234: Chapter 234: My People Are Not Bad 234: Chapter 234: My People Are Not Bad Watching Ning Jingjing depart, Elder Wei explained to everyone, “This time, the Canglong Small Domain is under the responsibility of the 99th Legion of the Long Night Black Burning Camp, and General Ning is the commander of the 99th Legion.”
“Next, General Ning will take you to meet a deputy commander of the Black Burning Army.
If he takes a liking to you, you will be recruited into the Black Burning Reserve Camp.”
“Your future will naturally be as a member of the Long Night Black Burning Army.”
Upon hearing this, everyone understood that since it was the Long Night Black Burning Army doing the recruiting, it was naturally up to them to make the initial selection.
“Elder Wei, what if the Black Burning Army doesn’t take a fancy to us?” Xia Dalian couldn’t help asking.
Elder Wei explained, “There are still arrangements in place, don’t worry.”
About a quarter of an hour later, Ning Jingjing completed her report and returned.
Just as Elder Wei had mentioned, the selected individuals from the Canglong Domain were taken to one of the castles, while family members were left on the ship for the time being.
Just as everyone was approaching the castle, they saw a large group of people coming from a distance, easily two to three thousand strong.
The leader was a young man, dressed exactly like Ning Jingjing.
The young man, General Lan, also noticed the people from the Canglong Domain and approached, opening the conversation with, “Oh, isn’t this General Ning?
What a coincidence, have you just returned too?”
Ning Jingjing’s face darkened slightly as she responded indifferently, “It turns out to be General Lan, I have just returned as well.”
Hearing this, General Lan glanced behind Ning Jingjing and burst out laughing, “No way, General Ning, I heard you requested a military testing ship to go to the Canglong Small Domain, and you brought back only this few people?”
Upon saying this, his expression turned wildly exaggerated, a look of disbelief on his face.
Ning Jingjing’s face turned extremely sour as, because of the presence of Su Yue Immortal, she believed there were many hidden talents among the civilians in the Canglong Domain, which is why she applied for a military testing ship from the Black Burning Army.
Yet now, she had returned with less than two hundred people, which was indeed embarrassing.
Seeing Ning Jingjing with a grim face, General Lan chuckled, “Take a look at mine.
I took a trip around the Eagle Small Domain and brought back over two thousand people without even using a military testing ship.”
At those words, the more than two thousand people behind him immediately stood taller and puffed out their chests, exuding an air of arrogance.
Having all come from a small domain, they naturally felt a sense of superiority over the few from the Canglong Domain.
Ning Jingjing coldly retorted, “Can the Canglong Small Domain even be compared to the Eagle Small Domain?
One recruits once every two hundred years, the other once every twenty years, General Lan, you’re really flattering yourself too much.”
The reason he could gather so many people had nothing to do with the General’s abilities but rather the differences in the locations they recruited from.
The Eagle Domain was much stronger than the Canglong Domain.
However, General Lan didn’t care and still laughed, “Luck is also part of strength.
It’s your bad luck to have drawn the Canglong Small Domain.
And to think you used a military testing ship for less than two hundred people…
After a few more sarcastic remarks, General Lan turned and entered the castle first, pushing past Ning Jingjing.
His two thousand followers also streamed in majestically, each casting disdainful glances at the people from the Canglong Domain, with one asking, “The Canglong Small Domain, what sort of place is that, must be really lousy.”
“Could it be anything but lousy?
For a small domain to produce so few people, it must be nothing but barren mountains and wild ridges.”
“I’ve actually heard of the Canglong Small Domain; two hundred years ago, a weirdo came out from there who vowed to become the commander of the Long Night Black Burning Army within three years upon his arrival at the camp.
Ended up getting trampled to death during training within three days, haha.”
“I’ve heard about that too, that person was surnamed Xia.”
As the people from the Eagle Small Domain continued their discussion, Xia Dalian’s face gradually turned red; surely, the Xia mentioned was her ancestor.
After leaving the Canglong Domain, those who did not return were essentially dead, and even dynasties like Xia Country couldn’t learn their fates, truly unable to make contact.
Now, everyone faced a similar path upon reaching the Long Night Empire, potentially a path of no return.
At this moment, Elder Wei sighed, “This general is named Lan Zhuanghe, and he is the commander of the 96th Legion of the Long Night Black Burning Army.”
“He entered the Black Burning Army at the same time as General Ning and was always suppressed by General Ning, but he managed to secure the commander position of the 96th Legion through connections, and always takes any chance to undermine General Ning.”
The crowd felt chilled; apparently, not all the small legions of the Black Burning Army were equal, but instead, the lower the number, the more formidable they were.
“Whenever they recruit from the various small domains, it is done through drawing lots, and General Ning drew your Canglong Small Domain.”
“And the people recruited also relate to the future of each small legion.”
“For instance, if you manage to stay in the Black Burning Army, you will only join the 99th Legion, becoming people under General Ning.”
Suddenly, the crowd understood why Lan Zhuanghe was so proud and was able to suppress General Ning.
However, Ning Jingjing’s face was expressionless as she slowly said, “The number of people is not key, but rather whether the recruited are strong enough; just one or two strong recruits can turn the tide.”
As she said this, she glanced inadvertently at Sikong Jing.
Eventually, she said nothing further and gestured for everyone to follow her into the castle.
Soon, they arrived at a martial arts arena inside the castle, where Lan Zhuanghe stood with over two thousand people on one side, while Ning Jingjing and the people from Canglong Small Domain stood on the other.
The difference in numbers was tenfold, making Ning Jingjing’s side seem very lonely and small.
At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed, and a middle-aged man clad in black armor, with a six-loop fire moon engraved on his chest, stepped into the center of the martial arts arena.
He was slightly overweight, but the aura emanating from him was terrifying.
Sikong Jing knew, this was the deputy commander of the Long Night Black Burning Army, as mentioned by Elder Wei.
Ning Jingjing and Lan Zhuanghe both stepped forward to greet him, “Commander Yan.”
The middle-aged man nodded slightly, then scanned the crowd, “Welcome the talented individuals from Eagle Small Domain and Canglong Small Domain, my surname is Yan, given name Shun, and I am the deputy commander of the Long Night Black Burning Army.”
His voice was gentle, appearing not very difficult to get along with.
But in the next instant, Yan Shun’s gaze sharply fell on Ning Jingjing, his expression darkened as he said, “Ning Jingjing, you reported a loss of a military testing ship; explain this to me first.”
Ning Jingjing stepped forward, “Commander Yan, we encountered two bandits from the Xuantian Realm in the Minglong Mountain Range, which destroyed one military testing ship, but we also joined forces to kill them.”
“I will compensate the Black Burning Army with the items we obtained from them after sorting them out.”
At this, a glint of light flashed in Sikong Jing’s eyes.
Ning Jingjing calling Wang Wei and Wang Xiang bandits, as previously mentioned, meant that she intended to conceal the matter of the Wangyou Sect.
This favor, Sikong Jing knew he must remember.
“Hmm, not bad,” Yan Shun withdrew his sharp gaze, but immediately shouted sternly again, “However, Ning Jingjing, you requested a military testing ship and only recruited so few people; don’t you think your judgment was flawed?”
To this, Ning Jingjing could only bow her head and respond deeply, “I believe my judgment was sound; the quality of those I recruited is not poor.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Lan Zhuanghe next door suddenly burst into mocking laughter, “Not poor in quality?
General Ning, could you explain what the deal is with that old fellow in your team?”
Saying this, Lan Zhuanghe stretched out his hand to point at Su Zhenglong.