Violence Breeds Privilege

The Naked Angel sailed north, the surrounding temperature growing colder, with ice floes already appearing on the sea. Ice shards collided with the bow armor of the Naked Angel, emitting dull thuds.

Passing Greenland and heading straight into the Arctic Circle, when a vast expanse of white, covered by polar night, appeared in sight, the captain, Yuan,'s summons echoed through the ship's cabin.

"Hey! My heroes, the Naked Angel's voyage is over, but your journey is just beginning! Everyone, please gather your belongings on the forward deck—if you have any! You have ten minutes to get to the forward deck. This is where you scoundrels will make your fortune!"

Gu Xiechen stepped out of the cabin and onto the deck for the first time since boarding the ship.

The biting, frigid wind of the Arctic Circle welcomed Gu Xiechen with its utmost enthusiasm. When the first gust hit his face, he felt as if his face had been violently slashed. "At least minus thirty degrees!" Gu Xiechen, who had just left the warm cabin and hadn't yet adapted to the external low temperature, shivered violently. He quickly circulated his True Qi, and his complexion improved slightly. However, the 'heroes' who followed him out of the cabin trembled like molted quails, their faces frozen pale.

Before they even reached the forward deck of the Naked Angel, a dull roar echoed from the sky.

At least fifty twin-rotor, multi-engine helicopters, like great birds from hell in mythology, swooped down from high above. All the helicopter doors were open, and on the external steps stood burly men in black uniforms, all radiating killing intent, looking down at the gradually assembling recruits with the fierce eyes of butchers regarding lambs.

One helicopter landed directly on the forward deck of the Naked Angel. A bald man with at least thirty scars crisscrossing his face beckoned fiercely to Gu Xiechen, "Get up, you little ladies, get up! Damn it, we don't have time to play with you rookies, understand? Hurry up, whoever dares to waste time, I'll blow his ass up with a rocket!" Vulgar and rude, these were the mercenaries of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group!

Gu Xiechen glanced back at the direction he came from, also covered by the polar night. He resolutely turned and rushed into the helicopter cabin. Once a helicopter was filled with sixty people, it took off, flying directly into the depths of the Arctic ice cap shrouded in darkness. Inside the cabin, there was no light except for a few dim indicator lights, and he couldn't even see the appearance of the person sitting next to him.

Gu Xiechen looked out through the porthole, but he couldn't see anything. The Arctic was then ruled by polar night, and thick clouds blocked the starlight. With Gu Xiechen's eyesight, he could only vaguely see the white snow and ice rapidly passing beneath the helicopter.

Besides the sound of the raging wind and snow, there was only the roar of the helicopter engines. A whiff of tempting cigar smoke suddenly permeated the cabin. A small red light flickered at the front cabin door. The bald man who had just yelled at Gu Xiechen to hurry into the cabin lit a cigar. Gu Xiechen, who had lived a life of luxury since childhood, recognized the cigar as a high-quality, handmade Havana.

The recruits in the cabin simultaneously swallowed. These thugs, who had been cooped up on the Naked Angel all the way, stared with covetous eyes at the flickering cigarette butt in the darkness.

"Heh heh!"

The bald man, puffing on his cigar, let out a few sinister laughs.

"Ladies, you want to smoke cigars too? Hey, authentic copper label Havana handmade cigars, top-grade stuff! How long has it been since you ladies touched these things?"

The heavy breathing in the cabin gradually grew louder. The bald man's intentional or unintentional enticement was about to evaporate the recruits' already dwindling sanity.

Gu Xiechen pursed his lips and smiled. He silently shrank back, trying to tuck himself into a corner.

The bald man's hoarse voice sounded again, "Hey, I know you've been arranging seats since you were on the ship. Among you ladies, is there anyone strong enough to be in the top one hundred? If you can beat me later, twelve cigars! Or, three hot ladies! Hey, how long has it been since you touched women?"

