House Arrest

"Yu Qitian..."

Gu Chen looked at Yu Qitian in surprise.

He hadn't expected that Yu Qitian, who had been butting heads with him these past few days, would step up at a time like this.

Yu Qitian let out a faint laugh.

"Don't overthink it. I just can't stand seeing someone bully the weak and look down on us new recruits."

"Heh, quite the display of brotherhood in arms."

Lei Chao laughed loudly and clapped his hands, his eyes brimming with mockery.

"But do you really think the two of you alone can stop me?"

"What if we join in too?"

The other two new recruits, both Fourth-Order Martial Apprentices, exchanged a glance and then stepped forward to stand on either side of Yu Qitian and Gu Chen.

The four of them smiled at each other, and this atmosphere spread to the hundreds of other War Soldiers.

Their hearts surging, the crowd stepped forward one after another, shouting loudly, "And us!"

Wave after wave of voices rose and fell across the training ground, their momentum terrifying!

These War Soldiers trained together daily. While they weren't as close as brothers, their relationships were still decent.

Now, with Lei Chao as a common enemy, they united in shared hatred, their bond stronger than ever.

Though these War Soldiers were only Third-Order, and some even just Second-tier Martial Apprentices, the pressure from hundreds of War Soldiers shouting in unison still forced Lei Chao to take two steps back instinctively.

His face darkened with wariness.

"Who's causing trouble here?"

From a distance, several new recruit instructors who had been about to rest heard the rising shouts and hurried over.

Seeing these familiar faces, Lei Chao's expression shifted slightly. He respectfully bowed to the instructors.

"Greetings, Instructors."

Instructor Deng Li frowned.

"Lei Chao? What are you doing here?"

New recruit instructors were only responsible for training recruits during their first six months in camp.

When Lei Chao had entered the camp in the previous batch, Deng Li had also served as an instructor and had given the troublemaker plenty of discipline.

Lei Chao hadn't expected Deng Li to be here.

Now, he was like a mouse seeing a cat, having lost all the arrogance he'd shown toward Gu Chen and the others.

"Li Xuan from the Logistics Camp has gone missing. I suspected it might be related to the new recruits, so I came to ask questions."

"Ask questions? Hah."

Yu Qitian, unafraid of Lei Chao, sneered and pulled Gu Chen over to Deng Li.

"Instructor, take a look. If this was just asking questions, did Gu Chen cough up his own blood for fun?"

The blood on Gu Chen's body had already dried, but the stains remained.

Combat training among new recruits would never draw blood.

Deng Li's eyes immediately turned hostile as he stared at Lei Chao, his voice growing cold.

"What exactly happened here?"

In that instant, memories of being tormented by Deng Li for mistakes made in the New Recruit Camp flooded Lei Chao's mind.

His body trembled violently, and he spilled everything—what had happened earlier and the guesses of the other veterans—without holding back.

The War Soldiers who had followed him also shrank back, afraid of being caught in Deng Li's anger.

After sorting through the events, Deng Li let out a cold snort.

"If something happens to someone in the camp, there are designated people to investigate. Since when do you get to take matters into your own hands?"

"You, you, you, and all of you—everyone goes up the mountain and hunts down one hundred one-star, Fifth-Order or above Demonic Beasts. If you're not done by sunset, no food for three days."

Hearing this, everyone felt their scalps go numb!

Though there were many Wild Beasts in the forest, the ones near the camp were mostly weaker Demonic Beasts.

Just finding one hundred one-star, Fifth-Order Demonic Beasts before sunset was no easy task.

Let alone killing them and bringing the bodies back.

With so many War Soldiers setting out together, they'd probably have to strip the nearby mountains bare.

Seeing the War Soldiers hesitating to move, Deng Li said in a low voice, "What are you waiting for? Go!"

The warriors fled in panic, scrambling toward the mountains, each afraid of being overtaken by the others.

Three days of starvation wasn't something just anyone could endure.

"Lei Chao, stop right there."

Lei Chao had tried to slip away with the crowd, but Deng Li blocked his path.

"Aren't you going to apologize to Gu Chen?"

Deng Li shot Lei Chao a glare, then dragged him over to Gu Chen.

Though Gu Chen's current Strength couldn't match Lei Chao's, Deng Li was certain that, barring any accidents, Gu Chen's future Strength would far surpass Lei Chao's.

Among the previous batch of warriors in this camp, Lei Chao had barely scraped into the top ten.

But Gu Chen was a solid fourth, and now firmly held second place!

As long as he trained steadily, he was bound to become a Pian General someday!

Deng Li was a Martial Master, a full two major realms above Lei Chao.

Under Deng Li's control, Lei Chao had no power to resist. He could only hang his head and mutter to Gu Chen, "Not knowing the full picture before I acted—that's on me."

Though Lei Chao's apology came reluctantly, Gu Chen could clearly feel the resentment simmering beneath it.

What Lei Chao regretted, it seemed, was only being caught by Deng Li, not the act of attacking him.

"No worries. I don't have many virtues, but I can take a hit."

Gu Chen's eyes narrowed, a flicker of killing intent flashing deep within them.

He knew that for some people, losing face was the most infuriating thing of all.

If Lei Chao ever caught him in the wild, he wouldn't hesitate to finish him off.

Deng Li let out a helpless sigh, knowing the resentment between the two hadn't faded.

Before letting Lei Chao leave, Deng Li's voice dropped low as he warned, "Lei Chao, one week of House Arrest. You're not allowed to leave the Warrior Camp during that time."

Lei Chao's steps faltered. He understood Deng Li's meaning.

The Warrior Camp had its own divisions between old and new.

By keeping him in the camp, Deng Li was making sure he couldn't cause trouble for Gu Chen.

Lei Chao asked without turning around, "And the task of hunting a hundred Demonic Beasts..."

"You don't need to do it. Just stay in the camp and don't do anything you shouldn't."

Deng Li emphasized the last few words heavily.

Lei Chao understood—this was Deng Li's way of warning him.

He nodded, said, "I understand," and walked away without looking back.

Watching Lei Chao's retreating figure, Deng Li knew he hadn't taken the words to heart.

Deng Li could only turn to Gu Chen and say helplessly, "Gu Chen, if there's no need, it's best you don't leave the camp for a while either."

"I can't lock Lei Chao in the camp forever."

This was the most Deng Li could do to defuse the conflict between them.

Gu Chen grinned, "Don't worry, Instructor. I understand."

Deng Li sighed inwardly, patted Gu Chen on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "I have high hopes for you. One day, you'll surpass me."

After a few more heartfelt words of advice, Deng Li turned and left.

Gu Chen thought for a moment, then glanced back at Gu Lin behind him.

"Gu Lin, go to the Logistics Camp. Tell Gu Han to stay inside as much as possible for now. I don't want Lei Chao lashing out at him in his rage."

"Got it."

Gu Lin didn't waste words and immediately hurried off.

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