Chapter Sixty-Five: The Society of Light

Sun Jianheng’s words drew a crowd almost instantly, many pausing to listen. Chang Sui’an strode forward with uncompromising resolve, his expression stern. “Lieutenant Sun, what you’re doing seems improper. Even if Du Huaishan did falsify a military order, it happened during the training phase and should be handled by the Military Academy. What business is it of your Special Operations Platoon?”

Sun Jianheng let out a low chuckle, his voice tinged with irony. “Don’t be nervous, Lieutenant Chang. I’m not here to punish Du Huaishan. I have questions for him. I suspect that this attack by the Deviant was not as simple as it appears.”

“Are you saying—someone orchestrated this behind the scenes?” Lai Yanlong’s eyes gleamed green, his face contorted with rage, veins bulging. It was clear he was truly furious. Though the casualties from the Deviant attack had not been catastrophic, over thirty recruits had lost their lives. As chief instructor of the 173rd class, Lai Yanlong may often curse his trainees, but in his heart, he cared deeply for them. Otherwise, he would not have intervened in the canteen brawl, demanding the veterans apologize.

“Calm yourself, Commander Lai. It’s only my conjecture; the particulars need on-site analysis. I can’t divulge more here,” Sun Jianheng said, lips pressed, refusing to elaborate.

The Special Operations Platoon, under brigade command, had immense authority, able to act first and report later, answering only to brigade headquarters. There was no need to explain to others.

Lai Yanlong glanced at Du Huaishan. “Fine. But you’d better return him to me in one piece!”

“Rest assured, Commander Lai, Lieutenant Chang. I’ll make proper arrangements,” Sun Jianheng nodded, taking his leave. Du Huaishan, bewildered, was led away.

Tan Hai and the others exchanged worried glances. “Do you think Du Huaishan will be alright?” Li Anqi murmured.

“Well, you seem so concerned about him, Li Anqi. Could it be you like Du Huaishan?” Wu Ming teased.

“Mind your own business!” Li Anqi snapped, her eyes wide, chest heaving as she walked toward Lin Sizhi’s stretcher.

“Commander Lai has spoken; the Special Operations Platoon won’t dare harm Huaishan, especially since he’s Mr. Luo’s student. Let’s wait for news,” Tan Hai reasoned. Everyone knew about Luo Zongwen, so their minds were eased.

Bang! Ratatatata…

Gunfire erupted across the open field. After separating from the recruits, Feng Zhengwei led his main company and artillery platoon swiftly to the Qingshi Mountain Pass. Though the Machine Gun Division had bombarded this area, they hadn’t used red marrow munitions. Many fiends could fully recover with a little time.

Clang, clang, clang!

Many soldiers in the company activated their ghost transformation, weapons in hand, charging at the fiends. Du Huaishan, meanwhile, sat obediently with Sun Jianheng in the back of a military vehicle. This was his first time witnessing a formal army unit battling fiends—a spectacle far beyond anything the recruits had seen.

Feng Zhengwei’s main company proved formidable, rivaling Chang Sui’an’s cavalry platoon. Each assault began with a mortar bombardment from the artillery platoon; light and heavy machine guns shredded the fiends’ legs. Then, the ghost-transformed squads advanced to finish the job. Each squad had defined roles: some wielded massive red marrow steel shields, drawing enemy fire; others carried red marrow rifles, providing sniper support; and the main assault team used various melee weapons.

One soldier, whose awakening skill enlarged him to nearly three meters tall—more imposing than Luo Zongwen—was shrouded in golden light, wielding a shield almost two meters wide. His steps thundered, slow but exuding a sense of security.

It seemed that with each breakthrough of a threshold, special abilities grew stronger.

When returning, Instructor Chang had warned me to control the plague attribute. Du Huaishan indeed felt that after his breakthrough, he could freely emit a black mist from within—a difference between fiends with attributes and those without, as Lin Zhaoshu and Guo Tingyu had mentioned. When a fiend becomes a guardian spirit, the attribute is key.

