(Three in One)

Azure Dragon Training Base.

Located in the distant suburbs of City A and surrounded on three sides by Azure Dragon Mountain, it had originally been a privately run training ground dedicated to team-building activities and the like. But its facilities and location were so excellent that in recent years, it had begun cooperating with nonmilitary organizations that required military-style training, such as search-and-rescue workers and forest rangers.

On the bus to the base, the trainees laughed and horsed around, feeling as though they were going on a holiday.

Only when the bus passed through the gate bearing the words "Qinglong" did everyone fall silent in an instant.

They had seen countless young men in training uniforms.

Pei Dahai smiled smugly at the sight. "I pulled strings through several layers of old classmates to give you an immersive taste of this real, hot-blooded life. Well? Didn't expect that, did you? Didn't expect me to be serious about this?!"

The trainees looked horrified. "What?"

Real training?! Them? Was this some kind of joke?!

Zhuo Yang's eyes, however, lit up with exceptional excitement. With one arm around Qiao Huan's shoulders, he turned to Ye Yiwei and Bai Jike behind him. "Look at the atmosphere here! What man wouldn't be excited? My blood's boiling!"

Qiao Huan & Ye Yiwei & Bai Jike: ...

The trainees around them: ...

One had gone mad. Carry him away.

Of course, they didn't know the main reason Zhuo Yang's blood was boiling.

All of Zhuo Yang's dreams and passions had begun in a place like this.

After that hot-blooded period of his life ended, he had also come here as an instructor, helping many young men who were about to leave home for a long time develop the same passion he had.

The bus soon reached its destination.

Zhuo Yang's excitement hadn't faded, though, and as soon as he got off, he helped everyone carry their luggage.

"What are you doing?"

A trainee who had been sitting in the back row the whole ride was instantly displeased when he saw Zhuo Yang had picked up his suitcase the wrong way around.

"Do you know where we're supposed to take our luggage? Where are we even staying? Why are you touching my stuff?"

Zhuo Yang froze, instantly calming down.

He was far too familiar with every blade of grass and tree at Qinglong. After all, he had lived here for almost half a year, so of course he knew where the dormitory building was.

But he had clearly been so caught up in his excitement that he had nearly forgotten to hide his undercover identity...

Qiao Huan saw Zhuo Yang's face turn cold in a second and thought his fiery temper was about to explode again. Hurrying over, Qiao Huan helped him set the trainee's belongings in order.

"Do you have anything valuable in your luggage?" Qiao Huan asked, looking at Zhuo Yang. "He was trying to help."

The trainee pouted without answering, then picked up his suitcase and pattered into the shade to get out of the sun.

Qiao Huan waved a hand in front of Zhuo Yang's face. "You all right?"

On the way here, Qiao Huan had actually been thinking about finding the undercover agent the whole time.

When the other person "returned" to a place like this, they ought to behave a little strangely. Perhaps they would give themselves away?

Zhuo Yang was indeed the one who had behaved most oddly so far.

But Qiao Huan couldn't quite tell whether Zhuo Yang was acting this way because he could "finally experience a few weeks of a hot-blooded life," or because he was the undercover agent.

"You okay?" Qiao Huan asked.

Only then did Zhuo Yang come back to his senses and realize that Qiao Huan had helped him out of a bind yet again. Smiling, he pulled Qiao Huan close by the shoulders.

"Thanks, brother!"

He really hadn't misjudged Qiao Huan. Qiao Huan was just that good a person!

Then, over the next two weeks, I'll make sure you experience the appeal of this life too!

The group chattered noisily for a while longer before a man in a training uniform walked over.

Although the newcomer was in his twenties at most, simply standing there, he gave off an aura of righteousness and authority. The trainees instantly shut their mouths.

"Hello, everyone. My surname is Jiang. You can call me Instructor Jiang." Jiang Ting looked with satisfaction at the twelve people standing silent as cicadas in winter. "For the next two weeks, apart from your daily arts training, you'll all be under my charge!"

"You'll be divided among three dorm rooms. For all your subsequent training, rewards and punishments will be handed out by dorm. In other words, your roommates will be your comrades-in-arms!"

"The dorms you can choose from are 402, 403, and 404. Form your own groups. Also, training uniforms have already been placed in each of your **. Assemble here in half an hour. Dismissed!"

