MRG Chapter 31: A Little Lesson

Translator: Kii

Editor: EllieKit

Beside the outdoor camp’s water pipe, Xavier turned on the faucet and skillfully washed away the dirt on his arms. After several months of training, his skin had turned several shades darker, and his originally brand new white T-shirt now clung to his body, worn and aged, giving off a sense of having weathered many hardships.

Compared to how he looked when he first arrived at the military academy, that young face looked a bit more calm.

After washing his hands, Xavier scooped a handful of cool water and poured it over his head.

Then, someone bumped into his arm.

Xavier shook off the water droplets on his hair and turned around to look, only to see Charles leaning close to him with a vigilant look.

After making sure there was nobody else around, Charles stuffed a small cloth bag into Xavier’s hand, and whispered in his ear—

“Did he punish you to dig the trenches again?”

Xavier answered affirmatively with a straight face. He opened the bag and saw that there was some dry food inside.

He broke off the bottom half of the bread, directly stuffed it in his mouth, and chewed on it.

Charles complained in dissatisfaction, “Who does he think he is? He’s just an upperclassman acting as an instructor, yet he thinks this is a prison and he’s the warden…”

Many new students have complaints about Woods and the upperclassmen around him. However, under this unbalanced system, a majority of the students dared to be angry but wouldn’t dare to speak up. After all, open protests were met with corporal punishment.

Charles whispered again in Xavier’s ear, “Did you know rumors have spread in the freshmen camp…”

Xavier furrowed his eyebrows. “About what?”

Charles looked embarrassed. “Saying…that the both of you are gay, that you and Mu Chen are in that kind of relationship, get it?”

“Cough! Cough!”

Xavier coughed violently, almost crushing the remaining half of bread in his hand.

“What the hell?!”

Charles, “It’s probably that Woods again…”

Xavier raised his voice a bit, “There is nothing f*cking going on between us.”

Not to mention that he was one hundred percent straight, who the f*ck would like someone who gave him a trauma. Although he admits that Mu Chen’s face was a bit too good-looking, since he f*cking looked like that, was it wrong for him to not be able to help himself to stare a few more times?

That damn Woods would resort to any despicable means in order to isolate him and Mu Chen.

“I know.” Charles put his hand to his lips, signaling for Xavier to quiet down. “Could it be that he has his eyes set on Mu Chen?”

Woods wanted to teach Mu Chen a lesson—beside basic corporal punishment, he was subtly instigating the entire group to isolate Mu Chen mentally; anyone who had good relations with Mu Chen or actively talked to him would be punished along with him. Over time, most of them would choose to unconsciously avoid him in order to protect themselves, unknowingly forming a transparent barrier.

This type of isolation was often more lethal than physical abuse. Humans were creatures with a herd mentality; the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm was ingrained in their very genes. In such a completely enclosed environment, most people would choose to conform in order to fit in, but Xavier didn’t. He was like a troublemaker deliberately challenging Woods. Woods wanted everyone to shun Mu Chen, yet he would purposely take his lunch tray to sit with Mu Chen. Thus, Xavier also became a key target of Woods’ attention.

“This rumor may be ridiculous.” Charles had been high school classmates with Xavier for four years, so there was no way he didn’t know he was straight, “but it won’t stop some people from believing it.”

“Moreover, if Mu Chen had agreed to cut his hair, this matter would’ve been over. There’s no need for you to go against Woods, you won’t gain any benefit. It’s better to endure it…”

Xavier sneered. “I can’t.”

Woods’ goal was to shun Mu Chen, making the other party surrender in such an extreme environment. He and Mu Chen weren’t friends. If he must say, then it was that he had been beaten up by him. But he just couldn’t stand Woods’ sewer trash tactics. If he chooses to comply now, it would mean he condones this bullying behavior, which was tantamount to implicitly acknowledging that Wood could abuse his rights.

Charles still advised him, “Physical education is only eight weeks, just turn a blind eye.”

Xavier, “Laozi will not f*cking stay quiet. If he has the ability to, then he can shut me up forever.”

As he said this, he used a towel to wipe the water droplets falling from his hair, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes. “Otherwise, I’ll kill him once we leave here.”

The Oz Empire’s military rank advancement followed an independent and transparent system. The royal family doesn’t usually interfere with promotions within the military. The military takes orders directly from the senior commanders of this respective corps. For example, the highest commander of the Mecha Corps was Crown Prince Light, who, as the base’s top commander, had the authority to command the marshals of the army, navy, and air force.

