Chapter 1060: Chapter 1030:
Chapter 1030:
"Ye Chen, you should change into a military uniform!" Elder Liu reminded from the side. Ye Chen didn’t refuse. Since they were going to compete, he naturally had to show some real skills. In the future, if he wanted those guys to obediently listen to him, he must convince them with his prowess.
Ye Chen changed into camouflage gear, reminiscing about the days at the Nanjing Military District. As he thought about it now, many things seemed to have passed by like a blur. Faces of comrades from back then seemed to appear in his mind.
"Are you ready?" Liang Le quickly asked.
"Ready!" Ye Chen buckled his belt and put on his hat.
"Commander Liu, can we ask you to be our referee now?" Liang Le turned and saluted Elder Liu with a smile, saying, "If Ye Chen wins, I’ll hand over command of the Special Forces and salute him as a subordinate; if Ye Chen loses, then please, Elder Liu, take back your order. The brothers need a suitable commander, not a useless one!"
"Ye Chen, what’s your opinion?" Elder Liu looked at Ye Chen.
"I have no objections!" Ye Chen smiled and said, "Actually, I have no interest in competitions like this. I even look down on them, but someone is too arrogant. What can I do but respond?"
"Just stubborn!" Liang Le snorted, deciding to leave Ye Chen far behind from the start.
The two stood at the starting line, the test hadn’t begun, yet Liang Le was already sweating profusely. He felt tense, indeed very anxious, because he didn’t understand Ye Chen at all. The military law says that knowing yourself and your enemy ensures many victories. However, he knew nothing about the opponent.
"Bang!"
Elder Liu pulled the trigger of the starting gun, Liang Le instantly shot into action, while Ye Chen remained unmoved. The soldiers immediately shouted, "Colonel, go! Colonel, go!"
"What is Ye Chen doing there?"
"Who knows, maybe he got stage fright!"
Onlookers discussed Ye Chen’s behavior, curious why he stood still. Was Ye Chen about to forfeit the match or planning something else?
As the crowd speculated, Ye Chen suddenly moved. The soldiers exclaimed, "He’s moving, he’s moving!"
The crowd erupted in excitement as if they’d won five million seeing Ye Chen move, a psychological thrill as if watching Ye Chen make a fool of himself was exhilarating. If Ye Chen didn’t move, mocking Liang Le for winning wouldn’t be possible, since the man didn’t compete. But once Ye Chen moved, it indicated he participated, and if he lost, they’d ridicule him hard. Not only ridicule him but disdainfully scorn him deeply. Why make people wait a minute without the skill to deliver, why pretend?
Just like clearly incapable of playing chess, yet insisting on giving someone a rook, knight, and cannon.
However, as the crowd rejoiced in surprise, their voices gradually fell. Their mouths gaped wide enough to fit an egg. They watched Ye Chen catch up with Liang Le near a kilometer mark quickly, Ye Chen’s speed seemed to surpass him in a blink. Moreover, Ye Chen’s speed kept increasing subtly. Watching him move, he seemed effortlessly agile.
"Hmph, let him sprint fiercely now, I wonder how he’ll run the next two kilometers!" an experienced soldier remarked coldly, "This three-kilometer cross-country run is quite challenging, full of various gullies, trenches, and traps. This guy’s using a sprinting method for cross-country, isn’t that madness?"
"But he appears to run as if on flat ground!" a soldier nearby hurried to say.
"We’ll see, he’ll lose steam later! I speak from experience!" the seasoned soldier grinned, "I still endorse Colonel Liang’s running strategy!"
Soon, Ye Chen showed them what a sprinted cross-country run meant. Ye Chen completed three kilometers in under six minutes, averaging just twelve seconds per hundred meters. Sprinting one hundred meters in twelve seconds is nothing extraordinary. But sustaining that pace across three thousand meters, maintaining twelve seconds for each hundred meters, signifies a master.
Liang Le, gasping for air, crossed the finish line. Ye Chen was waiting at the finish, smiling and asking, "Colonel Liang, are you tired?"
"You... you..." Liang Le, racing alongside Ye Chen, naturally picked up the pace. He couldn’t possibly finish this distance under eight minutes on a regular day, let alone cross-country. Yet today, he completed the race in eight minutes and one second. He gritted his teeth and eyed Ye Chen, saying, "You waited for me here, but I won’t hold back; we’re effectively tied now!"
Liang Le was correct that the race required comprehensive results. Ye Chen waiting meant both reached simultaneously, proceeding to obstacles together, giving Ye Chen no advantage.
"No problem!" Ye Chen nodded, "I’m just here to play with you today!"
"Don’t underestimate others!" Liang Le gritted through clenched teeth.
"I’m uninterested in opponents like you!" Ye Chen finished, turned away. Liang Le refused to fall behind, sprinting furiously towards the obstacle area. He seemed to glimpse Ye Chen’s strength, unsure if he could win this time, clenching his teeth, sprinting onward, leaving Ye Chen far behind.
"Colonel Liang, go! Colonel Liang, go!" Soldiers cheered as Liang Le once again outpaced Ye Chen, shouting frenetically.
Ye Chen followed Liang Le closely, crawling through obstacles quickly...
A highly uneven strength match unfolded between the two. Ye Chen’s prowess was beyond Liang Le’s reach, their gap wide. Ye Chen’s charisma swiftly captivated the soldiers on site.
"Oh my god, is he... is he even human?"
"How is he so strong, he just leapt over that entire obstacle in one step!"
Faced with Ye Chen’s continuous challenges, and directly breaking so-called records within the Special Forces, soldiers’ mouths gaped enough to fit a light bulb. After Ye Chen cleared obstacles, Liang Le was only halfway through. He saw Ye Chen waiting at the finish, feeling suddenly defeated, like losing the entire match, losing life itself.
Reflecting on his taunts and cold words to Ye Chen initially, all seemed a joke. Perhaps in Ye Chen’s mind, Liang Le was always a joke, never seriously considered a contender, maybe truly just playing.
"No, I can’t lose!" Liang Le gritted, "I am a warrior, a soldier, mustn’t lose!"
He clamped down, continued charging. His speed abruptly increased. Despite falling behind, soldiers cheered him on, morale high. Liang Le, fueled with renewed determination, charged at Ye Chen. His face now flushed red, struggling to breathe. Ye Chen smilingly asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Good, definitely good!" Liang Le replied through gritted teeth.
"From the looks of it, whether it’s cross-country or obstacle racing, I’m leading, right?" Ye Chen chuckled.
"No, we’re even!" Liang Le shamelessly said, "Though you’ve individually beaten me, due to complacency, loving waiting at the finish, we’ve both reached together, so it’s a tie."
"Alright, if you say it’s a tie, then it’s a tie!" Ye Chen shrugged, "The final event, shooting, do you want to continue?"
"Certainly, it’s the deciding factor!" Liang Le snorted, "Shooting... consists of stationary and moving targets!"
"Explain the difference." Ye Chen smiled and asked, knowing well. Stationary targets are shot at fixed points, while moving targets require tracking a moving path, demanding calculation of multiple factors.
"You can’t be ignorant of this, right?" Liang Le replied, then said, "Come with me, I’ll demonstrate!"
Liang Le led Ye Chen to a firing range, setting up a row of targets fifty meters away. Taking a rifle from a soldier, he said, "Stationary shooting involves three firearms - pistol, rifle, and machine gun, judged by overall scores!"