Instructor Hack was still loudly roaring his explanations, but Henry Brooks, who already knew some of it, was completely lost in thought. Truly lost in thought, because in his mind he was soaring high in the sky, overlooking the entire land below.

Chapter Two: Basic Training (Part Two)

“What are you thinking about?” His arm was gently poked, and a low voice quietly sounded in his ear. Immersed in his own illusions, Henry Brooks impatiently shook off the arm and snapped, “Don’t bother me!”

Only after speaking did he realize what a foolish thing he had just done. Looking closely, Instructor Hack’s fiery red eyes were right in front of him, staring intently at his face. For a moment, Henry Brooks didn’t know what to do; the arm he had just flung was awkwardly frozen in midair, his mouth wide open, and with a jolt in his mind, all his illusions instantly vanished. Damn, he had zoned out again.

“Ten laps!” Instructor Hack had lost all interest in further scolding him and coldly ordered, pointing at the outer track of the field.

He didn’t dare slack off—after all, he had spaced out again during Instructor Hack’s lecture. Henry Brooks gave himself two hard knocks on the head and ran toward the edge of the field. The other squads on the field were all watching—how come so soon, someone else was being punished to run laps around the field?

This time, Henry Brooks wasn’t all that afraid of running laps. On the contrary, in his lucid dreams, he had several running techniques that could serve as excellent references, making his run much easier. Now, the things popping up in his mind no longer scared Henry Brooks; on the contrary, he even felt a hint of anticipation.

The running methods were extremely effective, almost requiring no conscious control, as if he was incredibly skilled at them, like he’d been running for several lifetimes. Even while running like mad, he still had the energy to continue recalling the things in his mind.

The best part was, although running was exhausting, no one disturbed him, and Instructor Hack wouldn’t be watching him during his punishment, telling him not to daydream while running. It was the perfect time for thinking.

Now Henry Brooks was somewhat certain that there was definitely something in his mind. As for how these things had entered his brain, Henry Brooks didn’t know. He only knew that now, his mind seemed to suddenly start slowly releasing these memories or scenes that had long been stuffed inside. Could he be developing schizophrenia?

No, absolutely not! If he were transferred from the military recruit training center to a psychiatric center because of this, Henry Brooks would rather die. Although most young people nowadays had received the standard sixteen years of compulsory education and only joined the army at the government’s call because they couldn’t get into higher-level colleges, Henry Brooks was not like that.

Academically, Henry Brooks had always been average, but getting into a mid-tier university would have been easy for him. However, compared to the expensive tuition fees of universities, it wasn’t so easy for Henry Brooks, who came from a relatively poor background. Although his parents were still alive, Henry Brooks no longer wanted to live the parasitic life of being supported by them. Joining the army not only saved a lot on living expenses, but also provided a considerable allowance.

If he performed well and could frequently participate in ground wars, he could get even more subsidies. Although there was hardly any warfare on the home planet Earth and the other three colony planets, the ever-growing population and the increasingly tight gaps in energy and other resources required all of humanity’s scouts in outer space to constantly search for the next habitable planet.

And the occupation of each planet required perfect cooperation between the space forces and the ground landing troops. Of the three known colony planets, Alpha and Gamma had no intelligent life; only a few hundred thousand ground troops were sent to clear out some annoying poisonous creatures and establish a few habitable cities, after which the overcrowded people of Earth were moved there in large numbers via interstellar warships. It was believed that in the near future, as the cities expanded, those places would be developed more and more completely.

On Beta, however, there seemed to be some primitive intelligent creatures, but they hadn’t even completed their evolution and could only use fire—no other tools at all. This was humanity’s first encounter with quasi-intelligent life. In this situation, after a ruling by the United Human Parliament of the two already-colonized planets, large numbers of troops were dispatched to Beta to clear out these quasi-intelligent beings.

Although it seemed a bit cruel, mercy toward these still-uncivilized creatures would be cruelty to all of humanity. The tens of billions of people had already pushed the two planets to their limits. Except for a few animal protection organizations, no one voiced any objections. In fact, the general public at the time was completely unaware.

Of course, these were not issues Henry Brooks needed to worry about. For Henry Brooks, who had grown up steeped in the great honor of expanding territory found in various cultures, discovering another colony planet and personally conquering part of it was his greatest dream.