Chapter 10: Making an Impression (Part 2)

The five of them briefly introduced their occupations and names before standing aside and waiting.
Qian Rongyao said, “Our first brigade has ten squadrons, but only nine squad leaders. This time, one more squad leader has been added, along with four squad captains. Now… you nine squad leaders, please introduce yourselves so we can get to know each other.”
“Squad Leader of the First Squadron, Senior Saint, Qian Yiming.”
“Squad Leader of the Second Squadron, Senior Saint, Zhong Kuang.”
“Squad Leader of the Third Squadron, Intermediate Saint, Yan Wu.”
“Squad Leader of the Fourth Squadron, Senior Saint, Zhao Chengfeng.”
…
“Squad Leader of the Ninth Squadron, Intermediate Saint, Yu Lan.”
She was one of the two female squad leaders in the first brigade; a middle-aged woman. The other was Bai Yaoyao, the squad leader of the Seventh Squadron, a young girl whose icy demeanor made no one dare approach her closely.
Qian Rongyao said, “You’ll be working together often from now on. Well, come to my place for dinner tonight to celebrate Captain Guo’s joining. Bring your own food; theirs will be considered mine… Alright, go back first. I’ll take Captain Guo to the Tenth Squadron.”
The squad leaders nodded and dispersed. Only then did Qian Rongyao say, “Follow me. It’s time to meet your team members.”
The other three professionals served as squad captains in other squadrons, so they left with their superiors. Guo Shier and Ying Mo followed Qian Rongyao outside.
The Tenth Squadron was located in a corner of the camp, with 150 tattered tents. Since it didn’t rain there, the tents mainly served to shield against sandstorms.
Qian Rongyao shouted, “You brats, come out and welcome your boss!”
The professionals gradually came out of the tents, reluctantly gathering together. Guo Shier frowned as he had served in the army in his past life and disapproved of such laziness, though he said nothing.
From the start, Guo Shier hadn’t taken the position of squad leader seriously, which allowed him to remain calm in the face of these lazy people.
Qian Rongyao didn’t care either. He said, “Alright, whoever among you is the squad captain, step forward!”
A man and a woman stepped out of the crowd. Both were Mad Masters—the man named Kuang Niu, the woman named Ning Xin, both Senior Mad Masters. This was also why the Tenth Squadron was weak: it lacked members and skilled fighters, while in other squadrons, the squad captains were all Junior Saints.

Crazy Bull’s name sounded insane, but he actually had a delicate appearance, looking like a pretty boy. He and Ning Xin seemed to be a couple, with an ambiguous relationship between them. Guo Shier immediately realized he wasn’t some naive young man who knew nothing.

Qian Rongyao clearly wasn’t very familiar with the two of them either. He said, “Captain Guo, these are your two squad leaders. As for the members… they’re all here, about two hundred or so. We’ll fill the rest in when new recruits arrive next time. For now, count them yourself. Alright, I’ll head back first. Don’t forget to come for dinner tonight.”

Guo Shier was speechless. A commander who didn’t know how many people were in his squad and didn’t even recognize its two squad leaders was clearly unfit for the position.

All the combatants in the camp gave Guo Shier the impression of a ragtag bunch. The professionals in this world were all powerful individuals—far surpassing the soldiers of his past life in terms of personal ability and combat skills, possibly by many times. But their flaws were also obvious: they were disorganized, had no concept of discipline, and lacked a spirit of cooperation.

Qian Rongyao turned and left. Guo Shier said, “Squad leaders and group leaders, stay. Everyone else… disperse.”

Eagle Demon sighed and said, “These people have a strong killing aura, but they’re too lax and hard to command.”

Guo Shier shook his head. He didn’t care if these members were lax—as long as they obeyed orders. This place was just his temporary base. Once he got a better understanding of the situation, he would look for a chance to escape. He had no intention of working for some Gu Xi Long family.

A squad had five group leaders, and a squadron should have fifteen sub-leaders. But currently, there were only nine group leaders. Including the two squad leaders, Guo Shier, and Eagle Demon, all the officers of the Tenth Squadron were gathered. Guo Shier asked indifferently, “Where’s my tent?”

Crazy Bull replied, “It’s that tent over there.”

It was a tattered large tent that was completely uninhabitable. Without wasting words, Guo Shier unleashed his Moon Blade, which shattered the tent in an instant. Then he summoned aFú house house and said, “From now on, this will be the headquarters of the Tenth Squadron!” In an instant, he exerted a soul pressure that made everyone except Eagle Demon tremble violently—such pressure was unbearable for them.

This show of power was necessary; otherwise, no one would pay him attention. He had to crush their arrogance first before he could talk to them.

