Evolution - Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Ji Changqing waved. “Brother, come on up and eat!”
“Alright!” Du Zhong replied cheerfully. He seemed to be in a great mood, his response ringing out with particular force.
Du Zhong was tall and sturdy, but not at all clumsy. He was muscular with long limbs—a man in excellent physical condition. He had explosive power and considerable endurance, as evidenced by the spiked mace he carried on his shoulder.
He could carry a weapon weighing nearly a hundred pounds while running swiftly and steadily along the rugged mountain path. After sprinting all the way up from the bottom, his face was only slightly flushed, and his breathing remained even.
This alone spoke volumes.
The first thing the three of them did was glance at each other’s assessment wristbands, and they all nodded inwardly.
All were ranked within the top thirty thousand. No matter how they’d achieved it, it meant they weren’t weak.
It was just that Ji Changqing’s physique level was so low it was almost unbelievable.
But Du Zhong considered himself a mature and steady person, not one of those superficial fools who judged others’ strength solely by their appearance or level.
In fact, it made him even more cautious.
One was physique level six, the other level seven. Yet between the two, the level six was clearly the leader. She must have some extraordinary qualities. There was no harm in being careful; caution was always a good thing.
Ji Changqing extended her hand and shook Du Zhong’s. She pointed to herself. “Ji Changqing, applying for the Combat Department, Command specialization.”
Then she pointed to Gu Changge. “Gu Changge, applying for the Starship Department, Warship Command.”
“Du Zhong, Combat Department, Individual Combat.” Du Zhong glanced at the chunks of meat set to the side, then at Gu Changge who was adding ingredients and water to a pot, and finally at the grill in front of Ji Changqing. He secretly took a few deep breaths and grinned brightly. “Do you provide meals? If you do, I’ll work for just 800 points a day.”
Well, it seemed they’d found a foodie.
Ji Changqing invited him to sit. Gu Changge finally tossed all the ingredients for the stew into the pot, put the lid on, and turned around. The three of them gathered around the simple grill and began slicing the meat into thin pieces to cook.
They also skewered a few large chunks and placed them directly over the fire, where they sizzled and dripped fat. The aroma burrowed straight into the foodies’ hearts, making their mouths water.
Ji Changqing and Gu Changge stared straight ahead, pretending not to hear Du Zhong slurping. Without lowering their voices, they explained the job to him. “We’ve found an opportunity to earn military merit points. It’s somewhat dangerous and requires a lot of people working together, which is why we’re recruiting with points. You can think it over while you eat and decide if it’s for you.”
“Fortune favors the bold. Success, promotions—isn’t it all earned by risking your life for military merit points?” Du Zhong nodded distractedly, his eyes glued to the little temptresses of meat that were slowly turning golden brown and releasing an enchanting aroma.
As if sensing why Ji Changqing and Gu Changge weren’t speaking quietly, he raised his voice. “If there are military merit points to be earned, what do I need regular points for? You can use the points to recruit more people. When we succeed, just give me a share of the merit points. How about it, brother?”
He couldn’t be more on the ball!
Sure enough, the people closest below who had been eavesdropping showed looks of delight. They rubbed their hands together and quickly ran off to share this explosive news.
They didn’t know if the part about earning military merit points was true, but even if they didn’t aim for those, earning some regular points should be no problem.
At worst, they could just make it clear when they signed up: those who wanted merit points would have to fight on the front lines, while those who just wanted regular points shouldn’t be assigned to the most dangerous positions.
In any case, as examinees, they were equipped with rescue devices. They could withstand a wave of attacks without having to risk their lives.
Of course, taking the points and running was out of the question. Unless they really didn’t want to pass the assessment and get into the Fourth Military, that would be an absolute black mark on their record.
But taking the points and only giving seventy or eighty percent of their effort? Nothing wrong with that.
The three of them talked, laughed, and ate in a scene of cheerful harmony.
The people below smelled the aroma, heard the laughter, and caught snippets of conversation carried on the wind, their feelings a complicated mix.
One after another, people came to stand where Du Zhong had been and offered their services. Ji Changqing waved her hand magnanimously. “Come on up!”
Hadn’t they specifically chosen this spot because it was upwind? If points couldn’t move them, they would conquer them with food!
The newcomers mostly came up in groups of two or three. Once there, under the pressure of Du Zhong’s intimidating glare, they reluctantly chose to start their own campfires nearby and sing songs.
Two hours later, at least seventy or eighty campfires radiated out from the central one belonging to Ji Changqing’s trio.
They weren’t as thick-skinned as Du Zhong and mostly brought their own food. Now that they were all working for Ji Changqing, they could even safely trade ingredients with each other and enjoy a greater variety of delicacies!
By the time Gu Changge’s six fated teammates, who were nearby, arrived one after another, they and their small squads of ten to twenty people saw from a distance the grand spectacle of several hundred people gathered for a campfire party, a scene of peace and prosperity.
The sight was so shocking that they were momentarily speechless.
Were they even in the same examination?
Otherwise, there was no explaining the contrast between their own journey of flashing blades and flying shadows and this scene of peaceful revelry.
Gu Changge was incapable of such a divine maneuver. So, which deity had taken him under their wing?
By this time, Ji Changqing’s trio had long finished eating. Gu Changge had even thoughtfully made a new pot of stew, specifically waiting for his fated teammates to arrive and enjoy it.
The area around their campfire was completely full, so it was naturally impossible for five squads with over a hundred people to squeeze in.
Gu Changge’s fated teammates glanced at the banner still fluttering in the wind and understood. They waved for their squads to find an empty spot, build a fire, and make their own food. They, of course, would be enjoying the specially prepared dinner!
