Chapter Seven: A Clash

The Jinjiang Special Forces consisted of three hundred recruits, currently divided into ten squads of thirty members each. While they had all been inducted into the Jinjiang Special Forces, only one hundred would eventually make it into the active combat sequence; the rest would be relegated to reserve or logistics support roles. Although these three hundred individuals were already considered outstanding after their initial special training, only those within the organization understood that true elite status was reserved solely for those in the combat sequence. Every elite bore a red mark on their chest—not a rank or a code name, but a symbol of their status.

Wu Mingjie and Jing Dong were assigned to the tenth squad, while Jiyu and Ouyang Nan were in the first. The leader of the first squad was Zhang Xudong. After lining up his thirty recruits in three rows in the corner of the plaza, Zhang Xudong looked at Duan Peng with a sinister smile and said, "I hope you can keep up your good temper and not let me see you turn into a coward."

"Reporting to the squad leader, I guarantee I will complete the mission!" Duan Peng responded without a trace of fear.

Zhang Xudong bypassed the second and third rows and walked up to Jiyu, who stood in the fourth position.

"Xu Yan?"

Following the example set by Duan Peng, Jiyu replied, "Reporting to the squad leader, I am Xu Yan."

Zhang Xudong said loudly, "You are impressive! I may not necessarily outperform you in physical strength, but the Jinjiang Special Forces require more than just physical prowess. Do you understand?"

"Reporting to the squad leader, I understand!" Jiyu’s voice was equally resonant.

Next, Zhang Xudong outlined some basic rules. Despite his burly appearance, he was surprisingly meticulous when explaining certain regulations, appearing deeply protective of his squad members. Every week, the ten recruits with the lowest overall assessment scores would be demoted to the tenth squad, while those from the tenth would move up to the ninth, eighth, and so on. If they failed to return to the top one hundred by the end of all assessments, they would permanently lose their status as elite members. While this seemed unfair, it highlighted that those who failed to reach the top hundred were often those who simply could not adapt to the final assessment criteria. These one hundred elite members were, without question, the top candidates in terms of comprehensive ability. This rule clearly demonstrated how strict the Jinjiang Special Forces were regarding the well-roundedness of their members.

Dormitory arrangements were simple: each squad of thirty lived in two separate rooms, split by odd and even numbers. Female recruits had their own separate dormitory. This was convenient but also problematic; while squads had joint training sessions, they also had individual schedules, and emergency drills could be quite unfair to the female recruits. Yet, there was no alternative. Only after becoming an elite member was one granted a private room.

Jiyu and Duan Peng lived in different rooms, which dashed Jiyu’s hopes of having more time to study Duan Peng closely. Although his sensory perception had dropped to its lowest level, his instinctive experience could still provide him with significant advantages, provided he had enough opportunities for contact. Duan Peng was the first Blue Star inhabitant he had encountered whose biological constitution differed so significantly. Had his perception and instincts not been dampened, he would have had no fear of a physical confrontation with Duan Peng, but for now, he could only maintain a stalemate, and even then, he felt slightly inferior.

The training in the Jinjiang Special Forces was truly brutal. After being tormented all morning, the afternoon brought an even stranger examination. Three hundred spinning wheels, similar to those used in pilot testing, rotated continuously in the plaza. Within ten minutes, more and more people were vomiting, and after an hour, fewer than one hundred remained. Ouyang Nan was no longer among the top tier, and her ranking in the first squad had likely dropped significantly.

As training ended, a frustrated Ouyang Nan asked while heading back to the dormitory, "Xu Yan, is there any way for me to improve?"

Jiyu glanced at Duan Peng walking ahead and shook his head. "There is no effective method. Aside from getting used to the nausea, there are no shortcuts."

Ouyang Nan’s face turned even paler. Being a girl, she gave up after forcing herself to swallow the bile rising from her stomach for the second time. She knew that even if she persisted, she could never become one of the final one hundred, which would only make her performance drop further.

Duan Peng, walking in front, turned his head and said, "Why don't you use your rest time? You could easily avoid making a fool of yourself."

Ouyang Nan’s expression turned sour. In Jiyu’s mind, the data wave of Xu Yan’s personality urged: *Snap back at him! That’s incredibly disrespectful to women.*

Helpless, Jiyu said to Duan Peng, "Duan Peng, just because you are strong is no reason to humiliate others."

Duan Peng stopped and looked at Jiyu. "The squad leader said you were strong. Today was just an appetizer; we will have plenty of time to compete in the future. Just saying a few nice words doesn't mean you’re actually any good."

Duan Peng’s tone angered Jiyu.

"No need to wait for another day. The afternoon is still long—let’s go back and compete. The one who gives up first loses."

"Fine!" Duan Peng agreed without hesitation.

"Don't be so quick. If I win, you apologize to Ouyang Nan!" Jiyu said, blocking his path.

"You won't win!" Duan Peng said arrogantly.

"Don't speak too soon. Just tell me if you agree or not."

"No problem, I agree!"

Their conversation and wager immediately drew the attention of the surrounding recruits. Jiyu, Duan Peng, and Ouyang Nan returned to the plaza together. The ten squad leaders, who had not yet left, made no attempt to stop them, and even the captain walked out of his office to watch through the window.

Once Jiyu and Duan Peng stood on the two special steel rollers, Ouyang Nan acted as the referee, shouting, "Start!"

As the words left her lips, Duan Peng and Jiyu pushed the rollers with all their might, spinning across the plaza. Previously, with three hundred people, they had to be careful to avoid collisions, but now, with only the two of them, the space was wide enough that no evasion was needed; the other recruits even followed alongside the rollers.

Jing Zhi-min watched for a moment before saying to Zhang Xudong, "Reduce the gravity pull to negative 20."

Zhang Xudong was stunned for a moment before realizing the captain wanted to accelerate the process to see the result. He immediately grabbed his tablet and adjusted the plaza's gravity settings to negative 20. For the onlookers in the plaza, the change was subtle, just a sudden feeling of lightness. But for Jiyu and Duan Peng, who were already spinning at high speeds, it became agonizing. They had to control the direction and landing of the rollers while focusing on balancing the gravity disparity caused by their difference in mass.

If the morning's training had been a test of physical strength and skill, mental control was now added to the mix. Jiyu and Duan Peng could no longer rely solely on their instincts. Just five minutes later, the roller Duan Peng was controlling, which had been moving steadily across the plaza, began to tilt. Ten seconds later, Jiyu’s roller began to tilt as well.

Jing Zhi-min shouted, "Whoever recovers to normal first wins!"