Brass Dragons in the Dragon World

What he found most unbearable was this moment. The instructor, the Russian named Anton, was actually making him stand here. Could this kind of training really make him a qualified soldier?

“Why are we standing here?” Sam shouted in Southern-accented English, “like clowns.”

Lu Mingfei stood to the side, not daring to breathe. The Russian instructor's arms were thicker than his own calves, and he looked like he could beat a bear. He secretly admired the guy next to him.

Anton stood at the front of the line, hands behind his back, in a relaxed posture, his back straight. When he heard Sam Brown's words, he turned his head and stared into his eyes.

The scene was eerily quiet, not because of Brown's stupid question, but because Instructor Anton's eyes had turned golden.

A low, prayer-like sound came from between his lips. Brown felt as if he were sinking into mud, the air around him thickened, and every movement became restricted.

The thick air poured into his mouth and nose, and Sam scratched his neck, letting out silent gasps.

He tried to call for help, but no sound came out. He was going to drown, drown in the air.

The freshmen present watched Sam Brown struggle, not daring to move. No one expected that the instructor would directly use the power of words, especially the lethal kind.

Just as Sam's consciousness began to fade, the surrounding air returned to normal. He lay on the ground, breathing deeply, experiencing the beauty of the air for the first time.

"The first thing you need to learn in Kassel," Anton said with an accent, "is to obey orders, especially the orders of the strong, understand?!"

"Understood!" The voices below were loud; the new students were all stunned by Anton's methods.

Anton nodded in satisfaction. To prevent accidents during military training, restrictions were temporarily lifted in this area, allowing instructors to use their magic words within it.

There are quite a few new students with some basic skills, and suppressing them will require the help of words of power.

"Another half hour of standing at attention." Anton showed no mercy. "Because of this guy, you guys will be eating later than the girls."

On the other hand, the girls' class that Khorkina was in charge of went much more smoothly. No one questioned the rationality of the training, which made Khorkina's job much easier.

The military training formation was arranged according to height, and naturally, the petite Ling was placed first.

Khorkina looked at Zero, who appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, with a puzzled expression on her face.

Why are there girls who haven't even graduated from junior high school among this year's freshmen? Is Kassel planning to open a secondary school?

Out of curiosity, Khorkina walked up to Zero and bent down to look at the name tag on Zero's chest.

"Zero Razumovskaya Romanova"

This is a terrible name because it implies that Zero is a descendant of the Romanov family, that is, a descendant of the Russian Tsars.

It should be noted that the Tsar's entire family had been killed long ago, but many of his descendants were still scattered throughout the country. After the fall of the Red Empire, they were not very popular and could only serve as mascots for the government.

Most Russians who have studied history do not like this surname, but this does not stop some of the Tsar's collateral descendants from using the Romanov name to swindle and deceive people in Russia.

The same was true for Khorkina, who had received a Soviet education; she looked up, wanting to see what the little princess looked like.

She saw a pair of bright blue eyes that looked so familiar, reminding her of her time in Black Swan Harbor.

“Renata…” Khorkina lost her composure for once. She whispered a name, carefully stepped back, and forced herself to calm down.

This girl, this child who looks about thirteen or fourteen years old, looks so much like Renata back then, with platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes, she's practically a carbon copy of Renata.

Khorkina also investigated the only missing person in Port Black Swan and concluded that she had escaped with a dangerous, high-risk hybrid and was eventually found on the Siberian railway.

The records then went cold. At that time, Russia was in a state of chaos, and nobody knew where Renata had gone.

Now, she has finally met a girl in Kassel who looks so much like Renata. Combining this with what happened back then, a terrible hypothesis is gradually forming in Khorkina's mind.

She resisted the urge to leave and responsibly stayed until noon, when she found Anton in the instructor's dormitory.

"What's wrong, Khorkina? Has something happened?" Anton asked, puzzled and worried that something might have happened to the student.

But Khorkina's words left him stunned...

“One of this year’s new students is your daughter.” Khorkina handed Anton a stack of files. They were zero files, containing only basic information that was easy to find.

"What are you talking about? I haven't been messing around outside." Anton was very dissatisfied. He opened the file and saw a face that looked exactly like Renata's.