With that, Jiang Ting left without lingering.

Swift, decisive action was the true character of this place.

The trainees looked to Pei Dahai for help, but Pei Dahai immediately greased the soles of his feet and slipped away too.

Apart from Zhuo Yang, all twelve climbed the dormitory building with reluctance written across their faces.

Although Qinglong looked very modern from the outside, the dormitory building was old and run-down, and each of the three rooms was more dilapidated than the last. Room 404 was especially bad: not only was it on the shady side, but the previous occupants had left their trash behind.

So everyone stood in the corridor, none of them willing to be the first to bring up choosing rooms.

Zhuo Yang felt this wouldn't do, so he quietly consulted Qiao Huan, Ye Yiwei, and Bai Jike before saying outright, "How about this? The four of us will take 404. The eight of you can pick for yourselves. Sound good?"

"What's he putting on an act for? He went on one variety show and now his tail's pointing at the sky!" one trainee muttered. "He just wants a chance to show off!"

His name was Li Xun. He had always hung around Shi Xingzhou and Wei Teng before, and his family was well-off too.

Zhuo Yang wasn't angry when he heard him. Smiling, he asked, "Then do you want 404?"

Li Xun didn't answer. He dragged his suitcase straight toward Dorm 403.

The remaining people quickly divided up the rooms.

After Qiao Huan and the other three entered 404, they found it even dirtier than they had imagined and planned to look for cleaning supplies first.

Ye Yiwei especially had a full-blown attack of his cleanliness obsession. Holding his breath as he ran out, he looked like he was sprinting the hundred meters. For a moment, Qiao Huan felt sure his speed surpassed Bolt's.

Thinking he couldn't outrun Ye Yiwei anyway, Qiao Huan took his time, changing into his training uniform as he considered how to test the other undercover agent's identity.

In fact, all three of his roommates were rather suspicious—

Zhuo Yang went without saying. His physique rivaled Captain Country C's, his fighting skills were formidable, and his love for life here went beyond all reason.

Ye Yiwei not only had highly professional rescue skills, but his physical abilities were also far beyond those of an ordinary person. He had a great many thoughts too, as though he were hiding something—apart from having had a hernia.

Bai Jike was even stranger. He was always on his computer and phone, and it was unclear whether he was passing messages to the outside.

But as for the three of them... one was excessively enthusiastic and had an overly outstanding physique, one was a cleanliness-obsessed iceberg face, and one suffered from ultimate social anxiety.

Whoever he named as the undercover agent, something always seemed a little off.

How was he supposed to test them?

Qiao Huan was an old hand at going undercover to find hidden criminals. His usual trick was to get the other party's right-hand man to invite him to join of his own accord, then use the opportunity to climb the ranks.

But finding a good-guy undercover agent was another Domain altogether. Surely he couldn't do the same thing?

Lost in thought, Qiao Huan unconsciously wandered into the corridor, where he happened to hear a conversation coming from Dorm 403—

"Exactly. They're just four big idiots with decent stamina, and now they're strutting around!"

"Has Pei Dahai gone mad? Shoving us into military training? People are going to start calling OSOK a band of brutes."

"I think those four just had dogshit luck. When it comes to physical ability, they definitely can't beat Brother Xun!"

"You bet. Just watch! Brother Xun's bound to grind those four under his heel."

The four fixers had started from the same place as the other trainees, or even lower, yet they had gotten to take part in an SSS-rank project like Deserted Island, not to mention gaining a little burst of popularity from the Shi Xingzhou incident.

So most of their fellow trainees felt some degree of jealousy or envy toward the four.

Li Xun felt it more than most.

Not only was he a rich second-generation heir, but he was also an extreme-sports enthusiast with a little fame in the scene. Making a name for himself through his physical abilities had always been part of his plan, but the four fixers had stolen his thunder.

Qiao Huan actually knew about all this. He had heard plenty of messy talk since he came back.

It was normal for trainees to compete with one another, so he hadn't taken it to heart.

But as he passed, he glanced into their room and immediately noticed another problem:

What the hell were these people wearing?

The training uniforms issued by the base were replicas of summer training uniforms, also known as jungle training uniforms. Of course, whatever kind of training uniform it was, there was a set of standards for wearing it; you couldn't just wear it any old way.

