Chapter Thirty-Two: Making Enemies

To thank "Solitary Lingering Dream" for their generous reward, here's an additional chapter today. The more rewards, the faster the updates! I hope everyone will support me—votes, flowers, and magic pens are all most welcome...

———

Li Tongming, driving from the military district headquarters, kept calling Sun Jianguo along the way, but no one ever answered. Frustrated, he simply pressed harder on the accelerator, racing toward the Wolf Pack Regiment's training camp. As soon as he arrived at the gate, he saw a group of special forces soldiers, covered in mud and filth, dashing out at breakneck speed.

Li Tongming was puzzled. "Since when did these wolf cubs become so quick? And why do they look so disheveled? Unless..." He suspected it had something to do with the recent explosion and decided to go find out. But as he opened the car door to get out, a foul stench assaulted him, making his stomach churn—he doubled over, vomiting uncontrollably.

When he finally finished, he looked up to question someone, but the special forces soldiers had already gotten into their vehicles and sped off. As he considered chasing after them, he heard voices from inside the camp. Pinching his nose, he walked in—there was no other way; the people were gone, but the smell lingered, so potent it was practically a biological weapon.

"Hey! Who are you? This is a special training camp—no unauthorized entry," said Liu Fan, who had spotted Li Tongming. Sun Jianguo had told him that only those with direct authority or passes could enter the camp; not even a major general would get in without clearance. That was the privilege of an elite unit.

But with the camp empty, no one else was around to enforce these rules. Li Tongming, clearly aware of protocol, reflexively saluted Liu Fan upon hearing the question, then took out his pass and handed it over. "I'm Li Tongming, a staff colonel from headquarters. Here's my pass."

Seeing someone salute him—a colonel, no less—Liu Fan kept his composure and returned the salute. After checking the credentials and confirming their authenticity, he handed the pass back politely. "Is there something I can help you with, Colonel Li?"

Li Tongming frowned at Liu Fan's manner. "A mere lieutenant colonel, and yet so lacking in deference to a colonel? How arrogant," he thought.

Soldiers are known for being intolerant of disrespect, and Li Tongming was no exception. He demanded sternly, "Who are you? I've never heard of a lieutenant colonel like you in the Wolf Pack Regiment." He emphasized the rank, making it clear Liu Fan should mind his place.

Liu Fan caught the implication, but it didn't bother him. If not for Sun Jianguo's favor, he wouldn't have taken the job as instructor in the first place. He frowned and replied, "My name is Liu Fan. General Sun invited me to train the special forces. Do you have any objections, 'Colonel Li'?" His retort was sharp—after all, as the saying goes, a staff officer without rank is as useful as a fart in the wind.

"So you're the martial arts expert General Sun mentioned? No wonder you lack proper manners. I don't know what General Sun was thinking, inviting someone like you," Li Tongming scoffed. As the scion of a noble family and a top graduate from the National Defense University, he despised martial artists, viewing them as uncultured brutes. The age-old rivalry between scholars and warriors was, in his mind, justified.

Now Liu Fan was truly angry. He was rarely offended by personal slights, but anyone who insulted his friends would find no mercy, not even from the king of heaven himself.

Just as he was about to step forward and teach Li Tongming a lesson, a car pulled up at the camp gate. Out stepped Sun Jianguo, who had returned after quickly washing off the grime. He remembered that Liu Fan was still in the camp and, hurrying to get dressed, sped back. From afar, he heard Li Tongming's disrespectful words and his face darkened as he strode over.

"I don't believe I need your approval, Li Tongming, to invite someone to my camp," Sun Jianguo said coldly, walking up to Liu Fan. Grinning, he added, "Sorry, brother, I left in a hurry and forgot about you. Don't take it to heart—no need to stoop to his level."

"You—" Li Tongming was furious, but remembering Sun Jianguo outranked him by far, he swallowed his retort. But Sun Jianguo had no intention of letting it go.

"What 'you'? Am I wrong? What have you done since joining the army, Li Tongming? If you’re not harassing female soldiers, you're retaliating against those who cross you. If not for your family's connections, you'd be court-martialed by now. Others may fear you, but I don't! And you dare disrespect my friend?" Sun Jianguo let loose, venting his anger. Li Tongming couldn't touch him, but he stored up the grudge against Liu Fan, foreshadowing trouble to come.

Even if Liu Fan knew what Li Tongming was thinking, he wouldn't care—in his eyes, Li Tongming was nothing but an ant.

"This is a classified training base. Why are you here if you have no business? Don’t you know the rules?" Sun Jianguo finally got to the heart of the matter, questioning Li Tongming sharply.

Li Tongming, flustered, had nearly forgotten his actual mission. He recovered and said smugly, "Commander Liu sent me to inform you of a meeting at headquarters. I tried calling you several times, but you didn't answer. Now... well." The schadenfreude in his tone was impossible to miss; he was convinced that the recent explosion, having originated from the Wolf Pack Regiment, would spell trouble for Sun Jianguo.

Sun Jianguo's expression shifted at this, but he quickly composed himself. He wasn't sure what the meeting was about, but with Liu Fan's recent spectacle, it was likely headquarters wanted an explanation. Knowing this, he calmed down.

"Understood. I'll report to headquarters immediately." Without another glance at Li Tongming, he turned to Liu Fan. "Brother, let's head to headquarters now. Commander Liu may wish to see you."

"Alright," Liu Fan replied, already guessing the purpose. He said no more, and the two of them quickly got into the car and sped away.

Li Tongming, left behind and ignored, ground his teeth in rage, his face twisted with anger. He cursed under his breath, "Sun Jianguo, Liu Fan, just wait. One day, I’ll see you both ruined and disgraced..."

As the car carried them away, Liu Fan felt a sudden premonition. Using his divination skills, he sensed Li Tongming’s malicious intent. He warned Sun Jianguo, "Sun, be careful with Li Tongming in the future. I don't think he's a good man—he might cause you trouble."

"You’re right, that's exactly the kind of person he is. But don't worry; I don’t take him seriously," Sun Jianguo replied, touched by Liu Fan's concern but not overly worried.

"In any case, better safe than sorry," Liu Fan said. Since Sun Jianguo was unconcerned, he didn’t press the point. Fate is personal, after all. Though he was an immortal, he had no wish to change others' destinies on a whim—he only offered the warning out of friendship.

Soon they arrived at the military district headquarters. Sun Jianguo got out, telling Liu Fan to wait in the car, and hurried to the conference room. Announcing himself in a loud, clear voice, he entered.

"Jianguo, you're here. We called you to find out exactly what caused that huge explosion at your training camp," Commander Liu Yandong began.

"Sir, the situation is as follows. I had planned to recruit a martial arts expert as an instructor for my special forces. The explosion was caused by him," Sun Jianguo answered calmly, having anticipated this line of questioning.

"It was Liu Fan? That's impossible. That kind of blast would take at least several hundred kilograms of TNT," Political Commissar Pang Penghui interjected in disbelief.

"Commissar, you may not know this, but he was demonstrating martial arts techniques—ones he intends to teach our special forces. There are two sets. The first is Tiger Roar, a fierce and vigorous style. With a single claw strike, he unleashed his inner energy; dust billowed up from the ground, and afterwards, several cracks appeared in the cement—dozens of meters long, half a meter wide..."