"No?" Song Jia smiled brightly. "I asked Qiangzi.

He said the longer the incubation period, the greater the plasticity of the biomorphic beast. Based on his estimation, your beast egg will still need another month or two." "Talking to an empty camera is so boring.

I'm very dissatisfied with that," Song Jia raised a hand, playing with her long hair. "That's all for today.

Call me next time, okay?" The screen vanished, and Qin Fen recalled what Deng Biao had said. "It seems...

I really need to buy a mobile phone." The reveille horn sounded just then, and Qin Fen turned off the computer to begin his morning ablutions in haste. The dozen or so men from the Third Company were temporarily housed in the hospital, but this did not impede the normal training of the remaining new recruits.

Company Commander Yan, just as he had stated that day, rigidly doubled the next day’s training load. These young recruits, who usually complained bitterly after only half the normal training volume and were too exhausted to move afterward, behaved unusually.

With the training volume exactly doubled, they instead offered no complaints about the hardship. It was unclear whether the overwhelming training volume left them too spent to even utter a complaint, or if some strange shift in their mindset had occurred.

They simply remained silent, persistently following behind Qin Fen through every exercise. Even as their arms trembled incessantly, they persisted through gritted teeth.

After finishing their training, the new recruits did not take much rest; they collectively requested entry into the 1.1 gravity room for self-study. Of course, the new recruits were not entirely without grievances.

For instance, upon being served the nutritional meals cooked by the head chef, they loudly griped. Two new recruits were soundly thrashed by the chef wielding a cast-iron wok, finally making them understand the chef’s ferocity.

Thereafter, they could only curse the hard training that required them to eat swill, all while enduring the repulsive food internally. "These kids have gone mad." "It seems having a standout leader among the new recruits is a good thing." "I wonder if this enthusiasm among the young ones will last only three minutes." "Who knows.

Actively pushing themselves to train is better than not being proactive, right?" "That’s true. The Federation suddenly and drastically revised its recruitment standards; who knows if war might break out." The squad leaders of the Third Company were deeply moved by the new recruits' sudden surge in diligence.

Compared to the new recruits of the Third Company, Qin Fen’s schedule was even busier. Squad Leader Hao and his group had packed his curriculum full.

Each of these instructors had their own unique teaching style, and as a student, he could only constantly adapt to the different professorial approaches. Firearms.

Aircraft. Mobile Armored Vehicles.

Stealth. Assassination… and Phoenix’s true specialty: Search!

Searching based on any meager clue! Various military combat techniques—each discipline contained a massive amount of data, skills that many people could never fully master in a lifetime, to become a top figure in any single field.

Qin Fen felt like a massive sponge, absorbing techniques from various military sectors from different instructors while awake. At night, he had to learn different martial arts from those masters.

Occasionally, he still squeezed in time to take client jobs on the Battle Net, both to accumulate combat experience and to lay a financial foundation for his eventual discharge. A month flew by swiftly, with Qin Fen remaining in a state of extreme busyness.

Under the high-intensity regimen, Qin Fen had grown slightly leaner, but the muscles on his body had undoubtedly become tougher and more explosive. Perhaps because he was beginning to adapt to this crazy schedule of teaching and training, the feeling of exhaustion was slowly diminishing.

Among the several instructors, Qin Fen liked training aerial combat simulations with the 'Wastrel Captain' the most. During these repeated aerial combat drills, he discovered he was genuinely beginning to fall in love with the aviation profession.

From initially engaging in one-on-two and one-on-three scenarios, up to later facing over thirty ace pilots simultaneously, Qin Fen’s progress made even the Wastrel Captain exclaim in admiration, saying he was a natural talent born for aerial combat. If the probability of death from being hit in the Air Force system hadn't been so high, Qin Fen would seriously have asked the Wastrel Captain to help him transfer into the Air Force.

Of course, the most compelling factor was the significantly more generous discharge benefits offered by the Air Force system compared to the Army. After multiple considerations, Qin Fen still restrained the impulse driven by the Air Force's rich retirement pay.

No matter how generous the compensation, if one didn't survive to receive it, it amounted to zero. As soon as the Third Company's training concluded, Qin Fen was immediately snatched away by 'Ever-Second Place' for firearms practice via a phone call.

Butcher arrived at the assembly point where the group usually trained. Seeing Qin Fen absent, he paused briefly and asked Squad Leader Hao, "Old Hao, where is Qin Fen?" "The Gun King took him." Squad Leader Hao held a book titled Fundamentals of Psychology, reading leisurely.

He always believed the foundation of deception was paramount; mastering the basics of psychology meant mastering all scams and counter-scams. It had become increasingly difficult to trick Qin Fen lately; twice he had nearly counter-attacked successfully.

