"Don't look at me like that. You heard me. Before anything else, you will be learning how to escape. Victory will be awarded to those who manage to escape death. As long as you are still alive, you will have a fighting chance." Yang Chen pointed to the beach in the distance. "You have the privilege of having a rather good facility built over there. In the next few days, Molin and Adeline will be enemy and they will hunt you on this beach. You're free to do anything. Your only objective is make it to the other end of the beach without being caught by Molin and Adeline," said Yang Chen with a smile.
"Chief Instructor, I must protest to this unprofessional form of training. We have 23 people to your two instructors participating. You couldn’t possibly believe that they would be enough to stop us," said a slender man with dissatisfaction.
The other teammates also seemed to have come to a general consensus. They were able to defeat hundreds to thousands of people to get to where they were and were naturally proud of their own abilities.
This time around, Yang Chen chose to remain silent. He merely glanced at Molin and Adeline, who proceeded to step forward.
"Hi, my Mandarin isn't that good, but I'm sure you'll have no trouble understanding what I'm going to say," Molin said to the students with a bright smile, "As your instructor, I'm initiating the training effective immediately. Begin."
The moment his words fell, none of the trainees moved an inch. Most of them looked disdainfully at Molin and Adeline as if they were trying to say, 'what can the two of you do to me?'.
They didn't believe that people like Yang Chen who could strike down Balgler with only two fingers were so common that they were practically all over the streets.
However, all of them were shocked at what was to come!
Adeline, who was three meters away from them, had leaped forwards with lightning speed and landed her elbow on the nearest trainee!
"Argh!"
With a cry of pain, that seemingly tough-looking man was knocked two meters away by a huge force!
Adeline, the tall woman with a smoking hot figure, merely snickered at the trainees nearby. "It has begun. Haven't you heard?"
Ten of the remaining 20 or so people instantly chose to run. The ones who remain, teamed up and attempted to take down Adeline and Molin!
After a moment's hesitation, Cai Yan turned to retreat to the other end of the beach. She turned back to stare at Yang Chen before continuing her dash to the opposite end of the beach.
Soon, those who stayed immediately realized that their plan was a futile one!
Molin and Adeline barged into the crowd and didn't fight like Yang Chen had. Instead, they evaded more than 20 strikes coming their way and launched their counters!
The Sea Eagles were able to fight Ares's bionic warriors and come out as equals. This alone proved that they had tactics and knowledge far beyond the ordinary soldier. Even against foes as strong as they were, they were able to win thanks to their immense experience.
Although the two held back when dishing out their counters, they did use their tactics and were easily able to strike down those arrogant trainees!
Within half an hour, the ten plus trainees had already fallen to the ground. Molin and Adeline gave chase to the rest without hesitation. The ran at speeds much faster than that of the trainees!
Cai Yuncheng, who had been observing the changes, furrowed his brow. He sighed heavily and said, "This kind of speed and combat ability far eclipses those of the formal members of Dragon Group..."
"If Dragon Group didn't train in the ancient martial arts and internal energy, then they wouldn't be considered elite agents," said Yang Chen casually.
"It would seem that the students might require more time than anticipated to escape successfully," said Tsunami as he shook his head and smiled.
"That isn't strictly so. It'll depend on how hard they work," said Yang Chen.
Cai Yuncheng nodded in agreement. He stepped forward to give Yang Chen a pat on the shoulder before he said, "There's something I wish to discuss with you in private. Would that be alright?"
There was no way Yang Chen would refuse after seeing how polite that respected and powerful middle-aged man was being.
He followed Cai Yuncheng to a quiet location. Tsunami and the other guards didn't bother to follow them. Yang Chen had a feeling that Cai Yuncheng was going to have a word with him about Cai Yan.
As expected, Cai Yuncheng sighed and said, "I know you're curious about why I allowed Yanyan to participate in this recruitment plan."
"Say what you must. Don't state the obvious," said Yang Chen, unhumored.
"You young people really are..." Cai Yuncheng didn't feel the least bit awkward after his intentions were discovered. He merely chuckled and said, "Actually, I more or less know what went on between Yanyan and you."
"You're her father, so it's no surprise."
"You're wrong," said Cai Yuncheng with a tinge of guilt, "It’s how I found out about it which has made me regret some decisions I have made. I didn't ask her about this myself. Instead, my eldest daughter Cai Ning was the one who gave me the gist of the situation."
Yang Chen couldn't help but smile bitterly when his mind wandered to the scene of the woman watching the stars yesterday night. It turned out that she did secretly know something of his private matters.
Cai Yuncheng smiled lightly and explained, "My daughter Cai Ning is, and has always been an exemplary child. So some may say that Yanyan grew up in her shadow. Yanyan had a goal which she had made from a young age. It was to follow in the footsteps of her elder sister and become an expert that could come and leave without anyone noticing. Even though she had only found out about her sister's line of work, that didn't stop her from adoring her sister.