The most basic rules were not to drape the jacket over your shoulders, leave it open, or roll up your trouser legs. Then there were details to pay attention to, like the position of the belt and how the hem of the jacket was tucked in.

But the four in the room had dressed themselves up like flowers to look good. Between them, they could practically make an entire episode of Every Wrong Way to Wear a Uniform!

Qiao Huan looked down at himself.

Although he had never worn this kind of training uniform, the dress standards seemed engraved in his DNA, and he had naturally paid attention to them all.

Comparing the two, Qiao Huan fell into deep thought.

Was this how ordinary people wore a training uniform for the first time?

He had better not expose himself before he even managed to test the other undercover agent.

The four in 403 began moving toward the door as they talked, and Qiao Huan hurriedly slipped into the washroom.

Then, facing the mirror, he fastened his buttons crookedly and rolled up his trouser legs...

In short, the more wrong it looked, the better.

Qiao Huan found every movement unbearably uncomfortable, as though he were fighting against his own soul.

But his fingers suddenly paused as he thought—

If wearing his clothes wrong was this uncomfortable for him, a police undercover agent, then that undercover agent ought to find it even worse...

After Zhuo Yang handed the broom he had found to Ye Yiwei, he was driven out of 404 because Ye Yiwei thought he took up too much space and got in the way of cleaning.

After voicing his displeasure, Zhuo Yang happily began searching the corridor for his true brother, Qiao Huan.

As he passed Dorm 403, he happened to run into Li Xun and the others coming out. Li Xun naturally said some unpleasant things to mock him, but Zhuo Yang couldn't concentrate enough to hear them clearly.

He was having too hard a time holding back his laughter to do anything else.

Those four had dressed their training uniforms like that. Just wait until Instructor Jiang punished them to death!

He had trained countless newcomers before and knew all too well how an instructor would put a new class in its place.

At the thought, he whistled, eager to share the good news with Qiao Huan.

Then.

At the washroom entrance, he saw Qiao Huan inside.

Qiao Huan was concentrating on adjusting his clothes and didn't notice the movement outside.

Zhuo Yang was just about to call out a warning when he noticed how unusually serious Qiao Huan looked.

And under his hands, the belt, trouser legs, and cuffs all ended up in the wrong positions no matter how he adjusted them.

Zhuo Yang immediately recalled Qiao Huan's usual way of dressing. Everything was always loose and baggy.

Could it be that Qiao Huan wasn't too lazy to dress properly, but... couldn't dress properly?

No wonder!

Qiao Huan moved as though he had been filled with cement, every action painfully difficult.

That had to be it!

He had been wondering how his brother could be so perfect in looks, singing voice, physical ability, and emotional intelligence. It turned out he was a little idiot at everyday life!

Just then, Ye Yiwei and Bai Jike walked over too.

"What are you looking at?" Only then did Ye Yiwei notice that Zhuo Yang was staring fixedly at the men's washroom. He frowned. "Forget it. Don't tell me."

Zhuo Yang looked away, glanced at how the two were dressed, and grinned.

The sun stood high, baking the entire training ground until wisps of heat rose from it.

When Qiao Huan reached the assembly point, only thirty seconds remained before Instructor Jiang's deadline.

The other trainees had almost all arrived, and nearly all of them had made small alterations to their uniforms. At the very least, they had rolled up their sleeves or tightened their trouser legs.

Among them, Qiao Huan actually counted as neatly dressed.

"Brother Qiao, do you know we're about to go live?" a fair, clean-looking trainee whispered. "You look so tacky dressed like that!"

Qiao Huan took great pains to suppress the urge to retort and squeezed a few words through his teeth. "It's not tacky."

Tacky, my ass. I think this uniform looks best!

When Li Xun saw how Qiao Huan was dressed, he drawled, "When I came down from Qilian Snow Mountain back then, even my clothes weren't as twisted as yours."

He was thoroughly confident in his figure, so he hadn't made his uniform too flashy. He had only left the collar open to expose his collarbones.

"Aren't you brothers really close?" Li Xun said. "I just ran into those guys from your dorm in the corridor. How come they didn't—"

Qiao Huan immediately pricked up his ears. He wanted to hear who was dressed most neatly.

The more neatly dressed a person was, the greater the chance he was the undercover agent.

But Li Xun's words stuck in his throat.

The three of them had come out one after another, arriving right on time to stand in the middle of the square.

