The training went on day after day, and he had thought it would simply continue like this.
But Lin Feng's growth seemed unlikely to keep pace with everyone else's.
"Begin training!"
It was a practical combat training session one afternoon.
"Please go easy on me..."
Lin Feng nodded slightly and gave a squad salute. By the time he raised his head, his opponent's flying kick was already hurtling toward him.
So impatient...
Turning sideways and gently raising his left foot, Lin Feng closed his eyes.
Lin Feng was so fast that the Imperial Guard member kicking at him suddenly lost his target and nearly fell to the ground.
As he fell, however, Lin Feng's left foot supported his back for a moment, and fortunately, he suffered no injuries.
"Uh... thanks!"
With an ashamed, apologetic look, the guard awkwardly returned to his place.
Apart from Seryu and Wave, he was already the most agile member of the Imperial Guard.
Yet even launching a surprise attack without any regard for fair play, he was no match for Lin Feng.
"Lin Feng, I watched your training this morning. Whether you were holding a horse stance or throwing straight punches, you didn't shed a single drop of sweat."
Wave spoke to Lin Feng with a serious expression while they were eating lunch at the station.
"Don't take part in the station's training anymore. Morning or afternoon, these exercises really don't do much for you."
Don't do much... huh?
[Alucard Template System, host: Lin Feng] [Experience: 4.91] [Skill points: 0] [When experience reaches 5.00, experience gain accelerates, and skill points are awarded]
Lin Feng thought that at least these exercises could increase his [Alucard Template experience points]. Although they were less efficient than combat, they were still better than nothing.
"Well... is this Captain Ogre's decision?"
"Don't even mention Captain Ogre. When has he bothered with you since bringing you in?"
The usually jovial Wave rarely looked this serious. Lin Feng already trusted the young man, and this made him pay particular attention to what Wave said next.
"Honestly, if I weren't under military orders, I really wouldn't want to stay in the Thirteenth Squad and work with this Ogre."
"Do you have some kind of history with Captain Ogre?"
"It's hard to explain the actual circumstances. In any case, be especially careful around that man."
After saying this, Wave hurriedly finished his meal and left, as though afraid someone might overhear their conversation.
Lin Feng pondered for a moment.
Indeed, Captain Ogre had recruited him into the Imperial Guard, but he was always rushing about, and no one knew his whereabouts. Lin Feng and Sheele knew nothing about the man at all.
Why did the Imperial Guard members undergo rigorous training every day, yet never go on missions with Ogre?
Lin Feng decided to set aside an evening to take a good look at what Captain Ogre was really planning.
Apart from their days of training, the most important and frequent assignment the guards received was patrolling the streets.
Public security was a serious problem in the corrupt, chaotic Empire, with arson, murder, robbery, and looting happening every day.
The guards existed to maintain order on the streets and prevent these social problems.
Nearly a month had passed, and this was Lin Feng's first street patrol.
As a newly appointed patrolman, Lin Feng had no equipment apart from his armor, uniform, and a baton.
However, that Imperial Guard uniform marked "Thirteenth Precinct" struck fear into every passerby on the street.
As he strode down the street, Lin Feng suddenly had an indescribable feeling.
So this was what it meant to be a guard. The moment he put on the uniform, his interest in upholding justice seemed to have become a duty.
Yet he was clearly unarmed.
The ordinary people he had never met before treated him with great respect, which struck Lin Feng as particularly strange.
Did the Imperial Guard really command such prestige among the people?
When he had worked at the restaurant, what he had heard more often were rumors of poor people cursing the Imperial Guard!
"Huh? Captain Ogre was just here. Where did he go?"
Walking along the street, Lin Feng asked a guard up ahead who had joined at the same time as him.
"Oh, he just said he was going for a smoke, then turned around and left."
"I see..."
Lin Feng put his hands behind his back and slowly slipped the baton into his sleeve.
"Oh no, my baton's gone! I don't know if I dropped it on the road just now. Keep patrolling, everyone. I'll be right back!"
"How careless! Even someone as careful as you makes mistakes like that!"
"Anyway, you're a fast runner. If you're back early, we'll wait for you at the corner of the bar street."
"All right! I'll be back soon-"
With that, Lin Feng jogged off like the wind, running faster the farther he got from his colleagues' sight.
He only disappeared a moment ago. I don't believe he could have gotten very far...
Once his colleagues were completely out of sight, Lin Feng silently recited:
Form Transformation-
In an instant, Lin Feng's body collapsed into a mass of black shadow.
The shadow gradually split apart, stretched out, and spread in five directions.
Blending into the shadows cast by the houses, it raced across the ground without anyone noticing.
It crawled over houses, ruined walls, stones, and soil-
Suddenly, a red eye emerged within one strand of shadow.
Then both ends of that strand rapidly swelled and expanded, drawing back all the shadows he had sent out.
The shadow gradually took on Lin Feng's appearance as well.
With his shoulder blades pressed against a wall, Lin Feng was not far from Captain Ogre, the tall man clad head to toe in armor, who stood at the mouth of a cold, gloomy alley.
There was also an ugly man with grotesquely shaped features. He was wrapped entirely in green cloth, with what seemed to be something hidden inside.
The two were whispering about something.
Lin Feng had just been about to step closer to listen carefully when Captain Ogre grew alert.
Known as Ogre the Demon, a man whose very name struck terror into the criminal underworld, he possessed exceptionally keen senses.
"Who's there?"
But at the very instant Captain Ogre noticed him-
Form Transformation-
Lin Feng abruptly turned into a pool of black shadow and darted onto the ground in the blink of an eye.
This time, the black shadow he became overlapped with the ugly man's shadow, making it impossible for Ogre to detect anything.
"There's nothing there. Could you have imagined it?"
"But I thought I heard something just now... never mind. Let's continue."
"This deal really is a big one, you know?"
The ugly man took two money pouches from inside the green cloth and loosened just a tiny opening.
Dazzling golden light spilled out from within.
They were undoubtedly all gold coins. Although the amount could not compare with the Gathered Heroes Group's assets, it was by no means a small sum.
"Is this your daily turnover?"