Xavier’s father, John Nutt, was a field marshal. While he could write a letter directly to John, filing a report like that in the military would be seen by everyone as disgraceful behavior. In such a flawed system, doing so would be no different from telling others that he, too, was someone who abused his privileges.

……

A ten in the night, the bell chimed—it was time for all the freshmen to return to the dormitory.

Xavier finished two hundred push-ups according to his usual routine before walking back to the dorms.

Halfway through, he saw that tall figure standing outside the porch.

Mu Chen was wearing his military hat. Hearing the sound of footsteps, he raised his sharp jaws and looked at Xavier. After two weeks of training in the scorching heat, Mu Chen’s face didn’t get tanned at all; his face was still glowing white.

Xavier was sometimes confused; did this merman’s genes more or less have some bugs?

Of course, he wasn’t in the mood to look into the merman’s bug. After all, every time Mu Chen gave him this type of look, most likely something had happened .

And just as expected, as soon as Xavier arrived at the door, he saw that both of their beddings had been messily thrown to the floor and the tattered cotton wool inside filled the entire dorm room.

In the next moment, there was the sound of walking coming from the hallway. The senior student who came to check the dorms stood at the door with a dark expression. “Freshmen, what’s going on?

Xavier, “I don’t know, sir.”

It would’ve been strange if he knew.

The senior student put down the roster book, went up to Xavier, and glared at him. “What’s Article 5 of the rule handbook, freshman?”

Xavier, “One must keep the dorms tidy at all times, but sir…”

“Did I ask you anything else?” The latter didn’t give him a chance to explain at all. “Both of you, come over here!”

Xavier’s hands hanging at his sides clenched slightly. He turned around, yet unexpectedly saw Mu Chen following behind him with a normal expression.

After leaving the dormitory, the cold night breeze brushed over the hem of their clothes, and made the entire forest rustle.

Although it was midsummer, Roy Island was located in the northernmost part of the Oz Empire, the temperature difference between night and day was big.

Seeing the environment becoming increasingly unfamiliar up ahead, Xavier furrowed his brows, feeling that something wasn’t right.

Finally, the senior student in front stopped in front of an abandoned and shabby warehouse, raising his chin at them. “Go in.”

Xavier became vigilant at once. When he was about to turn to remind the person next to him, he saw that Mu Chen had already stepped on the stairs.

Xavier’s eyelids twitched. “…”

Hey! How can you be so carefree?

In response, Xavier could only catch up to him. Just as he stepped into the extremely dreary abandoned warehouse, he was stopped by the senior student.

“Wait, take out the terminals you guys have on you?”

Xavier couldn’t help but ask, “Why must we do that, sir?”

The latter grabbed his collar. “Did I allow you to speak?”

“My terminal.”

A faint voice suddenly came from beside him.

Mu Chen had already taken out his terminal.

The senior student raised the corner of his lips and gave Mu Chen a thoughtful glance, as if saying “At least you know what’s good for you.”

The two of them followed him as he navigated through the winding corridor and arrived at a shabby iron door that creaked in the wind.

This warehouse looked to have been abandoned for at least ten years.

The moment they reached out their hand to push open the old iron door, a lighter illuminated the dark room, and through the fine dust fluttering in the air, Xavier saw a familiar yet detestable face.

Woods had a cigarette in his mouth and a knife twirling in his hand. There were a dozen seniors beside him, who glanced at the two of them as if they were toys.

Xavier looked at the people in front of him who had bad intentions, a chill ran down his spin. He leaned into Mu Chen’s ear to whisper, “There’s no surveillance here. It couldn’t be that they’re going to…”

“Oh.”

Half of Mu Chen’s face was hidden under the brim of his hat, his expression unreadable, but the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

Xavier’s eyelids twitched—why did he vaguely read the meaning of “anticipation” from that expression? It must be his illusion. There were more than ten seniors in this group. He wondered if it was too late to run now…

When Xavier was thinking, they had already gone up to Mu Chen and surrounded him.

Woods pressed the ice-cold knife blade to Mu Chen’s cheek. “You kept your long hair; so concerned about your image?”

“These days, didn’t I teach you the rules of the team, but you just don’t listen.”

He spoke in a threatening tone, “Do you think they’ll immediately notice if a person disappears in this remote place?”

