Chapter 58

Chapter 58: The Door to Rebirth in the Apocalypse – Full Novel Website

Chapter 58

Zhong Xu’s expression shifted from shock to seriousness as he asked in a deep voice, “Gu Ning, what do you mean?”

Gu Ning replied, “After the first round of shooting, only one person remained in the first company, while there were three in the second company.” She pointed out Zhai Jun, Chen Gen, and two others from the second company. Then she continued, “In the second round, I shot three people, so only one should still be ‘alive.'” She looked coldly at Chen Gen and Zhai Jun and asked, “Which one of you is the ghost?”

Gu Ning, wearing an ill-fitting camouflage uniform and holding a specially made gun, had half of her small face obscured by her hat, making her look even more youthful. Yet, standing there, her icy and sharp questioning demanded everyone’s attention. Despite the chaos earlier, Gu Ning had managed to keep track of everything, a terrifying ability in itself.

The atmosphere on the field plunged into an icy abyss.

Zhai Jun’s face was frozen, unsure of what expression to wear. Chen Gen, who was already expressionless, remained unchanged.

Gong Menglong glanced at Chen Gen, then at Zhai Jun, his expression odd, before turning to Gu Ning and asking, “Are you suggesting someone cheated?”

A soldier from the second company’s face slightly changed.

“How can you prove it?” a soldier from the first company questioned. “The smoke was so thick, you couldn’t even see clearly. How do you know you hit anyone? Even if your marksmanship is good, how can you be so sure?”

“Do we need to try again?” Gu Ning’s gaze burned as she looked at the soldier.

“Why are you being so aggressive?” a soldier from the second company sneered. “There are only four spots anyway.”

Gu Ning’s gaze shot over like an arrow, coldly stating, “One of those spots should belong to Zhong Xu.”

Zhong Xu looked at Gu Ning, both surprised and touched, realizing that her persistence wasn’t for any other reason but to secure a spot for him.

The second company soldier felt a chill under Gu Ning’s sharp gaze but sneered even more, “If you want to say that, aren’t you just taking one of our spots?”

His words caused subtle shifts in the expressions of the soldiers from the first and second companies, clearly indicating their unspoken grievances.

Before Gu Ning could retort, Zhang Xiaobai spoke up, glaring at the second company soldier, “If you want to go there, wasn’t Zhai Jun from your second company transferred here urgently from the military academy? Don’t think I don’t know that Zhai Jun was transferred here because the academy was full. He’s only been here for a few days. If you say Gu Ning took a spot, why not say Zhai Jun took one too?”

Everyone knew Zhai Jun was transferred urgently, but the reason—that the academy was full—was news to the soldiers.

Zhang Xiaobai’s words slapped the second company soldier’s face, dragging Zhai Jun into the mess. Zhang Xiaobai didn’t care if Zhai Jun was innocent; he was ready to retaliate against the second company for attacking their third company. Unconsciously, he had already considered Gu Ning one of their own.

After Zhang Xiaobai’s words, the third company soldiers stood by Gu Ning, silently forming a standoff with the second company.

Honestly, while all three companies trained together, friction was inevitable. Usually, the higher-ups kept things in check, but today’s incident had the second and third companies at each other’s throats.

The tension was palpable, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder.

Worried things might spiral out of control, Gong Menglong quickly intervened, “Alright, everyone, calm down. Let’s not argue here. None of us can make the final call. Let’s head down the mountain and let the company commanders handle this.”

Seeing the sense in his words, they all started heading down the mountain.

The third company led, followed by the first, with the second company intentionally or unintentionally lagging behind.

A soldier nudged Zhai Jun, whispering, “Zhai Jun, what do we do? If this blows up, it’ll be a mess.”

Zhai Jun’s expression shifted slightly before he casually replied, “What do you mean? We didn’t do anything. Why would it blow up?”

The three companies descended the mountain in silence, each lost in their thoughts.

After hearing Gu Ning’s calm and detailed account, the company commanders fell into a brief silence.

Then, the second company commander, Zhang Yueguo, asked the same question, “Girl, we all know you’re a good shot, but how can you prove you hit all three shots in that situation? Are you that confident in your marksmanship?”

Gu Ning nodded, “Yes.”

Zhang Yueguo sighed, “Old Xie, your company already has two spots. Isn’t this a bit too much?”

Third Brother glanced at Gu Ning, seeing the determination in her eyes, and frowned at Zhang Yueguo, “What do you mean ‘too much’? If Gu Ning’s telling the truth, then someone deliberately cheated. I don’t think such a person deserves a spot.”

Zhang Yueguo countered, “Old Xie, Gu Ning’s words are just her side of the story. Did anyone else see it? We can’t just take her word for it. Honestly, you might not even know some people’s true character…”

He was cut off abruptly.

Chen Gen, who had been silently standing by, suddenly spoke up, expressionless, “I saw it.”

Everyone turned to him.

Even the first company commander looked surprised, “Chen Gen, what did you say?”

Zhai Jun stared at Chen Gen in disbelief.

Chen Gen didn’t look at anyone but pointed out the soldier who had moved during the exercise, stating emotionlessly, “This person stood up and ran in the middle of being ‘dead.’ If I’m not mistaken, it was to distract Gu Ning and draw her fire to cover Zhai Jun.”

