Discussing The Correct Posture To Enjoy Dog Food

Chapter 155 - Banana Flavored Boss Gong (15)



Chapter 155 - Banana Flavored Boss Gong (15)



Translated by Hua Li ^_~



“There was something like that?”


After hearing about Gou Liang’s “tragic ordeal,” the leader of the Jiuzhou ability-user squad was visibly shocked.


Of course, he knew Gou Liang wasn’t someone to be trifled with—nor someone with a forgiving temperament. And considering Ji Guangyuan had struck him across the face, even he wouldn’t be able to let it go if he were in the same position.


But this was a time of crisis, after all. Even though Ji Guangyuan was only a Level 2 ability-user, the base had invested a lot into training him. The squad leader wasn’t keen on letting a personal grudge between Gou Liang and Ji Guangyuan blow up into a big incident… But then again, the beast cores used to train ability-users came from Shi Buyu and Gou Liang. If they wanted to deal with someone, who was he to interfere?


The leader felt torn and a little awkward as he said, “Teacher Tang, Major Shi, how would you prefer to handle this matter?”


Yu Lin, seeing his hesitation and noticing that neither Shi Buyu nor Gou Liang planned to answer, chuckled and said, “Captain Chen, don’t worry. Our boss and Teacher Tang aren’t murderers or the type to kill someone over a grudge. But Ji Guangyuan is a nasty piece of work, and we ought to give you a heads-up.”


“Back then, Teacher Tang woke up a little later than others because he absorbed the beast blood more slowly. Ji Guangyuan encouraged the survivors in City A to dump Teacher Tang among the corpses and leave him to die. His former boss was Jia Nanzhu and they actually left him there without even a bottle of water or a piece of bread. If it weren’t for us, who knows what would’ve happened to Teacher Tang.”


“If it were me, not killing him on the spot would be considered merciful!”


Yu Lin was genuinely furious.


Even though they hadn’t been especially close to Gou Liang back then, they had looked down on Jia Nanzhu from the bottom of their hearts for treating a living person like a corpse.


When the leader heard this backstory, any thoughts of pleading for Ji Guangyuan’s case vanished. He frowned. “Sounds like Ji Guangyuan is rotten to the core.”


He sighed. “Actually, this recent incident with the squad being endangered… Ji Guangyuan bears responsibility for that too.”


Previously, the Jiuzhou ability-user squad had only fought Level 1 mutant beasts in real combat. While they’d received extensive remote training from Shi Buyu and others over the past year, only five Level 3 users had undergone in-person training in the Death Zone. The rest were newcomers with no direct battle experience.


So the captain had emphasized caution. The patrol team had clearly defined routes that would avoid Level 3 beasts.


The reason one squad accidentally entered a Level 3 beast’s territory was because Ji Guangyuan—then acting as the sub-leader and operator of the beast detector—had clearly seen that it was a Level 3 creature but, greedy for merit, still led the squad of ten Level 2 users into the danger zone. Not only did he hide the truth, he intentionally deceived them.


The captain said gravely, “If an injured member hadn’t quietly reported what really happened, I might’ve believed Ji Guangyuan’s severe injuries were from heroically saving others, instead of him rushing to steal the credit.”


“Hah! Like dog, like master—no wonder he was Jia Nanzhu’s lackey,” Zhou Gao scoffed.


He immediately thought of when Jia Nanzhu recklessly fought a mutant beast, resulting in hundreds of survivors dying. The memory still made his blood boil, and he had never liked Ji Guangyuan, Jia Nanzhu’s top bootlicker. Now his opinion was even worse.


Qin Bei muttered a curse too.


Gou Liang frowned. Shi Buyu squeezed his fingers comfortingly and asked, “Since that’s the case, Captain Chen, I assume you already have a plan to deal with him?”


The leader quickly replied, “This kind of rotten apple can’t stay in the squad. He might get someone killed. I plan to send him and the other injured back to base under the pretense of recovery. But I won’t be letting him return.”


“Captain Chen, you’re quite gentle with your men,” Shi Buyu said with a chuckle.


The leader looked embarrassed. Of course, he understood this wasn’t a compliment—it was a veiled criticism for being too soft.


“Then, Major Shi, what do you think would be the proper course of action?”


“A man like that doesn’t deserve to be a soldier.”