He of course wasn’t stupid enough to abandon Mu Chen’s body in the wilderness. After all, the other party was still half a royalty, even if he was an abandoned child whose engagement had been canceled by Prince Light.

Woods was doing this just to scare Mu Chen. After all, there was nothing more interesting than watching the once high-ranking noble being scared into begging for mercy.

He pointed the cold, gleaming blade at Mu Chen’s pupils. “So are you going to do it yourself or should I help you?”

Xavier, who was watching this scene not far away, couldn’t stand it anymore and clenched his fists. “You guys better not take it too far…”

“F*ck!”

His subsequent syllables were drowned by a hoarse, lung-piercing scream.

Crack!

It was the crisp sound of the wrist bone snapping.

Mu Chen held Woods’ wrist, thrusting the knife directly into his palm. Blood dripped along the blade onto the dirty ground.

From Xavier’s perspective, he could only vaguely see the cold light coming from under the brim of his hat.

A senior right behind Mu Chen reacted the fastest and swung a punch at Mu Chen’s back.

Just as Xavier was about to warn the other person, he saw Mu Chen gripping pale-faced Woods with one hand. As if he had eyes on his back, Mu Chen kicked the person sneaking up on him straight into the pile of trash behind him.

Boom! There was a loud bang sound.

It was the sound of a tin can rolling down.

Feeling a strong gust of wind brushing past his temples, Xavier’s pupils trembled slightly. He watched as that person hurtled into a heap of paint cans like a bowling ball and made a human-shaped indentation. The paint cans above fell over, crashing down on that person, and splattering thick, colorful liquid all over him. The scene looked almost like an abstract painting, with vivid colors flowing down and pooling on the unfortunate target.

Xavier immediately took two deep breaths, then turned to look at Mu Chen’s back figure. “Damn…”

So fierce?

Seeing the remaining few people came back to their senses and attacked Mu Chen altogether, Xavier made up his mind; he clenched his fists and rushed into the crowd to help Mu Chen.

However, even though Xavier’s fighting skills were among the best among the freshmen, this group of seniors were well-trained cadets who had been in the military academy for many years. He was quickly at a disadvantage when fighting one against three. In a panic, someone grabbed his neck and slammed him against the wall.

“Cough…cough…”

Xavier violently coughed.

Just when he was trapped in a dire situation, a strong cold wave rushed over—that ice-cold chilliness seemed to penetrate right into one’s bone marrow. He clearly felt the three seniors in front of him stiffen, and the hand gripping his neck loosened slightly.

When Xavier came back to his senses—bang, Mu Chen’s long leg swept over, kicking that senior student who had a grip on him. Then, he tugged at the person’s collar, lifting him up.

He looked at the silver-haired youth in front of him who had just saved him, and said in gratitude, “Thank…”

Then, before he could finish saying his thanks, the senior from earlier had already become a human sandbag, diving toward him at high speed. Xavier’s pupils trembled severely and he subconsciously dodged to the side.

Immediately afterward, that man heavily smashed into the wall behind him, leaving an indentation in the iron panel.

Xavier’s eyelids twitched, taking a couple breaths with lingering fear. “…”

If he didn’t dodge just now, he would definitely crash into him.

He glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of the long-haired youth standing in the center of the warehouse, radiating a chilling aura, indiscriminately attacking anyone who came near him.

F*ck…

He really was a lunatic.

A moment afterward, there were more than ten people lying in the middle of the abandoned warehouse, unable to move as they moaned in pain.

Thankfully Woods chose a good place; this place was so remote that even a dog wouldn’t casually pass by.

Mu Chen crossed his fingers and moved his joints. He patrolled the dim warehouse with a calm face, then walked to one of them trying to crawl away and kicked him over.

Aftering clearly seeing Woods face that was stained with blood, Mu Chen raised his foot and stepped on his throat with his leather military boots. He leaned down slightly, his silver hair fell from his shoulder. “Weren’t you going to teach me the rules here, well, I’m listening…”

“Cough! Cough!”

Woods’ disfigured face distorted in pain. His chest moved up and down severely, and he coughed out some blood.

“Why are you saying anything?”

Mu Chen curled the corner of his lips, using the knife to scratch the other person’s eyelids as if they had been stung by wasps.

He suddenly seemed to have thought of something and changed the subject, “Oh, right, you said that if someone suddenly disappeared in this remote place, no one would notice?”

