Qianye felt his stomach churning violently, and the other two young men seemed no better off. Half an hour after the airship took off, the three of them could no longer hold it in and vomited all over the place.
By dusk, the airship had circled the Yellow Rock Grand Fjord and landed at the Red Scorpion headquarters base located at the northern end of Qin Land. However, the three greenhorns were not fortunate enough to witness the mysterious Red Scorpion headquarters immediately.
Before they even got off the airship, they received their first greenhorn task: cleaning. They had to clean every inch of the troop cabin and the entire airship, both inside and out, until not a speck of dust remained.
Only when Qianye started did he realize that this job was no less strenuous than fighting.
The vomit in the cabin was one thing, but the real challenge was the years of grease build-up in the engine room and on the interior and exterior walls of the airship. Although they were given special grease-cleaning solvents, they needed to change a large bucket of water after every small spot they cleaned.
Thus, the three of them spent the night going back and forth, cleaning and changing water, and by dawn, only half of the twenty-meter-long airship was clean.
The different areas of the airship were divided into three days’ worth of work. If the task wasn’t completed, there would be no food or sleep.
Therefore, the three greenhorns spent their first three days at the Red Scorpion in hunger, fatigue, and drowsiness. By the end, they could no longer smell the heavy stench of oil on themselves. When they finally finished cleaning, they returned to their dorms and fell asleep immediately, neglecting to bathe or eat.
During these three days, Qianye demonstrated consistent patience and meticulousness, leaving no corner untouched and wiping every speck of oil clean. His cleaning and maintenance of the airship’s power and transmission systems were also impeccable.
This was due to his experience in maintaining firearms, applying the same level of care to the large machine. The effect was so good that even the notoriously picky bald captain praised him.
The other two greenhorns performed adequately for the first half, but then began to slack off. Seeing Qianye’s unwavering diligence, they subtly left the dirtiest and hardest tasks for him. Though it appeared that all three were doing an equal share, Qianye actually did more than the two combined.
Qianye didn’t mind this small gain or loss; he had learned in the Netherworld training camp to follow orders without deviation. This meant not just the literal meaning, but also the spirit of the order.
In the Netherworld, there was no room for shortcuts.
The other two greenhorns, seeing Qianye’s dedication, were happy to let things slide and push more work onto him. Both of them were the pride of their families, having made it through the rigorous selection process to join the Red Scorpion, with promising futures ahead. Such young men could endure the pain of bleeding and injury, but they had never done such dirty, tiring work before.
While the three greenhorns slept, in a small conference room at the Red Scorpion headquarters, five people were in a meeting, including the bald captain.
The bald captain quickly wrote down scores on three sheets and passed them to the others.
After the soldiers passed around the sheets, Wei Lishi took a look and said to the bald captain, “I expected as much, but the score difference is quite significant, isn’t it?”
“I scored them inch by inch! ‘Scorpion Tail’ is like my child! Any change doesn’t escape my eyes. Those two little ones thought they could play tricks in front of me? In a hundred years, maybe! This kid Qianye is great, smart and hardworking. I like him!”
Seeing the bald captain’s insistence, Wei Lishi nodded, signed the sheets, and said to the other three soldiers, “The test results are clear. You decide.”
“Qianye,” one person said first.
Another immediately opposed, “No way! You guys picked first last year. It’s our team’s turn this year!”
A third person said leisurely, “That’s not how it works. Your team used up your priority pick for this year last year. Do you plan to use next year’s too?”
After arguing for a while, they finally divided the three greenhorns. The bearded man begrudgingly promised some personal favors to secure Qianye.
The initial test score was out of 100 points. Qianye alone scored 65 points, while the other two together scored only 35 points.
The Red Scorpion used these scores for a wide range of purposes, including promotions, resource allocation, and mission selection. The initial test provided a very high total score, and such high-scoring tasks were rare during the greenhorn phase.
Of course, Qianye and the others were unaware of this. The other two thought they were clever, covering all their bases, but as the bald captain said, their little tricks were transparent. In front of the big shots, playing such games was career suicide.
The next morning, Qianye was woken by a harsh banging on the door.
“Get up, greenhorn! How long do you plan to sleep?!”
Qianye jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. Standing there was a burly, bearded officer, towering at over two and a half meters. Qianye, though tall, looked like a doll next to him.
The bearded man sniffed deeply, frowned, and said, “Go shower and get rid of that oil stench! You have… five minutes!” He barked out the rest of his instructions.
“Who are you?” Qianye cautiously asked.
“My name is Nan, but everyone calls me Nan Batian!”
Hearing another impressive name, Qianye was briefly distracted, but then drowned out by the thunderous shouting.
