Chapter 178. What Is Wrong with Slacking Off? The Great Scholars Will Defend Me
【Choice One: Faced with the military district commander’s request for a speech, you decide to prepare your speech carefully and do your best on stage, winning the commander’s approval. Reward: the title ‘Mr. Performer.’
Choice Two: Speeches are the most troublesome thing of all, and you are not even good at them. You might as well slack off and not go at all. Reward: ‘Low-level Slacker Gift Pack.’
Choice Three: With so little time before the speech, what is there to prepare? You might as well go on stage and improvise, treating it as a new experience. Whether others approve of you or not has nothing to do with you. Reward: ‘High-level Slacker Gift Pack.’】
Jiang Yichen looked at the three choices before him and gave them some thought.
Not going at all would certainly be the most comfortable option, but that was the choice of an escapist.
Even slacking off should be done with a positive attitude toward life.
He had never experienced the feeling of being applauded on stage in his previous life. Now that he had the chance, he might as well go and try it. Whether it turned out well or badly would not really affect him anyway.
He would simply treat it as another way of experiencing life.
A smile rested on Jiang Yichen’s lips as he looked at the military district commander, whose eyes were crinkled with laughter. “Commander, do not worry. A little speech is not enough to stump me.”
As for whether it would be good or bad, that was not for him to decide.
Hearing this, Xu Lin smiled. “Good. Young people ought to have spirit. It is already noon, and the cafeteria has prepared food for you.”
The five of them exchanged glances, then followed Xu Lin into the cafeteria.
The meal was indeed quite lavish, but sitting at the same table as the military district commander put Su Linyu and the others under tremendous pressure.
It was understandable. They were still trainee recruits, yet they were being watched by a group of veteran officers ranging from majors to colonels. The psychological pressure was enormous.
Jiang Yichen found it a little unbearable himself. After only a few bites, he used the excuse of going back to write his speech and returned to the dormitory.
As for dinner-table etiquette and the culture of ritual toasting, he wanted no part of it.
Jiang Yichen’s departure plunged the table into a brief silence.
Xu Lin’s expression turned slightly awkward, and he quickly smoothed things over. “Young people are supposed to have personality. When you lead troops in the future, pay special attention to soldiers with this kind of individuality. One of them might become the next recipient of a Special Class Merit.”
The faces of his subordinates around the round table twitched, but they could only nod along in agreement.
After all, they could not match Jiang Yichen’s achievement even in a lifetime.
Who could stop an SS-Rank Beast Tide by sheer force alone?
When the Beast Tide had erupted, they had already mentally prepared themselves for the fall of East China’s border.
“The commander is absolutely right. A little individuality is a good thing in young people.”
“By the way, Xiao Zhou, Jiang Yichen is one of your recruits. He must perform exceptionally well in daily training, must he not?”
“Of course. I heard that during this year’s Recruit Challenge, he broke the historical record and even defeated the veteran soldiers Zhou Yu invited. That was major news.”
“...”
As they continued talking, the discussion eventually landed on Zhou Yu, who immediately gave a slight shudder.
Meanwhile, Su Linyu and the other three could only stare at them helplessly. There was no room for them to join the conversation.
Xu Lin set down his chopsticks. “Xiao Zhou, tell us. How has Jiang Yichen performed at the recruit training camp?”
His performance?
The corner of Zhou Yu’s mouth twitched. What performance was there to talk about? Jiang Yichen had been slacking off for the entire month of training.
Even after becoming the group leader, he had continued slacking off while letting his teammates work hard.
How was he supposed to evaluate that?
Zhou Yu looked rather awkward. Faced with the curious gazes of his superiors, he knew that if he told them Jiang Yichen had been slacking off for an entire month, it would probably damage his own image in their eyes.
Jiang Yichen had just won a ‘Special Class Merit’ for the East China Military District. Trying to disparage him now would be wholly inappropriate.
He cleared his throat and said with a beaming smile, “Naturally, he has been exceptionally outstanding. He took first place in every training exercise and competition.”
“As for daily training, there is even less need to mention it. He was always the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night. He worked so hard that even we instructors felt sorry for him.”
