The crowd had been chaotic for a long time, and at 6:08, the queue was still very disorganized. People were feeling anxious, and the whole queue appeared even more chaotic.
"Goodness! What's going on here? It's like a market! Oh! This is so disappointing. Look! It's been over 8 minutes!" Benjamin Blake cupped the morning dew, and there was no one in sight on the walls of the courtyard on both sides of the playground. He was the only person there, but still he made them feel oppressed.
"Oh, the market has finally sold out! Do any of you have any leftovers? I want to buy some to make soup!" Benjamin Blake said jokingly.
The queue was finally in order, with nearly ten thousand people, forming nearly a hundred phalanxes, including the three thousand plus punished escapees from the previous night. Benjamin Blake looked at the large group of people, even though there were no longer the two hundred or so soldiers behind him, he still dared to face them, smiling and saying, "Why is everyone so quiet? Are there still people missing?"
The crowd looked at each other, not knowing how to respond. Benjamin Blake shook his head and said, "I knew you wouldn't know! You're all a bunch of rubbish. Even the most basic assembly took so much time. Yesterday, if you came, you should have said so. I've said I'd retaliate."
If an ordinary person heard that the instructor was going to retaliate, they would certainly not dare to come forward. But those who had been fighting with him for so long, and had persisted until the end, he believed that they were not cowards, and would definitely come forward. But reality did not match his expectations. It had been quiet for a long time, and he had not seen a single person.
"Darn it, it looks like we are really short of people. A bunch of ungrateful things. Stand here and wait for me! I'm going to have breakfast." Benjamin Blake was about to leave, but he saw a figure emerging through the morning mist, which had not yet dissipated in the deep mountains. The figure looked somewhat thin in the mist, but walked exceptionally steadily.
Benjamin Blake saw the person clearly and cursed harshly, "Don't you know I already sounded the assembly call? Still coming slowly. Just because you fought me to a draw yesterday, you think you're special?"
Barrett Walker did not intend to do anything special; he had simply fallen asleep. The mountain air was cool, and he had fallen asleep from exhaustion. Vaguely hearing the cursing, he suddenly sat up, and it was only halfway through that he remembered it was late, and that he had not eaten anything all night, and his stomach was hungry. There was no need to be in such a hurry, so he walked slowly.
"You can curse all you want! I'm already late." Barrett Walker now had a very nonchalant attitude. He listened to Benjamin Blake's angry curses and walked directly into the crowd.
"Who is this person, so audacious? He dares to ignore this smiling demon?"
"He's not just audacious, he's downright arrogant! I'm going to idolize him from now on. To make a mistake and still be so brazen."
"Hmph! A crowd-pleaser who will only bring us bad luck!"
Baren nudged Danny with his crutch, accidentally hitting his wound and causing Danny to curse angrily. Baren quickly told him to keep it down and asked, "Doesn't this person seem familiar to you?"
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"He does seem quite familiar," Danny said seriously, looking at Barrett Walker, his handsome, thin face and familiar features, and exclaimed, "Is that Barrett Walker?"
"Could you be a little quieter?" Everyone was gossiping, but Danny's sudden exclamation scared everyone and they hushed him, asking if he wanted to get them all into trouble.
"Keep it down. Dammit! One of these days, we'll both be made out to be public enemies by you!" Baren said fiercely. "You've noticed, haven't you? I wasn't sure last night because it was too dark, but it's really him!"
"Ha! I knew he was pretty awesome! He's brought us glory, making us proud!" Danny looked at Barrett Walker with a sense of satisfaction.
"Enough already, you don't even know if he recognizes us!" Baren seemed a bit forlorn. After all, they hadn't been in contact for so long, and thinking about the scenes they had shared in high school and on Mount War God, he didn't know what Barrett Walker really thought of him. There was a complex mix of pride in Barrett Walker and a fear of acknowledging him.
"Listen, you are now truly famous!" Benjamin Blake pointed to the crowd behind him and said softly.
Immediately, the group behind him stopped gossiping. They all remembered the vivid scenes from the previous night and didn't want to be caught making comments that would lead to Benjamin Blake giving some crazy orders. That would be disastrous for them.
"I just fell asleep, that's all. I was just so tired," Barrett Walker didn't want to argue with him too much. He was always the one who ended up losing.
"Well! Even so, now that you're famous, you have to live up to it. I've already set your training goals. You have to do everything they do, and even more. Remember, don't try to bargain with me. I always keep my word. I say I'm going to take revenge, I'm going to take revenge, no matter what!" Benjamin Blake didn't care about the looks of the others. When he said he was going to retaliate, it was as if it were a normal part of life.
Barrett Walker just made a noncommittal sound and looked at Benjamin Blake, saying, "But I hope you'll train with us. Otherwise, we'd rather believe that you're just good at running your mouth!"
"Are you sure you want to steal the limelight?" Benjamin Blake said with a sly smile.
Barrett Walker's eyelids twitched. He looked at Benjamin Blake's smiling face and, for a moment, he wanted to give up. But then he looked at the quiet, dark crowd, and suddenly found the courage. He said, "I'll steal the limelight for them, and what's wrong with that? It's not a bad thing!"
"Good! I promise you that you can train with us, but you have to do as much as we do, and then some! Of course, except for you." Benjamin Blake still had that same sly smile, as if no amount of questioning would make him flinch.
Barrett Walker suddenly realized that he had been fooled. He had really been too careless, and had forgotten to ask. And this was all his idea! If he had to increase the training load, he could easily do it himself, but these students wouldn't be able to. Then he would really become the enemy!
"This is something you all agreed to! Your training load will also increase, and whatever I do, you have to do as well. It's a military regulation! I really don't understand how you all think. Do you really think you're better than the previous few generations? I should thank you. You should thank him too. It's him who has made me clearly aware of your strength." Benjamin Blake looked pitiful, as if he was the most ignorant person, and looked at Barrett Walker with a face of admiration. It was enough to make people want to punch him.
Barrett Walker stared dumbfounded at Benjamin Blake. He'd seen shameless people before, but never someone as shameless as this! He had a sly smile on his face, and there was not a single trace of being a role model. He didn't even look like a soldier! But his decisive manner last night, his harsh orders, all spoke of how ruthless this person's heart was. And he had fought him to a draw last night, relying only on luck. Looking at the angry looks from the crowd, Barrett Walker really regretted being too careless. But wasn't he here to train? If it was a bit difficult, so what? If they didn't understand, so what? He would walk his own path and let others say what they wanted!
Benjamin Blake suddenly turned around, and in a very smug tone, said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. The real assembly time is at 8 o'clock! Now, everyone go have breakfast! I'm hungry too!"