If I'd Known, I Would Have Held Back

Groat took a deep breath. Cyan battle armor materialized around him, and a crimson battle axe appeared in his hand.

For a defensive camp positioned toward the rear of the middle defense sector, a Third-rank Boss Grade warrior was considered elite — someone who had forged their own Gene Armament, unlike the ordinary garrison soldiers who carried nothing but standard-issue equipment.

Groat let out a roar. Cyan veining spread across his body as his aura surged. The next instant, he stamped off the ground and charged straight at Lu Yuan.

The crimson battle axe swept down.

Lu Yuan activated his White Jade Spirit Body. Gentle waves of white spirit light flowed through him, and he brought up his Black Steel Force alongside it.

He stamped off the ground in turn and charged to meet the blow.

Axe met greatsword.

**Clang!!**

A ring of force blasted outward in every direction. Groat felt the enormous power slamming back through his axe, and shock flickered through his eyes.

*What in the hell is that kind of strength?!*

*How does a Second-rank beginner Lord Grade have power this terrifying??*

He was forced back step after step, his center left wide open. Lu Yuan surged in, blade flashing — and the flat of the greatsword settled against Groat's throat.

Groat stared at the blade resting against his neck and went rigid.

A beat of silence passed. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, expression rueful.

"I lost."

The entire plaza fell silent.

Every soldier stared with wide eyes, expressions stunned, their gazes fixed on the two figures on the stage as a dead hush fell over the crowd.

Only Maige's group had known Lu Yuan's ranking on the school's Combat Rankings, and with that prior knowledge, they were the only ones who weren't particularly surprised.

Watching the garrison soldiers' dumbfounded expressions, the students from the Talent Camp found their moods lifting despite themselves.

Zhu Zhengyang chuckled.

"Such a fuss over nothing. Junior Brother Lu Yuan ranks twenty-fifth on the Combat Rankings. His cultivation is only Second-rank low-level Lord Grade, but his actual combat power already stands at the level of a peak Second-rank Lord Grade."

"A Third-rank low-level Boss Grade warrior isn't that far ahead of a peak Second-rank Lord Grade in combat power. If anything, all this tells you is that Junior Brother Lu Yuan has grown even stronger."

Maige shook his head in quiet wonder.

Yan Jing watched Lu Yuan, her beautiful eyes bright.

"Junior Brother Lu Yuan really is something. What talent — one trip into the Land of Origin and his combat power has climbed again."

On the stage, the green-haired commander stepped forward. A trace of shock still lingered in his narrowed eyes as he smiled.

"Living up to the name — the little monster who could engrave Lord Grade genes at Second-rank. I did underestimate you a bit."

Lu Yuan smiled. "Commander, have I passed your assessment?"

The commander studied him for a long moment, then gave a slow nod.

"You pass. You may join the Vanguard Scout Unit."

Lu Yuan let out a quiet breath of relief. He'd half-worried the commander might stubbornly refuse to let him anywhere near the Scout Unit.

The commander looked away, sweeping his gaze across the assembled garrison before finally settling on Maige's group. He smiled.

"That concludes today's welcome. Since command has assigned you all to the 257Th Legion, we'll be comrades-in-arms for the foreseeable future. Your squad assignments have already been arranged. Squad leaders, come collect your people."

From the stage, Lu Yuan watched as several uniformed soldiers stepped forward and approached Maige's group, speaking with each student in turn. He could see the expressions shifting — some brightening, others falling. Some were clearly happy with their assignments. Others, not so much.

Meanwhile, Groat came to Lu Yuan's side and clapped him companionably on the arm.

"Proper introductions are in order. I'm Groat, captain of Squad 22, First Regiment of the Vanguard Scout Unit. You're with us now."

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up. "Hello, Captain!"

Groat nodded. "Come on — I'll take you to meet your squadmates."

Lu Yuan followed Groat down from the stage and over toward the left side of the plaza.

Every soldier they passed was watching him. Some even called out with grins.

"Lu Yuan! Feel like joining the garrison instead? We can work something out on benefits!"

Groat glared at the man. "Lao Man, get lost!"

Another soldier chimed in with a laugh. "Nice work, Lu Yuan! Old Groat here got absolutely wrecked."

Groat's mouth twitched, and he let out a stream of muttered curses.

Lu Yuan felt a flicker of awkwardness. *Who would've guessed I was fighting my own captain?*

*If I'd known, I would have held back a little.*

Honestly, he hadn't even used Mechanical Load.

