Chapter 13 New Training

"Attention, everyone! Ten-kilometer march, ready!" A whistle suddenly blew.

Zhou Jiu was in the middle of the group. She was 168 cm tall, which was slightly above average in the entire interstellar space, but here she was below average. There were only fourteen mechanical engineering students, sixteen biological science students, and twelve communications students, making up a platoon.

Zhou Jiu followed behind, adjusted his breathing, and overtook Wu Ke'er from the middle.

Wu Ke'er whispered a reminder from the side: "It's a total of ten kilometers. Don't run too fast at the beginning, or you won't be able to keep going later."

Zhou Jiu nodded to indicate that she understood, and continued running forward at her own pace, gradually reaching the front of the entire platoon. In the eyes of her teammates behind her, Zhou Jiu was already far away from the third platoon.

As Zhou Jiu ran, he gradually caught up with the other mecha and command students. After half a lap, he caught up with Sun You. After running side by side for a few laps, Zhou Jiu did not feel any discomfort. After estimating the number of laps left and his physical strength, Zhou Jiu increased his speed slightly and gradually overtook Sun You. He then caught up with Lin Xiu, who was running ahead, and continued to overtake Ye Yang, who was in first place at this time, at a steady pace.

The instant he passed, Ye Yang accelerated and caught up, declaring, "First place in recruit training is mine."

Zhou Jiu ran at a steady pace without moving his head, seemingly unmoved by the other party's words, and said in a calm, breathy voice, "Eighteen laps to go, let's see, young man."

Ye Yang sped up even more, gave Zhou Jiu a thumbs-up, and turned his thumb down to the side as he passed Zhou Jiu.

How could she tolerate this? Everyone else had already given her a hard time, so of course she couldn't tolerate it. Lin Xiu, a few steps behind, said, "Take him down." Zhou Jiu also sped up. So far, she hadn't met anyone her age who surpassed her in physical ability, or rather, in terms of physical ability and combat strength, she had never lost to anyone. Zhou Jiu automatically ignored the fact that she had been brutally beaten by the soldiers stationed on the desolate planet.

Zhou Jiu and Ye Yang ran faster and faster under everyone's gaze, while Lin Xiu steadily followed in third place, continuing to run at a steady pace, without engaging in any battle of wills with the two.

"Ye Yang is a genius with both physical and mental strength at birth, a champion of the children's mecha competition. His physical strength has now reached A, but there is still room for improvement. Commander Ye is truly a good father."

Xiao Wen stood with his hands behind his back on the side of the playground, observing everyone: "I think Zhou Jiu's physical fitness is better than Ye Yang's. I feel that she is in complete control and has victory in her grasp."

Liu Shan shut his mouth, then said after a while, "Zhou Jiu's file has experience in the Wilderness Star Volunteer Army, which naturally makes her superior to others. This is a potential that was forced out of her, but it does not mean that her overall ability is superior to other trainees."

Xiao Wen's gaze was sharp, and he gave a half-smile: "You don't need to worry about what anyone whispered in your ear. I'll take care of the rest. It's just a small new recruit training session, and some people are already getting restless. What will happen when we get to the final graduation selection?"

Liu Shan stepped back, a fleeting smile in his eyes.

With only half a lap left, Zhou Jiu had a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. Ye Yang, who was running at a similar pace to her, was also breathing heavily. Zhou Jiu gradually slowed down, adopted a fighting stance, and after Ye Yang finished running first, she dragged her "heavy" legs to the side.

"I have to say, you're pretty good. I've never lost to anyone since I was a kid, but you almost made me lose." Ye Yang's eyes radiated youthful vigor.

Zhou Jiu was massaging his legs when he turned his head and saw Ye Yang's undisguised smile. After a moment of distraction, he also smiled and said, "Then you'd better keep it up, or maybe I'll surpass you in the next moment."

There was a time when she seemed to be happy simply because of victory, but the world is never that simple.

“Actually, Zhou Jiu, you’re a bit hypocritical.” Ye Yang was still a little out of breath.

Zhou Jiu narrowed his eyes, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

Lin Xiu finished his run and stood next to Zhou Jiu, rubbing his sore legs. "You're no good, Zhou Jiu. Not only did you lose, but you also got insulted."

"Don't misunderstand, that's not what I meant. I just don't understand why you gave up when you could have fought me to the death," Ye Yang explained, adding, "There are no cowards among mecha warriors."

Ye Xiu, the only one specializing in mecha, turned to the left and said, "As far as I know, you have one mechanical engineer and one commander, and I'm the only mecha warrior."

Zhou Jiu suddenly straightened up and quickly assumed a standard military posture. Ye Yang also immediately adjusted his posture. Lin Xiu was still talking, his hand still gesturing in mid-air. The next second...

“61m02, step forward,” Xiao Wen’s voice said.

"Yes," Lin Xiu replied.

"Run five more laps."

"yes."

"61S01, 61c01, step forward and run five more laps."

Zhou Jiu (61S01) and Ye Yang (61c01) stepped forward. Zhou Jiu shouted, "Report!"

"speak."

“Instructor, changing orders frequently is a cardinal sin in military law,” Zhou Jiu said, raising his head.

"Ten laps, run!" The command rang out, leaving no room for negotiation.

The three of them started running again.

"Why? Every time I'm with you, I get into trouble too." The three of them ran in a row, and Lin Xiu was very dissatisfied.

“This is the instructor’s recognition of our strength. Who else gets this treatment? Besides, the instructor just told you it was five laps,” Zhou Jiu retorted, offering sincere advice.

"How could I possibly lose to you? I may not be as explosive as you right now, but I'm not going to admit defeat when it comes to endurance. Besides, do you think Instructor Xiao won't give me extra training after I finish this run?"

Ye Yang ran ahead on his own, and Zhou Jiu didn't continue to chase him. She maintained a steady pace, as her endurance was indeed not as good as Lin Xiu's. She couldn't keep up with the previous pace after another ten laps.

The two gradually caught up with Sun You's pace, maintaining their balance. The three of them kept a similar breathing rhythm and moved forward in unison.

Zhou Jiu walked with heavy steps, her legs feeling like they weren't even her own. She had run too fast before and never expected there would be extra training. Sun You supported the two of them, one on each side, as they walked towards the center of the base.

“Ye Yang is the son of Ye Qing, the commander-in-chief of the First Army. We are currently on Central Star. We can be competitive, but we shouldn’t offend him,” Sun You in the middle said in a breathy voice.

"Don't worry, I won't." After a long while, Zhou Jiu finally spoke. Some lessons are enough to learn once.

"But it's not like I can't even beat him. He's clearly a weakling. What's the point of someone with nothing to lose?" Lin Xiu thought to himself, feeling very unconvinced.

“Don’t underestimate him. I’ve watched his matches on StarNet. He’s a true genius,” Sun You explained.

Once they were in the crowd, the three of them stopped talking.

The trainees had already sat in a circle under the instructors' command. The three of them joined in. Zhou Jiu adjusted his hat and looked at the instructor in the center.