Further Study (First Update)

"Oh? You’re willing to join our Mech Corps? That’s definitely a wise choice."

In the military camp, a muscle-bound brute looked at Xu Yue and spoke while making his pecs bounce.

After word got out that Xu Yue had obtained a mech, the Beiyang Army’s Beiyang Knights had come to recruit them.

Strictly speaking, the Beiyang Knights were under Zhang Zuolin’s Fengtian Clique. However, just like the United Reconnaissance Group led by Wu Pei, they would certainly contain members from other factions with similar specialties.

Although factional infighting within Beiyang was fierce, they were still quite united when facing outsiders, so no one found this arrangement particularly strange.

Perhaps Yuan Datou had tacitly approved of it.

When they had first come over, Xu Yue had said that he needed time to consider it. Besides, apart from his mech, Xu Yue was also highly skilled in Medical Ninjutsu and bore Wu Pei’s mark. Though the Beiyang Knights recruiter was somewhat dissatisfied, he did not say much.

Sun Lin, on the other hand, joined without hesitation. She had a good big brother, so she never had to worry about being bullied wherever she went.

Moreover, joining the Beiyang Knights only meant training together to build coordination. It did not mean they had to undertake every mission together; they still retained their original squad structure.

"Not bad. Although you’ve only just acquired a mech, so your strength puts you at the bottom of our Knights and you’ve only barely qualified for the reserve regiment, you’ve only just become an official Reincarnator. In terms of potential, you may even surpass me."

The muscle-bound brute patted Xu Yue on the shoulder, wearing an expression that clearly said, "I think highly of you."

"You flatter me."

Xu Yue remained his usual good-natured, mild-mannered self.

"Alright, the Knights won’t interfere with your freedom to form teams or enter Mission Spaces, but while you’re in the real world, you must participate in the Knights’ drills every day…"

The muscle-bound brute began explaining some basic points to Xu Yue.

The Beiyang Knights’ main purpose was to gather all mech-type Reincarnators in the Beiyang Army and train them to coordinate, lest they fail to bring out the greatest advantage of mass mech deployment should a major war break out.

The Beiyang Army lacked the ability to mass-produce mechs and had no corresponding Legion base space. Every pilot had obtained their mech through their own efforts in Mission Spaces. As such, their numbers were limited, and their mechs came in all kinds of varieties.

That made regular coordination practice all the more necessary.

Using mechs in the real world required paying a considerable price, but as China’s Second Legion, the Beiyang Army had a special authorized training area within its military district.

Their daily routine mainly consisted of practicing coordination, but they also had to attend courses to improve their military literacy, learning tactical understanding, how to assess a battle situation, and how to handle emergencies in case they lost contact.

However, after attending classes for just one day, Xu Yue took the initiative to make a request to the reserve regiment instructor.

"Reporting, Instructor. I used to be a Doctor and have never systematically studied any military knowledge, so I’m having trouble keeping up with the progress. Therefore, I request that I be assigned a study-abroad slot."

The instructor in charge of the Beiyang Knights reserve regiment seriously considered Xu Yue’s request.

Unlike most soldiers selected from the Beiyang Army to enter the Reincarnation Space, this one had joined halfway through, and he had even been personally introduced by a major figure.

Even if they belonged to opposing factions, he still had to show sufficient respect and consideration.

But overseas study slots were extremely valuable these days.

Why would an ordinary soldier need to study abroad? Attending a domestic military academy would be more than enough. Such arrangements were only made for talented individuals with officer potential and command aptitude.

Yet while Xu Yue had not displayed any command talent, his personal development potential made him one of the most promising members of the Knights. He did indeed qualify for such treatment…

"Could a newcomer have a little self-awareness? Do you think overseas study qualifications are so easy to get? Then where does that leave us old hands?"

Before the instructor could finish hesitating and give an answer, a voice came from the side. A bald, burly man with a face full of flesh walked in, seemingly extremely displeased with Xu Yue.

The Beiyang Knights were primarily made up of people from the Fengtian Clique. Xu Yue was an outsider, and he had obtained a mech immediately after becoming an official Reincarnator. As someone who would receive focused training and claim resources, he was even more likely to arouse dissatisfaction among the regiment’s members.

There were definitely more than one or two people who had issues with Xu Yue. And now, this man had happened to hear that Xu Yue was eyeing an overseas study slot. That was even more intolerable.

Huang Kang was an old hand among veterans, but his repeated failures to Advance to Elite Reincarnator had drastically lowered both his potential rating and mission rewards. Keeping his abilities from declining had already taken every ounce of effort, and he had not improved in a long time.

(The author had mentioned several times before that only newcomers faced mandatory death upon failing the mission to become official Reincarnators.)

This time, he truly had no other choice but to seek another path, to see whether taking the commander route could break the deadlock.

Relying on his seniority within the Legion, as well as a few former teammates who had become Elite Reincarnators putting in a good word for him.

Though his potential was not high, securing one of the study slots this time should not have been a major problem.

But when he came over to keep lobbying the instructor, he heard that this roadblock had appeared. Naturally, his hostility surged.

So what if you have potential?

My strength is still above yours right now!

As for your future growth and potential? Having failed several Promotion Missions, if I don’t take a gamble now, I won’t have any future at all.

Forget a mere promising prospect—even if Laozi himself showed up, I’d still confront him!

My life is practically worthless already. Who am I afraid of?

Who am I afraid of offending?

Besides, I have roots in the Fengtian Clique too.

"Ahem, Huang Kang, stop making a scene. Everything will proceed according to the rules. Since Xu Yue has a need, the slot will go to him. You can wait until next time."

The instructor had still been hesitating over whether to give Xu Yue the slot, but the moment he saw Huang Kang enter, he stopped hesitating altogether and directly decided that Xu Yue would receive one of the slots this time.

He had already found Huang Kang rather troublesome. A mediocre, useless deadweight with trash strength, he would probably never be able to Advance to Elite Reincarnator in this life. It would already be good enough if he could survive every mission and keep his strength from declining due to downgraded skills. He was destined to fall into endless reincarnation.

It would be more realistic for him to save some Reincarnation Points and enjoy himself in the Reincarnation Space.

Yet two of Huang Kang’s teammates who had already become Elite Reincarnators had put in a word with him, making it genuinely difficult to refuse.

But using such a slot on this kind of deadweight would be a complete waste.

Since a seed candidate happened to need it, he might as well give it to him.

Xu Yue had already prepared himself and thought of plenty of reasons to persuade the instructor, so he had not expected to receive such divine assistance out of nowhere, saving him quite a bit of trouble.

He then turned back to glance at Huang Kang’s fierce expression, nodded, and revealed a gentle smile.

"Thank you. Um, thank you too, Instructor."

After taking a metal plate from the instructor’s hand, Xu Yue left the tent…

I’ll try for three updates today, but I’m not sure how fast this useless writer can type. Integrity-kun writes the next day’s draft the day before, then proofreads, revises, and writes the following day’s chapter the next day, so I have to make sure I finish tomorrow’s guaranteed quota before I can consider extra updates…

This chapter is today’s guaranteed first update! We’ll know the result when the second update comes out, so hurry up and give me some encouragement!