"Slow down! We haven’t given up yet!"
Han Ruoxi gritted her teeth and continued to channel her Electric Energy.
"Haven’t given up yet?"
Li Chang’an sneered. With a flick of his wrist, he spun the Saw Chain Sword and closed in on Han Ruoxi again. "Then I’ll *make* you give up!"
Han Ruoxi’s hands glowed as she formed an Electric Shield once more. This time, however, Li Chang’an’s sword struck like Lightning, piercing straight through the Electric Shield and forcing her to stumble backward.
"Alright, alright! Brother Li, you’re too good!"
Seeing things were going south, Sun Yang immediately waved his hands. "We give up! We give up! Stop fighting!"
Shen Qiuyue sheathed her sword and stood to the side. She shot Sun Yang a cold glance and said flatly, "You should have just given up earlier. Why drag it out?"
Sun Yang scratched his head with a bitter smile, looking completely helpless. "I was just trying to hold out a little longer. In the end, I still got my teeth kicked in!"
Han Ruoxi steadied herself, took a deep breath, and lowered her hands. The electric glow around her slowly faded. Though her expression was blank, she was clearly unconvinced. "Li Chang’an, didn’t you go a little too hard?"
"Hard? You call that hard?"
Li Chang’an shouldered his Saw Chain Sword with a faint smile. "I was already holding back. Otherwise, your Shield would have exploded long ago!"
"You were holding back?"
Sun Yang, overhearing this from the side, immediately cried out, "Brother Li, that’s a low blow! You nearly wrecked my Shield!"
"That’s because you’re not tough enough!"
Li Chang’an couldn’t be bothered to waste more words on him. He turned toward Instructor Wei Zhuang and waved. "Instructor, the combat simulation is over!"
Instructor Wei Zhuang watched everything unfold and gave a curt nod. "Mm, your performance was adequate.
However, Li Chang’an, you were a bit too heavy-handed. Don’t forget, they are your teammates, not your enemies!"
Li Chang’an shrugged. "I was already holding back!"
"Fine. That’s all for today’s training. Go back and rest!"
Wei Zhuang waved his hand, dismissing them.
Hearing this, a look of immense relief washed over Sun Yang’s face. "Thank God, it’s finally over! I need to go back and lie down. If we keep training like this, I’ll have to report directly to the med bay!"
Han Ruoxi glanced at Li Chang’an, then at Shen Qiuyue, and said in a low voice, "I won’t give up so easily next time!"
"I’m ready whenever you are."
Li Chang’an replied coolly and started walking toward the dorms.
The group trickled back to the dorms. Sun Yang collapsed onto the sofa, hands behind his head, and sighed dramatically. "Ah, Brother Li... We’ve only been here a few days and they’re already working us this hard. Is it going to be like this every day? My back is going to give out sooner or later!"
Han Ruoxi also sat on the sofa, rubbing her shoulder. She was clearly exhausted too. "The instructor’s training methods are pretty brutal, but at least we can handle it."
"Yeah, what can we do? We’re the Insect Hunter Squad, after all!"
Sun Yang shook his head with a wry smile. "But then again, our performance today wasn’t too bad, was it? Aside from me getting my ass handed to me by Brother Li, that is."
Shen Qiuyue, who was standing nearby organizing her gear, let out a soft scoff. "You have the nerve to say that? If you hadn’t been running around like a headless chicken, we would have finished long ago!"
"Eldest Miss Shen, you can’t put it like that!"
Sun Yang quickly waved his hands in protest. "Look, Brother Li was ruthless! My Pulse Gun never even had a chance to aim. It’s not like you two, swinging your swords at close range!"
"So all you could do was run away, is that it?"
Han Ruoxi glanced at him, the corners of her mouth twitching upward. "That’s just your style, isn’t it?"
"Okay, okay, I give!"
Sun Yang threw up his hands in resignation. "I’ll admit I’m a wimp, alright?"
Li Chang’an stood by the window, leaning against the sill with his arms crossed. He swept a cool gaze over the others. "If you don’t improve your teamwork, you won’t get so many chances to joke around on the battlefield."
"I know that! But I’m already trying my best!"
Sun Yang looked aggrieved. "Easy for you to say, Brother Li. If I had your skills, I’d have taken on the whole squad by myself!"
