A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

As the sun rose, nearly a hundred students from No. 1 Middle School boarded five troop carriers and drove out of the school. They were heading to a training base dozens of kilometers away for two months of closed training.

The students who remain at the school will receive basic firearms handling and combat training, while these hundreds of outstanding students will undergo more rigorous training alongside the new recruits.

Zhang Xi unexpectedly ran into Li Chengyu on the bus. Since being taught a lesson last time, Li Chengyu had become much more well-behaved and hadn't been causing trouble for a while. Zhang Xi had almost forgotten about him. Although it wasn't like they were enemies meeting, they didn't exchange a word the whole way.

The vehicle sped along, the tall buildings outside the window turning into farmland, then into forest, and the city receded further and further away. When the troop carrier rounded a hill and entered a main road, everyone was stunned.

People saw troop carriers converging on the road from all directions, forming a long line that stretched as far as the eye could see—a truly spectacular sight. The vehicles alone carried at least a thousand or two people, demonstrating the massive scale of the recruit training; and this was just one training ground near Pingyuan City.

For the first time, the young students at Pingyuan No. 1 Middle School witnessed what the state apparatus was like.

September is not recruitment season, but major world powers simultaneously conducted an emergency large-scale conscription. Furthermore, many students and workers were also subjected to semi-forced quasi-military training.

The students from No. 1 Middle School were dispersed as soon as they got off the bus and were immediately assigned to different recruit companies. Zhang Xi was assigned to the 15th recruit company, which was a student company. The company commander was named Long Wenzhang, who was a squad leader in the 8th Company of the reconnaissance battalion. Originally, if he entered the recruit company as an instructor, he could only be promoted one level to platoon leader, but there was a severe shortage of instructors, so he had to become the company commander.

Basic training began quickly, and it differed slightly from what I had heard. Drill training was reduced, and the recruits focused on four key areas: basic firearms use, physical fitness, basic combat skills, and political discipline education.

The training content progressed rapidly and seemed extremely urgent, which was incredibly tough on the new recruits, making them feel like they were living in a nightmare. The training intensity was clearly based on scientific analysis; it gradually drained the recruits' physical strength and willpower, forcing them to unleash their potential bit by bit, without causing physical harm. The recruits spent their days training, a painful yet fulfilling experience, except for eating, drinking, and relieving themselves.

Zhang Xi felt only pain, not fulfillment. This level of training was meaningless to him; it was simply a waste of time. He could only pass the time by focusing his energy on mobilizing the vital energy within his body.

During the decade following the apocalypse, people's understanding of primordial energy remained at the level of instinctive application. The Chinese people were the best at this, with many attempting to combine primordial energy with Qigong breathing techniques, but they only managed to guide the flow of primordial energy within the body. This was far from the creation of primordial energy cultivation methods that people hoped for.

The two-month basic training was drawing to a close. It was a training assessment arena, filled with the sounds of guns being disassembled and reassembled. Zhang Xi sat in his seat, staring blankly at the completed guns. Also staring blankly were the recruit company commander, Long Wenzhang, several actual company commanders, and Battalion Commander Xue Gang.

Just over twenty seconds ago, Long Wenzhang gave the order: "Begin!" The new recruits immediately began disassembling the Type 95 rifle with all their might. Zhang Xi picked up the rifle and rubbed it a couple of times, turning the once-complete gun into a pile of parts. Then he gathered the parts together, kneaded and rubbed them, and a complete Type 95 rifle emerged.

Company Commander Li Liansheng of the Eighth Company asked Long Wenzhang, "How many seconds?"

"Less than 15 seconds!" Long Wenzhang was taken aback by the question, but quickly recovered and replied.

"12 seconds!" the company commander exclaimed. "This is a disassembled assault rifle, not a pistol! This breaks the world record! I want this soldier in my company!"

Li Liansheng, a burly man from Northeast China, wouldn't stand for it. He glared at him with his bull-like eyes and said, "Company Commander, what are you doing? What are you trying to do! He's Long Wenzhang's soldier, he's my soldier! Are you trying to poach him from the company right in front of us?!"

Li Liansheng's glare was intimidating, but the company commander didn't seem to care: "Company Commander Li, you're wrong. This is a recruit company. After training, the soldiers will be reassigned."

He met Li Liansheng's gaze without backing down and continued, "So, the soldiers your squad leader trains are your soldiers? Then why didn't you want that new recruit named Xu Liang?"

Upon hearing the name Xu Liang, Li Liansheng's eyes narrowed considerably. He stopped looking at the company commander and turned to glare angrily at his most trusted squad leader, Long Wenzhang.

Although Long Wenzhang was only a squad leader, he was known throughout the army for his sharp eye. Every year, two of the top ten in the military skills competition were recruits recruited by Long Wenzhang. But even the best talent scouts can make mistakes, and Xu Liang was one such recruit whom Long Wenzhang misjudged.

What angered Li Liansheng even more was that Long Wenzhang had misjudged Xu Liang but refused to admit it, and relentlessly begged and pleaded to recruit Xu Liang into the company. With this dragging on, the Eighth Company failed to get into the top three for the first time in the last regimental competition, losing face in the reconnaissance battalion. Therefore, Xu Liang has not yet been given the traditional Eighth Company induction ceremony.

"That Xu Liang, didn't I already want him? Why didn't you? This soldier is mine too, none of you can take him from me!" Li Liansheng knew that the company commander was deliberately bringing up his injury, so his tone became even more vicious.

Xue Gang glanced at his two company commanders. Such disputes were common, and he was too lazy to mediate. He directly asked Long Wenzhang, "What's this soldier's name? How were his other assessment results?"

“He ranked first in all subjects, but he is a student soldier, only 15 years old. According to regulations, he is not yet of enlistment age and cannot be assigned to the regular army. He can only serve as a conscripted militiaman,” Long Wenzhang reported truthfully.

Xue Gang thought for a moment and said, "In these extraordinary times, we are short of manpower, so let him join the company for training first. As for not being officially part of the organization, we'll make up for it in other ways. The company political instructor should do a good job of persuading him. It would be best if he was willing, but if he really wasn't, we shouldn't force him. After all, strictly speaking, he's a civilian, not a soldier, and he's still a child."

“Then he’ll definitely agree.” On this point, the company commander and the eighth company commander were in rare agreement.

After the assessment ended, the officers left one after another. When Li Liansheng walked up to Long Wenzhang, he poked the other man hard in the ribs and said, "You remember what you owe me! I only took Xu Liang in because of your many merits and because of you. You have to make it up to me. I'm taking this soldier now, you know?"

Long Wenzhang bluntly poked Li Liansheng in the ribs: "I know this soldier is from our Eighth Company, but Company Commander, Xu Liang may not be a good soldier, but I promised the director of their orphanage, and I also promised him, that I would train him to be a good soldier."

"Fine, a man's word is his bond! You be a man of your word, I support you, but I'm taking this soldier, you know that!" With that, he boarded the minibus waiting for the officers.

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