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

After the group returned to the bus, the atmosphere inside was noticeably more relaxed than before.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhao Xiaohu slumped in his chair, rubbing his round belly with a satisfied smile. Qian Duoduo leaned against the window, closing his eyes to rest; the lingering taste of instant noodles and grilled sausage made him completely relaxed.

Xuan Xiao sat back down next to Bai Ye. His back, which had been thrown over his shoulder, was still a little sore, but he didn't complain anymore—Bai Ye's "brother" was still playing on repeat in his mind, like a background music that he couldn't turn off.

Bai Ye sat back in the middle, and Li Mo and Xuan Xiao sat down on either side of him, their movements so synchronized as if they had rehearsed.

The doors closed, the engine restarted, and the bus slowly pulled out of the rest area and rejoined the national highway. The scenery outside the window gradually changed from the lush green mountains to a more desolate landscape. The continuous mountain ranges were left behind, replaced by vast stretches of Gobi Desert and the occasional low shrubs.

An hour passed. Two hours passed. Three hours passed.

The satisfied smile on Zhao Xiaohu's face began to freeze.

Four hours. Five hours. The scenery outside the window had changed from the Gobi Desert to completely unfamiliar terrain—barren rocky mountains, dried-up riverbeds, and occasionally a few crooked trees growing from the cracks in the rocks, their postures twisted as if they had been bent by the wind and never straightened up again. There were hardly any other cars on the highway, and the place names on the road signs were becoming increasingly unfamiliar; some weren't even written in Chinese characters, but in some kind of minority script that he couldn't read.

"Squad Leader." Zhao Xiaohu finally couldn't hold back any longer. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, his expression serious as if he were about to report some important military intelligence. "Where exactly are you taking us?"

Lu Xiao leaned back in his chair, legs crossed, the magazine in his hand already flipped to the last page, idly rereading the GG on the back cover. He glanced at Zhao Xiaohu, "Let's go to the base."

"What base?"

You'll know when you get there.

Zhao Xiaohu was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and, in an extremely serious tone, voiced the worst-case scenario he had been contemplating for the past five hours: "Squad leader, tell me honestly—you're not going to sell us out to Myanmar, are you?"

The car fell silent for a second. Lu Xiao's magazine slipped off his knee. Li Mo opened his eyes. Bai Ye, who was drinking water, choked, glanced at Zhao Xiaohu, and gave him a complicated look.

Lu Xiao glared at Zhao Xiaohu, his lips twitching. "What are you thinking about all day? Selling yourself to Myanmar? How much are you worth?"

"My recruit assessment results weren't bad either, okay?!"

"You threw the pin onto the grenade while holding it in your hand. What can you do in Myanmar with that resume? Perform acrobatics?"

Zhao Xiaohu opened his mouth, but finding he couldn't refute it, he silently shrank back into his seat. Qian Duoduo, standing beside him, covered her face, her shoulders shaking, clearly trying to suppress a laugh.

Two more hours passed. The sun had moved from its zenith to the western ridgeline, turning the entire Gobi Desert a deep red, while the distant rocky mountains appeared charred black in the setting sun, as if they had been burned.

The bus turned off the main road and onto a gravel road without any road signs. The sound of the wheels rolling over the gravel became rough and harsh, and the bus bounced noticeably more violently. On both sides of the road stretched endless wasteland, with no utility poles, no farmland, and no trace of human activity whatsoever.

Zhao Xiaohu started to fidget again. His knees trembled on the edge of the seat, his fingers fidgeted along the seams of his trousers, and he would occasionally crane his neck to look towards the windshield.

He opened his mouth several times as if to say something, but each time he saw Lu Xiao's leisurely face, he swallowed his words. Finally, Qian Duoduo spoke for him: "How much further?"

"Soon." Lu Xiao said without looking up.

After nearly an hour of bumpy travel on the gravel road, the bus finally came to a stop.

They didn't arrive at some small town or military camp, but stopped in front of a huge metal fence.

The fence is at least four meters high, with a dense array of snake-belly shaped barbed wire at the top. The angle of its outward slope is precisely calculated, making it impossible to find any foothold for climbing from the outside. The fence extends to the horizon on both sides, seemingly encircling the entire mountain range.

Directly in front was a heavy alloy gate, wide enough for two armored vehicles to pass side by side. A row of surveillance cameras and infrared sensors were embedded in the gate frame. Two armed sentries stood in the guard post next to it, their training uniforms without any of the armbands of regular troops.

The driver rolled down the window and handed over an identification document. The sentry took it, glanced at it, then peered into the carriage, nodded, and returned to his post to press the button to open the door.

The alloy gates slid open slowly to the sides, revealing a wide cement avenue. Neatly trimmed green belts lined both sides of the avenue, and dark flags hung on the lampposts. There were no numbers or unit names, only a simple sign—a crack running across the flag, dividing it into two sections.

Zhao Xiaohu's face was pressed against the car window.

Buildings on both sides of the road flashed past the car window one after another—standardized barracks, large indoor training halls, separate armories, and even a tactical training area surrounded by barbed wire, containing simulated buildings and obstacles.

Several military armored vehicles were parked in the distance, next to a row of black SUVs whose models he couldn't identify. The size of this base far exceeded his imagination of "a company's garrison".

The bus stopped in front of the main building. The main building was a three-story gray structure, its exterior undecorated except for a row of neatly arranged dark windows. The flag with the cracked symbol hung from the flagpole in front of the building, fluttering in the evening breeze. The setting sun was sinking behind the building, bathing it in a dark red glow, both solemn and oppressive.

The car door opened with a hiss. Several people carrying backpacks got off the car one by one and stood in the open space in front of the main building. Under their feet was an extremely flat cement ground, and all around were rows of buildings and training facilities. In the distance, they could faintly hear the sounds of target practice and slogans.

Lu Xiao was the last to get off the bus. He casually tossed the magazine onto his seat, stood by the door, opened his arms, took a deep breath of the dry evening wind from the Gobi Desert, and then turned to face the four new recruits, his smile brighter than ever before.

"Welcome to Breaking Through the Void."