Chapter 17: The Contest Begins

A moment later.

Old Hei summoned He Chenguang and Wang Yanbing, two of the best new recruits, from the ranks.

“Instructor Gong, I just randomly pulled out two soldiers who’ve been enlisted for less than half a year. New recruit against new recruit—just perfect!” Old Hei smirked slyly. “How about we let these two spar with this new recruit?”

The people Old Hei chose perfectly matched Gong Jian’s expectations. Gong Jian smiled upon seeing this and looked at Qin Yuan. “Qin Yuan, you heard what Sergeant Old Hei said! What do you think?”

Qin Yuan raised an eyebrow.

He hadn’t expected Old Hei to directly bring over Wang Yanbing and He Chenguang, revered as top-tier new recruits.

That was truly cunning!

However...

Qin Yuan didn’t take it to heart. “Reporting, Instructor, I have no objections. As for what the contest will be, you decide.”

After finishing, Qin Yuan squatted down leisurely and picked up a handful of tiny black ants.

With a slight thought,

“Recall!”

Qin Yuan immediately recalled five ants back into his system’s inventory!

Since the competition was really about to start,

How could one do without physical fitness?

Although Qin Yuan’s physical condition was decent,

Compared to someone like Wang Yanbing or He Chenguang—whose physiques bordered on special forces level—

There was still a huge gap.

But that didn’t matter.

If strength was lacking, ants could make up for it.

“I hope... these little ants can grant me strength,” Qin Yuan silently prayed in his heart.

Qin Yuan had just caught dozens of ants.

Losing only five went unnoticed by those present.

“Ding dong~ Please choose!”

A crisp system prompt rang out immediately.

Three options appeared before Qin Yuan’s eyes:

“1. Acquire World-Class Ant Strength!”

“2. Acquire World-Class Ant Power Pills!”

“3. Acquire World-Class Formic Acid!”

“Whoa... There really is Ant Strength???”

Staring at the three virtual options,

Qin Yuan’s eyes lit up.

“Not only that! There’s even Ant Power Pills? This is a jackpot!”

The more he looked, the more excited he became.

Without hesitation,

Qin Yuan made his choice.

“I choose number one!”

Having recalled five ants, Qin Yuan had five chances to choose.

But he wasn’t in a hurry.

“Ding dong~ Congratulations, host, choice successful! You have obtained World-Class Ant Strength!”

“World-Class Ant Strength: grants the host 80 times their own body weight in strength! Host weight: 70KG, strength gained: 5600KG!”

The clear system prompt sounded.

In an instant,

Qin Yuan felt warm currents flooding through every fiber of his being.

These countless warm streams surged wildly, nourishing and strengthening his cells, bones, and muscles!

Every single second,

Qin Yuan’s body

was undergoing a revolutionary transformation!

In a brief moment,

The transformation completed!

Qin Yuan felt an endless surge of power coursing within him.

“Damn... so this is what 5600KG of strength feels like! Over ten thousand pounds!”

Blinking, his pupils filled with joy.

At this moment,

Qin Yuan’s gaze toward He Chenguang and Gong Jian was different.

Before him,

He Chenguang and Wang Yanbing seemed like tiny ants.

A normal adult’s lifting capacity hovered around 100KG.

But now, Qin Yuan

could lift 5600KG.

A 56-fold difference.

At this moment,

Qin Yuan felt like a god who had split the heavens and the earth,

Invincible and unshakable.

“Moreover, this is only the world-class ant strength!”

Thinking that this was just the baseline of ant power,

Qin Yuan’s heart surged with even greater excitement.

Such immense strength

brought immense endurance.

At this moment,

Not just 30 kilometers,

Even 300 kilometers of cross-country, Qin Yuan was confident he could complete it.

Wang Yanbing glanced at Qin Yuan. Standing 1.8 meters tall and weighing 70KG, Qin Yuan looked quite lean. Wang Yanbing couldn’t help but scoff, “Instructor, Sergeant, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut! Having us two compete against a new recruit is too much of an overkill, isn’t it?”

Hearing this, Gong Jian raised his eyebrows. “Wang Yanbing, I’m not underestimating you, but this Qin Yuan fellow was personally sent here by the infamous Chief of Staff Fan for special training! Don’t underestimate him! Underestimating your enemy comes at a cost!”

“Oh? Personally sent by the Chief of Staff for special training?” Wang Yanbing shivered and began to rethink his opinion of Qin Yuan.

It seemed this kid was either a wealthy heir or truly capable.

Otherwise,

Fan Tianlei wouldn’t have sent him directly to the Sharpshooter Fourth Company.

After all,

Back then, Wang Yanbing himself was personally recruited by Fan Tianlei.

But alas...

He still had to start as a new recruit.

Yet Qin Yuan was given different treatment.

“Reporting, Instructor! I understand! I’ll give my all during the contest!” Wang Yanbing quickly changed his tune.

He Chenguang, who had been silent all along,

At this moment also grew bright eyes and sharp gaze.

There was no other choice.

Listening to Gong Jian’s introduction,

Qin Yuan seemed to be a formidable opponent.

But the two had misunderstood.

Gong Jian was clearly setting Qin Yuan up for a grudge!

Today was supposedly a baseline test.

But in reality,

Gong Jian also wanted to probe Wang Yanbing’s and He Chenguang’s limits,

To see how far they were from true special forces soldiers.

After a moment of thought,

Gong Jian smiled faintly and said, “Usually, competitions test marksmanship and 400-meter obstacle courses. You’re all sharpshooters, so marksmanship tests are too trivial! So... today, let’s try something new. How about a 30-kilometer armed cross-country race?”

“Damn! Thirty kilometers armed cross-country? Instructor Gong, are you trying to kill us?”

Wang Yanbing immediately lost his composure.

He felt his scalp tingle.

There was no way around it.

A 10-kilometer armed cross-country was already a massive physical challenge.

20 kilometers pushed nearly 99% of excellent soldiers to their physical limits.

As for 30 kilometers?

That exceeded physical endurance tests and ventured into testing sheer willpower.

He Chenguang smirked and frowned, “Instructor, are you training us as if we’re special forces?”

He Chenguang suddenly realized this wasn’t just a baseline test.

It was more like testing their limits.

“What, do you think you can’t make it? If you can’t, just admit defeat! If you admit you’re no match for the new recruit Qin Yuan, I’ll let you choose a different contest,” Gong Jian said with a smug smile.

“Admit defeat? Hmph, never!”

Wang Yanbing shook his head immediately.

“Instructor, I absolutely won’t admit defeat! I want to see what my limits really are!”

Hearing this, Gong Jian nodded with a smile.

Then he looked at Qin Yuan and asked, “What about you? Any issues?”

“I have no problem, Instructor. Let’s start now! I can’t wait!” Qin Yuan smiled calmly, full of anticipation for this competition.

His terrifying physical strength

was finally about to be showcased.

“Can’t wait, huh?”

Wang Yanbing gave a somewhat speechless smile.

“Chenguang, these new recruits nowadays are so cocky! I feel like I’m seeing a reflection of ourselves when we first enlisted!”

Changing gear,

Standing at the same starting line,

“30 kilometers armed cross-country! Begin!”

At Gong Jian’s command,

The contest among Qin Yuan, Wang Yanbing, and He Chenguang began.