The First Order

1204 Remember your choice

Black Fox recalled when he had first started following Commander P5092.

He was 17 years old that year and was about to graduate from high school.

In the strongholds controlled by the Pyro Company, students above junior high attended boarding schools. They could only return home once every three weeks and only for a day and a half each time.

When he was attending school, he would wake up at 5:45 every morning for a 1.8-kilometer run before his morning classes began.

Breakfast was served at 7 AM, lunch at 12 PM, and dinner at 6 PM, with each mealtime lasting only half an hour. Classes were dismissed at 9:40 PM and lights out at 10:20 PM.

After lights out, the Pyro Company soldiers would patrol the dormitories. There were small peephole windows installed in the doors of the dormitories which soldiers on patrol duty could open from the outside to check whether students were sleeping on time.

In the course of their education, they had always been subjected to military-style management. These rules and discipline were instilled deep within their bones.

There, they were taught how fragile humanity was in the world, and that they had to fight for the survival of humanity by any means necessary.

This was the glory of the Pyro Company.

At that time, Black Fox and his schoolmates thought all students in the world led such lives. Later on, when they grew up, they realized they were the only ones put through this form of tragic education. It was only the Pyro Company’s schools that were run by armed soldiers.

In school, all students had to undergo high-intensity learning and training. In the end, there was only one thing waiting for them: the college entrance examinations.

The Pyro Company’s college entrance exams were divided into two categories. One was based on cultural studies while the other was based on physical fitness.

From that day onwards, the fate of all their students was forked into extremely different paths.

Those who did well in cultural studies could consider attending a research university or a military university. For example, P5092 and Black Fox had enrolled in a military school.

After they entered a military school, they would become true reserve officers of the Pyro Company, with all of their serial numbers prefixed with the letter P.

That was the command structure of the Pyro Company.

As for the physical fitness exam, other than going through a high-intensity test, everyone would also have to undergo a genetic test.

If they passed the test and qualified as candidates for genetic modification, they would be promoted as soldiers within the organization and receive true military training while undergoing gradual genetic modification.

Actually, at this moment, it was decided whether they would be a T2 combatant or a T5 combatant.

T2s would get posted to the T2 boot camps, while T5s would get into the T5 boot camps. The training curriculum they received was also completely different.

For example, a T2 combatant might receive training in firearms, combat, and so on, but a T5 combatant would go through additional courses, such as assassination, reconnaissance, infiltration, rock climbing, driving, and so on.

At this point, there would still be a large group of high school students who could not do well in their cultural studies and did not have the potential to undergo genetic modification either. In such cases, they would be allowed to leave school freely to find their own way.

Some of these dropouts would go on to become workers, while others became small business owners. But to the Pyro Company, this was just the life that normal people led.

The Pyro Company controlled almost all of the economic lifelines in the strongholds. After accumulating enough assets and money, they would only be used for one purpose: to support scientific research, the troops, and the military industry.

Meanwhile, military school students like Black Fox would get directly assigned to various basic units after graduation. Everyone would have to follow instructions and wait for their transfer orders.

But there were also some differences. In the Pyro Company’s military schools, there was a type of student considered for “advanced admissions.” Half a year before graduation, many of the more influential P5 commanders would go to the schools to select students they thought highly of.

The chosen students would then enlist in the P5 commander’s troops directly. Usually, such students who were considered for advanced admissions were regarded by their colleagues as “apprentices” of the P5 commanders whose fates would then become intertwined.

Of course, the advantage was that these students were always promoted very quickly.

Black Fox remembered that one afternoon, he suddenly received a notification from his class supervisor: “A P5 commander has seen your résumé and results and is very interested in recruiting you. Go for the interview. He’s waiting for you in Room 155 of the Red Sun Building.”

Black Fox was stunned. Room 155 at the Red Sun Building was the most mysterious place in the military school. It was not that there was a lot of secrecy surrounding it but that all seniors who had been considered for advanced admissions had completed their interviews there.

Some people walked out of Room 155 with a look of joy because they had been chosen by a certain P5 commander. Some people walked out of the office with depressed looks on their faces because they had been dropped for consideration by a P5 commander.

Only the truly outstanding could pass their interviews there.

Black Fox had heard that the Red Sun Building was named after the rising red sun to “shine the great light” for people. This phrase came from a certain sage’s “Ode to Young China”: “The nascent red sun shines the great light. Backed by splendid history and culture, a promising. far-reaching future.”

And the next line was: “My beautiful young China that is as eternal as heaven! My magnificent Chinese youths who are as bountiful as the land!”

Therefore, it was self-evident what purpose the person who named the Red Sun Building had.

Black Fox walked along the long corridor in the Red Sun Building. He stood outside Room 155 and spoke loudly, “P13922, Class of 213, reporting for the interview.”

The year 213 was counted from the day since the Cataclysm started. Currently, it was the year 223.

