King of Qin's Edict, Wei Zhe's Hope

At the workshop, with Wei Zhe personally teaching the "Thousand Refinement Force" techniques and providing nearly unlimited coke and iron, production capacity was pushed to its absolute limit. Sun He, Qian Hu, and Hu Lei, as if injected with adrenaline, led hundreds of blacksmiths and auxiliary soldiers in forging day and night.

Now, the first batch of one hundred sets of brand-new "Fish Scale Armor" and matching new-style glaives and armor-piercing awls have been officially issued.

And the ones who received this batch of equipment were precisely the one hundred veteran soldiers, the most core and elite under Wei Zhe's command.

At this moment, these hundred Elite Warriors stood silently in the center of the training ground.

They wore completely black fish scale armor, the plates glinting with a cold metallic luster under the sun, like a group of demons emerging from hell. In their hands, they tightly gripped the robustly designed new-style glaives, their edges sharp and exuding a chilling aura.

Just standing there, a fierce and murderous aura washed over them, causing the ordinary soldiers still training nearby to subconsciously hold their breath.

A complete transformation!

This was a true metamorphosis!

Wei Zhe stood before them, clad in the same black armor. His build wasn't the most robust among these burly soldiers, but the imposing presence he exuded made him the center of everyone's attention.

His position as Chieftain was already as solid as a mountain. In this military camp, his word was law.

"Look at yourselves, then look at the weapons in your hands!"

Wei Zhe's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"In the past half-month, you've eaten more meat than you have in the past year! The medicine you've used is something even generals outside can't afford! This set of armor you're wearing now could be exchanged for a house! This glaive in your hand could be exchanged for ten slaves!"

"I, Wei Zhe, have never wronged you!"

The chests of the hundred Elite Warriors involuntarily puffed out higher.

Wei Zhe's gaze swept across each of their resolute faces.

"Now, it's time for you to repay me."

His tone suddenly shifted, becoming cold and sharp.

"The court's orders have come down. We are going to war."

"Not a minor skirmish with the Xiongnu, but a war of annihilation!"

A war of annihilation!

These four words struck everyone's hearts like a massive stone. Most of them had fought battles their entire lives but had never participated in a war of this magnitude.

Their breathing instantly became heavier, and in their eyes, there was nervousness, excitement, but more than anything, a bloodthirsty craving!

"I don't know who our enemy is, nor do I know where the battlefield is."

"But I know that we, the Tiger and Wolf Army, will be the first army to march into enemy territory! We will be the first sharp blade hanging over the enemy's heads!"

"This means we will face the most ferocious enemies and the most dangerous situations! Many of you may die! You might die silently, without even your names being remembered!"

Wei Zhe's words contained no encouragement, only stark reality.

The training ground fell into dead silence.

Only the increasingly heavy breaths of the soldiers could be heard.

Wei Zhe watched them, slowly drawing the armor-piercing awl from his waist. The three-edged blade reflected a blinding cold light under the sun.

"But!"

He suddenly raised his voice, his words like thunder!

"I promise you!"

"When we charge, I, Wei Zhe, will be the first to charge in front of you!"

"The enemy's swords will strike my armor first!"

"The enemy's arrows will be shot at my shield first!"

"If I take a single step back, you can cut off my head on the spot!"

He paused, looking around at the hundred pairs of eyes that were beginning to redden, his voice becoming incredibly impassioned.

"And you, all you need to do is follow me!"

"Follow me, and seize everything you desire!"

"Do you want to secure your family's future and honor your ancestors? Do you want vast fields and overflowing coffers of gold?"

"Then use the glaives in your hands to take it from the enemy's corpses!"

"For those who achieve merit, I will personally petition for your rewards! For those who fall, I, Wei Zhe, will support your families for life!"

"Now, tell me!"

He raised the armor-piercing awl in his hand high, pointing it directly at the sky!

"Do you dare, to fight to the death with me!"

"Roar!!!"

The response was not in words.

It was the roar, like that of wild beasts, that erupted from the hundred Elite Warriors, using all their strength!

