Hao Ren had returned to the Grey Fox base and his return did not seem to attract much attention. Only a few people he had previously come across nodded back at him as a greeting. The base was still like the day before. Soldiers moved about listlessly, and the place lacked the general disciplined air of a proper military installation.
"Mercenaries are a carefree lot, and you'll never be able to instill the same military discipline in them." Ulyanov pointed towards the wandering soldiers. "Of course, there are companies that operate like a standard military unit, but us Grey Fox don't bother too much about that. We are few in numbers, but each of us are tempered by the fire of combat, and everyone is a skilled killer. The battlefield is the best training ground, and everyone who survives so far are all elites, of course... a bunch of very troublesome elites."
As he said this, Ulyanov turned to face Hao Ren. "You have combat experience with the military, you'll fit right in."
"You're still trying to get me to join?" Hao Ren grinned. "Alright, I'll consider it. If there's no other way to earn a living other than fighting, I will be a mercenary myself."
Hao Ren just said it in jest and Ulyanov cannot tell whether Hao Ren meant it or not. The old mercenary still patted Hao Ren on the shoulder. "I really hope we'll have a chance to fight together someday. You're pretty good, but I'm not sure of your skill with the gun."
Hao Ren smiled before noticing a commotion from the empty field. It seemed like there was quite a crowd there. Hao Ren looked over and saw a group of mercenaries were gathered around. "What's over there?"
"The training grounds... seems like Nolan is beating some sense into the newbies." Ulyanov quipped nonchalantly. "Aren't you interested in Nolan? Lets go have a look."
Hao Ren's interest was piqued and since he had nothing else better to do, he followed Ulyanov to see what was up.
There was a flat ground in the camp that was cordoned off by a wired fence. This was were the mercenaries train for melee combat or other things. While it is by definition a training area, for the listless mercenaries this was the place where they pass their time; either a old timer drilling the greenhorns, or a bunch of drunkards beating each other up. This was the training ground's real purpose. Regardless of what happened, the bored soldiers would converge on the area to join in on the fun; and today's fun was much more interesting: Nolan was beating sense into a few headstrong new meats.
Hao Ren and Ulyanov made their way through the crowd and just as they reached the front a black silhouette flew towards them. The crowd immediately backed away and a bull-like bloke rolled before Hao Ren's leg. He looked to be fine and seemed he was thrown over.
Nolan's crisp voice followed. "You're base is not stable enough. That's you falling over yourself again."
Hao Ren looked up and saw the seventeen year old mercenary captain standing smartly in the middle of the field. Nolan was wearing a dark green military tank top and her grey hair was tied into a single ponytail. Her frame was lithe, but it exudes strength beneath, plus that she was slightly drenched in sweat, she looked even more imposing. Before her lay a few strong-looking men on the ground. They did not seemed have any injuries, but their egos was probably very well bruised.
Nolan was expressionless, and seemed a little bored. "Are you guys done? If you are, then go park your ass back in the brig."
A soldier got up from the ground, and seemed like he was not done. After kicking the air for a bit, he charged towards Nolan again.
The grey haired lass just looked impassionedly at the soldier and only stepped aside at the very last moment before the soldier collided with her. At the same time she jabbed her finger into the joint of the bumbling idiot, her accuracy impeccable. The latter let out a odd yelp before losing his balance and tumbled forward.
The whole process was akin to seeing an adult toying with a child, but the roles were seemingly reversed. The one being toyed was a thirty year old muscleman, and Nolan was a teenage lass.
"A technical type." The MDT had used Hao Ren's eyes to witness the scene as it started mumbling in his head. "Her attack is impeccable, her accuracy and timing was down to the miliseconds. Not sure if it was due to her strengthening. Even that, she would need to be very experienced to pull that off."
Hao Ren raised his eyebrows. "And you're suddenly a combat expert?"
"I have a repository of tomes beyond time, and I'm well versed with everything under the sky, from astrology to geomancy, mere human knowledge is..."
"Speak human language, or I'll hurt you."
"Lily had used me to download some sixty Kungfu movies..."
Hao Ren and the MDT chatted another bloke was floored by Nolan. The soldiers forming the crowd then started jeering. "Know your place! Even ten of you is no match for Big Boss!""Stop making a fool of yourself, even the second generations are no match for her!""There's no one here who had survived Big Boss..."
"She's that good all these while?" Hao Ren turned towards Ulyanov.
"I've never seen anyone defeated her in CQC before. In fact... I've never seen her lost in anything before." Ulyanov shook his head. "Fighting techniques, shooting skills, driving even programming and someother miscelleanous stuff, there was nothing that she don't know. The automated system in this base was first designed by her and the security AI was written by her. She was even the first doctor and machinist. Aside from raw strength, there's no one that could beat her."
Hao Ren frowned. "A main character archetype."
Ulyanov was stunned, and at the very moment, Nolan had also noticed Hao Ren's presence. She motioned for the roughed up soldiers to leave as she walked towards Hao Ren. "You're back? I'd thought you'd be dead somewhere in a hovel."
"Heh, thanks to you, I'm doing rather fine." Hao Ren rolled his eyes. She really did not hold back when she speaks. "Never thought you're that good."
Nolan pursed her lips, as if trying to surpress a smile. "Are you itching for some as well?"
Hao Ren was taken aback and wanted to decline. He knew his body was beyond mortal, and he will not be able to hide it once in contact. But as Nolan spoke, the soldiers started cheering. These group of scoundrels had always been like this, as long there was fun to be had, they did not care who was on the receiving end of their Boss, and there was a new challenger, and more fun to be had. Nolan did not step back when she saw the reaction. Patting H ao Ren on the shoulder. "Alright. Lets roll then. I remember you're rather capable."
Hao Ren was flustered. "Can we not? I'm just here to say hi..."
The crowd cheered even louder, and seems like there was no escape.
At the same time the MDT spoke. "Go a few rounds with her."
"Why?" Hao Ren had no idea what was on the MDT's mind.
"Data collection." The MDT was serious. "I want to calculate how strong can the 'Evolved' in this world be. And see what is different with Nolan. From what others had said, it seems like her abilities are beyond natural. And with her age, it is difficult to belief that this is pure effort. So she is probably hiding some superhuman ability.. or she had been exposed to supernatural powers."
Hao Ren immediately got serious. "You mean to say..."
"Remember Hilton's diary? It mentioned that Nolan is the 'Heart of the Lie'. He probably have discovered something. Perhaps this lass had a brush with the Guardians before, or she is probably a ' Prophet'." The MDT theorised calmly. "Regardless, aren't you interested in her?"
"What's wrong?" Nolan noticed that Hao Ren was spacing out and asked out of curiosity.
Hao Ren immediately recovered and from Nolan's clear, distant eyes, he could not find anything that indicates she was touched by the madness of the First Born. Any mortal that had a brush with the First Born or the brain monsters would not be able to stay sane. And from this he doubted that Nolan was a fanatical follower of a Guardian. But her distant eyes was not something a teenage girl should have. The MDT was right. She was a person of interest."
"Nothing... So lets get this on." Hao Ren smiled as he headed into the ring.