Chapter Twenty-Two: Misunderstood

The ten squads of new recruits for the Jinjiang Special Forces were bewildered by a sudden, peculiar aptitude test.

The standards were bizarre: recruits had to carry a weight exactly equal to their own body mass. It wasn't a cross-country run; they were simply required to walk slowly around the main plaza. It was truly a slow walk. The added burden was simple—each recruit had to carry someone of similar weight on their shoulders, much like a child riding on an adult's back.

They walked lap after lap until the last person collapsed from exhaustion. The test lasted for three consecutive days. There were no set standards, and no squad leader told them what constituted a passing grade. The only requirement was that the person being carried could not assist in shifting or stabilizing the weight.

This made the person walking below slightly more comfortable, but it was difficult for the person on top. They had to avoid swaying excessively, especially when the person below reached their limit; the person above would be holding their breath in suspense.

Once the three-day test concluded, the plaza’s gravity-enhancement field was activated, and the recruits were required to perform the same slow walk while carrying a teammate. This time, the test took only a single day.

Four days later, nearly half of the recruits were dismissed from the training unit. The remainder were reorganized into five squads and continued training according to the original schedule. The dismissed recruits were taken to another training ground within the Jinjiang base to undergo the same curriculum Xu Yan and Duan Peng had once endured.

They saw Xu Yan and Duan Peng there, but the two did not participate in the recruits' training. Instead, they left early and returned late every day, sometimes not returning to the barracks at all. Since the two occupied separate quarters, no one knew exactly what they were working on.

Duan Peng didn't mind; as long as Xu Yan didn't call for him, he treated the interstellar training room like a rock-climbing wall.

After the 150 selected recruits completed the training curriculum designed by Xu Yan and Duan Peng, another 100 were eliminated. The remaining 50 officially joined the Jinjiang Special Forces' interstellar training program. All the training equipment had been personally modified by Xu Yan, though he did not want to draw too much attention to his own abilities. Consequently, aside from Duan Peng, only the team captains of the Jinjiang Special Forces were aware of it.

Jing Zhimin had no intention of involving the veteran members for the time being, primarily because they were all tied up with their own missions. His only hope was that these new recruits would have a year of training to prove themselves.

Xu Yan and Duan Peng were surprised to find Ouyang Nan, Wu Mingjie, and Jing Dong among the final fifty. Ouyang Nan was understandable, as she had once been a member of the first squad, but Wu Mingjie and Jing Dong were from the tenth. While their personalities had not changed much, the most significant shift was in their discipline and their attitude toward problems.

Jing Dong had originally thought that because his uncle was the commander-in-chief, Jing Zhimin, he would receive preferential treatment. Upon arrival, he discovered that the "special treatment" was, in fact, doubled training. As for Wu Mingjie, having been classmates for four years, he couldn't bear to see him suffer through grueling solo training sessions under the squad leader, so he secretly joined him, which actually accelerated his own growth.

Therefore, when Jing Dong saw Xu Yan again, the sense of superiority he once held had vanished, replaced by a desire to challenge Xu Yan’s strength. Xu Yan, however, had no intention of acknowledging him. If this were back during the information-absorption stage of "Covet," a dozen Jing Dongs wouldn't have been a match for him. In his view, Jing Dong’s challenge was merely a child's game.

Duan Peng, now Xu Yan’s sworn brother, stepped forward in response to the provocation: "Kid, if you can beat me, you'll earn the right to challenge Xu Yan. If you can't even beat me, forget it and go back to training!"

Jing Dong looked at Xu Yan’s cold, indifferent gaze and gritted his teeth. He had once looked at Xu Yan with that very same expression, but since arriving at the Jinjiang Special Forces, he had been so thoroughly outclassed that he had nothing left to say. Even during the squad selection, Xu Yan had led the first squad by a wide margin, and if not for Xu Yan’s help, Jing Dong would have barely made the cut.

Under the witness of Zhang Xudong, Jing Dong challenged Duan Peng. Although he knew Duan Peng was likely stronger, he believed that his efforts alongside Wu Mingjie to rise from the tenth squad to the first were not in vain. Yet, in the actual contest, he realized that Duan Peng had defeated him with trivial ease.

Ouyang Nan watched the entire match, but she noticed that Xu Yan seemed completely unconcerned about his sworn brother. From start to finish, he never looked their way, lost in thought, his gaze unfocused, occasionally muttering to himself.

When Ouyang Nan quietly approached him, Xu Yan looked up. "What? Finished watching the show?"

"You knew Duan Peng would win!"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Intuition. No specific reason. I have faith in him."

"And what about you?"

"Me?" Xu Yan smiled. "I'm not interested in children's games."

Xu Yan had always treated Ouyang Nan well. Despite her privileged background, she had remained humble throughout their years at university, especially compared to Jing Dong. After joining the Jinjiang Special Forces, and particularly after the simulated assessment at the Interstellar Training Center, he learned that Ouyang Nan’s father was a high-ranking general in the Interstellar Force. This only made him more inclined to treat her with respect.

However, while he felt he was being sincere, it came across as arrogance to Ouyang Nan.

"Xu Yan, I don't know why you've become so unsociable. How can you look down on your classmates of several years like this?"

"I'm not!" Xu Yan looked at her, puzzled. "I just think Jing Dong's challenge is truly childish. The problems we will face in the future are things he cannot possibly handle with his current level of training. He doesn't understand!"

"And you think you do?" Ouyang Nan’s tone turned cold.

"Ouyang Nan, that’s not what I meant!" Sensing the misunderstanding, Xu Yan quickly explained, "I just mean we should set our sights further—not just on the Jinjiang Special Forces, but on a much greater and more distant goal!"

Ouyang Nan shook her head, looking at him with disappointment. "You have let me down."

With that, she turned and left, ignoring Xu Yan’s attempts to call her back.

"This girl has such rich emotions," a message transmitted from within Xu Yan’s mind, originating from Covet.

"What do you mean by that?" Xu Yan retorted.

"I don't understand why you have so many emotional fluctuations," Covet said. "Biological entities shouldn't make their relationships with their own kind so complex. Cooperation and competition—those are the only two necessary relations. Anything else is superfluous."

Xu Yan was speechless. Was this the nature of relationships between beings on the planet Covet came from? He couldn't grasp it either.

Yet, he felt a subtle shift; lately, because of the modifications to the training equipment, Covet seemed to be regaining a sense of dominance, and it had been talking far too much. Xu Yan, conversely, had been using his own thoughts less and less.

In other words, while Covet remained unaware that its influence was being observed through the equipment, Xu Yan’s own mental waves were experiencing the same sense of helplessness that Covet had felt back in the silent chamber. The difference was that Covet did not seem dejected; rather, it appeared as excited as if it had discovered a new continent.