The First Order

Completing a day of menial work tended to be the limit for an adult. It wasn’t like Ren Xiaosu was trying to squeeze the most work out of them, so he didn’t intend on tiring them out completely. He only wanted to make them tired enough so they would not have any energy to think about their own self-interest and start accepting a new realm of thoughts.

Some of the bandits would definitely adjust to this new mindset slowly, but there would also be some who were more stubborn and remain skeptical of all that was happening. But because of their fascination with getting into Stronghold 178, they decided to keep an eye on things for now.

Ren Xiaosu did not think he could control everyone else’s behavior since he was not a god. But he was not in a hurry to convince them because he still had time.

In the evening, Yang Xiaojin did not give them any firearms lessons. Jin Lan and the other bandits who were amateurs at shooting were looking forward to the firearms lessons most of all. When Yang Xiaojin fought them, she displayed her superior shooting. So everyone got very excited when Yang Xiaojin told them that they would be attending her lessons.

However, Yang Xiaojin said to them, “Let me tell you about the five Disciplines of our group. Everyone is to memorize them without leaving out a word.”

Jin Lan started panicking. Why did they have to memorize disciplines? He was most afraid of memorization when he attended the school in town years back. So why did he still have to memorize now that he had become a bandit?

Jin Lan asked, “Um… Boss Lady!”

Yang Xiaojin raised her eyebrows when she heard him address her that way, but she did not say anything about it in the end. “What’s the matter?”

“Didn’t Boss say that he wanted us to learn about firearms?” Jin Lan said anxiously, “So why do we still have to memorize all these fucking disciplines?”

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Yang Xiaojin sneered, “Do you have guns right now? How are you supposed to attend a firearms lesson without guns?”

The bandits were stunned. So they had to earn enough bullets and retrieve their weapons before they were qualified to attend the firearms lessons. Jin Lan touched the three bullets in his pocket bitterly and thought how it would take him another 20 days or so before he could start learning more about firearms.

Then Yang Xiaojin said, “Those of you who manage to trade for a gun will be able to attend the lessons. I wonder if any of you are suitable to be snipers.”

Jin Lan’s eyes lit up at the words. “You can teach us how to use a sniper rifle too?”

Yang Xiaojin said calmly, “Don’t be so happy yet. Since sniping depends on your natural attributes, out of the two hundred of you, only two or three will get selected for sniper training. So you all better not have high hopes.”

Yang Xiaojin deliberately gave them something to look forward to before personally extinguishing their hopes.

But how could that thought be stifled? When Jin Lan heard that two or three of them could become snipers, he immediately thought he might be one of the chosen ones.

Before hitting the brick wall of reality, everyone would hope they could be the lucky ones!

They were talking about getting a role as a sniper after all. It felt really exciting just to think about. All the rough and tumble men loved guns since they represented a form of power, security, and authority. And the sniper rifle represented the pinnacle of firearms.

Yang Xiaojin glanced at them. “It’s still too early to be happy now, so you’d better memorize the disciplines first. Otherwise, don’t even think about touching the guns.”

Jin Lan whispered, “Boss Lady, can I have a look at your sniper rifle? I haven’t had the chance to get a close look at it.”

Yang Xiaojin gave him a look and then pulled her sniper rifle out of thin air. Jin Lan and the others gasped at the sight. So it fucking turned out that these two were supernatural beings!

At first, they thought Yang Xiaojin was just a sniper and did not expect that she could actually pull a sniper rifle out of thin air. It was no wonder they did not see where she had hidden her gun.

Yang Xiaojin put the sniper rifle away and said, “Now, I’ll explain to you what the disciplines are. First, obey the order and execute it without fail…”

After reciting them several times, the dumb bandits still couldn’t memorize the disciplines. Yang Xiaojin had Jin Lan write the Five Disciplines on the ground with a tree branch. They did not have to understand them and only needed to memorize them.

When these people started trying to memorize the disciplines, Yang Xiaojin went over to Ren Xiaosu, who was not too far away. “We’re really making things difficult for them.”

Ren Xiaosu chuckled. “Without discipline, no army can exist. This is something that they need to go through. There’s no other way.”

Yang Xiaojin said calmly, “You’re really not afraid they’ll just fall out with each other?”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “Since ancient times, strict teachers have produced outstanding students, strict parents have raised filial children, and strict discipline has made strong armies. You might think that making them go through this suffering will tear them apart, but I think that these hardships will make them band together even more tightly.”

What was discipline to an army? Discipline was the code of conduct, the external manifestation of combat power, the morale of the soldiers, and the image and honor of a unit.

It was not useless. On the contrary, Ren Xiaosu thought no army could exist without discipline. He could not forget how the private troops were so messy in behavior and appearance when he first saw them, nor could he forget how Qing Zhen’s troops awed him when he witnessed how disciplined they moved.

Discipline was the first step of their ideology. Only after they achieved that could they start talking about things like a sense of belonging or honor.

Unfortunately, some of these bandits were illiterate. Even though the disciplines were written clearly on the ground, it was illegible to them.

Jin Lan was exasperated by this. “I’m telling you, Yan Laoliu. You have to fucking memorize it even if you can’t. Don’t disgrace our 1st Squad. I’m still waiting to go through the sniper training.”

Yang Xiaojin had told them that no one could start learning about guns if any of them could not fully memorize the disciplines.

Ren Xiaosu specifically ordered this. He was hoping they could all learn to be a little more united through helping each other.

This was also the first time he played the role of instructor. He was feeling his way forward, but it would be good enough if these bandits could pick up a little of what he was trying to teach them.

Ren Xiaosu turned to Yang Xiaojin and said with a smile, “What do you think of my methods?”

Yang Xiaojin smirked. “Not bad, I guess.”

She thought this was really getting more and more interesting. There was even a moment when she suddenly started looking forward to the day when there would be plenty of brick houses and farmland here, with groups of children playing and lots of laughter in the

air.

But could there be such a possibility in this chaotic world?

Yang Xiaojin suddenly asked, “I can work out something with the Yang Consortium and let this settlement remain. But what if the Qing Consortium is really trying to consolidate the forces in the valley? What do we do after they find us here?”

How could bandits possibly stand up to the capabilities of an organization. The reason the bandits could survive in the valley was because they were flexible. To put it bluntly, they were good at running away. But once they built a fixed settlement, they couldn’t run away anymore. If they ended up running away, all of their previous efforts would have come to nothing.

Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “That’s fine. Both Qing Zhen and Luo Lan still owe me big favors.”

Whether it was saving Luo Lan or helping the Qing Consortium attack the Li Consortium’s defensive line, these were both favors he had done for them.

So when Ren Xiaosu guessed several days ago that it was the Qing Consortium behind the chaos in the valley, he no longer panicked. After all, he had worked with them on many occasions…

“Alright.” Yang Xiaojin nodded. She did not object to Ren Xiaosu being friends with Qing Zhen and Luo Lan, nor would she request Ren Xiaosu to help her locate the Qing Consortium’s nuclear test site. That was the Saboteurs and her own business. It had nothing to do with Ren Xiaosu, so there was no need to impose such a responsibility onto Ren Xiaosu.