CHAPTER 283: CHAPTER 283: AS WEAK AS YOU

Mu Jianling frowned and loudly said, "From the moment you entered the school, you became a Reserve Soldier, and you could be sent to the frontline at any time. Look at yourselves, lackluster and listless, what kind of appearance is that?"

The students collectively fell silent.

Mu Jianling continued, "A qualified, excellent warrior must be able to quickly adjust their mindset at any time. Do you think you are up to standard now? Do you think you are an excellent warrior?"

The students remained silent.

Mu Jianling ordered, "Everyone, carry a 20-pound weight and run 10 laps around the field. Finish by 12 o’clock noon. Those who don’t complete will continue in the afternoon with an additional penalty of 20 laps."

The students: "!!!"

Ji You thought for a moment and hesitantly raised her hand: "Teacher... isn’t this a bit inhumane?"

Mu Jianling’s gaze was sharp: "Inhumane? What kind of ’humane’ treatment do you want?"

Ji You: "..."

Ji You dared not make any more suggestions.

Oh my gosh~

Terrifying.

Too terrifying.

Mu Jianling said, "Those who want their teacher to be ’humane’ can now go back to the dormitory and sleep soundly. Rest assured, I will not stop you, nor will I deduct points or rewards for this. Now, I’ll count to 3 seconds. Those who leave within 3 seconds will not be punished. Those who don’t leave within 3 seconds are agreeing to all my harsh terms."

"3!"

Among the 100 people in the team, everyone remained frozen in place. Mu Jianling looked at this scene and felt very gratified.

"2!"

Suddenly—

There was a slight commotion in the team. Mu Jianling looked up and saw that it was Sheng Qingyan. Her eyes turned cold in a flash, and her entire demeanor resembled a cold, bone-chilling sharp sword.

Sheng Qingyan withdrew the hand that was scratching his neck, cursing inwardly: Look at that, just for scratching his neck, he’s already being threatened—sure enough, he knew these words from the old woman were deceiving.

The team was quiet; no one moved an inch. Mu Jianling was very pleased and nodded.

"1!"

Mu Jianling declared, "Teacher is very happy. You are all brave, striving, struggling, and not afraid of hardship, excellent young people! Now—let’s start the weighted run."

Everyone quickly put on the weights and began running laps around the walking track of the Space Station.

Mu Jianling said, "I will come back on time at 12. Meanwhile, your performance will be fully recorded by the Light Computer, so don’t think about shirking your duties."

The students: "..."

No one wanted to shirk anyway!

After dropping these words, Mu Jianling quickly left.

Carrying a 20-pound weight was still bearable for Ji You at present. She maintained a steady pace, running slowly while pondering: Why did Teacher Mu suddenly have them do this pure physical training?

Logically, physical strength training could also be done in school. There was no need to travel tens of light-years to the Space Station for it.

So—

What was the reason?

Obviously, not only Ji You but others were also contemplating this question.

Shen Changqing suddenly said, "Teacher Mu doesn’t have time to look after us right now and also doesn’t trust us to go out alone. Is that why she arranged this training for us?"

Hmm?

Ji You furrowed her brow and said, "I think so too."

Yue Qiyuan commented, "That’s probably it."

Sheng Qingyan ran while still yawning widely, but he said with a very serious tone: "Don’t underestimate this old lady—her combat power is formidable. She can at least bring a few hundred miles around the space station under her protection. So, before the reinforcements at the front lines arrive, this old lady should be temporarily taking over the task of guarding the base of the space station. Of course, that means she won’t have time to bother with us."

Ji You was surprised: "Really? We will have reinforcements here?"

Continuing with an elegant roll of his eyes, Sheng Qingyan said: "The Erathia Triangle Asteroid Belt is adjacent to the Seventh and Eighth Star Systems and is a crucial strategic area for the Alliance. If the Alliance’s higher-ups aren’t stupid, they absolutely won’t give up on this place. Therefore, reinforcements will definitely be sent. It’s just a matter of whether they arrive sooner or later."

The recent battles have been dire, resulting in a large number of Alliance Soldiers sacrificing themselves on the front lines, including elite soldiers like Yang Bin and Lu Zhen. It could be said to have inflicted crippling damage to the entire force stationed in the Erathia Triangular Zone.

Personnel replenishment was inevitable.

Shen Changqing also agreed with this, saying: "Reinforcements are certain. And—I suspect our special training will end early." The initially planned 15 days of special training had only just passed less than 5 days...

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" Someone who didn’t understand couldn’t help but ask.

Shen Changqing explained: "If reinforcements are coming, it means there are going to be big battles upcoming. Unless we stay inside the space station all the time, outer space will be unsafe for us."

Yue Qiguang burst out angrily: "Does that mean we can only be cooped up like lab rabbits? Can’t we set foot on the front lines and fight together? Only real combat is the strongest training!"

Shen Changqing looked at him, his tone unusually stern: "You’re too weak, not qualified."

Yue Qiguang: "You!!!"

Shen Changqing lowered his gaze: "I am too weak as well, not qualified."

This—was also the first time that Shen Changqing realized his own weakness.

He was indeed weak.

So weak that he wasn’t even qualified to set foot on the front lines.

Silence.

Only the heavy footsteps and the silent panting sounds remained around them.

If this had been said in the past, Ji You wouldn’t have cared. She thought that with her current strength, piloting a Mecha, she should at least be able to move sideways around the periphery of Waste #101, right? As long as she didn’t encounter a Star Beast of level 4 or higher, as long as she didn’t encounter a horde of Star Beasts, she would be totally fine.

However—

The Star Beasts that could step into space were at least level 4.

That day, during their outer space training, several of them cooperated and barely managed to kill a level 4 Star Beast.

Ji You clenched her teeth and said: "I am too weak as well, not qualified."

Admitting one’s weakness is not shameful.

Thus, knowing one’s weakness, one should work hard to compensate for it.

Ji You didn’t say anymore and focused all her body and mind on running laps.

Beside her—

Chu Jiaojiao also lowered her gaze, speaking softly: "I am too weak as well, not qualified. But—this is only temporary, I believe in myself."

Suddenly, Ji You smiled, unable to resist saying: "Jiaojiao, it’s the first time I realized you’re also pretty."

Scratching her face, Chu Jiaojiao said with a chuckle: "But—nowhere near one in ten million parts of you, Student Ji You."

Ji You: "..."

Despite the compliment, there was not the slightest sense of happiness.

Ah!

So complicated.

After realizing their own weaknesses, none of the students slacked off anymore. They all ran earnestly and, after running for more than four hours, suddenly—the usually quiet space station rarely blared a horn sound, and all the students were startled, stopping their jogging in unison. They looked at each other while question marks popped up in their minds:

"What’s happening?"