This attribute can be controlled by the host. When Chang Sui’an transformed, the flames burning on him didn’t damage his armor or clothes but could scorch the ground and fiends—the reason lay in the attribute. It was not true fire, but a manifestation of fiendish energy.

Attributes varied in strength, and even interacted by the five elements. Du Huaishan’s plague attribute, like Lai Yanlong’s poison, was rare, making it hard for common attributes to overcome.

Currently, he could only slowly control a thin layer of black mist—not yet capable of engulfing weapons like Chang Sui’an’s flames, nor wield them effortlessly.

As for his “teleportation” skill, he hadn’t had much chance to practice—he’d need a safe, open space to master it.

“Looks like it’s almost over. Swap out your air tank, and let’s move,” Sun Jianheng said just as Du Huaishan was lost in thought.

Clang!

Two immense shadows poured from Sun Jianheng’s back into his heart. Du Huaishan glimpsed a blue shadow—a three-tailed, one-eyed cat.

Suddenly, Sun Jianheng’s once wiry figure stretched to over six feet. He flicked his deep green cloak, revealing fine fish scale armor and crimson-violet arm guards and flying cables beneath. The craftsmanship far surpassed Chang Sui’an’s armor.

Du Huaishan finished changing his air tank. With a shout, Sun Jianheng led the main force into Qingshi Mountain.

The Yan Prefecture Army’s standard weapons were ineffective against fiends but devastating nonetheless. After several rounds of grenade bombardment, the mountain pass was left battered and smoky, craters everywhere, countless pines blasted apart, some still burning and crackling amidst explosions.

Du Huaishan kept close behind Sun Jianheng, speeding over the mountain pass. The woods echoed with gunfire and the sound of soldiers hacking and fighting.

With the main force clearing the way, Sun Jianheng had no trouble reaching the scene—the site of the Deviant’s assault.

He became like a wild beast, eyes glowing with eerie light, nose sniffing the air incessantly.

Soon, amid blood and broken branches, he found a withered black arm and a fiend’s head covered in slime. Its almond eyes, gray and wide, were frozen in terror.

It seemed Deviants differed from fiends. Fiends resembled annelids like earthworms, whose core for regeneration was the reproductive ring; fiends relied on the heart. Any other injuries healed rapidly, and separated flesh quickly turned to ash.

Yang Pangzi once fantasized about this: if fiend flesh didn’t turn to ash, they could keep fiends, cut off meat daily, and feed the whole town endlessly.

“It is indeed a Deviant,” Sun Jianheng squinted his sinister eyes. “Tell me everything you saw.”

Du Huaishan repeated his account: “I don’t know the details of Commander Lai’s battle with the Deviant. When we arrived, it had shrunk to about five meters. Wu Ming fired a shot, and it fled. Since there were still fiends nearby, I ordered everyone not to pursue, prioritizing safety. Where it went after, I don’t know…”

Following Du Huaishan’s narrative, Sun Jianheng sniffed his way to four more fiend heads.

Finally, he tracked to a spot, looked ahead, and sneered, “What a trick—escaped by attaching itself to another fiend…”

How did he see it? Du Huaishan stared at the ground; aside from chaotic tracks, there was nothing. Yet Sun Jianheng always found traces of the black pillar Deviant and its severed limbs.

It must be his awakened ability. No wonder he specialized in intelligence—this skill made him formidable in gathering information and tracking enemies.

“Take me to the attack site,” Sun Jianheng said.

Du Huaishan’s heart skipped; he nodded silently and led the way to the assessment field’s end.

Sure enough, even from a distance, he saw Sun Tian’s mangled body lying in a pool of blood among the pines.

Du Huaishan flew over, wanting to tidy Sun Tian’s appearance, but his head was long separated, crushed into a pulp; his heart had been chewed to shreds, making it impossible to restore.

