Gestalt's cold, piercing gaze swept over Ryan, whose face was flushed with excitement. His unrealistic fantasies were doused like icy water.
Gestalt's voice carried no warmth; each word weighed a thousand pounds.
"Recruit, don't get too excited too soon."
"The drive and the core are not the shiny toys depicted in the Federation's propaganda videos."
"To master the power of the Allochromatic Core, which does not belong to this dimension, you must be prepared to pay the eternal price with your soul and your life."
He turned to the three new recruits, who had unconsciously held their breath at the weight of his words. His voice was cold and solemn, like the frozen soil of a deep abyss that had never thawed in a thousand years.
"First, you will face the 'Core Whisper.'"
Upon hearing those words, Kai Shen's heart clenched. It turned out that the fragmented sounds filled with chaotic emotions that constantly echoed in his mind and tormented his senses like cosmic background radiation had a name.
"This is a form of mental pollution originating from the Allochromatic Core within your chest," Gestalt continued.
"It's like a tidal wave of curses from another dimension, relentlessly assaulting your fragile mental barriers day and night."
"They are the most fragmented memory fragments of the departed 'original hosts' remaining within the core, along with the mixed mental shock of their endless despair and unwillingness at the moment of death."
"If one's will is not sufficiently resilient, these dark, negative emotions easily penetrate and pollute it, ultimately leading to personality distortion and transformation into a monster teetering on the brink of madness."
"At the same time," Gestalt's knuckles, clad in tactical gloves, tightened involuntarily.
"The constant 'energy erosion' will act like the most cunning of worms, slowly and steadily damaging your bodily cells and irreversibly shortening your lifespan."
"It will cause chronic neuralgia that penetrates the bone marrow and trigger unpredictable genetic mutations."
"Even worse, your will is assimilated and devoured by the inhuman, primal will of the 'other color' within the core."
"This turns you into a 'mutant' driven solely by the primal instinct to kill until you are devoured by your own kind or 'purified' by your former comrades."
Gestalt's words struck Ryan like a heavy warhammer, shattering his previous excitement and self-satisfaction. The smile on his face froze, cracked, and vanished, replaced by primal fear emanating from the depths of his soul.
Fusako instinctively clutched her arms as if she were feeling a chill.
"Listen up!" Gestalt's voice suddenly rose like a drawn blade.
"In the 'Pioneer' squad, there is no room for foolish individual heroism!"
"I only tolerate two kinds of people here: soldiers who absolutely obey orders and comrades who can entrust their backs and lives to each other unconditionally!"
"From the moment you stepped through the alloy gates of Rock City, your lives no longer belong solely to you!"
"They also belong to every member of this squad!"
"As your captain, I, Gestalt Iron Gray-Resolute, have only one duty:"
"to do everything in my power to ensure that you new recruits survive as long as possible on the brutal battlefields of the future."
"Until the very last moment of the war or the very last moment of your lives."
"Don't disgrace me."
"More importantly, don't leave yourselves with any irreparable regrets."
"Dismissed!"
"Return to your barracks immediately and familiarize yourselves with the equipment you just received."
"Report to the first landing pad in B7 Zone at 5:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow for the squad's first practical training exercise."
"Anyone who is even a second late will face the consequences!"
With that, Gestalt turned and walked away without looking back. The echo of his heavy military boots on the cold, alloy-reinforced floor was like a hammer striking the taut nerves of the three new recruits.
Ryan exhaled heavily, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and casually weighed the assault rifle in his hands. He grinned at the other two and said,
"Pfft, that iron-faced guy just uses these old tricks to scare new recruits."
"But with such a capable commander, maybe our 'Pioneers' Squad D can pull off some big operations!"
Despite his efforts to appear relaxed, his voice still carried a hint of trembling.
Nadeshiko walked over to Kai Shen. Her eyes were filled with concern and the warmth of mutual encouragement. Her voice was gentle yet firm:
"Shen Jun, I believe we can do it."
"No matter what the future holds, we must strive to survive together."
Kai Shen looked down at the cold "Pandora" box in his hand, which seemed to carry an incredibly heavy future. He raised his head to meet Nadeshiko's clear, trusting gaze in the dim light. For the first time, his voice carried a hint of warmth and response that he hadn't even noticed before.
"Yeah, together."