Winning Them Over

"Fang Yu, take Centurion Lin to his office. It's the compound that had been left vacant because it had no centurion. The guards there have gone leaderless for a long time. Now that Centurion Lin is here, he can straighten out the atmosphere there."

Lin Lei and Otto did not speak for long. Their ranks and positions were different, after all.

Before long, Otto had one of his personal guards show Lin Lei the way.

Fang Yu led Lin Lei through the densely packed buildings. The City Defense Department was not very large, only about the size of Lin Lei's Pear Garden.

However, Pear Garden was not filled with buildings like the City Defense Department.

After walking for a while, they arrived at a courtyard on the northern side of the City Defense Department. Before they even reached it, Lin Lei heard a tremendous uproar—gambling, brawling, shouting, every kind of noise imaginable.

It did not resemble a government office at all. It was more like a gathering place for street thugs.

When Fang Yu and Lin Lei entered, most of the people noticed them, yet acted as though they were invisible. No one paid any attention to the two of them.

"Centurion Lin, this is where you'll work. These are all your subordinates. I'll head back and report now."

Fang Yu spoke calmly to the disbelieving Lin Lei. He had spent many years in the City Defense Department and had long understood what kind of parasites these people were.

"These people... are my subordinates? They don't look like soldiers at all. Guard Fang, do you know where they came from? Why hasn't the City Defense Department thrown them out?"

Lin Lei asked in confusion as he secretly slipped several gold coins into Fang Yu's hand.

Fang Yu glanced discreetly at the gold coins in his palm. He stopped just as he was about to leave and spoke to Lin Lei.

"Ahem. These people are all children of noble families. Most of them have no right to inherit their family estates, so their parents pulled strings to arrange military posts for them, giving them at least something to rely on.

"Originally, they were just left here with no one to manage them. But your appointment came too quickly, Centurion Lin. It was personally granted by Miss Alice, and every centurion position in the City Defense Department is already filled. There simply wasn't an extra post for you.

"So there was no choice but to have you temporarily serve as their superior.

"Of course, you don't need to worry. The Commander of a Thousand will definitely assign you a proper hundred-man unit later. There's no doubt about that."

The gold coins Lin Lei had given him worked wonders. Fang Yu rattled off a great deal, explaining the entire situation from beginning to end.

Only then did Lin Lei come to a realization. His subordinates were all second-generation officials, here merely to pad their résumés.

They were utterly useless, a hopeless bunch beyond saving.

Anyone else who heard Fang Yu's words would likely have been disheartened and quietly waited for the Commander of a Thousand to replace their subordinates.

But Lin Lei came from an age of information explosion. He knew there were no truly useless people, only people who had not found the right method.

Lin Lei was confident he could control this group of spoiled young nobles and turn them into real soldiers.

He liked taking the initiative and did not want to passively accept defeat.

After Fang Yu had made the interests involved clear, Lin Lei personally escorted him out of the centurion's compound and sent him back to report.

Bang! Bang!

After seeing off the personal guard, Lin Lei returned to the compound. Instead of entering the building, he headed straight for the drill field found in every garrison.

He picked up the drum placed there and struck it with all his strength.

The drumbeats were so loud that even the two neighboring garrisons heard them. Quite a few squad leaders and centurions from next door looked over at Lin Lei's garrison in confusion—North Wind Garrison.

"What's going on? Has the sun risen in the west? Are even the young masters of North Wind Garrison going to train now?"

A squad leader from the neighboring North Snow Garrison looked toward North Wind Garrison with amusement and spoke to his superior, Centurion Hu Baifu, with disdain.

"Looks like there's going to be a show. I heard someone say a new centurion had arrived. I was wondering, since I hadn't heard of any centurion in our City Defense Department dying in battle or being promoted away.

"So this is where he was assigned."

Centurion Hu Baifu beside him was quite calm. Anyone who could get by in the City Defense Department had well-informed sources.

"Those young masters might be getting scolded now?"

"Them? Impossible, right? Who would dare touch them? Doesn't even the lord tacitly approve of their existence?"

The squad leader looked at Hu Baifu in surprise.

"This new centurion is favored by the young miss. With her backing him, would he be afraid of a bunch of spoiled brats?"

Hu Baifu stroked his beard and spoke with complete confidence.

"The young miss... You mean our lord's daughter?"

The squad leader drew in a sharp breath and looked at his superior, receiving an affirmative answer.

Meanwhile, on Lin Lei's side, no matter how thunderously he beat the drum, only a scattered few people emerged onto the drill field.

They stood crookedly, without the slightest semblance of formation.

"Ah Huang, go bite everyone in the compound and drive them out."

After waiting for a while and seeing that no one else was coming out, Lin Lei crouched down and stroked Red Fire as he spoke.

