“Oh! You’re quite discerning if you’re after my Da Hong Pao.” Commander Ma laughed lightly, as though he had found a friend who had the same taste in tea. He chose a small teacup, brewed the bright orange tea, and then poured him a cup.
Lin Mo did not stand on the ceremony. He brought the teacup to his lips and took a sip. The rich aroma permeated between his tongue and teeth with an endless aftertaste. There were not many varieties of beverages in the other world, just all sorts of fruit juices and alcohol. Lin Mo had never seen this kind of drink that required brewing even in the royal palace of the Sland Empire. The evocative taste refreshed his whole person, like the clear blue sky after the rain. It also had a faint effect of recovering some mental energy.
Compared to expensive alchemy restoration potions with similar effects, tea did not have any side effects and also had many advantages that many potions could not compare with.
Therefore, after experiencing the magic of tea first hand, Lin Mo became a loyal fan of tea. Such a beneficial beverage for magicians had been categorized by Lin Mo as a necessity to combat fatigue.
“How is it?” Commander Ma watched Lin Mo first smelling it before drinking, which was clearly an action unlike that of a novice. He said with some pride, “This pot of Da Hong Pao isn’t the best, but it still cost more than three thousand yuan per pound.”
“Great!” Lin Mo nodded. The taste gave him gentle stimulation to his psyche, and he was confident that he could successfully release the light mirror spell that he had barely managed to release a few days ago in one try.
Lin Mo put down the cup, and Commander Ma took the initiative to fill it up again before he put down the small palm-sized teapot. He sat on the sofa opposite Lin Mo and said, “Hehe, good that you like it! I don’t believe in the tea becoming inferior after drinking more than one cup. You don’t need to be polite here. Drink to your fill!”
“Thank you, Commander!” Lin Mo did not dare to forget his position. This was his top boss. Even if he was amicable, Lin Mo should not forget his position.
“You joined the base in November, right? How has it been here? Are you getting used to it?” Commander Ma looked at Lin Mo with a small teacup in his hand.
“Report, Commander, my colleagues and comrades on the base are treating me very well. I’m leading a happy and fulfilling life!” He had to give a standard cordial answer. But Commander Ma was just making an opening statement for the topic he was going to touch on.
“What is the progress of your training now? It should be time to enter live ammunition training!” Commander Ma smiled at Lin Mo. The sitting posture of the young and upright man in front of him was akin to a veteran of more than ten years—calm, serious, and maintained a high degree of discipline at all times.
Commander Ma had only seen this kind of temperament among the most elite warriors of other troops, a ‘Soldier King’. Only those who embodied military qualities to their bones, experienced the baptism of blood and war, and possessed superior physical fitness and wisdom could become a king of soldiers.
However, he had joined the base just two or three months ago, and it had only been half a year counting from the months he had joined as a recruit. He did not have anyone in his family in the military for the past three generations, yet he had this temperament. It made Commander Ma very curious.
The backgrounds of all the pilots who could report to aviation schools and then selected for this base were checked thoroughly. They were youths with good family backgrounds, had excellent political ideas, healthy psychological qualities, and next to no social experience.
“Report, Commander, I have not yet commenced live ammunition training, but I already have actual combat experience!” Lin Mo replied honestly. He had been training formation attacks and studying attack theory according to the training schedule. He would only start live ammunition classes next month, but it had been a great pleasure to head out for fieldwork recently.
Live ammunition was not a joke. Lives would be lost if you were not careful. The minimum cost of a missile was at least hundreds of thousands of yuan and would require a one-time use target drone, so every live ammunition training was equivalent to consuming an expensive high-end car.
Ordinary people could not afford either jet fighters or Giant Dragons.
In particular, the control of live ammunition was quite strict. Even within the military, not everyone could load bullets easily. There had been incidents where soldiers resented their officers so much that they shot them during live ammunition training.
“Oh! Regiment Commander Jiang spoke about this!” The curiosity in Commander Ma’s eyes grew even more. “How did you feel participating in actual combat on your first special mission? Did you feel nervous?”
Lin Mo replied honestly, “I don’t have many thoughts about it, and I wasn’t nervous. I aimed at the target and launched attacks until all the enemies were down.” This did not sound like a new recruit who had just been to the battlefield, but more like someone doing a trivial everyday thing.
