Tianlei glanced at the white ceiling. This moron thought he was like everyone else ready to be fooled into believing he was insane, then subjected to some kind of treatment.
His gaze shifted to Doctor Zhao, a smirk crossing his face.
"This act you people put on is really cheap, and according to what I'm seeing, it's the cheapest act that could never appear on a TV show."
Doctor Zhao adjusted his spectacles on the bridge of his nose.
"Please clarify what act we might have been playing."
Tianlei scoffed.
"The drug you injected me with had the same side effects as ketamine, but luckily my mental strength is better, so I naturally avoided the effects."
Doctor Zhao looked at Tianlei, somewhat confused, but then he smiled.
"This is amazing. You actually outsmarted me."
He snapped his fingers, and the restraints sprang open. Well, the word outsmart wasn't kind of what he expected, since he had actually cheated the system. Without Xue Ren's help, he didn't know how wildly he would have been running his mouth.
"Well, I already knew you were not suffering from the effects of the drug," Zhao continued.
"Wait, what? You knew?"
Tianlei said, testing the strength of his wrists. The pain from the restraints still lingered.
"I am a psychiatrist, and not an ordinary one. I can easily identify a confused person and a pretending one," he continued.
"Then why did you ask me all those questions? Let me guess—you wanted to know all of my secrets."
Doctor Zhao let out a hollow laugh.
"The drug we injected you with is a powerful non-benzodiazepine hypnotic, so naturally I could ask you more unique questions than those. Those were just to know you better."
"So that's how you fool students into revealing their secrets, so you can find ways to control them in the future."
Zhao removed his spectacles and placed them on the nearby chair.
"You run your mouth with too many questions, but since you passed the test, I will enlighten you."
Tianlei's body stiffened. Maybe he was asking too much in a place resembling a torture ground for insane people.
"The military branch is a special unit. We don't accept failures. Normally, this drug is injected into only 5% of the people, and you were among the unlucky ones. The others are just injected with water. Our main goal is to produce extraordinary human beings."
Ignoring the earlier warning about running his mouth, Tianlei continued asking. His curiosity outweighed the fear in him. He didn't know if it was because he believed Xue Ren would save him, but he remembered being told to be independent.
"So what happens to those who fail, run their mouths, or accept that they are insane?"
Zhao chuckled.
"They are mentally weak, so naturally they are disqualified from the military branch."
"So many others pass?"
"Haha. 98.9% fail, and 1.1% pass."
Tianlei's jaw fell at the numbers. So many people failed the test. 1.1% out of a hundred people that was… his brain wasn't in the right state to process it.
"The others are assigned to different military tests, which make them cadets. But those who pass this test are bestowed a higher rank, which is senior cadet."
Tianlei allowed himself to stand up. Not that he was restrained anymore—everything was just too confusing.
"Senior cadet…"
Zhao nodded.
"But since you have gone so far in impressing me, provisional executor would be a perfect rank."
"What is that?"
"You have asked way too many questions. According to what I know, I should be doing the questioning. Just know one thing—ranks only help in the course of military action. When it comes to personal life, you are on your own."
The rank would have been a great achievement if he hadn't added those words. It seemed the rank wouldn't help him properly survive in this environment.
"You can leave. Go to the uniform department and be bestowed another attire that matches your rank," Zhao said before taking a seat then something snapped beneath him.
If Tianlei remembered correctly, those were the spectacles Zhao had placed on the chair earlier.
Currently, he only cared about leaving this crazy place. He rushed toward the door, clicked it open, but before exiting, he turned back.
"You said the incident happened three days ago. So I was asleep for three days?" Tianlei asked.
Zhao stood up, picking up his broken spectacles from the chair.
"That is a mystery you should answer by yourself."
That was enough. Tianlei walked through the door and continued down the corridor.
He didn't know where he was going. He just followed the corridors, hoping to find an exit soon. Luckily, he was out of the building as soon as he descended the stairs.
The sun struck his face hard. Even though it was early morning, it was very hot.
The branch was lively with activity, especially morning parades and training. Boys could be seen lifting heavy weights, and the sound of artillery fire echoed in the distance.
If he had been asleep for three days, then this was his fourth day in this hell, with more than four and a half weeks left.
He hoped to see the feather lady as he walked, but there were only sweaty bodies running forward and backward.
The crumbling old building appeared in the distance, but that was for later. Surely, trouble awaited him.
He went straight to the building they had entered after arriving. As if luck had struck him, the uniform department was at the corner. This was where they had been assigned the casual uniform he was wearing.
Behind the counter was an extremely fat woman. For a military branch, she looked out of place.
"Hi, fat lady, sorry I—"
The woman looked up from whatever she was reading. Her face contorted in anger, but she quickly regained her previous expression.
"You know that hurt because it's true. I am fat—so what? And you are skinny—so what?" she said casually.
"I am so sorry. I was just lost in thought," Tianlei replied, still feeling the shame of being called skinny. Like she said, it hurt because it was true.
"What can I get you, skinny boy?" the woman asked.
That hurt his guts, but he pretended to smile. Clearly, the woman said it again to hurt him emotionally.
"I've been assigned to get a new uniform."
"What rank are you? Cadet?"
"No. I am a provisional executor."
The woman choked on her saliva. "Provisional executor? That is funny. For someone like you, even being a cadet would be by chance. Ysh, fool someone else."
"Hey, fat lady, do I look like I'm making fun?"
Everyone turned to look at him with disdain. It seemed calling a woman fat was a crime nowadays. The woman's face twisted in anger. She picked up a folded old newspaper and slapped it across Tianlei's face.
"Hey, skinny, I think both of us need to ace our physical exercise. I need to lower my fat, and you need to look more like a man than a boy."
The slap burned more than the humiliation.
"Sorry, that was uncalled for. But if you don't believe me, just check my name."
The woman snorted.
"My hands are too heavy because of all the fat in them, so I can't type your name. It would be too much hard work."
Anger burned within Tianlei. This fat woman was clearly messing with him, but he had no leverage in this situation.
"Sorry for my previous behavior," Tianlei forced himself to sound as calm as possible despite the rage. "I am Feng Tianlei and have been directed to get a new uniform that matches my rank."
The fat woman pointed the folded newspaper at him.
"That's more like it. Now you're talking like a gentle boy… though gentleman doesn't suit you."
"Follow me," she said, struggling to get off the chair.
"If only you fell," Tianlei thought.
He didn't usually have such dark inner thoughts, but this woman had really gotten on his nerves.
They walked toward the back, where many uniforms were stacked. He was handed a completely black, well-ironed uniform.
He put it on as quickly as possible, eager to leave this insane fat lady.
"Thanks," Tianlei said.
"Oh, now you speak more like a gentleman."
"And you speak more like a hippo," Tianlei thought.
He smiled anyway and walked toward the door.
"Hey, hey, hey. What are you doing?" the fat woman said, sounding surprised.
"What is it?"
"Come on. Walk toward me."
Tianlei stared at her, confused. He didn't have the time or energy to argue, so he began walking. After just a few steps, laughter echoed.
"Don't make me laugh. You're a provisional executor, and you're walking like a civilian. Haha."
Tianlei's jaw fell. No matter how annoying she was, she was right. Military men and women had an organized way of walking and he hadn't even realized it.