Zhāng 72

Soldier Li had a crying face. He secretly slapped his own mouth.

"Why did you talk so much? Why did you say anything?"

His mouth replied, "I didn't know the chief instructor could hear it from so far away, with so many people around."

Anyway, he was bound to get beaten up later, so Soldier Li watched more seriously now.

Watching others get beaten up was fun. He had to watch carefully.

Next, no matter how the formation inside the field changed, even if there was no movement, someone would always fall down screaming.

Especially those with unstable mental strength. Paige hated them more and more as she watched, so she paid special attention to them.

They'd stand up and fall down again, over and over, in all sorts of ways.

Because this competition had started because of them in the first place.

Usually, when the Deputy Chief Instructor trained them, those people were the loudest.

So everyone thought the Deputy Chief Instructor had reported it to Paige, and that's why she was especially targeting those troublemakers.

Deputy Chief Instructor: "Wrongfully blamed. I didn't do it. Even though I'm the Deputy Chief Instructor, I don't speak to the Chief Instructor as much as the soldiers do."

Paige had skill in hitting people. It hurt a lot, but they could still stand.

Even if someone wanted to fake being knocked out, they would feel embarrassed to do it.

So the people outside the field watched those inside flying through the air, standing up, falling, getting back up, then falling again.

"Did we look that stupid back then?" Soldier Li asked those around him.

"Probably not. I don't think we fell that many times," someone thought for a moment and answered.

"You'll get a chance to experience it again next time." Paige's voice sounded once more.

The person who answered looked around in fear. It was over. Paige had set her sights on him too.

Unable to find Paige, he glared at Soldier Li. "It's your fault. Why did you have to ask me?"

Soldier Li's eyes lit up. "Oh? So there's a benefit to this?"

He turned to chat with someone else next to him, but no one responded.

Elsewhere, the same thing was happening. Anyone who enjoyed watching others suffer was now on Paige's list.

She would give them extra attention during the group fight later.

Paige had only said she'd give them a chance for a mechanical battle. She never said group training would be canceled.

This one-sided beating continued for over an hour.

Soldier Wang looked around angrily, trying to find Paige.

There wasn't a single part of his body that didn't hurt. He couldn't count how many times Paige had thrown him down.

He gripped the gun in his hand tightly. If he saw even a trace of Paige, he swore he'd shoot her right in the head.

Then he suddenly took a kick in the chest and collapsed again.

Laughter broke out. Though it was quiet, Soldier Wang caught it.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Soldier Li, someone who had always clashed with him.

Soldier Li smiled even wider when he saw Soldier Wang looking at him.

This new recruit always acted like he was above everyone, just because he was a good shooter and came from Sichuan Province. He acted all high and mighty in the camp.

Soldier Li never gave him any face and would mock him whenever he had the chance.

The guy only had connections through the regiment leader. On his own, he was a nobody. Soldier Li didn't know what he was so proud of.

Now that he saw him getting humiliated, Soldier Li couldn't be happier.

Seeing that smile on Soldier Li's face, Soldier Wang's anger exploded.

Just a country bumpkin, what's he so proud of?

He was part of the Chairman's personal unit.

Hatred suddenly overcame reason.

He raised his gun and fired at Soldier Li.

Everything happened too fast. Soldier Li never expected Soldier Wang would actually shoot at him.

There were people everywhere, crowding all around. For a moment, Soldier Li forgot that he should be hiding.

He just stood there, watching the bullet fly straight toward him.

Soldier Wang gave a nasty smile. Wasn't this guy always laughing at him? Always making fun of him?

Then he would ruin one of his eyes and see if he could still act so proud.

Bang! A gunshot rang out, and the speeding bullet was knocked to the ground.

Bang! Another gunshot.

Then came a loud, painful scream.

"Ahhhhh!!!!" Soldier Wang held his left eye, screaming in pain.

As his screams echoed, everyone on the field started collapsing one by one and couldn't get up again.

At the same time, Paige appeared on the stage. Her face was cold as she looked at the man whose hands were covered in blood and who was now screaming while holding his eye.

Many people didn't know what had just happened. They only heard three gunshots. Then Soldier Wang was shot and fell to the ground, and everyone else also dropped to the ground.

Everyone couldn't help but think the chief instructor was too harsh.

Even if someone lost a hand or foot, they could believe it was an accident. But shooting someone in the eye? That was...

People started slowly walking in from outside the training field.

"Instructor, I'll take him to the medical room first," the assistant instructor asked softly.

"Go ahead," Paige waved her hand. She hadn't planned to take his life, just wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Instructor, wasn't that a bit too much?" someone in the crowd asked.

"Yeah, looks like he'll be blind now. Can he still be a soldier after this?"

The whispering voices in the crowd got louder.

"What, they shot at me without mercy, and I'm the one being too harsh?

You think losing an eye is worse than losing your life?

We agreed before the match that we'd take responsibility for any injuries or deaths.

So what, only instructors can die, but students can't get hurt?

Or do you think if you're weaker than the enemy on the battlefield, they'll give you a second chance to choose how to fight?"

Paige's calm voice echoed through the training ground.

Even though everything she said made perfect sense, people still felt uncomfortable.

Soldier Wang had only fired blindly because he couldn't find the target.

Actually, when they agreed to have a mechanical battle, everyone was already prepared for injuries.

But only for accidental injuries.

Paige had clearly aimed right at Soldier Wang's eye. That felt like too much.

The crowd kept murmuring. Soldier Li finally snapped out of it.

He pushed through the crowd and walked forward, shouting loudly:

"The instructor isn't cruel at all! She acted to save me.

You all know Soldier Wang and I never got along.

Just now, while lying on the ground, Soldier Wang saw me standing in the front row and actually aimed a gun at me.

That bastard aimed straight at my forehead.

If it weren't for the instructor, I'd be a corpse right now.

Remember what we agreed on? If someone's down, they're considered dead.

But Soldier Wang didn't play dead. He tried to hurt an innocent person.

A person like that deserves to die, and the instructor was kind enough to only blind one of his eyes. He got off easy." Soldier Li said angrily.

Paige: Thanks, but I wasn't being kind. He aimed at your eye, so I just returned the favor.

After hearing Soldier Li's words, people weren't sure what to think anymore.