Chapter 180: A Cheap Bone

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Facing Zhen Jimu’s shamelessness, Lei Qing could only admit defeat. However, it was no wonder; he had grown up under the guardianship of an extremely domineering mother. On the surface, he could spend money like dirt and sing and dance day and night, living a carefree life. But in essence, he had no freedom at all. He had to follow Madame Zhen’s arrangements for everything. Wanted to join the army? No, Jimu, you are still young and cannot endure such hardship. Wanted to travel outside? No, there are too many bad people outside, and I am afraid you will be bullied or cheated. In short, she was so protective that she feared he would fall if held in her palm, or melt if held in her mouth. She doted on him excessively.

He had resisted before, but his weak resistance was easily crushed time and again under Madame Zhen’s iron fist. It made him question the purpose of his existence.

When they arrived at Yehe Town, Lei Qing did not even imprison him; he simply threw him into the military camp to train with a group of new recruits. Speaking of which, this guy had suffered quite a bit in the military camp in the past month or two. He possessed Fighting Qi but had never endured any hardship. Even Cheng Xiao, a High-stage Bronze, could make him submissive.

However, this guy was also a cheap bone. After an initial period of maladjustment, he gradually grew to like life in the military camp. Training every day until he was exhausted like a dog, falling asleep as soon as he hit the bed. In the middle of the night, he had to be woken up from time to time by the bugle for night training. This kind of bitter life was worlds apart from his life in Northern Yan City.

“Eat, eat, eat, that’s all you know.” Lei Qing angrily flicked him on the forehead: “You were at the Zhen Family Ranch for over twenty years, haven’t you eaten your fill yet? My Black Flag Regiment has never treated brothers unfairly; those above Black Iron-rank have meat to eat every day.”

“Boss, for the past month, I’ve been forced to train for my life.” Zhen Jimu ate the roast mutton as if he were a starving ghost reincarnated: “Although there is meat in the camp, I can’t get full. And I was too embarrassed to fight too fiercely with the brothers for it. After all, they come from poor families and haven’t eaten much meat since childhood.” Biting the meat, he grabbed a pot of wine and poured it down his throat, letting out a breath of air with a look of satisfaction.

Actually, in Northern Yan City, what kind of good wine hadn’t this guy tasted?

“Alright, alright, I can’t be bothered to mock you. Hurry up and eat, then help me with work.” Lei Qing also knew this guy was a cheap bone; speaking nicely to him was useless. He had to scold him: “Starting today, you will be the Captain of the Seventh Squad. Take the brothers and build the No. 1 Ranch for me immediately. In three days, I want cattle and sheep to enter that ranch and start formal operations.”

“Boss, I don’t know how…” Zhen Jimu said with a bitter face.

“You… damn it, you’re a man in your twenties, and your family runs a ranch, and you tell me you don’t know how?” Lei Qing stared at him ferociously: “I don’t care if you know or not; if you don’t know, you have to learn. In short, I want to see results in three days. Take your roast meat and wine and get out. If you don’t finish, military law will be applied.”

Zhen Jimu trembled and hurriedly asked Xianyu Bao to undo his shackles. He grabbed some roast meat and took two pots of wine, but just as he walked to the door, he suddenly ran back cheerfully. He took off his clothes and started stuffing the meat directly inside them.

His ferocious appearance made Lei Qing gasp in surprise and curse angrily: “Do you need to take that much? Is this how you hoard supplies? The weather is hot; this meat won’t be edible by the day after tomorrow.”

“Hehe, Boss, you misunderstood.” Zhen Jimu smiled thick-skinnedly and continued to shamelessly clear the table: “There is a group of brothers in the camp who like meat quite a bit, so I’m bringing them some. I’m still in the recruit stage and have no salary, so I can’t pay out of my own pocket to buy them meat. Anyway, Boss, you have plenty of meat here, so let me take a little more.”

“Get out, get out, if you take it all, what will we eat? Xianyu Bao, go tell Mr. Hao later that from now on, pay Zhen Jimu a salary according to the Squad Captain’s standard, two gold coins per month.”

Zhen Jimu’s eyes lit up, and he wished he could pounce and hug Lei Qing’s thigh, shouting “Long live.”

Lei Qing really couldn’t stand him anymore, so he kicked him and his bundle out the door. Only then did he smile and ask Cheng Xiao and Xianyu Bao to sit down and drink.

Cheng Xiao said with slight worry: “Boss, is this Zhen Jimu acting? Is he waiting for us to let our guard down so he can escape?”

Lei Qing personally poured a cup of wine for Cheng Xiao and said: “Brother Cheng, there is no need to worry too much. I have seen too many people like Zhen Jimu in the Imperial Capital. Motherly love was too overwhelming for him; to him, Northern Yan City was like a cage that made him feel suffocated, and Madame Zhen was like a jailer. I think he actually likes the life here; every day is fulfilling. Escape? To escape back to that cage he resists so much in his heart? Hehe, even if he wants to escape, let him go. Although the Zhen Family Ranch is powerful, our Black Flag Regiment is not to be trifled with. If Madame Zhen wants to bring a large army to crush us, before the Black Flag Regiment dies, we will bite a piece of flesh off her.”

