Chapter Twenty-Eight: Squad Leader Selection Match

Only after the Lantern Festival did Shen Ye finally settle his mind, driving his new Ford at a leisurely pace toward Pipa Island in Guangzhou.

Pipa Island was a university town.

Most of the people here were students.

With the Lantern Festival past, the area had regained its lively atmosphere.

When he arrived at the Seaside Cottage, he found that Wen Xiuting was already sitting in a single-seat sofa inside.

The entire cottage was impeccably clean, without a speck of dust.

"Did you clean this?" Shen Ye asked.

Wen Xiuting shook her head. "I originally planned to come and clean a couple of days early, but when I got here, I found the shop had already been tidied up."

"It wasn't you? Then who was it?" Shen Ye couldn't help feeling a bit surprised.

"Of course it was yours truly. Ta-da!" A remarkably pretty girl wearing a red and white shrine maiden costume and holding a bow and arrow appeared. "I am none other than Kikyo."

Her cosplay addiction had flared up again.

"You probably had your grandfather's subordinates come and clean, didn't you?" Shen Ye exposed the truth directly.

"So what if I did? Hump, anyway, I'm the one who cleaned it. As the second waitress of this shop, I am truly dedicated and responsible," Lin Xiaolei said proudly.

Shen Ye was quite a carefree shop owner; he had given one key to Wen Xiuting and tossed another to Lin Xiaolei.

"Then shall we open the shop right away?" Wen Xiuting asked.

"No need to rush. I haven't quite recovered from the holiday atmosphere of the New Year yet. Let's rest for a day and reopen tomorrow," Shen Ye said.

"Boss, I must say, your habit of 'fishing for three days and drying your nets for two' is really not good. When running a shop, you have to be serious about it." At that moment, the shop door was open, and a young man who frequently came to eat at the shop walked in. "Look at this, look at this. Everyone says people get fat over the New Year, but because nobody makes food as delicious as yours, Boss, I've managed to lose ten pounds of pure weight. It's terrifying!"

The young man continued, "Boss, you should change up the menu a bit too. Just whip up a few Chinese dishes when you have time; with your skills, they're bound to sell like hotcakes."

"I just don't want them to sell like hotcakes. If the business is too good, people get too tired," Shen Ye replied to the regular customer.

It wasn't the first time this regular customer had chatted with Shen Ye about this topic, so he wasn't surprised by the answer, only letting out a long sigh. "Anyway, regardless of anything else, you have to open the shop door today—I've already moved in."

"Fine, open for business." He had originally wanted to slack off, but since a customer had already walked through the door, laziness was no longer an option.

Shen Ye started cooking.

By two o'clock in the afternoon, business hours came to an end.

At that moment, his cell phone rang.

It was a call from Old Master Shen.

"Grandfather, what is it?" Shen Ye answered the phone and asked.

"Didn't I mention it to you before? The selection tournament for the Eighth Squad leader after the New Year is about to start immediately. Come to Youquan Manor right away," Old Master Shen said.

"So urgent? Alright, I'll be right there." Shen Ye nodded, gave a few simple instructions, and drove directly toward Youquan Manor. While driving, he reflected on why he used to run a restaurant in the first place: partly because of financial difficulties at home and the need to make money, and partly because as a masked vigilante operating in the dark who couldn't show his face, he needed an identity in the light as well.

However, by now, he had secured properties in Guangzhou and Ning County, and he even had a car.

He also possessed a legitimate identity in the light, and the monthly salary issued from above was enough to cover his expenses. It seemed he no longer had any need to keep running a restaurant.

Should he just hand the restaurant over to Wen Xiuting to run? She was in urgent need of money.

As soon as this thought popped up, it sprouted like weeds.

Still, there was no rush for any of that.

First things first, he needed to get through the squad leader selection tournament.

...

When he arrived at Youquan Manor, Lv Yi was already waiting there.

Seeing Shen Ye arrive, Lv Yi couldn't help letting out a bitter smile. "Mr. Shen, this time you killed Deputy Squad Leader Sun Hongshan's right-hand man. I'm afraid you're in big trouble."