Shi Buyu said seriously, “Since he’s made such a serious mistake, don’t try to sweep it under the rug. A mistake is a mistake, and it must be punished! Make the situation clear to everyone—let this serve as a warning. This kind of thing cannot be allowed to happen again.”


As more people awakened abilities, many let their self-importance balloon out of control. Ji Guangyuan was just one of the more foolish examples.


They needed to make him a lesson. If they didn’t issue a severe punishment now, what discipline would the squad have left? If others got similar ideas, lives could be lost. And if it happened again in the future, who would bear the blame—the reckless fool or the captain who let it slide?


Hearing this, the captain grew solemn. “Major Shi, I hadn’t considered it that way.”


With the world’s population reduced from billions to three million, each survivor was treated like precious treasure. So even when people made mistakes, if no one died, the leadership would go easy on them. But he hadn’t considered how unfair that was to the innocent—or how dangerous it could be.


Now that he understood, he knew what he had to do.


Seeing the matter concluded, Gou Liang finally spoke: “Captain Chen, there’s something I’d like to trouble you with.”


Captain Chen immediately made himself attentive. After hearing what Gou Liang asked, even though he was already deeply disappointed in Ji Guangyuan, he still couldn’t help lighting a metaphorical candle for him.


Soon after Shi Buyu and his group left, the Jiuzhou ability-user squad held an emergency meeting at their camp. In front of 500 fellow ability-users, Captain Chen reported Ji Guangyuan’s actions.


When he finished, the captain turned to the culprit. “Ji Guangyuan, you hid the presence of a Level 3 mutant beast and deliberately misled your team into danger. I’ve already verified this from multiple sources. What do you have to say for yourself?”


Ji Guangyuan looked at the leader in shock and cried out loudly, “I’m innocent!”


“Leader, it really was the detector that malfunctioned. I didn’t know we’d run into a Class Three beast. If I had known, why wouldn’t I have run away? Why would I end up the most seriously injured in the team? Leader, I stayed behind to cover everyone’s retreat—that’s why I got hurt so badly. I wasn’t looking for any credit, but saying this… it’s really too unfair to me…”


He looked heartbroken, choked up for a moment, then continued, “This accident wasn’t anyone’s fault, and no one died. Even if the base hears about it, they won’t blame anyone. Leader, you can’t… you can’t treat me like this.”


He spoke in a disjointed, incoherent way, but everyone understood what he meant—he was accusing the leader of pushing all the blame onto him to avoid responsibility.


Though they didn’t know the full truth, and they trusted the leader more than Ji Guangyuan, some unease started creeping into their hearts.


…If what Ji Guangyuan said was true, and the leader was really treating someone who entrusted their life to him this way, that would be deeply chilling.


The leader didn’t rush to defend himself, but someone else couldn’t stand to watch Ji Guangyuan’s performance any longer. Leaning on a crutch, they stepped forward and said, “Ji Guangyuan, quit pretending! I’m the one who reported you. If you’ve got a problem, take it up with me—don’t slander the leader!”


The speaker was Xiao Li, a patrol team member who had been in the same squad as Ji Guangyuan.


“What? You’re the one who reported me?!” Ji Guangyuan’s eyes bulged in fury. He shouted, “Unbelievable! I risked my life for you guys, and you stab me in the back? You ungrateful bastard!”


“Screw you, Ji Guangyuan! You’ve got the nerve to say that?!”


Xiao Li could no longer contain his rage. He slammed his crutch down and pointed at Ji Guangyuan, cursing, “Stop treating everyone like idiots!”


“Saving us, my ass. If you hadn’t rushed to the front like a maniac, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt by the Class Three beast. Claiming you stayed behind to cover us—what, you think we’re blind?! You were already injured and just couldn’t run as fast, that’s why you got left behind! And when the others were injured, did you help even once? When the rescue team arrived, if you weren’t guilty as hell, why did you immediately throw your detector at the beast instead of running? You were destroying evidence!”


“Don’t slander me! I—”


Before Ji Guangyuan could finish, the leader cut him off coldly: “If you didn’t do it on purpose, then explain why you led them off course and outside the safe patrol zone.”


“I didn’t! Leader, I…”


“What’s next? You gonna tell me both the detector and the navigation device broke?”


“Yes! That’s exactly what happened, Leader!” Ji Guangyuan shouted, having completely run out of excuses.


The leader let out a cold laugh, and the way the others looked at Ji Guangyuan immediately shifted.


