Chapter 30: This isn't training; it's burning money!
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Training Like Your Life Depends on It?
When Su Mu said those words, none of them took him seriously.
It was only simple training, wasn’t it?
How harsh could it possibly be?
Yet the instant the training truly began, every one of their faces changed.
This was no training. It was practically a fight for their lives!
Weighted runs of every kind, along with endless endurance exercises, followed one after another.
Nearly every item on the training schedule left them seeing stars.
The intensity was nothing short of hellish.
Most importantly, whenever they felt like giving up, they would see Plainclothes Su Yi—a little girl—gritting her teeth and persevering. At once, every thought of quitting vanished.
If they gave up now, wouldn’t that mean they were less capable than a child?
Nearby, Fatty Li and Song Hui fell silent when they saw the intensity of the drills.
Song Hui clicked her tongue in amazement and glanced at Fatty Li.
“Fatty Li, I never realized you were this kind of person. To think you could devise such vicious training methods. It seems I’ve underestimated you all these years.”
The corner of Fatty Li’s mouth twitched, and he looked as though he might cry.
How was he supposed to explain this?
Should he say that none of this had been his idea?
That Su Mu had acted entirely on his own?
Fatty Li helplessly sighed, at a loss for words.
“I’m doing this to temper them.”
“Rather than let them die on the battlefield, it’s better to be stricter with them during their daily training.”
“After all, nothing matters more than staying alive.”
Song Hui remained silent for a moment before exhaling.
“I’m truly looking forward to the day this hundred-man unit finally takes the field.”
Fatty Li was filled with emotion.
It was not only Song Hui who looked forward to it; he did as well.
Once they entered battle, they might very well become the stuff of legend.
Su Mu watched the soldiers train and nodded.
The hundred-man unit’s training had now become routine.
Mere physical conditioning was not enough to forge them into a single force.
Standing atop the platform, Su Mu looked down at the hundred men and said calmly, “Based on today’s training, I can tell that most of you have performed reasonably well. However, there are also a few among you who tried to muddle through and make up the numbers!”
“You—and you! Step forward!”
Su Mu pointed at two men whose faces betrayed their guilty consciences and reprimanded them sternly.
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“When you were running, each of you skipped one lap! And when carrying the heavy logs, you cut nearly half the distance!”
The moment he said this, everyone else stared at the two men in shock.
People had actually cheated during their daily training?
More importantly, how had Su Mu known?
Did that mean he had been watching their training from beginning to end?
Incredible!
Hearing Su Mu’s words, the two men lowered their heads in silence without offering the slightest defense.
At that moment, only one thought filled their minds: shame.
If they had known this would be the result, they would have completed the task honestly.
Even if it cost them half their lives, they would have endured it without complaint.
What they had not expected was for Su Mu to turn toward the others and say coldly, “And you!”
“As members of a single unit, one of your comrades failed to complete the task, yet not a single one of you reported it to me!”
“If you were on the battlefield and came under enemy attack, would you only care about protecting yourselves?”
“Would you completely disregard whether your comrades lived or died?”
“If so, then whose backs are you supposed to entrust on the battlefield? The enemy’s?”
Everyone fell silent at Su Mu’s words.
They stared at him, unable to reply.
Under the crushing intensity of the first day’s training, nearly all of them had done nothing but complain.
As for the condition of the people around them, they had not paid the slightest attention.
Only after Su Mu pointed it out did they realize what they had done.
Shame flooded them.
Among them were even veterans who had fought on real battlefields.
They understood perfectly what Su Mu meant about entrusting one another’s backs.
On the battlefield, there were only two things they could truly rely on.
One was the blade in their hands.
The other was the comrade behind them.
One was used to kill the enemy.
The other was there to ensure that they could protect one another and survive the battlefield.
“Therefore, every one of you will run three additional laps today! No one eats until the laps are finished!”
With a cold snort, Su Mu pointed toward the entrance and spoke in a solemn voice.
“Yes, sir!”
The entire group drew a deep breath, then moved in unison toward the entrance.
Watching them leave, Fatty Li walked over to Su Mu, his face full of astonishment.
“So that was your plan. No wonder you clearly noticed those two slacking off, yet didn’t say a word.”
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“Had you already figured out how to deal with them?”
The corners of Su Mu’s lips lifted as he shook his head.
“To be honest, they performed even better than I expected.”
“As for why those two slacked off, that was intentional on my part.”
“During training, I arranged for Guan Qing and Yue Peng to keep giving them various psychological suggestions in secret.”
“Under the influence of those suggestions, they made that choice.”
Fatty Li opened and closed his mouth, utterly stunned.
So even their slacking had been part of Su Mu’s plan.
“You little devil! Isn’t that a bit too ruthless?”
Su Mu shook his head, took a set of blueprints from inside his robes, and held them out to Fatty Li.
“Better to be ruthless now than let them die on the battlefield later.”
“These are the design blueprints for their armor, long blades, and spears.”
“I’ve also improved the crossbows. I’ll have to trouble the battalion commander with arranging all of the equipment.”
Hearing this, Fatty Li accepted the blueprints with great curiosity and began examining them carefully.
The moment he saw what was depicted on them, he could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
He was dumbfounded.
The designs for the long blades and spears were extraordinarily ingenious, while the armor itself looked equally extraordinary.
Fatty Li carefully calculated the cost.
Even if every piece were forged by Blacksmith Zhang, the iron alone would cost twenty taels of silver for a complete set of equipment.
A hundred sets would require a full two thousand taels of silver.
And judging by Su Mu’s designs, he intended to create a hundred-man cavalry unit.
Add a hundred warhorses, along with their daily expenses...
Fatty Li looked at Su Mu with an expression close to tears.
“Why don’t you just sell me instead?”
“This much silver... aren’t you trying to kill me?”
Su Mu shrugged, chuckled, and patted Fatty Li on the shoulder.
“Battalion Commander, don’t forget—we have someone backing us now.”
“All you need to do is take the requisition slip to Sister Song Hui and have her approve it.”
“Oh, and find a way to obtain another hundred warhorses. The better the quality, the better.”
“Preferably, gather all one hundred within three days. That will make the next stage of their training more convenient.”
The corner of Fatty Li’s mouth twitched.
This little tyrant truly had no idea how to stop making trouble.