Got Duped

"Captain, we're all convinced. No more comparisons, no more comparisons," said a young man in Jaxon's squad who looked thin but very agile.

"Yeah, no more comparisons. We admit defeat. You're our squad leader, and you will be from now on."

"Right, right, we all support you."

The others echoed in agreement.

No one was joking. In their squad, the strongest man had been effortlessly defeated by Jaxon and was still lying unconscious on the ground. How could they possibly be Jaxon's match? Although some had initially thought Jaxon wasn't suitable to be their squad leader, now no one harbored such thoughts anymore.

They had been convinced by Jaxon's display of strength, even if it wasn't directed at them personally.

"Miss this opportunity today, and there won't be another chance in the future," Jaxon's gaze swept over several squad members.

"No need, we're all convinced that you should be our squad leader!" the agile young man quickly replied.

The others once again chimed in with their agreement.

"Alright then," Jaxon nodded and said, "Send two people to drag him back and wake him up."

Jaxon was, of course, referring to the burly man who had been knocked unconscious by him.

As soon as he finished speaking, two squad members immediately went over and dragged the man back.

The people from other squads, seeing that the contest was over, also dispersed. However, the impact of the event did not end there. Many people were talking about the just-concluded contest, and some would occasionally steal glances at Jaxon. It could be said that although the contest had not lasted long, it had earned Jaxon a certain amount of fame within the entire Third Brigade.

Jaxon didn't mind this. Since he had already taken action, he had anticipated that such a situation would arise. It had certain benefits for him as well, at least it would save him from some trouble.

By the time Jaxon had fully dressed again, the burly man had also been woken up by the squad members.

When he first woke up, his mind seemed a bit confused. However, upon seeing Jaxon, he immediately came to his senses and remembered what had happened before.

"Convinced now?" Jaxon asked, "If not, we can have another go."

"I'm convinced," the burly man hung his head and said dejectedly.

If he had narrowly lost, or if Jaxon had used some trick to win, the burly man might not have been convinced and might have demanded a rematch.

However, in the just-concluded contest, Jaxon had won with an overwhelming advantage. He had no ability to resist Jaxon at all, just like a child encountering a strong man. The gap in strength between them was too great, making further comparison unnecessary.

"I, Ox, admit defeat and accept the bet," the burly man said, "From now on, you are my squad leader, forever. If you tell me to go east, I won't even glance west. Even if it means climbing a mountain of blades or diving into a sea of fire, if I flinch, I'm not a man."

"It's not that serious," Jaxon said with a smile, "This military service only lasts three months. Once the time is up, we'll all go our separate ways and return to our homes. It's uncertain whether we'll see each other again. You just need to follow my orders for these three months."

Jaxon hadn't expected that the burly man, Ox, was so upright. He accepted defeat without any argument. It seemed that Jaxon had truly convinced him with his strength.

Upon hearing Jaxon's words, Ox's face took on a strange expression and said, "Captain, don't you know? Once you join the military service this time, you'll basically have to come every year. We're already registered, and we'll have to serve in the military every year. If the war situation is critical, we might be serving continuously without any chance to leave."

"What?!" Ox's words shocked Jaxon. "How come I didn't know?"

"The people sent by the county to recruit soldiers in our area said just that," the agile young man also said, "Captain, didn't you know?"

"I had no idea!" Jaxon said through gritted teeth.

Jaxon realized that the village head must have known about this situation but didn't tell him, probably fearing that he wouldn't come. No wonder the village head had been so kind, proactively reducing the cost of contracting the back mountain and giving him so much equipment. It turned out that military service was for life!

"Captain, you don't need to worry. Over the years, the imperial court has been relatively stable. The duration of a single military service won't be too long. We should be able to go back after three months," Ox said.

"Moreover, after serving continuously for ten years, as long as you're still alive, you won't have to serve in the military anymore," the agile young man also spoke up.

Ten years?!

Jaxon was shocked. If he really had to serve for ten years, even if the imperial court remained stable and he only had to serve for three months each year, that would still add up to a considerable amount of time. Would he still have time to farm, chop wood, and mine?

He didn't come to this world to be a soldier. He just wanted to live a peaceful life, farming and chopping wood.

He had been duped!

At this moment, Jaxon realized that he had been taken advantage of by the village head. The old man was too cunning, and Jaxon had been careless. He had known that the people in this world all had their own thoughts and were not mere data, so why hadn't he been more cautious?

If he had known about this situation earlier, he would never have agreed to come here. Even if he couldn't contract the back mountain, he could just secretly mine and chop wood. As for farming, he could find other villages to contract land. This place was so vast; it wasn't like Hermit Village was the only village around.

He had been severely duped!

"Is there really no way to shorten the military service time in advance? Do I have to serve for ten years?" Jaxon asked hopefully.

"There must be a way," the agile young man said, "The best way is to earn merits!"

"Earn merits?" Jaxon asked.

"Exactly," Ox also said, "Earning merits on the battlefield, the imperial court will reduce the military service time based on the situation. If the merits are significant, it's not impossible to be exempted from military service altogether."

Earning merits!

Jaxon now had a goal and motivation. He absolutely couldn't serve for ten years, so he had to earn significant merits on the battlefield.

"With merits, you can even become a real soldier. It's not impossible to be ennobled and promoted in the future!" Ox said with a look of longing.

Unlike Jaxon, who wanted to leave the military camp, Ox seemed to be very eager to be in the military and was keen on earning merits on the battlefield and making a name for himself in the army.

Jaxon inwardly scoffed at this. One general's success is built on the bones of countless soldiers. How easy was it to be ennobled and promoted? Out of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, only one or two might achieve that. The probability was far too low. No matter how he looked at it, neither he nor Ox and the others seemed like those lucky few.