“Renata…this…is truly incredible…” Anton gently stroked the photograph, uttering a sigh.

“That Christmas Eve, we were all under the influence of hallucinogens, and I remember you running towards Renata.” Khorkina pressed her temples. “Judging by the timeline, this Zero… could be your daughter.”

Chapter 145 Reunion with an Old Friend

In the teachers' dormitory in Kassel, Anton and Khorkina were talking about what happened back then.

“I did want to do that kind of thing to Renata back then.” Anton sat on the bed, clutching the file tightly. “You know, Renata really…”

“She’s very beautiful, and very delicate.” Khorkina spoke bluntly, “You’ve wanted to do something to her for a long time.”

In Black Swan Harbor, Renata is Dr. Herzog's Arctic poppy, a ray of light in that Arctic Circle laboratory.

The boys loved to tease her, using this childish way to get her attention; Anton was one of them.

“That damn hallucinogen.” Anton spat out the words through gritted teeth. Years ago, Herzog released a hallucinogen containing aphrodisiacs in the sealed hall in order to escape, turning the entire Christmas party into a massive incestuous scene.

Fortunately, Ander and his men opened the gate, otherwise all the children would have been burned to a crisp in the fire.

Anton flipped through the documents and saw that Zero was born in August 1992. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Based on this child’s birth date, she shouldn’t be my child,” Anton said, pointing to the date.

“We can’t rule out the possibility of premature birth. That child is eighteen years old now, but still looks like a primary school student. It’s possible that he has congenital malformation,” Khorkina countered.

"And what about Zero? Do you remember him? That high-risk hybrid? Maybe this Zero is Zero's child." Anton continued searching for clues about Zero's background.

“Zero must be very important to Renata.” Khorkina took the file. “Otherwise, she wouldn’t have named her child Zero.”

“But you should know that Zero is Asian.” Khorkina pointed to Zero’s photo. “Do you see any Asian features in this child?”

"Oh my god... no, her hair is almost the same color as mine." Anton looked at Zero's platinum blonde hair, touched his own head, and let out a painful sigh. He was starting to believe Khorkina's guess.

"Think back to whether you laid a hand on her back then." According to the timeline, if Renata is indeed Zero's mother, then she must have been in Black Swan Port when she was pregnant.

“Not just that day, but before that, you know, Yakov and I would also secretly do those kinds of things back then.” Khorkina put herself in his shoes, clearly believing that Anton was secretly making a move against Renata.

Anton hung his head, recalling that night, and silently put his hand into his mouth, pulling out a false tooth.

“That night, my last memory was walking towards Renata.” He looked at the dentures in his hand. “When I woke up on the ship, I found that I was missing a tooth.”

"Did Renata make this?" Khorkina asked, never knowing that the delicate girl had this side to her.

“It should be… but I really don’t remember… I really… can’t recall…” Anton was frustrated. Everything that happened on Christmas Eve was like the most absurd dream, hidden deep in the hearts of most children.

“But we have to face it.” Khorkina walked over, sat down next to Anton, and took his hand. “Face the mistakes we made back then, even if they weren’t our own intentions.”

"Like you and Yakov?" Anton recalled the events of that year, when Yakov was Khorkina's boyfriend in Port Black Swan, but he soon broke up with Khorkina.

“The last thing he remembered was me and Andrei hugging.” Khorkina casually reopened her wounds. “But he was wrong. Not just Andrei, but also Alexander and Alisé.”

“That night was absolutely crazy.” Khorkina put her hand to her chest. “If I hadn’t looked it up later, I wouldn’t have known I was playing so recklessly.”

“You’re quite optimistic.” Anton smiled, as if his situation was nothing compared to Khorkina’s.

“So Anton, no matter what, we have to find that girl,” Khorkina emphasized. “At the very least, we need to know if the child’s mother is Renata.”

“Perhaps we could discuss it with her,” Anton added. “We could do a simple paternity test; Kassel College certainly has a place that can do that.”

In the afternoon, the freshmen finished their military training under the playful gaze of their seniors. On the side of the playground, two distinct groups silently watched the freshmen moving their hands and feet.

