Galactic Overlord

Chapter 007:Outsmarting the instructor

"Bang, bang!" After firing twenty rounds of rifle bullets, the rookies switched to grenade launcher mode. One by one, the 20mm grenades flew through the howling mountain wind, toppling the dummy targets.

Watching all this from a position less than twenty meters from Target One, Stryker couldn't help but frown slightly, worried that these new recruits might accidentally hit him with a grenade. Hesitating for a moment, Stryker thought that as a dignified instructor, he couldn't show fear in front of the recruits. He snorted coldly and sat down nonchalantly.

Lying at Target Two, Hao Yi saw Stryker stand up in the distance and thought that guy was going to run away. His heart tightened, fearing his revenge plan would be ruined. But when Stryker sat back down, Hao Yi breathed a sigh of relief and continued fiddling with his rifle, his eyes fixed on Yang Jianyi at Target One.

Yang Jianyi had just finished firing twenty rounds of rifle bullets and also switched to grenade launcher mode. Completely focused on aiming at the target a hundred meters away, he didn't notice the malicious gaze Hao Yi cast from the next firing point.

"God bless, don't let my superpower fail this time!" Just as Yang Jianyi was about to fire the grenade, Hao Yi concentrated and activated his superpower, praying silently.With a "bang," a grenade flew out of Yang Jianyi's rifle, heading straight for the target. At the same time, a ripple appeared in the air around Hao Yi and caught up with the grenade. The tip of the golden-colored grenade underwent a slight change, wrapped in pale blue sparks, and began to shake violently.

Seeing the grenade veer off course towards Stryker, Hao Yi felt a surge of joy and silently shouted, "Blow him up, blow him up!"

However, at that moment, the mountain wind blowing towards Stryker suddenly changed direction. A stronger gust of wind blew the grenade upward. With a "boom," the grenade traced a bizarre arc, flying over Target One and hitting the rocky mountain wall behind it.

"Damn it, are you kidding me?" Hao Yi and Yang Jianyi cursed almost simultaneously. Seeing Hao Yi also cursing, Yang Jianyi glanced curiously at him, and Hao Yi quickly pretended to be clueless, scratching his head and fiddling with his rifle.

"What the hell!" Yang Jianyi muttered in confusion, then re-aimed at the target, preparing to fire a second grenade. He didn't want to miss the target and face punishment from the strict instructor.

"Bang!" The second grenade flew out of Yang Jianyi's rifle, heading straight for the target. Although a ripple appeared around Hao Yi again, the grenade flew straight and hit Target One dead center.

"Yeah!" Yang Jianyi cheered happily at hitting the target.

"Damn, I failed this time!" In contrast, Hao Yi pulled his hair in frustration, looking dejectedly at the unharmed Stryker, cursing silently, "Damn, this guy dodged another bullet!"

At this moment, the other recruits also successfully hit their targets. Even the chubby Hu Erpang hit the target. Only Hao Yi's Target Two remained intact. Meanwhile, the mountain wind that had suddenly changed direction mysteriously shifted again.

"Recruit Hao Yi! What are you standing there for? Want to run five kilometers?" Stryker's angry shout through the headset startled Hao Yi. Reflexively, he pulled the trigger, and the loaded grenade flew out of the rifle with a "bang."

"Damn it, I'm screwed!" Hao Yi exclaimed as he saw the grenade's trajectory veer away from Target Two and head straight for the still-cursing Stryker.

Hao Yi's position was a few meters from Target One, while Stryker was about twenty meters from Target One. Even if Hao Yi aimed directly at his target, the strong wind couldn't have blown the 20mm grenade so far off course. Unfortunately, when Hao Yi used his superpower to sabotage Yang Jianyi, his rifle inadvertently pointed toward the gap between Stryker and Target One. Startled by Stryker's shout, Hao Yi was too nervous to re-aim, and the wind did the rest, blowing the grenade near Stryker.

