Chapter 63: Only a Fight to the Death

Chapter 63: Only a Fight to the Death

Every few minutes, Ding Hu couldn’t help but glance over at the new recruit who was huffing and puffing as he ran laps around the track.

Ding Hu hadn’t had much of an impression of Chen Feng before. He only remembered him as someone with a very faint presence.

If Chen Feng hadn’t been spacing out during Ding Hu’s lecture today, in Ding Hu’s world, Chen Feng probably would have forever remained a nameless extra.

But suddenly, Ding Hu’s impression of Chen Feng became very strong.

He didn’t know what had gotten into this new recruit, whose enlistment report showed him to be average in every way, to dare challenge the physical fitness standard for armored soldiers right from the start.

Ding Hu grinned. Although it was a bit absurd, this brat’s spirit was commendable.

To become a good soldier, you needed exactly this kind of never-say-die spirit.

Even when things looked hopeless, you would only fall on the charge, not kneel down and submit at the starting line.

In this day and age, finding a soldier like Chen Feng was really quite difficult.

Even though such people were sorely needed right now.

There were some things Ding Hu couldn’t say until the new recruits left the training camp and boarded the warships.

Ding Hu looked back at the other new recruits and thought to himself, you all need to step it up. I hope more of the people in my squad can make it onto the warships.

When the time comes, I’ll make sure you brats all get to see Instructor Hu’s real skills.

I promise, none of you will die before I do!

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. The chance of survival for a civilian and for a soldier in the Military Camp is basically the same.

Both are zero!

Ding Hu remembered the core speech from the Commander-in-Chief last year, and a bitter expression appeared on his face.

The speech had only eleven words.

“Mankind has no other choice. Only a fight to the death.”

Ding Hu continued to smile bitterly.

I’m already prepared to die, but I don’t even know what the enemy really is, what it looks like, or what form its attacks will take.

If the enemy is like the Singer Civilization from the thousand-year-old sci-fi novel “The Three-Body Problem,” and just throws a dimensional foil at us, reducing the entire Galaxy to zero instantly, then what’s the point of fighting?

What’s the meaning of our training then?

As soon as this thought arose in his mind, Ding Hu gave himself a hard slap on the face.

He scolded himself in his heart.

“Ding Hu! What are you thinking? You’re the Instructor for these new recruits! How can you waver? Even if the enemy really has weapons like dimensional foils, even if we are reduced to zero instantly! Even if our actions are meaningless in the enemy’s eyes, they are of great significance to us!”

“The Universe will remember. The Universe will remember that we humans fought until the very end, that we never stopped moving forward, even if that fight was futile!”

Two new recruits approached him, puzzled, and asked, “Instructor, what are you doing?”

The new recruits were startled by Ding Hu suddenly slapping his own face.

Ding Hu glared. “Stand at attention! Why ask so many questions? If I see anyone’s foot move even a little, I’ll make them run laps with Chen Feng! What is rule seventeen of the World Army regulations? Anyone know? Raise your hand to answer, and you’ll get an extra serving of repair nutrients this week!”

Someone raised their hand.

“Speak.”

“Never question the motives behind a superior’s decision.”

“Very good.” Ding Hu nodded. “You go run laps with Chen Feng.”

The person was stunned on the spot. “Why?!”

“Repeat what you just said.”

“Never question the motives behind a superior’s decision.”

Ding Hu spread his hands. “Understand now?”

The person was cursing inside but didn’t argue further. He obediently followed, meeting up with Chen Feng on the track at the starting point of each lap.

Ding Hu watched the two of them running side by side, a hopeful smile on his face.

The person who had raised his hand was the one he had the highest hopes for among his new recruits. He had a very strong will, worked hard, and was a quick learner.

Both his physical and mental aptitudes were top-notch.

But his only flaw was that he was too rigid and inflexible, never joking and unable to adapt. So Ding Hu deliberately messed with him this once, to teach him a lesson so he’d learn to be a bit more clever in the future.

Chen Feng, who was running hard, trying to break his own record again, suddenly noticed someone running beside him.

He glanced over slightly and felt a bit surprised.

Huh, isn’t that Brother Hu’s little favorite, Pang De?

He had a strong impression of this guy named Pang De.

The reason was simple: this guy’s name was exactly the same as that tough Cao Wei general from the Three Kingdoms period who died under the sword of the warrior saint Guan Yu.

In the era of Private Chen Feng, it was so long ago that not many people remembered the famous generals of the Three Kingdoms, but Chen Feng remembered clearly.

Pang De was about the same height as Chen Feng, but his build looked much more robust.

In Chen Feng’s eyes, this guy was pretty boring, very rigid, treating every word Ding Hu said as an absolute rule to follow.

But this wasn’t brown-nosing. Chen Feng didn’t know what kind of education he’d had since childhood, but he was truly determined to be a good soldier, ready to shed his blood for humanity.

Last time Chen Feng was in the dream, before he left the Military Camp, in the entire training Base, apart from Chen Feng, Pang De was the strongest in both combat skills and overall military aptitude assessments.

Chen Feng could stand out because he had an unfair advantage—it was his third time going through the training. He could always predict what was coming, and his training time was much longer than Pang De’s, who was a genuine new recruit.