He did not doubt for a moment that it could do it. Having inherited the abilities of the Howling Celestial Dog, Red Fire had become increasingly compatible with him and had already broken through to Silver Rank One. Dealing with a few rotten fish and shrimps would be effortless.

"Woof! Bang!"

After Lin Lei spoke, Red Fire shot into the building like lightning. Soon, barking and the sound of objects crashing into tables came from inside.

The place erupted into chaos.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several disheveled people, their faces bruised and swollen, kept appearing at the entrance and staggering onto the drill field. Red Fire ran from east to west, driving every last one of the dozens who had remained inside out of the building.

It then returned to Lin Lei's side.

"Pfft."

The people who had come out earlier saw the miserable state of those behind them. Though still frightened themselves, they could not help laughing.

Hearing the snickering, many of the raggedly dressed people felt utterly humiliated.

"Now that everyone is here, I assume none of you know me. My name is Lin Lei Thunder Roar. You will all become familiar with me soon enough.

"I will be your direct superior from now on. You will all obey my orders."

Lin Lei stood on the raised platform and spoke with forceful cadence.

"Direct superior? We have a direct superior? Henry, do you know anything about this...?"

Lin Lei's words immediately caused an uproar below the platform. A slender-looking young man asked the man beside him, who had been rubbing his backside the whole time.

"You're the third son of the captain of the lord's personal guards. You should know about this, right? Your information is the best among us brothers."

"I don't know. I never heard anyone was going to manage us. Could he be an impostor?"

Henry was confused as well, his face full of uncertainty.

"Impossible. Look at his badge—it's a centurion's badge. You really don't know?"

The skinny young man asked again.

"I really don't."

Henry answered irritably.

"Luo Ji, you're the grandson of the Minister of Finance. If even you, the dignified grandson of the Minister of Finance, don't know, how could I possibly know before you?"

The two looked at each other in silence.

Lin Lei on the platform heard the whispered discussions among these young masters and knew they were talking about him.

He did not care and continued loudly.

"I know every one of you comes from an extraordinary family. Some of you are children of royal relatives, some are children of high-ranking military officials, and some are children of major merchant caravans.

"Every one of you has an illustrious background.

"But what does that have to do with you? I believe none of you are the eldest legitimate sons of your families, right?

"Do any of you have the right to directly inherit the family estate? If you do, step forward and let me see."

After saying this, Lin Lei paused. The field suddenly fell silent.

No one spoke again, and no one stepped forward. They all knew each other well enough to know that each of them was the one their family did not value, which was why they had been sent here.

"None of you do, right? I'm sure being a soldier in the City Defense Department means practically nothing in your families, right?"

"Even centurions like me are plentiful in your families, right?"

"Every one of you came here because you saw no future for yourselves, then gave up and let yourselves rot away, right?"

Lin Lei swept his gaze across the field. Many people lowered their heads, and those who had been angry about being chased out by a dog became dejected.

Lin Lei did not pause before continuing.

"And me? I was once an ordinary farmer. Yet now, because of my strength, I have become a centurion in the City Defense Department.

"I did not rely on anyone's help. Through my own efforts, I succeeded. I turned my fate around.

"And what about you? You certainly have your own connections. Your parents and your relationships will surely help you.

"But right now, you are still my subordinates. Aren't you ashamed?

"I'm not saying this to show off how hardworking I am, nor am I trying to mock you. I am solemnly telling you that as long as you work hard, as long as you do not muddle through life and strive to improve yourselves, you will certainly carve out a place for yourselves.

"Instead of hiding with a few others in some forgotten corner of the City Defense Department, barely clinging to life."

Lin Lei's impassioned words suddenly gave many people below hope of striving forward. However, some had been lost for too long, and his words had not fully moved them.

He knew he had to press the advantage and add more fuel to the fire. Only then would these people's spirit be truly awakened.

"I'm sure many of you still refuse to believe me. Or rather, you don't believe that you yourselves can achieve anything.

"I have a few old sayings for you: Where there is a will, there is a way. The one hundred and twenty passes of Qin would eventually belong to Chu. Heaven does not disappoint those who endure hardship; three thousand Yue armored soldiers could swallow Wu.

"There are no people who are born fools. There are only those willing to degrade themselves and unwilling to make progress.

"Every person is born with a purpose. Tell me, do you want to be trash?"

Lin Lei's final words were a fierce roar, filled with powerful emotion.

"No!"

The voices of those spoiled young nobles rang out across the drill field.

"Louder! I can't hear you!"

Lin Lei roared again.

"NO!"

This time, they shouted back just as fiercely, every one of their necks flushed red.

"Very good. I believe all of you will improve. You will succeed. You will achieve things no less great than your fathers.

"Next, I will put you through strict training and raise your strength. Do you have confidence...?"

"Yes...!"

"Very good."

Lin Lei was very satisfied with the results. Next, he began putting them through the discipline training from his old military training days. For a time, slogans shook the skies over North Wind Garrison.