“Chief, Instructor Lei, what brings you here?”
Just then, footsteps sounded as An Ran and Ye Cunxin came downstairs.
Seeing Fan Tianlei and Lei Zhan seated in the living room, they looked at them in confusion.
More footsteps followed.
Hearing the commotion, the other women all came down from upstairs and gathered on the first floor.
The spacious living room suddenly felt crowded—with all eighteen wives present, it was quite a sight.
“Oh, this kid wants to join the Fire Phoenix Special Operations Team,” Lei Zhan replied with obvious disdain.
“Join Fire Phoenix?” Ye Cunxin froze for a moment before turning to Lu Yun.
“Why? Fire Phoenix doesn’t recruit male soldiers. Besides, your military skills… don’t meet the standard.”
“For no particular reason,” Lu Yun said with a grin.
“I just want to spend more time with An Ran.”
“W-What…!”
An Ran was caught off guard.
Her pretty face instantly flushed red as she glared at Lu Yun in embarrassment.
The other women looked at Lu Yun in surprise.
Their gazes shifted thoughtfully between him and An Ran, as if trying to figure something out.
Lei Zhan, meanwhile, looked ready to explode with rage.
He wanted nothing more than to punch Lu Yun.
He had always had feelings for An Ran.
Now, hearing Lu Yun openly flirt with her right in front of him made his blood boil.
But there was nothing he could do.
After all, An Ran was Lu Yun’s wife in name.
Between husband and wife, could that really be called flirting?
His face turned crimson as he nearly choked on his anger.
Lu Yun, of course, had done it on purpose.
Seeing Lei Zhan’s reaction, he smiled in satisfaction.
“So,” Lu Yun said, “pick a time.”
Lei Zhan glared at him.
“Any time you want.”
Lu Yun nodded.
“Fine. Tomorrow.”
Lei Zhan sneered.
“Deal. Get ready to crawl back to basic training. When the time comes, I’ll personally give a good lesson to a useless piece of trash like you.”
With that, Lei Zhan stood up.
“Chief, shall we go?”
Fan Tianlei also rose to his feet, nodded to everyone in the room, and left with Lei Zhan.
After they departed, the women exchanged puzzled glances before all turning toward Lu Yun.
Tang Xinyi was the first to ask,
“You’re really going to challenge one of the special forces’ elite soldiers?”
Lu Yun nodded.
“That’s right. Once I win, I’ll be joining the Fire Phoenix unit.”
Ye Cunxin frowned.
“Why are you so determined to join our team?”
Lu Yun smiled.
“What if I said it was because of all of you? Would you believe me?”
As he spoke, he deliberately cast An Ran a teasing glance.
Her cheeks immediately reddened again.
“You’d better win first before saying things like that!”
With an annoyed huff, she turned and hurried upstairs.
The others all shook their heads.
Knowing Lu Yun’s reputation as a spoiled young master, they naturally assumed he was simply being smooth-talking.
None of them believed a word he said.
Without another word, they headed upstairs as well.
They planned to have a proper talk with An Ran.
They couldn’t let her be fooled by Lu Yun’s handsome face and sweet words.
As for the challenge…
None of them took it seriously.
There was no way a good-for-nothing playboy like Lu Yun could possibly defeat a true special forces ace.
Third Floor – An Ran’s Bedroom
The members of Fire Phoenix sat together on the edge of the bed.
Tian Guo spoke first.
“An Ran, you need to stay clear-headed. Don’t let that Lu Yun fool you just because he’s handsome and knows how to sweet-talk women.”
A Zhuo nodded repeatedly.
“Exactly. That guy doesn’t look like a good person at all. His reputation is terrible. Everyone says he’s a notorious playboy who bullied people and abused his family’s influence. You’ve never even been in a relationship before, so don’t fall for him.”
An Ran rolled her eyes.
“You talk as if any of you have dating experience.”
The room fell silent.
Ye Cunxin quickly replied,
“Well… anyway, you know what we mean.”
An Ran sighed helplessly.
“Don’t worry. I’m not some lovestruck fool. Being handsome isn’t enough. If a man doesn’t have real ability, I wouldn’t even consider him.”
The others nodded in relief.
“Good.”
“That’s reassuring.”
First Floor – Lu Yun’s Bedroom
Lying on his bed, Lu Yun thought carefully about which special forces champion to challenge.
As for the event itself, he had already made up his mind.
Marksmanship.
After using the skill book he had received, he was confident he wouldn’t lose.
Ding!
Random mission issued.
Mission: Challenge Lei Zhan and defeat him.
Reward: Granted upon successful completion.
The system’s voice suddenly rang out.
Lu Yun froze before letting out a helpless sigh.
He had considered challenging Lei Zhan before.
The man annoyed him, and he’d wanted to knock him down a peg.
But Lei Zhan wasn’t just any soldier.
He was one of China’s finest special forces operatives—a true king among soldiers.
Very few people in the entire country could rival him.
Lu Yun hadn’t been completely confident of beating him, so he had originally planned to challenge someone else to maximize his chances of joining Fire Phoenix.
Now, however, the system had made the choice for him.
“Lei Zhan… the so-called king of soldiers…”
Lu Yun clenched his fists.
“Damn it. You’re the one who’s been acting the most arrogant. Tomorrow, I’m going to wipe that smug look off your face.”
The Next Morning – Beijing Military District
The sun had only just risen, yet countless soldiers had already finished their morning training, drenched in sweat.
“Have you heard? That pretty-boy good-for-nothing is challenging the special forces aces today.”
“I heard about it yesterday. Do we know what they’re competing in?”
“Haha! Does it even matter? There’s no way that loser can win.”
“True enough. I’m definitely going to watch.”
“It’s infuriating. That pretty boy married eighteen wives—all of them China’s top female special forces soldiers.”
“No use being jealous. Just wait. He’ll get taught a lesson soon enough.”
The entire military district buzzed with discussion.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating the day’s challenge, anxious to see Lu Yun humiliated.
If he embarrassed himself in front of all eighteen of his wives…
That would be a truly satisfying spectacle.