HLM – Chapter 980 Boy Scouts

In New Zealand, some regions, perhaps to strengthen a sense of belonging among the people or to showcase their uniqueness, sometimes designate a private holiday outside of public holidays.

The regular holiday in the Otago region falls on March 21. On this day, the entire region enjoys a weekend-like break: schools close, employees have the day off, and overtime work is paid at double rates.

Sunset Town lies on the edge of the region. Whether it technically belongs to Otago is debatable, since it used to be private land. Nevertheless, the staff were particularly sensitive about such matters. They believed Sunset Town was part of Otago and therefore entitled to the holiday.

Coincidentally, Li Xing had prepared a standardized military training plan, so Wang Bo gathered his subordinates and decided to hold a military training session.

The plan was originally designed for tourists. The training ground was open to the public, allowing visitors to participate in activities like real-life CS battles and military confrontations.

After reviewing the plan, Wang Bo nodded. “Not bad. Let’s try it out first.”

Atulu wailed, “Boss, it’s a rare holiday. Can’t we arrange our own plans? I want to take my wife to Queenstown. We didn’t get to go last time.”

Wang Bo glared at him. “Go ahead. Maybe you’ll run into those damn Highland Māori again, and they can kidnap you once more!”

“At least we won’t always be that unlucky. Besides, the Highland Māori leaders are all in prison now—they’re scattered and powerless.” Atulu smiled sheepishly.

“The reason we’re doing military training is that Sunset Town is full of dangers. How many people are eyeing this piece of prime land? We built this town from scratch; we can’t just let it be taken away!”

“Yes!” Kidd nodded firmly. “This is our child—we must protect it. Right, Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth nodded, then suddenly felt something was off. “Our child?”

“Yes. Isn’t Sunset Town your child?”

Elizabeth replied, “It belongs to everyone, not just to me, and not just to you!”

“Exactly, which is why I said ‘our child.’” For once, clever Elizabeth got caught in her own words, and Kidd was ecstatic.

Wang Bo pushed him aside, not wanting to waste time. “Tomorrow, let’s go see Instructor Li to change clothes and then join the military training.”

When Eva heard about the military training, she suggested, “Why not bring my students along?”

“Are they capable? I mean, considering their psychological issues.”

Eva replied, “They won’t be fighting. They’ll stay in the rear and experience the charm of teamwork, which is beneficial for their recovery.”

Wang Bo agreed. When Dale heard about it and found nothing else to do during the holiday, they insisted on joining as well.

Dale then told Ron, Little Si, and the others, and these children also wanted to participate. They were curious, having never experienced such activities before.

Wang Bo allowed them to join, and the group quickly grew. By the next day, the activity had turned into a full-fledged Boy Scout training camp. All thirty or so children from one grade, led by Dale, had shown up!

This meant a change in equipment was necessary. Luckily, during this period, Li Xing had been purchasing supplies and had bought some laser guns. These guns, when attached with sensors on the body, would emit a sound when hit by the laser.

Seeing the excited children, Wang Bo was a little stunned. Sitting atop a car, he muttered, “Is this still a military exercise?”

“Uh, you can think of it as a large-scale military training across the town. The children’s parents came too,” Li Xing said.

“I think this is more like a Boy Scout activity,” Eva laughed. “But I have experience. When I was in Ukraine, I was one of the local Boy Scout commanders.”

Li Xing took out two boxes of colored paint from the warehouse. This was camouflage paint—what special forces apply to their faces when entering jungles or swamps.

Parents painted their children’s faces, and suddenly a group of little painted faces appeared before Wang Bo.

Li Xing had been thorough in his preparation. He expected parents to bring children, so he bought some children’s military uniforms. However, he hadn’t accounted for the first batch being over thirty children, and he had only twenty uniforms prepared, sized for children over ten. The second graders looked a little oversized in them.

But the children didn’t care—they just wanted to look impressive and snatched the uniforms.

Eva and the teachers had to step in to manage the situation. They first selected half the children to wear the uniforms as soldiers, while the other half would be the bandits.

As soon as this decision was made, the children rebelled—they didn’t want to be bandits. Everyone wanted to be the heroic soldiers representing love and justice.

Wang Bo’s head spun from the chaos. He said to Atulu, “Buddy, I regret organizing this. How about we just go to Queenstown instead?”

Atulu shook his head firmly. “Absolutely not! You brewed the bitter wine yourself; you have to drink it!”

Wang Bo said, “Is that necessary? Hurting each other? Yes, I brewed the bitter wine, but now you’re drinking it with me!”

Atulu sneered. “No, Boss. I’ve already drunk. Because we can’t go to Queenstown today, my wife beat me last night…”

After the teams were divided, it was only when Li Xing renamed the groups that the children finally quieted down.

The two groups: those in military uniforms were the “Guardians,” while those in regular clothes were the “Assaulters.” The children even gave themselves a name: the “Revolutionary Army.”

The adults were divided into two teams as well, but their task was simply to supervise the children.

Wang Bo carried a laser gun and joined Eva’s team. Eva acted as an instructor, Li Xing led the other team, and Uncle Bing led the referee group.

“Now we need two guards. Who wants to volunteer?” Eva asked.

Wang Bo raised his hand. “I’ll go.”

Being with these children, he felt he would collapse sooner or later.

Dale went with him to be guards. Wang Bo kissed her forehead. “Good girl. You care about your teacher, don’t you?”

Dale shook her head. “No, I just feel holding the binoculars makes me impressive, like a commander.”

They were on the guard side, stationed among a bunch of fancy wrecked cars. Wang Bo sat atop an Audi A8 drinking beer, while Dale struggled to climb up.

Wang Bo pretended not to notice. Dale was determined; without his help, she called Zhuang Ding over, stepped on his broad back, and climbed up.

With nothing else to do, Wang Bo made up rules with Dale. “We’re scouts and special forces, very impressive.”

“Yay!” Dale raised her fists, then pouted. “Special forces don’t talk—they use hand signals to communicate.”

Wang Bo said, “It’s fine. We’ll use Chinese to communicate. They won’t understand, so it’s the same as hand signals.”

Dale thought about it, then nodded happily.