But the gap between Pang De and Chen Feng wasn’t big, and Pang De could catch up at any time, which was scary.

So Pang De was the real genius soldier king; Chen Feng’s talent wasn’t as good as his.

And in the many training bases of the World Army around the world, there were quite a few people with talent like Pang De.

Then there was the legendary monstrous new recruit camp, where even the worst performer, if brought to an ordinary training base, would be the top-ranking one.

“Pang De, what did you do wrong this time?”

Chen Feng couldn’t help but ask.

Pang De grumbled, “Shut up! Focus on running. Don’t mess up your breathing.”

Chen Feng inwardly scoffed.

Alright then, I’ll just keep being serious.

He focused again.

Three laps…

Four laps…

Ten laps…

When Chen Feng reached his tenth lap, Pang De was on his seventh.

Ding Hu, who had let the other new recruits take a short break, was surprised.

How come Chen Feng hadn’t slowed down even after half the distance?

Pang De started later, so why were these two still running side by side?

Did Pang De run so fast that he lapped Chen Feng?

Probably not.

Ding Hu looked down at his watch.

Damn it, only sixteen minutes had passed!

What did that punk Chen Feng mean by this?

Did he take some drug?

There was no reason for it. He couldn’t have known in advance today that I would make him run laps, and he didn’t need to either!

Ding Hu also noticed with great surprise that Pang De’s running posture had become slightly distorted, showing signs of strain, but Chen Feng remained steady in his steps and even in his breathing.

Chen Feng’s running posture was very standard, with no distortion in his movements at all. He still maintained a very professional weight-bearing running technique, with stable stride frequency and length.

Fast, steady, showing excellent endurance.

Ding Hu was a little dazed. How come he hadn’t discovered before that this punk Chen Feng was so talented?

Not just Ding Hu, even Chen Feng himself was quite puzzled at this moment.

He felt something was off. It seemed his physical fitness was slightly better than when he entered the dream.

At first, he couldn’t understand it, but then he looked again at the spindle-shaped aircraft in the sky and the Azure Dragon Armor, and felt somewhat relieved.

Since there had been leapfrog progress in materials science, it was only natural that there would be changes in biology and sports medicine as well.

Perhaps this body, in line with the technological advances of this era, had taken some genetic medicine to improve physical fitness before.

But maybe not. Who knew? Whatever.

Gradually, Pang De’s breathing became more and more rapid, and his steps grew heavier.

He clearly felt that he was probably about to fall behind.

He really wanted to slow down, but the steady breathing and footsteps of Chen Feng on his right side were like a sharp knife stabbing hard into his pride.

He had run three fewer laps than Chen Feng, so why was he the one getting tired first?

For Pang De, with his strong, never-give-up personality, this was almost a disgrace.

He gritted his teeth fiercely.

I can’t lose!

Impossible!

But shouting couldn’t unleash the universe. Pang De couldn’t keep up, and that was that.

Gradually, Chen Feng pulled ahead of him.

He could only watch that back.

However, Pang De felt a bit relieved.

Chen Feng became the pacesetter breaking the wind, while Pang De followed in his wake. The air resistance he faced decreased slightly, bringing him back within the limits of what he could endure.

He kept up.

A long time passed.

Ding Hu had already stopped training and was waiting at the finish line for Chen Feng and the other.

The other recruits acted as spectators, silently cheering for the two in their hearts.

As true, completely green recruits, Ding Hu’s team was actually quite lowly in the Base.

Those semi-veteran armored soldiers, when dealing with these recruits, always looked down their noses at them.

In any situation that required queuing, whenever these armored soldiers showed up, the rookie recruits had to obediently step aside.

They had heard from Ding Hu that Chen Feng was sprinting to try to break the minimum standard for armored soldiers. How could they not feel excited?

We are all recruits, this is our first training, and our comrade can already match you arrogant armored soldiers.

What are you so cocky about?

So, without realizing it, Chen Feng now represented the will of this batch of recruits in the Base.

If he succeeded, it would prove that the gap between them and the armored soldiers wasn’t that big!

At this moment, Chen Feng was still advancing steadily and rapidly from a hundred meters away on the track. Ding Hu kept looking down at his watch.

Click.

When Chen Feng crossed the finish line, the watch-style Artificial Intelligence terminal on Ding Hu’s wrist displayed the time.

“Thirty-seven minutes and eight seconds.”

A full fifty-two seconds ahead of the minimum standard!

Chen Feng stopped and stood still on the spot. “Instructor, how was it? Can I wear the Azure Dragon Armor or not?”

Thud.

Before Ding Hu could say anything, Pang De, who crossed right after Chen Feng, collapsed to the ground.

Before passing out, the poor tough guy was still mumbling.

“Three more laps, I still have three more laps.”

Ding Hu shouted, “Chen Feng, we’ll talk about your matter later! Emergency team, come quick! Damn it, this is only your first official induction training!”

Chen Feng did not collapse on the charge as Ding Hu had expected.

This made Ding Hu both surprised and relieved.

Yes, ignorance had made him think Chen Feng’s effort was futile, but this futile effort had easily reached the finish line.

It was a miracle in a sense.

So, if the Commander-in-Chief’s speech could be completed, it should be like this:

“Humanity has no choice but to fight with its back to the river. Miracles will finally appear!”