Chapter Eight: Who Wins and Who Loses

The chief instructor suddenly changed the rules, but it had to be said that both Ke Yu and Duan Peng understood that this was no longer a contest between the two of them; it had likely risen to the level of an evaluation.

Almost at the same moment, Ke Yu and Duan Peng steered the rotating wheel back onto its original track.

When Jing Zhi Min called out, “Stop,” both of them stepped down a little unsteadily from the wheel.

Ou Yang Nan hurried forward to support Ke Yu, though his gaze was fixed on Jing Zhi Min, the team leader.

Jing Zhi Min glanced back at the tablet in Zhang Xu Dong’s hand. The difference between the two was less than half a second.

That half-second advantage belonged to Ke Yu; he had edged ahead by less than half a second.

Unfortunately, his body’s instincts during movement prevented him from judging the result accurately, and he only felt that the two had finished almost simultaneously.

Both of them looked at Jing Zhi Min, waiting for him to announce the final result.

But when Jing Zhi Min turned back, he did not announce the outcome. Instead, he asked, “Who proposed the competition?”

The two of them answered almost at the same time: “I did.”

Duan Peng and Ke Yu exchanged a glance, both understanding the meaning in the other’s eyes.

When the team leader suddenly asked that, there had to be some hidden implication. Judging from the treatment they had received that day, whoever had proposed it would probably bear the punishment that followed.

Yet Zhang Xu Dong leaned close to Jing Zhi Min and said quietly, “It was Xu Yan.”

Jing Zhi Min smiled strangely and said loudly, “Xu Yan issued the challenge, but lost by 0.5 seconds. Still, for daring to challenge the first-place contender, he is awarded 5 points, which will be counted toward his score. As for why you two were competing, handle that yourselves.”

With that, Jing Zhi Min addressed all the squad leaders. “Come on, back to the office for a brief meeting.”

Each evaluation was worth 10 points. With only one evaluation completed so far, setting aside Ke Yu’s actual performance, just those 5 bonus points were enough to make him the leader after this assessment.

But that was not the most important thing.

What mattered was that this reward mechanism had not been included in the rules announced to each squad.

Yet if the team leader said it aloud, it meant the rule was very likely to exist beneath the surface.

Those who ranked lower suddenly saw a possible way to increase their points, especially the top members of the second squad. If such an opportunity existed, they might well be promoted from the second squad directly to the first within a week.

And the eyes of those ranked around one hundred and something lit up even more. This was an extra boost that could propel them into the elite sequence.

If the team leader and squad leaders had not already gone to the office for a meeting, someone would probably have stepped up immediately to challenge.

Duan Peng froze for a moment. He had won, but it seemed that his victory had not placed any demands on Ke Yu or Ou Yang Nan; instead, it had given the other side points.

In the end, it was still the other side that had come out on top.

Feeling somewhat awkward, he walked to Ou Yang Nan and lowered his head slightly. “Ou Yang Nan, I’m sorry. What I said just now was inappropriate.”

Ke Yu was also stunned. He had not expected Duan Peng to apologize so readily. Only, he was beginning to wonder whether he had really lost.

But the decline in his perception left him deeply troubled.

Even though Duan Peng was apologizing, it was clear he did not truly think he had lost—only that he had been defeated by the rules.

To confirm whether his perception had really dropped to this extent, Ke Yu said, “Duan Peng, about the result just now, I’m not sure whether I really lost. Let’s do it again!”

Duan Peng flew into a rage and glared at him. “I’ve already apologized. What more do you want? Do you really think you won?”

Ke Yu’s reaction surprised Ou Yang Nan somewhat. He hurriedly tugged lightly at Ke Yu’s arm, signaling him not to embarrass the other man. “The instructor already announced the result just now.”

Ke Yu, however, looked at Duan Peng and said, “The apology is over. I just want to prove whether I really lost.”

“Fine!” Duan Peng was equally angered. “Again.”

Everyone had thought the excitement was over, but who would have expected these two to butt heads again? There would be another show to watch.

Back in the office, the instructors heard another burst of noise rising from the plaza, seemingly even louder than before, and only then realized that two more people were competing.

“Who is it?” Jing Zhi Min asked.

After watching for a moment, Zhang Xu Dong said with a wry smile, “Team leader, I’m afraid your earlier ruling did not convince them.”

“What? Those two are at it again?” Jing Zhi Min spat out the tea in his mouth and hurried to the window to look down at the plaza.

Seeing the scene of their contest, Jing Zhi Min’s interest was piqued. “Those two brats are ruthless! Xu Dong, raise the gravity to forty.”

Zhang Xu Dong hesitated. “Team leader, that’s half the gravity training level. They only just entered the Jinjiang Special Operations Team. What if something goes wrong?”

“It won’t,” Jing Zhi Min said with certainty.

The onlookers in the plaza suddenly felt, just as they had during the run earlier, their bodies being pulled downward, the pressure increasing by the second.

“Damn it, the gravity in the plaza increased again!” someone shouted.

A few quick-witted ones immediately lay down and slowly crawled toward the edge of the plaza.

There was no need to waste their strength just watching the excitement.

Duan Peng and Ke Yu felt it too, but with no referee present, the contest was about endurance. Under the same gravity, it merely accelerated the outcome; it would not affect the final result.

A faint smile curved Duan Peng’s lips. This situation could only benefit him.

Not to mention the newly recruited members of the Jinjiang Special Operations Team; even among the instructors, there were not many whose body-fat percentage could compare with his.

Under equal conditions, gravity would impose far less burden on him.

Although that burden would hardly matter in the short term, over time it would be entirely different.

The stronger the gravity, the more uncontrollable the burden brought by body fat.

Ke Yu, however, frowned a little. He wanted to test his perception, not compete with Duan Peng over who won or lost.

But it was obvious that the gravity control was yet another trick by the instructors of the Jinjiang Special Operations Team.

Under this level of gravity, even if Duan Peng’s body-fat percentage was lower, defeat was inevitable.

There was another way to test it: by sensing the instant Duan Peng collapsed and comparing that with the time it took for the signal to travel through his perception to his brain and trigger a response, he might be able to determine how much his perception had declined.

The spinning speed of Duan Peng and Ke Yu’s wheels grew slower and slower. Unlike the earlier contest, where they had only needed to keep the wheel under control, this time they required far more power; inertia had already been largely suppressed by the gravity.

Ten minutes passed. Without any protection at all, Duan Peng felt it growing harder and harder. Sweat poured from him in fine streams, but regrettably he could not see Ke Yu’s condition, nor did he hear anyone call an end to the match.

He could only grit his teeth and keep going.

Another ten minutes passed, and Zhang Xu Dong finally could not help saying, “Team leader, this can’t go on any longer!”

But Jing Zhi Min gritted his teeth and said, “Wait a little longer. Those two brats can still hold on.”