“You don’t need to know my original name. From now on, you’re part of my Tiger Scorpion Battalion. Greenhorn! Go shower, now!”
Qianye immediately saluted, “Yes, sir!” and dashed to the bathroom.
In three minutes, Qianye had washed himself, changed into a new set of military uniform, and rushed out.
The uniform retained the black base of the Great Qin Empire’s military, but had red accents along the collar and lapels, and featured a scorpion emblem on the upper arm.
The emblem depicted a black and red scorpion with a vivid crimson stinger, commonly seen across the continents. Despite its small size, it was one of the most venomous creatures on land. A single sting from a Red Scorpion could kill an adult within seconds.
As Qianye emerged, Nan Batian turned and walked away, his strides far longer than average. Qianye jogged to keep up.
“There’s a lot to do today! First, we’ll go get your gear, then I’ll show you to your quarters. Our Tiger Scorpion Battalion has its own barracks, so you won’t have to stay in this damned place. Then I’ll take you around some important places in the camp. You’ll know where to repair your gun, where to find cheap, good stuff, and even where to pick up side missions if they don’t conflict with your official ones. But that’s only after you’ve left the greenhorn stage. For now, forget about it!”
Qianye, already accustomed to Nan Batian’s manner, carefully noted everything.
Soon, Nan Batian led Qianye out of the temporary barracks and into the main Red Scorpion headquarters.
Stepping through the thirty-meter-high, one-and-a-half-meter-thick metal gates, Qianye was struck dumb by the sight. Even after seeing the Xiangyang industrial city from above, he was still awed by this massive war machine.
Kilometers away, the Red Scorpion headquarters towered six hundred meters high, resembling a sail, with rusty, faded red paint exposing the underlying metal. Yet, this only added to its grandeur, giving it a sense of historical weight and depth!
Several bat-winged airships were rising from the top of the headquarters, heading in different directions.
On the distant horizon, a gigantic floating ship appeared, with a gas囊肿的部分似乎被截断了。请允许我继续从最后一句话开始翻译，以保持内容的完整性。
Several bat-winged airships were rising from the top of the headquarters, heading in different directions.
On the distant horizon, a gigantic floating ship appeared, with its gas bag stretching several hundred meters long!
To the right, a massive airship base was bustling with activity. Small flying boats, medium and large airships, and even two warships over a hundred meters long were taking off and landing. On the other side, a row of old-fashioned dirigibles with gas bags floated, ready for use.
Beside the base, rows of various tracked armored vehicles stood, numbering in the hundreds. And the number of cargo trucks was even more uncountable.
Qianye had seen pictures and models of these basic military equipment in class, but seeing the real things, he felt an unparalleled visual impact.
To the left, numerous buildings of different sizes were scattered, and Qianye even spotted a factory large enough to accommodate giant dirigibles.
The hundred-meter-tall factory had an arched roof that was currently open, revealing the mast and upper part of a medium-sized dirigible. Workers, like tiny ants, crawled all over it, and sparks of red flames flowed down the massive metal surface, indicating intense ongoing work.
Further in the distance, energy facilities stretched out in a vast area.
These structures resembled perpetual motion towers, with over a dozen colossal chimneys standing like mythical pillars, continuously spewing out faintly dark smoke, forming a huge cloud that covered half the sky.
Just by looking, one could imagine the tremendous energy surging through the pipelines, powering the enormous Red Scorpion base.
Nan Batian led Qianye to a parking lot, hopped into an open-door off-road vehicle, and drove towards the left toward the military supply warehouse. Without a vehicle, navigating such a vast camp would indeed be difficult.
In the supply warehouse, Nan Batian bellowed, “This is our Tiger Scorpion Battalion’s greenhorn! Get him a standard kit and a sniper set!”
Moments later, a large backpack and a black briefcase were tossed out a window, with no one speaking or showing their face.
Nan Batian caught the items, shouted a quick “Thanks!” and turned to Qianye, “Let’s go, I’ll show you the Tiger Scorpion Barracks!”
The Tiger Scorpion Barracks were located in the northeast corner of the headquarters, right next to the Blood Scorpion camp.
Just by looking at the two camps, Qianye could tell the Tiger Scorpion’s situation was not great. The camp was half the size of the Blood Scorpion’s, and the vehicles outside were a mix of old and new, far inferior to the brand-new vehicles of the Blood Scorpion. Moreover, the Tiger Scorpion camp was eerily quiet compared to the bustling Blood Scorpion camp.
Nan Batian scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, “Well… Let’s put it this way. My command skills are a bit behind that Blood Scorpion guy. So, the Blood Scorpions often take on big missions and make a lot of money. Over time, our Tiger Scorpion budget became a bit tight. Yeah, that’s the story.”
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