"Boom!" In a cloud of dust, Stryker disappeared from sight, leaving Hao Yi and the others stunned.

"It's over, it's really over this time!" Hao Yi murmured, cold sweat pouring down. He felt no sense of revenge, only the fear of being tried and executed by a military tribunal. Live ammunition training meant that even accidentally injuring an instructor could lead to a trial, let alone intentional harm.

The training ground was silent except for the howling wind. The other recruits were dumbfounded, staring at Hao Yi and the spot where Stryker had stood. No one could comprehend what had just happened. "Damn you, Hao Yi! I'll have you court-martialed!" Stryker's trademark roar suddenly came from the crater left by the grenade. A charred figure slowly crawled up, trying to stand.

"Instructor!" Yang Jianyi and the other recruits rushed over to help the scorched and ragged Stryker. Hearing Stryker's familiar roar, Hao Yi breathed a sigh of relief, realizing Stryker had survived the powerful grenade explosion like a cockroach. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, considering whether to sneak away from the base.

Ultimately, Hao Yi didn't run. He didn't want to add desertion to the charges of injuring the instructor. Such a crime would get him shot by the military police, leaving his mother unable to recognize her son.

Fortunately, Stryker was only lightly injured. When Hao Yi's rifle flashed, Stryker instinctively realized a grenade was flying toward him. In that instant, relying on his veteran instincts, he dodged, quickly ran a few steps, and dived to the ground. This quick reaction and his light armor saved him, keeping him just outside the grenade's lethal radius, resulting in only minor injuries.Later, Stryker failed to have Hao Yi court-martialed as he wished. According to federal military training regulations, no one was allowed within fifty meters of the target during live ammunition training. Stryker had violated this rule by standing twenty meters from the target to show off. Therefore, he couldn't charge Hao Yi with "attempted murder" or even "accidental injury."As expected, the unfortunate Hao Yi had to endure another round of "fully armed five-kilometer cross-country." Determined to severely punish Hao Yi, Stryker ignored his own injuries, wrapped in white bandages like a mummy, squeezed into the Hell Assault Vehicle, and roasted Hao Yi all the way, causing him to howl in pain. In the end, the charred and battered Hao Yi had to crawl back and lie in the medical room with Stryker for three whole days.

This unexpected incident was a small episode that occurred just before the end of Hao Yi and his comrades' recruit training period. Before they were assigned to various units, Hao Yi had a premonition that the vengeful Stryker would use his power to "settle personal scores." Sure enough, when they received the transfer orders, Hao Yi and Hu Erpang's jaws almost dropped to the ground, their eyes wide open. It turned out that both of them were transferred to the Ninth Maintenance Company of the Logistics Department of the 115th Army Group directly under the Fifth Theater Command to become repairmen with almost no future prospects. Meanwhile, most of their comrades were assigned to front-line combat units, such as the tank unit, mech unit, aviation unit, and even the space battleship unit. For example, Yang Jianyi, whom Hao Yi referred to as "pretty boy," was transferred to the Seventh Space Fleet of the Fifth Theater Command. Even the most inconspicuous recruits were assigned to the interior unit.

"Damn it, deliberately messing with me! Even if they transferred me to the space fleet as a repairman, it would be better than this!" Staring at the transfer order in his hand, Hao Yi gritted his teeth and angrily glanced at the smug Stryker in the distance, feeling completely betrayed. His blood circulation was disrupted, his face flushed red, and he wished he could rush up and tear that damn Stryker to pieces.

It is well known that in the Federal Army, the space units equipped with large battleships and various series of space fighters have the best prospects for promotion and treatment. Next are the aviation and mech units. The maintenance company where Hao Yi was assigned only handles the repair of tanks and mechs, as well as various logistical maintenance tasks. Many repairmen, from enlistment to discharge, can at most reach the rank of private first class with no further opportunities for promotion. Being transferred to the logistical maintenance unit was almost a sentence to Hao Yi's military career.