"The press is a battlefield without gunpowder, public opinion propaganda is a bloodless but incomparably bloody war, this position is very important, the next stage of the government will carry out major surgery on the press and publishing industry, you have time to contact John more, communicate more, our press and publishing industry needs you to be tested by iron and blood, determined people to join," Roland glanced at Vladimir deeply, and half-jokingly added, "But be careful, don't learn from John's ridiculous and erosive lifestyle." ”

Vladimir had also heard of His Excellency's unruly private life, but he did not understand Roland's intention to reveal to him the news of the rectification of the publishing industry, so he nodded in agreement, and secretly decided to consult John Pulit as soon as possible.

At this time, it was already at the competition ground, and there were often middle and senior officers who came to salute and greet, and Roland was inconvenient to have a deep conversation with Vladimir, so he followed General Alexei to inspect the circle, and all the officers and soldiers stood and saluted in an orderly manner.

The first half of the internal martial arts competition held for the selection of village sheriffs has been completed, and more than half of the more than 800 applicants have been eliminated, and the remaining 400 pre-selected lieutenants have to participate in a contest to defeat their opponents before they can get the place of sheriff.

The tournament was divided into 10 venues, and Nikolai successfully passed the qualifiers, and the semi-finals were ranked in the seventh ring, and the opponent in the draw was a 6th rank Sindra Holy Guard, one level higher than Nikolai, and his strength was among the best among all the applicants.

"Nikolai's luck is not good, the opponent drawn is Captain Mares," Alexei's face was solemn, "If Nikolai has sound arms, he will only be fifty percent sure of defeating Maris at most, and now he only has one hand left, this battle may be very dangerous." ”

"I think Nikolai has a better chance of winning." Ivan's opinion is different from that of His Excellency the General, Nikolai has been training frantically in the military camp for the past month, and he has seen the hard work and sweat he has put in, and he is very confident in this old subordinate, "If Maris thinks that the opponent can easily win with one less arm, he may not suffer a big loss." ”

Ivan's evaluation of Nikolai aroused Roland's curiosity, and he looked at the No. 7 court and easily found Nikolai, after all, among all the contestants, this tall, thin young man with a beard was the only one-armed.

The contest between Nikolai and Mares was in the fifth game, and General Alexei accompanied His Royal Highness the Prince to watch the game in person, and the two contestants were somewhat nervous, and they both adopted more conservative tactics after playing, tentatively approaching each other, and were not in a hurry to take the initiative.

Captain Mares is a typical Sindra Holy Guard, serving in His Majesty's Knights of the Guards, dressed in black armor, holding the Khoras's military heavy sword "Great Defender" in his right hand, and holding a large shield inlaid with sharp armor thorns in his left hand, standing in the ring gives a strong sense of oppression.

Nikolai was a ranger from the Chasseur Legion, dressed in light leather armor and skilled in archery and double blades. However, now he only had one arm left, he could not draw a bow, and he only had a refined scimitar in his hand, and his momentum was much weaker than that of Captain Maris on the other side.

Captain Maris couldn't find any reason to be afraid of a cripple, and strode towards Nikolai, his heavy sword slashing through the air, revealing the intention of a quick victory.

The loss of an arm didn't seem to affect Nikolai's athletic skills, and he dodged sideways before the epee approached, swinging his scimitar sideways and slicing through the gap in the armor of his opponent's neck.

Captain Mares snorted coldly, suddenly twisted his heavy sword to block the scimitar, and the shield in his left hand slapped Nikolai's chest like lightning.

It's hard to imagine that this heavily armored samurai's seemingly ferocious blow turned out to be a trick to tempt the bait! Peter and Daya, who were watching the game from the sidelines, couldn't help but exclaim nervously.

Nikolai didn't seem to expect the seemingly macho opponent to be so treacherous, and the scimitar was knocked away by the heavy sword while trying to dodge the shield blow, but it was still grazed by the shield thorn, and blood oozed from the leather armor.

Martial arts competitions in the army have always been real swords and guns, and injuries are inevitable, and everyone from generals to ordinary soldiers has long been accustomed to it, and they applauded enthusiastically when they saw this tragic scene.

Captain Mares charged to the cheers. Nikolai half-knelt on the ground, not bothering to check the injury, thrust the scimitar with his backhand, and slapped his free right hand on the ground. The green magic glow was poured into the ground through the five fingers, and large vines immediately appeared in the ring, blocking Mares's charging path.

"I knew you were going to do this!" Maris laughed loudly, the heavy sword in his hand swung hard, the magic turned into a rolling flame attached to the surface of the blade, instantly burned the vines blocking the front into ashes, and rushed to Nikolai without stopping, the burning heavy sword was about to stab the opponent, and suddenly found that Nikolai's palm was raised, and a white light flew over.

The light came too quickly, and it was too late for Mares to raise his shield in a hurry. The lightning-fast white light pierced through the cracks in his visor and struck the bridge of his nose, causing him to feel black and dizzy in front of his eyes.

General Alexey, who was a temporary guest referee, raised his hand to signal the end of the match and declared Nikolai the winner.

Maris in the ring was still a little unconvinced, until the general pointed to his feet, and was surprised to find a flying knife on the ground like a willow leaf, and there was still a trace of blood on the blade.

Maris picked up the flying knife and found that it didn't strike, so he couldn't help but gasp. If Nikolai's knife had been sharpened, he would not only have a cut on his forehead now, but his brain would have flowed out.

"Nikolai had a flying knife when he was in the new barracks, and after so many years of polishing, he has reached a state of supernatural perfection, and even I am not completely sure that he will dodge his flying knife face to face, and that guy Maris has the idea of underestimating the enemy, and being defeated by his flying knife is an inevitable result." Ivan said to Roland with a smile.

"He is indeed a talent, brave and resourceful." Roland was pleased with Nikolai's performance, a calm and resolute man who was suited to the role of village sheriff, capable of dealing with complex law and order issues, and giving a good head start to the village militia.

Nikolai had already seen the group of friends and relatives cheering for him on the sidelines, and after the game came to salute His Royal Highness the Prince and His Excellency the General, Peter trotted all the way up to treat his minor injuries with his newly learned beginner magic skills.

"Nikolai, I heard Ivan say about you, and I'm curious where you learned the skill of throwing a knife." Roland asked the chassar lieutenant with a smile.

Nikolai scratched his head embarrassedly, and truthfully replied that he had figured it out since he was a child.

"My father was a printmaking enthusiast during his lifetime, and when Vladimir and I were very young, we studied engraving with my father, Vladimir was very talented and serious, and it didn't take long to surpass my father, and I didn't have any talent in this area at all, and I was not interested in printmaking, so I threw carving knives everywhere, and over time I practiced some skills in throwing throwing knives."