New Arrivals and a Glimpse of the Base

“Gently, gently.” Huang Xiu bit her lip and said softly.

The female instructor didn’t respond, but her movements paused visibly before she lessened her force.

Huang Xiu breathed a silent sigh of relief. As soon as the search ended, she promptly offered her thanks.

“Thank you, Instructor.”

The female instructor said nothing, merely waved her hand to signal that Huang Xiu could leave.

After stepping out of the small cubicle, she waited a while longer until the entire search was finally over.

The contraband confiscated from over a hundred people piled up on the floor like a small mountain.

All sorts of electronics, snacks, face masks, and strange cosmetics.

In short, aside from toiletries, a change of clothes, sunscreen, and the necessary sanitary pads, everything else was prohibited.

Such stringent standards sparked some grumbling among the girls.

It’s just military training… even at a Void Realm observation post, surely makeup and skincare products should be allowed.

Fortunately, sunscreen was still permitted. Huang Xiu believed that otherwise, many girls would have outright rebelled.

“Everyone, grab your suitcases. I’ll take you to the dormitories now. The afternoon is free time, but you’re not allowed to leave the dorms. Tonight, once all the trainees from the four major organizations have arrived, the Military Commander will hold a welcome assembly. We’ll notify you then.”

After outlining the day’s schedule, the female instructor signaled the girls to collect their luggage.

She then led them toward the dormitory building.

Along the way, everyone, including Huang Xiu, observed their surroundings, taking in the place where they would suffer for a month.

From the plane, the view had been limited, so she hadn’t realized.

But now, standing inside the base, Huang Xiu found this Void Realm observation point surprisingly large, with remarkably complete facilities.

After just three or four minutes of walking,

She had already spotted a cluster of entertainment facilities: a gym, a convenience store, a cinema, and an internet café.

Moreover, the flow of people was considerable, with people coming and going at all times.

‘This observation point is like a shrunken town,’ Huang Xiu mused to herself.

Still, for her, this was good news.

An internet café, entertainment facilities…

This month of military training wouldn’t be too unbearable, at least there was something to look forward to during breaks.

There were quite a few people at Observation Point No. 1, but all of them wore the military uniforms of the Expedition Bureau, whether they were fifty-or sixty-year-old men or twenty-year-olds.

When they saw Huang Xiu and the others, their faces showed surprise.

But they quickly recovered, putting on expressions of amusement, clearly having been notified in advance that a group of girls would be coming for military training.

“The way some of them stare makes me really uncomfortable,” Ying Zhiyu complained softly.

She referred to the mocking looks most of them wore.

But beyond that, there were certain men whose eyes roamed over them with undisguised, blatant scrutiny.

Their gazes swept her from head to toe, lingering especially on her legs and chest.

It gave her goosebumps all over.

And with her keen hearing, she could even catch them whispering about who among their group was prettiest, who had the best figure.

“It’s just looks; endure it,” Qianrou said, her expression unchanged, as if she weren’t the one being stared at.

Huang Xiu remained silent.

Because she, too, felt uncomfortable under the staring, and in fact, more gazes fell on her than on Ying Zhiyu.

But having once been a man, she could roughly understand the psychology.

After being out in the wilderness for so long, suddenly encountering a large group of vibrant young female college students—of course they’d be excited.

They only looked and whispered, not even telling dirty jokes, which was already pretty good behavior.

But understanding was one thing; displeasure was another. She didn’t have a good impression of these people.

The instructor led Huang Xiu and the other girls almost across the entire base before they reached the dormitory.

The dormitory building was new, six stories high.

The white paint on the exterior walls was shiny and hadn’t peeled, though some areas were stained yellow by sand and dust.

[Girls’ Dormitory Phase 2, Building 3]

“Your room assignments are posted on the bulletin board on the first floor. You can check them yourselves. Your military uniforms are also placed on your respective bunks. When you attend the assembly tonight, be sure to wear them.”

The female instructor finished loudly, then turned and left, swift and decisive.

Seeing that the instructor had really left, the girls no longer held back. They chatted about what they’d just seen and made their way to the bulletin board.

Among the crowd, Huang Xiu’s eyes quickly scanned the black bulletin board.

Soon she found her name among the bunch of surnames starting with H.