All the recruits glanced in Gu Xiechen's direction. The bald man immediately looked sharply at Gu Xiechen, who was huddled in the darkest corner of the cabin. The even richer aroma of cigar smoke spread faintly in the cabin. After a moment of silence, the bald man suddenly laughed, "Hey, a clever guy! Smart people always live a little longer."

Gu Xiechen said coldly, "You're not smart enough!"

The bald man chuckled a few times and didn't speak again for the rest of the journey.

A high snow ridge appeared ahead. The cold wind blowing against the ridge kicked up a flurry of snow. The helicopter's engine let out a heavy gasp as it struggled against the strong wind to fly over the ridge. Suddenly, an area of bright lights appeared ahead.

Looking out through the porthole, a huge military camp was clearly visible in the basin several kilometers ahead.

The square camp was over three kilometers long and wide, surrounded by a ten-meter-high metal city wall. On the wall, every hundred meters, there was a watchtower nearly fifty meters high, with searchlights shining from afar. The bright lights shone through the porthole into the cabin, illuminating everyone's faces alternately black and white.

The helicopter slowly flew over the camp, followed by two searchlight beams. In the dazzling white light, Gu Xiechen saw a hundred-meter-high flagpole in the center of the camp, with a huge blood-red flag fluttering in the wind. The violent cold wind occasionally pulled the flag taut, and a black skull with six wings clearly appeared before Gu Xiechen.

The blood-red skull flag, this was the regimental flag of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group. This was the headquarters of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group, ranked second in the federation!

One by one, the helicopters landed in an open space in the center of the barracks. Three thousand recruits were herded out of the cabins and formed neat square formations on the ground. The helicopter rotors spun rapidly, kicking up snow dozens of meters high. In the strong wind, these helicopters flew back into the sky, gradually disappearing into the dark clouds.

Three thousand recruits stood in the empty snow, enduring the biting cold wind. Hundreds of searchlights illuminated them from afar. Except for Gu Xiechen, everyone was trembling. The barracks around them were hidden in darkness, and it seemed as if only the patch of snow where the recruits stood had light in the boundless night.

After being left in the snow for at least thirty minutes, the surrounding searchlights suddenly extinguished simultaneously. Darkness enveloped everyone, and some recruits, unable to contain their anger, began to curse furiously.

A sudden, piercing scream drowned out the surrounding wind and snow. A beam of searchlight shot from a distant watchtower.

In the beam of light, a tall man with his upper body exposed, wearing black training pants and high-top combat boots, walked out carrying a struggling, bald, burly man. The bald man being carried was at least two meters tall, and his robust muscles indicated considerable strength. However, such a mighty man was being held by the neck as if he were a small rabbit in a giant's hand.

Gu Xiechen looked with surprise at this tall man who made such a grand entrance.

This person was at least two meters twenty tall, with brilliant golden hair that shone like blazing fire under the strong spotlight. His skin, whiter than the snow on the ground, and the faint golden patterns appearing on his skin clearly indicated his identity.

This was a Roam mixed-blood.

At least a thousand recruits let out piercing whistles, and many shouted, "Roam mixed-blood mongrels, go back to your Martian home!"

The mixed-blood man coldly swept his gaze over the frantically shouting recruits. He forcefully slammed the struggling, screaming man in his hand onto the ground, then stomped down. The man's head exploded like a rotten watermelon, spraying blood and brain matter several meters away. The polar wind blew, quickly freezing the still-warm flesh and blood into ice blocks. The shouting and cursing recruits fell silent simultaneously, looking in terror at the mixed-blood man whose boots were stained with brain matter and blood.

"Heh heh, allow me to introduce myself! My name is Maha, and for the next year, I will be your instructor. I will try to turn you motherfucking ladies into real heroes!"

"However, if any of you can't handle this hardship, speak up now, and I'll stuff you back into that dark, smelly federal prison!"

Maha's lips twitched, presumably a smile.

With a wave of his right hand, Maha said coldly, "But if you choose to stay, yet cannot endure the hardship of special training and want to escape like the waste on the ground, then... you have seen his fate."