"Why worry about so much?" Shen Ye shook his head. "You, you always tend to overthink things. As martial artists of our generation, we should forge ahead courageously with indomitable fearlessness. If you're afraid of this and that, you lose the martial artist's spirit and will never achieve much improvement in your lifetime."

Lv Yi was stunned. He had spent the entire Spring Festival worrying because Shen Ye had offended Deputy Squad Leader Sun.

Yet hearing Shen Ye's words now, he suddenly felt that perhaps Shen Ye was right.

Shen Ye went straight to the building assigned to the Eighth Squad.

This building had six floors above ground and three floors below ground.

Many of the underground levels housed training rooms and the like.

The first floor above ground was a grand hall.

It featured a large combat ring measuring ten meters by ten meters, surrounded by numerous chairs.

A large number of Eighth Squad members were seated here, along with members from other squads who had come to watch the excitement. After all, the spectacle of a squad leader selection only happened once every few years.

However, because Shen Ye was a newcomer and rarely visited Youquan Manor, he didn't know a single person.

Therefore, he casually found an empty seat and sat down, preparing to pull a cigarette from his pocket to smoke and relax.

Upon reaching into his pocket, however, he discovered the cigarette pack was empty.

He was out of cigarettes.

"Lv Yi, do you have any cigarettes?"

Lv Yi shook his head. "I never smoke."

Shen Ye shook his head helplessly and glanced at a handsome, somewhat baby-faced young man around one meter seventy-five tall sitting nearby, who was currently smoking. "Hey, buddy, spare a cigarette."

The handsome young man glanced at Shen Ye, then pulled out a cigarette and handed it over.

Taking a look, it was a Zhonghua cigarette.

Shen Ye clicked a lighter to it, started smoking, and noticed that the young man's body seemed to be trembling slightly. "Buddy, are you feeling unwell? You've been trembling slightly. Do you want to go get checked out at a hospital?"

The handsome young man shook his head and gave a wry smile. "No need, I'm just nervous."

"Nervous?" Shen Ye couldn't help being taken aback. "What are you nervous about?"

"The squad leader selection is about to start. I heard the Eighth Squad is currently understrength; under normal circumstances, there should be thirty-two members plus a deputy squad leader and a captain, making thirty-four in total. But a lot of people have died, so there are only twenty-eight people now, or twenty-nine including the deputy squad leader. All twenty-nine of them will be participating. Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hu Qi, a newcomer to the Eighth Squad. I haven't really participated in many ring matches before," the young man said. "What's your name? Are you a veteran in the squad?"

"Oh, my name is Shen Ye, I'm a newcomer too," Shen Ye recalled.

"You're Shen Ye? There are only two of us newcomers this term. Alas, the two of us newbies are definitely going to be eliminated in the first round," Hu Qi said, frowning with extreme worry. "Those veterans in the squad are just too strong, and their combat experience is far beyond anything we can compare with."

Hearing this, Shen Ye simply shrugged his shoulders. Deciding it was no big deal, he continued smoking.

...

Twenty-odd minutes later, Squad Leader Shen arrived. He was dressed in his usual attire: Martin boots and a military-green uniform.

He stood straight. "The former captain of the Eighth Squad, Hu Baiming, died in battle against the Fusang people. Every fallen martyr is great. Salute."

The people below stood at attention in unison and saluted.

Squad Leader Shen said in a deep voice, "I am deeply saddened by Captain Hu's passing. However, every squad is a vital force within our Special Operations Group. A squad cannot remain without a captain for long. This time, we will select a new captain."

"The Eighth Squad, including the deputy squad leader, has a total of twenty-nine members. The deputy squad leader will not participate in the preliminary selection battles."

"The selection matches are quite simple."

"The simplest and most merit-based format: a ring tournament."

"Twenty-eight down to fourteen."

"Fourteen down to the top seven."

"At that point, the deputy squad leader of the Eighth Squad will enter as a seeded contestant. Including the deputy squad leader, that makes the top eight."

"Eight down to four."

"Four down to two."

"Two down to one."

"In the end, the person who achieves victory will be the captain of the Eighth Squad."

"During the combat, high-tech weaponry and concealed projectiles are permitted. As long as no one dies."

"Now, the tournament begins!"