[Huang Xiu, Room 606, Bed 6]

“Hey, why am I on the top floor?” she grumbled. Military training inevitably involved quick assembly.

And she ended up on the rooftop—bad luck!

“Sister Xiuxiu, I’m not in the same dorm as you…” Ying Zhiyu lowered her head, disappointed.

She had a bit of social anxiety and preferred living with acquaintances rather than strangers.

“What about Arou?” Huang Xiu asked.

“Same dorm as you,” Jia Qianrou said briefly, which only made Ying Zhiyu more depressed.

Huang Xiu wanted to ask Fang Miaoging as well, but she turned and saw her sitting among a bunch of science girls, laughing and chatting, so she dropped the idea.

They parted ways. Huang Xiu and Jia Qianrou, carrying their now lighter suitcases,

huffed and puffed their way to Dorm 606. Because the dormitory building was new, probably originally intended for Expedition Bureau staff,

the conditions were surprisingly good, better than Huang Xiu had expected.

Six-person room, bed above a desk below, private bathroom, air conditioning—only lacking a washing machine.

There was even a wall clock to keep track of time.

Very thoughtful.

She looked at her bed, number six, which was the innermost one. Huang Xiu was even more satisfied.

“Not bad, not bad.”

Because of the earlier conversations, there were already three people in the room, one of whom was Huang Xiu’s old acquaintance, Chi Xue.

“Sister Xiuxiu, and Sister Jiarou.”

She was pleasantly surprised, and so were the others.

The only S-rank was in their dorm!

If there really was a faction showdown this time, couldn’t they just latch onto her leg?

“Hello!” The two greeted politely and then introduced themselves.

“I-I’m Wen Zhan.” “I’m Zhong Zimei.”

“I’m Jia Qianrou,” Jia Qianrou said with a faint smile.

“Ah, hello, I’m Huang Xiu.”

Huang Xiu greeted them with a smile and then openly sized them up.

Wen Zhan and Zhong Zimei were both cute girls, not tall, around 1.6 meters.

Wen Zhan had long green hair, but perhaps afraid it would hinder movement, she had tied it into two big buns, quite memorable.

But she didn’t know if the green was dyed or a result of body reconstruction.

The other, Zhong Zimei, had no such distinctive feature, yet Huang Xiu had a stronger impression of her.

Because she was the one who had downed thirty packs of milk in one go.

Huang Xiu shook her head inwardly. ‘These two roommates of mine are both quite unusual.’

But then, no Awakener was entirely normal. As long as they weren’t too weird, they could be considered normal.

After the greetings, Huang Xiu walked to her bed.

The three-piece bedding set and military uniforms were laid out on the desk.

She stored her luggage and long spear in the cabinet, then bent down to pick up the brand-new uniform with her name on it.

There were three sets, including an outer coat, an inner shirt, and straight-shaft combat boots, identical to those worn by everyone else in the base—the former uniforms of the Awakener Allied Forces.

But epaulets were missing.

Curious, Huang Xiu opened one set and touched the fabric.

The material felt smooth yet resilient, with neat stitching and visibly good quality.

The inner shirt was similar to military physical training gear, except the color was black like the outer coat.

“Why do they like black so much?” Huang Xiu complained. She preferred sky blue over black.

As she was making the bed, the last member of Dorm 606 finally arrived.

Huang Xiu, half-kneeling on the bed, looked up and immediately grinned.

The last person in Dorm 606 turned out to be Jiang Qing.

She was wearing that hat that seemed to be her inseparable accessory, the fisherman’s hat.

Her left hand held a suitcase, her right hand a long sword, and she was panting heavily, as if she’d just been rushing around.

“Sorry, a little hiccup delayed me. And hi, everyone, I’m Jiang Qing.” She introduced herself openly.

Jia Qianrou and the others also repeated their introductions.

“I don’t think I need to introduce myself,” Huang Xiu said, flipping off the bed with a smile.

Looking at Huang Xiu before her, Jiang Qing paused for half a second, then smiled back warmly. “Ah, of course not.”

“You know each other?” Jia Qianrou squinted.

“Uh, we met while gaming,” Huang Xiu lied, apologizing to Jia Qianrou in her heart.

She had no choice; the psychological counseling class was a secret that couldn’t be told.