Raising his right index finger, Maha sneered, "First, obey orders. Those who disobey will be executed."

Raising his right middle finger, Maha continued to sneer, "Second, complete all training subjects. Those who cannot complete them will be executed."

Raising his right ring finger, Maha shook his head, "Third, never think of escaping. We are less than a hundred kilometers from the North Pole. Those who escape will be executed!"

These three cold and ruthless rules stunned all the recruits. Only Gu Xiechen watched Maha with a relaxed expression. Gu Xiechen had seen such "killing a chicken to scare the monkeys" tricks many times.

As if sensing Gu Xiechen's gaze, Maha looked at Gu Xiechen, who stood in the formation, and sneered, "You still have one chance to avoid the year-long special training. Defeat me, or withstand my attacks for half an hour without being killed, and you can officially become a mercenary of our Hell Mercenary Group! Plenty of money, hot liquor, and beautiful women from all over the world, including pure-blooded Roam women, will be yours to enjoy!"

"Ladies, do you dare?" Maha extended his right hand and beckoned towards Gu Xiechen.

Stomping his feet firmly, Gu Xiechen leaped up more than ten meters, head down, like a cannonball fired from a barrel, rushing towards Maha.

White Qi coiled around his claws. Gu Xiechen grabbed down at Maha with his left hand, while his right hand unhesitatingly reached for Maha's chest.

Maha sneered dismissively and casually threw a punch at Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen smiled wickedly. The Qi on his claws erupted, and a strange whistling sound suddenly echoed in the air. Ten visible white streaks tore through the air. Gu Xiechen's claws moved like the wind, delivering eighteen punches and thirty-six claw strikes to Maha in just one second.

The wind of his fist and the force of his claws exploded on Maha's knuckles. Maha grunted, his body from the waist down submerged in the snow. From the back of his hand to his elbow, the skin on his right arm was torn to shreds by the ferocious Innate Qi, blood gushing out and dripping onto the snow, mixing with the brains of the mercenary he had just killed.

Gu Xiechen's claws, exuding a hint of cold, pressed against Maha's eyeballs. He chuckled softly, "With just a gentle grab, your eyeballs will be gone."

Maha stared at Gu Xiechen in shock, gritting his teeth and cursing in a low voice, "Innate Qi?"

Gu Xiechen slowly nodded, "Innate Qi."

"Damn it!" Maha abruptly turned around, pointing at a snow wall behind the barracks in the distance, and roared, "Are you guys setting me up?"

Gu Xiechen also vaguely sensed someone watching him from that direction. He looked up at the snow wall, which showed no outward signs of abnormality.

Inside this snow wall, over three hundred meters high, was a circular hall covering more than two thousand square meters. The hall was densely packed with various instruments, and at least a hundred male and female mercenaries in uniform were busy working at these instruments. A massive surveillance screen was replaying the footage of Gu Xiechen suddenly subduing Maha.

More than a dozen high-ranking leaders of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group, dressed in black uniforms, surrounded a burly, bearded man standing in the center of the hall. The bearded man squinted at the footage of Gu Xiechen's claws erupting with Innate Qi, a smile of finding a treasure appearing on his face.

"An Innate-level expert? Heh, do our rivals have any young Innate experts like this?" the bearded man asked the subordinates behind him, stroking his beard with a smile.

"Impossible. We know all the trump cards of our old rivals. How could they possibly cultivate such a young Innate expert?" a middle-aged woman with a dull expression replied coldly.

Another middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a fair complexion added, "Under normal circumstances, if he were a spy, no one would be willing to send such a young Innate-level expert as a spy. If it were us, we wouldn't be willing to."

"Damn it! Then it's our good luck! Heh, no matter what this kid's background is, hehe, even if he raped the Federal President's granddaughter? According to mercenary rules, he's one of us Hell Angels now! Forge a resume for him, hmm, let's tentatively grant him the treatment of a second lieutenant!" The bearded man slapped his thigh forcefully, making a final decision on Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen established his footing within the Hell Angels Mercenary Group. (To be continued)