BXBX NOVEL Chapter 63: Smelling Danger
Everyone was laughing except Gansus and Ma Xiaoru. Ma Xiaoru wasn’t laughing because what Wang Tong said was actually his ability to foresee danger, which is also his sense of the menace. Most inferior Zergs like Skulk Zergs were not very good at hiding their urge to kill; still, it would take a lot of practices for a person to identify the menace around oneself, especially on the murderous battlefield.
Gansus didn’t laugh as well because he knew only a veteran would say that. Only someone who had numerous near-death experiences would know how to deal with Skulk Zergs. This wasn’t something printed in the textbooks, he had killed tens of them before, and it all came to the “sense of smell” of a soldier!
“Stop laughing! Yer sense of smell is the key to survive on the battlefield. What we’ve learned will only increase yer chances of survival for 30 to 40 percent. It is impossible for a person to stay alive if one couldn’t pick up the scent of danger. Y’all will not find this in yer textbooks, and nobody will teach ya this except through yer own experiences on the battlefield. Look at yourselves, half of ya punks will end up dead if ya still couldn’t get what I’m trying to say!” Gansus' roar silenced the class immediately.
“That’s not fair Mr. Gansus. How could you prove that Wang Tong’s answer is correct? The sense of smell is too abstract to be the truth!” someone refuted. Not everyone was able to accept Gansus' teaching methods. Everyone was being pampered for too long in Ayrlarng.
Yet Gansus kept cool and played the next video clip to back up his speech about the correct way to deal with Skulk Zergs. In the clip, a squadron was about to advance when the squadron captain suddenly stopped his troops and ordered to attack, in the end, they were able to subdue the creatures before they could attack. Skulk Zergs were easy targets when they got busted and unable to hide. No one in the class said another word when they saw the clip.
“See what I meant? That’s how ya get the job done! Only captains and other higher ranked officers in the military would be able to do so.”
“Sir, we are the students of the Command Force, we are trained to pilot Battlecrafts, not hand-to-hand combats!”
“Ya might think you’re safe by being in the Command Force, but look at the statistics of our fleets getting hit; especially Space Battlecrafts, the chance of these planet patrols and eradicating fleets getting hit are up to 40%. This means that there’s a near 50% chance for ya punks to meet and greet these roaches on the ground, and it is all up to y’all to hang around and stay alive amongst these creatures before the rescue team could find you. Do take note that the Confederation is not as efficient as ya think, if yer old man isn’t some big shot or a high-rank officer, then you’re all on yer own.”
The students kept quiet. Even though they couldn’t accept Gansus' teaching methods, but everyone in Ayrlarng was smart enough to understand the big picture.
Gansus was teaching them about the true meaning of survival in the battlefield, and to learn by avoiding a bloody lesson.
“Next will be Kamikaze Zergs. These roaches are what we call the ‘Terrorists of Zergs’, they will get close enough to mankind and self-destruct. In order to deal with them, all ya need to do is chop its head clean off before it ignites, yes that’s the head right there. If ya missed or chopped the wrong part, BOOM...” Gansus made a gesture of explosion with his hands. There was nothing much to say regarding Kamikaze Zergs. Basically, things might go south if you were not strong enough. Fortunately, these creatures would be handled by specific personnel in most squadron missions.
Wang Tong knew how to handle one because Einherjar Wannabe had taught him before. The man was quite knowledgeable when it was about Zergs, yet there were still a lot of new breeds that he hasn’t seen before. Gradually, Wang Tong began to rely more on himself due to a few mishaps, and that was when he developed his survival skill of smelling danger.
Now that he was able to combine the theories with his practical experiences, Wang Tong began to know more about Zergs, and he promised to give them a warmer “greeting” with his fists the next time he saw one. He wondered if the Zergs on Norton missed him.
“Flamethrower Zergs are like the previous Heavy Armed Forces in our military. These roaches can weight up to 5 tons and are capable of spraying hot and corrosive flames that would be able to melt human bodies and body armors. I’m warning y’all, not to approach them from the front even if y’all are protected in METAL suits unless ya wanna get roasted. These roaches are covered in thick and tough exoskeletons, for most of the time, their soft underbellies stick to the ground, and their weaknesses will only be shown when they are going to spray flames,” Gansus said while pointing toward the screen, and followed up by another clip about Flamethrower Zergs’ destructive capabilities.
A group of soldiers that were wearing Grade 1 METAL Suits were torched and melted in a flash by the flames of these creatures. Their GN forces couldn’t stand against the ferocious attacks.
One of the unlucky soldiers in the video got torched on the lower part of his body. The poor guy was half dead as he watched every muscle under his torso turned into ashes.
This was how the battlefield looked like. War heroes were not as glamorous as it sounded like. The success of a hero was built on piles of dead bodies and bloodsheds, that was the undeniable fact about war heroes.
The class was dismissed as the bell rung. The freshmen began to understand the cruelty of a war as they watched Gansus left the classroom with his crippled left foot. Success and fame would be made only if you were able to stay alive.
Students were not sure which type of Zergs got Gansus’ left foot, but they began to respect him. After all, only warriors who survived on the battlefield were qualified to say so.
On the other hand, Wang Tong was happy with his lessons. He learned a lot about the structures of different species of Zergs, and these information would be able to aid him in his future battles.
“Hey Wang Tong, where did you learn all that?” asked Carl, a rebellious hard-headed dude in F-Class, and the person who was refuting Gansus a while ago.
“Haha, I read it from a book some time ago, it must be real if Mr. Gansus said so,” Wang Tong answered.
“Please forgive my rudeness for what happened just now.” Normally people wouldn’t admit their mistakes even if they were found wrong. Yet Carl openly said he was sorry; he was a straightforward person.
“It’s okay, we are classmates after all!”
Wang Tong wasn’t spiteful, he knew Carl said that because he didn’t understand about the sense of smell. Even though Carl was weaker in strength, Wang Tong still categorized him as a unique person in F-Class.
“Yep, I have heard about the theory of smelling danger before, but there isn’t any opportunity for me to put it to the test,” Ma Xiaoru came by right after the two dropped their conversation.
“It is possible to achieve when your Soul Energy reached a certain level. I believe it shouldn’t be a problem to you since you practiced the Tactics of the Enchantress. What Mr. Gansus said was actually addressed to the vast range of normal fighters, because their Soul Energy couldn’t reach that certain level and would be relying more on their instincts to detect the menace instead,” Wang Tong seemed gloomy as he replied. He understood how Gansus must have felt. Gansus was angry because he wouldn’t want to see his students end up dead on the battlefield. He was the kind of person that would proceed with whatever he thought was right, even if others would misunderstand him.
“By the way, do you have any idea what was Mr. Gansus doing before he became a teacher?” Wang Tong asked.
“I have no idea, why don’t you ask my sis during the weekends? I’m sure she knows,” Ma Xiaoru was actually inviting Wang Tong to come over as she answered his question.
Wang Tong only nodded, and Ma Xiaoru was feeling a bit disappointed because she could tell that Wang Tong wasn’t thinking about her at this moment. Sometimes he would be nice and warm to her, yet sometimes he would give her the cold shoulder. Ma Xiaoru was frustrated over Wang Tong’s uncertainty as if he were the one who practiced the Tactics of the Enchantress.