Chapter 6 Gossip

As the saying goes, good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles.

Although Huo Shizhen's notoriety was already well known, the news of his defeat at the hands of the so-called "Haitang classmate" spread at an extremely fast speed. After just one morning, the news had spread throughout the entire training camp.

During lunch break, a group of A-level students gathered together after hearing the gossip in the S group and expressed their feelings:

"Who the hell is this student Haitang? How could such a warrior exist in the world? As an S-rank alpha, not only did he skip classes and training, he even had the audacity to sneak into the S-rank group chat and reveal his identity, mocking the military academy's admissions loopholes. On top of that, he deliberately used that urgent tone to tease His Majesty Emperor Huo... How is this any different from slapping Emperor Huo in the face!"

"The difference is probably that in a real Mortal Kombat close combat, Instructor Huo would have shot me away or punched me dead before I even got close. Hot news, Instructor Huo's firearms and fighting skills are record-breaking."

"Um—just to tell you something, it's said that Senior Yin Zhiyou seems to have broken the Great Demon King's record for long-range sniping, and is the best in his grade in fighting skills. He also seems to have inherited the Great Demon King's executive department..."

"Now that I think about it, Senior Yin looks a bit like the Big Devil... How can I smell the smell of meal replacement?"

"Stop—it's not exactly the same. Senior Yin is a taciturn, cold-faced cool guy. In fact, he is more humane than the Big Devil. For example, if you ask for directions, Senior Yin will at most ignore you, but the Big Devil is different. The Big Devil will mock you for not being able to memorize a map. Are you going to be captured when you are ready for actual combat?"

"So Senior Sikong is the most gentle. In this situation, only Senior Sikong would show us the way with a smile."

"I think you've forgotten the psychological trauma caused by Senior Sikong's words, which even asked about the lives of your ancestors."

"That's enough... Senior Sikong, let's put that aside for now. By saying this, do you mean to say that Senior Yin is Emperor Huo's meal replacement, or do you mean to say that Emperor Huo is so arbitrary that he has lost the support of the people, and that Prince Yin can replace him?"

"Exactly, it's really causing more trouble. What's your intention in mentioning Senior Yin's name at a time like this? Are you trying to kill him?"

"This topic is far too dangerous. How can a fight for the throne be something we ordinary people can participate in? Let's get back to the story of Little Haitang, who dared to pluck the hairs from a tiger."

"Oh, our clever and brave little Haitang. Although his courage in challenging the great demon Huo is beyond our reach, his future is clearly bleak. I can't believe how miserable his life will be once school starts. Speaking of which, the great demon Huo will be the head of the discipline department right off the bat. This is even more disastrous. Little Haitang might even be expelled for a serious violation of discipline by stepping into the school gate with his left foot."

"How can you be so sure he's this year's freshman? Maybe it's just Old Cucumber painted green, and it's not Little Haitang, but Senior Haitang. The senior is dissatisfied with Emperor Huo's tyranny, so he deliberately impersonated someone else to join the group and create panic."

"Let's not do that... If that's the case, then the whole school will be in trouble. Do you think after being tricked like that, the big devil will go on a school-wide werewolf rampage and dig deep underground to find this Haitang classmate?"

"Rumor has it, the Big Devil seems to have other missions to perform after training, so he'll be away from school for quite some time—but there's nothing to be happy about. Without the Big Devil, those violent individuals in the Executive Department who worship him will become even more unscrupulous. If they really find him... Haitang will probably be destroyed like a delicate flower in a rainstorm."

"Alas, there's nothing we can do. This is the influence of the uncrowned emperor. All under heaven belongs to the king. Even if you're not on the training list, if you anger His Majesty, you'll be punished from a distance!"

"There's no need to be so worshipful... Did the Great Devil cast a spell on you? Could this also be within the Great Devil's abilities? How terrifying!"

"What do you know? I've been personally watched by the Emperor climbing over a wall three hundred times. Only after being stared at intently by His Majesty for such a long time, and listening to His Majesty's sarcasm throughout the entire afternoon, do you understand what it means to be at the top of the S-level."

"Are you sure it's abuse and not humiliation? Poor kid, he must have been fooled by PUA."

"Haha, who caught you climbing a wall in the middle of the night? The school forum had already revealed that the chief instructor for this training camp, Huo Shizhen, is a master in this elite military academy. Since you've chosen to participate in the training camp, you should be prepared to be trained to death rather than break the rules, otherwise you'll be beaten to death."

"So the final conclusion is that Xiao Haitang will be killed by Emperor Huo, right?"

"How did you come to this conclusion? I feel like I said something really terrible. Don't use such impure words. Say no to AA relationships!"

"So he turned and walked towards Kongtong Square Mountain..."

…

"You guys have a lot of free time?"

