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

On the third day of gun training, Lu Xiao arrived very early.

He was already standing on the edge of the training field long before the new recruits were even in formation.

After lining up, Lu Xiao walked to the front of the line and put the cloth bag on the ground.

"The weather's nice today," he said, his tone relaxed as if he were chatting casually. "Perfect for adding a little something extra."

The recruits' expressions froze.

Lu Xiao reached into the cloth bag, grabbed a handful of spent bullet casings, and weighed them in his palm.

"All hands, prone, ready to fire."

The recruits were filled with trepidation as they lay prone. But as Lu Xiao walked over to each of them and placed spent cartridge cases on their rifle barrels, that trepidation turned into despair.

Each person had an extra cartridge case on their gun barrel.

Lu Xiao patted the shell casing dust off his hands, his smile as bright as if he were announcing good news: "The rules remain the same. One drop, timer resets. Ten consecutive minutes without dropping, break."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over all the new recruits.

"If you fall more than three times, add another round."

A suppressed wail echoed across the training field.

Then Lu Xiao walked up to Bai Ye and Xuan Xiao.

He took two more spent cartridge cases from his bag, squatted down, and placed one on the barrel of Bai Ye's gun. The cartridge case stood upright. Then he placed another one on top of the first, bottom to top, doubling the height of the two stacked cartridge cases.

Xuanxiao's Adam's apple bobbed.

Lu Xiao turned to him and stacked two spent cartridge cases on the barrel of the gun as well.

"Two of you, two of you."

Xuan Xiao took a deep breath and swallowed back all the words he wanted to say.

He still vividly remembered how Li Mo applied the medicine to his arm yesterday; the bandage on his elbow was still on, and now two bullet casings had appeared. He felt like this recruit company was specifically there to teach him a lesson.

"start."

The whistle blew.

In the third minute, someone's spent cartridge fell off.

*Ding.* The first crisp sound of a spent cartridge hitting the ground echoed across the training ground, followed by Lu Xiao's light "Reset the timer."

In the fifth minute, someone else fell. Ding.

"Reset the timer."

Eighth minute, ding.

"Reset the timer."

Ten minutes passed. The two spent cartridge cases remained motionless on Bai Ye's gun barrel.

Lu Xiao stood beside Bai Ye, glanced down at the stopwatch, then at the two bullet casings that seemed stuck together. The smile on his lips deepened slightly.

"Not bad."

He picked up a military green water bottle from the ground, unscrewed the cap, and waved it in front of Bai Ye.

Are you thirsty?

Bai Ye remained motionless.

"Not answering means you're thirsty." Lu Xiao screwed the water bottle cap back on, then bent down and hung the water bottle on Bai Ye's gun barrel.

The kettle is full.

A one-liter military water bottle, when filled with water, is quite heavy. The handle of the water bottle hangs on the front of the barrel, just in front of the two spent cartridge cases. With the addition of gravity, the barrel's center of gravity immediately shifts. The muzzle, which was originally horizontal and pointing towards the bullseye, dips slightly. Bai Ye's fingers tighten, and he instantly adjusts the force of his left hand supporting the forend, stabilizing the barrel again.

The two spent cartridge cases wobbled.

The entire training ground seemed to tremble as if everyone was breathing.

The cartridge case stabilized.

A fine layer of sweat appeared on Bai Ye's forehead. The weight of the canteen kept pulling the gun barrel downwards, and he had to use even more force to maintain the barrel's horizontal angle.

Lu Xiao straightened up and clapped his hands.

"Keep it up."

Zhao Xiaohu lay on the ground, tilting his head to peek at the water bottle hanging on the barrel of Bai Ye's gun and the two stacked bullet casings next to him, his eyes wide open.

"Is Brother Ye even human?" he asked Qian Duoduo in a low voice.

Qian Duoduo, also lying on the ground, replied in the same weak, breathy voice, "I don't think so."

I don't think so either.

"Stop talking, your cartridge case is shaking."

Zhao Xiaohu immediately shut up and refocused all his attention on the loose cartridge case on his gun barrel.

Lu Xiao stood to the side, twirling a stopwatch in his hand, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Bai Ye's gun barrel and posture.

He is waiting.

Wait until Bai Ye's muscles are exhausted to the limit, wait until the weight of the water bottle starts to take effect, wait until the two bullet casings start to shake.

Seven minutes in. Xuan Xiao began to feel the soreness in his arm. He gritted his teeth and focused all his attention on breathing. He couldn't drop it. Bai Ye was still hanging the water bottle; if he dropped it, it would be too embarrassing.

The ninth minute. Zhao Xiaohu's spent cartridge case fell out again. He let out a suppressed wail, which was then silenced by Lu Xiao's words, "Stop howling, try again."

Two spent cartridge cases remained firmly lodged in Bai Ye's gun barrel. The weight of the canteen pushed his deltoid and trapezius muscles to their limits, sending a tingling, aching sensation deep within his arm, extending from his shoulder to his wrist.

Eleven minutes. Lu Xiao glanced down at the stopwatch.

"Bai Ye, it's been more than ten minutes. You can rest now."

Bai Ye did not move.

"white night?"

"Wait a little longer."

Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow. He squatted down next to Bai Ye and tilted his head to look at Bai Ye's expression.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait for him."

Lu Xiao glanced in the direction Bai Ye was looking. Xuan Xiao was lying prone beside him, the two spent cartridges still firmly lodged in the barrel of his gun. His arm was trembling, but the cartridges hadn't fallen out.

Lu Xiao didn't say anything more. He stood up and stepped aside.

Xuanxiao's spent cartridge wobbled. He held his breath and pressed the last bit of his core strength into the barrel. The spent cartridge swayed on the barrel and then stabilized.

Lu Xiao's stopwatch beeped.

"Xuanxiao, take a rest."

Xuanxiao's spent cartridge slid off the barrel, and he lay flat on the ground. He didn't immediately roll over, but instead turned his head to look in Bai Ye's direction.

Bai Ye was putting down his gun and taking the water bottle off the barrel, his arm movements slower than usual. He turned and glanced at Xuan Xiao.

Their eyes met.

Xuanxiao bared his teeth at him and mouthed something.

Bai Ye didn't hear clearly, but he roughly guessed. He looked away and began to move his right shoulder. His joint made a slight cracking sound, and his deltoid muscle was sore and stiff.

Lu Xiao took the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and then put the stopwatch back in his pocket.

"Alright, everyone get up. Take a ten-minute rest."

A wave of relieved cries echoed across the training field.

Xuan Xiao got up from the ground and sat down next to Bai Ye. His arm was still trembling, but he used his left hand to massage his right shoulder as he spoke.

Why didn't you rest? Ten minutes are up.

Bai Ye was unscrewing the kettle lid. His hands were shaking a little, and it took him two tries to open it.

"I don't want to move."

Xuan Xiao looked at his slightly trembling fingers, and couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

"Is the kettle heavy hanging up?"

"good."

"It would be strange if you were alright, your arms were shaking."

Bai Ye looked down at his trembling fingers and put his hand down.

"It'll be fine in a bit."

Xuan Xiao didn't say anything more. He sat next to Bai Ye, his back against the same poplar tree, their shoulders almost touching.

The two sat side by side, neither speaking. Morning light filtered through the leaves, illuminating the clearing between them.