After all, those twenty days in the Land of Origin had been anything but idle.

In one hour, he could absorb the Spirit Power equivalent of six hundred Fourth-rank Spirit Crystals. Pushing his limits in the Gravity Room, he could sustain roughly twelve hours of absorption per Land of Origin day — around seventy-two hundred Fourth-rank Spirit Crystals daily.

Over twenty days, he had absorbed the equivalent of nearly one hundred fifty thousand Fourth-rank Spirit Crystals.

His White Jade Spirit Body's tempering had now reached seventy percent.

Running it at full output boosted his power by several fractions on its own. Without Mechanical Load, his combat power already surpassed what it had been at the time of the Combat Rankings assessment.

So holding back Mechanical Load was already him going easy.

*Not much I can do about it,* he thought, a little helplessly. *I'm just growing too fast.*

Soon, they stopped.

Groat gestured toward four soldiers in uniform and smiled.

"These are your squadmates. Lu Yuan, let me introduce them — Tang Ji, Assassin Type; Yang Qiu, Elemental Type; Ding Wen, long-range Attack Type; Stacie, Healer Type. All four are peak Second-rank Boss Grade. You'll be fighting together from now on."

Tang Ji had an ordinary face and carelessly kept black hair — a bit unkempt, slightly built, around one-seventy centimeters tall. He gave Lu Yuan a mild smile and a nod. "Looking forward to working together."

Lu Yuan smiled back. "Please take care of me, Brother Tang."

Yang Qiu had sandy golden-brown hair, a tall, solidly built frame, and rugged good looks. Without context, Lu Yuan would have guessed he was a Guardian Type or Assault Type warrior.

He flashed Lu Yuan a wide grin. "Lu Yuan, we're brothers now — life and death, the whole deal. How old are you, anyway? What's your deal, putting the captain down that fast?"

Lu Yuan caught a glimpse of Groat's darkening expression and gave an awkward laugh.

"I'm eighteen."

"Hss... Eighteen and already like this. More than half the captain's age. Damn."

Yang Qiu gave him a thumbs up.

Groat's mouth curved into something distinctly unpleasant.

"Yang Qiu. You want to spar?"

Yang Qiu's grin froze instantly. "I'm good, thanks. Captain's still absolutely the strongest!"

Lu Yuan's mouth twitched. Yang Qiu clearly had zero social filter — noticeably more outgoing than Tang Ji.

Ding Wen was tall and lean, with pale golden eyes that were sharp and keen.

He gave Lu Yuan a nod and smiled. "Welcome. Leave the ranged support to me. Just make sure you keep me safe out there, yeah?"

Lu Yuan's mouth twitched again. He hadn't expected someone who looked so composed to fold that quickly.

Then again — long-range Attack Type. He supposed it made sense.

He smiled. "No problem. I'm fairly confident in my defensive capabilities."

Stacie was a young woman with green hair, delicate features, and — immediately noticeable — two small twigs growing from her forehead.

Lu Yuan's gaze lingered on them for a moment. *Probably a sign that her Transcendent Gene hasn't fully integrated yet.* Xue Wang had shown something similar before.

Stacie's smile was warm and gentle. She gave him a nod.

"I'm Stacie. If anyone gets hurt, I'll handle the healing."

Lu Yuan smiled. "Thank you, Sister Stacie."

Her smile deepened a little. "Mm."

While they were getting acquainted, the commander's voice rang out from the stage.

"That's everything for the welcome ceremony. Dismissed. New arrivals, spend some time getting to know your squadmates. Guard Corps uniforms will be delivered to your quarters shortly."

Everyone rose and moved toward the plaza exits.

"Let's head to the barracks first," Groat said. "Then we'll celebrate Lu Yuan's arrival properly."

Yang Qiu grinned. "Captain, that means you're buying!"

Groat rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, fine."

He turned to Lu Yuan.

"Let me walk you through how the Vanguard Scout Unit works. Pay attention."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"The Scout Unit is split into four regiments, each covering one of the four cardinal directions. We're First Regiment — south, directly facing the Endless Mountain Range. If a Beast Tide comes, our sector takes the brunt of it. Standard rotation is four shifts: a squad patrols for one full day, then gets three days for cultivation or visiting the Land of Origin. At any given time, ten squads are on patrol in each of the four sectors simultaneously. Squad 22's last patrol was yesterday — we just got back — so we won't rotate again for three more days. In the meantime, feel free to explore the military district or check out the civilian zone outside. Cultivating or entering the Land of Origin is fine too."