“Send someone to make contact with that Sam Brown,” Caesar instructed his secretary, arms crossed. “Very courageous, daring to provoke the instructor on the very first day.”

"And that zero," Caesar pointed to the girl at the front of the line, "get to know her more and try to win her over."

Chu Zihang, standing nearby, was discussing the event with several members of the Lionheart Society: "We've bought the items, so we'll deliver them to those people to show our care."

Chu Zihang appears cold on the surface, but those who know him well know that he has a soft heart.

"President, isn't this a bit inappropriate? We should select the best." One of the members was somewhat dissatisfied with Chu Zihang's decision. "Isn't delivering fruit and drinks a logistics job?"

“No, we need to make them feel good about Lionheart. This kind of visit can greatly increase their goodwill towards Lionheart,” Chu Zihang instructed methodically.

“The student council has made changes, and we need to compete with them for this year’s freshmen, especially the capable ones.”

The Lionheart Society's overly serious style deters many new students, resulting in fewer talented members compared to the Student Union. This consequence has become increasingly apparent in recent years, and even with a group of elites, they are unable to compete with the Student Union on certain issues.

In response to this situation, Chu Zihang, drawing on his own experience, organized a visit to comfort the new students and, to the greatest extent possible, help them understand the Lionheart Society's style.

“And that Zero…” Chu Zihang searched for a suitable candidate among the surrounding crowd.

"President, I'll go." Susie volunteered. As the vice president, Susie was a suitable candidate to win over Zero, as she was one of the few social talents in the Lionheart Society.

"Thank you for your hard work." Chu Zihang nodded, then turned to look into the arena and saw the two Russian instructors surrounding Zero, seemingly talking about something.

Inside the arena, Zero stood there indifferently, looking at the two familiar yet unfamiliar people in front of her. Now she was Zero, not Renata.

“Zero students…” Anton began, “Do you… know Renata? Renata Yevgenia Chicherina.”

The name was familiar, but things had changed. They had no confidence that they would think they were Renata, but their similar appearances did require a disguise, otherwise it would affect their master's plans.

"Renata is dead." Zero uttered this ambiguous statement, walked past the two of them, and headed outside.

Chapter 146 Paternity Test

"What! You want to do a paternity test?" Ander, who was waiting for the test results in the medical department, met the uneasy Anton and took the initiative to ask him what had happened.

In order to investigate Chen Motong's situation, Ander used some less-than-honorable means to obtain her blood sample and sent it to the medical department for testing.

It's important to know that many people of mixed race are very resistant to genetic testing, so the physical examination at Kassel College doesn't require any blood tests. However, for Ander, getting Chen Motong's blood sample wasn't too difficult.

But for the impatient Anton, things were a different story. After confirming that Zero and Renata were indeed related, Anton rushed to the medical school, hoping to get a paternity test.

“Yes, Uncle Lu,” Anton said obediently in front of Ander. “There is a girl among the new students, and she is very likely my daughter.”

For the children who survived in Black Swan Harbor, Ender was both a mentor and a friend. During their lowest moments, he would talk to them (actually, it was Ender who wanted to chat), lead them in singing, and plan their future.

Therefore, most of the children respected Ander, and Anton was no exception.

"Which kid? You even caused someone's death in that place?" Ander was very surprised. According to the age of this group of students, Anton became a father at the age of sixteen, when he was still in Black Swan Harbor.

Anton handed Ander a photo with a wry smile. Ander took it, his hand trembling slightly. It was Zero, the one from back then, Renata.

"She's your daughter?" Ander was somewhat surprised. Ander knew Zero's true identity, and he couldn't understand why Anton would think Zero was his daughter.

“That night, Uncle Lu, you know, I remember walking towards Renata.” Anton hung his head, looking very dejected.

Ander looked at the dejected Anton. It seemed that Zero's resemblance to Renata had greatly shocked him. Most of the children in Black Swan Harbor had some problems, and Anton was no exception.

Herzog's pontine separation surgery caused him some mental problems, and Anton was no longer able to remain calm when faced with what happened back then.

"Uncle Lu, could you be a mediator and help me get a fair assessment of the results?" Facing his savior from years ago, Anton hoped that Ander would be a witness.