They spoke with an earnestness that came from the depths of their hearts, echoing across the entire base all at once. It made the 20-odd Wolf’s Fang soldiers present turn solemn. However, they felt even more disdainful as they acknowledged that Zayn was powerful, but the bunch of trash from Squad 4 would never possibly become the first in the Insurgent Trifecta. With a nod, Zayn said, “Alright. From today onward, I shall carry out intensive training with all of you at a level of difficulty that will surpass your imagination. Whoever wants to back out now, you may step forward…So, it seems that all of you have plenty of fight in you and won’t back out. Very well then! I shall take it that all of you agree. No one is allowed to back out anymore as soon as the intensive training begins.”At this point, a ruthless smile cracked across his face. They could not help trembling in fear, and an ominous presentiment arose in their hearts. At the same time, the Wolf’s Fang member that was
Dick swallowed a gulp of saliva as the image of Zayn Larson came into his mind. He remembered the scene of Zayn being all-powerful like Poseidon when the latter beat him up on the cruise the other day. Moreover, he remembered how Zayn had then hunted down and annihilated a school of sharks in the end. How could he afford to offend a powerful man like him?Zayn was so powerful when he was at sea. Now that he was on land, he would crush Dick completely!Meanwhile, Liam caught up to Dick. He had no idea that Dick had already met Zayn, so he said in a pleading tone, “Cheney, I think that the situation today is just a misunderstanding. It was I who recruited Sergeant Larson, and he usually won’t take the initiative to cause trouble. Out of respect for me, will you please not lower yourself to Sergeant Larson’s level later?”Liam did not have the confidence that he could convince Dick either. After all, he had been working together with the man for a very long time, and he knew very wel
“Enough!”Dick had gotten so tired of it all that he punctuated it with a bellow; one that shut the Wolf’s Fang Squad members up. They were quick to gloat, thinking that Zayn was definitely doomed.They turned to Zayn expectantly, only to find him ignoring Dick the whole time as he continued to train his ragtag squad.He was so godawfully arrogant, it was hard for the Wolf’s Fang Squad not to imagine his head on a pike. In fact, even Liam was of the opinion that his pompousness was uncalled for. He thought Zayn had a death wish—God, why would anyone want that?The other top dogs of the organization—all of them had only heard of Zayn through the grapevine—were also unsurprisingly underwhelmed by his attitude. The only one who was genuinely on his toes was Dick. He had already learnt plenty about the man’s personality during their last encounter, and from the looks of it, Zayn was not happy with him at all.Oh my God, these punks were going to get him killed one day.Not that he ha
If anything, Zayn’s proclamation sounded even less respectful. It was awful enough that Dick’s face was scrunched up in animosity. The corners of his lips were twitching against his control even harder than before.He did not expect Zayn to make things so difficult. If Dick followed his old playbook, Zayn’s behavior would have justified a fight right then and there. Everything else, which included having ‘civilized’ discussions, took the backseat. All that knee-jerk belligerence evaporated the moment he held eye contact with Zayn, mainly because of how much trauma the latter had inflicted upon him. Dick knew all too well of the terror Zayn was capable of wreaking. He also knew that even if he threw the first punch, he would not have the upperhand regardless.At the very least, Zayn managed to cause a stir within the crowd of bystanders with his proclamation. Everyone seemed to have reached the same, simultaneous conclusion that Zayn had gone absolutely bonkers—one would have to be cl
While Squad 4 was riding their high, Dick and his squad were at one of their lowest points. They hung their heads in shame, silently observing the swirling storm that was Dick’s facial expressions, worried that any sound they made would draw the first and biggest fire.Dick’s cold eyes scanned their faces before he began, “So, which one of your geniuses suggested messing with Squad Four? Get your *ss up here.”The Wolf’s Fang Squad’s members collectively lowered their heads even more. No one was willing to confess.Dick snickered. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongues?”More silence. The Dick they were dealing with right now was too terrifying to face—it was evident just how livid their instructor had become.“Okay, then. Ten-thousand push-ups—no exceptions!”The crowd turned as white as a sheet. Ten-thousand push-ups? There was no way they could manage that without their arms falling off by the end of it!It was then when one of them gritted his teeth and decided to step forwards
“Sergeant… Larson? Who exactly are you referring to?” Holden questioned the validity of the suggestion, while the rest of the committee were taken aback.The only two people with the strongest powers within the Insurgent Trifecta were Dick and Byleth, and with how important and difficult the upcoming mission was, one would have automatically assumed either one of the two to be the man for the job. Dick’s suggestion came so out of left field that even Liam was stunned.“Come on, what other Larsons do we have? I’m talking about Sergeant Larson, the instructor of Squad 4.”“Yeah, sure. Good joke by the way, but maybe save it for some other time, Cheney. This is an S-level mission we’re talking about here. We can’t afford any mistakes,” Holden replied. “Then there’s Zayn Larson, who’s new to all of this. What makes you think that he’s the guy we need right now?”His rebuttal earned several hums of assent around the table. It was always worrying to have a newbie undertake a mission so c
The committee’s eyes glinted at the exceptional idea.The Great Armed Race was something sacred to the organization! The Insurgent Trifecta had always been falling short for years in the tournament’s rankings, and the streak had ultimately disfigured their reputation. If they could secure a decisive victory, though—if they could have an underdog’s comeback—just imagine how thrilling it would be!After a brief discussion, the committee had made the decision to send Zayn on the S-class mission.The man for the job himself was startled by his new task. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to pass such an important job to someone like me?”“On the contrary, it’s been decided that you’re our best bet at completing the mission,” Liam replied solemnly, patting him on the back. “With great power comes great responsibilities, Sergeant Larson. Please, accept it.”“When you put it that way, well…” Zayn began, coughing up a few awkward laughs. Admittedly, Liam deploying him on a mission out of the
Zayn knew things were off to a rough start, and just as he had expected, their arrival was quickly halted by the appearance of several towering, hulking foreigners who told them to stop in Esperanto.The ace of the Wolf’s Fang squad quickly explained their presence in proficient Esperanto. “We’re agents from the Insurgent Trifecta of Rheasia. We’re here to protect Miss Bell while she remains on Rheasian soil. Here, our official documents.”He produced the papers while Zayn and the other man showed their own, but their foreign counterparts were unamused, which was less than surprising when one noticed the contempt in their eyes.The Rheasian agents were petite and lacking in musculature, which inspired so little confidence that one of the foreign bodyguards—a foreigner with piercing green eyes who looked to be in his thirties—drawled, “You three are Rheasian agents who’re here to protect Miss Bell?”Hank Stone, the ace of The Wolf’s Fang Squad, answered, “That’s right. This is one o