# 89
**Chapter 89: Hell**
Ding-ding-ding—!!!
A shrill whistle tore through the pitch-black night, shattering the dormitory’s silence.
Lin Qiye jolted awake. Glancing at the Rolex wedged under a table leg, he frowned.
“Three in the morning… brutal.”
He rolled out of bed, threw on his uniform, and slapped a slipper across Baili Pangpang’s sleeping face. The fat boy snorted, licked his lips, and lazily rolled over.
Lin Qiye: …
He couldn’t be bothered. Straightening his collar, he stepped out. Just before the door shut, he murmured:
“I heard Molly likes women.”
!!!
Baili Pangpang shot upright like a nightmare had seized him. Spotting the empty bunk, he finally understood.
“Are they insane? I’ve only slept four hours… Qiye! Brother Qiye!! Wait for me!!”
Still pulling on his pants, he burst outside to find recruits already sprinting toward the training ground. Cursing, he lumbered after them.
Under the night, Lin Qiye moved like a shadow. When he arrived, only three ram-rod straight instructors stood on the field.
Instructor Hong’s eyes lit up with approval at the first arrival.
More recruits trickled in; Hong clicked a stopwatch, waiting.
When the stragglers finally reached him, he swept his gaze over their drowsy faces.
“Today is Day One of your training.
I’ll teach you discipline—what it means to execute an order!
When that whistle blows, whatever you’re doing, you have three minutes to form up here!”
His eyes narrowed.
“Everyone who took longer—step out!”
Only a few did. Whispers rippled.
“Sir, I didn’t check the time—how do I know?” one asked.
Hong glanced at him. “You—ten laps.”
Recruit: ???
“I was just asking—”
“Ten laps! Deaf?”
“…Yes, sir.”
Then a middle-aged recruit with razor-straight posture barked, “Report!”
Hong’s eyes sharpened. “Speak!”
“If we don’t know our time?”
“Guess. Gamble. I’ve got every arrival logged. Bet you were under three minutes—win, nothing happens; lose, double punishment.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You served?”
“Ex-army special ops, Zheng Zhong!”
Lin Qiye studied him, thoughts tangled. Another special-forces transfer into Night Watch… Was Old Zhao’s first day like this?
Hong nodded. “Again—overtime, step out!”
This time more than half shuffled forward, Baili Pangpang among them, guessing he’d blown the limit. Lin Qiye stayed put—he’d beaten two minutes easily.
Hong pointed at several who’d remained. “You, you, you—back row, twenty laps. The rest who confessed—ten. Finish or no breakfast! Under-three-minutes—rest.”
Groans rose as packs were slung onto backs and the field began to echo with trudging footsteps.
Lin Qiye lounged on the sideline, watching.
“Huh? I… I can’t sense my Forbidden Ruins!” a nearby recruit gasped.
“Me neither!”
“Now that you mention it—what’s going on?”
“Must be the artifact Instructor Yuan said could suppress Forbidden Ruins.”
“It’s horrible…”
“…”
Lin Qiye blinked.
What?
You guys can’t feel yours?
I just ran here boosted by [Starry Night Dancer]…
He checked inwardly and frowned. Unlike the others, he still sensed both [Mortal Divine Realm] and [Starry Night Dancer]—only heavily dampened.
Perception radius: 20 m → 2 m. Dynamic vision dulled. The night-boost skill least affected; he barely noticed.
Conclusion: the camp artifact could muffle God’s Ruins but not erase them. [Mortal Divine Realm], reliant on his own mental power, was throttled; [Starry Night Dancer], drawing on darkness itself, barely flickered.
Meaning: Lin Qiye might be the only recruit here who still wielded a Forbidden Ruins.
He knew better than to flaunt it. He’d come to forge himself; cheating with God’s Ruins would defeat the purpose.
Far off, a fat figure waddled at the tail of the column—Baili Pangpang. Ahead of him, Shen Qingzhu ambled as though strolling a garden, yawning.
“You! Sight-seeing? Move!” Hong roared.
Shen Qingzhu jogged two symbolic steps, then resumed his lazy sway.
“Like walking? Fine—ten more laps! Two hours or I’ll keep adding till you collapse!”
Shen Qingzhu spat, finally buckled down, and finished thirty laps in ninety minutes.
Baili Pangpang’s ten laps took the same ninety; Hong, seeing honest effort, let him be.
By the time the fat boy collapsed, dawn was bleaching the sky. Lin Qiye hauled the half-dead lump back to dorm; Baili hit the bunk like melted butter.
“Damn… I just ran every step of my life… lemme sleep…”
The instant the words left his lips, a sharp whistle shrieked again from outside…