Chapter 17 The Coastal Base

One after another, people kept walking out of the forest, but still, some people never showed up.

They weren’t dead, it’s because this island is densely forested and has complex terrain, that some people got lost.

Fortunately, there are surveillance cameras all over the island, and under the search of the revolutionary army agents, everyone quickly gathered.

A sad death did not occur, but there were still a few reservists who broke a hand but judging from how they looked, it didn’t seem like they were going to give up. In this regard, Hack’s great praise was given.

This is the quality that a real revolutionary army should possess.

Afterward, everyone boarded the boat one after another and left the island.

The anxiety and uneasy atmosphere, from when they first arrived, was smoothed out, and when they looked at the slowly receding island, Rez and the others couldn’t help but feel a little bit emotional.

“Damn, I almost died several times in this place.”

“Me too. I was almost gutted by a lynx once. Fortunately, I survived.”

The newly recruited reservists chatted in a low voice, with lingering fear in their hearts.

“Rez, how many beasts did you kill?” Someone asked curiously.

“Not much, not much, maybe ten or so.”

Rez shook his head slightly, a little dissatisfied. As the reservists’ highest Doroki in the newly promoted reserve force, he has always demanded high standards from himself, but he did not expect that his performance in this actual battle would be so mediocre.

“This is already very good. It is said that the last year’s reservists had the same score.” Someone envied.

People are always different. Some people are born with the aptitude for the strong, and the gap will only get bigger and bigger.

“I don’t know how Rhodes’ score is…” At this moment, someone whispered.

“I am not sure as well.”

Rez shook his head and said, “He’s a swordsman. He should be more efficient at killing beasts than me, but it’s probably a dozen or so more at most.”

“After all, his speed is too slow and his strength is weak. The moment he encounters a slightly more powerful beast, I am afraid he will have to flee.”

The rest of the newly promoted reservists nodded in agreement.

Rhode’s physical weakness is obvious to all, and no one knows it better than them.

At this moment, Nia, who walked by, heard their conversation, and couldn’t help but smile, and threw a piece of paper over and said:

“Take a look, this is the list of the top ten performances that just came out.”

“Um?”

Rez grabbed it quickly, glanced at the names on it, and suddenly the whole person froze.

Seeing his reaction, the rest of the newly recruited reservists came close to him curiously. All of a sudden, they all froze in place, and their eyes widened while their pupils were trembling violently, it seemed as if they had seen a ghost.

Top on the list was Rhodes who was in the same class as them!

“For you, it was surviving, but for others, it was just a game.”

Seeing their collective bewildered expressions, Nia smiled and turned to leave.

If Rhodes’ performance was not the best in the game, Nia would be the first to not believe it.

After the results were released, there was a commotion on the deck, and everyone looked in disbelief. The top ten spots were basically taken by the captains, with few exceptions.

“It seems that this newcomer named Rhodes is very powerful.”

“I heard that he is a swordsman, but I didn’t expect him to be so strong.”

“Shanoa has an opponent.”

People were talking a lot, and they seemed both excited and curious.

They didn’t shy away from the appearance of this super rookie, because having this kind of companion can greatly improve their chances of survival in future missions.

Standing alone on the bow of the boat, Shanoa was closing her eyes and resting and was awakened by the commotion.

“A young swordsman?”

After seeing the list, Shanoa smiled lightly and didn’t care, because the gap between them was actually very big.

She didn’t think that young Rhodes has the strength to fight against her.
……

After half a day.

The sailboat returns to the island of Baltigo.

Rhodes walked out of the cabin and could clearly feel the gazes of others looking at him. There was a big difference. Rez and the others were in awe, while the rest of the reservists were mostly curious and provocative.

“Have the results been announced?”

Rhodes’ eyes flashed slightly. It is estimated that the bonus brought by beheading that snake made his score ahead of everyone.

Of course, he didn’t care about that.

He put on his coat, followed the team, and another trip started immediately.

Hack didn’t seem to have any intention of returning to the headquarters directly. He took Rhodes and others along the coastline and marched all the way until they soon came to a place with complicated terrain.

Rhodes could clearly feel that there were many sentries in the dark, and he could even vaguely see the dark muzzles from some hidden places.

“This is the coastal base, responsible for monitoring the coastline of the Baltigo Island to prevent pirates who land on the island accidentally from entering the headquarters by mistake.”

Hack said then walked into the base hall with the reservists.

Hack didn’t say much about how to deal with these pirates, but obviously, it wouldn’t be a good end for them.

As a senior cadre of the revolutionary army, Hack has a high authority and status. He travels all the way in, while the revolutionary army soldiers he encounters salute respectfully.

“Rez, you stay, and the rest of the people go to rest.”

When they reached another hall, Hack gave an order.

“Yes!” Nia and the others quickly dispersed, leaving only the newly promoted reservists like Rhodes.

The scene quieted down for a while.

After a long time, Hack said, “I believe that after this actual battle, you all have a deeper understanding of your own strength.”

“In real combat, physical fitness is only one aspect, swordsmanship, physical skills, and consciousness all occupy an important part, and can be even more important!”

“Without these, you’re just a reckless man with brute force…”

After they lived that previous experience, Rez and the others all nodded subconsciously, revealing the color of deep thought.

Before that, they all just worked hard to train their bodies, they thought that if their strength was strong enough, they can suppress everything.

The reason might be correct, but they can’t train to the level of suppressing everything in a short duration.

As for the real combat experience, you can only accumulate experience by fighting over and over again.

What’s more important is mastering techniques that can help you utilize all of your strength, just like swordsmanship.

“Last time, I taught you to change the way you breathe. That’s the foundation of having a strong body.”

Hack stood with his hands behind his back, and said in a low voice, “Today, what I’m going to teach you is an advanced physical technique, and it’s called the Rokushiki.”

“These six techniques are Soru that helps you move instantly, and the moon step that can walk in the void…”

After a brief introduction, Hack began to practice the six techniques, while moving very slowly, to explain the difficulties and tricks.

“The marine’s Rokushiki?”

Rhodes blinked, but he was not surprised. With the penetration of the revolutionary army into the world, it was a matter of course to master the extremely practical advanced physical skills such as the marine’s Rokushiki.

He saw Nia using Soru before.

For Rhodes, the Rokushiki is also worth learning, but it is not necessary to learn all of them.

Rankakyu’s slashing was like a joke in his eye as a swordsman, and the Shigan was useless, why use his finger when he can use the tip of his blade.

As for the Tekkai and Kami-e, these two abilities seem to lay the foundation for learning Haki. With Rhodes’ physical enhancement speed, I believe that the conditions for practicing Haki will soon be met, and there is no need to learn these techniques.

“However, the speed of Soru and the flying effect of Geppo are the most useful to me.”

Rhodes sighed in his heart, while his eyes were fixed on Hack on the stage.

With twice the intelligence of an ordinary person, he naturally memorized the relevant skills easily, but to really learn it, he still had to practice them many times by himself.