Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 971

"Humans are at the bottom of the power scale. Inherently weaker than the other races," the sergeant continued.

"You will be dominated, beaten, and left behind. The only thing that will keep you from being trampled underfoot is your will. And let me be clear," his eyes hardened, "weak wills will end up as cannon fodder."

The silence deepened, and at this point, many had begun trembling in their seats. The man’s words were beyond blunt. They were going to hell.

Darnell’s cold eyes settled on the ones seated in the front row, stopping on Aurora as he sighted her white hair.

"And thanks to the brilliant workings of our magnanimous Apex," Darnell sneered slightly, "it’s going to be worse this time around. They’ll be gunning for you. For all of you."

His eyes were weirdly more focused on Aurora, Nate, and Lucas, his disdain obvious.

Nate felt a flicker of tension spread through the room, but he only grinned wider. Lucas, however, kept his expression neutral, his sharp eyes taking everything in.

Aurora’s fiery eyes locked onto the man, unmoved. Her gaze showed not even a flicker of fear.

Darnell’s voice became sharper.

"Here’s a piece of advice," Darnell said, his voice dropping to a cold tone. "Don’t stand out. Keep your heads down if you want to survive."

He let that hang in the air for a beat before stepping back from the podium.

"That is all."

With that, he turned on his heel and marched out of the hall, leaving the recruits to sit in suffocating silence.

"Man, who pissed in his rations this morning?"

Nate’s words were supposed to be low, but the silence made them carry across the entire hall, heard by all.

Despite the tense situation, he still got a few laughs and many forced smiles. It had been funny, but there was nothing that could get rid of the fear surging through them.

Normally, in a gathering of the leaders of the divisions, people from different families of the human domain, there would be tension, but none of them could think about that right now.

The airship abruptly came to a stop in front of a massive portal. Black thunder filled the surroundings, the clouds chaotic.

It was followed by another wave of airships appearing behind them, each one carrying the other students of the academy.

After a short and brief scan, they were each allowed in, and then, the walls of the hall disappeared, showing the recruits the world that unfolded.

It wasn’t beautiful. Instead, it was a sight that intensified the fears in each one of them.

Black thunder crackled across the skies, its light radiating off the large numbers of floating islands that dotted the sky.

The atmosphere was dark and gloomy, as though the military was making it perfectly clear that they were not here for fun.

As the airships cut through the skies, they suddenly split, moving towards different floating islands.

The gazes of Nate and the others glinted as their airship brought them to the highest floating island.

They landed on a large platform filled with other airships, whose occupants had already started disembarking.

The lights in the hall suddenly turned off, and an AI voice sounded, urging them to disembark.