Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

When Bai Ye withdrew from Li Mo's embrace, the fighting room was so quiet that the hum of the fluorescent light ballast could be heard.

His breathing had become steady, and his face had returned to its usual indifference, but his fingers were still slightly curled, the knuckles still bearing the memory of the force he had used to strangle Lu Xiao.

He stood in the center of the mat, looked at Lu Xiao, who was kneeling on one knee and rubbing his neck, then looked at Xie Ran and Shen Zhuo, who were staring in disbelief, and finally fixed his gaze on Li Mo.

Looking at his expression, Li Mo sighed.

"The Bai family's problem," he began, his voice not loud, but everyone in the quiet fighting room could hear him clearly, "is that they want to kill their opponent as soon as a fight starts. Bai Chen used to have this problem too. When he first joined Pokong, he almost kicked his instructor's Adam's apple to pieces during a sparring session. Later, he gradually controlled it himself, relying on years of training and combat experience."

Bai Ye lowered his head and remained silent.

Li Mo thought that Bai Ye was only silent because of his physical ailment. But Bai Ye himself knew that the reason for his silence was far more than that.

This body does indeed have the genetic problem of the Bai family—Bai Chen also has it. The direct bloodline of the Bai family seems to be born with a fighting instinct that is much higher than that of ordinary people. Once they enter a high-intensity confrontation, their desire to attack will overwhelm their reason.

But the real root of the problem lies elsewhere.

The real root of the problem lies in the fact that in his previous life he was raised to be a killing weapon.

From the time he could remember, everyone around him—his instructors, superiors, and the organization—had been shaping him in one direction: the sharpest knife, the most precise weapon, the most cold-blooded killer.

His childhood wasn't about toys and school, but about shooting ranges and fighting rooms. His adolescence wasn't about exams and unrequited love, but about missions and corpses. His coming-of-age ceremony wasn't about cake and blessings, but about the pat on the shoulder from his instructor after his first solo assassination.

Those experiences are etched into his very bones; they cannot be erased even if he were to change bodies.

Normally, he can suppress it and pretend to be an ordinary, aloof, and quiet sixteen-year-old boy. But once he enters a real fighting state, those suppressed desires will break free like a wild beast with its reins loosened.

When he faced Lu Xiao just now, he knew perfectly well that this was just an assessment, that Lu Xiao was his teammate, and that he should stop—but his body acted faster than his brain, and his instincts gave the order before reason.

Lu Xiao walked up to Bai Ye, bent down, and tilted his head to look at Bai Ye's downcast face. Bai Ye didn't look up, staring at the wrinkles he had made on the mat.

"Alright, alright, stop looking down. What are you blaming yourself for? You didn't do anything wrong. Your brother used to beat people much harder than you. My leg," Lu Xiao patted his left knee, "was torn by Bai Chen's kick, and I had to use crutches for two months. Another time during training, he threw me over his shoulder onto the concrete, and I needed seven stitches in the back of my head."

Lu Xiao spoke these words in a lighthearted tone, as if recalling a happy childhood, his smile as bright as if telling a joke. "And there's Lao Li—your brother almost dislocated his right arm the first time he sparred with him. He had just joined the Breaking Void Sect then, young and arrogant, and thought your brother didn't look like someone who could fight, so he came up and provoked him. As a result, he was pinned to the ground within three seconds, and his joints were almost broken. He lay on the ground for a while and couldn't get up. In the end, I had to help him to the infirmary. After that, he never dared to be arrogant in front of your brother again."

Bai Ye raised her head and looked at Li Mo. Li Mo looked away expressionlessly.

"There was another unlucky guy, an old member of Group B next door, who's already retired. He sparred with Bai Chen once and ended up in the ICU." Lu Xiao's tone even carried a hint of genuine admiration as he spoke. "He broke three ribs and ruptured his spleen, spending two months in the hospital. Afterwards, Bai Chen visited him once and said, 'Sorry, I couldn't control myself.' The first thing that guy did after being discharged was to submit a report requesting a transfer from Group A's training group. The reason written on the report was 'I don't want to die young.'"

Bai Ye fell silent.

He knew Lu Xiao was saying these things to comfort him, to tell him, "You're not a monster, your brother is like that too, everyone is like that." But he knew better than anyone that he was different from Bai Chen.

Bai Chen is Bai Chen.

He is himself—in his past life, he was 007, the mercenary who was raised as a weapon, shot in the head by the person he trusted most, died once, and came back to life. He not only inherited the Bai family's genes, but also the cold-bloodedness he was deliberately trained to be in his previous life for more than ten years.

Xuanxiao also fell silent.

He had been standing at the edge of the field since the beginning, unusually refraining from rushing up and chattering.

When Bai Ye nearly knocked Lu Xiaole unconscious, he didn't rush forward because Li Mo was faster. When Bai Ye was held in Li Mo's arms, he didn't rush forward either, because he knew he couldn't intervene.

He took a deep breath and spoke in an extremely subtle tone: "Vice Captain, is being kicked into the ICU and almost crippled something to be proud of here?"

The fighting room fell silent for a moment.

Then Xie Ran couldn't help but laugh out loud. Shen Zhuo also chuckled quietly beside him. Wen Yan pushed up his glasses, a very subtle smile curving his lips. Xie Huai'an looked up from his communication log, pushed up his glasses again, and added in a flat tone, "In the void, yes."

Lu Xiao laughed heartily, patted Bai Ye's shoulder forcefully, and took advantage of the atmosphere to change the subject: "Alright, alright, let's not talk about the past. Let's get down to business—you passed the combat assessment. Although you didn't stop at the end, your skill level and combat awareness far exceeded the passing grade. Next up is the sniping assessment. Do you still have the energy? If not, you can rest for half an hour before taking the test again."

Bai Ye raised her head, looked at the deep red mark on Lu Xiao's neck, and then at the unchanged smile on Lu Xiao's face.

He didn't answer whether he had the strength or not, but simply turned his head to look in the direction of the fighting room door, answering with his actions—he walked towards the door, paused when he reached Xuan Xiao's side, and glanced at him sideways.

Xuanxiao met his gaze, and his previous silent, thoughtful expression instantly switched to a feigned relaxed, playful smile.

He lightly punched Bai Ye on the shoulder, the force so light it was as if he were afraid of crushing him: "What are you looking at? I didn't say anything to you. Come on, let's go to the shooting range. I'll carry your gun—do you know how heavy a sniper rifle is? I'm afraid you can't lift it."

Bai Ye withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward. Xuan Xiao followed behind, glanced back at the ligature marks on Lu Xiao's neck, pursed his lips, and then quickened his pace to catch up.