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Immediately, those who already admired Luo Lingxing now wished they could worship him like a god.
The group, who had initially held little hope for this trial, were suddenly filled with confidence. They felt that with someone like Luo Lingxing, who was practically a genius, they were sure to get first place, or at least be among the top few.
“Classmate Luo, from now on you’re my boss, and I’m willing to follow you.” Jia Yunpeng said excitedly. They were all going to join the army, and they would need to choose which legion to join. Luo Lingxing was currently a lieutenant, which wasn’t enough to have his own legion, but with Luo Lingxing’s potential and qualifications, he probably wouldn’t stop there. Moreover, they still had a few years until graduation, and by then, Luo Lingxing’s rank might be even higher. Following Luo Lingxing would definitely not be a bad thing for them.
After hearing Jia Yunpeng’s words, the others immediately expressed their loyalty and willingness to follow Luo Lingxing.
Gao Zhiquan and Liu Quanming were in the same class as Luo Lingxing. On the first day, Gao Zhiquan decided to follow Luo Lingxing. Now that he saw that there were a few more people under him, he felt very proud. After all, he was the first one to follow Luo Lingxing, which showed that he had excellent judgment.
Luo Lingxing didn’t refuse. If they got along well and the people were decent, he wouldn’t mind having a few more friends or underlings. Even if he didn’t pursue a career in the military, he could still introduce these people into Han Junzhan’s legion. It would be great to recruit more talented and capable people for his partner.
The next morning, the seven of them set off in the direction of the flamingo. Although only a day had passed, it was clear that they were now subtly taking Luo Lingxing as their leader, and they would subconsciously consult Luo Lingxing on any opinions or decisions.
“Yunming is a command major student, so he can take charge,” Luo Lingxing said. He was actually quite averse to trouble sometimes, and this kind of experience was perfectly adequate for Lu Yunming to command. Moreover, since he was a command major, this would also be a good opportunity to hone his abilities, so Luo Lingxing naturally wouldn’t overstep his bounds.
Lu Yunming didn’t refuse, and the others didn’t have any objections either. So, their way of getting along returned to what it was before, with Lu Yunming still handling the general strategic planning.
On their way to the flamingo’s nest, the group also found some edible mushrooms and vegetables, which they picked to eat as side dishes, saving them from having to eat only meat every day.
Compared to the other teams who were fleeing or hiding in a sorry state, Luo Lingxing and his group, who were picking wild vegetables or plants along the way, looked like they were on a picnic. If the other teams saw this, they would definitely be green with envy.
Of course, this was the first time the other six people, apart from Luo Lingxing, had experienced this situation. They were just as focused and vigilant as the other students participating in the training. However, this situation was completely changed after they encountered a wild beast attack, because they witnessed Luo Lingxing’s strength once again.
The beast that had given the six of them a hard time dealing with was like a small animal that Luo Lingxing could easily crush. This disparity in strength didn’t make the others jealous or resentful of Luo Lingxing. Instead, they felt incredibly proud and honored, and also felt very safe. No matter how powerful the enemy they encountered, as long as Luo Lingxing was there, they didn’t need to worry about their safety. After all, if they couldn’t win, their leader would step in and easily crush the enemy. This allowed them to go all out in battle, and Luo Lingxing unleashed their full potential.
They leisurely made their way to the vicinity of the flamingos’ nest, where everyone finally put away their relaxed mood and became serious.
Collecting flamingo feathers was no easier than dealing with cloud-horned deer. When they were doing the cloud-horned deer mission, they were actually lucky because they didn’t have to face adult clouded deer. Juvenile cloud-horned deer were much weaker than adults. However, they didn’t have such opportunistic thoughts when facing flamingos. After all, if they want to pluck their feathers, they have to face them head-on.
Although they had their boss as their ace, they didn’t want him to handle everything unless it was absolutely necessary. After all, they came here to gain experience, and the competition was secondary. If their leader did everything for them, it wouldn’t benefit their growth at all.
Of course, Luo Lingxing understood this principle even better, so he had no intention of taking action and let the other six people handle it. However, as a member of the team, Luo Lingxing would still participate when discussing the battle plan.
