All the faces in Tang Wulin’s group of seven cracked into a smile. With a car coming over to pick them up, they were on the right track. It seemed like their assumption that there was certainly someone from Shrek Academy within the Northsea Army Corps base was proving accurate. Moreover, Shrek Academy had played a major role on the Continent, so its inner court students were highly sought after regardless of where they went.
It did not take long before another military vehicle drove over. There were no patrolling soldiers in the car this time. Tang Wulin’s group of seven boarded the car, while the patrol car from earlier followed behind and headed toward the Northsea Army Corps base.
“Adapt yourselves to the situation as it comes. Our main goal is to stick around long enough to get a chance to contact some seniors with authority in the Army Corps. We don’t need to ‘borrow’ anymore if we can manage the task in a peaceful manner,” Tang Wulin said softly.
Ye Xinglan nodded in agreement. “We mustn’t be separated, no matter what. It won’t be an issue if we can stay together.”
“Hmm.” Tang Wulin nodded.
The Northsea Army Corps base was truly enormous. Its extensive scale could be seen from the outside, but one could only experience how massive this place was upon entering.
The car drove them for a total of almost twenty minutes before stopping. It pulled up in front of an inconspicuous but gigantic building.
As they arrived, a single soldier standing at the door made a gesture inviting them inside.
Tang Wulin and his companions maintained their battle formation as they walked into the building.
He could not help frowning slightly as soon as he walked through the door, as the place that looked a little like a warehouse was filled with all sorts of metallic equipment which they had difficulty recognizing.
A military officer with a second lieutenant rank walked over to them. “All of you are from Shrek Academy? Do you have any proof of identification with you?”
Tang Wulin hastily retrieved the badges he had made and passed them to the officer.
The officer took a glance but did not examine them very much before he passed the badges back. “Follow me.” As he spoke, he walked deeper inside.
Tang Wulin and his companions were feeling bolder after their superb trick. Fearlessly, they followed behind in great strides, looking at their surroundings with curious eyes.
The variety of equipment in the warehouse appeared extremely advanced. Soon they could see some gigantic soul cannons. The silver-white cannon barrels were so incomparably large that they could still sense the lethal aura emitted from the cannons, despite there being no infusion of soul energy.
The other military officer was already waiting for them in a more spacious area after they walked for another one hundred meters. The Northsea Army Corps’ uniform was a dark shade of blue. The officer’s tidy military uniform complemented his handsome face with two rings upon the epaulet on his shoulder and a silver star in the middle. Two rings and one star signified that he held the rank of major.
The Major appeared to be over thirty years old with a tall and well-built physique. There was a warm smile on his face.
“The special privileged child of Shrek Academy, welcome to the Northsea Army Corps.”
Tang Wulin’s heart thudded loudly as he took a few steps forward hastily. “Hello, sir. Excuse us for our abrupt appearance. Sorry for giving you so much trouble.”
Tang Wulin told the tale which he had come up with earlier about how they wished to undergo special training with the Northsea Army Corps for a period of time in order to complete the testing mission assigned to them by the academy.
“…After some serious consideration, we felt that we should come over right away in hope that the Northsea Army Corps would take us in.” Tang Wulin had a certain way with his smile. He was quite handsome, so he seemed kind and approachable once he had retracted his Golden Dragon King Bloodline aura.
The major nodded and smiled as well. He said, “I understand. However, Little Brother, I wonder if you’ve thought about one issue here. Seeing that Shrek Academy assigned our Northsea Army Corps as your testing location, what’s the difficult part of the test?”
Tang Wulin was stunned. He had constructed the narrative about this test because he could not reveal the truth before he was assured that the other party would agree to help them.
“What do you mean?” Tang Wulin looked at the major in confusion.
The major continued smiling as he said, “Shrek Academy’s lessons always have a purpose. The truth is, the group of you are not the first batch of students that arrived here. Before you, your academy’s people come over here about once every few years. Only that not many would come knocking on our door directly like you did. Generally, they searched for the opportunity to secretly smuggle themselves across the sea! Some even attempted to infiltrate our aircraft! Most of them tried those methods. On the other hand, this is actually my first time encountering the situation where all of you entered in such a grand manner. I can’t help saying you are all even more courageous and confident than your seniors.”