“Reporting to the leader! I monitor the navigation systems around the clock, and they’ve never had any issues. But just before the Fifth Squad’s accident, their navigation signal suddenly cut out. It wasn’t a malfunction—someone shut it off!”


“Reporting to the leader! I was meaning to say this earlier. I personally inspected every squad’s ability detectors before they were issued. The one given to the Fifth Squad was brand new. There’s no way it would break after just two hours!”


The tech specialists in charge of the navigation and detection systems reported loudly.


Ji Guangyuan’s face turned red with embarrassment, and he stammered helplessly, unable to refute any of it.


Everyone could see the guilt in his anxious expression and erupted with fury.


Especially those who were injured in the incident—if the leader hadn’t been holding them back, they would’ve beaten him to death for risking their lives for his own gain.


The leader said, “I’ll report Ji Guangyuan’s case truthfully to the base and let the higher-ups decide. But all of you better learn from this!”


“Don’t think a Level Two ability makes you invincible. You’ve all seen a Class Three beast with your own eyes now. Not even our five Level Three users could bring it down without risking our lives. Deputy Captain Wang was seriously injured in that fight! Let me make one thing clear: no matter the time or place, you follow orders. No going rogue. If there’s another Ji Guangyuan, I don’t care what level they are—I’ll burn them alive myself!”


“Yes, sir!”


Everyone had now fought a Class Three beast and gained a clearer understanding of their own limits. None of them would make the same mistake Ji Guangyuan had.


Though Ji Guangyuan still refused to admit guilt, no one believed his contradictory excuses anymore.


Before he was sent away, he begged to see the leader. For some unknown reason, the leader agreed and came to him shortly after.


Ji Guangyuan hadn’t expected much, but his eyes lit up in surprise when the leader arrived. He sobbed and pleaded, “Leader, I know I messed up. I didn’t think the beast would be that powerful. I just wanted to drive it off before it reached the base…”


“Enough!”


The leader snapped. “Spare me your nonsense. If you weren’t acting for your own selfish reasons, why didn’t you report the Class Three beast when you spotted it?”


“I… I…” Ji Guangyuan couldn’t answer, and finally gave in: “Leader, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me. Put in a good word for me—I’m a metal-type ability user, the base needs my strength, right? I swear I’ll never make a mistake like this again, I’m begging you…”


“If you knew this would happen, why didn’t you think about it sooner? The base values every ability user, but it won’t crumble without you. Don’t think you’re that important.”


Seeing Ji Guangyuan still trying to excuse himself, the leader impatiently snapped, “Enough. I didn’t come here to listen to your whining. I heard you know Tang Tang—Teacher Tang?”


“What? Teacher Tang… Tang Tang? You mean that fat guy from the Tang family in City A?!”


In his chaotic mind, Ji Guangyuan suddenly remembered that chubby guy—when Shi Buyu had rescued them from the vertical-pupiled tyrant beast before they reached Jiuzhou Base, that fat guy had indeed been with them.


Hearing the leader speak so highly of him, Ji Guangyuan’s mind turned, and he instantly began scheming.


He put on a look of surprise and feigned excitement. “Yes, I know Tang Tang! We’re both from City A. When the apocalypse first broke out, it was me and my old boss who took him in—we saved his life. Leader, are you looking for him? I’m from the same hometown. If I run into him, I can definitely talk to him.”


This might be his last chance. Even though Ji Guangyuan knew full well that he wasn’t even worth a scallion to Gou Liang, he still tried to cling to any semblance of a relationship.


The leader’s hopes for Ji Guangyuan’s character completely vanished. He sneered and said, “Wow, you’ve got some face on you. Yes, Teacher Tang remembers you very well. When he came to help with the rescue, he specifically asked me to take care of you.”


Ji Guangyuan was puzzled but quickly overwhelmed with joy.


“Really? So Teacher Tang, he—”


The leader, thoroughly disgusted, didn’t want to waste another second and cut him off: “Teacher Tang said back at the Jia Family shelter, he owed a lot to you. Thanks for slapping him a dozen times. Thanks for kicking him. Thanks for treating him like a burden and dumping him in a pile of corpses so he could die with dignity. If not for that, how could he be living the good life with Mr. Shi now? So really—thank you, Ji Guangyuan.”


Ji Guangyuan’s heart pounded in terror. “That’s… that’s impossible…”


How could that damn fatty know what happened? Wasn’t he unconscious back then?