Lu Yuan nodded, then thought for a moment.

"By the way, Captain — I heard the Forbidden Zone has been stirring. How long until the Beast Tide usually breaks after that?"

At the question, the mood shifted. A heaviness settled over every face.

"The Forbidden Zone activity report came in from the front line the day before yesterday. Yesterday on patrol, we were already seeing far more Feral Beasts than usual. Before, this area only had Second-rank beasts around here — now Third-rank ones have started appearing. One of our squadmates was killed by a Third-rank Feral Beast on that same patrol." He paused. "At this rate, it won't be long before the Beast Tide breaks."

As he said it, grief passed through Groat's eyes — and through the eyes of the others.

Lu Yuan felt the weight of it settle in his chest. He'd known the Scout Unit's mortality rate was high. He just hadn't expected to feel it this soon.

He gave a small nod and found nothing to say.

Groat managed a smile. "That's just the Scout Unit for you. Nobody ever knows what kind of Feral Beast they'll run into out there. With talent like yours, Lu Yuan — you really shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous."

Lu Yuan smiled. "Thank you for the concern, Captain. I know."

Groat could see there was no talking him out of it. He shook his head and let it drop.

They continued talking as they walked, and before long arrived at a towering black alloy building, easily over thirty stories high.

They rode the elevator to the twentieth floor and stopped before a door.

Groat produced a black keycard and unlocked it. "Your keycard will come with your uniform — don't worry."

Lu Yuan nodded. "Got it."

Inside was a simply furnished common area, with six room doors lining either side.

"Squads normally run six members," Groat said. "After we lost one of ours yesterday, I figured we'd have an empty bunk for a while. Didn't expect to be back at full strength this fast."

Ding Wen stepped forward. "Mac's room has already been cleared out. It's yours."

Mac had been the Squad 22 member who died the day before.

Lu Yuan followed the others inside to look it over.

The room was small — space for a bed, a desk with a Light-Brain on it, and a compact bathroom off to one side. That was it.

"Laundry's on the balcony," Groat added. "Washing machine out there."

Yang Qiu chimed in with a sly grin. "Just check when Stacie's doing laundry first — or she'll beat you up."

Stacie looked mildly flustered. "Men and women are just different, that's all. Our laundry can't go in together."

Lu Yuan nodded. "Understood."

He and Li Qinghe had navigated the same issue back in the Slum District once. It had left something of an impression.

"No smart bots around here, so it's a bit bare-bones," Groat said with a laugh. "You'll adjust."

Lu Yuan shook his head. "This is already comfortable. My life before was harder."

A flicker of surprise moved through the group.

Yang Qiu threw an arm around Lu Yuan's shoulders.

"Sounds like our new squadmate has some stories to tell. Share them at the celebration tonight — that way, if you ever die in battle, we'll have something proper to carve on your tombstone."

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes, then grinned.

"Brother Yang Qiu, why don't you share yours with me while you're at it? I'd be happy to help with your tombstone too."

Yang Qiu laughed. "Deal — you'll hear every glorious detail tonight!"

In truth, the trump cards Lu Yuan had accumulated in the Aier Mechanical Ruins were more than enough to handle whatever came. Forget Third-rank beasts — even against a Fourth-rank Battle Venerable-tier Feral Beast, he might not be able to win, but getting away was never in question.

Lu Yuan tidied the room, stowed away his toiletries and daily essentials, made the bed — and then they all left.

They made their way to the military district mess hall, where Groat picked up the tab and threw a small celebration for Lu Yuan's arrival.

Over the meal, everyone shared a bit of their past — even the usually taciturn Tang Ji. And as quiet as Tang Ji seemed, it turned out he had the most outrageous history of the lot: the number of past girlfriends he'd tallied could have staffed a reinforced platoon.

Lu Yuan stared. He could barely believe it.

*What has become of this world?*

He was almost tempted to stage an intervention.

Groat, Ding Wen, Yang Qiu, and Stacie had all heard the story before and were long past reacting. They sat there completely unmoved.

After the celebration, they returned to the barracks.

Back in his room, Lu Yuan did what he always did: sent a message to Sister Qinghe, then one to his mentor Si Tingyu, and a few others.

Si Tingyu was at the border line as well — but as a Battle King, she was stationed at the outermost front.

Every reply came back the same way. *Stay safe.*

Later, when night had fully settled, Lu Yuan entered the Land of Origin.

The Beast Tide was looming. He needed to make the most of every moment he had.