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

Two weeks after the recruit assessment ended, the days suddenly felt light and carefree.

Training is still ongoing, but the intensity has been reduced by more than one level.

Company Commander Zhou said this was a buffer period, but everyone knew that the buffer period also meant waiting for assignments. The notice for new recruits to be assigned to their units could come down at any time. Everyone's files had already been submitted, and now it was just a matter of waiting for the various companies to come and select people.

Xuan Xiao wasn't anxious at all. He continued training, eating, and hanging out with Bai Ye whenever he felt like it, as if his assigned unit had nothing to do with him. Bai Ye wasn't anxious either; his daily routine remained exactly the same as before.

That night, after lights out, the people in the dormitory had just lain down when the door was pushed open.

Lu Xiao stood at the door, his gaze sweeping across the dimly lit dormitory before finally settling on Bai Ye and Xuan Xiao. He didn't turn on the light, but simply tapped twice on the doorframe with his knuckles, his voice low but incredibly penetrating: "Bai Ye, Xuan Xiao, come out for a moment."

The two put on their training uniform jackets and followed Lu Xiao out of the dormitory.

Li Mo waited at the end of the corridor. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and after hearing footsteps, he straightened up and walked towards the other end of the corridor.

The four people walked through the deserted corridor after the lights were turned off, passed the equipment room and the storage room, and finally stopped at the door of the conference room.

Lu Xiao closed the door and casually pulled up a chair to sit down. Li Mo didn't sit down; he stood on the other side of the long table, his hands resting on the edge, calmly watching the two people opposite him.

Bai Ye stood at one end of the conference table, his expression calm. Xuan Xiao stood beside him, his brows slightly furrowed, his gaze darting back and forth between Lu Xiao and Li Mo—being summoned to the conference room by two class monitors in the middle of the night was hardly a trivial matter.

"Let's get straight to the point," Li Mo said, his tone as concise as ever.

Lu Xiao leaned back in his chair, his usual playful expression gone, and said in a serious but not stern tone, "The assignments for the new recruits will be decided in the next few days. I discussed it with Li Mo—we're thinking of asking if you'd like to come with us."

silence.

Bai Ye didn't answer immediately. He tilted his head slightly, as if processing the information in the sentence.

Xuan Xiao's reaction was more direct—his brows furrowed even deeper, his lips twitched slightly, and he voiced the question Bai Ye was also pondering: "Deputy Squad Leader, you haven't told us what you're here for. You're just telling us to 'come with us'? Where are we going? What are we going to do?"

Lu Xiao smiled slightly, a small smile, but one with a subtle underlying meaning.

"I can't tell you now. You'll find out in time." He lowered his hand from the back of the chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "All you need to know is that our identities are not simple."

Xuan Xiao fell silent. He stood there for a moment, then turned his head to look at Bai Ye.

Bai Ye met Xuan Xiao's gaze for a moment, then looked away and turned back to Lu Xiao and Li Mo.

Three months was enough time for Bai Ye to see a lot. He had long suspected that Lu Xiao and Li Mo were more than just ordinary squad leaders. People who could get Company Commander Zhou to turn a blind eye must have some kind of off-the-books status behind them.

But none of that matters. He joined the army not to curry favor with powerful figures, nor to find a good unit. His sole purpose in joining was to find Bai Chen. And Li Mo was Bai Chen's former deputy, his only lead. Wherever Li Mo went, he would follow.

"Okay," Bai Ye said, his voice not loud, but each word was spoken firmly. "But I have one request."

Lu Xiao's eyes lit up, and he leaned forward, the seriousness in his smile replaced by a generous "you can have whatever you want" attitude: "Sure, sure, little cabbage, what do you want? As long as it's within our power, we'll give it to you."

Bai Ye looked at him, her tone flat, as if stating something perfectly natural: "I'm going to take Qian Duoduo and Zhao Xiaohu with me."

Lu Xiao's smile froze on his face.

There was a silence in the conference room for about three seconds. Lu Xiao remained leaning forward, the corner of his mouth still curved in a smile, but that smile had completely hardened. He turned his head to look at Li Mo, his eyes saying, "Can't you control this kid?"

Li Mo didn't look at him. He raised his hand and pinched the space between his eyebrows for about two seconds, then lowered his hand.

"Can."

Lu Xiao suddenly turned his head and glared at Li Mo, his mouth half-open, about to say something but then swallowing it back. Li Mo met his gaze, his tone unadorned, simply stating the facts: "Adding two more recruits is no problem."

Lu Xiao took a deep breath, turned back, and put on a smile again. That smile was at least a notch weaker than before, but he still managed to maintain it. He looked at Bai Ye, his voice carrying a helpless "I give up" tone: "Fine. You win."

Xuan Xiao stood beside Bai Ye and saw Bai Ye nod—the matter was settled. He turned to Li Mo, speaking faster than usual: "Then I'll go too."

Lu Xiao's attention shifted from Bai Ye to Xuan Xiao, and the forced smile on his face instantly turned into a genuine smile—the kind of smile that comes from having caught something interesting.

He crossed his legs, leaned back, and tilted his head to look at Xuan Xiao: "Oh dear, weren't you just asking us who we were and why you wouldn't leave when we told you to? Now that Bai Ye has given the nod, you're quick to say you're going too—Xuan Xiao, you just want to follow Bai Ye, don't you?"

Xuan Xiao's lips tightened.

He glared at Lu Xiao, his eyes filled with a resolute "Stop talking nonsense" attitude. His chin was slightly raised, and his voice, though slightly louder, was extremely firm: "I didn't!"

He paused, then added, speaking even faster than before, as if hunting down any possible misunderstanding: "I'm going because once you all leave, Class One will be disbanded. Qian Duoduo and Zhao Xiaohu can go, so of course I can go too. It has nothing to do with Bai Ye."

"Hmm." Lu Xiao nodded, his tone suspiciously sincere. "It has nothing to do with Bai Ye. I understand."

"What did you mean by that tone, Deputy Squad Leader?"

"I didn't mean anything by it. I just meant I understood what you meant. You have nothing to do with Bai Ye. It just so happened that you nodded immediately after he nodded, that you followed him everywhere, and that you only asked him for praise after winning the bomb-throwing game—"

"Deputy Squad Leader Lu." Xuan Xiao's voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth, his ear tips slightly burning, but his face was serious, his brows were furrowed, and his lips were pursed into a straight line, determined not to let his emotions show on his face.

Lu Xiao stopped in time, raising his hands in front of his chest in a gesture of surrender, but the smile on his lips wasn't really well hidden.

Li Mo straightened up. He walked around the conference table to Bai Ye, looked down at Bai Ye, and his gaze was steady.

"Sure?"

Bai Ye nodded. "Confirmed."

Li Mo stared at him for a moment, then reached out and ruffled Bai Ye's hair. He then withdrew his hand and turned to walk towards the conference room door.

"Departing in three days. Don't bring too much luggage."