After Xiao Zhengyang's warning, Zhou Liao was far more cordial to Zhang Lie than before—so much so that even Xiao Zhengyang cringed at his behavior, let alone Zhang Lie.
"Zhang Lie, what do you think about returning to the troops now?"
"I'm ready to head out, Team Leader Zhou! Please, treat me just like a regular recruit."
Unfortunately, it seemed as though Xiao Zhengyang had been entirely too successful in highlighting Zhang Lie's strength. Zhou Liao laughed and replied, "If there's anyone that deserves special treatment, it's you!"
He grimaced at Xiao Zhengyang, then rushed off toward the special forces barracks with Zhou Liao.
The barracks' location was secret to the public and all other hunters. Because the special forces tended to conduct dangerous operations away from the city, it was located somewhat far away from city grounds, where regular hunters would have a hard time chancing upon it.
Zhang Lie had been prepared for this, but when Zhou Liao pointed at a ranch and informed him that it was their destination, it still took Zhang Lie by surprise. The ranch covered thousands of square meters of land, and all sorts of low-grade genetic lifeforms from the second realm were being tamed there. contemporary romance
"I can't believe the barracks' facade is a ranch," Zhang Lie murmured.
"Certainly not something anyone would suspect, is it? We haven't had to deal with anyone suspicious for quite a while. Well, Zhang Lie, please enter!"
Along the way, Zhou Liao had informed him that the special forces troops consisted of 88 hunters, which were divided into ten teams. Zhou Liao was the troop leader of the forces as well as team leader of the first team, and he naturally claimed Zhang Lie for his team under Governor Xiao's auspices.
Of course, there would have to be an initiation ceremony.
As Zhou Liao and Zhang Lie headed toward the ranch, two hunters appeared by the door, one male and one female. Their attire made them look like workers on the ranch, but they appeared so silently that they surely had to be hunters.
"Troop Leader!"
"Xia Na, Zhou Ming! Are the two of you on duty today?"
"Troop Leader, isn't that... Zhang Lie? Is he why the governor summoned you?" Upon seeing Zhang Lie, Xia Na's eyes began to shine, as though she had just found a new toy to play with.
"More or less. I'll give you all the specifics in a moment. Inform the troops to gather at the underground drill grounds within ten minutes—I have an announcement to make!"
"An announcement? Hmm," Xia Na wondered.
"You'll find out soon enough!"
"Team Leader, I won't be able to summon everyone—the third team just went out on a mission," Xia Na replied, momentarily turning serious.
"No matter. I'll inform them of the matter separately when they're back. Shall we head inside?"
The interior of the ranch seemed much like any ordinary ranch. Most of the lifeforms that were being raised were darkrune beasts, a common, low-grade, and high-fertility lifeform. For the hunters of the second realm, these darkrune beasts would be able to provide them with an easy supply of basic gene fragments, and their meat was juicy and delicious.
There were a few ranch workers wandering around; most were robots, but the rare few humans that were glancing at him with interest from time to time were, of course, special forces troops.
The ranch itself, as a facade, was nothing out of the ordinary; the facilities were all underground. It was clear how much thought had been put into this base of operations, and it was well equipped with the weapons, information, and technology to handle all sorts of situations.
Zhou Liao assigned Zhang Lie a room, as well as a robot for various administrative and cleaning tasks. He was treated as well as a team leader.
In the next ten minutes, Zhou Liao introduced him briefly to the underground facilities, then brought him to the drill grounds where the other troops had all gathered. Except for the nine members of the third team and Zhou Liao himself, the other 78 hunters were all present.
Zhou Liao strode forward to the front of the assembly, bringing Zhang Lie along with him.
"By order of Governor Xiao, from today onwards, Dragonlord General Zhang Lie will officially be part of the special forces troops as the deputy troop leader!"
The announcement took everyone by surprise, even Zhang Lie. In a rare break with discipline, the troops began murmuring to each other.
"What? Deputy troop leader from the very beginning? Isn't this a little extreme?"
"Becoming the troop leader has always required at least ten years of meritorious service here. It's true that Zhang Lie has made great contributions to humanity, but as a newcomer to the second realm, shouldn't he start from the very bottom?"
"Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous..."
"He might be the champion of the Void Cup, and undefeated in the first realm, but surely not in the second!"
Zhou Liao's proclamation had simply been too shocking. The special forces didn't have a deputy troop leader; this meant that Zhou Liao had created this role specially for Zhang Lie.
Even Zhang Lie couldn't help jumping in. "Troop Leader Zhou, this—"
"Don't worry, Deputy Leader Zhang. I'll handle it!" Zhou Liao interrupted him. Facing the crowd once again, he continued, "I know this might be an unfair announcement, but it's a command from the governor himself, so all of you will simply have to bear with it. If anyone causes any problems, they'll be punished by the governor himself!"
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