Chapter 46: There Are Times When You Aren't So Badass Either (Part Two)

The adjutant was momentarily stunned, having lost count. Zhou Zhihan had been moving at a remarkably fast pace, maintaining a completely even speed from start to finish. Filled with admiration, the adjutant had been momentarily distracted and lost track of the earlier numbers.

"Probably around forty-something!"

Uncertain of himself, the adjutant called out to a cadet responsible for recording scores, "That Chinese kid, Zhou... what was his count again?"

The recording cadet shouted back, "Sir! Zhou Zhihan completed fifty-six!"

"Hah!"

Hearing that Zhou Zhihan had achieved fifty-six, Big Bear let out a fierce roar, threw his arms upward, and began punching the air with violent force. He had completely crushed that little punk in this event, finally venting the pent-up frustration in his chest.

Yet, once again, no one was paying him any attention. What was going on?

Suddenly, Big Bear noticed a bizarre sight: an officer from the Marine Corps was lying on the ground, mimicking a frog-like jumping motion, while several other officers stood around him, watching and discussing animatedly.

Big Bear understood. His spotlight had been stolen by these Marine Corps officers.

Upon hearing the score for Zhou Zhihan's burpees, the adjutant glanced over at Major General Arthur King.

Major General King, however, was looking at Zhou Zhihan's instructor, Second Lieutenant Jonas Hansen.

Second Lieutenant Hansen hurried over, snapped a salute, and began speaking in a low voice to answer the general's inquiry.

After listening to the second lieutenant's explanation, Major General King shifted his gaze toward Zhou Zhihan, who was already walking away to begin the fourth test. Could this kid really be a genius?

It was entirely possible.

Geniuses never did things the way ordinary people did; they tended to stand out, and sometimes their actions appeared downright eccentric.

There was a saying: a genius is on the left, a madman is on the right, and ordinary people walk down the middle. This cadet was definitely no madman, yet his strength was far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Across three tests, Zhou Zhihan had taken less than seven minutes. At this rate, he might even catch up to the previous wave of cadets who had started their testing eleven minutes earlier.

As things stood, Zhou Zhihan's score might not be the absolute highest among all the cadets tested today, but the difficulty of the movement he performed far surpassed mere push-ups—none of the other participants could even do it!

Moreover, he was only a freshman, still as tender as an autumn melon sprout.

Having finished his burpees, Zhou Zhihan distinctly felt that his physical strength was vastly superior to what it had been a day ago. The first time he did two minutes of burpees, he had been exhausted to the point of resembling a worn-out dog; now, after completing a full minute of burpees, he didn't feel tired at all. Though he had sweated profusely, he felt an overwhelming sense of crisp refreshment.

The fourth test began.

Three rounds of twenty-five-meter shuttle runs, totaling one hundred and fifty meters.

The actions required for each sprint varied.

First sprint: Lift a fifty-kilogram ammunition crate and sprint at maximum speed to the twenty-five-meter mark. On the return trip, leap into three foxholes and climb back out. Upon returning to the fifty-meter line, pick up two twenty-kilogram kettlebells and sprint again, this time weaving left and right past a series of marker poles while running.

This simulated test was designed to train soldiers to quickly drag comrades out of danger zones during battle, or to carry ammunition to designated combat positions and vehicles. During this process, they also had to dive and roll with a comrade into a foxhole to evade enemy bullets and artillery fire.

The second round involved dragging a thirty-kilogram wooden crate across a twenty-five-meter sprint, touching the pole at the turnaround point, putting down the wooden crate, picking up a thirty-kilogram irregular object, holding it against the chest, and running back.

This simulation test was intended for rescuing wounded teammates during wartime. The terrain on the battlefield was complex and volatile; depending on the landscape and enemy fire layouts, it might be necessary to drag, carry on one's back, or cradle an injured comrade while running.

The third sprint required the cadets to construct their own transport tools.

In combat, soldiers had to learn to utilize every available material on the battlefield to make stretchers, drag sleds, or even makeshift backpacks to save the lives of their comrades while ensuring their own safety.

During regular classes, instructors taught cadets that when building a single-person stretcher for an injured teammate on the battlefield, the best choice was always to select materials that were sturdy and had minimal surface contact with the ground.

For this test station, all available materials simulated to the maximum extent what might actually appear on a battlefield.

There were tree branches shattered by artillery shells, charred wood, broken firearms, discarded ammunition crates, the ground littered with bullet casings and shell fragments, and massive craters blown open by artillery.

