A Show of Strength (Part 3/3)

Qin Fen watched as another recruit walked forward, looking to challenge Squad Leader Hao. He shook his head over and over. People probably thought to take advantage of the situation, but one mustn't think this way. This squad leader was really not someone easy to deal with. 

By the time Qin Fen finished his twelfth lap, the second recruit to challenge Squad Leader Hao was finally defeated.

Though the recruits were young and immature, they weren't fools. Squad Leader Hao had defeated two recruits, gasping all the time, but people began to suspect that he was a tiger in disguise, looking to eat pigs.

"It should be your turn, Jin Kui," Squad Leader Hao pointed at a different recruit, beaming wide.

Martial arts was prevalent and popular in today's society. The majority of people joining the military had bodies well tempered. They could all be considered to have tough and stocky builds, akin to having the backs of tigers and the waists of bears. Jin Kui was a special one, though. His figure couldn't be said to be seriously out of shape, but he had a little bit of fat on him. He was a hundred and seventy five centimeters tall, and he weighed a hundred and seventy five pounds.

"Reporting as ordered, sir. I... I should go participate in the first option of training," Jin Kui said, lacking some confidence.

Squad Leader Hao looked at Jin Kui with an expression of disappointment, "You've disappointed me greatly. As a soldier, words are of tremendous weight. You committed to challenging me, so you must honor your commitment. If you insist on doing the first option for military training, I will need to double your training volume as punishment for breaking your commitment."

Double? The fat on Jin Kui's face spasmed a bit. That training program was already long enough. If it was doubled, that would be the same as tossing him overboard to swim with the fishes.

The other recruits of Second Squad who challenged Squad Leader Hao suddenly felt that they collectively joined a scam of a venture. Squad Leader Hao, gasping before his eyes, gave them a feeling of fear even more terrifying than that of the other squad leaders, who revealed ferocious appearances.

"Hahaha...."

The squad leaders of First Squad and Third Squad covered their bellies as they bellowed in hearty laughter.

"The ol' squad leader, you, sir, are still as naughty as usual.

"The ol' squad leader, you applied to be delegated here so many times. Was it to toy with the new recruits?"

"Tit-suckers, you've all been duped. Don't lookat how good-natured the ol' squad leader looks. He toyed with as too back in the day. He screwed us quite well."

"That's right. He looks good-natured because he wants you to think that you can easily bully him. You guys got screwed!"

A man with a big smile but evil intentions? This was the thought that flashed in all of Second Squad's minds. 

Deng Biao was doing push-ups on the ground. He looked at Qin Fen, who almost finished his laps, with some envious eyes. So it turned out there were benefits to being a coward. At least a coward wouldn't be cheated by others.

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Dusk fell, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone upon the surface of the ocean. The rippling reflections were akin to the prancing of unicorns.

Quite a few recruits were still finishing up today's training task. Qin Fen stood at the ship's railing, having already eaten dinner. He gazed into the distance, to the ends of the ocean.

He was part of the first batch of recruits to eat dinner. Normally, it was quite decent for one recruit to do this out of a squad. Second Squad, First Platoon, Third Company, Second Battalion had two recruits to be part of the first dinner batch. This made some drill instructors a bit shocked.

The other recruit to finish the training at the same time as Qin Fen was Du Peng. He stood not too far away at the ship's railing as well. They were waiting for Squad Leader Hao to appear.

This was the message that the cook, who stuffed them full of food, said back during chow time, conveying Squad Leader Hao's words.

"Evening, you two."

Squad Leader Hao's voice sounded just as kind and benevolent as usual, but Qin Fen felt the old saying, 'Beware of suspicious folk bearing gifts, they are sure to be ill-intentioned', when Squad Leader Hao spoke.

"Hello, squad leader."

Du Peng's military bearing was more like the standard than Qin Fen's. He was just like a seasoned professional who had served over a dozen years. 

"Hello." Squad Leader Hao returned with a salute, "Du Peng, do you come from a military family?"

"Reporting as ordered, sir! I have family serving in the military, sir!" Du Peng's words were mechanically precise, revealing the aura of an outstanding soldier.

Sure enough! Squad Leader Hao laughed. There was no need to ccontinue chatting with this recruit, who likely came from a military family. He waved his hand, "You can go."

"Yes! Sir!" 

"Your name's Qin Fen, right?" Squad Leader Hao smile was more amiable than before, but Qin Fen really wanted to stick a long tail behind Squad Leader Hao. That way, Squad Leader Hao would be more in line with his foxy temperament.

"Yes, sir!"

Qin Fen could not compare to Du Peng when it came to military bearing, but he had studied how a soldier should properly act. Everything he did these days would be included in his scoring assessment records. The higher the score, the better the stuff he would get when he retires from the military. He had no choice but to pay attention to every single detail.

"No need to be so tense," Squad Leader Hao gave a light hop, sitting on the ship's railing. He smiled as he said, "I am very optimistic about you."

"Thank-you, sir!" Qin Fen guessed in secret of Squad Leader Hao's intentions. He was called the ol' squad leader by the other squad leaders. It was impossible for him to seek out a recruit without good cause. He must have more to say than just these words.

"Relax. Let's chat as if we're friends." Squad Leader Hao patted the railing beside him, "Come! Sit down! Let's have a good chat."

Qin Fen couldn't really refuse. He sat on the ship's railing, waiting for Squad Leader Hao to talk.

"In my opinion, you should be the best fighter among the recruits in our squad." Squad Leader Hao suddenly waved his hand hard, "You don't need to talk to me as a subordinate talking to his superior. This is a true chit-chat between us."

"I'm overpraised, sir." Qin Fen promptly shook his head. It was best to be a bit vigilant when chatting with his squad leader, a man with a big smile and evil intentions.

Squad Leader Hao laughed, but he didn't refute. Actually, he viewed Du Peng to be the most capable fighter of their squad of recruits. He had said this to Qin Fen to get a feel for him, to better understand why Qin Fen chose to do training rather than challenge him earlier in the day.

"I always take special care of the recruits I'm optimistic about." Squad Leader Hao chuckled, "Starting from tomorrow, all recruits are prohibited from using powers of paleo martial arts and neo martial arts for training. You can only rely on your fleshly body for training."

"Oh, gotcha," Qin Fen's expression didn't change. It wouldn't be too hard to do training like today's to completion even if he couldn't use the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art.

Faint astonishment flashed from the bottom of Squad Leader Hao's eyes. Qin Fen's casual response was a bit beyond his expectations.

Were Qin Fen's reactions slow, not recognizing the gravity of the situation? Or did he have a card up his sleeve? Squad Leader Hao observed Qin Fen in silence. He could only try probing some more, "In consideration for you, I intend to fight single-handedly if you wish to challenge me. As long as you...."

Before he could finish talking, Squad Leader Hao discovered something amiss with the way Qin Fen was looking at him. He abruptly stopped trying to entice Qin Fen, and instead, asked suspiciously, "What's up? Is something the matter?"

Qin Fen grew silent for a moment. He formulated his words so that he wouldn't offend the squad leader, "Can a meteor level expert have a chance to win against a comet level expert who has a hand bound behind their back?"

"Of course not," Squad Leader Hao's expression immediately changed the moment he spoke. He studied Qin Fen with an odd look in his eyes.

Squad Leader Hao was a shrewd person. Qin Fen talked about the meteor level and the comet level clearly because he was able to see through Squad Leader Hao's status of being a meteor level expert.

"Therefore," Qin Fen hopped down from the ship's railing, "How is it possible for a three-star warrior to defeat a handicapped meteor level expert?"