Tang Wulin did not feel good upon listening to the major’s words. He suddenly discovered that he had made a grave mistake. If they were not the first batch of students heading for military training, then those that came here before them were also seniors from Shrek Academy’s inner court. They were unaware about the history of this military training, but the only thing they could confirm was that at least Elder Cai’s batch had gone through with it. If the goal was the same, how did the seniors reach the island with the Northsea Army Corps guarding the coastal areas? Moreover, the seniors had also taken the Gold Path within the allotted time as well.
Was he walking right into a trap?
Ye Xinglan raised her brows ever so slightly. Tang Wulin spread out his arms subconsciously in order to block his companions.
“Senior officer, what is it that you want from us?” Tang Wulin asked. He understood that acting impulsively would not solve the problem, as this man would not be standing before them speaking so calmly with such confidence and composure without having made adequate preparations, knowing that all seven of them were Soul Kings.
During that split second, Tang Wulin made a lot of judgments in his heart and realized that the only thing the other party was unaware of was their identity as the current generation’s Shrek Seven Monsters. This was also the only secret they could keep now.
The major spoke, “Hmm, this is rather impressive. It’s not easy for people your age to keep calm under pressure. The truth is, I can’t help saying more than I should. Your downfall today can be blamed entirely on your academy. We received notification beforehand that seven Shrek Academy students were heading here and that your purpose was to head to Demon Island. However, I think you’ll find that it’s impossible to cross our line of defense here. We have the responsibility to protect the safety of the Federation’s citizens. We can’t allow anyone to get close to the sea. According to the timeline given by your academy, all of you must arrive on Demon Island in fifteen days after departure. If not, the mission is considered a failure with severe implications. Thus, we will simply imprison all of you in the base for ten days, exceeding your fifteen-day time limit, before we release you.”
Three black lines extended across Tang Wulin’s forehead. The academy was setting them up, wasn’t it? The academy had even notified the Northsea Army Corps about their operation’s timeline. This was simply…
Could they possibly fight the Army Corps on their own?
The major spoke with a smile on his face, “It was genuinely a smart move for all of you to have faced us so calmly. On the other hand, if you were to attack me, it would mean that all of you are launching an attack on the Federation’s military. At that point, it’s in the hands of military protocol even if I were to give the order to kill all of you. However, I’m only going to imprison all of you for a period of time. Alright, if you could all please surrender without resistance now.”
“Surrender without resistance? Humph!” Yue Zhengyu gave a cold snort.
The major spoke, “Do you wish to resist? All of you can try then, hmm? Take a look at your surroundings.”
Tang Wulin did not look, but he could already sense that the metal gun barrels had extended slowly and pointed in their direction from the surroundings of the warehouse. Even though he did not understand the specific function of these gun barrels, he could tell that these were extremely deadly weapons judging from the gun barrels’ length and size.
Tang Wulin spoke, “Don’t move.”
The major spoke with a smile, “Come, put them all in soul-seal handcuffs.”
Soldiers ran out from behind with metallic square boxes, one foot wide and half a foot tall, in each of their hands. They walked in quick strides and arrived before Tang Wulin.
The major spoke, “There’s still time if you wish to resist.”
Tang Wulin sighed before he dejectedly said, “I didn’t expect this at all. The academy is too crafty. Nevertheless, this is a profound lesson for us, so at least the journey hasn’t been in vain. We’ve lost, but we won’t make the same mistake the next time. No one is allowed to resist. Do as they ask. We shall be more intelligent in the future.”
As he was saying that, he raised his hands spontaneously.
A soldier suspended the metal box above Tang Wulin’s hands as it rapidly cracked open and closed downward. Tang Wulin’s wrists were wrapped within the box.
Immediately, Tang Wulin could feel as intense numbness radiated from his wrists causing his whole body to shudder. His soul power was immediately sealed to the point that he could not feel it at all.
In the end, the rest of the group followed Tang Wulin’s instructions, and one by one they were bound with soul-seal handcuffs.