Chapter 41: Strengths and Weaknesses Immediately Revealed

Returning to the barracks, even though there was only half an hour left before assembly, Liu Xiaotian still found a corner in the activity room on the first floor, curled up there and took a nap for a while.

The joy of falling asleep instantly is something those who have never suffered insomnia will never understand.

Liu Xiaotian had hardly ever suffered insomnia, yet he still greatly enjoyed the feeling of falling asleep instantly.

Entering deep sleep instantly is not something ordinary people can enjoy.

This is also why many people, despite sleeping ten or more hours, still wake up feeling dizzy and bloated-headed.

(If you want to know what deep sleep is all about, just ask Baidu, or else I'll go off-topic again^_^)

When the assembly whistle blew, the effects of the earlier headache on Liu Xiaotian had completely disappeared, and his mental state had reached its peak.

As the twenty-four warriors entered the training hall with doubts, they collectively felt relieved.

Just a second ago they were wondering, 'What's the point of going to the indoor training hall for the assessment?' But the moment they saw the three-foot boxing ring, they immediately understood.

It seems this assessment is anything but ordinary! Chen Shanming, who had brought them in, pointed to a door on the left side of the boxing ring and said:

"Go, the changing room is inside. Find the locker with your name on it; inside is the equipment you need to change into. Come out and assemble in twenty minutes."

Having said that, he himself walked toward the opposite door.

After Chen Shanming walked away, Wang Yanbing pursed his lips and said to Liu Xiaotian, "Hey, what's the point of Chen Instructor acting all mysterious? We've done this kind of assessment before; we could just draw lots!"

"This time, I hope I draw you so I can give you a proper beating!"

Before Liu Xiaotian could speak, He Chen Guang beside him raised an eyebrow, gave Wang Yanbing a sideways glance, and took over the conversation:

"You? You probably couldn't last two rounds. I can't even beat you in practice."

Wang Yanbing: ……

This is pure sabotage!

"Yeah, you kid may be the national youth martial arts champion, but I still know how to break martial arts with a brick!" And just then, Li Erniu, who rarely spoke up, suddenly said, "I think I wouldn't last even one round."

That… really stabbed an old heart…

Wang Yanbing shot a look of "grief and indignation" at Liu Xiaotian and the two others, then turned, flicked his hands in a flourish like a female opera character shaking her water sleeves, and hurried off to the changing room with quick little steps.

He Chen Guang and Liu Xiaotian exchanged a glance and both laughed.

However, Li Erniu didn't laugh; he felt he was merely stating his honest opinion and didn't know what had gotten into Wang Yanbing.

But, seeing Wang Yanbing in that "Daiyu burying flowers" pose, the simple-minded lad loudly added to his retreating back: "Wang Yanbing, don't run like that! It's just like when Zhang the widow from our village performs opera, and besides, your butt's big—running like that looks awful…"

"Pfft… pfft…" Liu Xiaotian and He Chen Guang burst out laughing, and Wang Yanbing, who was running full tilt, stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face.

Liu Xiaotian and He Chen Guang laughed as they caught up, while Li Erniu muttered behind them, "Did I get it wrong? It's just like Zhang the widow…"

Twenty minutes later, as the twenty-four warriors, having changed clothes, wrapped their wristbands, and tied on their boxing gloves, filed out of the changing room, their eyes lit up.

But their hearts turned cold…

Damn… another trap!

That was the first thought of most of the trainees.

Because on the other side of the boxing ring, twenty-four fighters stood ready as well.

Just from those faces, bearing a hint of familiarity, they could tell these were the veteran soldiers who had given them a sound beating on their first day at the brigade headquarters.

But… not all of them. At least, the few standing in front were not.

However, they weren't strangers either.

The first was their combat instructor, "Zhangyu"; the second was Xu Tianlong, who had been eliminated by them in the first round of the jungle drill.

There were two more whom they had never seen.

One of them, his eyes had been fixed on Liu Xiaotian from the moment he appeared, even carrying a hint of hostility…

Liu Xiaotian was somewhat puzzled.

From the day they arrived at the brigade headquarters, the twenty-four of them had seen only the instructors and a few senior officials like He Zhijun; they had never interacted with any veteran of the Wolf Fang Special Forces Brigade.

Even the mess hall was separate, and the cooks who prepared their meals were temporarily drawn from the Iron Fist Group.

Even Wang Yanbing sensed something off, nudged Liu Xiaotian with his elbow, and whispered, "Hey, do you know that guy? The way you look at him makes it seem like you stole his wife. Judging by his age, his wife must be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Do you have some weird fetish?"

Liu Xiaotian backhanded gave him a poke, irritably saying:

"Fetish, my ass! I don't even know him!"

Before Wang Yanbing could speak again, Chen Shanming, now in a standard referee's uniform, strode forward and was the first to step onto the boxing ring.

"Are you all ready? Now I announce that the combat assessment officially begins! This time there's no drawing lots; your opponents have already been arranged."

I'll just state the rules.

The rules are a mix of boxing, sanda, and free fighting; as long as you don't strike prohibited areas, you may use punches, kicks, and elbows!

We had originally planned to let you fight under MMA rules, but our training hall hasn't started construction yet, and the superior hasn't approved the application for this subject, so for now we'll go with this…

Everyone simultaneously spat in disgust.

He talks as if it's imminent, but in reality they haven't even made a single stroke of the character 'eight' yet!

And that's not the key point.

The key is, the looser the rules, the more disadvantageous it is for these twenty-four trainees.

After all, it's been less than a month; even if their strength has improved quickly under such intense training, they probably still can't match those veterans. Could it be that Chief of Staff Fan thinks the last beating wasn't harsh enough, hasn't yet offset the dissatisfaction from that drill, and plans to trap us again? Whatever they think, Chen Shanming on the ring doesn't know, nor could he care, and he continues on his own:

"The assessment will use a round-robin elimination format; anyone defeated in the first round loses the right to proceed to the next round."

"Those who manage to last into the second round, regardless of win or loss, can participate in the second round!"

Now, the match begins.

The fighters are, respectively, the Wolf Fang Special Forces Brigade combat instructor 'Zhangyu', versus the trainee… Liu Xiaotian!

I'll be damned!

Liu Xiaotian almost cursed out loud.

Damn… this is clearly aimed at me, isn't it?

"Zhangyu", that's the Combat Instructor! One could even say he's an all‑round Instructor! I'm afraid, you, Chen Da Jiaoguan, the future Red Blood Cell Squad Leader, might not be a match for him, right? Could it be that Zhangyu is seeking revenge for Tang Xinyi? After all, in that exercise in the TV drama, the little thing between Tang Xinyi and Zhangyu was never fully explained to He Chen Guang.

At that moment, Liu Xiaotian's complexion wasn't looking good…

(End of Chapter)