Rebirth of MC

In the dim room, two naked men are wrapped around each other on a soft two-seater sofa

"Hmph, trash. Fainting away just like that." Xu Mingyi snorts coldly, shoving the unconscious Disciple Zhao to the ground, expression full of loathing.

"Tsk, tsk. This person was almost sucked dry by you and you still have the cheek to call him trash." A low chuckle rings out as another black-clothed man emerges from the corner of the room. "Un, this "Yang Absorption Art" is rather amazing. Priest Xu, you're becoming more and more enchanting."

"Would you like a taste of me?" Not the least bit shy about his current bare state, a slender hand strokes across the sofa sensually, a pink tongue licking his lower lips. Attractive visage, flawless skin, he gives off a steamy, romantic image.

"I'll pass. Let those fools become your thralls." That stranger scoffs, glancing at Xu Mingyi with a trace of scorn.

"Is that so, truly a pity. I, on the other hand, would love to have a little taste of you." Xu Mingyi offers a dazzling smile before leisurely getting to his feet. "This fool is the nephew of a battalion commander in this safe zone. As long as one uses him properly, you will be able to dig out a lot of information. Also, I want everything you can get on someone called Huo Zaiyuan. Due to his excellent relationship with Long Zhanye, I have no way of getting close. In addition, that Head priest received him as a personal disciple for some unfathomable reason. Tsk"

"That little beauty is rather fine." The black-clothed man chuckles lightly before retreating back into the shadows.

As the stranger's shadow vanishes, quiet settles in the room once again as though there never was an intruder.

Standing next to the unconscious, naked man on the floor, Xu Mingyi remains on his feet, unmoving, for a long moment. His expression is extremely solemn as he stares blankly ahead, deep in thought.