Du Zhong also got up and left with the others, giving them space to talk.
Gu Changge eagerly introduced his fated teammates to Ji Changqing, with a smug, show-off air that seemed to say, “See? I’m still very useful!”
“Lu Youwen, Logistics Department, Starship Maintenance; Lu Youxia, Ordnance Department, Information and Communications; Cheng Jian, Combat Department, Mecha Combat; He Qingping, Strategy Department, Quartermaster and Equipment; Eve, Starship Department, Ship Movement; and Weisman, Starship Department, Combat Command.”
After briefly introducing the six of them, he launched into a lengthy introduction of Ji Changqing. “She’s a great fighter, can take on a level eight no problem! She’s smart, perfect for command. And she’s righteous—so many people passed by, but she was the only one who gave me a hand. Oh, and you guys don’t know, she even helped me screw over that annoying guy, hahaha…”
Both sides tacitly agreed that this boasting was a desperate attempt to save face.
Nevertheless, they all cautiously adjusted their perceptions and attitudes toward one another.
Ji Changqing smiled and greeted each of them in turn.
She thought to herself, These are all from military families with backgrounds similar to Gu Changge’s, and they’ve all clustered in specializations linked to high-tech, high-power assets like starships and mechas. Hmm, there’s something to this. No wonder Major General Xie’er repeatedly instructed me to minor in warship command if I had the capacity.
The others, for their part, were mentally weighing Gu Changge’s boasts. Even if it was an attempt to save face, if it wasn’t entirely true, it was at least seventy or eighty percent true.
When they learned that Ji Changqing was from Blue Star, the six of them became even friendlier.
It couldn’t be helped. Every few decades or centuries, the Alliance would discover a new civilized planet. And within the first ten years of these planets being integrated into the Alliance system, a batch of exceptionally outstanding individuals would always emerge, figures who could dominate their peers.
The fact that Ji Changqing was standing here at this moment spoke for itself.
The group ignored Gu Changge and exchanged a few pleasantries. Ji Changqing then briefly explained what she and Gu Changge had discovered, emphasizing their plan to lure out the space pirates and ambush them as a team.
“We have less than a thousand people right now, right?” Lu Youxia scanned the area, roughly estimating the numbers. “How are we going to get the rest?”
Looking utterly defeated, Gu Changge pointed to the banner, which was now made of stitched-together parachute cloth and long enough to encircle the entire camp. Everyone had even made sure to illuminate it, guaranteeing that anyone passing by would see it.
“People are curious. When they see all the lights over here from a distance, they’ll definitely want to come closer and see what’s going on,” Ji Changqing said nonchalantly. “Once they’re close, they’ll be able to read the words on the banner. At that point, wouldn’t they want to know why we’re hiring? And after finding out, would anyone really not want to join in on the fun?”
“We’ve been here for over four hours,” Gu Changge waved his hand, full of spirit. “And we’ve recruited eight hundred people! This area is now definitely the center of attention for everyone within a ten-kilometer radius. By dawn…”
Everyone shouted in unison, “Shut up!”
Ji Changqing felt greatly comforted. So she wasn’t the only one who despised Gu Changge’s special constitution!
Eve pressed her large blade against Gu Changge. “Changge, if you say another word, I’ll make you cry!”
Ji Changqing’s eyelid twitched. Eve looked so gentle and refined, yet she was even more hot-tempered than the two guys applying for mecha combat.
A long song for weeping! Leave it to her to think of that.
Gu Changge aggrievedly submitted to her tyrannical might.
He Qingping clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention away from the matter of shutting Gu Changge up.
“One thousand points per person per day. Gathering people and successfully pulling off the ambush will take two days, assuming the best-case scenario.” He raised an eyebrow, a slightly cunning smile on his face. “According to the military merit point evaluation standards, wiping out a thousand-strong space pirate group awards a total of 5 merit points per pirate. However, the Quartermaster’s Office has a record that military academy students get double the merit points.”
Everyone let out a collective “Wow.”
People from the Quartermaster’s Office were amazing; they knew all this stuff inside and out.
He Qingping calmly accepted their praise and pointed to the people present. “Once they’re here, if we all push hard, we might even be able to get everyone involved an extra 1000-2000 points.”
Lu Youwen did a quick calculation on his fingers. “Twenty merit points per person. We can find 500 people to form a team, use the points to hire others, and then apply for a collective point bonus afterward. Even if it takes two days, we’d only have to spend 1000 points per person. Okay, assembling five or six thousand people won’t be a problem.”
“Actually, we only need to hold out for one day.” Ji Changqing helplessly interrupted their enthusiastic calculations of merit points and regular points. “We need at least five thousand people, but only around three thousand will be needed for the ambush itself. That’s more than enough. They won’t send everyone out at once.”
She asked the others present, “Imagine your home was broken into. What would be your first reaction?”
Lu Youwen said thoughtfully, “Lock it down. Send out two teams to investigate—one to check outside, one to check inside. If there are no results after a certain amount of time, send more.”
“Exactly.” Ji Changqing drew a line in the dirt. “Our ambush line needs to be long enough. We’ll start setting it up at a point that’s an hour’s run from the base entrance we came out of. Survival is the top priority. We’ll engage them, slow them down, and wear out their energy. The more we exhaust them at the front, the easier it will be for our comrades at the back to take them down.”
She continued drawing the line until she reached the starting point of the “Asura field” the instructors had set for them. “And the end of our ambush will be right here.”
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone present looked at her with expressions of awe.
This woman was truly ruthless. If the enemy’s individual combat strength was too high and their comrades along the line couldn’t take them down, then they would just let the nearly five hundred thousand other examinees overwhelm them!
And they wouldn’t even have to pay them any points!
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