Chapter 1069: Chapter 347: New Recruits Enlist_3

What the Military Science can’t afford, they can, and the Commonwealth even plans to follow suit, with live combat broadcasts from Havana, Cuba, setting up a direct clash on the battlefield.

For a moment, the capital markets were in turmoil, and the world, which had been in an economic crisis for decades, showed a slight sign of improvement.

——————

Due to a decent reputation and a moral high ground in this war, Horizon Corporation’s first batch of 800 new recruits quickly filled up.

However, the treatment of Horizon Corporation’s soldiers is quite different from their peers. At first glance, it’s hard to say the salary is high; it’s actually very low.

Or more directly, Horizon Corporation’s soldier contracts explicitly state that there are no salaries or military pay, only various allowances.

Generally, if other companies did this, forget about soldiers, they wouldn’t even find a single dog willing, but Horizon Corporation has such a good reputation in Night City, especially in Taiping Continent and Santo Domingo.

Their workers’ wages are not high, but the food is definitely not worse than that of corporate dogs from big companies, and it’s all organic food. They also have their own medical system, with internal medical prices much lower than the market, and now they are building schools for employees and homeless children.

You could say they cover everything like healthcare, food, lodging, and therapy, so there’s no military pay, and that’s that.

Many gang members or under-skilled mercenaries, after their gangs were wiped out and being penniless, joined the military to get a meal.

No one really shouted for revenge just because Horizon Corporation killed their boss. After all, when you’re in the game, you have to pay the piper, and no one in Night City doesn’t understand this truth.

Those who really cling to loyalty and want to fight to the end have long been killed by Horizon Corporation along with their mercenaries; those who survived know the importance of seizing the right opportunity.

The military training location is near the Dragon Field in Big Sur.

And Dragon Field has begun transitioning from a pure prisoner of war camp into a thought reform base.

It contains dormitories, schools, canteens, libraries, a Mewtwo editing room, training bases—everything you could want. It has now expanded threefold because of military training needs.

The person in charge of training this batch of new recruits isn’t a military instructor from Military Technology or New America, although they did suggest it. But Lin Miao rejected it.

I’d rather find experts than you guys; at least the folks back home have better credibility than you.

In business, as long as you don’t play tricks, they won’t play tricks either.

Not to mention, they’re the ones making a killing in this deal.

After a series of incidents, Lin Miao got the idea—to use Mewtwo for thought reform, but human training still needs a guide, especially since he knows nothing about military matters. Building a military without help really isn’t feasible.

The newly formed squad of eight hundred recruits gathered inside the Dragon Field training ground. Heads were bobbing, and many found familiar faces around them.

Tiger Claw Gang, Sixth Street Gang, Animal Gang, Vortex Gang...

Meeting in such a place was quite awkward.

In the new recruit squad, David, a young man with a visible modified right arm, was unremarkable. Not many there knew David’s identity; he joined as a recruit without letting Gloria use her personal privilege for special treatment.

But some things were not up to him to decide.

A big hand descended from above, grabbed his collar, and lifted David up completely.

David was initially surprised, thinking someone was causing trouble for him, and wanted to resist, but saw a familiar figure.

"Huh? Mann?"

"David, come over with me."

Mann’s physique was towering even among the entire recruit squad.

David was quite surprised; he didn’t expect Mann and Dolio to join the army, but he quickly realized.

The two sides were familiar since Mann’s team was responsible for Gloria’s safety before, and nine times out of ten, his mom arranged them to take care of him, worrying about her son’s safety.

This behavior made David very dissatisfied, but he couldn’t say much.

After all, who could stop a mom from wanting to protect her son?

"You guys....."

Seeing David’s suspicious eyes, Mann laughed out loud; he knew exactly what the other was upset about.

"Haha, don’t worry, I only promised your mom to ensure you come back alive, nothing else."

He himself came from the lowest ranks of military cannon fodder and despised those FW who joined the military just for glamor. The fact that David would start from a recruit was already quite commendable.

Mann didn’t treat David as an outsider and nudged him with his elbow.

"But.... could you tell me some insider info? With your status, you should know something, right? Who’s training us, Super Earth or Caldeia?"

He had also watched the live broadcast, or rather, everyone here had watched it. After all, they didn’t want to become cannon fodder in Cuba.

It wasn’t until he watched that he wanted to go even more—if he could be a part of it, that would be great.

For Mann’s question, David happened to know the answer.

"Neither."

"Huh? Then who? It can’t be those scumbags from Military Technology or New America, right? That would be miserable."

Mann grimaced; he had been annoyed with those bugs since he enlisted.

"Nope, you’ll find out later."

David’s mysterious tone left Mann puzzled.

Until seven or eight people walked up to the platform in the training field, one of them took the microphone in front of hundreds of people.

"Cough... cough..."

A series of coughs attracted the attention of the noisy crowd below to him,

"Hello, newly enlisted comrades, I am your chief military instructor. You may call me Asc Potter (Expert). Over the next three months, you will undergo military training under my guidance."

What does it mean to undergo training under your guidance?

That statement didn’t sound right.

The recruits below suddenly had a bad feeling.

In the company and indeed all Western armies, soldiers are employed in a mercenary fashion, essentially just another type of worker, with some countries even turning it into a civil service system with clock-in attendance.

In these armies, on top of siphoning off funds and exploiting soldiers, the worst issues are bullying between new and veteran soldiers and officers oppressing the rank and file.

Even though most of these 800 people had never enlisted, they’ve heard stories in the news.

Like forcing someone to put a mortar shell in a certain place, or forcing them to eat feces and whatnot.

The thought alone was chilling.

They looked at the Expert with even more apprehension.

What does this guy plan to do?