Chapter 8: The Weakling Heir

The intelligence officer read from the telegram:

"A single-engine plane managed to take off amidst the siege, heading south! And on board... is a very special scientist!"

This was the first piece of good news amidst countless bad ones. The entire room felt a surge of hope. But then, the officer’s voice grew tense as he continued reading:

"However... the aircraft was attacked mid-air... engine failure... emergency landing... crew status unknown..."

As despair crept back into the room, Caitlyn let out a sigh and muttered,

"Next time, could you just read the whole message at once? This feels like a rollercoaster..."

Commander Raine swiftly pulled out a map, analyzing potential crash sites. He turned to the assembled squad leaders and issued his orders:

"Listen up! The plane likely crash-landed somewhere between Seattle and Olympic. At first light tomorrow, we’re splitting into five teams to search that area. Time is critical. If the scientist is alive, bring him back immediately! Move out!"

With Raine’s command, the squad leaders rushed off to prepare for the mission.

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"REBELS!"

At dawn, a thunderous voice shattered the dim sky of Rockhill Valley—Drill Sergeant Chad’s signature battle cry.

The recruits responded in unison, their voices shaking the air:

"NEVER RETREAT!"

With that, another grueling day of training began.

Among them, Alex stood tall, burning with determination.

"Anna... just wait and see, I’m going to become a hero!"

He wasn’t just telling himself this—he was already imagining the day he would take Anna to his secret garden, kissing her under the glow of luminous flowers.

It was a perfect dream.

But dreams are beautiful, while reality...

Reality was pure hell.

FIRST, HE CAME IN DEAD LAST IN THE ENDURANCE RUN AROUND THE VALLEY.

"Alex!" Sergeant Chad barked.

He couldn't climb over the obstacle bars.

"Alex!!" Chad shouted again.

He couldn't even crawl to the finish line.

"Alex!!!" Chad roared in frustration.

One failure after another, Alex’s performance was so abysmal that, by the end of training, even Chad gave up yelling. He just shook his head and sighed,

"Alex..."

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At noon, Alex sat outside the camp’s mess hall, utterly dejected. He didn’t want to go inside—not when he could hear the entire rebel force talking about him.

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"Hey, did you hear? That weakling is the sole heir of the Hawke family. Dude’s got no stamina, no skills, yet he had the guts to join the rebellion? The second he steps onto the battlefield, the machines will tear him apart. He’s gotta be brain-dead! Hahaha..."

The whole mess hall erupted with laughter, the mockery growing even crueler.

"Yeah, I heard the spoiled rich boy only joined to get close to Anna Raine. What a joke! Does he really think she’d fall for him? Just look at him struggling through training—it’s hilarious! Hahaha!"

Alex heard every word, loud and clear. Furious and humiliated, he stormed away from the mess hall and hid in the most secluded corner of the camp. He'd rather starve than listen to their insults.

But he was still human—he couldn’t just pretend he wasn’t hungry.

Suddenly, someone smacked him lightly and mocked,

"Told you this wouldn’t work... see for yourself."

Annoyed, Alex turned around, expecting another bully—only to see Maggie standing there, holding a steaming plate of food.

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After devouring his meal, Alex finally set his fork down, satisfied. Maggie, watching him with amusement, teased,

"Not to be mean, but… giving up your family business just to come here and get humiliated? That’s gotta be the worst plan ever. If anything, you’re even further from winning over Anna Raine now. Might as well quit while you’re ahead!"

But instead of getting angry, Alex smirked confidently.

"Give up? No way! Not everyone’s born a hero. Just give me time—I’ll catch up to Leo! I’ll make Anna recognize me!"

Hearing Alex go on and on about Anna, Maggie’s eyes dimmed for a brief moment. With a quiet sigh, she murmured,

"Time...? Maybe you don’t even need time—maybe someone’s already waiting for you..."

Unfortunately, Alex was too fixated on Anna to grasp the meaning behind her words. He simply rubbed his aching wrist from all the training.

"Here, take this."

Without another word, Maggie tossed something at him.

"What’s this...?" he asked, catching it.

It was a red wristband—one she had secretly woven during her work breaks. Trying to play it cool, Maggie scoffed,

"I figured your weak-ass body wouldn’t survive training, so I made you a wristband for support. Don’t get the wrong idea—I just feel bad for you. Do whatever you want with it, weakling heir."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Alex tightened the wristband around his wrist, determination burning in his eyes.

"...Just wait and see."

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The afternoon training session featured one-on-one sparring matches. The recruits stood by, waiting for their turn, but Alex didn't want to stand with them. Instead, he leaned alone against a large tree, waiting for his match.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out.

"Anna's here!"

Anna was at the side of the camp, inspecting her gear. She was preparing to depart for a rescue mission early the next morning.

The moment she appeared, the male recruits immediately became restless. However, unlike the others, Alex turned his head away, avoiding looking at her. He felt embarrassed about his current situation and didn’t want Anna to see him like this.

But for some reason, the other recruits all started looking at him.

"Why the hell is everyone staring at me?"

Alex assumed they were about to mock him again. He turned back with a scowl—only to freeze in shock.

Anna was standing right in front of him, her expression as cool and composed as ever.

"I've heard about your performance," she said.

Hearing this, Alex felt a wave of awkwardness wash over him. But then, he steeled himself. Screw it. No point hiding from the truth now. Meeting Anna’s gaze, he responded with confidence:

"Yeah… but that just means I have a lot of room to improve. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? I won’t give up!"

Anna studied him for a long moment. Though her expression was unreadable, a small smile eventually formed on her lips. She turned to leave, throwing a parting remark over her shoulder:

"I’ll be watching your progress. Be careful, rich boy."

With that, she picked up her gear and walked away under the watchful eyes of the other recruits.

Alex stood there, replaying her words in his mind.

"She’ll be watching my progress… What does that mean? Could it be…?"

As Alex pondered the implications, someone else had been watching from afar—Leo.

Leo, who was also set to depart on tomorrow’s rescue mission, had seen everything. A flicker of jealousy flashed across his face.

Just then, the training officer, Chad, called out:

"Alex, you're up!"

Alex stepped forward, but before he could enter the ring, a voice cut through the air.

"Sir, I’ll take this one."

Everyone turned toward the source of the voice, eyes widening in shock.

It was none other than the hero himself—Leo.