Most first kills would produce undesirable negative psychological shadows. The political commissar on the base had tried performing a psychological intervention on Lin Mo when he returned from the mission as part of the routine. But he did not expect Lin Mo to be accustomed to life and death like a veteran who had experienced war. His psychological quality was too formidable, and he did not have any resistance to taking human lives.
“It seems like the information from the ‘Dark Night’ special forces team is true. Your aim is exceptional. How do you practice?” Commander Ma’s words gave Lin Mo information. The code name of the ground attack force from the night mission was Dark Night, a super cool name.
“Report, Commander. Since the first time I boarded a plane, I have been observing the sighting device and practicing how to aim and attack, so I am used to being ready to attack at any time in the air.”
Lin Mo suffered countless hardships while training to become a Dragon Knight in the other world. The greatest lesson he learned was that he could not expose his flaws at any time while observing and finding the flaws of others at the same time. If the precious Dragon Knight resources did not possess such vigilance, they were very likely to be assassinated by forces that viewed them as an eyesore.
“Great! You are doing very well. A real soldier cannot let their guard down at any time!” Commander Ma was very satisfied with Lin Mo’s answer. He refilled Lin Mo’s tea again. “I wonder if you are interested in a mission I have in hand. Of course, you can reject, and I can get someone else for it!”
Lin Mo’s heart stirred. Commander Ma’s questions had been following a very logical flow until now, and he could roughly guess the contents of this sudden mission.
“Report, Commander, Lin Mo promises to complete the mission,” Lin Mo said with his expression unchanged. Just like a standard professional soldier, he stood up at attention decisively.
Commander Ma nodded. He could mold him. His reaction was not slow either, so he straightforwardly told Lin Mo his true purpose.
“With the current international situation, the possibility of a large-scale war is very unlikely, and there aren’t many small-scale battles either. However, the battles between countries are now becoming more secretive, and the methods are getting more insidious.” Commander Ma pointed at the world map hanging on the wall and continued, “Our country’s international status is improving by the day. In the face of international challenges, we are still striving for peaceful and rapid stable development. China is a populous country spanning 9.6 million square kilometers, and it will definitely have an impact on the international economy as it develops. There are many jealous countries. After all, the most fundamental contest between countries is the test of national strength. Even countries with close ties with us may not necessarily sit back and watch the development of China. Underhanded tricks in secret are inevitable. Nowadays, there are organizations trying to stir things up in the country in the name of ideals, but they are, in fact, all excuses and driven by self-interest. They willingly accepted the sponsorship of certain countries or organizations in order to survive. Therefore, to prevent a small leak from sinking a great ship, we have to nip such ill intentions in the bud. China has established many special departments to deal with such matters. The Dark Night team you participated in previously is one of them.”
Commander Ma unveiled the unknown side of this country to Lin Mo.
This world was terrifying. It looked calm and peaceful on the surface, but underneath the cheerful appearance, there were forces at work that would make one’s blood turn cold.
Lin Mo was taken aback by Commander Ma’s words. After all, he had only been in contact with this world for merely half a year and had not thought too deeply about it. Ordinary people only knew the song and dance of peace and prosperity, but there had not been many days of true peace in human history.
Seeing Lin Mo’s thoughtful expression, Commander Ma explained, “The national army is mainly composed of active duty and voluntary soldiers. If a war breaks out, it will turn into volunteers and reserve forces. Usually, most people only receive military training and do not have any actual combat experience. They will not send special forces into operations directly. This method of sending in different troops at different timing was adopted even in the 1979 self-defense counterattack against the Vietnamese to conserve the combat power of various military regions. Although this method of elimination might be able to train up an elite force in a short period of time, it was cruel and resulted in large numbers of casualties. Therefore, the current special forces used to deal with international challenges are now selected through many layers of selection and possess the highest military quality.”
Commander Ma eyed Lin Mo. The steady disposition that Lin Mo maintained since he entered the office revealed a calmness that did not befit his age.
Lin Mo understood where Commander Ma was heading. He was about to join an actual combat team that could go to the battlefield at any time, and it would only be composed of the best elites. Ordinary people would be cannon fodder and be bombed into ashes by the second.
On the other hand, it showed the recognition that Commander Ma had for Lin Mo.
“I understand! Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Commander Ma. I will live up to the expectations placed on me by you and the other leaders!” As a warrior, Lin Mo would not retreat nor hesitate when faced with a challenge. The experiences he had gained on the battlefield told him that the more afraid he was, the easier it was for him to lose his life.