“That’s right, our Black Flag Regiment is under the Iron Cavalry Regiment.” Xianyu Bao also started gulping down wine and said: “Regiment Commander Xiahou won’t just watch us get wiped out by the Zhen Family Ranch.”

“Take these.” Lei Qing took out two Silver-rank cores from his Spatial Ring and threw them to them: “One for each of you.”

“Regiment Commander Lei, this…” Cheng Xiao’s eyes lit up, but he immediately hesitated: “Commander, isn’t this too valuable?” One Silver-rank core was worth at least one or two thousand gold.

“The Boss told you to take it, so just take it.” Xianyu Bao laughed and put it away: “You know the Boss’s temper.”

Cheng Xiao looked at Lei Qing’s calm expression, accepted it with gratitude, and bowed: “Thank you for the reward, Commander.”

“You have followed me during this time and worked hard. It’s just a small thing, don’t take it to heart.” Lei Qing smiled and said: “In the future, when our Black Flag Regiment becomes famous across the Pan-Continent, there will be plenty of good things.” These two before him, Xianyu Bao certainly had considerable combat power and was a fierce general capable of charging into battle.

But Lei Qing had higher hopes for Cheng Xiao; this man was steady and introverted, and handled matters carefully and meticulously. If he could grow to the Silver-rank, he would definitely become his right-hand man. The only problem now was that Cheng Xiao was nominally still a member of the Iron Cavalry Regiment, merely lent to him by Uncle Xiahou.

The three drank together for a while. Cheng Xiao’s face gradually turned red, and he said seriously: “Commander, now that our Black Flag Regiment has the strong financial support of the Zhen Family Ranch, we have more than enough to fully equip the cavalry. But the problem is, we don’t have enough armor. If we let the new recruits wear leather armor, they might barely get by. However, once a war breaks out, they will easily die.”

Many of the new recruits were recruited and trained by Cheng Xiao. Under Lei Qing’s strict selection system, they were all good prospects. And the pressure the Black Flag Regiment would face in the future was significant; Cheng Xiao didn’t want those soldiers to become cannon fodder and die on the battlefield.

In fact, in Cheng Xiao’s heart, he had almost come to regard the Black Flag Regiment as his home. The Black Flag Regiment was built from scratch by him, Lei Qing, Xianyu Bao, and others. To say he had no feelings for it would be a lie.

“Um, I have discussed this issue carefully with Mr. Hao.” Lei Qing’s expression also became slightly solemn: “According to the sphere of influence of our Yehe Town, supporting an army of 1,500 to 2,000 is already the limit. We cannot desperately expand the army to win by numbers when our foundation is unstable. Since that is the case, we can only take the path of elite soldiers. Various forms of desperate training go without saying, as that is the foundation. But for low-ranking soldiers, if they have a set of excellent armor, it will not only make it easier to save their lives and cultivate strong soldiers, but also greatly improve their combat effectiveness.”

Lei Qing paused, took a sip of wine, and said: “However, trying to get more full-body iron armor is a rather difficult task. We contacted the Li Clan branch in Tieling City before, but Yang Jintian refused our request to purchase battle armor through them.”

“The best place in the world to forge battle armor is the Wan Family Fort. I have seen the marks on our full-body iron armor; they are standard iron armor produced by the Wan Family Fort.” Cheng Xiao said seriously: “If we directly trade our excess warhorses for full-body iron armor, given a suitable price and mutual benefit, presumably the Wan Family Fort wouldn’t refuse us, right?”

“Wan Liyun of the Wan Family Fort is Li Baobao’s fiancé.” Lei Qing chuckled: “That guy probably hates me to the bone right now. If we try to purchase full-body iron armor through the Wan Family Fort, he will definitely obstruct it and won’t let us succeed easily. But rest assured, Brother Cheng, Mr. Hao and I have a plan. If it really doesn’t work, we can only trade through some clean-cut middlemen.”

Actually, the latter option was a last resort; few middlemen had the influence of the Li Chamber of Commerce. Even if they traded a small amount for full-body iron armor, with huge losses, the quantity of full-body iron armor obtained would definitely be far from meeting Lei Qing’s needs.

Since Lei Qing already had a plan, Cheng Xiao did not ask further.

After drinking, it was night time. A piece of intelligence lay on Lei Qing’s desk, and his brows were slightly furrowed. Not long after, Zuo Qianqian, dressed in black leather armor and looking pretty and petite, darted in through the window like a civet cat.

Surrounded by a faint Nether black aura, she blended into the night. Her steps were light as she slowly approached Lei Qing from behind.

Just as she was about to touch Lei Qing, he chuckled and said: “Qianqian, your stealth skills still need some practice.”

“Brother Lei, Qianqian is not happy.” Zuo Qianqian lay on Lei Qing’s back from behind and acted coquettishly: “What does it matter if I succeed in a sneak attack once?”

“The enemy won’t let you.” Lei Qing shook his head with a smile, looked back lovingly, and stroked her head: “You have been working hard on duty outside recently, thank you for your hard work.”

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