Chapter Five: The Rules of Mercenaries

"The benefits are great!"

The Bearded Commander personally handled all the procedures for Gu Xiechen to join the mercenary group. Gu Xiechen also received his official codename in the Hell Angels Mercenary Group: Evil Dragon.

Gu Xiechen looked around his assigned living quarters with satisfaction. The bedroom was over thirty square meters with complete facilities. Outside the bedroom was a small reception room, and in the corner of the reception room, there was even a small bar. What surprised Gu Xiechen even more was that the bar contained hundreds of bottles of various fine wines. Each bottle was high-end, and all of them were provided for free.

While Gu Xiechen was undergoing a physical examination at the medical center, his custom-made uniform had already been hung in the bedroom closet. Behind the closet was a hidden compartment filled with various weapons. From large-caliber handguns to assault rifles, from small serpentine daggers to heavy two-handed swords, the weapons in the hidden compartment were enough to arm a reinforced squad of soldiers.

After fumbling with the instruction manual the Bearded Commander had given him, Gu Xiechen completed the ownership registration for his residence. From this moment on, only Gu Xiechen could enter this residence, and all the facilities within, including the weapons in the hidden compartment, could only be used by Gu Xiechen. If any outsider were to infiltrate, the entire base's defense system would be immediately triggered.

Stringing his Mercenary Card onto an alloy chain and hanging it around his neck, Gu Xiechen touched his empty stomach and, following the instructions on the personal assistant computer issued to his wrist, walked towards the mess hall.

The Mercenary Card was an internal access card issued by the Hell Angels Mercenary Group, usable only by the mercenary themselves. The card contained some personal information about the mercenary and was also a savings card valid throughout the Earth Federation. All of a mercenary's income would be directly deposited into this card. As an Innate-level fighter, Gu Xiechen received a very generous signing bonus for joining the Hell Angels Mercenary Group. Ten thousand Federal Currency was currently resting comfortably in the card's account.

The mess hall was vast, capable of accommodating four to five thousand people dining simultaneously. When Gu Xiechen entered the mess hall, it was lunchtime. The enormous dining hall was filled with burly men with fierce expressions, who were excitedly wielding their cutlery and greedily devouring the food before them. But the moment Gu Xiechen stepped through the mess hall entrance, the previously boisterous hall fell into a dead silence. Everyone turned their heads to look at Gu Xiechen with sinister gazes. With a clatter, many burly men simultaneously put down their cutlery and stood up from their seats.

The atmosphere in the mess hall was strange, but Gu Xiechen ignored it and walked straight to the end of the hall. He naturally greeted a bald man holding a large ladle behind the counter.

"What's good to eat? Give me a portion!"

Gu Xiechen flashed what he thought was a friendly smile at the bald man.

The bald man stirred the large plate of fried pork chops in front of him with his ladle. He shook his head vigorously at Gu Xiechen and said, "There's nothing prepared for you to eat, Second Lieutenant Rookie!"

A thunderous roar of laughter erupted from the mess hall, and countless burly men slammed their fists on the metal dining tables in front of them, creating a piercing sound. A burly Black man wearing a black eye patch over his right eye waved his large fist and shouted at Gu Xiechen, "Rookie! This isn't a place for pretty boys like you. Get out!"

Gu Xiechen reached out and grabbed a metal plate in front of him, then threw it behind him.

The burly Black man, who had been wildly shouting and waving his fist, was sent flying by the plate Gu Xiechen casually threw. His originally prominent nose was smashed inwards, and two streams of blood sprayed out more than two meters high along with his rapidly retreating body. The mess hall was thrown into chaos, and the seven or eight mercenaries behind the burly man were knocked down. The hidden force attached to the plate was like a landslide; all seven or eight of them had their joints stunned, and the massive men struggled to move for a long time before their companions, finally snapping out of their shock, helped them up.

A deathly silence fell over the mess hall. The mercenaries were all perceptive; Gu Xiechen's casual strike was enough to make them realize that this "pretty boy" was not someone they could afford to provoke.

The bald man holding the ladle's expression changed. Gu Xiechen picked up a piece of pork chop, took a bite, chewed slowly, and asked vaguely, "Who's in charge here?"

A clear, resonant voice came from the crowd: "I am! I'm in charge here!"

The crowd parted to the sides, and a handsome young man in a white coarse cloth robe walked out unhurriedly. He stood before Gu Xiechen with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "This is the exclusive mess hall of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group's Third Regiment. I am the commander of the Third Regiment, so I am in charge here!"

Gu Xiechen looked at the familiar face and smiled, "Maha?"

The young man shook his head and said slowly, "I am not Maha, I am his older brother, Bore."

"Maha? Bore?" Gu Xiechen smiled brightly, "Twin brothers?"

Bore nodded, "Yes!"