Li Xun distinctly remembered that when he had just seen the three of them, they hadn't been dressed like this...

Qiao Huan naturally had no idea what scene Li Xun was recalling. He merely followed Li Xun's astonished gaze and looked at them one by one—

In an instant, he locked onto a suspect.

Zhuo Yang's training uniform was a ridiculous mess. He was just short of wearing his trousers as a shirt and his shirt as trousers.

Ye Yiwei's was no better. He looked as though he had just been in a fight.

Only Bai Jike had everything from his collar to his belt in the correct position, impeccable in every detail.

Zhuo Yang grinned at Qiao Huan. "You made it, brother."

Seeing that Qiao Huan was staring intently at Bai Jike and ignoring him completely, Zhuo Yang muttered, "That kid said he still remembered the dress code from military training, so he dressed like that. Don't worry, we're all... uh, wearing this uniform for the first time. You've done pretty well!"

In fact.

He had just patiently coaxed Ye Yiwei and Xiao Bai, wanting to mess up both their uniforms so they could be punished alongside Qiao Huan.

Ye Yiwei had gone along with it to save himself trouble, but Bai Jike had a particular attachment to dressing according to the rules.

Seeing Bai Jike's reluctance, Zhuo Yang could only let it go.

He was a head taller than Bai Jike to begin with, and Bai Jike was so fair and tender that it would have looked like he was bullying him.

But now Zhuo Yang regretted it, because he had noticed Qiao Huan's gaze sticking to Bai Jike!

That look was exactly like the one he had worn when he first saw his own instructor's sharp, neat uniform, full of nervous anticipation!

Qiao Huan seemed to be answering Zhuo Yang, yet also talking to himself. "Looks like he's pretty familiar with this place."

Zhuo Yang answered immediately, "He isn't!"

Surprised by Zhuo Yang's strong reaction, Qiao Huan asked, "What?"

"Uh..."

Zhuo Yang really wanted to say that Bai Jike had been frantically tugging at his cuffs the whole time, trying to pull his sleeves down over his hands. That was clearly not a habit a qualified soldier should have.

But he also felt that Qiao Huan's own dressing skills were so poor that analyzing it like this in front of him would undoubtedly confuse his thinking.

"Look at his scrawny little frame and that pale skin," Zhuo Yang explained hurriedly. "One look and you can tell he's not cut out to be a soldier."

Qiao Huan looked thoughtful. "That's true..."

Before Qiao Huan could think it through, Instructor Jiang strode up to them.

At the same time, Pei Dahai came over with a cameraman.

Instructor Jiang's piercing gaze swept over each trainee in turn. Clearly, he wasn't pleased with their attire.

But he didn't bring it up yet. Instead, he said, "To make the upcoming training easier, you'll act in dorm groups, each under the care of a team leader."

Team leaders?

The trainees perked up.

There it was, that familiar whiff of gunpowder from a survival show!

"One team leader is Mr. Pei Dahai, and another is Mr. Tao Zhenting. As for the third..." Jiang Ting paused for suspense. "See for yourselves."

The trainees were already alert at the mention of Pei Dahai and Tao Zhenting.

After all, their debut was only weeks away. They wouldn't pass up any chance to get on good terms with Star Radiance's executives!

Could the third team leader be an executive too?

Everyone looked behind Instructor Jiang. Although the person's face was hidden by a mask, the trainees recognized him at once—

It was Jiang Ji!

"Hello, everyone. You didn't expect it to be me, did you?" Jiang Ji wore a mask, but his voice was distinctive enough. "There are two reasons I'm here. First, I'll be transitioning into a manager role. That's still a secret for now, so please keep it quiet. Second... I'll tell my team members in private."

After that brief announcement, Jiang Ji stepped aside.

Instructor Jiang continued, "Each dorm should send a representative to tell me which team leader you want."

Before he had finished speaking, Li Xun raised his hand. "We choose Mr. Pei Dahai!"

A trainee from Dorm 402 immediately raised his hand as well. "We choose Mr. Tao Zhenting!"

No matter how inexperienced the trainees were, they knew Jiang Ji couldn't compare with Pei Dahai or Tao Zhenting in either industry standing or experience!

He might be UPE's lead vocalist and have coached them in singing, but he was famous for his bad temper and being hard to approach!

