Fierce Flame Rose

  Among the ruins and broken walls, the raging fire devoured everything, and the past prosperity was no longer present under the engulfment of the fire demon. 16kbook updated that the long sword had dulled, the sword had been damaged, and the sense of destruction brought by war rushed onto the canvas. However, in this desolate and miserable scene, a fiery red rose still bloomed defiantly among the rubble.

  Mary couldn't describe the feeling this painting brought to her, she just felt that her life was like this rose wrapped in flames, no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't escape the withered fate.

  In an instant, Mary's miserable childhood floated before her eyes again. Her father lost his job and got addicted to gambling, eventually losing all the family's property and disappearing without a trace. Her mother struggled to raise Mary until she became ill from overwork and was diagnosed with severe kidney failure.

  If you think that's all the misfortune Mary had, then you're wrong. When Mary was 15 years old, she was gang-raped by four drunkards while working part-time at a night market, and afterwards these four drunkards only paid a fine of 200 gold coins.

  The law won't protect Mary, nor will the ugly sex concept of Left Bank Paradise Star protect her. She works hard to support her family and makes money as a wild chicken on the side.

  Life is indeed bitter, no need to ask these poor people. Because all those who put hardship on their lips are a group of healthy people, while those who are truly bitter only have despair.

  The little girl grew up gradually, and the originally elegant her practiced martial arts to protect herself, and finally really practiced out of the door, she actually broke through the threshold of a second-level warrior.

  At this time, there were only two paths in front of her. One was to follow the path, relying on her martial arts skills and familiarity with the underground world, to become a big boss, maybe even a small leader ten years later. However, this path would have to be built on the suffering of countless people.

  Another way is to join the army, use blood and sweat to get through half a year of death's door, as long as you can survive, live through three years of service, when the time comes, mix up an exciting life, it's still not a problem.

  After much consideration, Mary's mother finally decided to let her join the army. The difficult life had not made them yield, and in the hearts of the mother and daughter, they still adhered to that bit of dignity as human beings.

  Today, when Mary saw the rose in the flames, twenty years of miserable life turned into painful wails, and she, curled up on her sickbed, almost cried to death.

  Wu Chang and Mei Lin were stunned, they seemed to have sensed the sadness in Mary's heart, wanting to comfort her but couldn't find the words. For a full 15 minutes, Mary cried for 15 minutes, finally calming down gradually.

  "It's very beautiful, I like it, but such a complex pattern must be expensive, right?"

  "Don't worry about the money, I've said it before that this is a gift from me. As long as you're satisfied, we can go find that tattoo artist called 'Ghost Hand' right away..."

  In the end, Merlin spent a full 12 rainbow coins to get Ghost Hand to come to the sickroom. When Ghost Hand saw that pitifully beautiful painting, his eyes lit up immediately.

  "What a great work! What a wonderful work at first sight! And look, the flame patterns match the scars on her back so perfectly. I'm sure that once this tattoo is done, the girl's scars will become the most beautiful artwork."

  "How much longer?" Wu asked.

  "With my skills, it will take at least 12 hours, and I can finish it by tomorrow morning at the latest."

  "Alright, let's get started and see what your cunning skills are capable of."

  The whole night was sleepless, the double room was filled with tools brought by Gui Shou, and countless liquid silver inks. Wu Chang added 800 gold coins to make Gui Shou agree to use all liquid silver ink for tattoos, especially those mixed with high-grade dyes, which were really expensive.

  The brothers of the third class sat in the corridor outside the ward, all staring blankly. These poor children had never thought that there would be someone in the world who would get a tattoo with as much as 2000 gold coins.

  "Grass, 2,000 gold coins! What a spendthrift! The living expenses of a poor family for ten years, and it's only worth a tattoo? Qian Bo Guang's stinginess is acting up again."

  But what's the use of being heartbroken? What's the use of having such a wasteful class leader? At first, everyone was advising Wu Chang, hoping he wouldn't be so extravagant. In the end, Wu Chang got angry and took off his own shirt, revealing that dragon tattoo.

  "Don't waste your breath, take a look at my tattoo, it's all done with secret silver ink, the effect is much better than ordinary ink"

  The three soldiers hadn't spoken yet, but Ghost Hand was already about to cry on the spot. "Heavens! What kind of style is this? How have I never seen such a technique before? Look at the texture, look at the majestic effect, and the overbearing aura that's hitting me in the face - this is a master, an absolute master..."

  "You tell me, whose handwriting is this? As far as I know, none of the tattoo masters in our Ma Tou Empire can reach such a level..."

  Kisho's question was impossible to answer because Koenma didn't know the origin of the old man Reigen. However, Kisho's last sentence stunned everyone present.

  "This tattoo, just labor costs, at least 100,000 gold coins, this is no longer a tattoo, this is truly art"

  One million gold coins? This number is really too big, it's beyond the imagination of these poor kids. From that moment on, Wu Chang was no longer an ordinary rich man, he was a golden rich man.

