Volume One, Chapter 13: Something's Off—Isn't This Dragon Just a Reckless Brute???

Just hours after Han Cheng was promoted to captain of Squad C and attained the rank of sergeant first class, he finally welcomed his first personnel expansion!

The eleven members of the Leopard Company’s Fourth Special Operations Platoon, B Squad, who had just been rescued from Raider Mountain, were all assigned to his team!

With this addition, Han Cheng’s squad grew from the original four members to fifteen, forming a combat unit of a respectable size.

“Captain, from now on, we are part of Squad C. We look forward to working under your command!” Joey, former leader of the Leopard Company’s Fourth Special Operations Platoon, B Squad, personally led his men in saluting Han Cheng.

Had it not been for Han Cheng’s earlier rescue and the awe-inspiring prowess he displayed in battle, the members of B Squad would have surely resented this personnel reshuffle. After all, their new squad captain appeared far too inexperienced—his youthful face and clear, naive eyes did little to inspire confidence.

Many of them were old enough to be Han Cheng’s father or uncle. Accepting leadership from such an unseasoned young man seemed absurd.

Yet, witnessing Han Cheng’s capability firsthand and realizing the vast gap between their own abilities and his, they ultimately bowed to his strength.

In this moment, their hearts held nothing but respect for Han Cheng.

They believed that under the command of such a valiant and battle-hardened mercenary captain, they would achieve remarkable results.

Faced with the willing allegiance of the Leopard Company’s Fourth Special Operations Platoon, B Squad, Han Cheng responded with a completely unrelated question: “So, we NPCs mainly handle the campaign storyline mode, right? I’m curious—when players enter the real-life battle royale, in what form and identity will they participate?”

It had been nearly six hours since Han Cheng arrived at the “real-life battle royale” arena. Through these hours of full engagement, he roughly grasped the nature of his role as an NPC in this live-action battle royale.

This round did not resemble the traditional four-player team parachuting gameplay. Instead, it seemed more like a campaign mode?

Han Cheng’s question drew puzzled frowns from the members of B Squad.

What was this captain talking about? NPCs, campaign storyline mode, real-life battle royale, players…

Each word made sense individually, but strung together, it was incomprehensible.

At that moment, Sanker, platoon leader of the Third Armored Platoon of the Firestorm Company, approached. “Captain, the battlefield has been mostly cleared. It’s time to move out and support other units.”

Knowing Han Cheng’s limited English, Sanker deliberately slowed his speech to ensure each word was understood.

Han Cheng simply waved his hand—not to refuse, but to continue rambling incoherently.

“Well, there’s something I want to clarify. So, for the next seven days, are we going to keep doing this kind of rehearsal drill?”

“I feel the intensity is too high. It’s nonstop fighting—will there be any breaks?”

“Could it be that after seven days of rehearsal, once the players arrive, the game starts immediately? That would be exhausting!”

Sanker pounded his head in frustration.

This captain was an excellent fighter but a nightmare linguistically. Speak fast, and he couldn’t follow; introduce difficult vocabulary, and he was lost.

When Han Cheng spoke, his grammar was chaotic, often mixed with Chinese phrases, making it impossible to understand the meaning despite catching some words.

“Damn it, why isn’t there anyone in this unit who speaks Chinese? What the hell is this captain trying to say?”

Han Cheng and Sanker’s exchanges were disjointed, each speaking a different language, until a command from higher-ups interrupted.

After selecting nine of the eleven newly joined mercenaries based on system-provided profiles to join his squad, Han Cheng led Squad C to continue supporting the Firestorm Company’s Third Armored Platoon.

It was this subsequent support that made Sanker, who had no objections to Han Cheng’s actions after explanations from the Seventh Mercenary Corps commander Rodson, begin to sense something was off.

The first anomaly occurred during tactical discussions near the battlefield.

Every time he heard the word “GO,” Han Cheng would recklessly charge forward with his men, ignoring all caution.

At first, Sanker thought Han Cheng simply felt the timing was right to attack, but after the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth times—especially when even a three-year-old would know not to engage—Han Cheng still charged headlong.

Sanker grew suspicious and, after a series of tests, realized Han Cheng was misunderstanding “GO” as a direct command.

Everyone else was advising against attacking, cautioning on how to proceed, but Han Cheng understood only the word “GO” and assumed it meant to attack immediately.

Upon discovering the misunderstanding, Sanker quickly devised a solution, combining gestures and speech to finally get Han Cheng to hold position when hearing “GO.”

But then another problem emerged.

Sanker’s frustration with their communication difficulties deepened.

Someone suggested using international tactical hand signals, universally recognized among trained military personnel regardless of nationality.

However, when Sanker earnestly tried to communicate with Han Cheng using these signals, he was dumbfounded.

Han Cheng not only failed to understand but wildly gestured nonsensically—apparently even cursing him in Chinese!

Through further observation and mounting inconsistencies, Sanker came to a startling conclusion: Han Cheng was a reckless fighter!

Apart from his formidable solo combat skills, he seemed utterly ignorant of tactics or strategy—charging headlong into battle without any plan.

Yet, despite this lack of tactical acumen, Han Cheng led Squad C to repeated victories in subsequent support operations.

He issued no commands, devised no strategies, barely spoke at all.

He simply charged ahead, and the squad, compelled by his lead, followed suit.

Meanwhile, the Firestorm Company’s Third Armored Platoon provided backup under duress.

This crude, straightforward approach surprisingly won battle after battle, rescuing numerous Nightwolf mercenary units.

It was all so brutally simple.

“Impressive. In just a few hours, you’ve helped several units—over a hundred mercenaries—escape danger.”

“Damn it, this captain really opened my eyes. He’s a rare talent!”

When Seventh Mercenary Corps commander Rodson learned of the achievements of the Firestorm Company’s Third Armored Platoon and Squad C of the First Special Operations Platoon, his astonishment was nearly profane.

“I must reward him properly!”

Hearing this, Sanker hurriedly exclaimed, “Wait, sir! Please hold on!”

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