Monster Dismantling Company

The malfunction of the Yangtze River Bridge was resolved as scheduled.

The coalition government's timekeeping is generally quite accurate; it says when the repairs will be fixed and that's exactly when it will be fixed.

As departure time approached, the soldiers waiting in Runzhou also began to wait for the vehicle.

Besides the defense forces from Runzhou, defense forces from several neighboring areas were also gathered here. When boarding the vehicle, they were all wearing civilian clothes and placed their military backpacks on the upper luggage rack.

Military backpacks are very large. Even in a spacious aisle, a person carrying a backpack can block the passageway.

However, the soldiers boarded the train in an orderly fashion, lining up one by one. Occasionally, some whispered to each other while boarding, but the orderly process prevented the atmosphere from becoming dull.

People also arrived at the seats next to Li Lin and Lin Zhiqing; these were seats by the aisle.

"Excuse me... could you help me carry my bag?"

The soldiers in the corridor asked Li Lin for help.

He was a private who looked to be in his early twenties, and had only recently enlisted. He wore round-framed glasses and was slightly overweight.

Being a little chubby isn't a big deal; these days, each city-state recruits its own soldiers to defend its cities, and each city-state has its own standards. It's just that his height... seems to be a little shorter than Li Lin's.

The fact that someone with such physical attributes could be selected for the defense force clearly indicates that they possess some unique talents.

Li Lin glanced at his name tag, which read "Chen Feiran," a very common name.

For Li Lin, helping the other party was simply a matter of lifting a finger.

He stood up, raised his hand, and helped Chen Feiran drag the package onto the luggage rack.

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

He sat down in a seat near the aisle.

Like the other soldiers, after taking their seats, they took out their military data terminals and began reporting the current situation to confirm their seating.

After that, he completed the boarding process.

"Phew..." He breathed a sigh of relief. "It's my first time riding a train like this, I'm a little nervous... Li Lin, is this your first time here too?"

While we were getting our luggage, the two sides exchanged names.

He nodded: "Indeed, it's the first time."

"This operation is quite impressive, calling so many of us over at once... By the way, I haven't asked what you guys do yet? You're not from the defense force, are you?"

"She went to the capital to take the imperial examination. I went hunting with you."

"Ah! You're a mercenary?"

"Mercenaries" is a common term used by the defense forces to refer to the Monster Disassembly Company. Because they are mercenaries, they are commanded and treated as such—basically treated equally, assigned like engineers and special operations forces. However, command often prioritizes assigning the Monster Disassembly Company specialized tasks. Therefore, for the time being, they can be considered comrades-in-arms.

"But...they hired you, so it doesn't count as child labor, right?"

"If I were an employee, then I'd probably be a child laborer. But I'm the one being employed, the contractor, so whether that counts as child labor is another matter—I haven't even asked what you do yet?"

"Me? I fly drones." He pointed to the backpack on his head. "This backpack isn't very heavy, but it's just too big. It contains drones. I'm afraid I'll drop and damage the drones inside, so I'm asking you to lend me a hand."

Thinking about it now, the backpack didn't seem very heavy after all.

"Ah...receiving this military pay must be tough, having to travel so far on business. But having drones to play with makes it all worthwhile...Oh right, I just heard that the student inside is going to the capital to take an exam?"

"Hmm." Lin Zhiqing nodded. "Is there something you need?"

"It might be a bit unexpected, but I advise you to be well-prepared on the day of the exam—eat a good meal before you go, and adjust your sleep schedule three days in advance. Because all the exam subjects are completed in one day."

"One day?!" Lin Zhiqing had never heard of this before.

Information from Guanzhong is sometimes like a dragon to the outside world; very little of it can get through Hangu Pass.

"When was this changed?" Lin Zhiqing pressed.

"It was changed last year. I took the exam all day long, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and I was completely exhausted. Later I heard that endurance was also required... It felt a bit unreasonable. But these days, maybe we really do need more resilient people."

"Wait a minute, if you're also going to Shenhe Plain to take the exam, I remember the capital exam doesn't eliminate people, right? So why did you come back?"

This is the rule of the imperial examination. The imperial examination only ranks candidates; all students, regardless of their performance, can stay in Guanzhong. However, who gets to go to a good school and choose a good major depends on their ranking. If Chen Feiran participated in that examination, he should be in Guanzhong now.

"It was too tiring over there, I'm telling you, it was just too tiring..." Chen Feiran shook her head. "I really couldn't stand the environment there. Every day, from morning till night, I was busy reading and writing reports. Reading, writing reports. I only stayed for three months before I ran back."

"You...you ran back?"

This was unimaginable to Lin Zhiqing. Someone would actually choose to leave this path—but it wasn't impossible. While the coalition government wanted to keep them, it was ultimately their choice. Transferring in was complicated, but transferring out was quite simple.

"Yes, I transferred out and went back to my hometown. Ah, home is still the most comfortable place. My dad couldn't stand it anymore and insisted on putting me in the defense force. The brigadier general saw that I was good at video games, so he assigned me to the drone team. Ah... my dad told me, 'You must keep a close eye on this drone! Don't let it go up into the air.' I could only say 'yes, yes, yes' to appease them. On the battlefield, it's all the same no matter where you are. Who knows, if you're carrying a drone, it might make you an easy target."

Li Lin couldn't help but feel a deep respect for the person before him—to abandon a bright future in pursuit of a comfortable life, this was truly from the heart! This was supreme laziness. For a human to be this lazy, he was already a worthy candidate for dragon! If the other person hadn't been free from the disease that caused scaly transformation, he would have genuinely wanted to add this person to his circle of friends.

"Oh, right, I'm so sorry to have bothered you earlier. Here, this is something I brought from home, would you like to try some?"

There are so many incredibly kind people here, why don't you give it a try?

"Don't cause trouble, I think he's a good friend."

Can you please lower your standards a bit? You can't always judge people by dragon standards—sharing food with one another is perfectly normal!

"But it's different if you treat me to local specialties... Wait, what's this?"

"Tea eggs." He took out a thermos, still warm. "My family gave these to me when I got on the train, and I'll share some with you. Let me tell you, I only realized how good boiled eggs are after I finished my exam that day."