When the cold and gloomy voice sounded, everyone shuddered.

That nightmare-like sound could not be drowned out by any noise, no matter how loud it was. Almost everyone subconsciously fell silent, and then looked back in despair.

Under the sunlight, Huo Shizhen, whom they were talking about, arrived at some point in time. He wore a dark green military uniform that was straight on his body, outlining his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and strong and cool body.

He looked down at the group of freshmen who were addicted to gossip. His long silver hair flowed like water, and his reddish-brown eyes looked at them as if they were ants.

Then he raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a cold smile that was very familiar to the military academy students, full of ridicule, and said something that made the group of freshmen even more desperate:

"You're all so energetic, it seems you're all very confident about the upcoming three-way competition. So, how about spice things up a bit? We've assigned three spy characters to each of your groups. You'll be given character cards before the training begins. We hope there won't be any embarrassing moments where the other students discover their identities are questionable before the spy himself realizes they're there."

Trainees: ...

Since you know that this kind of thing is possible, why can't you just name them directly, but instead send them off temporarily?

No, that's not right - the problem is that no one finds this arrangement interesting!

Unfortunately, the trainees were discussing the real culprit being caught red-handed, and for a while no one dared to stand up and raise any objections.

The only two people who could possibly speak at the scene——

Sikong Tan smiled and waved at them:

"Whether the spy can be caught and how long he can survive without being exposed are also important scoring factors, so go for it, everyone!"

——This person is obviously an accomplice.

As for the other instructor, Yin Zhiyou—

Yin Zhiyou just leaned against the pillar next to him and let his mind wander.

There is absolutely no one who can save them.

When the trainees were sighing, Huo Shizhen called Wen Tiange out again.

As one of the four S-rank freshmen this year, Wen Tiange was an optimist. Even though the other trainees were already wailing and lamenting, he still emerged from the group with a head of slightly curly black hair and blinking gray-blue eyes, leaping for joy.

Of course, another reason why he didn't feel any pain was that in this three-way confrontation simulation match, the other three S-level freshmen were the leaders of the three opposing teams, while he led a few people to form an intelligence dealer who roamed between the three parties.

For him, the existence of spies would actually help him muddy the waters on the battlefield.

But soon he couldn't laugh anymore.

Huo Shizhen reached out and handed him a beautifully decorated box, saying in a calm voice:

"The prize for this competition—the rare material [X]—is now in your safekeeping. From now on, you can take your intelligence team and hide in the combat zone."

Wen Tiange nodded subconsciously, but halfway through nodding, he suddenly realized something was wrong and looked up at Huo Shizhen in disbelief:

"Eh? Wait! Isn't my role a chaotic neutral information dealer? Is it really okay to give this to me? Didn't they say at the beginning that this thing would be placed in a mysterious location, and that finding rare materials would be one of the test items?"

Huo Shizhen replied calmly:

"Isn't it reasonable that those with the most intelligence hold the key tools? And is there anyone in the world who knows how to hide better than the head of an intelligence dealer?"

What he said sounds true...but I always feel that being praised by the great devil Huo is not a good thing.

Wen Tiange pondered for a while and finally discovered the trap:

"But if that happens—won't I become a target of public criticism?!"

Everyone is watching behind us. Shouldn't this kind of thing be explained privately to add to the mystery?!

If I gave him the rare material in public, wouldn't that mean he would be hunted by three parties at once...

Huo Shizhen smiled, looked up at him, and said slowly:

"You shared the chat screenshots with your classmates and were so engaged in the discussion. I thought you really enjoyed being the center of attention."

Wen Tiange: ...

Discovered.

Damn it! Who betrayed him? He had only shared it privately in the intelligence team's small group chat and quickly withdrew it within a minute...

But now that the situation has developed to the point where everyone knows about it, it seems impossible to keep the Big Devil unaware.

Wen Tiange could only blame himself for his bad luck and returned to the team dejectedly.

The others looked at him with pity, but some of them thought more deeply about it—

Wen Tiange was treated so harshly just for spreading the screenshots. These small fry were just discussing it a little more enthusiastically, but they were forced to increase the difficulty during the training camp.

The culprit behind this, Haitang, the one who actually played tricks on the great demon king Huo...

Wouldn’t the end be even more miserable!

Although the trainees had not actually met this classmate named Haitang, they already felt sorry for him sincerely.

“A-choo!”

Lin Guantang, who had already returned to the campus, rubbed his nose, wondering why he suddenly sneezed. Could it be that his adoptive father or godfather missed him?

But it's still early now, I'll contact them after I meet with the counselors -

Just now, on the way back to school, a teacher who claimed to be a counselor contacted Lin Guantang through the school system and asked him to go to his office if he was in school, as he had something to talk to him about.