“And during this group wilderness mission, his squad was the only one among this year’s recruits to complete it with a perfect score. Jiang Yichen was their leader. He was so outstanding that even I, the Chief Instructor, feel inferior to him.”
By the time he finished this polished stream of praise, Xu Lin and the others had not yet reacted, but Su Linyu and the other three were already dumbfounded.
This was what it meant to lie with a straight face?
The entire recruit training camp knew that the greatest slacker in the whole camp was Jiang Yichen. Was it really appropriate to praise him like this?
Su Linyu covered her mouth, secretly delighted. Wow! Brother Yichen could slack off and still make other people praise him. That was a kind of strength in itself.
Tang Long stared at Zhou Yu for quite a while.
What was this? Had Brother Yichen bribed him?
Or was it really true that once someone had a Special Class Merit, the great scholars would naturally rise to defend him?
Seeing Zhou Yu take brazen fabrication to such a level, Tang Long could not help raising a thumb at the table, inwardly exclaiming in admiration.
Remarkable!
Chu Xingchen and Jiang Feng both clicked their tongues.
After hearing Zhou Yu’s evaluation, Xu Lin and the other superiors nodded in satisfaction, as though Jiang Yichen ought to have been exactly that kind of person.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Jiang Yichen had already stretched himself out on a soft bed. Just as he was about to rest and relax, the system’s voice rang out.
【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for making a Slacking Choice. Reward: ‘High-level Slacker Gift Pack.’ Would you like to open it?】
Jiang Yichen became interested at once. “Open it!”
【Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: First-Mover Divine Contract, Golden Words Trial Voucher.】
Hm?
Jiang Yichen frowned slightly, his gaze settling on the ‘First-Mover Divine Contract.’ The name sounded rather mysterious.
Filled with curiosity, he opened the description.
【First-Mover Divine Contract: Can be used within Divine Ruins. It allows you to seize the initiative, causing the god within the ruins to sign a contract with you and making you a Divine Contract Holder! (Note: Consumable)】
Jiang Yichen’s eyes lit up slightly. Something that could help a person become a Divine Contract Holder was rather interesting.
The members of the Divine Battle Division were all Divine Contract Holders. The main difference was that they possessed the Power of Laws.
If he entered Divine Ruins himself and used it, would he gain another Law?
After thinking about it, Jiang Yichen could not help curling his lips upward.
But very quickly, he realized that something was off. Since it was a contract, then the god must certainly want something in return.
He simply did not know what exactly the gods were after...
A moment later, Jiang Yichen summoned Medusa, with whom he had signed a master-servant contract.
A small snake, shining all over with white light, floated in the air. After a flash of pink divine radiance, Medusa appeared before him, dressed in a red gown, her figure full and voluptuous.
She dropped to one knee and lowered her head to him. “Master.”
Jiang Yichen nodded slightly and asked, “After signing a contract with a god, what does that god require humans to do?”
Medusa slowly raised her head and answered respectfully, “The prerequisite for the contract is entering that god’s ruins. At that time, the god will grant the contractor the Power of Laws and assign them the task of reviving that god. This task differs from one god to another.”
“At present, the one I know of is a contractor of Hypnos, the sleep god of ancient Greek mythology. He must kill five hundred people in dreams before he can complete Hypnos’s resurrection ritual.”
Killing in dreams. Was that not Sleep God?
Jiang Yichen understood now. Contracting with a god came at a price. One also had to work for the god.
That would not do. Sacrificing his freedom for a single Law was not worth it.
He would keep it for someone else to use.
Jiang Yichen sent Medusa back into the Spatial Bag. Having a god around really did make it much easier to obtain information about gods.
He then looked at the other reward.
【Golden Words Trial Voucher: Every sentence spoken by the Host will be regarded by others as a priceless maxim. (Trial duration: 3 minutes)】
?
Jiang Yichen narrowed his eyes slightly. System, you truly do understand him.
Knowing that he had a speech in the afternoon, it had given him this so he would not have to worry about it.
It really was refusing to let him put in any effort at all.