"Next, Carl, Arthur, Sofia, Glew and Harry, come in!"
"It's your turn!" Silas nodded at them, motioning them to enter according to the instructions of the staff.
"Carl! Whatever happens, believe in yourself!" Unexpectedly, just as Carl was about to walk into the room, Silas suddenly reminded him loudly, just like what the dean had done.
Carl looked back at him, rubbing his head in a daze. Both Silas and the dean had especially reminded him that, but he really could not figure out the reason.
The others had already entered, but Carl was still at the door. "What are you doing?! Come in!" The soldiers in the room urged him impatiently.
Carl curled his lips in disdain, but did not protest. All the soldiers here looked fierce, so he could only say in his heart, "A wise man submits to circumstances." Then he went to stand beside Arthur and Sofia.
"Carl, the people's arms in this room are embroidered with a shield pattern. Did you notice that?" Arthur, tilting his head, said in a low voice.
Carl nodded silently. The Empire-shield Army Soldiers they met today were obviously different from those in charge of Rum Town's public security.
They appeared more majestic and mighty. Besides that, Carl noticed a very unacceptable smell from this group of people...
"What the hell is that smell?" Carl frowned, but he could not find any words to describe it.
"Then, upon hearing my order, each of you should put your hands on the instruments in front of you. Without my order, you are not allowed to let go!" A military officer sitting at the side barked out the orders.
The aptitude-testing instruments for War Spirit warriors looked very strange—what was placed in front of Carl and the others was a flat plate with a palm mark.
After its lines were connected, it turned to a transparent ball, seemingly made of crystal. Inside it was an unknown type of mist, which was continually circling and swirling around.
"Start!" Before Carl and the others could take a closer look at the instruments, the officer issued an order.
Carl was the first to respond. As soon as the order was given, he placed his right hand steadily on the machine before him. The others followed suit and put their right hands on the instrument in front of them.
In the brief time of one breath, the instruments in front of everyone had different reactions.
The instruments before Glew and Harry, the two strangers entering with them, were still foggy and did not respond at all.
Sofia, in the middle of them, put her hand on the instrument and the mist in it dispersed gradually. Then a large shield, shining with a golden light, appeared.
Compared with hers, the instruments before Carl and Arthur reacted in an extreme manner. When their right hands were on the flat plates, one gold and one red beam of light lit up the whole room.
All the officers sitting in their seats and the soldiers standing aside, gathered around them in great excitement when they saw the brilliant rays of light.
According to the officer's previous order, Carl and the others did not take their hands off the plate. All of a sudden, the instruments in front of Carl and Arthur changed.
Arthur's golden light slowly dissipated and then a long golden sword was vividly displayed in his instrument. It looked much more dazzling and powerful than Sofia's large golden shield!
After a while, Carl's glaring red light started to shimmer. However, just as it was about to transform into a specific shape like Arthur's golden light, it gradually dimmed!
"How come?!" Carl suddenly panicked. After staying here for some time, he had learned that the result of the War Spirit warriors' aptitude test was linked to the instrument in front of him.
The instruments of people who were disqualified, did not give any reaction at all, for example, Harry's and Glew's. As for those who had been chosen to be warriors, like Arthur and Sofia, their instruments would display some specific patterns.
However, the instrument before Carl had an unusually different reaction. At first, it emitted a dazzling beam of red light and under normal circumstances, it should have transformed into a specific object. But now, it weakened constantly and almost vanished...
At this moment, the military officer standing on the side was also confused. He had been in the army for many years and had supervised the aptitude test more than a dozen times. However, it was his first time to witness such a weird situation!
It seemed as if Carl's instrument wanted to upset him deliberately. Its originally dazzling red light gradually darkened until it was completely extinguished. In the end, his instrument returned to its original misty state...
Carl looked at it and his face turned ashen. In contrast, Arthur's and Sofia's instruments were still shining with a glorious golden light.
Standing aside, Arthur and Sofia looked at Carl in embarrassment. They wanted to say something to comfort him, but Carl's distressed face rendered them speechless.
With a sigh, the officer took a deep look at the pale-faced Carl and the instrument that gave no reaction. Then he pointed at Arthur and Sofia and ordered, "You and this little girl, stay here. Everyone else, get out!"
...
Only then did Carl come to his senses. He looked at his right hand and lifted it up from the flat plate slowly, as if he had lost his soul.
Then he looked back at Arthur and Sofia, who exchanged a knowing look with him. Suddenly, Carl was filled with a great sense of loss.
Since they were little, the three of them had never been separated from each other. From this moment on, did they have to go their separate ways?
The soldiers began to press them to leave. Carl lowered his head helplessly and left with Glew and Harry.
As soon as they walked out of the door, two soldiers immediately came up. They pushed Carl and the two to the side and gave each of them a form to fill in.
"Hurry and sign your names. Report for duty in the northern region of Rum Town tomorrow! Don't waste any more time!" The soldiers next to them continuously urged.
In a flurry, Glew and Harry wrote their names at the bottom of the form. Carl glanced at them and turned to his form.
He grew up in the orphanage and did not receive any formal education. Nevertheless, Silas and the dean had taught them how to read and write.
"Three years of military service."
"Obey the arrangement of the arms of services."
"Restore to the status of a civilian after serving in the army."
"Anyone who disobeys will be hunted down and killed."
Carl read it hastily and could only recognize these contents. He sighed softly. In this case, he had no choice but to sign his name on this form.