So the "unwanted" Jiang Ji could only go stand beside the four members of Dorm 404. But he showed no sadness at being passed over by the other trainees. If anything, he looked a little... relieved.

"Weird artists get a weird manager," Li Xun muttered under his breath beside Pei Dahai. "They're doomed."

"All right, introductions are over." Instructor Jiang grew serious again. "Next, since none of you are dressed according to regulations, we'll start with a punishment..."

"One moment, Instructor Jiang," Pei Dahai interrupted. "Let me start the livestream first!"

"All right."

The corners of Li Xun's lips curled up.

It wasn't that he didn't know he'd be punished for dressing this way. He was waiting for the punishment!

Punishment here was bound to involve push-ups, frog jumps, and the like. As an extreme sports athlete, why would he be afraid of those?

And now they were livestreaming too. He was going to show his fans that his physical fitness was definitely superior to those four weirdos from Dorm 404!

"All right! Instructor Jiang, please continue."

"What will your punishment be?" Instructor Jiang unexpectedly flashed a wicked grin. "You all thought it would be push-ups, didn't you? No, let's try something fresh. This time, we're having a singing contest! Each group gets ten minutes to prepare, starting now!"

A singing contest?

Li Xun was dumbfounded.

He'd even finished warming up, and now they wanted him to have a singing contest?

The members of Dorm 403 all looked at Pei Dahai. "Brother Dahai, how many songs suitable for a singing contest do you know?"

Pei Dahai cleared his throat and declared with righteous conviction, "Not a single one!"

Not far away.

Dorm 404.

Qiao Huan, Ye Yiwei, and Zhuo Yang's hearts sank at the same time. Ah, a singing contest.

Only Bai Jike looked utterly bewildered. "May I ask what a singing contest is?"

As a computer technician, Bai Jike had been specially recruited into both high school and university, so he had never undergone military training.

If he hadn't joined this special training for the undercover plan, he wouldn't even have worn this outfit before.

Qiao Huan looked at him in surprise, unable to tell for the moment whether the kid was pretending.

Jiang Ji explained, "The three teams take turns singing positive, uplifting songs and see who knows the most."

Xiao Bai nodded earnestly. "But I don't know a single one. What should I do?"

"Actually..." Jiang Ji looked at the four of them. "There's another reason I came here. Your instructor, Jiang Ting, is my younger brother."

"Oh!" The four smiled in delight.

"We both grew up in a military compound, so I've got a pretty good stock of songs like these." As Jiang Ji spoke, he squatted down and used a stone to write song titles on the ground, without a trace of an idol's airs. "We'll sing this one first, then this one..."

While the three teams prepared their songs for the contest, the number of viewers in Star Radiance's livestream shot up.

"Boohoo, sisters, we finally have content!"

"Star Radiance, you made us wait so long!"

"Where is this? Why do all the trainees look like security guards?"

"Holy crap? Is this actual training?"

The barrage viewers were stunned by the scene before them.

More than a dozen handsome young men not only had no makeup on, but were also wearing thick, tacky training uniforms that completely hid their figures?!

Were these still idols?

In an instant, more than half their enthusiasm was doused.

Actually, after Deserted Island finished airing, they had all noticed that Star Radiance was suppressing trending searches about itself. After all, Shi Xingzhou was a Star Radiance artist; digging deeper was bound to turn something up.

But that had also hurt the OSOK project, so only a handful of people had entered the livestream.

The ones who felt worst about it were two groups: fans looking forward to OSOK and fans won over by the four brothers of the shura field.

Although the two groups overlapped a little, those who didn't overlap were locked in a bitter quarrel.

OSOK's fans didn't know Shi Xingzhou had been the preselected leader. They felt the variety show Deserted Island had completely held up OSOK's debut, so they aimed their ire directly at Xiu Si, whose participation in Deserted Island had caused the internal selection to be suspended.

On top of that, the four were nothing like the "traditional idols" they had been hoping for, which made them dislike the four even more.

As for Xiu Si's fans, they already hated Star Radiance's guts because of Shi Xingzhou and felt the lousy company was completely unworthy of the four.

What was more, because Shi Xingzhou had become an artist embroiled in legal trouble, all his footage had been cut from Deserted Island, taking Xiu Si, who had been with him from start to finish, down with it. That left the four, who already had little content, without the only thing fans could watch, making their fans even angrier at Star Radiance's arrangements.

