Chapter 527: Welcome to Devil Week

When those words were spoken, everyone's heart gave a sudden thump.

These past days, they've truly been plagued.

Lu Yang, that devilish instructor, torments them with new tricks every day; not only harsher, but also with higher training demands, leaving everyone in unbearable misery.

Now he says there are conditions to eat, which must be another round of crafty torment.

But Lu Yang breaks the routine: "No more torment, no physical drills; split into two teams to sing and rally spirit; the side that sings better eats first."

He swipes his hand across the middle of the line, dividing them into two squads.

Immediately follows a earth‑shaking, soul‑wrenching howl.

To get a bite of hot rice, they strain their throats as if their lives depended on it.

Lu Yang's purpose is simple: to let everyone regain the familiar feeling they had in the barracks.

In the unit, a pre‑meal song is a memory etched in the bone; singing it before eating marks a perfect close to this Island Survival Training.

"Alright, stop!"

Lu Yang snaps his hand in the air, and the wailing instantly ceases.

"The right side sang better; you line up first for the rice, the rest follow behind."

"Yay~"

"The braised chicken leg is so tasty!"

"Oh my god, I'm finally alive again, I'm finally alive again!"

"Before, I never realized military food could be this fragrant!"

"Squad Leader Hong, bring me more rice; if the vegetables are short, just pour the soup over it, ginger works too, something warming..."

The famished soldiers squat, stand, or sit on the ground, greedily shoveling rice into their mouths.

A few ate so fast they choked, pounding their chest and stamping their feet while quickly swallowing mineral water.

The one who came to help isn't Regiment Commander Wang Zhongxi, but Regiment Political Commissar Tan Yuanzhou.

Standing among the crowd, watching the scene, he can't help shaking his head.

"My god, they're so starving they've even swallowed chicken bones."

"If they're not careful, they'd even chew on stainless steel plates and swallow them."

"Lu Yang, what have you put them through on the island these days that you turned a fine group of soldiers into savages?"

Lu Yang explains that the goal is to train them into savages.

Only then can they stay highly alert in the wilderness.

Thus, the past issue of losing troops to enemy scouts during drills won't recur.

The training aims not only to sharpen skills but also to find and fill gaps; wherever they're lacking, they train there, achieving all‑round improvement.

"Everyone's full, but there's more; we have instant noodles, hot water, ham sausage, bread!"

Hearing there's extra food makes the already excited soldiers even more thrilled.

One by one they unabashedly finish their meals and then go for the instant noodles.

Even though they're all in packets, no one cares about that now.

Some pour hot water into the bag, some chew it dry, and some dump the seasoning packet into their palm and lick it with their tongue.

"Any more?"

"None left."

"No more braised pieces?"

"Look yourself, it feels like a dog licking."

Squad Leader Hong swirls a big ladle in the thermos twice, leaving the inner wall spotless as if scrubbed.

The supplies—instant noodles, bread, ham sausage—were all devoured by everyone in a short time, completely wiped out.

Lu Yang hands out mineral water while asking, "Panpan, are you full?"

Chen Panpan takes the water, says thank you, "Full, so full I could vomit."

Lu Yang then asks the satisfied Kong Long.

"And you?"

"I'll just hold off for now; I'll eat properly when we get back."

"So you're not full?"

"Full, full, just kidding, my belly's about to burst."

"Hey."

Lu Yang snaps his fingers at the day‑dreaming Kang Changyi, asking if he's full; if not, there's still a packet of instant noodles here.

Kang Changyi lifts his shirt, exposing his round belly: "In this life I've never gotten through without this; it's got me dazed, made me stupid from eating."

Lu Yang laughs, pats his ripe belly, and glances at Gao Feng.

Gao Feng immediately pulls out a whistle and blows, "Gather here!"

The satiated soldiers, like pregnant women, support their bellies and slowly stand up to form a line.

Having just finished, their eyes are dazed, as if a bit dizzy.

Lu Yang looks at everyone: "These days you've endured much suffering and many hardships; yet your progress is evident."

"The more isolated and unsupported the wilderness, the more a soldier's potential is sparked, the more breakthroughs can be achieved."

"We don't compare with others, we compare with ourselves; being a bit stronger than yesterday is enough."