A calm tone could be heard coming from the office. “Enter.” The calm voice sounded like water in an ancient well, absent of any subjective emotions.

Black Fox slowly pushed open the old wooden door of Room 155 and saw that the curtains in the room were drawn. P5092 was sitting quietly in a chair opposite him and flipping through a résumé.

The office was dark, with only a faint glow of the afternoon sun coming in through the curtains. Black Fox could not even see P5092’s face clearly.

Black Fox stood at the door. Before he could close it, P5092 had already started asking, “In the two-two-one exercise, why did you lead your subordinates to their ‘death’ at Position 881?”

Black Fox was stunned on the spot. This was a sore point for him. It was also because of this command error that he scored very low on his assessment after the exercise ended.

He answered P5092 meekly, “During the simulation, the Blue side had occupied Position 881. If we wanted to ensure that the troops at the rear could pass through at the specified time, we would have to sacrifice ourselves to seize Position 881. This position had to be controlled by our side for us to win the battle.”

“Why did you have to seize Position 881 no matter what?” P5092 asked.

Black Fox thought for a moment and said, “At that time, I thought the Blue side’s main forces were also behind Position 881. If we didn’t take the position back, our troops would have been exposed to the enemy’s artillery fire. We only found out there weren’t any Blue troops behind the position after the exercise was over….”

“Do you think you made a mistake?” P5092 looked up at Black Fox.

Black Fox did not know what to say. In the end, he hesitated for a while before saying, “Sir, I don’t think I was wrong.”

“Why do you sound so careful when answering me? Is it because you’re not sure if your choice was correct?” P5092 asked calmly.

“… Yes,” Black Fox said softly.

“Be more resolute in the future.” P5092 put down the résumé and said calmly, “They rated you poorly because they had a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield and knew there weren’t any main enemy forces behind Position 881, but you didn’t. So what your teachers taught you might not be right either. If you’re really on the battlefield, you have to stake your life to figure out what’s really behind Position 881.”

Black Fox was stunned. Over the past few months, he had been criticized several times for this decision during the exercise. At some point, he even wondered if he was wrong.

But at this moment, someone called him over and told him that he had done nothing wrong.

Although the other party’s tone was extremely void of emotion, Black Fox found it very warm and rousing.

At this moment, P5092 stood up and asked, “If you were to return to the time of the military exercise to take Position 881 again, would you still lead your men forward to die?”

Black Fox said firmly this time, “Yes!”

P5092 walked out the door. When he walked past Black Fox, he said, “Report to 3rd Division next month. I’ll handle your transfer…. Remember your choice today.”

After that, P5092 left without looking back, leaving Black Fox standing in Room 155 of the Red Sun Building in a daze and deep in thought.

Afterwards, Black Fox became a qualified junior officer of the Pyro Company’s 3rd Division. In just a few years, he rose up the ranks and finally became the second-in-command of the 3rd Division.

But over the years, Black Fox felt like he had never seen Commander P5092 smile so happily before.

Looking at P5092, who was being jostled around by Wang Yun and Ji Zi’ang, he suddenly felt that this wasn’t so bad after all.

P5092 shouted, “Black Fox, get over here and get these two off me!”

In the end, Black Fox and the other staff officers around him exchanged glances and suddenly surrounded P5092 as well. All of them threw him into the air with all their might.

And then again.

And again once more.

No matter what P5092 said, no one had any intention of stopping.

In this war, P5092 was not the main contributor in helping to win it. Everyone knew this very well.

It was just that Black Fox and the others found it quite exciting to have the chance to openly throw an emotionless commander like P5092 into the air. After all, they did not have this opportunity when they were still serving in the Pyro Company’s 3rd Division.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu saw Chen Jiu and the others walking towards him on the battlefield. Summer and Mel were also with the Sanctuary members.

“I’ll be leaving soon,” Ren Xiaosu said, looking at Mel.

Mel was stunned. “Where to?”

“Back to Fortress 178,” Ren Xiaosu answered.

“Then will you come back to the Kingdom of Sorcerers?” Mel was a little disappointed. His voice also became softer.

“Yes.” Ren Xiaosu smiled and nodded. “Of course I’ll be back again. It only takes me 10 hours to get here from Fortress 178.”

Initially, Ren Xiaosu wanted to leave the enchanted doorway here. But on second thought, it would be better not to place it in the hands of others.

If someone deliberately destroyed it, Ren Xiaosu would not have a chance to open another enchanted doorway again in his lifetime.

If anything were to happen in the Kingdom of Sorcerers, he would just have to make another trip here with the steam locomotive.

The enchanted doorway was a way for the Northwest Army to directly descend upon Ghent City, so he definitely couldn’t let others watch over it for him.

At this moment, some of the 6th Field Division’s troops returned after gathering the Eyes of True Sight from the battlefield.

More Eyes of True Sight had been dropped on the battlefield than expected. Chen Jiu, Summer, Mel, and the others were all staring at them.