Chapter 50 : Chapter 50
Chapter 50: Loyalty and Righteousness Squad Was Far from Convinced
Looking at the scene before them, Ma Jun, Zhao Meiting, and the others were filled with a feeling that could not be put into words.
Li Mu's strength had shattered the limits of their understanding again and again!
If they had not happened to end up on a team with Li Mu today, they would all have been wiped out in the depths of that fog.
Because only after returning to the base did they learn that the other squad trapped deep in the fog with them had been wiped out to the last man long before.
The sudden appearance of the Bone Ghoul Domain quickly caused a stir throughout the Military District base.
Because recently, the Abyss in this region seemed to have become especially unstable.
Li Mu alone had already encountered two such incidents.
During the Abyss First Battle, Strange-Tailed Pythons had suddenly appeared in enormous numbers in a single area.
And this time, the Bone Ghoul Domain had descended without warning.
Aside from that, there had also been several other special incidents, and quite a few people had died in them as well.
It had left the upper ranks holding meeting after meeting.
That very afternoon, Pearl Military District Base One convened an intensive training session on military conduct rectification for frontline Abyss-Suppressing Army soldiers.
It required all Abyss-Suppressing Army soldiers of the Second and Third Grades to attend if they were not on assignment.
The moment this order came down, the study halls of every base were instantly packed with Abyss-Suppressing Army soldiers.
There was discussion everywhere.
"Military conduct rectification? Why are they holding this kind of training session?"
"No idea, but it seems like the Military District hasn't held a training session in a long time."
"This one is mandatory. It seems pretty serious."
Pearl Military District had ten bases in total.
Each base had over a thousand people.
There were six or seven hundred rank-and-file soldiers alone.
Even if only a portion came, that still meant four or five hundred people, and nearly every Multimedia Hall was filled to capacity.
Su Mo, the surviving captain of Loyalty and Righteousness Squad, and Zhou Qing naturally came to attend as well.
Su Mo looked terrible.
Zhou Qing also wore an ugly expression.
But the reason for her expression was different from Su Mo's.
There was a trace of anger in it, but also a lofty arrogance.
When she entered the Multimedia Hall, she even carried herself with a look of superiority over everyone around her.
And where did that pride come from?
Naturally, it came from her identity as a survivor of the Bone Ghoul Domain.
After the death count of the squads swallowed by the Bone Ghoul Domain was announced,
she felt that the value of her identity as a survivor of the Bone Ghoul Domain had been rising higher and higher.
After all, her Loyalty and Righteousness Squad had been the very first surviving squad to fight their way out through blood and death!
What made her furious, however, was that up to now, not a single officer had come to present them with any reward!
After they returned and turned in their mission, they had only received an ordinary settlement of a bit of Contribution Points.
What about Merit? What about medals?
Or even a formal commendation? A visit from an officer?
They had received none of those things!
That naturally filled her with rage.
She had long been holding herself back from going to the higher-ups to demand an explanation.
She had deliberately come late precisely so that, with more people present, more people would notice her.
And sure enough, the moment she and Su Mo entered the Multimedia Hall, people near the entrance began pointing at them and whispering.
"Hey! Aren't those the members of the first squad to fight their way out of the Bone Ghoul Domain?"
"Yeah, I think they're called Loyalty and Righteousness Squad. In the end, only two of them made it out."
"To be the first to escape from a deathtrap like that, those two must be terrifyingly strong!"
Zhou Qing's head lifted even higher.
But because she had come late, she could only sit toward the back.
Counting backward through the rows, the third- and fourth-to-last rows clearly still had many empty seats.
But the last and second-to-last rows were already completely filled.
That was not because those people liked sitting in the very back.
It was because the entire row was filled with Reserve Force members.
They were all students still in school, just like Li Mu.
This was also an unspoken rule within the Abyss-Suppressing Army.
Whenever there was any sort of group activity like this, Reserve Force members were best off huddling together in some corner and keeping to themselves.
If you were not perceptive enough and sat right in the middle of the so-called veterans, then you would have a hard time of it.
Even if they did not hit or curse at you, they would still give you a sharp reprimand or two, and you would have to take it.
If you were not careful, getting beaten was a common thing too.
Truthfully, this sort of thing was perfectly normal in a military system.
Even if you were not one of those so-called Reserve Force members who had never seen blood, were you not still just a green recruit all the same?
So this was simply one of those accepted unwritten rules.
When Zhou Qing and Su Mo came over, the Reserve Force newcomers who had ended up in the third-to-last row because there was no room behind them hurriedly stood and shifted to the side.
But Zhou Qing suddenly found her mood.
Looking at the two recruits who were about to sit down, she shouted, "Who said you were allowed to sit in this row?"
"Get to the back! If there are no seats left, then stand!"
Those two shouted lines were pure venting on her part, along with the desire to raise her voice a bit so that even more people would notice her.
The first surviving squad to fight its way out of the Bone Ghoul Domain, scolding a couple of worthless new recruits, that was perfectly normal, was it not?
Who would dare say anything?
If they were not going to give her Merit, if they were not going to raise her status, then she would raise it herself!
The two Reserve Force youths exchanged a glance. Though both of them were angry, they still said nothing and walked to the back.
When the other recruits saw this, they all shifted around a little, making a small space and motioning for the two to squeeze in and sit together.
At the same time, all of the Reserve Force recruits looked toward Zhou Qing.
There was clear anger in their eyes.
You were a veteran. Fine, wonderful for you. We had already gone out of our way to avoid you.
But for you to go further and start picking on people for no reason was too much.
When Zhou Qing noticed that scene, she became even angrier.
"So you all think you're loyal and righteous, is that it?"
"I told them to stand. Didn't you hear me??"
"You like giving up seats? Then none of you sit. Every one of you, get up and stand!!"
Zhou Qing shouted furiously.
She had already been full of anger to begin with. She was only cursing a couple of useless Reserve Force recruits, and these people still dared look at her like that.
What right did you have to glare at her, a member of the first surviving squad?
Su Mo frowned deeply at her side and tugged at her sleeve.
Many of the people in front had turned around to look by then as well.
"You didn't hear what I said, did you?!"
Seeing them moving so slowly, Zhou Qing flew into another rage, stood up, pointed at them, and glared with widened eyes.
The Reserve Force recruits all sighed and could only stand up helplessly.
No one would speak for them, and down here, all they could do was swallow their anger.
Only then did Zhou Qing sit down, still cursing under her breath.
More than ten minutes passed.
The soldiers entering the hall had finally filled all the seats.
Only then did several officers enter through the front doors.
The lights dimmed, and the large screen at the front began playing the Documentary Footage compiled by the command center.
A Guidance Officer stepped onto the stage and shouted in a deep voice, "I'm sure all of you have already heard no small number of rumors about the Bone Ghoul Domain!"
"The situation and difficulty of warfare in the Abyss have been growing increasingly severe lately!"
"The strength of our soldiers urgently needs to be improved!"
"But!"
"What I want to say is that something is even more important than improving our strength!"
"It is rectifying our military conduct!!"
"The Abyss-Suppressing Army is an iron army that can safely entrust its back to its comrades!"
"In team combat, only unity, guardianship, mutual support, and mutual care"
"can allow us to survive the horrors of Abyss warfare again and again."
"And yet there are always some pieces of trash who can provide us with excellent negative examples!"
"We have compiled a Documentary Footage based on today's Bone Ghoul Domain battle recordings."
"It not only includes educational material about the Bone Ghoul Domain itself,"
"but also presents two sharply contrasting examples, one positive and one negative!"
"All of you, open your eyes wide and see clearly what kind of people you want to become."
"Play it!!"