The two fan groups gradually became as incompatible as fire and water. The latter were far fewer in number, and their idols kept such a low profile that even anti-defamation accounts were more active than they were, making the fans seem weaker still.

"That said, what are these people doing right now?"

"I got here early. They're dividing into three dorms for a singing contest!"

"A singing contest? I'm dying. Star Radiance, have a heart!"

"Dorm 402's team leader is Instructor Tao? I heard Instructor Tao used to be in a military arts troupe. He must be really good!"

"The one next to Li Xun in 403, Hu-something, just dropped out of university, so he must still remember some songs!"

"Xiu Si really do make camouflage uniforms look the most boring. Zero fashion sense."

"Look at Xiu Si, they're all squatting on the ground playing with ants. Who's their team leader? I can't tell with that mask on."

"Probably a newbie. He's got dyed hair and looks like he has no idea how a singing contest works."

"Xiu Si can only sing Reject Pornography, Gambling, and Drugs ten more times. Heh."

Ten minutes passed quickly. The three dorm groups hurried to sit in three rows and waited for the instructor's command.

But how could Instructor Jiang's tricks have only one layer?

"Everyone, down! Push-up position!"

Trainees: ?

So it was push-ups after all?

But since they were in front of the livestream camera, they could only comply.

"Do push-ups while you sing. If you don't do them properly, the whole song won't count!" Instructor Jiang finally smiled. "Starting with 402, sing!"

With Tao Zhenting as their team leader, the four from Dorm 402 had naturally prepared plenty of songs, but singing while doing push-ups threw all their plans into disarray.

"Unity... is... strength..."

"This strength is iron... this strength is steel..."

Singing while exercising was even harder than they had imagined!

A singing contest was all about force and momentum. The moment they couldn't keep their breathing up, it all fell apart!

"I'm dying, these guys aren't fit enough."

"Watch 403. They've got my Li Xun, former extreme sports athlete, look him up, thanks."

"And my Hu Bin, strong as iron!"

Instructor Jiang couldn't bear to listen anymore. He waved a hand. "Doesn't count! 403, get ready!"

"The wind is howling! The horses are neighing! The Yellow River is roaring!"

Sure enough, the four sang well when they started, and the barrage was flooded with "Amazing!"

Instructor Jiang said, "Good! 404... Hey, what are you doing?"

Hearing him, Qiao Huan and the other three looked at Jiang Ting in confusion.

Instructor Jiang said, "No, I meant for you to do push-ups when you sing. Why are you doing them now?"

Only then did the viewers notice that Xiu Si had been doing push-ups the whole time 403 was singing!

"Hahaha, they're taking this way too literally!"

"They're faking it. They'll be out of strength soon!"

"Out of strength? Sister, you really don't know Xiu Si."

Jiang Ji leaned closer. "Still have the strength?"

The four nodded.

They had misunderstood, but they'd only done twenty or thirty push-ups. It was no big deal.

Of course, Instructor Jiang gave them no time to rest. He immediately said, "Begin!"

"Remember what I taught you about keeping your voices steady while dancing. A thousand changes, but the principle stays the same!" Jiang Ji gave them one last reminder.

"Golden shield, forged in hot blood, show your prowess in times of peril!" The four sang in perfect unison, their voices carrying the force to sweep aside ten thousand men even as they exercised.

As they sang, the four thanked Jiang Ji in their hearts. As expected of an experienced artist, the technique he taught them was simple and effective!

"Wow! The four of them did push-ups for so long just now, and they're still singing this well!"

"Amazing, amazing! That's our Xiu Si!"

"Their voices have so much force too. They're completely different from Li Xun and Hu Bin!"

"That's only the first song. Our Xunxun has loads more in his repertoire!"

Jiang Ting smiled with satisfaction and immediately pointed at 403. "You!"

Li Xun was still panting, but he had to hurry back down. "A little white poplar..."

And so, for the rest of the contest, it became a battle between 403 and 404.

The two sides went back and forth, singing seven or eight songs, and each person did more than a hundred push-ups.

The barrage had been a little skeptical of this segment at first, and the two fan groups had argued nonstop, but they gradually quieted down.

Viewers: Don't ask. We're busy taking screenshots and recording clips. It would be such a waste not to share material this freaking awesome!

