Chapter 4: Perverse Punishment

In the following several days, the system gave out a new mission almost every day.

However, the type was entirely physical training.

At first, whenever he was exhausted to the point of collapse, Liu Xiaotian wondered if this system was the soul incarnation of some mighty expert.

Maybe he died in these physical trainings in his past life, which is why he holds such a grudge against them.

Otherwise, why not missions in other subjects? Just physical training hardly seems related to the words 'Soldier King'! But after several days, he gradually understood a bit of this 'snarky to the extreme' system's good intentions.

Because whenever he was exhausted to the point of collapse, even lying on the ground with waves of darkness before his eyes and nearly fainting, he always felt a faint warm current seemingly nourishing his skeletal muscles.

Of course, Liu Xiaotian didn't foolishly think it was some internal arts inheritance.

That feeling should be the process of muscle cells dividing and reorganizing; everyone experiences this after fitness and physical training.

But Liu Xiaotian's was more noticeable and faster than others'.

He forgot which day it was, but after a shower, Liu Xiaotian unintentionally glanced at the mirror and found his muscle outline much more distinct than before, with a noticeable increase in strength.

At least, if the system now gave a task like fifty repetitions of pull‑three training, Liu Xiaotian was confident he could complete it smoothly without being especially tired.

From the eighth day on, besides continuing to give high‑intensity physical tasks, the system also required learning other military knowledge, including but not limited to firearms maintenance and fault repair.

The most bizarre was that, on about the eleventh day, a task actually required Liu Xiaotian to go to the Motor Transport Unit to replace an engine spark plug.

This fucking...

Isn't this supposed to be an all‑mighty Soldier King assistant system? Which Soldier King becomes one by fixing cars?

However, given the punishment of being unable to urinate last time, Liu Xiaotian, aside from completing it as required within the stipulated time, really had no other choice.

As for resisting...

Why resist? Besides making him tired and giving weird punishments, the system's tasks were still very helpful to him.

Moreover, wasn't it said that accumulated mission points could be exchanged for neural recovery? For this, Liu Xiaotian was very curious, even willing to pay a certain price.

Half a month passed quickly, and during this period Liu Xiaotian also seemed to realize that his body was originally quite formidable.

At least regarding photographic memory, the Liu Xiaotian before crossing over definitely could not do that.

Take the example of replacing an engine spark plug: Liu Xiaotian just watched a maintenance soldier operate once and then he could do it.

On the night before the assessment, the increasingly familiar Liu Xiaotian pulled up his own basic data.

The data showed:

Physical: 245; evaluation: rookie;

IQ: 190; evaluation: silly;

Special forces skills: 160; evaluation: entry level;

Neural response: 130; evaluation: low; moreover, written in the bottom "Remarks" column was:

Mission points: -215; extra rewards: Firearms Operation Level‑1 Pack (trial version) per unit; Special Forces Combat Card (experience version) per sheet.

After half a month of missions, he was exhausted to the point of losing human shape, and he still owed 215 mission points! Feeling depressed, Liu Xiaotian was nevertheless very interested in those two extra rewards.

But he thought good steel should be used on the blade.

Before, he had been muddling through days, not paying much attention to the rumors and sarcasm directed at him.

But now, it's different.

Due to the system's appearance, his previous expectations for this entirely accidental military life began to fill with anticipation. In his original world, he was just an otaku.

It wasn't that he wanted it, nor did he willingly degenerate; his abilities were simply limited.

He had tried, but perhaps it was just bad luck, failing again and again.

As a man, who hasn't dreamed of wearing a green military uniform?

Now the dream has come true, and there's even such a big golden finger; why not make good use of it?

The next morning, Liu Xiaotian got up early, washed up, and changed into a brand‑new training uniform.

While having breakfast, Liu Xiaotian sitting alone in the corner once again heard others talking about him.

Although he was assigned to the Sixth Company rather than the Sharpshooter Fourth Company when he enlisted, any platoon that can enter the Iron Fist Group is top‑notch among the top‑notch.

For Liu Xiaotian, who fails most training subjects, in others' eyes he is just a burden on the Sixth Company.

Once there is a collective assessment, he alone would drag down the Sixth Company's scores by a large margin.

Yet who would have thought that such a guy would actually be eligible to participate in the legendary Red Blood Cell Group's selection training?

On what basis? This is the genuine thought of over ninety percent of the soldiers.

"Look, that kid is even wearing a brand‑new training uniform!"

"Hey, isn't that abnormal? He probably only gets this one chance to show off in his lifetime, so he must dress neatly and sharply!"

"This kid is wasting a slot in our company for nothing!"

Regarding these remarks, Liu Xiaotian was not hearing them for the first time.

But today, these voices seemed especially harsh to the ears.

This time, he still chose to pretend he hadn't heard.

Rather than step forward to argue and be mocked with facts and data, it would be better to retaliate with strength.

Anyway, he is no longer the original Liu Xiaotian! At 7:50, all companies began to assemble; at 8:00 sharp, aside from the soldiers participating in this assessment, everyone else surrounded the training field, forming three lines in preparation to watch.

After all units reported in turn, Kang Lei, who personally presided over this assessment, said nothing extra and immediately announced the start of the assessment.

He Zhijun and Fan Tianlei sat on the presidium, smiling.

For this Red Blood Cell Group that the Wolf Fang Special Forces Brigade had prepared for two years, the two had indeed spent considerable effort and thought.

This soldier Liu Xiaotian was especially important to the Red Blood Cell Group.

Soldiers with excellent military qualities often appear, but technological talent is hard to find.

Every day over the past half month, Liu Xiaotian's actions were first reported by Peng Donghai to Kang Lei, who then relayed them to Fan Tianlei.

He Zhijun and Fan Tianlei were very pleased with Liu Xiaotian's obvious progress.

At this moment, the two, who were already accustomed to the examinations and were the highest commanders of the Wolf Fang Special Forces Brigade, actually felt a hint of anticipation and excitement.

It was only because of that rather controversial new recruit.

"Now I announce that the first item of the assessment, combat, will begin with drawing lots for grouping!"

(End of chapter)