The Bearded Commander had just taken Gu Xiechen on a tour of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group's base, which was located deep within the Arctic ice cap. He had also roughly introduced the seventeen main regiments under the Hell Angels Mercenary Group. Each main regiment had a standard strength of around five thousand men, and each regiment commander was a fighter who had broken through to the Innate level. Furthermore, each regiment commander had a different background, and many possessed strange powers that were difficult for ordinary people to comprehend.

"You injured my brother Maha. If you could injure Maha when he was at his peak strength, I wouldn't have bothered you." Bore, who was nearly two heads taller than Gu Xiechen, looked down at Gu Xiechen condescendingly. He said calmly, "However, to help me break through to the thirteenth chakra's destiny wheel, Maha exhausted all his Zen power two months ago."

Looking up at Bore, Gu Xiechen said with a wry smile, "But what does that have to do with me? You practiced your skills and broke through yourselves; it wasn't me who made him exhaust his power!"

Bore smiled. His body twisted like a great python from his ankles to his neck, and a calming aura suddenly spread from within him. A strong gust of wind hit Gu Xiechen head-on, causing him to be thrown backward. He instinctively tensed all his muscles and managed to stabilize himself.

Bore chuckled, "Little rookie, I'll teach you the most basic rule of mercenaries: the one with the biggest fist is the boss. As long as I beat you down, if I say you're wrong, you're wrong!"

Without waiting for Gu Xiechen to reply, Bore's hands shot out from behind him like agile snakes. His thumbs were hooked, the tips of his middle fingers touched, and his other fingers spread outwards like a lotus. He said in a deep voice, "White Lion Lotus Seal, Bind!"

Following Bore's shout, the space around Gu Xiechen was confined by a mystical force, as if a great mountain was pressing down on him. Caught off guard, Gu Xiechen was unable to move for the moment. Bore's so-called White Lion Lotus Seal pressed lightly onto Gu Xiechen's chest. A muffled thunderous sound came from Gu Xiechen's chest, and a powerful, rigid force, like a vajra pestle, blasted into Gu Xiechen's body. Gu Xiechen's slender body flew into the air, shooting backward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

With a muffled thud, Gu Xiechen stuck to the mess hall wall in a spread-eagle position. The wall, made of alloy plates, had a three-inch-deep, large character-shaped indentation. Gu Xiechen opened his mouth, feeling a sweetness rise in his chest. Suddenly, a surge of heat rushed up, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Damn it!" A surge of ferocity erupted from Gu Xiechen's mind. The muscles in his back suddenly tensed, and his impenetrable gang qi exploded. The mess hall wall cracked open with a meter-deep pit, and Gu Xiechen's body, with a piercing whistling sound, lunged through the air towards Bore, who stood motionless. His heart rate soared to three hundred beats per minute, and powerful energy that Gu Xiechen couldn't control surged out. Gu Xiechen's originally slender body suddenly thickened by a circle.

Bore narrowed his eyes and smiled. His brilliant golden hair danced without wind. His left hand wriggled like flowing water, and his right fist shot forward from his left hand. He coldly shouted, "Lotus Vase Seal, Break!" The air in front of his fist suddenly churned chaotically, and a sharp sonic boom echoed in the air. A hazy, milky-white vajra pestle, about a foot long, shot out from his fist, accompanied by rings of milky-white ripples spreading outwards, blasting towards Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen clawed downwards from a distance, and dozens of white claw energy strikes rained down from the air, forming a large net in front of the small vajra pestle.

The claw energy and the vajra pestle, composed of unknown energy, collided fiercely. Gu Xiechen's heart pounded violently a few times, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

Bore, who had always appeared calm and smiling without a trace of dust, had a drastic change in expression. He felt an irresistible and terrifying pressure descend upon him, and sharp, unparalleled energy currents coiled around his body as if to tear him to shreds. Bore grunted, and with a crisp tearing sound, his coarse white robe was ripped to shreds by the invisible claw energy. Bore, now naked, staggered backward. With every step he took, his feet sank three inches into the alloy-plated floor.

The claw energy and the vajra pestle vanished after their collision. Gu Xiechen, propelled seven or eight meters into the air by the recoil, stomped his feet fiercely on the mess hall's ceiling. Powerful force erupted from his toes, shattering his combat boots. In the sight of the surrounding mercenaries, his figure suddenly disappeared. Accelerating to a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, Gu Xiechen swung his right elbow, smashing down towards Bore's crown.

Bore, who was in disarray and staggering backward, instinctively sensed a fatal danger approaching. He abruptly raised his head, and two beams of strong blue light flashed in his dark eyes. A rapid whistling sound arose, and the surrounding air converged rapidly, creating three milky-white air barriers, each a foot thick, between Bore and Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen swung his right elbow down with the full force of his body. The three air barriers were shattered by his attack.

