Hao Ren returned to the Gray Fox Mercenary Group's base, but his return attracted little attention. Only a few mercenaries who had met him once nodded as they passed by, counting it as a greeting. The base looked just as it had yesterday. Soldiers wandered around lazily, and the entire place lacked the disciplined atmosphere expected of a military facility.
"Mercenaries are all very undisciplined. You can't demand that they meet the standards of regular soldiers," Ulanov said, pointing at the mercenaries milling about. "Of course, there are teams trained according to the standards of regular armies, but Gray Fox doesn't do that. We don't have many people, but every one of them is a veteran who fought their way out of battlefields. The battlefield is the best training ground. Everyone still standing here is an elite soldier. Of course... they're also a bunch of troublemakers."
As he spoke, Ulanov turned to Hao Ren. "Someone like you, with both combat ability and experience as a regular soldier, would fit right in here."
"You're still trying to recruit me?" Hao Ren grinned. "All right, I'll consider it—if I really can't find any work here besides fighting, I'll join up and become a mercenary."
He had said it casually, and Ulanov couldn't tell whether he was serious. Even so, the veteran patted Hao Ren on the shoulder. "I hope we get a chance to fight together. You seem quite skilled, but I don't know how good you are with a gun."
Hao Ren smiled. Just then, a commotion came from one corner of the open yard. It sounded as though a large crowd was cheering something on. He looked over and saw a group of mercenaries gathered there to watch the spectacle. "What's going on over there?"
"The training ground... Nolan is