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

the other side.

Li Mo lowered his head, his fingers flipping through the stack of recruit files on the table, page by page. When he reached the seventh file, his hand stopped.

"Old Li, what are you looking at? I told you to come eat—"

Lu Xiao's voice rang out the moment he stepped through the door, carrying his signature lazy smile. He stopped mid-sentence, noticing the document in Li Mo's hand.

"Little Cabbage is going to join the army?!"

"No, has he gone mad? Does his brother know? No, his brother doesn't know—" Lu Xiao slammed the documents on the table. "What would happen if his brother found out?!"

Lu Xiao paced back and forth in the office twice, like a golden retriever locked in a cage, before finally stopping in front of Li Mo and placing his hands on the edge of the table.

"Do you remember what Brother Chen said before he left?"

Li Mo certainly remembered. It was late at night three years ago. Bai Chen stood in the corridor of the Broken Sky Base, his face hidden in shadow against the overhead fluorescent lights.

"If my brother loses even a single hair, I will make you all regret ever being born."

From then on, an unwritten agreement was reached within Pokong. Whenever a field mission passed through Bai Ye's city, anyone going along the way would take a look from a distance. No getting close, no contact, just like completing a covert routine patrol.

Then Bai Chen disappeared.

Three years ago, without any warning or message, it happened like a drop of water evaporating into the air.

According to the rules of mercenaries, if someone is missing for more than a month, they should be declared dead and their name should be crossed off the roster.

But there was no breakthrough.

The battalion commander's section still bears the codename "Yama." Bai Chen's equipment room remains unchanged, regularly cleaned. The sniper rifle he frequently uses has its oil changed every month, as if its owner might return to retrieve it at any time.

It's not because I believe he's still alive.

No, I dare not.

Who dares to sit in the throne of Yama? Who has the guts to hang their nameplate in Bai Chen's office? What if, just what if he really does come back one day and sees someone else sitting in his chair—

No one dared to imagine the consequences.

Therefore, the nameplate of Captain Breaking the Void still bears those two words.

Bai Chen.

Yama is gone, but his shadow remains. It hangs over everyone's head like a knife that could fall at any moment.

Po Kong and his gang of desperate criminals, these ruthless lunatics who wouldn't even blink an eye while licking blood from a knife's edge, were afraid of one person. They were afraid of someone who had been missing for three years, his fate unknown. They were afraid that one day he would suddenly push open the base's gate and find someone else sitting in his seat.

Bai Chen is a madman. This isn't a metaphor in the context of the game "Breaking Through the Void," but a universally acknowledged fact.

His ruthlessness was directed at his enemies, but he was even more ruthless towards himself.

But all of his harshness combined couldn't compare to his almost obsessive protectiveness towards Bai Ye.

Within Pokong, the name Bai Ye became an unspoken taboo. One could show concern, could secretly protect, but absolutely could not be involved, absolutely could not let him know of Pokong's existence, and absolutely could not let him touch anything related to this line.

Bai Chen wanted his younger brother to live in the sunlight.

And now, that boy who was sheltered under the sun has walked into the military camp on his own.

Li Mo pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"We don't even know if Brother Chen is alive or dead, why are you in such a hurry?"

"How can we not be anxious?!" Lu Xiao's voice rose half an octave, his golden eyes widening. "Don't you know what kind of person Brother Chen is? He's a complete madman, a brother-obsessed madman to the point of incurable disease! If he comes back one day and sees Xiaobaicai tanned, thin, and with calluses on her hands from the army, do you think he'll listen to our explanation that 'Xiaobaicai signed up herself'?"

will not.

Bai Chen never listens to explanations.

He only cared about the outcome. The outcome was that his beloved younger brother had joined the army while he was away, and everyone responsible for taking care of Bai Ye was guilty.

The more Lu Xiao thought about it, the colder he felt on the back of his neck became. He subconsciously reached up and touched his Adam's apple.

Li Mo glanced at him, took back the document that Lu Xiao had slammed on the table, and put it back into the file folder.

"Just take good care of Xiaobai."

"Nonsense, of course I know."

What else could they do? Bai Chen had disappeared, and Bai Ye was going to join the army. Things had come to this point, and they had no choice but to keep a close watch on this little cabbage, protecting her and keeping every single hair of her under their noses.

Lu Xiao took a mint from Li Mo's desk, unwrapped it, popped it into his mouth, and mumbled, "Let's go."

"Where to?"

"We need someone to go."

-

When the door to the company commander's office was pushed open, the company commander was drinking tea inside.

Li Mo placed Bai Ye's information on the company commander's desk.

"This person has been assigned to Class One."

The company commander paused for a moment, looked down at the documents, then looked up at Li Mo's expressionless face and frowned.

"The assignment plan has been finalized; Bai Ye will be assigned to shift three—"

"You've been assigned to Class 1."

Lu Xiao peeked out from behind Li Mo, a smile in his eyes, but that smile sent chills down one's spine.

"Look at these stats: S-level dynamic vision, S-level memory, A-level physical fitness, and A-level firearms knowledge. Putting this kind of talent in the third squad would be a waste!"

The company commander opened his mouth.

"Besides," Lu Xiao walked around to the company commander's side, put an arm around his shoulder, and smiled even more broadly, "our platoon is aiming for first place in this year's recruit training assessment. Company commander, you don't mean to let the platoon three get first place, do you?"

The company commander's lips twitched.

He looked at Li Mo, hoping that this class monitor, who seemed a little more normal, could say something fair.

Li Mo stood in front of the table, his dark eyes calmly looking at him, and said only two words.

"Give it to him."

Company Commander: "..."

Over the next ten minutes, Lu Xiao used his silver tongue to talk a mile a minute, analyzing everything from Bai Ye's physical fitness data to the advantages of the first squad's personnel configuration, interspersed with three seemingly casual remarks like, "I heard that the third squad leader is currently pursuing your niece."

The company commander's head was throbbing from the noise.

Finally, he grabbed the official seal on the table, slammed it onto Bai Ye's documents, and grumbled as he threw the folder at Lu Xiao.

"Take it, take it! Get out of here! One shift is fine! If I hear you mention my niece again, I'll make you run ten kilometers with weights!"

Lu Xiao caught the folder, his eyes crinkling with a smile.

"Thank you, Company Commander!"

He stood up and walked out. As he passed Li Mo, he said two words in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Done."

Li Mo didn't reply, but turned and walked out of the office.

The baby bok choy is coming.

He had to make sure that every single hair on Xiaobaicai's head was intact before that person returned.

As for when that person will return, or even if they will come back at all—

Li Mo suppressed this question to the deepest part of his consciousness.

OK.