Woods’ eyes reflected the youth’s beautiful yet cruel face. His pupils trembled, and he intermittently spat out a few broken words—

“You…”

“Cough…cough!”

“Let go…”

As he finished speaking, his voice became even lighter as he was about to die.

Before he ceased breathing, Mu Chen moved his foot, and he confusedly raised a brow. “What?”

He looked down and watched as Woods flipped over like a dog and clawed at the mud and blood-stained ground, then crawled forward, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

“Could it be that nobody taught you the rules—is this the tone you should use when begging someone?”

Crack!

It was the crisp sound of bone breaking.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Woods gave a blood-curdling scream.

He begged for mercy with tears running down his face, no longer maintaining his image, “Please…let me go. I was wrong, sorry…”

Mu Chen chuckled. “I wouldn’t dare. Won’t you punish us again once you leave this door?”

As he said this, he stepped on the other party’s back.

“Cough…cough…”

Woods’ face twisted as he coughed.

Mu Chen took a pack of cigarettes from him, and with a few clicks, he put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it for himself with a lighter. Half of his handsome face was reflected under the flickering glow.

Woods strenuously turned his neck, catching a glimpse of Mu Chen with his dark blue eyes half-closed, looking down at him condescendingly under the drifting smoke.

Mu Chen asked him, “What’s Article 12 in the rules handbook?”

Woods’ expression slightly changed. “One is not allowed…allowed to secretly carry prohibited items, including controlled knives, cigarettes and lighters.”

“Oh…” Mu Chen took a meaningful puff of the cigarette. He threw the cigarette box in front of Woods and raised the knife with a cold glint. “Then how should you be punished?”

“…”

The atmosphere turned silent. Cold sweat almost dripped down Woods forehead.

Seeing that the other party didn’t speak, Mu Chen crouched down. “How about…”

“We’ll chop off the hand you use to hold the knife. What do you think?”

Woods’ expression turned to that of shock. “I beg of you…please…don’t.”

Mu Chen pressed the knife against his cheek. “I asked you to choose a hand—or could it be that you want me to do it for you?”

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

At this moment, a familiar terminal message prompt sound could be heard, and the light screen lit up through one of their clothes.

Mu Chen followed the sound; retrieving his terminal from the other party.

He swiped the screen and found that the message was sent from a senior officer in the Military Academy’s Political Affairs Office.

They said the general suddenly came to visit No. 1 Military Academy Academy and was already in the waiting room. He wanted to meet Mu Chen.

The general they were referring to was obviously Light.

After reading the message, Mu Chen raised the corner of his lip. He looked at the calendar on the upper left corner of the terminal and the smile in his eyes became even more obvious…

It has only been two weeks, Gege, but you can’t help the urge to see me?

Under Xavier’s astonished gaze, Mu Chen took another drag of cigarette, then pressed the smoldering tip onto Woods’ hand, ignoring the other’s blood curdling scream.

Throwing away the cigarette butt, Mu Chen kicked his head against the nearby iron cabinet. With a loud bang sound, Woods fainted.

Xavier, who witnessed all this, stood there in a daze. Then he saw Mu Chen walk to a nearby abandoned full-length mirror as if nothing had happened and concentrate on fixing his looks in the mirror.

He first pulled a few strands of loose hair to his forehead, then wiped the bloodstains from his knuckles, which was left there from hitting too hard, onto the corner of his lips. What should have looked messy instead took on a raw, damaged beauty because of his striking features, stirring an instinctive sense of sympathy in anyone who saw him.

If he didn’t witness firsthand how ruthless Mu Chen’s punches were, he would have probably been hit by now.

After Mu Chen finished tidying up his appearance, he squeezed out a smile in front of the mirror in satisfaction.

Upon seeing this, Xavier’s Adam’s apple moved up and down. “You, what are you smiling for?”

Mu Chen turned around, the corners of his lips curled. “I’m going to go meet Gege.”

Xavier unconsciously retreated a step back, distancing himself from Mu Chen. He looked at the group of people staggering on the ground. “Then, then these people…”

“Just handle it yourself.”

Mu Chen rested his palm on Xavier’s shoulder. He was obviously smiling in his eyes, yet they made people feel a bit of chilliness for no apparent reason.

Xavier looked at Mu Chen’s back as he walked away, then used a hand to wipe away the cold sweat on his forehead.

He had no doubt that if someone had blocked him from meeting Light…

He would kill them.