Sure enough, these seemingly unruly professionals showed expressions of shock on their faces. Guo Shier said coldly, “Come to the room!” He and Eagle Demon turned and entered the living room of the talisman house.
Crazy Bull and Ning Xin were still in shock; they found Guo Shier to be quite difficult to deal with. The nine team leaders also appeared cautious, knowing that Guo Shier was not someone to provoke.
Guo Shier sat down with great confidence, deliberately using his spiritual power to intimidate his subordinates. There was no other choice—unless he could take control of this team quickly, it would be better for him to cooperate with Eagle Demon and earn points on his own.
Eagle Demon stood behind Guo Shier, observing silently.
Crazy Bull and Ning Xin looked uneasy, feeling some fear, anger, and embarrassment. As for the nine team leaders, the highest-ranked was only an intermediatecrazy master, while the lowest was a senior talisman martial artist. Faced with Guo Shier’s pressure, they could hardly breathe.
Guo Shier first asked for the names of each team leader, then said, “I don’t know if you had predecessors or what your abilities are, but since I’m now your team leader, my rules are… absolute obedience! My orders—right or wrong—you must follow!”
The two squad leaders and the nine team leaders bowed and replied, “Yes!” No matter what they thought, they showed no intention of resisting Guo Shier.
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Good. Tomorrow, I’ll reorganize the team. Each of you must take care of your own group.”
“Yes!”
Guo Shier suddenly felt a sense reminiscent of his time in the army in his past life. He waved his hand and said, “Go back first. Register your subordinates. Tomorrow, I need to know the exact numbers.”
Crazy Bull and the others turned and left. Guo Shier sighed and relaxed. Eagle Demon asked, “Do you plan to train them?”
Guo Shier remained silent for a moment before saying, “They’re all pitiful people like us. If we can help, we should. Otherwise… with their current state, not many of them will survive if war breaks out.” He knew well that there was a huge difference in combat effectiveness between an organized and disciplined team and a disorganized one.
Eagle Demon, aware of Guo Shier’s abilities, said, “Go ahead and try. I support you.”
Guo Shier said, “It’s a shame Uncle Luo isn’t here. I wonder where he’s been assigned.”
Eagle Demon replied, “Don’t worry. As long as he has time, he’ll surely advance quickly… With the inheritance of the Gu Miluo family, he might not be inferior to the Gu Xilong family.”

Guo Shier said, “We also need to advance as quickly as possible. If we can reach the Virtual Spirit Mirror and build our own virtual altar, we might be able to break free from the control of the Gu Xilong family.” He could only say ‘might,’ because the Gu Xilong family was just as powerful as the Gu Miluo family. With just one De Yu Xilong from them, they could suppress numerous professionals so that they couldn’t resist.

Eagle Demon said, “That’s good. Let’s use this opportunity to hone our skills.”

Guo Shier clenched his fist tightly and said, “Let’s cheer each other on!”

He didn’t feel much resentment toward being captured by the Gu Xilong family, as they hadn’t used slave talismans or forcibly erased his independent soul. From this perspective, they hadn’t gone too far.

Guo Shier carefully recalled the tactics of the Gu Xilong family and found them quite formidable. They had thought things through thoroughly—placing the captured professionals in a relatively isolated environment, forcing them to work for the family, and gradually assimilating them. Using this method to control professionals wouldn’t provoke strong resistance, and it would also allow them to recruit the best professionals into their family to bring in fresh blood.

Since he had accepted the inheritance of the Gu Miluo family, Guo Shier could no longer join the Gu Xilong family. However, he had no loyalty to the Gu Miluo family either. Like Eagle Demon, he was only concerned with improving his own strength.

That night, the two went to Qian Rongyao’s large tent to meet with all the officers above the rank of squad leader in the brigade. According to Guo Shier’s understanding, this brigade was no different from the military in his past life—these mid-to-senior level professionals could all be considered officers.

A large table had been set up in Qian Rongyao’s tent, made of several large wooden planks placed on stones. There was boiled meat and meat soup on it, along with several baskets of flatbreads. The squad leaders brought their own squad leaders and food, with clean water provided by Qian Rongyao.

It was completely dark outside, and the temperature dropped sharply. Inside the tent, it was warm, with all the leaders sitting around the large table. Since the leaders had basic points, they didn’t have to worry about basic expenses like food and water.

Someone said, “Lord Qian, it’s soon our brigade’s turn for patrol. Please assign more solo flying vehicles this time. Every time we encounter enemies, those members can’t escape… With more solo flying vehicles, more members can return, otherwise the losses will be too high.”

Guo Shier knew the speaker was Hu Chen, the leader of the Fifth Squad, a senior Talisman-War Sage.

Qian Rongyao said, “Lao Hu, it’s not that I won’t give it to you. As you know, there aren’t many single-pilot flying cars in the entire brigade. Captain Guo just arrived, and his squadron doesn’t have a single flying car either. We should at least give him two.”
Hu Chen laughed and said, “Team Ten is just a trash squadron; it doesn’t need any flying cars.”
Guo Shier didn’t care much about flying cars, but Hu Chen’s words were unacceptable to him. He straightened up and said calmly, “Who do you think is a trash team?” As soon as those words left his mouth, a fierce spiritual pressure spread out. In a team, once you’re looked down upon by others, you can never expect to do well. So he didn’t hesitate to provoke them.
Book 18: Bone-Shattering Gorge