Chapter 617: Brothers (Part 2)

Waves stirred in Cheng Border’s heart. He couldn’t help but look at Xu Yiyu and Yi Xin, exchanging a glance with his old teammates.

Rong Taotao, still misunderstanding, said, “Don’t worry, Captain Cheng. These two are cadets from the Junior Class of Songjiang Soul Martial University. Their family backgrounds and personal strengths are beyond question…”

Cheng Border suddenly spoke up, interrupting Rong Taotao. “I don’t know what your relationship with Captain Fu was like in the Twelfth Squad, or what he was able to do. But as for me, I don’t have as high a status as Fu Tiance, and my words don’t carry as much weight in the Cyan Mountain Army.”

Rong Taotao opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

“Let’s talk about it later,” Gao Lingwei said from the side, defusing the awkwardness for both of them.

Rong Taotao pursed his lips, burying the words welling up inside him.

Led by Cheng Border, Rong Taotao toured his new dormitory. The stone house was small but complete, fully equipped with all the necessary facilities.

It couldn’t compare to the Twelfth Squad’s headquarters, though. Rong Taotao no longer had a private office, and in the future, he would have to live with his teammates.

There were six dorm rooms in total, all configured for standard three-person teams. The “standard” here was clearly based on special forces standards, not those of regular troops.

Each room here had only three beds, a single desk and chair, and a private bathroom.

Rong Taotao was no stranger to this model of living together as a small unit. Yang Chunxi had prepared him for it back when he had just been accepted into the Junior Class.

That was the first time he’d stayed in the Practitioner dorms at Hundred Corps Pass. Rong Taotao had shared a room with Li Ziyi and Sun Xingyu, making it convenient for the squad to live together, react quickly, and carry out missions as one.

After arranging the dormitory for the two of them, Cheng Border gave a detailed explanation of tonight’s guard duty assignment, then left them to get their room in order.

Rong Taotao looked at the empty room and couldn’t help but think to himself.

‘Something’s missing…’

‘Right, snacks are missing. He had a full backpack of them, but given Rong Taotao’s appetite, who knew how long this bag of food would last.’

‘Without Miss Mao Rabbit handling logistics… sigh… I have to start everything from scratch.’

“Where are you sleeping?” Gao Lingwei asked, looking around.

To the left of the door was a single bed with a desk and chair. To the right were two beds, arranged end-to-end.

Each was a single bed, with no top bunks. ‘Probably to make it easier for soldiers to get up and rush out at a moment’s notice,’ he thought.

Rong Taotao looked at the bed directly opposite the desk and chair and said, “I’m fine with any of them.”

Gao Lingwei glanced at Rong Taotao with a smile. ‘As if she didn’t know what he was thinking?’

She casually tossed her pack onto the first bed on the right, clearly intending to stay on the same side as Rong Taotao, in the end-to-end beds.

Rong Taotao chuckled and stepped inside.

Gao Lingwei closed the door behind her and asked, “You want to pull Shilou and Shi Lan into the squad?”

Obviously, the people Rong Taotao had mentioned to Cheng Border earlier were Shilou and Shi Lan. The conversation had just gotten a bit awkward before Gao Lingwei put a stop to it.

This kind of recommendation from Rong Taotao wouldn’t have been a big deal at all for Fu Tiance. Fu Tiance could have made the decision himself and handled it with ease.

Shilou and Shilan were from the very first batch of Junior Class cadets in all of Huaxia, and from Songjiang Soul Martial University’s Junior Class at that. Did their strength and potential even need to be mentioned?

With Rong Taotao pulling the strings, Fu Tiance would have been overjoyed. Making them reservists would have been nothing.

But for Cheng Border…

It was difficult. Very difficult.

“Yeah. Don’t they dream of exploring the Snow Realm Vortex?” Rong Taotao replied, plopping down on his bed and opening his backpack to rummage for snacks.

Gao Lingwei said, “The Cyan Mountain Army’s current mission is to garrison the wall, not explore the Vortex.”

“Ah, having the Shi Family Sisters explore the Vortex right now would be unrealistic. They aren’t strong enough yet,” Rong Taotao said. “I just want them to join the team early. Look at this little stone building. Don’t you think it’s some kind of signal from the higher-ups?”

Hearing this, Gao Lingwei also fell into deep thought.

For a moment, she couldn’t even tell if the higher-ups were giving Rong Taotao, a descendant of a general’s family, special treatment, or if they truly intended to rebuild the Cyan Mountain Army.

However, the fact that Gao Lingwei had a Snowball Cat and Rong Taotao had several Lotus Petals did indeed present the possibility of rebuilding the Cyan Mountain Army.