"Huo Zaiyuan, I have no grudge against you. Onlywho asked you to be an obstacle in my waydon't blame me for being cruel and vicious."

~~~

In the large lobby of the Mission Hall, a large assembly of soldiers are gathered around. With so many military personnel in one place, this uncommon sight attracts a lot of attention from the other survivors.

Right in the middle of this crowd of soldiers, Long Zhanye, Huo Zaiyuan, Qin Jun, Zuo Hanyang and You Nuandong are clustered tightly together, heads down and murmuring to each other.

"Un, I'll put little Yuan's name down for squad captain," Pen in hand, Long Zhanye mumbles as he prepares to fill in the form.

"Hold on." Huo Zaiyuan's hand darts out to stop him, expression serious. "The position of captain should be yours. Write my name in the members section as the squad's Taoist priest."

"But I would like you to be captain," Long Zhanye replies with an equally serious expression.

"You are more suited for the position." Huo Zaiyuan shakes his head firmly.

Long Zhanye possesses outstanding leadership skills. He is able to remain cool-headed when faced with every kind of circumstances and issue effective commands under pressure. Therefore, no one else is more qualified for this position than him.

"Boss, listen to little Yuan. I will be under a lot of pressure if you are a mere team member," Zuo Hanyang voices his protest.

"That's right ah. That's right ah. Boss, don't use this opportunity to act all sweet and mushy with eldest sister-in-law in front of us bachelors. You will incur a lot of hate on your person," A soldier calls from within the watching crowd.

"Yeah. There will be a lot of resentment," Yet another says as he nods his head.

"Who dares?!" The gentle and doting expression on the senior officer's face disappears in a flash, replaced by a fearsome scowl as he sweeps his gaze over the gathered soldiers.

"Don't dare!"

The bunch of soldiers have endured countless punishments and intense training under senior officer Long. Already, each of them has developed a keen sixth sense able to see the wind and set the helm[1]. As soon as Long Zhanye's face darkens, every one of them snaps to attention, shaking their heads in denial.

"Stop scaring them. Fill it up quickly. Write your name next to squad captain." Placing a hand on either side of his face, Huo Zaiyuan gently urges Long Zhanye to turn away from the soldiers.

A simple touch from Huo Zaiyuan immediately causes the threatening gaze to morph into a soft smile. Upon seeing the change, the soldiers heaves a giant sigh of relief.

Eldest sister-in-law is really full of love ah.

Under Huo Zaiyuan's persuasion, Long Zhanye finally writes his name in the space next to squad captain.

"What about vice-captain?" After jotting down his name, Long Zhanye zeros in on Huo Zaiyuan once more, his gaze all but shouting "write little Yuan, write little Yuan".

"I'm the Taoist priest," Huo Zaiyuan repeats with a patient smile.

"And I'm the medic, so I can't be vice-captain." Qin Jun shakes his head, clearly not interested in the position.

"Pick me! Pick me!" Zuo Hanyang raises his head, eyes sparkling.

"Are you capable enough?" You Nuandong mumbles.

"How am I not capable? Right adjutant, stop constantly raining on my parade." Zuo Hanyang glares at him, puffing out his cheek in indignation.

Hmph, the right adjutant is so annoying. Always bullying him and now wanting to snatch away this vice-captainposition. No, he cannot let that happen. The position of vice-captain will be his.

"Boss, just put his name down. But only if I'm there to look after him," Staring dully at Zuo Hanyang's irritated face, You Nuandong says in a low voice.

"Un, I'll feel relieved with you watching over him." With another flourish of his pen, Zuo Hanyang's name is written in the box, with You Nuandong's attatched to the custom title of vice-captain's supervisor (babysitter).

Seeing his name next to vice-captain, Zuo Hanyang grins in satisfaction. At last, he is able to savour the superior feeling of crushing the right adjutant beneath his figurative feet. (Right adjutant: Would that ever come true?)

"Qin Jun's the medic and the Taoist priest is little Yuan. Our technician will be little Qing and reinforcement is Ruo Gan," Long Zhanye murmurs as he speedily fills in the form.

One requirement for mercenary squads is for them to have a minimum of ten members. Even if Long Zhanye alone is comparable to an entire squad, as long as there is not enough members, the squad cannot be given the go-ahead. Thus, Long Zhanye made a public announcement to call for volunteers. The result was this large crowd of soldiers gathered in the lobby, effectively forming the largest reinforcement team for a single mercenary squad.

When the completed form is handed over to the person in charge, said person scans the pages for a moment before lifting his head to stare at Long Zhanye's group. His gaze then shifts to the large gathering of solemn-faced soldiers behind. Without further ado, he stamps an approval on the form.

"Long Yuan squad meets the required standards. I hereby declare the official establishment of this team. You may accept any mission that catches your fancy, from E-ranks to S-ranks. Of course, the higher the rank, the more points rewarded," The person in charge drones as he hands a card over to Long Zhanye. "With this, you are eligible to retrieve necessary supplies from the mechanic department, the School of Taoism and the medical bay."

"Un, when can we start undertaking missions?" Long Zhanye asks as he picks up the card.

"Whenever you wish. As long as the squad captain inserts their identity card into the computer over there and accepts one of the missions on display, you are good to go. The time limit of each mission is set by the person who posted the assignment. If the time limit is exceeded, it is also up to the person to determine if it is a success or failure."

"Un." Long Zhanye nods in understanding, then glances at Huo Zaiyuan. "Little Yuan, shall we accept a mission and have a little fun?" After spending so long idling in the safe zone, he is really itching for some action.

Although a minimum of ten members is necessary to establish a squad, the number of people going on each mission is up to the captain to decide.

"All right. There are still seven more days before little Qing can leave the factory. Zhanye and I will undertake a short term mission and take a look at the situation outside." Huo Zaiyuan addresses the others.

"Okay."

Since Long Zhanye is the one who openly invited Huo Zaiyuan for a date, no one dares object. After all, waiting a few more days to go out on a mission is nothing to fuss about, right?

Footnotes:

[1] See the wind and set the helm = To be flexible and take advantage of the situation. Know when to ease off sb/smth.