When he put down the pen, Carl seemed to have lost all his strength. The soldiers beside him pushed him away and drove him out of the area.The crowd of onlookers would point fingers at those who failed the aptitude test, either sympathetically or sneeringly. But overall, they felt it was a pity.After all, Rum Town was a small town. A few more War Spirit warriors would be of great help to its residents.Those who failed the test sneered scathingly at Carl."Humph, I knew that the guy from the orphanage would not have the aptitude of War Spirit!""Sure thing. That guy always wants to push himself forward and stand out from the others. But now, he still ended up as a common soldier and has to report for duty in the army like us!""But three orphans went in, right? Is he the only one who failed?""Really? I heard that only those who passed the test could stay in that room and those who failed it
Carl watched them from the window for a long time. Finally, the noisy crowd outside began to move into the courtyard. It seemed that they were done congratulating Arthur and Sofia.Looking back at the clock at the head of the bed, Carl said in his heart, "It's time for dinner..."Sure enough, after a while, Vivian knocked on the door and called him, "Brother Carl, the dean asked us to go down for dinner. To celebrate Brother Arthur and Sister Sofia's success today, the chef has made a lot of delicious food for us!"...Carl pulled himself together and opened the door with a smile. Looking at the adorable Vivian, he could not help reaching out to rub her hair and she responded with a lovely smile.They went downstairs, laughing and chasing each other all the way, but Carl suddenly stopped before the dining room.Carl stood outside the lively dining room and felt a sudden inexpressible loneliness. Vivian bou
As soon as Carl got into the back garden, he was immediately shocked at the change in the surroundings and cried out in his heart, "What happened? Is this our back garden?" He looked around, trying to find any familiar landmark."Oh, my god, these people must have too much free time..." Carl could not help exclaiming in astonishment. The previous garbage hill had been turned into neatly organized garbage cubes, which were then stacked into endless orderly garbage walls."No! These people could not have come here merely to help us tidy up the back garden!" Among the walls, Carl recognized some old junk that had been buried at the bottom of the garbage hill.The garbage hill had been scavenged through. No one would do this even if he wanted to sort out the rubbish.Carl continued to explore. Sure enough, some of the rubbish that was familiar to him were placed outside, in orderly rows."What's this?" Carl looked at the i
"This is a War Spirit warrior......" Carl looked at the War Spirit warrior before him with eyes that shone. It was obvious that he did not have any weapons in his hands and waist earlier!But at this moment, with a flash of silver light, two peculiar-shaped pistols appeared in his hands. It was so magical that it was hard for anyone to fathom this exceptional skill, except for the warriors of the War Spirit!At the moment when Carl was still in a daze, the warrior had taken aim at the extraordinary bug with his two guns, as it struggled in the same spot."Silly boy, why haven't you left yet?" When he was about to pull the trigger, the War Spirit warrior suddenly hesitated. Looking back, he found that Carl was still standing in the same place, so he immediately roared.Unexpectedly, when he turned around and wanted to shoot again, there was a sudden clicking sound. With a huge tug, the extraordinary bug managed to pull out its sharp
The War Spirit warrior nodded and then said in a soft voice, "If we follow your plan, it should not be a problem for us to restrict its movements......"Roar!Before they could talk further, the six-legged bug had already rushed up to them again."Let's go!" The warrior asked Carl to climb on his back. He held the weapon tightly in his hands and started to run.As a War Spirit warrior who mainly focused on long-range shooting, his movements were very light and fast.Although his movements slowed down a little due to Carl's weight, he was still able to run quite fast."Boy, when we get to the key spot, let me know immediately!""Sure!" Carl replied loudly. Suddenly, a strong wind blew from behind him. Carl turned his head and saw that the terrifying face of the six-legged bug was looming before him.Without needing Carl to shout out a warning, the War Spirit warrior could smell the
After the warrior ceased his attack, Carl removed his hands from his ears."The more powerful the two guns were, the more violent the noise was...... " Carl glanced at the silver guns in the warrior's hands and murmured in his heart.As if he had noticed Carl's gaze, the warrior grinned. With a flash of silver light, the two guns suddenly disappeared from his hands."Boy, although your unexpected appearance today has caused a minor hitch in my battle...... It did not turn out too badly by the looks of the result."After killing the six-legged bug, the War Spirit warrior felt relaxed and came toward Carl with a smile.He also knew very well that if Carl had not shown up at this garbage station tonight, the outcome of the battle between him and the six-legged bug was hard to tell.Instead of blaming Carl, the War Spirit warrior looked at him, feeling pleased.Carl grinned. After this life-and-de
Carl gradually woke up from his faint. The first thing he saw was a cold iron fence. The surrounding walls were empty and smooth without any holes.He looked up at the ceiling, where a white light was illuminating the whole room.Carl was shocked. What was this place? Before he lost consciousness, he remembered clearly that he was in the garbage station in the trash mountain.When Carl was about to stand up, he heard a few sounds. He turned his head and found that he was kneeling on the ground with both his hands and feet tightly bound by thick iron chains."What's going on?" Feeling strange, Carl finally could not help shouting.Even though Carl had never been here, he could tell by the surroundings and the iron chains on his arms and legs that it was a cell!Carl remembered that before he lost consciousness, he had just fought with a War Spirit warrior and killed a Zerg bug.In this case, no
There was a tattoo of a silver gun on Carl's wrist!"What's going on? I didn't have this before!" Carl's eyes widened in astonishment. He remembered that he had never had such a mark on his wrist since he was a child.What's more, the mark was at the same spot where he felt the searing pain yesterday..."Your excellency, this boy..." One of the soldiers looked at Carl with a shocked expression and suddenly became tongue-tied.The officer nodded, looked at Carl intently and said, "Since he has a mark now, his current problem is not something we can deal with..."After thinking for a while, the officer ordered two soldiers to take Carl out of the cell and left in a hurry.With a confused look on his face, Carl was taken to another small room by the soldiers. Compared with the airless cell just now, this room was much more comfortable.At this time, the first ray of sunlight shone into the room t