Yang Yunzhi had originally thought the track was 1,000 meters long.
It was only after he stepped onto it that he realized something was wrong.
He asked, "Little Bean, how long is this track?"
"Your map has a diameter of two hundred meters. Based on the standard scale on your map, one lap around this track is 1,500 meters!"
"Fuck!" Yang Yunzhi was instantly speechless.
One lap was 1,500 meters. Wouldn't five laps be 7,500 meters?
This body of mine isn't any different from my body in my previous life. Running one thousand meters used to leave me half-dead, and now they want me to run 7,500?
Thinking of this, Yang Yunzhi immediately contacted the system. "System, System, can you give me the strength of a Third-Class Seaman first? Once I finish the five laps, I'll naturally become a Third-Class Seaman anyway, so it wouldn't count as breaking the rules!"
"Sorry, I do not have that authority. I am only your Personal AI!" Little Bean replied.
Yang Yunzhi was speechless. "I wasn't talking to you!"
But the system had no intention of answering him.
It seemed that system assistant had really left!
Leaving was one thing, but what was he supposed to do about his strength?
Why hadn't the beginner's gift pack given him some kind of super serum?
Sigh. It seemed there was no other way. He would run first!
To be fair, this body was still much better than his previous one. At the very least, he managed to finish the first thousand meters.
But by the second thousand meters, he was already struggling to keep going.
Still, with the system dangling before him like a prize, Yang Yunzhi chose to persevere.
Persistence was victory. Come on, let's go!
Breathe steadily, slow down, and maintain the rhythm!
Right, no one had said how fast he had to finish the five laps. Couldn't he just jog?
"Whoosh..."
Someone passed him from the side.
This was not the first time. With his physique, anyone could overtake him, and some could even lap him.
Some of them even turned back to mock him.
Yang Yunzhi knew why they mocked him: because he was handsome.
It was not as though he was devastatingly handsome, but people in One Piece were naturally bizarre-looking. As a result, Yang Yunzhi, who understood balanced nutrition and moderate exercise and thus had a well-proportioned body and regular features, was considered handsome.
His good looks had drawn plenty of attention even when he was in school. Women gravitated toward him, while men resented him.
After more than a decade of that, he had gotten used to it.
His performance made Hina take a few extra looks at him.
After all, she had seen plenty of hot-tempered people, but this was the first person she had seen with such a stable temperament.
Unfortunately, a stable temper was useless in the Navy. You needed strength!
With this kid's stamina, he was probably destined to have nothing to do with the Navy!
Still, she could not bring herself to reject him outright. In any case, she did not believe he could finish five laps.
Then it would not be her eliminating him. He simply would not have met the standard himself!
Six minutes later, he finished the second lap.
Yang Yunzhi could no longer feel his legs, and his chest burned with pain.
Worst of all, his head was starting to spin too.
"I don't think I ate breakfast?" Yang Yunzhi suddenly remembered. He had boarded a ship for Glazed Town last night, and when he woke up, he had seen the naval base.
In his excitement, he had rushed over to enlist without eating. Who could have expected that he would not even get time for a meal after arriving at the naval base and would be sent straight into the assessment?
Missing one meal would not have been too bad. The key was that he had spent twelve days on a ship.
Although he attended the Maritime Academy, most of his classes had been held in classrooms. He had spent very little time aboard ships, so while he had endured the twelve-day journey, he was definitely not in good condition.
And then he had woken up without eating.
"Huh?" Yang Yunzhi's vision suddenly went black.
When he woke up again, he was already lying on the grass.
"How long was I unconscious?" Yang Yunzhi asked.
"Four minutes and thirty-six seconds!" Little Bean replied.
"I see." Yang Yunzhi sighed. Clearly, his blood sugar had dropped.
This was One Piece. How could I still have a problem like this? Zeff went dozens of days without food and was fine!
"You're awake!" A woman's smoky voice came from nearby. Yang Yunzhi turned his head and saw Hina sitting not far from him, still watching the Navy assessment.
"Your body is too weak. Go back to wherever you came from!" Hina said.
