A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

Class time arrived quickly, and a line of soldiers emerged from the living quarters specially prepared for the instructors by the school. They were all wearing brand-new training uniforms, lined up in two columns, and marched in perfect unison. Two soldiers stepped out of the ranks at each designated area.

Zhang Xi's group was last, so when they got here, there were exactly two instructors left. The students looked at the two men curiously. They were very young, looking about the same age as the second and third year high school students, only thin and dark-skinned.

The two introduced themselves first; the taller one was called Ge Shun, and the shorter one was called Wang Cheng. After their introductions, they got straight to the point: today's subject was drill.

Marching in formation, also known as goose-stepping, is a unique traditional training exercise for Chinese soldiers. As times change, all military training subjects in China have changed, but the seemingly meaningless exercise of marching in formation has been preserved.

Although September was past the hottest time of the year, the lingering heat of late summer still clung to the students. The scorching sun combined with the relentless marching was torture for the delicate students of No. 1 Middle School. Within just half an hour, a small number of them collapsed in the ranks.

Based on past military training experience, if you fall ill, you can rest in the air-conditioned rest room. They're all precious children, and the school is worried that if one or two of them fall ill, it will cause trouble for their parents.

But this time seemed different. Looking at the fallen students, Instructor Ge spoke a few words into the walkie-talkie. No sooner had he finished speaking than an ambulance pulled up, and several medical personnel rushed out. They checked each of the fallen students one by one, then divided them into two groups. A few were lifted into the ambulance and taken away, while the majority were left behind.

Wang Cheng picked up several buckets of water that he had prepared beforehand, walked over, and with a wicked grin, splashed water on each student's face. The students who had fainted got up, started crying, and looked to the teachers watching from the sidelines for help.

The teachers glanced at the students, then at the instructors, and then turned away, ignoring them. The students stopped crying under the instructors' reprimands and returned to their lines.

On the first day of military training, the four-hour class, except for breaks and singing group songs, consisted of marching in formation, which was a significant blow to the middle school students who were full of romantic aspirations.

After class, Wang Ruilong looked at his training uniform, which was now covered in white salt stains, and lamented, "I've never sweated this much in my entire life! Look at me, I've even lost weight!" Zhang Xi looked at Wang Ruilong, who hadn't lost any weight, and asked, "Are you coming to class tomorrow?"

"I'm not coming. I thought I'd come and touch a gun, but all I got was a stinky sweat!" Wang Ruilong complained. "I'm not coming tomorrow!"

Zhang Xi pulled Wang Ruilong aside and said, "You have to come tomorrow!"

"why?"

"Because I'm coming, you have to come with me."

"I think I'll pass, I won't keep you company." Wang Ruilong shook his head, backing down.

The next day, Wang Ruilong reluctantly returned; he had been dragged there by Zhang Xi. There were half the number of people today compared to yesterday. Ge Shun and Wang Cheng didn't seem to mind and continued leading everyone in marching.

They marched for a whole week. During that time, Zhang Xi tried his luck a few more times at night and, with Amber's help, actually found a few small fish that had slipped through the net. But small fish are small fish; killing them only made Amber's fur a little darker, and they got nothing else.

Zhang Xi finally understood that Amber seemed to be able to absorb some power from the monsters it killed to restore itself, but it wasn't elemental energy, because when Amber's fur deepened in color, Zhang Xi couldn't sense any elemental energy fluctuations.

This week, Plains City also experienced a minor setback. The monster invasion led to some horrific deaths, and soaring prices caused widespread panic. Some people attempted to emulate Western protests, but few followed suit. Even so, the protests still saw instances of looting, vandalism, and malicious attacks on passersby.

The government increased food rations while swiftly eliminating any remaining monsters and thugs mixed in with the marchers. The situation gradually calmed down.

There's an interesting anecdote about this: just as a protest march was facing off against the military police, a little monster suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The march leader, who had just been giving a loudspeaker speech, vowing to sacrifice his life to awaken the sleeping masses, screamed, dropped the megaphone, and disappeared without a trace.

