Commander Zhang took over the conversation and said, "It's precisely because the grand competition is approaching that he had to undertake a secret mission! The mission is set to last two months."

Shen Xiangtian was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly realized something. The Flying Eagle was part of the Central Defense Zone, and a secret mission like this wouldn't allow Commander Zhang to know such details. Then...

Shen Xiangtian looked gratefully at Long Jianfei and stood up to give him a military salute: "Thank you!"

"Why are you thanking me, Captain Shen? Our Flying Eagle's missions have nothing to do with you!" Long Jianfei said with a slight smile.

Shen Xiangtian also smiled, understanding that some things were clear in his heart and there was no need to spell them out.

"Alright, since you're here, I won't need Old Shen to bring this to you."

Jiang Chen took out a jade box from his pocket, which the Medicine Saint gave him before leaving. It contained the Purple Flame Broken Mirror Elixirs he had previously crafted and given to the Medicine Saint, kept in reserve in case someone needed them when he went to Jincheng!

"I once said that I'd give you a surprise, so here, take it!" Jiang Chen casually tossed the jade box to Long Jianfei.

Long Jianfei caught the jade box and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

"Just open it when you're alone. It's related to my secret, and I hope you can keep it to yourself!" Jiang Chen spoke indifferently.

Long Jianfei was taken aback, glanced at Shen Xiangtian, and noticed that even Shen Xiangtian seemed unaware of the contents of the jade box. His expression then turned solemn as he said, "Instructor Jiang, if it's something exceedingly valuable, I'm afraid I can't accept it."

"Consider it as owing me another favor. Once you see what's inside and still don't wish to keep it, send it to my home; you should know where I live," Jiang Chen said nonchalantly, waving his hand.

"Alright." Long Jianfei nodded, not returning the box immediately as he was genuinely curious about its contents. Seeing Jiang Chen's casual attitude, it probably wasn't something extremely valuable.

"Enough, I don't want to know about your affairs, Instructor Jiang. I called you here to discuss something about Long Ya," said Commander Zhang softly, looking seriously at Jiang Chen.

"The upcoming grand competition will last three months, and the first month will be a contest among the various special combat teams. Due to Flying Eagle's absence, Long Ya has been assigned a separate mission, which is as difficult as combating a second-tier special combat team. There shouldn't be any problems this time, right?"

"No problem," Jiang Chen answered casually.

Commander Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. Long Ya had been defeated by a second-tier special combat team before; they couldn't afford another loss this time, as two months of effort would otherwise be meaningless.

"After this mission is over, we will have another month. During that month, we might need to trouble Instructor Jiang to train them a bit more, to strive... to strive for a draw when we face Flying Eagle!" Commander Zhang hesitated before speaking uncertainly.

"A draw?" Jiang Chen laughed, "Commander Zhang, if it's about securing a draw, there's no need for these two months. Just let Long Ya take on Flying Eagle now. I'm already 60% confident Long Ya could draw with Flying Eagle."

Commander Zhang was taken aback and frowned slightly, "Instructor Jiang, this..."

"I have seen the data on Flying Eagle, and the gap between Long Ya and them lies only in their pinnacle combat power. To achieve a draw, even without any unforeseen circumstances, we could wear them down by sheer numbers," Jiang Chen said, cutting off Commander Zhang.

"Instructor Jiang." Long Jianfei spoke up discontentedly, "You shouldn't be so sure of yourself."

Jiang Chen glanced at Long Jianfei with a light chuckle, "The strength of Flying Eagle, although definitely stronger than reported, at most has three hundred Royal Realm Martial Artists, a hundred Profound Martial Artists, and twenty Earth Level Martial Artists. Am I wrong?"

"You..." Long Jianfei's face changed slightly as he said sternly, "How do you know this? Don't tell me you just guessed; I won't believe it!"

Jiang Chen curled his lips, "I didn't guess; I actually visited your Flying Eagle training base and took a look around myself."

"You… you went to our training base? And we didn't notice at all?" Astonishment flashed across Long Jianfei's face.

"Can you calm down a bit? With me, an Innate Grandmaster, strolling through your training base, it would be strange if you could detect me," Jiang Chen said with a dismissive gesture.

Long Jianfei forced a smile, "It seems the saying 'Under Innate, all are as mere ants' is true!"

"Alright, since it's like this, I have an idea." Jiang Chen turned to Commander Zhang, "For this mission, let some of Long Ya go. Don't let those 109 elites join in; I'll take them for a different type of training."

"This... Would that work? To rely on the others..." Commander Zhang was dumbfounded.

Jiang Chen smiled slightly, "Besides those who were dismissed, aren't there still 247 reserve members of the elite company? Let them handle it. If they can't succeed in a mission equivalent to a second-tier special combat group, then they might as well go home and farm!"

At these words, both Commander Zhang and Long Jianfei were even more astonished, exchanging bewildered glances.

...

A week later, in the dense jungles of western F-country, a team of over one hundred people was frantically on the run.

"Brother Long, we can't shake those bastards off! Should we just fight them?" asked a man with a scar on his face, coming up to the leader angrily.

The leader spoke in a heavy tone, "Don't be rash; the Young Master has already brought men nearby. Let's rendezvous with them first!"

"Brother Long, isn't the Young Master just our boss? And isn't our boss a rich man? What's he doing here? Can he even fight?" Scar asked incredulously.

"Scar, when you meet the Young Master, you better not question his strength, or else he'll teach you a lesson in manners," another man in black caught up to them and said with a light laugh.

This group was Xuan Long and others who had been sent abroad by Jiang Chen several months before.

Having received a large number of elixirs from An Long, Xuan Long and the others began recruiting aggressively. In less than half a month, they had become a group of more than five hundred. After consulting Jiang Chen, they raised the banner of the Dragon Flame Mercenary Group.

Dragon Flame emerged and dominated all challengers.

They rose rapidly among the international sects and powers. However, being a new force, they could not compare with some established powers. Recently, due to a deal, they crossed paths with the Dark Spider, one of the top ten international mercenary groups ranked ninth. This encounter made them realize the gap between themselves and the old guard.

After several clashes, they suffered devastating losses, with more than two hundred dead or injured and nearly two hundred deserting to the Dark Spider.

Now, only about a hundred members of Dragon Flame, including Xuan Long, were left in hasty flight.

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