Chapter 47: Live Ammunition, Leave or Die

"Newbie, you and I have no personal grudge. Is it necessary to push things to the absolute limit?!"

The veteran stared straight at Zhang Meng, a flash of regret flitting across the corners of his eyes.

Had he known these recruits were following right behind them, he wouldn't have pulled such a petty stunt for the life of him!

"No personal grudge? What, is this not the same person who was calling us greenhorns and good-for-nothings just a moment ago?"

Zhang Meng strode up to the veteran, waving a fist the size of a sandbag right in front of him.

"Cut the crap. Take two punches from me or withdraw from the selection—pick one!"

"I've waited a full three years for this chance at selection. Just now, crossing that sea of fire, I even prepared myself for death. Having paid such a price, I can't possibly miss it now. Two punches, is it? Come on!"

The moment he finished speaking, the veteran puffed out his chest, his eyes locked firmly onto Zhang Meng.

Zhang Meng stood on no ceremony. With a fierce shout, he drove a punch straight into the veteran's lower abdomen, sending him flying backward instantly!

"Ugh!"

Hitting the ground with a heavy thud, bile mixed with streaks of blood spewed from the veteran's mouth.

His complexion turned deathly pale in an instant, and even his lips lost every trace of color.

"What the hell kind of training did you do to pack such a massive punch?!"

"No comment! But we'll skip the second punch. Looking at you, you wouldn't survive a second one anyway."

Zhang Meng glanced at the veteran lying on the ground, clearly grievously injured.

He turned and walked toward the brine barrels, having no intention of paying him any further mind.

Zhang Meng had only wanted to teach this veteran a lesson; he hadn't truly intended to ruin his chances at selection.

Landing one punch to vent his anger was more than enough!

At that moment, Qi Tian and the others also emerged from the shadows.

After rehydrating, everyone sat down directly on the ground to recover their strength in preparation for the upcoming twenty-kilometer all-terrain weighted cross-country march.

Just as Fu Wei had stated earlier:

Any veteran who failed to build up the psychological resolve tonight and still couldn't cross the ring of fire would be completely and utterly eliminated.

One hour later, one hundred and ninety veterans had gathered here, awaiting instructions.

The remaining hundred-odd men had obviously already packed their duffel bags and boarded the trucks back to their former units.

"Congratulations to all of you for overcoming your internal barriers. However, before we begin the weighted cross-country, I need to expel one more veteran. Ma Zhe from Fourth Platoon, step forward!"

Battalion Commander Fu Wei stood at the very front of the formation, calling out the veteran's name.

The next second, a veteran with a deathly pale face and a clearly wretched physical state stood up from the formation.

Hesitant and deeply reluctant, he walked up to Fu Wei.

"Battalion Commander, you can't expel me! To participate in the selection for your Blade Amphibious Unit, I've trained hard and honed myself for three whole years!"

"So what?"

Fu Wei glanced at Ma Zhe with utter contempt. "My Blade Regiment never needs scoundrels who resort to tricks and shortcuts!

Originally, when you finished sixth in the courage special training, I quite admired you. But the things you did after arriving here have deeply disappointed me!

Unloading the sand from your sandbags and using pebbles to mark your progress.

Ma Zhe, since you're so capable, why don't you head straight to the battlefield and relieve the enemy of their magazines while they aren't looking? How about that?"

"Battalion Commander, how did you know..." The veteran's expression turned to sheer shock, his sentence trailing off mid-way.

He abruptly jerked his head around to look at Qi Tian and the other four: "It was you greenhorns who leaked the secret!

Didn't you promise that if I took a punch from you, you'd keep it confidential?

A bunch of dishonest bastards, I'll destroy you!"

"Go to hell! The five of us stand tall and walk straight. We couldn't care less about the shady tricks you pulled, so stop trying to splash dirty water on us!"

Seeing Ma Zhe charging toward them with bloodshot eyes, Zhang Meng stood up immediately, rolled up his sleeves, assumed the opening stance of Xingyiquan, and prepared for battle.