Like three thermobaric bombs exploding in the mess hall, the shattered triple condensed air barriers unleashed a torrent of shockwaves in all directions. Hundreds of mercenaries screamed and covered their ears, being blown away like scraps of paper in a gale. The mess hall was filled with countless strong bodies flying through the air, and the soups, steaks, pork chops, chicken legs, lamb legs, and cutlery from thousands of dining plates also flew up, plunging the mess hall into chaos.

His right elbow descended with a terrifying sonic boom, about to smash into Bore's head.

Bore's long arms were raised in time. The blue light in his eyes condensed into two faintly rotating Buddhist swastika symbols. His body was covered in a layer of faint blue light, as thick as fingers. A roar from Bore's lungs made thousands of mercenaries in the mess hall simultaneously cover their ears and collapse, wailing.

"Immovable Wisdom King Seal!" Bore roared. Small vortex-like blue halos appeared simultaneously at Bore's wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Gu Xiechen's right elbow smashed fiercely into his hands.

The two equally powerful forces collided rapidly. With a loud boom, Gu Xiechen's clothes, which had been obedient until now, followed Bore's white robe in turning into countless fragments that scattered.

Gu Xiechen was sent flying more than ten meters high and thrown back a hundred meters in a sorry state. Blood spurted from his mouth again.

Blood flowed from Bore's seven orifices simultaneously. He raised his hands with difficulty, and the blue halos at his wrists, elbows, and shoulders had already dimmed to the point of being lusterless. The alloy floor of the mess hall looked as if it had been torn apart by a pack of wolves, with countless palm-wide cracks appearing in the alloy plates. The thick ice layer beneath the alloy plates had also cracked into numerous palm-width fissures.

Gu Xiechen twisted his body in mid-air, barely avoiding the embarrassing situation of landing headfirst. He staggered forward a couple of steps on the ground, and looking at Bore, who was bleeding from all seven orifices, Gu Xiechen chuckled strangely, "You're more injured than I am!"

Bore remained silent for a long time. The faint blue swastika symbols in his eyes spun erratically. After a long while, the almost collapsed swastika symbols finally managed to condense and slowly retreated into the depths of his eyes.

With a dry laugh, Bore spat out a large mouthful of blood. He reached up and wiped his chin, saying with a wry smile, "Your cultivation is clearly not as high as mine, so why am I more injured than you?"

Gu Xiechen did not answer Bore's question. He retorted, "Now, who has the bigger fist?"

Bore shook his head, pointing at Gu Xiechen and laughing, "Your fists are bigger than mine, so you're right. Maha deserved that beating!"

After coughing a few times, Bore slyly winked and slowly straightened his body, extending his right palm towards Gu Xiechen. "It's a mercenary's rule: if you can't beat someone, it's best to make them your teammate. A strong teammate is nothing but a benefit to the entire team!"

Spitting out a mouthful of thick blood, Bore said frankly, "Meeting you is fate. The fact that you chose to dine in our Third Regiment's mess hall proves you have a connection with us! You've only just joined the Hell Angels Mercenary Group, and Uncle Bearded hasn't assigned you a place yet, right? Welcome to the Third Regiment!"

Gu Xiechen looked at Bore, whose gaze was clear and untainted by any impurities.

Maha walked in from the mess hall entrance, which was in disarray, and roared, "Pretty boy, you beat me up, so joining my big brother's regiment is compensation. What do you say?"

To strengthen his argument, Maha forcefully waved his right arm, which was heavily bandaged. Maha's enthusiasm was fiery, and it too was free of any impurities.

These two brothers, the elder brother calm like a clear spring, the younger brother aggressive like a raging fire, were indeed a perfect match.

"Alright! I'll join the Third Regiment!" Gu Xiechen extended his hand to Bore. "However, my treatment..."

Bore's blood-stained hand clasped Gu Xiechen's palm, and he gasped with a laugh, "High treatment, but you won't be leading anyone. Your strength is immense, but I have to say, you're truly a rookie. This is also a mercenary rule: we never let a rookie just starting out be a captain, otherwise, people will die very quickly."

As they were talking and laughing, a light screen lit up above the mess hall, and the Bearded Commander roared from within, "Bore, you troublemaking scoundrel, get over here! There's a job!"

Bore's expression changed drastically, and he turned and ran out of the mess hall.

Maha grabbed Gu Xiechen's hand, which he hadn't retracted yet, and said with a smile, "There's another rule: we mercenaries live by risking our lives, so when there's a job, we have to move fast, or the job will be snatched away!"

Gu Xiechen heartily slapped Maha's arm, and Maha laughed heartily, returning the friendly slap a few times.

The mercenaries in the mess hall, who had suffered the collateral damage, shook their heads and got up from the ground. Despite the ordeal, their gazes towards Gu Xiechen were now filled with respect.

The most fundamental rule of the mercenary world – only with strength can you survive.

This was also the rule of this world. (To be continued)