Chapter 5: Chapter 5 [Declining All Glory]
"Have you heard? The young master from the Ye family actually killed all the bandits and even defeated Sambaque, the vice captain of the Blood Demon Mercenary Group."
"Bragging, right? Isn't this guy just a profligate son? All he knows is fighting and flirting, a real wastrel."
"I think it's definitely fake; this guy has brought such great disgrace to the Ye family before, everyone in Capital City knows it, and I believe this time he could complete the mission it was all thanks to Han Jie."
Within the entire camp, many couldn't help but secretly discuss these matters, most of them familiar with the affairs between the Ye family and the Liu family.
Both being prominent families of Capital City, Ye Tianchen peeped at Liu Rumei taking a bath, causing great fury in the Liu family, who demanded his parents come to their door to apologize and bow in front of many major families of Capital City, while Ye Tianchen knelt by the side, truly losing face.
Iron Hammer walked into Ye Tianchen's sleeping tent and saw him sitting cross-legged, with his eyes tightly closed and cold sweat on his forehead, which made him pause.
Because Iron Hammer felt a strong energy that tightly wrapped around the surroundings, seemingly centered on Ye Tianchen.
"Captain Iron Hammer, is there anything you need?" Ye Tianchen suddenly opened his eyes and asked with a smile.
"Oh, General Cang Lang wants to see you."
Iron Hammer had already felt that the strange power had disappeared.
Ye Tianchen looked at Iron Hammer, then got down from the bed, yawned, and said,
"Sorry, I'm really not interested in seeing the leaders; I just want to go home."
The meditation session Ye Tianchen had was actually to adjust the superpower within his body. Having just been reborn in this body, his Superpower had dropped from Divine Level to Monarch Level, the superpower he could utilize was less than one tenth of his potential, and most critically, the Superpower Core in his brain was fluctuating intermittently, which gave Ye Tianchen a headache.
Originally, he thought after being reborn into this life, he could just enjoy life peacefully without the need for strong power.
But the battle with Sambaque made the current Ye Tianchen realize that there were always stronger people in any lifetime, and there were still people and things he needed to protect, so attaining stronger power was necessary.
Before Iron Hammer entered, Ye Tianchen had tried to summon the natural energy around, found that only a small part was gathering, far from meeting his demands; the only time the Superpower Core in his brain had a significant fluctuation was when he was wiping out those bandits, it seemed only through fighting could his superpower be awakened.
"Ye Tianchen, I think you don't quite understand your own status, you are a soldier, the higher-ups' summon for you is an order, and as a soldier, obeying orders is the most important thing."
Iron Hammer spoke sternly, feeling a surge of anger in his heart.
Ye Tianchen really seemed slightly disrespectful; General Cang Lang was a man from the Military Committee, also one of the three great War Kings of the Eastern region, and countless people desired an audience with General Cang Lang.
Yet Ye Tianchen did not want to meet Cang Lang and even seemed to have the positions reversed, as if he was the one reluctant to meet Cang Lang.
"Captain Iron Hammer, I really don't want to meet any general, I just want to go home..."
"Since you are unwilling to meet me, then I shall come to meet you myself!"
Before Ye Tianchen could finish his sentence, General Cang Lang had already spoken while walking into the tent.
"General!"
Iron Hammer quickly saluted General Cang Lang, not expecting him to personally come to meet Ye Tianchen, which really seemed to attest to the young man's importance.
"Hmm, Iron Hammer, please step outside; I want to talk to him alone," General Cang Lang said with a smile.
Iron Hammer glared at Ye Tianchen and then walked out of the tent.
Ye Tianchen's expression subtly changed as he sized up the General Cang Lang in front of him, making his first judgment: this was definitely a master, with an aura of robust power fluctuating around him, likely one who had practiced Inner Strength from an Ancient Martial Sect.
General Cang Lang also sized up Ye Tianchen, finding this ignorant young man from the Ye family somewhat enigmatic; even now, Ye Tianchen maintained a carefree demeanor, making it hard to associate him with the term "master."
"You are Ye Tianchen?" General Cang Lang asked, sitting down on a chair nearby.
"Yes, and you are General Cang Lang?" Ye Tianchen asked in return, his tone quite relaxed.
General Cang Lang nodded, getting straight to the point,
"I heard you don't care for honors; you just want to go home. I want to know why?"
"No particular reason; first, I'm frankly not a soldier, and second, I believe the most important thing in life is to be happy and content with one's family. I don't want any troubles or hassles, so I hope, General, that you can approve this," Ye Tianchen spoke truthfully. During the apocalypse, he had been an orphan with no family; reborn in this life, he wanted to be with his family, aware of the shame and pain the former person had brought them, and he wanted to make amends.
