From the Pig Farm

Squad Leader Liu went off to attend to his work, leaving Jiang Yan Hai alone again. The Red Star Engine immediately issued a new training mission. Just as Jiang Yan Hai had expected, it was still burpees, except the required number had been raised to 400 in one go!

Jiang Yan Hai roughly understood why the Red Star Engine had him complete burpees first. Burpees worked more muscles throughout the body than any other exercise, and that soothing energy constantly emerging inside him was probably helping his muscle groups grow stronger rapidly.

That was why this kind of extreme training was naturally the best.

He did not waste any more words. After returning to the nearby barracks to hydrate, he started doing burpees again.

After leaving the logistics farm, Fan Tian Lei headed straight for regiment headquarters.

"Old Kang, I'll leave this matter to you." Fan Tian Lei handed a file directly to Old Kang.

"Heh, a weasel paying respects to a chicken—nothing good ever comes of it." Regimental Commander Kang, jokingly called Master Kang by the regiment's men, gave a disdainful snort.

"Old Kang, I don't like hearing that. I'm selecting talent for your regiment. Sure, I sent him in, but take a look at this kid's file yourself. A Peking University graduate at eighteen, with three bachelor's degrees. Have you ever seen someone like that among the recruits?" Fan Tian Lei said, pointing at the file.

Regimental Commander Kang took the file and looked it over. Of course he knew his own soldiers, and Jiang Yan Hai's background stood head and shoulders above the other recruits. Naturally, Regimental Commander Kang had known about him already.

"I know that, but hasn't his recruit training performance been rather poor?" Regimental Commander Kang asked after looking through the file.

"Though I don't know what happened to him, I think the kid must have run into something before. But I just went to see him, and he's recovering well. So why not give him a chance?" Fan Tian Lei smiled.

"Give him a chance your way? Aren't you afraid the other soldiers' spit will drown him?" Regimental Commander Kang looked at him, somewhat speechless.

"Pressure can also be motivation. Since he wants to do it this way, he has to bear that pressure. And Old Kang, he's different from the other recruits. He may be eighteen too, but his mind is different from theirs. Don't underestimate him." Fan Tian Lei's expression turned serious.

"Fine, I understand. You just want to spread the word early and put some pressure on him. I'll have Gong Jian handle it." After thinking it over, Regimental Commander Kang nodded decisively.

Naturally, Jiang Yan Hai did not know that Fan Tian Lei had added more pressure onto him. But he was in no mood to find out right then, because he was already so exhausted that he did not want to say a thing.

Over the next week, Jiang Yan Hai finally learned just how insane the Red Star Auxiliary Engine was. Aside from the terrifying amount of daily exercise, he also had to learn all the military's basic knowledge, firearm maintenance, disassembly, assembly, shooting, and more.

However, once Jiang Yan Hai got serious, his ability to absorb new knowledge was terrifyingly fast. And when his base data was pulled up now, it had improved enormously.

"Name: Jiang Yan Hai"

"Age: 18"

"Permissions: Recruit (0/100)"

"Attribute assessment complete:"

"Physical Fitness: 150"

"Neural Reaction: 120"

"Brain Activity: 180"

"The average values for healthy adults aged eighteen to forty are 100 for all three attributes. Individual results may vary."

"Current mission: Join Sharpshooter Fourth Company."

The most noticeable improvement was in his physical fitness. It had originally been only eighty, but now it had reached 150! It had nearly doubled!

Only then did Jiang Yan Hai understand that completing missions was not the only way to gain physical fitness. His daily training, along with the energy constantly emerging from within him, was strengthening his body at all times.

And the speed was terrifying. Most frightening of all, his body would not suffer any aftereffects. This was practically a cheat!

Jiang Yan Hai was now fully equipped and ready to head out for the assessment.

"Go on. There have been some rumors going around the regiment lately. Don't take them to heart. Just do what you should do." Squad Leader Liu reached out and patted Jiang Yan Hai on the shoulder.

"Yes, Squad Leader! Don't worry, I won't take it to heart." Jiang Yan Hai smiled faintly, then saluted every comrade in the squad.

"Comrades, I was quite an asshole during this time, and I caused everyone trouble. I apologize to all of you here." After speaking, Jiang Yan Hai lowered his hand and gave everyone a deep bow.

"What are you talking about? We're comrades. We may not know what happened to you, but it's enough that you pulled through."

"That's right, Jiang Yan Hai, keep it up! Go out there and show them that our logistics farm has experts too!"

"Keep it up!"

All his comrades smiled and shouted their encouragement.

"All right, everyone, attention!" Squad Leader Liu took a deep breath and shouted.

With a snap, everyone in the squad stood at attention in perfect unison, their expressions solemn.

"Salute!" Squad Leader Liu shouted.

With a swish, everyone gave a crisp military salute in perfect unison, including Jiang Yan Hai, who stood facing them.

Although they had not interacted much over the past month, during this short week, they had given him the greatest help—training with him, sharing meals, helping him replenish his energy, and teaching him military knowledge.

At that moment, Jiang Yan Hai suddenly felt his nose sting. But he held it back. He knew that perhaps they would walk different paths in the future, but he would never forget that this was his first company, his first squad!

Lowering his hand, Jiang Yan Hai decisively spun around and ran toward the vehicle waiting in the distance to pick him up.

Behind him, nine figures remained motionless, still holding their salutes until Jiang Yan Hai boarded the vehicle, it started up, and finally vanished from sight in a cloud of dust.

The one who came to pick up Jiang Yan Hai was Gong Jian, the political instructor of Sharpshooter Fourth Company. Only then did Gong Jian, sitting in the passenger seat, glance at Jiang Yan Hai in the back through the rearview mirror and ask calmly, "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Jiang Yan Hai grinned at Gong Jian.

Gong Jian opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

At the assessment grounds, not only was Sharpshooter Fourth Company present, but also Fierce Tiger Sixth Company, where Wang Yan Bing was stationed, along with two other companies.

"Did you hear? That Jiang Yan Hai from the pig farm is using connections to get into Sharpshooter Fourth Company."

"That doesn't really count as using connections, does it? Isn't he taking an assessment?"

"Bullshit. The assessment is just for show, isn't it?"

"Anyway, aren't there other dissatisfied soldiers taking the assessment with him today? If he loses, the higher-ups can't still put him in, right?"

"They can still put him in. Doesn't Fourth Company have a Kitchen Squad? Going from the pig farm to the Kitchen Squad works too. Hahaha."

Listening to the murmurs behind him, Old Hei frowned. He disliked this kind of gossiping behind people's backs, but he held himself back because he knew the news had been deliberately leaked by the higher-ups.

Old Hei did not know the specific reason. In any case, according to the political instructor, it was a test for that newly arrived kid.

Getting into Sharpshooter Fourth Company again would not be easy. Not only did one's military abilities have to be excellent, one's mental fortitude had to be strong as well!

But Old Hei did not know that this was simply a trap Fan Tian Lei had dug for Jiang Yan Hai.