Right at that moment, Battalion Commander Fu Wei drew his pistol and pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation, aiming right at Ma Zhe's feet.

"Bang!"

The gunshot rang out simultaneously as a flash of fire erupted right at Ma Zhe's feet!

The veteran, who had previously charged aggressively and intended to cause trouble for Zhang Meng, froze in his tracks immediately, not daring to advance another half-inch.

"Ma Zhe, I'll give you three seconds. If you don't get lost right now, your name will be included in this year's accident quota report."

Hearing the cold, emotionless threat ringing out from behind him, Ma Zhe clenched his fists so tightly his nails nearly pierced his flesh.

"Brothers, you'd all better watch out for these five recruits. They're untrustworthy, stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and have zero regard for rules. You must be on your guard against them!"

Throwing out this parting provocation, Ma Zhe didn't dare hesitate; he spun around and sprinted into the distance.

Fu Wei had just proven with his actions that he genuinely dared to open fire—with live ammunition, no less—at soldiers participating in the selection.

Ma Zhe didn't dare risk his life to test Fu Wei's bottom line, and could only leave consumed by bitter resentment and frustration.

Watching Ma Zhe retreat into the distance, Fu Wei put away his pistol and waved at the remaining hundred-odd men:

"Everyone, form up and tie on your sandbags according to your rankings from the previous training exercise.

Wrists, elbows, ankles—six sandbags in total, weighing sixty pounds altogether.

You can carry more, but you are not allowed to carry less. If I catch a second person resorting to tricks and shortcuts,

I guarantee I'll make you wish you were dead, even if you survive. Move out!"

The moment Fu Wei uttered the final word, Qi Tian moved swiftly, binding the six sandbags securely around his joints.

That wasn't all, however.

Qi Tian clearly remembered the promise he had made to Fu Wei earlier: to make up for the training sessions he had missed over the past two days.

With that, he picked up two more sandbags and tightly gripped them in his hands.

A total of eight sandbags, amounting to eighty pounds of weight, were loaded onto Qi Tian's body as he stepped forward to the front of the formation and stood at attention.

One had to bear in mind that Qi Tian's own body weight was only around one hundred and forty pounds.

These eight sandbags outweighed half of his own body weight by a considerable margin.

Just trying to take a step forward right now made Qi Tian feel as though his entire body was immensely heavy and agonizingly uncomfortable!

Jiang Chong, standing second in line, followed Qi Tian's example and loaded himself with eighty pounds of weight.

Following closely behind, Lin Mang, Song Wei, and Zhang Meng all proceeded step-by-step to strap eight sandbags onto their bodies.

Noticing the actions of the five men, Fu Wei couldn't help but nod slightly, a flicker of silent approval in his heart.

Though these five recruits had been in the military for a relatively short time,

Fu Wei was thoroughly impressed by the military blood, military spine, and demeanor they were rapidly developing.

As for Ma Zhe's incident just now, it naturally wasn't because the recruits had secretly tipped him off.

Instead, hidden in countless blind spots that nobody could possibly notice,

numerous surveillance cameras had recorded Ma Zhe's actions in crystal-clear detail!

When the last man finished his weighted preparations, Fu Wei led the group to the edge of a mud pit and shouted in a stern, booming voice:

"For the half-marathon all-terrain weighted cross-country, you need to traverse the mud pit, run through the woods, and then ascend a small mountain.

Reach the summit, obtain a numbered token from Second Battalion Commander Shen Biao, turn around, and run all the way back here.

Along the way, all sorts of obstacles and torments will be waiting for you.

As for the time limit, let's set it at one hundred and fifty minutes.

Exceeding this time limit, or returning without a numbered token, will result in elimination.

Of course, during this period, if you find someone's face disagreeable, you are completely free to beat them up and snatch their token.

Rest assured, there will be no penalties for doing so. I'll simply pretend I didn't see anything, as long as you ensure you make it back on time.

The rules have been announced. Timing...

officially begins!!!"