The Rise of a Special Forces Soldier Abandoned by a Wealthy Family

Life in the cub camp could never get any worse.

Baroque was adept at turning despair and pain into so-called "training".

Meanwhile, Xue Yan calmly recorded every piece of data and analyzed each child's constitution.

He personally developed medicines suitable for each of them, allowing them to endure pain while gradually growing stronger.

Zero and his three "roommates"

The little girl, who was prone to crying but had keen intuition and exceptionally high intelligence, was jokingly called "Little Sparrow" by the mercenaries.

The slightly chubby one of the two boys was called "Tiedun".

The other, silent and frail one, was called "Cold Thorn"—

They formed a strange symbiotic group.

That brief collaboration in the mud pit was like planting a tiny seed in a cold crack in the rock.

Baroque physical training was a hellish joke.

He never plays by the rules. For example, the morning training program the next day was "fortress obstacle course," but the rules were very Baroque:

The last person has to carry the first person to arrive until the next round of training begins.

The route includes climbing over a low net covered with barbed wire.

Climb a wall covered with broken glass with your bare hands.

And carrying heavy loads through a sewer full of foul-smelling sludge.

The starting gun fired (actually, Baroque fired a shot into the air), and the four children stumbled and rushed out.

Iron Pile is strong but clumsy. When he tried to cross the low net, his clothes got caught, and he cried out in distress.

The little sparrow looked at the glass wall and its legs went weak with fear. Cold Thorn, on the other hand, rushed around blindly and almost crashed headfirst into the wall.

Zero didn't sprint immediately. He quickly scanned the entire area, then lowered his voice and said to the three:

"Low net, belly to the ground, wriggle like a lizard! Glass wall, find a large gap, pry it open with your toes and fingers! Sewer, hold your breath, close your eyes, and imagine the bread is right in front of you!"

These are "tips" he discovered through countless observations of mercenary training and his own trial and error.

After he finished speaking, he took the lead in demonstrating. His movements were still not graceful, and he even grimaced because of his wound, but they were incredibly efficient.

The three children suddenly realized what was happening and immediately began to imitate them.

Although still in a sorry state, Little Sparrow cut her arm while crossing the net, Iron Pile fell on her bottom while climbing the wall, and Cold Thorn choked on several mouthfuls of mud, but her speed was noticeably faster.

In the end, Zero was the first to reach the finish line. The little sparrow came in last.

According to the rules, she was required to carry Zero on her back. But Zero was a little taller and much heavier than her.

The little sparrow looked at Zero, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

Zero walked over, not to climb onto her back, but suddenly stumbled—

He "weakly" placed one hand on the little sparrow's thin shoulder, supporting almost half his body weight on his own legs, yet he coldly said:

"The rule is to memorize it. Hurry up, don't waste time."

The little sparrow was stunned for a moment, then instantly realized that Zero was helping her. Feeling the almost non-existent weight on her shoulders, she burst into laughter through her tears!

He tried to straighten his back and carried Zero around the yard as if he were carrying a feather.

The scene was extremely comical:

A little girl, covered in mud, was carrying a boy who was even dirtier than her on her back. The boy's feet were dragging on the ground as he walked.

Baroque grinned, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Damn, this little monster's got some tricks up his sleeve? Interesting!" He didn't call him out on it.

Xue Yan pushed up his glasses and wrote in his notebook:

"Subject Zero exhibits behaviors of avoiding punishment and protecting vulnerable members of the same species. Motivation analysis: To maintain the group's basic operational capacity? To reduce overall attrition? Command ability increased by 35%."

Xue Yan's "laboratory" is a room filled with the pungent smell of chemicals.

What he is showcasing today are extracts from several basic poisons.

"These are 'little candies' extracted from a pretty little red flower."

Xue Yan picked up a tiny crystal with tweezers, speaking as if he were introducing a dessert!

"One lick and your nerves will start tap dancing. If they get too excited, you might... fall asleep forever."

He jokingly looked at Zero and said, "Zero, why don't you try its paralyzing effect?"

Without saying a word, he made a small incision on arm number zero and applied some powder.

After the intense stinging pain, Zero's entire arm quickly lost sensation and drooped down as if it didn't belong to him.

Cold sweat beaded on Zero's forehead. He gritted his teeth and tried to lift his numb arm with his other hand, making a weak movement to fight the effects of the drug.

Xue Yan recorded with satisfaction: "The endurance has improved significantly, and the humanoid weapon has taken another step forward."

The little sparrow was so frightened that its face turned pale, as if its arm had gone numb.

Tie Dun and Leng Ci glared angrily at Xue Yan, but dared not move.

The training of silence, on the other hand, is done without a sound.

He would suddenly appear, like a cold shadow, while they were eating, resting, or even being punished.

"Let's play 'Find the Shadow' today." One evening, a silent, hoarse voice sounded behind them, startling the four of them.

"I'll be right here in this yard. Whoever manages to touch me with a stick before sunset will get an extra piece of meat tonight."

What followed became a bizarre game of hide-and-seek.

Silence is like a ghost, sometimes appearing on the rooftop, sometimes seemingly disappearing into the shadows of a corner.

The four children searched clumsily, but repeatedly came up empty-handed.

Zero didn't search aimlessly like a headless fly.

He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the surrounding noise, to listen to the almost non-existent breathing, and to feel the faint gaze.

Suddenly, he hurled the wooden stick in his hand into the shadows of a pile of discarded oil drums.

The attack missed, but the shadow rippled, and the silent figure became slightly clearer for a fraction of a second.

"Tsk." Silence uttered a syllable of unclear meaning, seemingly both surprised and satisfied, before disappearing again. Zero was the only one who had made him "reveal himself."

That night, Zero divided the extra piece of meat into four small portions. Although they were pitifully small, the other three people's eyes lit up when they ate them.

Even in the fortress of despair, a child's nature is hard to completely extinguish.

Their "daily routine" may seem like a trial to outsiders, but they themselves can find a bittersweet pleasure in it.

For example, the black bread they distributed was so hard it could be used as a brick.

Zero invented the "water softening method," but the water was murky and had a strange taste after soaking for a long time.

Iron Pile then demonstrated his "talent"—chewing on it! He actually managed to chew it up, and even boasted about it:

"Look! My teeth are strong!" But the next day, he was groaning and whimpering while covering his swollen cheek, which made the little sparrow secretly laugh for a long time.

At night, they huddled together in a cold corner to keep warm.

The little sparrow would whisper and murmur vague memories of the "outside" world, such as sweet candies and singing boxes.

Iron Pile and Cold Thorn listened intently.

Zero rarely speaks, but listens quietly. Occasionally, a barely perceptible glimpse of a child's curiosity and longing flashes in his always cold black eyes.

Once, Tie Dun discovered a clump of tenacious, unidentified wild grass growing in the corner of the wall, which actually produced several extremely sour wild fruits.

He secretly picked them and shared them with everyone like precious treasures.

The sour smell made the four of them wink and grimac, but it was the first time they had shared something other than "food," as if it were a rare delicacy.

These seemingly insignificant moments, like fireflies in the darkness, are brief yet bright, becoming the insignificant yet crucial nourishment that sustains them on their journey toward even more arduous trials.

Meanwhile, in the distant Dragon Kingdom, Zeng Linglong (the fake one) was furious because there was a fallen leaf in his private roller coaster cabin.

His mother, He Jing, felt that inexplicable, subtle ache in her heart once again.

She felt a moment of disorientation and unconsciously hugged her son tighter, trying to dispel the inexplicable panic and emptiness in her heart.