Rebuilding a team was simple enough. The question was the meaning and purpose of that team’s existence.

The Cyan Mountain Army obviously existed to explore the Snow Realm Vortex.

And as for Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao… in three words: a perfect fit!

The blinding snowstorms others couldn’t see through, the lost paths home they couldn’t find…

‘I, Gao Lingwei, can do it!’

And Rong Taotao, as a Frost Snow Incarnation with several Lotus Petals, if given just a little more time to grow, you could even foresee him turning the Snow Realm Vortex completely upside down.

Rong Taotao continued, “Besides, the closer we are to the Snow Realm Vortex, the faster we can absorb Soul Power.”

“Coach Si and I both have Lotus Petals. Building on that foundation, the growth rate for our juniors cultivating at Songjiang Soul Martial University versus cultivating here at Wan’an Pass will be completely different.”

Gao Lingwei hesitated for a moment before saying, “It’s very dangerous here. A Soul Beast Army could attack at any time.”

“Hmm… that’s true.” Rong Taotao nodded. Although the Shi Family Sisters were already at the Soul Captain stage, reaching the average strength level required to stand guard at Wan’an Pass, cultivating at Songjiang Soul Martial University was certainly much safer.

Thinking of this, Rong Taotao said, “That’s true. It can only depend on what they want to do.”

Gao Lingwei finished making her bed, then sat down. “Are you planning to talk to Principal Mei personally and then report to Commander He for permission?”

Rong Taotao replied, “Ah, yeah.”

“We should still be mindful of how we speak,” Gao Lingwei said, turning to look at Rong Taotao. “After all, we’re soldiers, Captain Cheng is our captain, and we’ve only just arrived.”

Listening to Gao Lingwei’s advice, Rong Taotao opened a box of sandwich cookies and nodded in agreement. “Mhm, I get it. So, should I ask Shilou and Shi Lan what they want to do first?”

Gao Lingwei suddenly asked, “You’re not going to ask your other classmates?”

Rong Taotao thought for a moment and said, “Everyone has different goals for coming to the Snow Realm. They haven’t explicitly expressed any desire to explore the Snow Realm Vortex.”

“But you’re right. It’s better to ask. Since I have this opportunity now and we’re all classmates, I shouldn’t show favoritism. By the way…”

“Hm?”

Rong Taotao looked troubled. “Lu Mang and Jiao Tengda… can you ask them for me?”

Gao Lingwei was inwardly surprised. “Why?”

Rong Taotao grimaced. “I feel like… they respect me a lot. I’m afraid if I ask, they’ll have a hard time refusing even if they don’t want to come.”

Gao Lingwei raised an eyebrow slightly. “You’re very confident. This is a matter concerning their futures and their lives.”

“CRUNCH, CRUNCH.” Rong Taotao shrugged as he chewed his cookie, mumbling, “Of course I am. If I wasn’t confident, how could a mere Little Soul Warrior like me have gotten a Great Soul Captain for a girlfriend back then?”

Gao Lingwei: “…”

‘He’s never going to let me live down the fact that he “killed” me, is he?’

Rong Taotao sensed the shift in the atmosphere. Under Gao Lingwei’s chilling gaze, his scalp tingled. He couldn’t help but shift his position, turning to the side and lowering his head to continue eating his cookies.

Gao Lingwei took out her phone, her fingers tapping the screen as she said casually, “You have a Huilian now. Be careful. I can stab you back.”

‘Good grief, are those words even human?’

‘My Da Wei is telling me to be careful because she’s going to stab me…’

Rong Taotao turned to look at Gao Lingwei and said, “Wow, you’re so domineering. So beautiful and cool.”

Gao Lingwei looked down, sending a message, and didn’t reply.

Rong Taotao ate another sandwich cookie and suddenly blurted out, “If Li Ziyi were here, I’d slaughter him for you just to liven things up.”

Gao Lingwei shot Rong Taotao a cold glance. When she looked back down at her phone screen, however, her expression faltered slightly.

Rong Taotao asked, “What’s wrong?”

Gao Lingwei studied the message carefully before finally tossing the phone to Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao fumbled to catch the phone and saw that Gao Lingwei had sent a message to Lu Mang.

She had asked Lu Mang if he wanted to come to the Third Wall to guard it with the Cyan Mountain Army and cultivate Soul Power.

But Lu Mang had replied with a single question: “Is Taotao asking me to go?”

Looking at this heavily leading question, Rong Taotao knew that all he had to do was reply “yes,” and the empty bed in their dorm room might just be filled…