binnovel Chapter 170 Base Landscape
Chapter 170 Base Landscape
The next morning, Li Chenglong was just awakened when the sounds of morning exercises from afar caught his attention. He glanced at his watch and realized it was only 6:30 a.m. Since it was still winter in the north, the Dawn Army's morning exercises started at 7:00 a.m., and Li Chenglong usually woke up around 6:30. He hadn't expected the Qianyun base's exercises to start even earlier.
Li Chenglong spoke with Yang Liu via Crystal Cell phone. Crystal Cell's network currently covers a vast area with a radius of 600 kilometers centered on the Dawn Building. This location is only 530 kilometers from Dawn City, and normal communication is still possible. Li Chenglong said on the phone, "The Renqianyun base is doing morning exercises so early. I haven't trained with our special forces team in a while, so why don't we go out and warm up too?" Yang Liu immediately replied, "Okay, Captain Li, it's 6:35 AM now. We'll assemble downstairs in 15 minutes."
After speaking, Li Chenglong turned off his phone. Dong Meng, who was also awake, immediately got up and went out to call the four men. Li Chenglong, meanwhile, had already taken a basin of water to the washroom on the left. Fifteen minutes later, the special forces soldiers had assembled and stood in two neat rows downstairs, awaiting Li Chenglong's instructions. Li Chenglong looked at everyone, who were all in high spirits, and said with satisfaction, "Not bad for you this morning. Okay, let's begin the special forces' regular training. The training location is the parade ground not far from here."
Li Chenglong led his special forces team to the drill ground. Morning exercises had already ended, and only a few soldiers were still training with their officers; judging by their movements, they were likely new recruits. Then, a group of people in different uniforms arrived at the drill ground and quickly began running. Most strikingly, this group consisted mostly of female soldiers, but a handsome and strong man was leading the run.
After running five laps, Li Chenglong had them stop and begin stretching. This was all preparation; as soon as the stretching was finished, they started one-on-one sparring. Li Chenglong was very strict about sparring, after all, this was a vital skill for survival, capable of saving lives in critical moments. The goal was to identify weaknesses and improve through sparring. However, sparring wasn't done blindly; Yang Liu and Li Chenglong had pre-grouped them according to their levels and ability types to ensure each sparring session was effective.
While they were running and warming up, they hadn't attracted much attention, but during the sparring session, everyone was surprised to discover that all 21 of them were either superhumans or awakened individuals, and their levels were definitely not low. Li Chenglong had a requirement for the sparring: real fighting, but with complete control. This requirement sounds easy, but it's actually very difficult to achieve; it demands an extremely high level of mastery over one's superhuman abilities. Real fighting is for actual combat; if training is just a casual exchange, then they might not be able to perform as well on a real battlefield.
After the sparring session, a short rest followed, and then the 5v5 team combat drills began. This mainly tested the team's coordination and the combined use of their special abilities. Li Chenglong would promptly identify and point out any shortcomings, ensuring that these weaknesses were addressed during the actual battles so that problems with coordination wouldn't lead to failure in later, more difficult battles.
The training ground was now packed with people, most of them intently watching the special forces training. Some officers whispered amongst themselves, wondering where such a strong team had come from. After the 5v5 battles, the final and reward event began: all 20 special forces members had to team up against Li Chenglong. Li Chenglong couldn't use spatial teleportation or his psionic form, nor could he unleash the Dragon-Phoenix Heaven-Shattering Fist. If they could defeat Li Chenglong, he would grant the special forces a request. The special forces had already fought Li Chenglong no fewer than 30 times, but had only won twice, and those wins came when Li Chenglong was at level 8.
The onlookers gasped in surprise, watching as 20 people simultaneously attacked one person, each unleashing their special abilities in a real, live-fire attack—far from being a training exercise. They held their breath for the attacker. However, Li Chenglong was already a Level 9 SS-rank Awakened. Even Yang Liu, Zhao Liying, and Han Xiaoling, who were only Level 7, were still one level below him. That one level was an insurmountable barrier for them.
The battle lasted for about 10 minutes. As the fight progressed, more and more people gathered on the playground to watch, including many advanced superhumans who came to see what was happening. Battles between advanced superhumans and awakened individuals often aim for a quick resolution, exchanging several blows within seconds. Different superhuman abilities flew around the playground, but without causing much damage. This was the positive effect of the controlled and flexible approach that Li Chenglong had emphasized.
Ten minutes later, all but three of the 20 special forces soldiers—Yang Liu and the other two at level seven—had been subdued by Li Chenglong. Seeing this and noticing the large crowd, Yang Liu immediately conceded defeat. However, despite their surrender, all the soldiers present erupted in enthusiastic applause. They took water from their backpacks and drank slowly before resting and relaxing. Li Chenglong and the other special forces soldiers sat down on the ground, huddled together, and discussed the battle, summarizing lessons learned and pointing out shortcomings in some members.
Just as they were chatting, a voice came from the crowd. It turned out that Generals Sun Tianlong and Feng Tian had arrived. The soldiers present immediately saluted: "Greetings, Commanders!" Sun Tianlong nodded and smiled, saying, "Make yourselves at home." After saying that, he walked over to the special forces members and introduced them to everyone: "This is Major General Li Chenglong, who was recently promoted and is also the famous city lord of Dawn City. And these 20 people next to him are his special forces team, the lowest level of which is a level five ability user."
Now the onlookers finally understood the true nature of this small unit. When they saw that the tall, handsome man before them was the legendary Lord of Dawn City, and also the youngest major general in Chinese history, they couldn't help but admire him. Li Chenglong greeted them as well. Many female soldiers stared at him with sparkling eyes, but he ignored them.
Li Chenglong first told the special forces soldiers to take a shower and rest for a while, then chatted with Generals Sun Tianlong and Feng Tian. It turned out the people from the Northeast Military Region wouldn't arrive until the day after tomorrow, so there wasn't much to do for the next couple of days. Sun Tianlong wanted to ask Li Chenglong if he could mentor his soldiers, especially the ones with special abilities. He said if Li Chenglong could impart some combat experience and skills in using their abilities, it would be a great help. Li Chenglong declined, saying, "My combat experience is still shallow. I haven't even figured it out myself, how could I teach others? Wouldn't that be misleading them?"
Sun Tianlong patted Li Chenglong on the shoulder and said, "Don't refuse. You saw it today; everyone at the Qianyun Base is eager to learn and their enthusiasm for studying is very high, especially those with superpowers. They all hope to have a good teacher to instruct them. I believe that if they can learn even a little, they will be able to make fewer sacrifices in the future." Li Chenglong nodded, "Okay, then let's start this afternoon, no, this morning. What do you think?" Sun Tianlong and Feng Tian happily said, "Of course, the sooner the better."
After speaking, they instructed their guards to spread the word that any ability users and awakened individuals who wished to learn about supernatural abilities and combat skills from Li Chenglong could gather at the training ground for personal instruction. To Li Chenglong's surprise, aside from those out on missions, the vast majority of ability users at the base had come. Not only them, but also many ordinary soldiers and personnel from the Flying Cloud Base had arrived. Seeing that there were so many people, he divided them into groups. Elemental ability users were taught by Yang Liu and Zhao Liying, while those of other abilities learned various skills from him. Sun Tianlong and Feng Tian were also present, listening to Li Chenglong's lectures.
The soldiers were highly motivated to learn, and Li Chenglong had barely rested for the past two days. The various knowledge he taught was greatly beneficial to the soldiers at Qianyun Base. On February 12th, the personnel from the Northeast Military Region finally arrived, and after preliminary discussions, it was decided to hold an operational meeting the day after tomorrow.