"Perhaps because the status of our Cai family is relatively high to begin with, and the fact that we produced someone like Ning, Yanyan had always been prouder than most which tended to offend people. As she grew older, I've had to clean up after the the messes she had made. However, Yanyan at her core, is a gentle and kind person. However, the standards she sets on herself are far too high. Given how badly she wanted to catch up to her sister, she became somewhat of a workaholic.
"I knew that Yanyan had been entangled with you quite often ever since you returned to the country. It was probably then when Yanyan started to mingle with you. Then again, I still find it rather weird that she had managed to fall in love with someone who was so different from herself. I find it hard to believe it myself even as her father."
After hearing what Cai Yuncheng had said, Yang Chen couldn't help but scratch his nose. Cai Yuncheng aside, Yang Chen himself found it quite the mystery too. However, he began to feel rather awkward after recalling Cai Yan's confession back then.
"Yang Chen, back when Yanyan brought up how she wanted to join the recruitment for Dragon Group, her mother and I opposed the idea heavily. Even her sister Cai Ning tried to stop her. But with how stubborn she was, even a hundred oxen wouldn't be able to budge her. Yanyan was even willing to cut off all ties with us to worm her way into this recruitment. Her mother and I was at a loss as to what she was thinking," said Cai Yuncheng with a shake of his head. "After that, Ning told us about her and you and only then did we realize that she had thrown herself in such a different environment to forget her emotional wounds."
Yang Chen was stunned. Was he the reason that all the events leading up to now had been set in motion?
"I bet you have a hard time swallowing this too" Cai Yuncheng said with a smile, "Actually, it's nothing but escapism. Perhaps you think that Yanyan isn't a good match with you. Indeed, her abilities are far too distant from your own. In her eyes, true ability is far more important than money, status, or power. So, subconsciously, she did this to close the gap between you guys just a little bit more.
"Did you know that throughout the selection process, she managed to become the sole female member of the 23 people without the slightest bit of support or help from any of us?
"Even though Yanyan didn't have the best foundation, she had endured the training which many consider a death sentence only to appear before you today."
Hearing Cai Yuncheng's sincere explanation, Yang Chen felt a bit of regret. Thinking back, he had been a little too cruel. Even if he couldn't accept Cai Yan back then, he shouldn't have ignored her and cut her off completely.
As an expert agent instructor himself, he knew how hard it was for Cai Yan to get to where she was today. This woman actually suffered so much just so she could get closer to me, even if it is only a little bit?!
Seeing Yang Chen ponder in silence, Cai Yuncheng felt both frustrated and satisfied at the same time. He slowly said, "I am Yanyan's father. Since I wasn't able to stop my daughter from making that kind of perilous decision, I can only support her with the best of my ability. Yang Chen, could I ask something of you?"
Raising his head, Yang Chen nodded. "What is it?"
"No matter what, make sure Yanyan survives. My deepest fear is that our Cai family would lose one of our two daughters in the final combat test," Cai Yuncheng said solemnly, "I don't say that as the head of the Cai family, the head of the military, nor the general of Yellow Flame Iron Brigade. This is only a request as a normal father. No matter what you decide, don't let us lose our daughter."
Yang Chen stared at Cai Yuncheng for quite a while before he asked, "Do you really trust me that much? You of all people should know that I have many other women outside these walls."
"But you've never treated a single one of them badly, have you?" Cai Yuncheng said, "Since Yanyan can no longer fall in love with any other man, getting a small piece of love back from the man she loves isn’t the worst thing."
Yang Chen didn't think that Cai Yuncheng would be such an open-minded person to the point that he could say that it was still rather decent for his daughter to be someone's paramour.
"You are indeed more charming that Lin Zhiguo. He had his eyes glued onto me like a freaking hawk. You on the other hand actually sent your daughter straight up to me," said Yang Chen with a laugh.
Cai Yuncheng didn't respond. He only looked to the distant beach. Molin and Adeline were already on their second hunt. The training had already launched into full force.
After a while, Cai Yuncheng turned back with a smile and said, "Lin Zhiguo monitors you so closely to make sure you don't cause him any losses because he's afraid of you. She knows that the final decision lies in your hands.
"I'm different from him. I already know that the seniors in Hongmeng have your back. I can trust the fact that you are not hostile to us. Since I'm not afraid of you, there’s no need for me to overthink and do things that I may regret later. To me, working with you is my best bet."
Yang Chen narrowed his eyes. It seemed that the higher-ups had considered it deeply before choosing Cai Yuncheng as the new head of Yellow Flame Iron Brigade. It seemed that the brigade's revival was only a matter of time.
Just as Yang Chen was going to ask about whether Cai Ning would cause him trouble for that, the phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and saw that it was Zhao Teng from the company that called him.
As it was the eve of the Star of Yu Lei elimination round, there was much to do. Yang Chen took the call.
"Director, can you return to the company immediately?" asked Zhao Teng a little anxiously and hurriedly over the phone, "There's a VIP that wants to meet you."