Chapter 60 Close your eyes, and surrender your life to me, the devil!

When he saw the nearly three thousand beaten, walking-corpse-like losers, a satisfied smile even surfaced on his face.

He made no mention of the previous night's punishment, as if it had been nothing more than a trivial matter.

"It seems the rest you got last night has taught you something," he began slowly.

"Today, we are going to play a new game."

"Today's training is called—Trust."

Trust?!

These two words dealt a violent shock to every single soldier present, losers and survivors alike!

In a place where suspicion, hatred, and exploitation were all that remained among men, to speak of trust?!

A squad of personal guards stepped forward, carrying several chests.

The chests were opened.

Inside lay those same dark, heavy iron chains once more!

Every heart plummeted into the abyss!

This damned thing again!

However, this time, they noticed that the chains were somewhat different.

Right in the middle of each chain was a peculiar metal structure.

It was a quick-release clasp.

A meticulously designed mechanism that could instantly unlock and separate the chain with a specific maneuver!

"This thing is called a 'quick-release clasp,'" Xiao Zhan's voice carried a hint of playfulness.

"At critical moments, it can save your lives."

"The condition, however, is that the person beside you is willing to help you unlock it, and that you are willing to believe he will do so."

Everyone's breathing halted.

As they stared at those tiny quick-release clasps, they seemed to catch a glimpse of hope.

Yet at the same time, they felt as though they were looking into an even deeper, more vicious trap!

"Today's training exercise is very simple."

"Blindfolded, navigate the obstacle course!"

"Three-man squads, still locked together. Two of them will be blindfolded. The remaining member will issue verbal commands to guide you through the zone ahead."

Everyone followed the direction of Xiao Zhan's pointing finger.

At the far end of the parade ground, at some unknown point, the area had been transformed into a massive, intricate obstacle course.

Inside lay deep pits, wooden stakes, rope nets, and countless traps hidden in the shadows!

"Within the obstacle course, there are many traps that will require you to temporarily undo your quick-release clasps, pass through individually, and then lock yourselves back together."

"If your commander miscalculates."

"If your teammate abandons you the moment you unlock your clasp."

"If you fail to establish the most basic trust among yourselves..."

Xiao Zhan smiled.

That smile chilled every person to the bone!

"Then you will face a punishment far more 'interesting' than sleeping in the latrines or the stables."

"I call it—Permanent Solitary Confinement."

Permanent Solitary Confinement?!

What was that?!

No one knew.

But everyone understood that it was unquestionably a hell a million times more terrifying than death!

Wu Neng's squad was called out once more.

A personal guard walked up to them, holding a chain equipped with a quick-release clasp and two pieces of black cloth.

Li Si stared at the gleaming metal clasp, then glanced beside him at Zhang Goudan, the wretched creature stinking so intensely of filth that he didn't even dare lift his head.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

This was his chance!

The only chance to shake off this piece of trash!

The moment the clasp was undone, he could just abandon them...

Like a venomous snake, the thought coiled tightly around his heart!

Zhang Goudan, too, had caught sight of the quick-release clasp.

For the first time, a glimmer of light appeared within his hollow eyes.

It was a yearning for survival.

Yet when he met Li Si's unconcealed gaze of disgust and calculation, that faint ray of light instantly dimmed into oblivion.

"Commander Wu Neng."

"Li Si and Zhang Goudan, blindfolded."

Wang Ba announced their assignments.

There was no room for debate.

Black cloth strips covered the eyes of Li Si and Zhang Goudan.

The world instantly plunged into darkness.

All that remained were the sound of Wu Neng's cold breathing beside his ears and the harsh scraping of iron chains dragging across the ground.

"First squad, move out!"

At Wang Ba's command, Wu Neng took a deep breath and began to issue his commands.

"Forward, five paces."

His voice was steady and clear.

Li Si and Zhang Goudan stepped forward almost simultaneously.

Yet, their paces were completely out of sync!

Li Si wanted to move quickly; he wanted to finish this damned training as fast as possible!

Zhang Goudan, however, was held back by terror and exhaustion, his steps small and sluggish!

Clank!

The iron chain instantly tautened!

All three men stumbled in unison!

"Steady!" Wu Neng growled in a low voice.

"Listen to my commands! One step! One step! March!"

"Front left, wooden stakes! To the right, turn sideways, three paces!"

Wu Neng's voice cracked like a whip across the nerves of the two blindfolded men.

They struggled to adjust their postures.

Li Si could feel Zhang Goudan's filthy body pressing almost directly against him.

A wave of nausea threatened to make him vomit on the spot!

He had the fierce urge to kick this piece of trash flying!

"Underfoot! There are ropes! Lift your feet! Higher!" Wu Neng's voice suddenly turned urgent!

Instinctively, Li Si jerked his leg up high!

Yet Zhang Goudan was slow again!

His foot snagged a thin cord stretched nearly flush against the ground!

Hum—!

A faint mechanical click echoed through the air!

Wu Neng's expression changed instantly!

"Get down!"

He roared the command with every ounce of his strength!

But it was too late.

A trigger mechanism hidden within a side wooden stake had been set off!

Bang!

A massive leather ball, brimming with viscous green paint, slammed violently into the bodies of all three men!

Green, foul-smelling paint coated them from head to toe.

In an instant, the three of them looked like mud figures sculpted from green mire.

Wang Ba's voice arrived right on cue.

"First squad, failure!"

"Prepare to receive punishment."

Xiao Zhan slowly descended from the viewing platform.

He walked up to Wu Neng's squad.

He looked at the three pathetic losers chained together, dripping with green paint from head to execution-like humiliation.

He smiled faintly, saying nothing.

With eyes that seemed capable of piercing straight through the human soul, he cast a meaningful glance at them.

That look seemed to say:

This is the price of distrust.

And it is also your final chance.

Xiao Zhan turned and walked back to the viewing platform.

He did not utter another single word.

Yet that final glance burned like a red-hot steel needle deep into the souls of Wu Neng, Li Si, and Zhang Goudan.

The final chance!

Wang Ba's icy voice rang out once more.

"Second squad, move out!"

"Ah!"

"Damn it! Stop dragging me!"

"Bang! Slap!"

The parade ground instantly devolved into a far more chaotic, despairing hell.

Screams, curses, the clashing of chains, and the bursting of paint bombs triggered by traps rose and fell in waves, weaving together into a frantic symphony of destruction.

A commander, paralyzed by tension, called out the wrong direction.

His two blindfolded teammates stepped into empty air, tumbling together straight down into a waist-deep mud pit!

Mud and yellow paint instantly transformed the three of them into clay statues.

"Geng-sub-seventeen squad! Failure!"