Everyone followed Chen Gen’s finger to the soldier he pointed out—Wei Yong from the second company. The look on Wei Yong’s face confirmed Chen Gen’s words.

Zhang Yueguo’s expression darkened.

Zhai Jun’s face twitched slightly before returning to normal, looking at Wei Yong with the same shocked and ashamed expression as the other second company soldiers.

Wei Yong instinctively glanced at Zhai Jun, but seeing the look in his eyes, he stiffened. Remembering Zhai Jun’s promises, he felt a pang of bitterness but said, “Yes, I cheated, but it was my own doing. Zhai Jun had nothing to do with it.”

Zhang Yueguo gave Wei Yong a disappointed look and said, “Since Wei Yong has admitted it, we’ll handle it internally with a major demerit.” He then turned to Gu Ning, somewhat awkwardly, “I apologize on his behalf. It’s my fault for not disciplining him better. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Gu Ning replied magnanimously, then added, “So, how do you plan to handle this?”

Zhang Yueguo was taken aback, “Handle what? Didn’t we just handle it?”

Third Brother, guessing what Gu Ning would say, looked up at the sky just before Zhang Yueguo turned to him.

Gu Ning looked at Zhang Yueguo and said, “If that second company soldier hadn’t rushed out, my shot would have hit Zhai Jun, and Zhong Xu would have been wrongfully ‘killed.’ Shouldn’t the spots be redistributed?”

Zhang Yueguo’s face, which had just relaxed, turned grim again, “Girl, isn’t that going a bit too far?”

Gu Ning stood her ground, “I think letting Zhong Xu be wrongfully ‘killed’ is even more excessive.”

A second company soldier retorted, “Zhai Jun and Chen Gen were both there. It was a fifty-fifty chance. Why are you so sure it was Zhai Jun?” His tone was sharp, “You don’t have to make your bias against our second company so obvious.”

Gu Ning calmly replied, “Zhai Jun shot Zhao Jie, Zou Ming, and Zhong Xu in succession. If someone hadn’t delayed me, I would have at least saved Zhong Xu. Or do you think I’d choose not to save my teammate and instead shoot at Chen Gen, who was hiding behind a tree?”

The soldier was left speechless.

Zhang Yueguo’s face grew darker, and Zhai Jun’s expression finally changed.

Third Brother and the first company commander continued to gaze at the sky.

Zhang Xiaobai, who had been holding back, finally seized the moment to unleash his verbal barrage, “Stop making excuses. If anyone cheated, it was your second company. If not for the cheating, Zhai Jun would’ve been eliminated, and the spot should rightfully go to Zhong Xu. Commander, don’t you agree?”

Third Brother nodded vaguely, still looking at the sky.

Zhang Yueguo’s expression shifted several times before he turned to Third Brother, “Old Xie, your third company already has two spots. Out of four, three are in your company. Isn’t that a bit unfair?”

Third Brother, unable to avoid the issue, glanced at Zhong Xu, who looked both nervous and hopeful. He sighed inwardly before saying to Zhang Yueguo, “Old Zhang, that’s not how it works. Zhong Xu may be from the third company, but he’s also an individual. As his commander, it’s my duty to protect his rightful interests. Old Zhang, I hope you understand.” He paused, then added with a pained expression, “How about this? If they make it into the Five-Star Brigade, I’ll split the bonus with you—half, no, a third. How’s that?”

Zhang Yueguo asked, “No room for negotiation?”

Third Brother replied firmly, “None.”

“Fine,” Zhang Yueguo sighed, “Just remember what you said.”

Third Brother quickly added, “Absolutely! Old Zhou can vouch for me.”

“Let’s not dawdle. There’s nothing more for us here. Let’s go,” Zhang Yueguo said to the second company soldiers, then patted Zhai Jun’s shoulder comfortingly, “Zhai Jun, let’s go. When you lose, you have to accept it.” He then led the second company away.

Zhai Jun shot a cold glance at Gu Ning and Chen Gen before following.

Zhang Xiaobai turned to Chen Gen, “Chen Gen, thanks for earlier!”

“I just didn’t want to partner with him in the Five-Star Brigade,” Chen Gen replied expressionlessly, then turned to Gu Ning, “Two days from now, let’s work well together.”

Gu Ning smiled, “Looking forward to it.”

On the way back to the dormitory, Zhong Xu expressed his gratitude to Gu Ning. While the spot didn’t guarantee entry into the Five-Star Brigade, it at least gave him a chance to compete.

The afternoon was free of training, giving them half a day off.

Gu Ning locked her door and returned to her space.

She spent the entire afternoon there, wandering around.

At dinner, Third Brother announced that training would resume normally the next two days, and they just needed to wait for the Five-Star Brigade. After dinner, Gu Ning chatted with the soldiers for a while before returning to her dormitory. She called her parents to let them know she was safe, and by the time she locked her door and returned to the apocalypse, it was only 7 a.m., the sky still dim.

As Gu Ning stepped out of the storage room, she ran into Third Brother, who had come to use the bathroom. Seeing him with his messy hair and unkempt beard, Gu Ning felt a moment of disorientation. Third Brother, however, looked at her in surprise, “You didn’t sleep in there last night, did you?”