The leader said, “I’m just here to pass along Teacher Tang’s thanks. Also, he told me to assure you that once you return to Jiuzhou Base, he’ll be sure to thank you properly!”


He emphasized the word “thanks” with biting sarcasm, then turned to leave.


Ji Guangyuan, horrified, grabbed his leg and burst into tears. “It’s all a misunderstanding, I swear! I’ll apologize to Teacher Tang in person. Leader, please, let me see him—whatever he wants me to do, I’ll do it!”


The leader yanked his leg free and said coldly, “You think I have that kind of pull? Hah, maybe you don’t know—Teacher Tang is now the top researcher at Jiuzhou Institute. Even Commander Yao has to respectfully call him ‘Teacher.’ And who the hell are you? Sit tight and wait for his thanks.”


“No, please don’t! Leader, I’m begging you, let me see him—I’ll kneel and apologize, anything, as long as he forgives me!”


Ji Guangyuan wailed.


The leader looked down at him from above.


Watching Ji Guangyuan put on this clown act didn’t bring the leader any pleasure—only a sense of despair.


From a purely selfish standpoint, Ji Guangyuan’s actions might not seem entirely wrong. People are selfish by nature. But a person has to have a conscience. If you’re capable of helping your fellow man and choose not to—if you can throw someone’s life away without guilt or hesitation—then who could ever trust you to have their back?


The leader’s last shred of regard for him vanished. Then he added, “Teacher Tang did say that if you sincerely apologize, he might consider forgiving you.”


“Really?!”


Ji Guangyuan didn’t notice the coldness in the leader’s expression. Overjoyed, he asked, “Then what should I do?”


The leader replied, “However much sincerity you’ve got—show it. No one can teach you how.”


Ji Guangyuan racked his brain, then suddenly slapped himself across the face.


“It’s my fault! I was blind, heartless—it’s all my fault. I slapped Teacher Tang, so I’ll pay him back tenfold—no, a hundredfold! Please, Teacher Tang, forgive me!”


As he spoke, he began slapping himself hard, over and over again.


The leader was startled. He hadn’t expected someone to stoop so low.


Ji Guangyuan knew full well that Jiuzhou Base would never kill him. He also understood that after the mistakes he’d made, he’d never be trusted again.


But he still hoped that Gou Liang would forgive him, say a few good words on his behalf, erase his past mistakes, and help him earn a second chance at the base.


…But had he really reflected on what he’d done wrong?


Watching Ji Guangyuan beat himself with such vicious force only made the leader’s heart grow colder. When his face was so swollen it was barely recognizable, the leader finally, mercifully, interrupted his cries of “Teacher Tang, I was wrong—” and said, “Teacher Tang said… he was just joking earlier. He won’t forgive you.”


Ji Guangyuan’s hand froze mid-slap. His face, bloated like a pig’s head, turned up in disbelief.


“Teacher Tang said, sorry, but he doesn’t want to have such a good memory.” After a pause, the leader added, “You’re on your own.”


With that, he turned and left without looking back.


Ji Guangyuan knelt there, stunned for a long time, before suddenly letting out a shrill, miserable wail.


Gou Liang curled his lips as he withdrew his gaze from the system surveillance. Idiot. If it weren’t for my darling Shi Xiaoyu disliking violence, I’d have made sure you didn’t even have a place left to cry.


[Xiaosi: Master, ever since entering the Transitional World, you’ve gotten so much more irritable.]


[Gou Liang sighed: Can’t help it. Once you’ve experienced what it’s like to be toyed with by the Lord God… once is enough.]


As the mutant beasts roared outside the car, Gou Liang furrowed his brows. If he could help it, he never wanted to step into a Transitional World again.


“What’s wrong, Xiao Keng’er?”


Shi Buyu, sharp as ever, noticed the shift in his mood. He paused his remote training session and walked over.


Gou Liang opened his arms. “You haven’t touched me in three hours, twenty-five minutes, and seven seconds.”


Shi Buyu saw his pitiful look and chuckled, scooping him up and gently stroking his back. “My fault.”


And so, in Jiuzhou Base’s top-secret command center, General Yao and the remaining five Level 3 ability-users watched in stunned silence as Major Shi, after leaving for just a moment, returned with a handsome young man with dimples—boldly plopping him into his lap and saying:


“Now then, Teacher Tang and I will lead the next round of mutant beast attack simulation training.”


General Yao: …Shoving dog food in an old bachelor’s face like this—absolutely ruthless.



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