At a glance, it looked like a battlefield ravaged by the fires of war.

This was also meant to give cadets a firsthand taste of the smoke and cruelty of war.

Zhou Zhihan found two pieces of wood charred by the flames of war, tested their hardness, and found them suitable. He then secured the wooden crate—acting as the "comrade"—across the two pieces of wood, tied both ends down with a rope, looped one end of the rope over his shoulder, and grabbed the wooden handles with both hands, bending over halfway. In this configuration, the ground-contact ends of the two poles were reduced to just two points, allowing him to drag the wooden crate forward while dodging shell craters.

The greatest advantage of tying a stretcher this way was the conservation of physical energy, though it required slightly more time. Some soldiers simply grabbed a rope, tied it directly to the wooden crate, and dragged it straight ahead. While that saved time, it wasted an immense amount of energy, making it unsuitable for long-distance rescue of comrades, especially in terrain riddled with shell craters.

Rescuing teammates on the battlefield was all about escaping the enemy's fire net at top speed. When rescuing a wounded person alone, dragging was undoubtedly the best method. While dragging in a bent-over posture, both hands remained free to return fire and suppress the enemy, whereas carrying a teammate on one's back left the soldier completely unable to use their hands.

In this major test category, Zhou Zhihan scored ninety points once again. Although he wasted a little time building the stretcher, his method was simple, efficient, and practical, earning him bonus points. To the watching cadets, this was nothing short of a masterclass in instruction.

Without resting after the fourth test, Zhou Zhihan went straight into the fifth test station, his entire body drenched in sweat.

Meanwhile, Big Bear had fallen a full body-length behind him and was sweating profusely as he struggled to tie his stretcher. Seeing Zhou Zhihan complete the fourth obstacle, Big Bear's thick hands fumbled frantically, unsure of where to secure the ropes.

At that moment, far behind Big Bear, the fastest of the remaining cadets was only just beginning the third test.

"Based solely on these first four tests alone, the Chinese kid, Zhou, is fully qualified to enter the Marine Corps for further selection testing."

Several Marine Corps officers discussed quietly among themselves. This cadet's performance thus far was exceptionally stellar, and since he was merely a freshman, he was young with immense room for molding. The Marine Corps could not afford to let such a talent slip away; bringing him back for rigorous training could very well forge him into the next legendary warrior generation.

Since Zhou Zhihan's group was testing last, the spectators naturally moved along with them, causing the crowd of onlookers to grow larger and larger.

The fifth test began: hanging leg raises on the horizontal bar.

The passing standard for this test was twenty repetitions in two minutes, twenty-five repetitions earned seventy points, thirty earned eighty points, thirty-three earned ninety points, and a perfect score required thirty-seven plus.

Zhou Zhihan's score for this round was thirty-two. When he reached the one-minute mark, he deliberately reined in his power a bit.

As testing progressed, other participants naturally grew exhausted, their physical strength depleting and fatigue setting in. Yet Zhou Zhihan felt more and more energized, so he had to hold back slightly and project a veneer of fatigue. Only by doing so could the audience relate to him.

If a participant's physical strength continued to rise while everyone else's plummeted, it would create a jarring sense of dissonance, making people wonder if this was even a competition between humans at all.

It would look unmistakably like a human competing against a machine.

Even if one had the strength, one had to learn to keep a low profile!

The highest level of showing off was an ascending progression; if you flexed too hard right off the bat and shot straight into the cosmos, people wouldn't be able to keep up with your pace!

Their eyes wouldn't be able to track you either!

Without an audience, what was the point of showing off?!

During this round, many felt a sense of regret for him. If he had just pushed slightly faster and completed one more repetition, he could have scored ninety; missing out by a single rep meant he could only receive eighty.

Although many pitied him, some among the crowd were undoubtedly thinking: *So even you have times when you aren't an absolute monster!*

Zhou Zhihan began the sixth test: free-hand climbing of a 4.9-meter obstacle, sprinting forward to leap across a 3.5-meter-wide trench, scaling a 2.5-meter-high brick wall, shouldering a 30-kilogram ammunition crate to perform at least ten squats, and immediately following up with a standing long jump upon dropping the crate.

This test item contained numerous sub-tasks, requiring the recorders to log the scores for each individual sub-task and calculate an average to determine the final score for this section.

The passing line for this test was also sixty points, with a maximum score of one hundred.