  The three class members sat in a row at the door, each with a dull expression and scattered eyes. The nurse kept calling the neurology department to confirm again and again, only to find out that these people were not escaped lunatics.

  Until the sun rose in the east, Kishin finally completed his masterpiece. Perhaps due to severe exhaustion, as soon as he finished the last stroke, Kishin's head tilted and he fell asleep on the floor.

  Wu Chang sat on the hospital bed, looking at the delicate flame rose on Mary's back. When the golden sunlight shone on it, he felt that this woman had truly been reborn.

  The next few days were uneventful, and Constant and Mary were discharged from the hospital. After resting for three days at Black Horse Camp, the moment of battle finally arrived, and the five brave warriors of the Third Battalion were ready.

  The drill ground was a sea of black, all soldiers, each standing in formation like tofu blocks, under the morning sun, two thousand soldiers were silent as cicadas.

  As Wu Chang walked out of the dormitory, a loud and clear voice echoed on the playground "Attention...". Two thousand people simultaneously paid their respects to Wu Chang, and after a few seconds of silence, suddenly burst into thunderous applause.

  "Must win... must win... must win..."

  Soldiers are a wonderful group, even if they're the worst of the worst, like new recruits in a cannon fodder camp, when it comes to corporate honor, they'll all shout out in unison.

  As they walked through the square formation, they heard their comrades' thunderous cheers and were moved to tears. In this moment, all they could do was stand up straight, raise their heads, and give a standard military salute.

  The military department's large-scale land vehicle has been waiting for a long time. After they got on the car, the driver sent by the military department said in a low voice, "You are quite capable of being a black horse, just looking at the scale of your company, you won't go wrong this year either. Sit tight, I'll take you to review the troops..."

  After finishing, the hovercraft slowly started floating at a distance of about 10 meters from the ground and circled around Cao's army formation for three full circles. When the atmosphere on Cao's field reached its peak, the hovercraft suddenly accelerated and rushed northwest.

  The Rocky Mountains are located in the heart of the continent, with a north-south trending mountain range stretching over 3,000 kilometers. The mountain range spans across the Arctic, temperate and tropical zones, offering different landscapes at varying latitudes. Even the Ice Dragon Military Academy is situated at the foot of a branch of the Rocky Mountains in the north.

  This year's selected area is located in the middle of the mountain range, with a terrain dominated by deserts and dry canyons. Even the mountains are fragmented due to millions of years of erosion. Here, survival itself is a major problem, let alone digging for medals.

  The land cruiser slowly descended onto a dry riverbed, and the driver and the officer in charge urged everyone to get off.

  "Alright, here are the coordinates for entering the arena. The terrain map and locations of hidden badges have been sent to your terminals. Now come and collect your supplies..."

  "Five single-shot old-fashioned assault rifles, 50 rounds of exercise electric arc bullets..."

  "There are five water bottles, with 500 milliliters of clear water inside..."

  "Two medicine packs..."

  "Ten sets of individual rations..."

  The supplies for entering the mountain are very simple and cannot support everyone's survival for ten days. It seems that the focus of this assessment is still on wilderness survival.

  "We don't have much supplies, being frugal won't be enough and wasting them won't be enough either. In any case, you'll have to figure something out for the next ten days."

  "During the competition, you can give up at any time, it's okay to give up and it doesn't lose face. After all, you are facing a hundred teams, although in theory each team can get one medal, but reality is still very cruel."

  He said, "If I were you, I'd make a swift breakthrough, dig up a medal and then apply to quit. After all, with the level of your Black Horse Camp, getting one medal is enough to hold a celebration." The soldier smiled at Wu Chang, patted his shoulder and turned to leave.

  After Lu Xingche left the valley, Wu Chang gathered everyone together for a tense discussion.

  "We only have 50 bullets, which is not enough. Instead of everyone carrying a rifle and increasing the load, it's better to choose the best one for Merlin to be a sniper..."

  "Food should not be used unless absolutely necessary, money is the strongest in outdoor survival, so I'll let him and me go hunting. Although this dry land doesn't have much game, there should be many lizards and snakes."

  "Now water is a big problem, although the map marks more than a dozen small oases, but I'm sure that somewhere will become a killing field, and the large academies will definitely set up ambushes there..."

  Wu Chang calmly and quietly analyzed the predicament in front of him, bit by bit, and the more he spoke, the more desperate everyone became. In the end, Lu Li sat down on a rock with a thud.

  "How am I supposed to fight? Not enough weapons, not enough food, and not even enough water. In ten days, I'll be a dried-up corpse."

  Mei Lin looked at the calm Wu Chang and said "Just say it, what are we going to do? I know you must have a way"

  Wú cháng smiled and said "Easy, let's go rob them"