Xue Daochao gave a small jump, reached the pull-up bar with both hands, then began exerting himself and pulling his whole body up.
The explosive strength in his arms lifted his entire upper body high above the bar. This was clearly no ordinary pull-up practice.
"Muscle-up. Not bad."
Squad Leader Chen Ting had seen plenty. He immediately recognized that Xue Daochao had pulled himself high above the bar with a muscle-up, a move that required tremendous explosive strength in the arms.
The only thing was, his lower body had swayed a little. He'd probably used a bit of momentum along with that explosive strength to pull himself up.
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Xue Daochao did three muscle-ups in a row before switching to regular pull-ups.
Even with regular pull-ups, he managed nearly twenty before gradually slowing down and finally dropping to the ground.
He'd already beaten Ji Baichang by a clear margin, and his pull-up count completely crushed the other new recruits too.
"Heh, how about that, Ji Baichang? You're doing my laundry for a week."
Xue Daochao made a point of walking over to Ji Baichang and smugly rubbing it in.
Ji Baichang's face was red with anger.
He'd thought he was guaranteed to crush this guy in this event.
After all, he'd been single for nineteen years. His mighty arm wasn't a joke, and pull-ups were a piece of cake for him.
But he hadn't expected Xue Daochao to have actually trained for this!
That muscle-up move of his was absolutely impossible for an ordinary person who hadn't practiced it!
He'd tried it himself before, but his arms just didn't have enough explosive strength.
Doing this guy's laundry for a week! Damn it! Just thinking about it made him furious!
Had this bastard gone and had his fortune told before making the bet today???
At the thought, Ji Baichang suddenly felt a chill. Was this guy really that uncanny?
"Not bad. If you keep practicing during your three months in New Recruit Company, you should be able to break thirty. When you're assigned to a company, if you don't mess up in the other events, I'll take you to the Special Operations Brigade."
"Do you want to become Special Forces?"
Squad Leader Chen Ting suddenly asked Xue Daochao.
The question left not only Xue Daochao and Ji Baichang stunned, but also the other new recruits hanging from the bar nearby, their faces contorted with strain.
Wasn't becoming Special Forces the reason they'd joined the army?
Could their squad leader really have enough pull to send them straight into the Special Operations Brigade?!
Holy crap! Their old squad leader really was something! He had connections everywhere!
While everyone was dreaming about the legendary Special Forces, Xue Daochao nodded and replied in a voice that rang out loud and clear:
"Reporting to the squad leader, I really want to become Special Forces."
"Good. That's the spirit. Keep working hard from now on. With your physical conditioning, you should have no trouble passing the Special Operations Brigade's selection when they come to scout for recruits after your three months here."
Chen Ting nodded, his gaze toward Xue Daochao full of approval.
The kid was a promising talent. His three-kilometer time was just about acceptable, and after three months in New Recruit Company, he should be able to get faster.
He was pretty good at pull-ups too, and he could make a lot of progress there over those three months.
"Squad leader! Is there a chance I could get into the Special Operations Brigade too? I want to become Special Forces!"
As soon as Ji Baichang heard that Xue Daochao might get into the Special Operations Brigade and become one of the Special Forces, he immediately panicked.
He wanted to become Special Forces too!
What was the point of serving in the military without becoming Special Forces? It was like dipping a fried dough stick in salty soy milk!
"You? Keep practicing. You should be able to manage, more or less."
"The main thing is that I want to see how hard you work over these three months. If you work hard, then even if your fitness scores aren't great right now, as long as I can clearly see you improving, there won't be any problem sending you to the Special Operations Brigade."
"I've been a soldier for sixteen years. I wouldn't lie to you about something like this."
Squad Leader Chen Ting took a sip from his canteen to wet his throat.
He said this to give the other new recruits who weren't meeting the fitness standards a little hope, too.
After all, not everyone started out with a high baseline. Plenty of veterans in the Special Operations Brigade had started off with poor scores as new recruits, then trained hard and improved afterward.
Talent could determine how high a person jumped, but effort often determined how far they ultimately went.
"Squad leader, am I up next on the pull-up bar?"
Lü Qinglong's voice came from above everyone's heads.
The next moment, his massive frame appeared in front of the bar, carrying an unstoppable momentum.
The bar that the other recruits had to look up at barely came into view in front of Lü Qinglong, who stood a full two and a half meters tall.
In fact, it only just reached his neck.
It was a bit like tossing a six-foot-tall adult into a bouncy castle in the kids' section.
Lü Qinglong gripped the very ends of the bar with both hands, then tucked up his legs. Only then could he just barely hang from it.
His knees occasionally brushed the ground, too.
But this was as far as he could go.
"Huh? Brother Long weighs a ton. Why does it look like the bar's about to collapse?"
"Pull-up bar: I'm carrying a weight I was never meant to bear."
Staring at the bar's posts, embedded in the soil, the new recruits couldn't help asking a question from the depths of their souls.
Lü Qinglong didn't care. His lats contracted sharply, and he pulled with both arms. The muscles in his forearms stood out in clearly defined lines, each one brimming with strength, as though he could crush rocks with a casual squeeze.
As his body repeatedly rose and fell, Ji Baichang stood off to the side with his mouth hanging open, counting for him without even realizing it:
"Twenty-one."
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-three!"
Lü Qinglong was like a machine that never tired. His arms were like two enormous springs, repeatedly pulling him up and lowering him back down.
Even Ji Baichang had the strange feeling that Lü Qinglong was about to crush the bar's alloy pole in his hands!
"Eighty-one!"
"Eighty-two!"
"Oi!"
Lü Qinglong exerted himself again. The strength of his arms and lats hauled his upper body up onto the bar.
It was the very same muscle-up Xue Daochao had just done!
He dropped down, then hauled himself up again!
He repeated the move nearly ten times.
Finally.
The pull-up bar could take no more. Its support posts, anchored in the soil on either side, were yanked right out of the ground. The once-tall bar was ripped free by Lü Qinglong and toppled forward.
A split second before it fell, Lü Qinglong lowered his tucked legs and landed steadily on the ground.
He looked at the pull-up bar he'd accidentally yanked over, then turned to Squad Leader Chen Ting with an awkward expression.
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