Chapter 1148: Corporal Gideon

As Asher’s eyes fell on the man who had just entered, so did the others’. The noise echoing within the room vanished as though everyone was beginning to adapt to the practice of acknowledging a higher-ranked Soldier’s presence. Unlike Chioma, who was a Lieutenant and wore a blue uniform, this man was a Corporal, as he wore a red uniform like Lilian.

He was in his seventies, his face bearing a few wrinkles, but his back stood straight. His age neither suggested that his strength nor his power had deteriorated. A scar could be seen running along the side of his face, from his temple down to his jawline.

Although the man didn’t particularly possess a high Life Rank, there was a saying that one should respect those who could age or grow old in professions where people died young.

"As I’m sure the Lieutenant has explained by now, each uniform has its Rank, so you may refer to me as Corporal Gideon," he stated, the bass in his voice deep. "I’m the Resident Master of where you will be residing until you are no longer a Cadet. From here on out, my words are practically law, unless a Soldier of higher Rank gives you an Order that goes against mine," he stated.

At his words, everyone nodded, but upon seeing them nod, Corporal Gideon spoke in a sharp tone. "We don’t nod like chickens over here. When a higher-ranked Soldier addresses you, you add their official rank as you respond. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Corporal Gideon," everyone stated, their bodies instinctively straightening despite them sitting.

Corporal Gideon nodded, then walked forward and started sharing the map that Lieutenant Chioma had promised them earlier, as she had given it to Corporal Gideon when she stepped out. As the Cadets received the map, they began to flip through it. Asher also flipped through it just in case there was an additional detail he didn’t know or possess. After all, he couldn’t just assume he knew it all. Acker and Lyra also studied theirs.

"Let’s move," Corporal Gideon stated the moment he was done sharing the map.

Turning around, he headed straight towards the door, and the other Cadets rose to their feet, each of them moving with haste to keep up. Asher walked in the middle, his eyes rising towards the sky. It was dark already, but the Algorith Frontier wasn’t asleep. Many places were still brightly lit, as though people weren’t allowed to sleep at night here.

There was nothing really special to look at, at least to Asher and Acker, as they had practically seen it all. But many of the new Cadets still looked around with surprise in their eyes, pointing at various buildings that seemed unique in structure.

Asher could sense some Cadets moving with arrogance in their steps. It didn’t take more than a second to understand that this set of people were Nobles who had come to join the Frontier. As for why they were here, it was probably due to the matter of succession, with the one who had finally become the Head of the Family sending the others away to the Frontier in the name of establishing connections.

Not every family had laws in place like the Wargrave family, which prohibited family members from fighting or killing each other and over the production of heirs. This always led to various troubles for Nobles. Hence, why the person who took over the family always found ways to handle their siblings. If not, their siblings might just assassinate them to take over the family.

Through the night, they arrived at another building. It was a bungalow that stretched backwards into the distance. Corporal Gideon didn’t speak; he simply opened the door and stepped in without wasting any time.

The moment he entered, noise from within reached the new Cadets. It was noise from older Cadets. Some of them were walking around laughing, some held plates of food, while others were silent. But one thing all of them had in common was that they all wore their Cadet uniforms.

Although Corporal Gideon had stepped inside, none of them stopped to greet him. Some simply nodded at him, while others didn’t seem to notice him at all.

"Hooo!!! We finally have some young blood!" one of the Cadets spoke as she stared at Asher’s group as they walked.

"It’s been six months since the last batch of Cadets. I wonder if there are any interesting ones amongst them," another interjected.

"How much are we betting this time?" one suddenly asked.

"Hmmm... I will bet ten Cadets, twenty days," a man said with a smile.

"Seven Cadets, thirty days," a woman stated this time as she held a smoke pipe and leaned against the wall.

It didn’t take a genius to understand that these Cadets were betting on how long and how many Cadets would die within that time frame. It wasn’t that the mortality rate of the Algorith Frontier was this high; they were simply betting on the fact that some of the new Cadets would be careless or too fearful, causing them to make mistakes.

After all, some here didn’t have any fighting experience, so they could easily die. Although some did possess fighting experience, at the end of the day, everything they were going to fight from this day onwards possessed its own fighting experience to varying degrees.

Corporal Gideon didn’t say anything regarding the bet on the new Cadets’ lives, as this was normal around here. He was sure that even these new Cadets would do the same thing down the line. It was simply the circle of life.

As Corporal Gideon walked down the hallway, he began to speak. "Don’t let what they say affect you." His tone was calm as he noticed that the Cadets seemed to react to the bet.

"At the end of the day, every single person within this building is a Cadet like you. It doesn’t matter if they are a billion years old or have been within the Algorith Frontier for a century. At the end of the day, a Cadet is a Cadet. We respect the Rank, not age or time spent at a particular rank or the general time spent at the Algorith Frontier." His voice remained flat and explanatory.

"Just like Lieutenant Chioma and me, I’ve been here for over four decades, but Lieutenant Chioma has been here for only about a quarter of that time," he continued speaking. "But our ages and time here don’t matter. If she Orders me, I move. It’s that simple. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Corporal Gideon," the Cadets replied as they walked.

"It seems that some of them have to be the lowest of all trash to still be Cadets till now," one of the new Cadets spoke. He was a Noble.

Although his voice was low, in a place full of superhumans, he might as well have spoken into a microphone. The old Cadets frowned, their faces twisting as this Noble had hit their insecure spot head-on. But they didn’t say anything. Corporal Gideon was here, so they couldn’t make a move or do anything at the moment.

They simply memorized this Cadet’s face. They would teach him a sweet and fat lesson later, ensuring he understood the consequences of his words.