Desire to Monopolize (1)
“Is it true? Is Chief Mu coming to give us a practical drill lesson?”
“Must be a rumor?”
“I also think so. One has to know that this is Chief Mu… It’s impossible, no matter what!”
The students’ whispers echoed through the field.
At that moment, the training ground’s metal gates made a loud sound and slowly opened in both directions.
Although everyone believed the news was a rumor, they subconsciously fell silent and looked toward the door with bated breath.
A young man’s form emerged at the end of the passage.
“Shi An! Here!”
Lin Yanming’s eyes lit up and he hastily waved at him.
The others were secretly relieved.
What a shock. It was Shi An, who hadn’t shown up for a long time. Entering at this time, he truly scared everyone.
“Shi An, why are you late again?”
Although Shi Rui had a caring smile, a trace of hidden mockery swept under his eyes. “Luckily, the teacher isn’t here yet. If not…”
Before he could finish his sentence, unhurried footsteps came from the passage behind Shi An and a tall man walked in.
The words that Shi Rui hadn’t spoken yet were stuck in his throat.
The training ground immediately fell silent as the students, dumbfounded and almost in disbelief, stared in awe at the man who had appeared behind Shi An.
Silver hair and blue eyes, his expression indifferent.
The man’s aura was extremely strong as if his body had a sharp and biting intent that could be materialized. He calmly swept his eyes across the room. The depths of those extremely deep blue eyes did not have much emotion but inexplicably made everyone feel awe and subconsciously hold their breath.
… I-It was truly Mu Heng?
That Chief Mu would come to give them a lesson?
The expression on Shi Rui’s face froze and his face became slightly ugly.
Other people did not know, but he was clear, Shi An and Mu Heng's relationship was not ordinary.
Then just now…
Shi Rui could barely restrain the desire to back away as Mu Heng’s eyes raked over his body.
Mu Heng expressionlessly withdrew his gaze as he lowered his eyes and rested his palm on Shi An’s shoulder for a split second. “Return to your group.”
He walked to the front of the students.
Mu Heng’s footsteps were unhurried, the soles of his hard boots tapping on the hard metal floor, making a smooth and regular sound. Each step he landed made people’s hearts tremble.
Standing a short distance away, he spoke up to break the silence and said, “I will take over this practical drill lesson.”
Mu Heng looked at the students in front of him, his voice indifferent and low. “Actual combat is entirely different from what you imagined it might be or what you’ve experienced in the meticulously designed simulation that is set up by the school. On the battlefield, every theory and knowledge you learn in the classroom won’t be useful. Instant changes will determine your life and death.”
“Only two things are practical, experience and intuition.”
He calmly fixed his gloves and said, “Instead of explaining the techniques, I prefer to let you guys experience it by yourselves.”
As Mu Heng talked, several members in Bureau uniforms walked in carrying several oddly shaped machines.
They bent down and installed them directly in the school’s training ground.
The students looked at each other, simultaneously seeing a similar uneasiness in each other's eyes.
W-What was this preparation for?
Was this some sort of simulation too?
But something about it felt not quite the same as what they had experienced before…
One of the members in charge of the installation spoke up and introduced, “This is the latest achievement within the Bureau’s research institute, capable of reproducing a complete replica of a real battle that a Bureau member has experienced. After the simulation is turned on, even pain or death will be reconstructed.”
The students were in shock.
A real-life… battle simulation?
What was that?
Soon, the first group of students entered the simulation.
Almost as soon as they entered, they noticed a sudden change in the scene.
The sky was dark, blood-red, the four sides were barren and bare with pitch-black rock, and countless grotesque demonic creatures crawled out of the half-lit, half-obscure junction line, a chilling gleam of malice and hunger in the depths of their eyes.
… It was completely different from the real-life drills they had experienced.
The school’s real battle simulations had included actual magical creatures, but they wore collars that could stop them from wreaking havoc and could be readily braked. The species and the strength, even the density of their distribution, had been carefully calculated to be more like a gentle flower garden than a real battle.
Instead, a fight that was just like the real thing was being played before their eyes.
There were no calculations, rehearsals, patterns, or strategies, and only a fight for life and death in the blink of an eye.
One second you might be fighting off a demon and the next second another one will come along and bite your throat off soundlessly.
Within five minutes of the start, some students had already pressed the emergency evacuation button, fleeing from the simulation and crouching at the outer edge of the field, dry heaving.
The second group of students waiting outside the field watched the scene unfold, their faces pale, their hands and feet cold, and their eyes slightly glazed over.
The first group of students lasted less than half an hour in total.
Soon, the second batch of students entered.
Shi An was among them.
He stepped into the simulation field.
The scene in front of him changed instantly.
The blood-colored sky appeared before his eyes.
Shi An felt something was wrong. His vision always felt much higher than what he was usually used to.
He glanced down.
He saw himself wearing a pitch-black combat windbreaker, with gloves of the same color on his hands and a cold longsword in his hand.