"Stop complaining. Get some rest. We have a mission tomorrow."
Li Chang’an waved a dismissive hand, not wanting to listen to any more of Sun Yang’s nonsense.
"Fine, fine, I’ll stop complaining! Let’s go get some rest."
Sun Yang stood up and stretched. "If I don’t rest now, I really don’t think I’ll be able to get up tomorrow!"
Han Ruoxi nodded and stood up as well. "I’m going to go prepare. I’ll contact the commander in a bit to see what the mission schedule is for tomorrow."
Shen Qiuyue finished packing her gear and stood by the door. "A mission tomorrow? I hope it’s not like today. This training was exhausting."
"Don’t worry, missions are much easier than training!"
Li Chang’an shouldered his Saw Chain Sword and walked toward the door. "But if a fight does break out tomorrow, it won’t be as simple as today."
The squad members left the common room one by one and returned to their own rooms.
Night gradually fell. The entire base sank into silence, with only the occasional mechanical whirring audible in the distance.
「The next morning」
Li Chang’an woke early. When he stepped out of his room, he saw Han Ruoxi and Shen Qiuyue already waiting by the door.
"Brother Li, today’s mission briefing is here!"
Han Ruoxi handed a briefing to Li Chang’an. "It’s a reconnaissance mission. We’re heading to the northern mountains to confirm Insect Race activity!"
"Reconnaissance?"
Li Chang’an took the briefing and flipped through a few pages. "No engagement?"
"The commander said it’s not guaranteed, but we should be prepared for anything," Shen Qiuyue added from the side.
"Alright, let’s move out then."
Li Chang’an nodded, handed the briefing back to Han Ruoxi, and led the group toward the landing pad.
Before long, the Insect Hunter Squad had boarded their aircraft and were flying toward the northern mountains.
Inside the aircraft, Sun Yang gazed at the scenery outside and couldn’t help but speak up. "Brother Li, this mission isn’t another trap, is it? I really don’t want to run thirty laps again!"
"Say one more word, and I’ll make you run thirty laps tomorrow," Li Chang’an replied coldly. Sun Yang immediately shrank back and shut his mouth.
The aircraft landed smoothly near the mountains. After they disembarked, Li Chang’an scanned their surroundings and said in a low voice, "Bai Lin, you’re on recon. Everyone else, stay alert!"
Bai Lin nodded, quickly activating their personal device and beginning to scan the area.
Han Ruoxi and Shen Qiuyue took up positions on the left and right flanks, remaining vigilant.
Sun Yang, clutching his Pulse Gun, sidled up to Li Chang’an and whispered, "Brother Li, you don’t think we’ll actually run into the Insect Race this time, do you?"
"It doesn’t matter if we do," Li Chang’an replied casually, but his eyes remained fixed on the valley ahead.
"Jeez, Brother Li, easy for you to say! We don’t have your courage!"
Sun Yang grumbled, taking a few steps back. "I’m just worried a swarm of bugs is going to jump us. Then things will get really interesting for our little squad!"
"Shut up and focus!"
Li Chang’an shot him a glare, and Sun Yang immediately straightened up, saying no more.
Suddenly, Bai Lin said in a low voice, "Movement ahead. Two hundred meters out!"
Li Chang’an’s eyes narrowed. He waved a hand. "Prepare for combat!"
The team instantly switched into combat mode. Li Chang’an tightened his grip on his Saw Chain Sword and led the squad forward in silence.
They had only advanced a few dozen meters when Sun Yang suddenly called out in a hushed voice, "Brother Li, we’ve got a situation!"
Li Chang’an’s head snapped up. In the valley ahead, a swarm of the Insect Race was slowly closing in on them.
"It really is the Insect Race," Li Chang’an said coldly, his eyes locked on the approaching swarm.
"Brother Li, with that many of them, shouldn’t we retreat?"
Sun Yang’s face paled the moment he saw the dense swarm, and he tightened his grip on his Pulse Gun.
"Retreat? You think you can outrun them?"
Li Chang’an shot him a sidelong glance and slowly raised his Saw Chain Sword. "We’ll deal with the ones in front first, then worry about the rest!"
Standing beside Li Chang’an, Han Ruoxi had arcs of electricity already crackling in her hands. "There’s a lot of them. This is probably going to be a long fight."