The little monster was taken down by a burst of fire from a heavy machine gun fired by the military police. People watched as the so-called leaders and opinion leaders slunk away. After a moment of silence, they dispersed, bored.

This incident quickly became a topic of conversation, with some saying that scholars rarely achieve anything significant and crumble when faced with real challenges. Zhang Xi, however, felt that the "opinion leader" wasn't as bad as people made him out to be; on the contrary, he was quite clever.

He was gambling that the military wouldn't fire on the civilians, and at most, they'd arrest him, the ringleader, and detain him for a few days. That would achieve his goal. He would become famous for opposing tyranny, and with fame came profit.

But the monster is different; it kills without hesitation. It doesn't gamble; it only kills. This "opinion leader," realizing this, chickened out and ran. But what if someone else had been there, someone with more courage and composure? In times of chaos, many ambitious individuals seize the opportunity; chaos is never short of ambitious people.

The government wasn't stupid either. How could that little monster have happened to appear in such a place? By nature, weak monsters would avoid large crowds.

In short, both sides were shrewd individuals. Zhang Xi thought about it and realized there were too many intelligent people out there. He had no advantage in using schemes and tricks; he should focus on improving his strength. Against absolute power, many tricks are just paper tigers.

A week of training passed quickly, and Ge Shun and Wang Cheng became unusually nervous; the assessment was approaching! In two days, it would be time to report on the training results, with a drill performance that all students had to participate in. The students under sixteen were preparing.

Ge Shun straightened the ranks and shouted, "Zhang Xi, step forward!"

"Down!" Zhang Xi stepped out of the formation with standard goose-stepping.

"Now you're the leader. There are no teammates on either side to refer to, so you need to control your stride. The rest of the formation will follow your steps. It's a big responsibility! Understand?" Ge Shun said. Among everyone, Zhang Xi's marching was the most standard, almost on par with the veterans, which made the two instructors very satisfied. They felt they had found a gem.

The students in the back of the line also cast envious and admiring glances at them.

"Understood!" Zhang Xi knew there was nothing to brag about, given the attention he received. It would be strange if a man in his mid-twenties couldn't out-march a group of teenagers.

Soon it was time for the assessment and performance. The venue was very rudimentary; a few microphones were placed in the stands of the school's football field. There wasn't even a sunshade. The officers who came to inspect the troops didn't mind basking in the sun with the students, but it was tough on Principal Hua Sixian and the leaders from the Education Bureau.

Preparations were simple, and the review process was straightforward; the leaders hadn't even given a proper speech yet. The review began. One formation after another marched past the reviewing stand, and the officers silently gave their scores.

Unlike the other students who were nervous, Zhang Xi walked exceptionally well, looking like a veteran of the honor guard. The inspectors couldn't help but glance at him a few more times. Influenced by their leader, the ranks behind him passed the reviewing stand in perfect unison.

The day after the inspection, Ge Shun and Wang Cheng presented a small brocade banner. Their dark faces broke into rare smiles, their grins almost splitting their cheeks.

Ge Shun stood at the front of the line and almost roared, "We got second place in the team competition yesterday! Second place in the whole school! We competed against those senior students! Give us a round of applause!" A round of applause and cheers rang out from the line.

Wang Cheng glanced at a senior instructor not far away, and upon hearing the voice, looked over with envy, his face widening even more. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "And also, our Zhang Xi has won the title of Best Team Leader! He didn't let our extra tutoring go to waste!"

After shouting, he looked around again. This time, the instructors from the other formations pretended not to hear, but their grim faces made Ge Shun and Wang Cheng overjoyed. This excellent result would add another outstanding achievement to their military record, and more importantly, it would bring them pride!

After a moment of joy, Ge Shun finally remembered the important matter. He cleared his throat and said, "Zhang Xi, Fan Haonan, Niu Lanlan, Wang Ruilong, Ge Hui, and Zheng Jia, step forward! The leadership has decided that starting tomorrow, you will leave the student group and be transferred to the recruit training company. Since you are minors, you cannot join the army, so you will still participate as students. Moreover, it is based on the principle of voluntariness. Are you willing?"

"Yes!" the six people said in unison.

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