Tan Yuanzhou listens nearby, thinking Lu Yang's words are relatively insightful.

He doesn't impose excessive pressure, nor spout endless doctrines.

As long as each day you're a bit better than yesterday, that's progress.

It is both a summary and encouragement, and moreover a main line for future growth.

Lu Yang said loudly: "Here I announce that the first-stage wilderness survival training has ended perfectly; immediately, we will enter the second stage, Devil Week!"

Ah?

Everyone shuddered, their jaws all hitting the ground.

No way, don't!

The first stage was already deadly; the second stage, Devil Week—might as well kill me!

No wonder they fed us so well, so full; this is a condemned man's meal—after eating we go to the execution ground!

Complaints rose and fell; nobody hid their inner fear of Devil Week.

Given their current physical condition and mental state, staying on the island a few more days would make them collapse, let alone enter the second stage—this isn't trying to take people's lives, is it?

Lu Yang coughed once, then added: "Everyone, don't get excited yet—I haven't finished; the second-stage training will only involve the Raptor Team members, while everyone else will soon board the ship and return to enter the adaptation consolidation training stage."

Holy shit!

Zhou Kaidong, Ding Tengfei, Kang Changyi and the others all had fallen faces.

Watching others cheer and celebrate, looking like survivors of a disaster, their hearts turned cold halfway.

Liu Ziqiang protested: "Instructor, why are we being treated differently?"

Lu Yang raised an eyebrow: "The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility; holding the camp's best tactical gear, enduring more hardship in training than others—what's the problem?"

Liu Ziqiang was utterly speechless: "......"

Lu Yang: "The Raptor Team stays; everyone else packs up and prepares to board the ship and go home!"

Report!

Just then, someone suddenly shouted.

Lu Yang followed the sound and saw that Guo Yongwen was speaking.

What's up?

Report, I request to voluntarily join the second-stage Devil Week training!

Look, look at his awareness, his spirit!

Lu Yang pointed at Liu Ziqiang and immediately nodded in agreement.

Anyone else who wants to join in?

The crowd that had just been lively fell instantly silent.

One by one, they hurried as if fleeing, shouldering their packs and running toward the warship.

Afraid of falling behind and being singled out by the King of Hell to suffer together.

Choosing to be a soldier means one is destined to endure hardship; but there must also be a limit, and one must consider one's actual circumstances.

If you can endure hardship exceptionally well, congratulations—you will surely have endless suffering after joining the troops; coincidentally, Guo Yongwen is exactly that sort, unafraid of hardship and willing to endure it.

He owes it to the unit, to the Company Commander, and to the superiors who promoted him exceptionally.

The 073A landing ship carried Gao Feng, Tan Yuanzhou, Kong Long and others as it slowly pulled away.

On the deck, a bunch of goofballs waved the tissues in their hands, bidding farewell to Kang Changyi and others on the island who were staring longingly.

They were also singing something like: "Goodbye Mom, tonight I will set sail, don't worry about me, I have the oars of joy and wisdom......"

Watching the distant large ship, Kang Changyi's face fell into grief, his emotions swinging wildly; he had thought the torment was over, never expecting to have stepped from one abyss into another.

Zhou Kaidong took a deep breath and asked: "Lu Yang, what subjects will we practice next?"

Lu Yang smiled and said: "No rush, eat first."

Didn't we just eat?

Eat again.

But I can't eat any more.

Who at a young age doesn't eat at noon and get hungry by twelve thirty; if you're not full, how can you have the energy to train?

What should we eat then—won't you make us chew bark and eat wild fruit again?

How could that be?

Lu Yang opened the backpack beside him; inside were blue-packaged shrimp fish noodles and a large amount of braised pork cans: "From now on, we'll eat this; finish it all, then we'll formally start training."

Won't you leave any?

No need.

The bucketed water is ready, and the pot is left behind.

Pick up some firewood, boil the water, and you can cook the noodles.

After announcing the dismissal, everyone sprang into action; Zhou Kaidong and Guo Yongwen exchanged glances and lowered their voices.

I feel something's a bit off.

I also have a bad feeling; there's probably a trap in here.

How to handle it?

Let's just wait and see......