Of the six in the dorm, three were acquaintances, and the two strangers seemed to have decent personalities.

This put Huang Xiu at ease.

She had been truly afraid of encountering someone troublesome who would cause havoc in the dorm.

After making their beds and with nothing to do since they couldn’t go out, the six of them sat together and chatted.

The topics were nothing special.

Basically, things they’d seen on the way, fun stories from college life, or gossip they’d heard somewhere.

Amidst pleasant laughter, everyone got along much better.

Then, suddenly, for some reason, Zhong Zimei spoke up and proposed, “How about we go out for a stroll?”

“Are you sure?”

Huang Xiu made a face like she was constipated.

Was this girl the reincarnation of the Watermelon Shop Prince, always pushing boundaries?

They had just been told not to leave the dorm… and now she was suggesting they go out.

“I feel like if we get caught, it’ll be bad,” she advised.

“Then we just have to not get caught!” Zhong Zimei said very seriously. “Didn’t they hand out uniforms? If we put them on, we’ll blend right in!”

She really seemed to want to go out.

“No, the probability of getting caught is one hundred percent. I won’t gamble on a losing bet.”

Jiang Qing shook her head and explained:

“Maybe you didn’t look closely at the uniform, but this set doesn’t have epaulets.”

“Exactly,” Jia Qianrou chimed in.

“And even if we had epaulets, the moment we walk outside, people would spot us as fresh-faced young girls. In a closed environment like this, even if everyone doesn’t know each other personally, they recognize each other by sight.”

“Ah, is that so?” Zhong Zimei looked disappointed. “Then forget it.”

Huang Xiu finally got it.

So this girl wasn’t unlucky; she was just a bit naive, never thinking things through!

Sunlight streamed through the window into the washing area, leaving patches of orange-red on the tiled floor.

Standing before the sink, Huang Xiu looked at the mirror. The pretty girl in the black military uniform stared back.

Feeling very satisfied, she couldn’t help giving herself a thumbs up.

“Not bad, very handsome!”

She walked out of the washing area into the dorm. “Alright, I’ve changed. Let’s go eat.”

The other five had just finished changing as well and nodded in agreement.

Just a moment ago, the female instructor who had conducted the search came to their dorm and told them they could change into uniforms and line up for dinner.

After dinner, there would be the assembly.

Huang Xiu and the others filed out and formed two lines on the ground in front of the dorm building.

Then, under the instructor’s guidance, they headed to the cafeteria.

The training area and cafeteria were near the dormitory, so it didn’t take long to reach the mess hall.

‘The entertainment area is concentrated in the distant part, while the training area and dorms are clustered in the innermost section,’ Huang Xiu recalled the base layout, guessing that this arrangement was for convenience during training.

“The food at Base No. 1 isn’t as good as at Tiandu University, but it’s not bad either. There’s meat and vegetables, plus fruit and yogurt.”

It was better than Huang Xiu’s high school meals.

“With such good conditions for military training, what more could you ask for?”

After getting her food, Huang Xiu sat down with her roommates to enjoy dinner.

“Do you want some yogurt… I’ve been feeling a bit off about milk lately.”

Zhong Zimei covered her mouth and waved the yogurt pack, drawing giggles from the other five at the table.

During their earlier chat, they had asked her why she chugged all the milk at once.

Her answer was: those milk packs had a short shelf life and would spoil in thirty days. She was afraid of wasting them, so she just drank them all in one go.

An unassailable reason!

But Huang Xiu still couldn’t understand why Zhong Zimei had brought so much milk when the class advisor had clearly stressed the rules.

Then she remembered the earlier suggestion to go out, and it all suddenly made sense.

As they ate, the cafeteria suddenly grew lively again, buzzing with voices and footsteps.

Huang Xiu turned to look. A batch of male trainees walked in.

They wore uniforms without epaulets, quite a large group, chatting and laughing as they entered.

Clearly, they weren’t veterans of the Expedition Bureau.

But the male students from Tiandu University had already come to eat; Huang Xiu spotted Tian Rong and the class representative.

‘They must be from the other organizations,’ she judged.

“Yes, they’re trainees from the Administration Bureau.”

Jia Qianrou narrowed her eyes. “I saw a guy who was in my group during the second round of interviews.”