The Revenge of the Reborn Supreme Sovereign-Chapter 291 - 286: Trouble Strikes! (3)

"Instructor! Didn't the old CO bring Martial Artists here before? Why have they never mentioned any flaws or weaknesses?" the soldier asked, stunned.

"Because they're trash!" Qin Fan snorted, flicking a cigarette butt from between his fingers.

He jumped off the engine hood, picked up his backpack, and pulled out a transparent jar.

"Inside are seventeen Dan Pills, one for each of you. Swallow them! Today's a day off. Go back and study the notebooks in your hands. Figure out how to solve these flaws and weaknesses! Tomorrow, the sparring continues, and it will be even more brutal than the past few days! Be mentally prepared!"

After speaking, Qin Fan tossed the jar to the soldier in front of him. Then he casually slipped his hands into his pockets, turned his back, and strode away.

Silence spread in his wake. After a count of three, the soldiers snapped back to reality, shouting with ecstatic joy, "Yes, Instructor!"

When effort and reward are proportional, or when the reward is infinite, who still cares about the so-called effort? No one.

That was the state these soldiers were in. Standing in this military camp, all they wanted was to become stronger, yet the martial competitions of the past few years had completely crushed their competitive spirit. But the notebooks Qin Fan had given them undoubtedly showed them a path forward—a hope to shake off the infamy of last place, to escape their shame, and to truly become stronger.

Under these circumstances, regarding the torment they had suffered at Qin Fan's hands for three days, they had only one thing to say: It was worth it.

Their breathing quickened, and seventeen pairs of eyes focused intently on the transparent jar Qin Fan had thrown.

Dan Pills? What kind of Dan Pills could they be?

Without a second thought, they scrambled to divide the pills, and each soldier unhesitatingly swallowed one.

「The next day.」

The moment they opened their eyes, looks of utter shock flashed across the faces of the dozen or so soldiers.

Usually, when the wake-up call sounded, everyone would subconsciously leap from their beds. But today, the dormitory was completely silent. Eerily, each of them stared with wide, disbelieving eyes. The reason was simple: the pain in their bodies was gone. Completely gone. Their stamina felt as if it had been fully restored.

Just one night, and we've gone from being so broken we could barely walk to feeling no pain and being full of energy?

Instantly, the words appeared in everyone's mind: The Dan Pills! It had to be Qin Fan's Dan Pills; they could think of no other possibility.

First, there was the medicinal powder that healed wounds instantly, and now these pills that can completely revitalize a person... Just who is this guy?

"Holy shit! Tie Niu's gone!" A sudden shout shattered the bewildered silence of the dormitory.

Tie Niu's gone?

WHOOSH—!

All sixteen soldiers sprang to their feet, their gazes snapping to the empty bed.

The quilt was folded into a neat square. A military cap lay flat on the pillow. His brightly colored uniform was spread out on the bed.

Seeing this, the sixteen soldiers' expressions changed dramatically. They knew all too well what this display meant.

"Xi—Xi Wa, go check the bathroom! See if Tie Niu is—is in the bathroom!" a soldier stammered, though he knew the words were pointless.

But the soldier named Xi Wa still rushed toward the bathroom.

Everyone in the dormitory stared at the bed, but no one else spoke. They all knew the bathroom was just a form of self-deception, but they still clung to the fantasy that this was a joke, a prank by Tie Niu.

"He's—he's not there!" Xi Wa returned, pale-faced. He gripped the metal bedpost, his throat tight as he spoke.

"He ran away! Tie Niu must have deserted!" another soldier shouted as soon as Xi Wa finished speaking.

"What do we do? What the hell do we do now!" Xi Wa panicked, his Chuanshu accent thick with distress.

"We can't hide this! Report it! Report it to that freak! Call him and get him over here! Xi Wa, you do it! Call him now!" the squad leader snapped, hastily pulling on his clothes.

"Oh, oh, okay! I'll call right away!"

Xi Wa fumbled for his old-model Unicom phone on his bunk and, with trembling hands, dialed the number Qin Fan had given them. The other soldiers also scrambled to get dressed.

"Hello? Hello, Instructor! It's Xi Wa! Tie Niu—Tie Niu is gone! We woke up this morning, and he was just gone! His blanket is folded, and his cap and uniform are laid out on his bed! Something's—something's happened!" Xi Wa blurted out before Qin Fan could even speak.

"I'm on my way," was Qin Fan's terse reply.

Hearing Qin Fan's seemingly unconcerned tone, Xi Wa froze. By the time he thought of something else to say, the line was already dead.

"Xi Wa, what did that guy say?"

"He... he said he's on his way!"

But just as he finished speaking, the dormitory door was violently kicked open.

Qin Fan strode in, his expression cold as ice.

"Instructor!" the sixteen soldiers cried out, whirling to face him.

Ignoring them, Qin Fan scanned the room, his gaze finally settling on the empty bed. He strode forward, first reaching out to feel the temperature of the quilt, pillow, and mattress. Then he picked up Tie Niu's sleeping clothes, held them to his nose, and took a deep sniff with his eyes closed.

The soldiers watched, utterly confused by his actions.

What... What in the world is he doing?

"All of you, get dressed! We're going to bring him back!" Qin Fan commanded, tossing the sleeping clothes aside. His voice was cold, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.

If Tie Niu had deserted simply because he couldn't take the brutal training, I wouldn't have cared. But he'd already survived the three most hellish days. The Dan Pills I gave them should have fully restored his body, and on top of that, I gave them notebooks detailing all their flaws and weaknesses. What kind of person who is desperate to become stronger would just walk away now? Impossible! I'm certain of it. Besides, would a soldier who's just deserting bother to fold his blanket so perfectly and lay out his uniform and cap with such care? For Tie Niu to make such a drastic decision, risking a court-martial, something serious must have happened. Something outsiders couldn't possibly imagine. Thinking this, as their instructor, I can't just remain indifferent. Tie Niu's desertion might not have a damn thing to do with me, and I, this impromptu instructor of theirs, have no obligation to care about any of them. But this is a matter of responsibility—a responsibility I've placed on myself. Tie Niu is free to run away if he can't take it, but no one is going to come to harm on my watch!

"Yes, Instructor!" the soldiers shouted in unison, hastily pulling on the rest of their clothes.

They fell in line behind Qin Fan and sprinted out the door.