Time for a refresher. "Oh," Butcher walked mysteriously to Squad Leader Hao’s side and whispered, "Training like this all the time isn't the solution, what do you think?" Squad Leader Hao put down Fundamentals of Psychology and looked at Butcher with interest.

"Oh? You've received a mission, haven't you?" "Mmm." Butcher didn't hide anything in front of Squad Leader Hao.

"Qin Fen’s training in the Third Company is a complete waste of time." Squad Leader Hao nodded in agreement. Gerile, Phoenix, and the others also gathered closer; Butcher’s words struck a chord with all of them.

"I pulled a few simple missions through connections these past few days and made a selection," Butcher smiled. "I think it's better to take him out for some real experience." "Simple?" Phoenix scoffed from the side.

The missions Butcher could find ranked at least B-level on the military difficulty coefficient scale. And B-level missions were those assigned only to Special Forces operatives.

"They are genuinely simple," Butcher said earnestly. "Although this child Qin Fen isn't as astonishingly talented as his brother, he possesses very, very strong malleability.

His greatest advantage over Qin Zhan is patience; he can endure absolute solitude." Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in unison. Qin Zhan’s patience was considered the worst among all geniuses in history.

Firearms, aircraft, mobile armor... he would only play with them for a few days before losing interest.

"Enough idle talk. What's the mission?" In Qin Fen's absence, Phoenix's bold nature shone through.

"If it's interesting, this old dame wants to join too." "Killing." The two simple words that escaped Butcher’s mouth caused the temperature in the room to drop rapidly in that instant. Only a genuine killer could infuse such menace with just two words.

Butcher paused briefly before continuing, "This child Qin Fen has strong learning ability. He learns what you teach him easily, naturally.

But my lessons on killing, merely theoretical instruction, won't yield the best results." Phoenix and the others nodded in agreement again. Those who had been on the battlefield and killed knew that the methods trained in peacetime were completely different from the reality of killing in combat.

That feeling of seeing blood, witnessing a human life vanish instantly, with skull fragments and brain matter spraying—it was unimaginable without direct experience. All true martial arts masters today have killed, and not just once.

It is difficult for a master to emerge without a stack of lives built on blood and bone. For Qin Fen to truly mature completely, he must learn to kill.

"A B-level mission. A cunning drug dealer who is becoming increasingly rampant," Butcher stated calmly.

"The Federation has already deployed a Special Forces squad for this mission. I want to take Qin Fen along to gain some experience." The instructors exchanged glances, and Squad Leader Hao ultimately made the decision: "Very well.

Let him see how small-unit combat cooperation works. However, we need to add one more person to the team." "'Ever-Second Place'?" Butcher's eyes lit up.

Squad Leader Hao shrugged. "It's obviously him.

This fellow has been extremely satisfied with Qin Fen's progress in firearms lately. If he doesn't see Qin Fen for a while..." Butcher chuckled and nodded.

"I don't want to deal with the fury of his Fire Dragon Gun when we return." "That’s fine too!" Phoenix agreed. "Let him go learn how to kill first.

If he manages to survive, maybe he can handle the matters in the new recruit camp when he returns?" "The new recruit camp?" Butcher looked puzzled. "You don't know?" Phoenix smiled.

In a specialized care ward at the military hospital, Park Jong-hwan let out a long, deep breath, ending his seated meditation self-cultivation. "Brother, you haven't spoken about that person named Qin Fen at all these past few days.

Can we discuss him today?" The speaker was Park Jong-hoon, Park Jong-hwan's older brother, whose body was still wrapped in bandages. His face showed a degree of urgency.

His younger brother had been despondent for several days following the defeat. Cha Sun-jae had even remarked that if Park Jong-hwan continued to avoid mentioning Qin Fen, his prospects for further martial arts advancement would be dimmed.

Park Jong-hwan's eyes suddenly brightened, and a faint smile touched his lips. "Brother, I wasn't avoiding talking about Qin Fen; I was simply reviewing that duel with him, absorbing the experience.

I didn't want to be distracted, so I remained silent. Today, I have fully assimilated the intense battle from that day, so of course, we can talk." "Is that so?

How is he? Did you let your guard down last time?" "He is very strong," Park Jong-hwan's gaze was sincere.

"His technique, strength, physique, and the purity of his true qi were all superior to mine. The only thing lacking, perhaps, was experience; his fighting instincts seem underdeveloped.

But his martial sense is astonishing. When I recall that decisive final strike, he instinctively evaded my Iron Cloth Shirt's hammer, even though he couldn't possibly have known I was using it.

That is what is most terrifying about him." "So you’re saying... you couldn't defeat him?" Park Jong-hoon was greatly surprised.

His younger brother had been called a genius since childhood, possessing an exceedingly high view of the world. Usually, even when observing other prodigies, he tended to look down on them.

It was already difficult for him to utter even a simple 'not bad.'