The singing contest was not only especially uplifting, but also brought out the natural qualities of each singer's voice, because the trainees had long since abandoned every flashy vocal technique and were simply roaring!

Most importantly, the trainees looked resolute while doing push-ups, and once sweat soaked their clothes, their look came together too. A valiant aura rushed right at the viewers.

Who could resist that?!

While the viewers' fingers frantically captured screenshots and clips, Li Xun was actually on the verge of collapse. He was fit, but even he couldn't stand this much exertion. His brain was almost starved of oxygen!

By the fifth or sixth song, the four members of Dorm 403 were already singing in four different keys. When they finally reached the ninth song, they fell one after another. In the end, even Li Xun couldn't hold on. With a muffled groan, he dropped flat to the ground and stayed there.

"Boohoo, pats for baby Xun. You've already done great!"

"Xunxun is amazing! He held on the longest in 403!"

"That's our Xun!"

"A bet's a bet. Xiu Si really are strong!"

"Counter reporting in: Xiu Si just did 150 push-ups in total, and not one of them fell behind!"

"Exactly! And Xiu Si sang really well too. Not one of them was off-key!"

Without Shi Xingzhou's fans, most of the idol fans were fairly reasonable and readily acknowledged their raw ability.

Li Xun looked despairingly at the four members of Dorm 404.

They finished their last song in perfect harmony, then brushed off their hands and stood up.

Qiao Huan looked around and saw that everyone from Dorm 403 was pale and sickly. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe this was what ordinary people's fitness was like?

He didn't really feel anything yet, and the breathing method Jiang Ji had taught them was indeed useful, so he wasn't tired in any way at all.

But... there was a livestream camera, after all. He couldn't stand out too much!

So Qiao Huan immediately started panting.

As though they had received a signal, Zhuo Yang, Ye Yiwei, and Bai Jike started panting too.

"So they are tired after all!"

"I can already see the point of this military training. It's a double test of their singing ability and physical fitness!"

"I hope our brothers all improve quickly!"

"Xunxun was great! Xiu Si were great too!!!"

The viewers might not have seen clearly, but Li Xun, right beside them, caught every tiny change in the four's expressions.

Damn!

Those four clearly weren't tired at all, so why were they putting on an act?

Could it be... they didn't want to make them look too miserable?

"Ah Xun, are you all right?" Hu Bin asked worriedly when he saw the strange look on Li Xun's face. "Are you feeling unwell?"

All the light went out of Li Xun's eyes. "Huhu, do you remember me telling you I'd climbed more than a dozen treacherous peaks?"

"Huh?"

"Now I've found another perilous peak. No, four of them."

Seeing how exhausted everyone was, Instructor Jiang showed great mercy and let them return to their dorms to rest after dinner.

The four people in Dorm 404 had never expected Li Xun to become their tagalong after a round of competitive singing.

He kept following them around, asking how they trained their bodies.

Actually, there was nothing wrong with his physical fitness; he had mainly lost because of his technique. The four of them enthusiastically shared their experience with him, holding nothing back.

Their inner thoughts: Hurry up and improve, so we won't be the only ones who stand out!

Only when the lights-out bugle sounded did Li Xun reluctantly leave.

Then Dorm 404 fell quiet again.

Qiao Huan finally had a chance to think.

Seeing how neatly Bai Jike wore his training uniform, Qiao Huan was very suspicious of his background.

So during the singing competition, he had kept an eye on Bai Jike.

But Bai Jike couldn't let his voice out at all, and he was clearly unfamiliar with the lyrics and melody.

Aside from being reasonably fit, he didn't look at all like someone who had spent time in a place like this!

...Could he be pretending?

Beeeep—

Beep, beep!

A piercing whistle cut through the night!

Emergency assembly!

Qiao Huan had no time to react. He instinctively rolled out of bed.

Then he looked to the side.

Ye Yiwei and Zhuo Yang had gotten up without even opening their eyes.

The three of them looked at one another.

Some reactions carved into their DNA were beyond conscious control.

However.

Five seconds later, a muffled thump broke the subtle awkwardness among the three.

Bai Jike had rolled onto the floor and was staring at the three of them in horror:

"What was that sound? Whose CPU's overheating alarm went off?!"

Qiao Huan: ...

Hiss, if he's pretending... then I've really met my match this time.

His acting is way too good.