved back and forth across their field of vision, walking alone or in groups, heading in various directions. A good number wore military uniforms, but plenty did not; a glance revealed summer dresses and white button-down shirts as well. A yellow dog trotted down the street with its tail curled high, while a tabby cat poked its ears and eyes out from atop a trash bin... "What do you think?" Wen Jifei asked numbly, leaning over the edge and gazing outside. "Not quite what I imagined," Han Qingyu replied, also looking out. "As for what it actually feels like... I can't really say. I wouldn't know how to describe it." The thing Han Qingyu couldn't put into words was actually quite simple: over the past few minutes, he had caught sight of the shape of everyday life, and of others like them—so many of them. Moving toward the unknown was truly the most bewildering and terrifying part of the journey. Yet once you were actually inside, seeing and touching reality, discovering that people had long since built a life here and formed a new normalcy, you would gradually settle down and adapt. A group of female soldiers walked past, laughing and jostling one another. One of them suddenly turned her head. "Hey, fresh meat, stop staring so hard!" She gave a brilliant, playful grin and shook her fist at them. Her shirt sleeve slid down, revealing a terrifying scar across her forearm, though it didn't seem to faze her in the slightest. "Still looking?! Careful, or your big sister will drag you down here and rap you on the skull!" As the truck moved on and put distance between them, the female soldiers dissolved into a chorus of giggles behind them. "Seems a bit wild, huh?" "Yeah," Han Qingyu hummed with a chuckle. In his heart, he thought that if he had run into someone like that back in school, he probably would have been somewhat intimidated and gone out of his way to avoid her. Only after answering did he realize the comment hadn't come from Wen Jifei. The fellow who had earlier asked Lao Jian whether one could marry and have kids here was leaning over the tailgate. He clicked his tongue and muttered, "Looks like she'll be a tough nut to crack." "Hahaha." Lao Jian chuckled behind them, explaining with a smile, "Compared to the outside, the women around here do tend to be a bit more outgoing and fiery." "As for why, I'm sure it's not hard for you to understand," he added. "Yeah," Han Qingyu said. "Don't go provoking them, though." Lao Jian glanced at the fellow eager to find a wife and warned all four with a chuckle, "Careful you don't get thrashed. The four of you put together wouldn't last a round against that one girl just now... bare-handed." All four young recruits turned to look at him at once, their eyes full of doubt and bewilderment. Han Qingyu was half a beat slower, but he joined in the look. That girl had looked slender and frail. "Veterans on rotation come back to camp for rest and recuperation," Lao Jian said. "You see her like that with her hair down and wearing a skirt, but you haven't seen her with her hair tied in a ponytail, strapped into full gear, charging in to hack and slash at Great Spikes right alongside the strongest men." "..." Great Spikes? At the thought of those things, all four fell silent. Facing the subdued quartet, Lao Jian gave a sly grin, adding with schadenfreude, "Besides, harmlessly teasing the rookies is a time-honored pastime for veterans on leave." The truck rumbled forward. "That's a bar. Set it up a couple of years ago; some of the younger folks like to hang out there." "You buy clothes there." "Cassette tapes and books over there." "General goods..." Lao Jian gave a tour as they rode along. "They *sell* them?!" Wen Jifei asked in confusion. "Of course. Basic daily necessities are supplied free of charge. If your uniform wears out or you gain weight, just head to logistics for a replacement. There are quotas for tobacco and alcohol, too, but anything extra has to come out of your own pocket. They're non-profit shops, definitely cheaper than outside, and they even carry goods from countries like Mitli and Folansi." "..." "Don't worry, you get paid, and compared to civilian wages, it's definitely not low. People here usually don't go out of their way to pinch pennies..." Lao Jian cast a glance at Han Qingyu. "Never mind, you can adapt to daily life at your own pace later on. First things first: make it through the recruit phase." From the sound of it, recruits had virtually zero human rights during basic training. ... In the end, Han Qingyu never managed to ask his questions about source energy. The truck pulled up in an open courtyard bordered on three sides by buildings. When they got out, people were waiting—not just for them, but for Lao Jian as well. Two soldiers stepped forward politely, saluted, and said, "Captain..." Lao Jian nodded, then turned back to say, "Take care of yourselves. Don't let me down." With that, he walked off with the soldiers. There were no handcuffs, nor any air of taking a prisoner into custody... Han Qingyu had almost forgotten that Lao Jian was actually here to explain the missing source energy blocks and undergo an inquiry at headquarters. From the looks of it, it wasn't a major issue, just standard procedure following the regulations. *Sigh. If I can't hold myself back in the future, whoever becomes my captain will probably end up living in a place like this, won't they? How miserable,* Han Qingyu suddenly thought. "Recruits, follow me," another soldier called out as he stepped up from the side. The induction process was simple and relaxed. Perhaps Lao Jian had put in a word for them, because Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei were assigned to the same dormitory, while the other two were not. "Wait, the others aren't with us?" Having finally grown familiar with them along the road, Wen Jifei felt a pang of regret and asked their guide. The soldier gave him a look. "A brief encounter, a shared path... Maybe the next time you see them, all you'll be looking at is their corpses. Or maybe it'll be them looking at yours. That's everyday business around here." Wen Jifei and Han Qingyu: "..." "Just kidding. At least during recruit training, you'll still be together." The soldier let out a wicked chuckle, glanced down at the recruit roster in his hand, and muttered to himself, "Quite a big batch this time—over four hundred and thirty of you. And the chief drill instructor is... whoa, you boys are in for a treat." By the time Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei hurried over to the assembly ground, the recruit formation had almost completely fallen in. The two quickly reported in and took their places in ranks. It was not the main rostrum. Beneath the high-wattage bulb hanging over the platform, a middle-aged man with a shaved head and a beard stood motionless, flying insects swarming all over his face and head as if he couldn't feel a thing. A few bolder recruits below snickered quietly, but he paid them no mind. "My name is Zhang Dao'an, and I'm the chief drill instructor for this cycle of recruit training. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I hope you're pleased to meet me... All right, it's late. Go get some noodles, tidy your quarters, and get some quiet rest. Recruit training starts tomorrow." And just like that, he concluded his inaugural address as chief drill instructor. Many stood around bewildered, but hunger quickly took priority over confusion. The recruits' first meal was noodles—a tradition shared by many regular military units, it seemed. Once they finished eating, they headed back to their dorm. Walking ahead, Wen Jifei looked back over his shoulder. "That instructor of ours doesn't seem all that scary." "Yeah," Han Qingyu agreed. With that, they stepped inside. The Azure Coalition used regional squads as its basic tactical units and didn't have a squad tier in its permanent hierarchy, but during recruit training, the tier existed: eight men to a dormitory formed a temporary squad. Everyone was in the dorm, but the atmosphere was somewhat subdued. Each person quietly unpacked their gear and made their bed. Only after lights-out, as everyone lay awake in bed, did someone finally break the silence: "Judging by the mood in our squad, I take it none of us volunteered to come here? By the way, I'm Yang Qingbai. Glad to be comrades with everyone." "Name's Liu Shiheng. Involuntary." "Han Qingyu. Involuntary." "..." "Wen Jifei... I guess I count as a volunteer? Qingzi?" To be honest, it was hard to say how his situation counted. But as they went down the line, Squad 11—aside from Wen Jifei's ambiguous case—turned out to be entirely made up of men who had been forcibly conscripted. Not a single one had volunteered. "No wonder," Yang Qingbai said lazily. "I was wondering why several dorms I peeked into were full of volunteers, all buzzing with energy and high spirits... Turns out they dumped all of us ideologically backward types into the same room." Low chuckles broke out in the dark.