“Flamingos usually swarm out of their nests to find food in the early morning as the sun rises. Around noon, they gradually return to their nests. At this time, you are most likely to encounter a lone flamingo. Our task is simply to collect the flamingo’s feathers. If you can avoid a direct confrontation, that’s best. But if that’s not possible, you’ll have to kill it. Also, if we’re unlucky enough to encounter other flamingos returning to their nests while dealing with the first one, we must retreat immediately, regardless of whether the mission is completed or not. Do you understand?” Lu Yunming said.
“Understood!” everyone responded in unison.
They might be able to handle one flamingo, but against two or more, they would basically be on the defensive. After all, they were still students, and this was a training exercise with safety as the priority. Of course, this did not mean they had given up on the mission. On the contrary, they were just temporarily retreating and waiting for an opportunity to strike.
They had a second chance even if they failed to complete the first mission, but if they face off against the flamingos and suffer heavy losses, it would be a losing proposition.
It was almost dark when the seven arrived. At this time, all the flamingos were in their nests, so they couldn’t complete their mission unless they went in to give them some extra food. They could only find a place to rest for the time being and continue their mission the next day.
Opening the map, however, revealed no suitable camping spots nearby.
“Looks like we’ll have to camp naked tonight. Everyone find a sturdy tree, climb up the trunk and close your eyes to rest for a bit, but don’t fall asleep. Be extra alert to your surroundings.”
“It seems like this is the only way.”
“This is my first time camping so openly, I’m a little excited,” Jia Yunpeng said excitedly.
“So how should the night watch be arranged?” Liu Quanming asked.
“We’ll take turns keeping watch, but those of you resting shouldn’t sleep too soundly. If you fall asleep and fall off a tree, that would be terrible,” Lu Yunming joked.
The thought of that scene sent a chill down everyone’s spine. They would rather fall from the tree because they were attacked by a wild animal than because they fell asleep. If word got out, their reputations would be ruined. So, it was clear that none of them would get a good night’s sleep. But as military academy students, they could handle this hardship.
Fortunately, the night passed peacefully, and no one fell from the tree because they were sleeping too soundly.
As the sun rose, the flamingo nests came alive with activity as almost all the adult flamingos swarmed out in search of food, creating a truly spectacular sight.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen a real flamingo in person,” Li Mingqi exclaimed.
They had only seen photos of flamingos in books or online before. Flamingos were very rare birds and had a strong attack power, so very few people were able to tame them.
“This is my first time too,” everyone exclaimed.
Just like its name1 suggests, the flamingo was covered in fiery red feathers, with flames even burning on its tail feathers. It looks incredibly beautiful from afar, just like the legendary Vermilion Bird.
As long as the tail feathers don’t fall out, the flamingo would keep burning and the flames would continue to burn. However, once the feathers fell out, the flames would immediately go out.
“Our mission is to collect flamingo feathers. Now that the adult flamingos have all left, there should only be chicks left in the nest. Why don’t we go and pluck a few chicks’ feathers?” Li Mingqi suddenly said.
If it was just dealing with cubs, the danger should be much less.
“No, what we actually need for our mission is the flamingo’s tail feathers. Those tail feathers are excellent materials for making mechas. Just adding one tail feather can greatly improve the performance of a mecha. Therefore, many mecha manufacturers want to obtain flamingo tail feathers. However, only when a flamingo reaches adulthood will its tail feathers be flaming and thus become suitable for this purpose,” Liu Quanming explained to everyone.
Although students majoring in mecha engineering did not build mecha, they had a great deal of knowledge about mechas.
“All right.”
So the seven hid in the forest, waiting for noon to arrive. Their goal being the first flamingo to return to its nest.
This was the flamingo’s lair, and flamingos were very strong. Therefore, apart from flamingos, there were almost no other dangerous wild beasts around. In a way, this was actually an easy thing for Luo Lingxing and the others, as they didn’t have to worry about powerful wild beasts suddenly appearing during this period.
While waiting for the flamingos to return to their nests, everyone started preparing breakfast. After all, they had gotten up early and hadn’t eaten anything yet, so they were all a bit hungry. In order to have enough energy to fight the flamingos later, they decided that they must eat a good meal.
Along the way, they gathered a lot of wild vegetables and mushrooms, and then hunted a small game nearby. They started making soup and roasting meat. If other teams saw this, they would definitely sigh, “We are all human, so why is there such a big difference?”
- Flamingo in Chinese is 火烈鸟, which literally means fire bird ↩︎
