Chapter 1127: Chapter 617, The Skills of the New World Torch
Wang Mengsong observed the battlefield with cold detachment.
What could he possibly say? He was merely an ordinary warrior in the battle groupâs Redemption Camp, the one who led the group to commit its grave crimes. What right did he have to speak?
No one would listen.
And Wang Mengsong himself was caught in a rather awkward state of mind.
The Alliance was surrendering, and he had surrendered as well. He had even participated in a decisive betrayal against the Fury Flame Battle Group on Phantom Moon.
The Alliance sentenced the entire battle group to a Redemption Expedition, and he accepted itâafter all, crimes had been committed. Besides, this supposedly punitive expedition under the Allianceâs protection was not much different from their usual missions; it wasnât especially grueling.
The Alliance stripped him of his Battle Group Leader position, forbidding him from continuing to command and lead the group, and instead relegated him to the Redemption Camp. He accepted that too. Gu Hang wouldnât trust him; it was entirely understandable. Moreover, he had assured himself that everything he did was selfless and solely for the survival and development of the group. Not being the Battle Group Leader was fine; being a regular warrior in the Redemption Camp didnât matter. For the group, he would do anything.
But then, things started happening that made him feel uneasy.
The battle group was replenished with personnel at an astonishing speed.
The speed was so incredible that it left him baffled!
As someone who had once held command over the entire battle group, he knew better than anyone how troublesome and drawn-out the process of replenishing the group truly was.
And yet, the Alliance had somehow effortlessly found eight hundred young individuals who were perfectly suited for the Genetic Seeds surgery?
And in a mere six months or so, all of them had successfully undergone Genetic Seeds implantation and developed superhuman organs?
The Alliance must be hiding somethingâa huge secret!
And now, they werenât even bothering to conceal it, putting it right out in the open!
Were these really offspring of our New Torch?
He was absolutely unconvinced.
There couldnât possibly be that many Genetic Seeds!
He even secretly contacted the battle groupâs Pharmacistâwho had also been relegated to the Redemption Camp with himâand managed to acquire some biological samples from these "New Torch" recruits for testing.
They really were seeds from their battle group, with no trace of doubts in terms of bloodline.
Moreover, these "new recruits" were demonstrating remarkably high levels of competency. Despite having only recently become Interstellar Warriors, they were as skilled asâif not more skilled thanâthe groupâs senior warriors of the past.
The new Battle Group Leader, a man named Moretti, was particularly extraordinary. If someone like him had emerged within the group before, Wang Mengsong would have been ecstatic. His greatest concern had always been the lack of successors in the group. He himself had barely managed to grow into his role, but even then, he could hold his own against the champions of other groups. Yet the absence of new talent within their own group had weighed heavily on him.
Now, with a capable new Battle Group Leader in place, Wang Mengsong felt more at ease, but deep down, there was no denying an underlying bitterness.
Although he didnât want to admit it, during the lonely hours of the night, he had indeed imagined one scenario: the group being composed entirely of inexperienced recruits, suffering setback after setback in their missions. And he, as the former Battle Group Leader, would receive at least a shred of respect and be asked for his input...
However, that situation never came to pass.
The Redemption Campâtrue to its nameâwas a place for sinners.
The fresh blood of the group despised them.
They hated Wang Mengsong in particular.
These new recruits fully embraced their identity as "New Torch," exuding a strong sense of honor and dedicating themselves to restoring the groupâs glory. But for this very reason, the traitorous acts the group had been condemned forâparticularly the two incidents of treacherous backstabbing against friendly forcesâhad left their reputation in ruins, and the instigators of those acts were naturally loathed.
The harsh treatment and ostracism made Wang Mengsong and the others feel terrible.
Even if, according to the usual practice of Redemption Camps, they were assigned to the most brutal battles as expendable forces for punishment, they might have been able to endure it to some extent.
But that didnât happen either.
The new warriors saw every battle as an opportunity to redeem their sins and achieve honor, striving to execute each mission flawlessly, regardless of the cost. Under these circumstances, how could they possibly allow the Redemption Camp to participate? That would only tarnish their achievements!
The feeling of being ignored and marginalized was even more excruciating.
Furthermore, the internal culture that had developed among these new recruits was... unusual.
In terms of tactical style, they had never accepted guidance from the Old Torch veterans, yet they naturally adopted a fighting style that resembled the old groupâs. This was logicalâsame bloodline, same seeds, so their strengths and weaknesses were bound to align, resulting in similar tactical tendencies.
However, aside from tactical style, the rest of the battle groupâs culture had diverged drastically.
The Old New Torch hadnât paid much attention to such matters; their relationship with ordinary humans was neutral, neither hostile nor particularly friendly, and the internal atmosphere of the group was relatively amicable and respectful.
But the new groupâs internal atmosphere was rigidly hierarchical, with an air of solemn bitterness among its members.
Whatâs more, they had deeply integrated the Allianceâs ethos into their structure. The groupâs Priest functioned in a role similar to that of political commissars within the Alliance Army. The entire battle group displayed fervent loyalty to the Alliance, believing that they were born tainted by original sin and that all sacrifices were merely their due.