“Forgive me, Sun Tian. Rest in peace!” he choked, grasping Sun Tian’s blood-soaked hand.

His mind flashed back to the question Li Anqi had asked before the assessment: What was his own weakness?

Now, he finally understood: confidence—or rather, arrogance.

Du Huaishan always believed that his advanced knowledge from the twenty-first century put him ahead of everyone, that everything was under his control.

But in truth, he was not a god. This was not Earth. Anything could happen.

Sun Tian’s death, Wang Yao’s death—none could have been foreseen.

Especially Wang Yao: had the trainees obeyed, returning to the Academy, Wang Yao would have been safe. But one thought, one command from Du Huaishan changed everything.

If Old Wu hadn’t shattered the fiend’s ankle, Du Huaishan, Xu Yuan, Guo Tingyu, and others would have had to fight directly—would more have died?

“This was the first recruit killed by the Deviant?” Sun Jianheng approached.

“Yes. His name was Sun Tian. He was in my squad,” Du Huaishan gestured at a tree. “It was attached to that tree. It could blend with the environment—a sudden strike, too fast for us to react, and Sun Tian died…”

“In your squad, I see.” Sun Jianheng nodded thoughtfully. “Did the Deviant say anything or focus on anyone in particular?”

“I never heard it speak, only cry out in pain. As for focusing—I didn’t notice. My observation time was short; Commander Lai and the others fought it longer.”

“Are you curious why I didn’t question Commander Lai, but brought you instead?” Sun Jianheng suddenly looked at Du Huaishan.

Du Huaishan nodded, truthfully curious. Lai Yanlong and Chang Sui’an had more contact with the Deviant.

“What I’m about to say—never repeat to anyone!” Sun Jianheng looked around, sniffed the air, and only continued once he felt safe. “The person you killed in the alley was named Lu Zhe. He appeared to be a researcher at the Yan Prefecture Army’s Fiend Training Camp, but in reality, he was an undercover agent for the Society of Light.”

Du Huaishan’s eyelid twitched. Why tell me this secret? Is he still suspicious of me?

“The Society of Light is an extremely rampant heretical organization in the north of Chiyu. They claim to overthrow the Xin’an State and save the people, but in truth, it’s all for their own desires. Lu Zhe infiltrated our army to steal fiend training methods. Now, I see they had another mission—”

“Assassinate gifted recruits!”

“Lieutenant Sun, do you mean this attack was orchestrated by the Society of Light?” Du Huaishan was confused. “Would Deviants cooperate with humans?”

“Deviants can’t resist their cannibalistic urges, but their intelligence equals ours. Where there’s intelligence, there’s room for negotiation. That’s not surprising,” Sun Jianheng continued. “I read your interrogation report. Lu Zhe was your class’s power controller, so he knew your potential. I suspect he sent your information to the Society of Light before you killed him.”

“Eliminating elite recruits cripples our army’s future. Especially talents like you. So I believe the true target of the Deviant was you—Du Huaishan, the Society of Light has marked you!”

What!?

Du Huaishan’s pupils contracted. His mind raced.

That shouldn’t be—if the Deviant’s target was really him, why kill Sun Tian first? And during the chase, it never focused on him, except for a glance when he warned Lai Yanlong it was a Deviant.

Still, Sun Jianheng had a point. The Deviant clearly came with purpose—likely targeting elite recruits, otherwise it wouldn’t have ambushed the assessment site.

Sun Jianheng was an old hand at intelligence, skilled in interrogation. I can’t trust him completely!

Du Huaishan feigned panic.

Sun Jianheng seemed to notice his unease and smiled. “Hehe, the Deviant escaped without completing its mission. The Society of Light will be furious—they may send someone even stronger next time.”

“Across the entire Academy, there are many formidable people, but none have better intelligence than our Special Operations Platoon. Du Huaishan, you’re smart—make plans for your future!”