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

They struck the armor plates on their chests with the long glaives in their hands, creating a deafening clash of metal!

That sound, coalescing into a monstrous torrent, seemed as if it would tear the very sky apart!

"To death!"

"To death!!"

"To death!!!"

With the simplest, most direct two words, they declared their resolve.

In their eyes, fear was gone, replaced only by a thirst for battle and a fervent worship and desire to follow the man before them!

Wei Zhe looked at the war machines he had forged with his own hands, feeling the battle intent that could burn everything, and he smiled.

His tigers and wolves had sharpened their claws and fangs.

Three days later, in the Tiger and Wolf Army camp, on the training grounds.

Thousands of soldiers, having shed their recruit uniforms for standard iron armor, stood like a black forest on the vast yellow earth. These were all the new recruits who had enlisted with Wei Zhe.

Months of rigorous training had long since scoured away their youthful immaturity and laziness, replacing it with the solemnity and killing intent of soldiers.

However, within this black forest, a small area appeared distinctly different.

These were a hundred Elite Warriors clad in jet-black Fish Scale Armor, wielding new-style long glaives. Like ink dropped into clear water, they stood out starkly amidst the thousands of soldiers in formation. They stood ramrod straight, their breathing steady, the grit and bloodlust emanating from their very bones causing their comrades around them to subconsciously maintain a slight distance.

Envy, jealousy, confusion – all sorts of complex gazes were cast towards this special company of a hundred men.

And also towards the young Chieftain standing at the very front of the formation, also clad in black armor.

"Boss, the way those guys are looking at us isn't exactly friendly," Qian Hu said, lowering his voice as he stood behind Wei Zhe.

Wei Zhe's gaze swept across the entire field, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Don't mind them. Once we're on the battlefield, they'll understand that this equipment was earned with their lives. They'll be crying and begging me to give them some too."

Sun He, standing nearby, looked at the thousands of soldiers ready for deployment, his heart filled with emotion. In just a few short months, Wei Zhe had not only forged the Tiger and Wolf Army into an elite force but had also established unparalleled prestige throughout this entire recruit camp.

Just then, a desolate horn call suddenly sounded from the camp's watchtower.

"Woooo—Woooo—Woooo—"

Three long horns echoed across the plains.

On the training grounds, all chatter instantly ceased, and the gazes of thousands of soldiers snapped towards the direction of the camp gate.

This was the highest level of alert, signaling the imminent arrival of a person of great importance.

Heavy hoofbeats, like rolling thunder, approached from afar.

A squadron of cavalry clad in silver armor, bearing the black royal banner of Great Qin, escorted a magnificent war chariot as it entered the training grounds. The general at the head of the squadron, about thirty years old, possessed a heroic countenance and stood as tall and unyielding as a mountain. He wore no helmet, his black hair tied up with a jade crown, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's as he surveyed the entire field.

He simply sat on his horse, yet an aura of authority, forged through countless battles and command of a mighty army, pressed down on the thousands present, making it hard to breathe.

The camp's Chief Instructor, Shi Meng, along with several military Chieftains, immediately stepped forward and knelt on one knee.

"Your humble servant greets the High General!"

High General!

These two words caused a collective gasp to ripple through the entire training ground.

Wei Zhe's heart pounded. He stared intently at the great general on horseback, a name that thundered in his memory surging from the depths of his mind.

Meng Tian!

The man who had driven back the Xiongnu over seven hundred li, recovered the Hetao region, built the Great Wall, and was hailed as the "Number One Warrior of China"!

It was him!

Wei Zhe felt his blood begin to boil. In his first life in this world, he had never felt so acutely that he was living in a magnificent era, an era brimming with heroes. And the man before him was one of the most dazzling stars of this era.

He was no longer a bystander; he was about to join these historical figures in stirring up a storm that would sweep across the land!

Meng Tian's gaze lingered briefly on Shi Meng and the others before he dismounted, his voice steady and powerful.

"Rise."

He strode towards the high platform in the center of the training grounds, followed closely by two personal guards carrying a wooden box wrapped in yellow cloth.