"But I only skipped breakfast this morning!" Yang Yunzhi argued.
"Even if you had eaten, it would not have helped. Your physique is what it is!" Hina said. "I do not mean to put you down, but your physical condition is truly the worst I have ever seen!"
Yang Yunzhi was immediately speechless.
He wanted to tell Hina that as long as she let him join the Navy, he could become stronger immediately.
But he could not reveal such a thing. The system was his greatest secret.
Seeing the unwilling look on Yang Yunzhi's face, Hina explained, "We are the Navy. We sail out to face vicious pirates. If you do not have fighting ability, going to sea will only get you killed. You would be better off returning home and living as an ordinary person!"
"But does the Navy only recruit people with strong physiques who can fight?" Yang Yunzhi countered.
Since running laps was not going to work, he intended to try another route.
The Navy could not possibly consist entirely of combat personnel with no clerks, right?
In any case, he needed to join the Navy first. There would always be chances to show his strength later.
"You mean clerical staff?" Hina raised a brow, suddenly interested. "You can read?"
"What kind of question is that?" Yang Yunzhi was speechless. "I started school at four and graduated two days ago. I studied for fourteen years. Do you think I wouldn't know how to read?"
"Oh?" Hina looked even more delighted. "What school did you attend?"
"I can tell you that privately." Yang Yunzhi glanced at the few Navy personnel beside Hina. "I want my identity kept secret, so that if I become famous in the future, pirates will not retaliate against my family!"
"How could that happen?" Hina shook her head. "The Navy protects our families very strictly. Once there is an attack on a Navy family, we will fight those pirates to the death!"
"What does fighting to the death matter? They would already be dead. Can you bring them back to life?" Yang Yunzhi spread his hands. "Rather than avenge them after they die, it is better not to expose them from the beginning!"
Upon hearing that, Hina immediately felt that it made a lot of sense.
Fortunately, her family had been moved to the Navy family district when she was promoted to major, so she did not need to worry about that.
"I'm beginning to believe that you can read," Hina said. After all, she did not think an illiterate person could have such strong logic. "In that case, from today onward, you are a soldier of my Base 36. I'll give you the rank of Second Lieutenant for now!"
"What?" Yang Yunzhi was shocked. "Wait, just like that? And such a high rank?"
"Nothing I can do about it!" Hina spread her hands. "People who can fight are everywhere, but in all these days, you're the only literate person I've seen!!"
Yang Yunzhi was speechless again.
Right. One Piece was a world full of illiterates. Even Luffy could not read.
He was the grandson of a vice admiral!
And Garp probably had not taught him to read because he thought illiteracy was perfectly normal.
If even a Navy vice admiral thought that way, this world probably did not have any concept of universal education at all.
Without universal education, naturally there would not be many literate people.
Yet the Navy needed literate people for clerical work, such as writing battle reports, issuing press releases, drafting notices, and handling logistics statistics.
If the commander of your base could not find a literate soldier, those tasks would naturally fall to you.
Hina was a warrior, of course she did not want to deal with reports all day. Now that she had found someone who could read, how could she not recruit him immediately?
"I can join, but I can't be a Second Lieutenant!"
"You still think the rank is too low?" Hina shook her head. "But this is already the highest rank I can offer. Anything higher is outside my authority!"
"I don't think it's low. I think it's too high. I've only just joined the Navy and have yet to make any achievements. How can I be a Second Lieutenant?" Yang Yunzhi said. "Just give me the rank of Third-Class Seaman. I can work my way up slowly!"
The system had said that every promotion would reward him with one draw.
Of course, skipping ranks might possibly accumulate the drawing opportunities.
But what if they did not accumulate?
He was not willing to gamble several drawing opportunities on that possibility.
"I've seen people complain that their rank was too low, but never anyone who thought it was too high!" Hina was somewhat speechless. Still, she was a straightforward person, so she nodded. "In that case, Ryan, take him to change into a uniform and get something to eat. After he eats, bring him over to help me immediately!"
"Yes!"
Yang Yunzhi was instantly delighted. Wasn't that a success?
But why had he not received a reward? Where was his reward?
Before you continue