"Yeah, go ahead."
Lü Qinglong kept his rifle raised and held his position. After thinking for a moment, he asked:
"Squad Leader, when I enlisted, some of the recruits said that with my build, I wasn't suited to being a soldier."
"They said I'd be a sitting duck on the battlefield. What do you think?"
After asking, Lü Qinglong fixed his eyes on Chen Ting, eager to hear from a veteran whether there was any truth to it.
"If you'd enlisted more than ten years ago, they might've had a point."
"But can you guess why I said more than ten years ago?"
"Huh? What do you mean, Squad Leader?"
Lü Qinglong's eyes lit up.
"I mean the people who said you'd be a sitting duck on the battlefield must still be living in the Qing dynasty."
"Our Special Operations Brigade began issuing Level Five bulletproof vests three years ago."
"Those Level Five vests can stop 7.62 mm rifle rounds. Most major powers can manage that nowadays."
"But here's the thing: last year, if I remember right, the brigade ran a bulletproofing test."
"The research institute used a new material called cermet. It had a very stable internal structure, and just two centimeters of it could stop a shot from a 12.7 mm sniper rifle!"
"But the stuff was too heavy. After one round of testing, they scrapped it. I remember our brigade still had quite a bit of cermet left over."
"Qinglong, we could absolutely use cermet. Just talk to the people at the research institute and ask them to make you a custom bulletproof vest out of it."
"On the battlefield, the impact you'd have could be more staggering than that of an entire infantry company."
Squad Leader Chen Ting paused, apparently picturing Lü Qinglong wearing a custom-made bulletproof vest.
From the moment he'd first laid eyes on Lü Qinglong, he'd already been thinking about how much this build could contribute on the battlefield.
A born heavy-weapons specialist!
Most heavy-weapons specialists were lucky to provide fire support with a squad machine gun.
But Lü Qinglong was different. They could take a six-barreled, 30 mm anti-aircraft cannon off its mount and let him use it against enemy targets on the ground!
What was the difference between Lü Qinglong and a tank charging at high speed?
"Really, Squad Leader?"
Lü Qinglong was overjoyed. The right bulletproof vest would be like adding wings to a tiger!
His physical abilities were outrageous, but he was still within the bounds of a normal human being.
A knife could barely hurt him anymore, but firearms and other weapons still posed a threat.
Now that he'd heard he could get a vest made just for him once he joined the Special Operations Brigade, he couldn't describe how happy he was.
"A cermet vest might be very heavy, Qinglong. Be prepared for that."
"I took a look at your build. If you want it to protect all four limbs, the thing will probably weigh at least a hundred kilograms."
"When you're actually in combat, you'll also need to carry a heavy machine gun and ammunition. That'll bring the total to over a hundred and fifty kilograms. Can your body handle that?"
When he said "a hundred and fifty kilograms," even Chen Ting couldn't help clicking his tongue.
"I can handle it! A hundred and fifty kilograms is nothing."
"Squad Leader, when I run with a load at home, I start at three hundred kilograms! I can do five kilometers in just over sixteen minutes."
Lü Qinglong explained confidently.
"Three hundred kilograms. Five kilometers in sixteen minutes."
Hearing those numbers, Chen Ting's mouth twitched.
Good grief.
In sixteen years as a soldier, he'd never heard of results that absurd.
Was this what a born Soldier King looked like?
He was starting to wonder if Lü Qinglong was even human.
His older brother's extraordinary learning ability was one thing, but Lü Qinglong's physical abilities were so inhuman that Chen Ting was about to lose his mind.
Were the Lü family genes really that good? How had they produced two freaks in a row?
"All right, then. You'll probably have to talk to your father about the cermet."
"If you don't feel comfortable bringing it up with him, you can talk to Company Commander Chen Tianjian. He'll definitely help you."
"Huh? Squad Leader, what about Company Commander Chen Tianjian?"
Lü Qinglong asked in confusion.
His current New Recruit Company commander was only a captain. Getting the research institute to help would require submitting an application up the chain of command.
And whether it was approved would be up to the higher-ups. Did his current company commander, Chen Tianjian, have connections at the research institute?
"Well, I can't tell you yet. I'll explain when the time is right."
"All right, that's about all I can teach you this morning. Head back. I'll keep teaching you at this time tomorrow."
Chen Ting glanced at the time on his phone. It was almost six, when the wake-up bugle would sound, so he ended the morning's training and took Lü Qinglong back to the barracks.
"Squad Leader! I feel like I learned so much this morning!"
As they walked back, Lü Qinglong couldn't hide his excitement.
"You need to work hard, Qinglong. There's still a lot you're missing, and plenty of things you don't even know about."
"I've got one year left before I leave the army. Before then, I'll teach you everything I've learned in my sixteen years of service."
Seeing how eager Lü Qinglong was to learn, Chen Ting felt deeply pleased.
At least before leaving the army, he'd managed to pass on what the army had taught him.
The two chatted as they made their way back to the barracks.
As soon as he entered, Lü Qinglong saw recruits crouching all along the corridor outside.
They were all doing the same thing: folding their blankets.
"Quit sleeping! The squad leader's back!"
Xue Daochao nudged Ji Baichang, who was asleep on top of his blanket with his butt sticking up in a bizarre pose.
Ji Baichang jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes hard, then pretended to be busy pressing down on his blanket.
A few other recruits in the squad had been dozing off too, but when Xue Daochao warned them, they hurriedly started folding their blankets. At least they'd managed to keep up appearances before Squad Leader Chen Ting got back.
"You lot. You still haven't finished folding your blankets after all this time?"
Chen Ting asked the recruits with a frown.
An hour had passed, and aside from two or three people, no one had finished folding their blankets. Were they slacking off?
"Reporting, Squad Leader! I was just pressing mine down. I'll finish folding it right away!"
Ji Baichang hurriedly replied with a beaming smile.
Seeing this, Chen Ting didn't say anything more. He just went to his own bed and began making it, like the recruits.
"Hey, hey! Qinglong, what were you doing with the squad leader?"
Ji Baichang lowered his voice and asked excitedly.
As he spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on the model gun Lü Qinglong had placed under his bed. He seemed eager to pick it up and have a feel.
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