"I will need to think about this matter; wait here for news," General Cang Lang said.
Cang Lang turned and left the tent, and Ye Tianchen yawned, continuing to lie on the bed to sleep, as the awakening of his superpower still needed time and could not be rushed.
Early the next day, Ye Tianchen, carrying a military backpack, walked out of the military camp.
Cang Lang agreed with his opinion, and originally the higher-ups had instructed Cang Lang to downplay this matter; the more secretive, the better. After all, China had lost six special forces members this time, and there had been some information leakage, so secrecy was imperative.
In the end, Ye Tianchen signed a confidentiality agreement, promising never to speak a word about this affair. As he was leaving, a remark from Cang Lang gave him something to ponder over.
"If you truly are a dazzling star, you will definitely shine, and in this world, there is combat anywhere you go; some troubles are inevitable."
Upon leaving the closed-off army camp, Ye Tianchen stretched lazily; he was never someone fond of being constrained, and a life of freedom was what he truly desired.
During the apocalypse, it had always been fight, fight, fight—it really made one restless. Reborn in this life, Ye Tianchen wanted to thoroughly enjoy living, but could his wish be fulfilled?
"General Cang, Ye Tianchen's file is missing something here."
Tiehammer approached with a file in hand and handed it to Cang Lang.
Cang Lang took the file folder and looked inside. On Ye Tianchen's document, there was a blank space not filled in at the top that read "Combat Level." After thinking for a moment, Cang Lang wrote down two words "Unknown," and then said to Tiehammer,
"Send his file to the National Security Bureau, classified as top secret."
Combat Level unknown—this was the first time in history that Cang Lang had given such an evaluation to one of his subordinates.
As one of the top three War Kings of the Eastern, Cang Lang had seen countless people, but regarding Ye Tianchen, he felt somewhat unable to see through him. He didn't know whether Ye Tianchen's previous lack of education was a facade, or if the potential in his body had exploded, suddenly turning him into a strong soldier, a soldier of unknown strength.
After leaving the military camp, Ye Tianchen walked lazily on the wide road.
This place was a military camp, a hub of heavy troops; aside from military vehicles, no other vehicles or personnel could enter. Thus, upon stepping out, Ye Tianchen realized he should have had Cang Lang arrange a vehicle to take him, as he had no idea how he would get to the airport.
"Hey, bro, give me a lift?" Ye Tianchen flagged down a military off-road vehicle and said with a chuckle.
"Huh? It's training time in the camp, how did you get out?" the driver, a soldier, asked with some confusion.
"Heh, well… I got expelled."
Ye Tianchen gave an awkward laugh and gestured towards the military backpack on his back.
No sooner had Ye Tianchen finished speaking than the military off-road vehicle drove off. Clearly, he felt the driver's disdainful gaze—a soldier who had been expelled from the troops would likely face disdain wherever he went.
But if it weren't for this reason, Ye Tianchen couldn't have easily left the troop. Cang Lang had explained the complex relations and matters of honor and disgrace very clearly to Ye Tianchen, who, not caring at all, had immediately agreed.
"Damn!"
Ye Tianchen cursed and continued walking forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A military motorcycle drove up. Ye Tianchen decided not to try to flag down another ride, as a soldier who had been expelled from the troops probably wouldn't be welcomed by anyone.
However, he felt that it had nothing to do with him; he was no longer the Ye Tianchen of the past. Though he would bear all the time from the former Ye Tianchen, that did not mean he would like the same things he had.
"Get on, thinking of leaving without even saying goodbye, aren't you heartless?"
Just then, the military motorcycle stopped beside Ye Tianchen, and Han Jie took off her helmet and said with a smile.
"Sister Han, how did you get here? Is your injury okay?"
Ye Tianchen had a good impression of this woman, who had been very caring towards him since he joined the military, and he respected this military flower's strong will.
"It was just some superficial skin damage, it healed long ago. Get on, I'll take you to the airport."
Ye Tianchen nodded and got on the military motorcycle. Han Jie was an excellent driver, and she turned up the throttle to the max. Along the way, a slight breeze offered a refreshing coolness.
"Do you really not want to be a soldier anymore? Giving up such great honor?"
Hearing that Ye Tianchen had left, taking no honors and only wanting to go home, Han Jie felt both surprised and a bit disappointed. More than anything, the thought of never seeing this man again filled her with an inexplicable sadness.
"Tired of it, it's not interesting. I just want a simple life, enjoying life is more important," Ye Tianchen said with a smile.
"You sure take it easy. Isn't there anything here worth staying for?" Han Jie asked with a bit of coaxing anger.