Military Academy

Captain King have arrived back in the hospital room within the hour. From the time when Arnold became unconscious, it have already been five days. Arnold was quite sure that his family was worried about him. However, he would sometimes go off without informing them, so they must be used to it by now. It was lucky that Arnold left all of his money to his mother before leaving for the army, otherwise they would have already starved to death.

The money could last them about two to three months without any problems. However, in that time, Arnold's mother would have needed to use a few more gene therapy medicines, compeletely depleting the reserves. Therefore, within these two months, Arnold have to earn enough money in order to buy more gene therapy from the black market.

If he could, he would have wanted to return to his father's laboratory, but it was currently too dangerous for him to move alone. Also, with the army knowing the secret within his body, he have much more to deal with on his hands.

*

Captain King walked in with 3 Level 4 zombie cores. He placed it on the work table that was beside Arnold's hospital bed. He took a rolling chair and placed it in front of the hospital bed without sitting down. "Troy Anderson, right?"

Arnold tried to imitate the orther army personnel he saw from before and immediately saluted while laying on his bed, shouting, "Sir, yes, sir!"

"At ease, cadet." Captain King furrowed his brows and said, "It seems that you did not have any training before in the army, am I right?"

Arnold nodded. He assumed that the captain was dissatisfied with the performance of his military-style etiquette and decided to just act like himself instead.

"You did quite a number to one of my men there, Troy. Do you have anything to say about that?" Captain King stared at Arnold, exuding an oppresive aura that seemed to be weighing down on Arnold's mind.

However, Arnold seemed to be unfazed and simply replied, "I apologize, sir! It's just that Commander Lewis was quite serious in his battle against myself so I had no choice but to up my game." Arnold was completely unapologetic about his behavior back in the duel. If he had not acted the way he did, he would have lost horribly. At least with his final act, he was able to take his opponent down with him.

Captain King suddently retracted his aura and gave a slight laugh, "Ha! I like you, kid! After you are discharged from the military hospital, Lewis will bring you to the military academy where you learn the basics. Oh, and here."

Captain King took out what looked like a tazer from the pocket of his military suit and held it against Arnold's neck. Then, a hologram immediately appeared on the side of the mechanical instrument. The instrument showed the current identity of Troy Anderson.

"Although normally when one joins the army, he would become a cadet until getting enough experience to be promoted into a private. However, due to your outstanding performance against one of our best men, the higher-ups decided to directly promote you to the rank of Sergeant. It will become effectively immediately after your graduation from the military academy. Of course, if you exhibit more exemplary results during the time you're in school, you will get further promotions." Captain King explained in a detailed fashion.

Arnold gave Captain King a grateful nod and shouted, "Thank you for your grace, Captain! I will work hard to prove to you that I am worthy of this rank!" Arnold normally liked to act like a lone wolf most of the time, but since he have now enlisted in the army, he must follow the unwritten rules. Therefore, he acted quite submissive to the captain in front of him, since his rank was much more superior than him.

Captain King patted on Arnold's shoulder and said, "Rest well. These 3 Level 4 zombie cores are your compensation for heading into a duel without prior notification. As you know, normally, we don't force other cadets to do this right after enlisting, so we had to compensate you. Also, the hospital fees from the injuries caused during the duel are waived. However, you would need to return to the hospital regularly for routine check-ups."

Arnold nodded in acknowledgement. He knew that even with Captain King's explanation, giving a cadet like him 3 Level 4 zombie cores was too much. It wast then that Arnold had confirmed that the captain and possibly his higher-ups knew about his body. The routine check-ups were probably just excuses to check on him. Arnold could not decline the captain's "reward" so he simply accepted the zombie cores with grace. He was quite suspicious about the routine check-ups that are going to be performed in the future, but he would deal with that later. At this time, Arnold had another question, "Sir, what do you mean by the military academy?"

Captain King nodded, "Right. You might not know, but when one enlists for the army, there are two routes that they can go through. One is the normal route where cadets would simply get some regular training before being sent to the fields, the other is the elite route where students would join the military academy to learn for a few years before graduating. They would then be groomed to become the next generation's commanders."

This was complete news to Arnold, as the army don't really advertise such things towards normal citizens. Captain King did not say this, but most people who went on to the elite route were people from wealthy families who paid to become students. Only people with high potential can enter the elite route the normal way without charge. The captain, of course, have arranged for Arnold to go through the elite route. One was to train him so that he can become a good asset in the future, the other is to keep him close for a few years and observe him while his subordinates do a much thorough investigation on Arnold. Of course, he would never tell any of this to Arnold.

Arnold simply nodded, completely unfazed by the fact that he was now placed in the elite military academy. He simply frowned and asked, "Do I need to pay tuition for the military academy?"

Captain King shook his head. "No. As you are a scholarship student, tuition is free. Of course, if you want elite equipments such as bullet-proof armor, mobile suits or anything similar, you would need to rent or buy it for a fee from the armoury. You can earn money by doing missions posted on the board at the front entrance of the military academy."

Arnold sat on his bed and contemplated, then he gave Captain King a respectful smile and said, "Thank you so much for spending your precious time to explain things to me, Captain King. You must be very busy from your work schedule. I must not be bothering you anymore." He gracefully sat up from his bed and gave a submissive bow. Bowing was not an official etiquette on his base, but a lot of older people, especially people with yellow skin, use this to show a sign of respect to others.

Captain King acknowledged Arnold's bow and simply gave a military salute. He made a smirk and said in a joking manner, "The first thing you should learn in the academy is how to give a proper military salute! I'm going to be leaving now, good luck with your studies and I hope I'll get to see you soon!"

Captain King gracefully turned his back towards Arnold and walked away in a confident manner, giving off the vibe of an experienced commander. Arnold simply narrowed his eyes as he stared at the captain's retreating back

*

Five hours before Arnold awoke from his slumber, Captain King was sitting in front of a work desk, facing a man in front of him. The man had slicked back gray hair. The wrinkes on his forehead showed his age. However, his chiselled jawline along with his gracefully styled beard caused the man in front of the captain to exude a mature charm.

Captain King had brought a kettle and two small ceramic cups with him, pouring them onto the cups. He resprectfully served the cup to the man in front of him. The man took the cup and gave the tea a sip, smelling the strong aroma that came off of the ceramic cup.

"So what brings you here today, Brigadier General King?" The man asked in a commanding tone. However, the intonation seemed slightly more friendly than one between a commander and his subordinate.

"General Young. I've come to you with an urgent report." Captain King immediately tapped on his wrist. A hologram suddenly appeared from where he tapped. He immediately typed on his arm for awhile before stopping and facing towards General Young again. "I've just send you a medical report of a cadet that just went through a spar with one of our best men."

The general took a look at the report through the computer sitting diagonally across from him. The computer was placed in a way so that the guest would not be able to see the screen of the computer. After reading what was on the report, the general immediately narrowed his eyes. He saw the photo of the boy at the top left corner of the report. The face was exceedingly familiar. However, the name noted on the report was different from the one he was told.

"Are you sure everything written in the report is true?" The general asked in a solemn tone.

Captain King nodded and replied seriously, "Yes. I'm afraid so."