I enlisted four times! My former unit blacklisted me.

The entire audience held their breath.

Qin Gang's gaze, like two knives, slowly swept over the more than one hundred people below.

"Last night, a comrade told me that the training intensity of our training team was too weak and requested that the training intensity be increased."

The trainees below immediately erupted in a clamor, with discussions surging like a tidal wave.

"What? Which idiot said that?"

"The training intensity is too low? Has he lost his mind?!"

"Damn it, this is going to kill us! Who's so wicked?!"

"Were you still half asleep last night and talking nonsense?"

Qin Gang did not stop the discussion. He waited until the noise gradually subsided before continuing:

"After careful consideration, I agreed to his request. Therefore, I have decided to form a separate class—"

He paused deliberately at this point.

Then he said, slowly and deliberately:

"Peak Class"

"I will personally serve as the class monitor for this class!"

"The training intensity of the elite class is more than twice that of the regular class! While other classes run five kilometers, they run ten!"

"While other classes carried 15 kilograms of weight, they carried over 25 kilograms!"

"The regular class runs the obstacle course once, but they run it twice!"

"The regular class practices tactics for one day, but they practice for two!"

The entire room fell silent for two seconds.

Then came a series of sharp gasps.

"Peak Class? What's that?"

"Double? Or triple? No, more than double? Are you crazy?!"

"Ten kilometers? Twenty-five kilograms? Will he even survive that?"

"This isn't a top-tier class, this is a suicide squad!"

Qin Gang ignored the commotion below the stage.

His face was expressionless; he simply read out the list in a cold voice:

"Wu Hanfeng, member of the elite squad, 1st Company, 3rd Regiment!"

"Zhao Yihang, 1st Company, 3rd Regiment!"

"Qian Kun, First Company, Third Regiment!"

"Sun Dawei, 1st Company, 3rd Regiment!"

"Ma Teng, 1st Company, 3rd Regiment!"

"Hao Qiang, Fifth Company, Third Regiment!"

Wu Hanfeng looked up, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Zhao Yihang smiled broadly.

Qian Kun, Ma Teng, and Sun Dawei were as excited as if it were New Year's Day, each of them rubbing their hands together, their faces full of eagerness.

Meanwhile, Hao Qiang on the other side of the team—

He stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.

He felt his heart skip a beat for a moment.

Then, an unprecedented sense of despair overwhelmed him completely like a tidal wave.

The elite class?

What peak class?

Who wants to be in the top class?

When did I say I wanted to be in the top class?

"Hao Qiang, did you hear that?" Qin Gang looked up at him, his gaze sharp. "You're a member of the elite class now."

Hao Qiang opened his mouth, as if to say something, but his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't utter a single word.

He felt like the sky had fallen.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yihang and his friends, who were standing not far away, had smiles on their faces so bright they could outshine the sun.

Ma Teng nudged Hao Qiang with his elbow and said with a grin, "Brother Qiang! Congratulations! We're family now!"

Qian Kun: "Let's train together, and enjoy life together!"

Hao Qiang's vision went black, and he almost collapsed on the spot.

He screamed internally: Mom! Save me! I want to go home! I don't want to be class monitor anymore! What kind of elite class am I?! I don't even dare to train with them, and now they want me to train with them until I die?

who am I? where am I?

Why did I take that cigarette?!

I fucking knew I couldn't get too close to that scoundrel!

This must have been seen by Captain Qin, who probably thinks I'm with them!

The students from the other classes looked at the six with a mixture of confusion and sympathy.

Is this what those six people were saying: the training intensity of the training team is too weak?

Are you out of your mind?

They're all from the Third Regiment!

When did the people from the Third Regiment become so awesome?

That's bullshit!

"Attention everyone! Target dormitory! Dress code! Regular classes must carry 15 kg of weights; advanced classes must carry 25 kg or more! Assemble on the playground in ten minutes!"

"Disband!"

At the command, the students from the four squadrons rushed toward the dormitory building.

The sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor, the clatter of training shoes scraping against the concrete floor creating a cacophony that sounded like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Wu Hanfeng led Zhao Yihang and the other three slowly back to their dormitory.

It's not that they don't want to move quickly, it's just that there's really no need.

Yesterday afternoon, during their first 5-kilometer armed run, they were the first in the entire brigade to be fully equipped. Song Yizhou even checked their backpacks, but couldn't come up with a clear answer.

Packing backpacks, putting on gear, and tying shoelaces—these actions were repeated dozens of times every day in the special forces unit, and they were long etched into muscle memory. They could be half a minute faster than others even with their eyes closed.

As Hao Qiang mechanically stuffed his gear into his backpack, he was internally screaming: "Hao Qiang, you said yesterday you'd keep a five-meter safe distance, and today you've walked right into their office! This isn't keeping your distance, this is delivering goods to their door! You're a damn food delivery guy!"

But now that he's on the list, Qin Gang read it clearly on stage, and all one hundred-plus people in the entire brigade heard it.

If he were to run over now and say, "Captain, I'm not participating," it would be no different from taking off his pants in public.

Hao Qiang was, after all, a top five-kilometer runner in the Third Regiment; he couldn't afford to lose face like that.

Fine, let's train then. Peak class it is, it's just 25 kilograms.

Even if I get beaten down, it's better than being a coward.

Hao Qiang slung his backpack over his shoulder, took a deep breath, and ran with the crowd toward the playground.

On the playground, Qin Gang was already standing on the high platform, with four squad leaders lined up behind him, and Liu Zhen carrying a handheld electronic scale.

A row of red bricks is neatly stacked next to the flower bed on the edge of the playground.

That was "standard equipment" used by the training team to add weight to the trainees.

Each red brick weighs one kilogram; they are made of solid clay and can weigh up to two kilograms when they absorb water.

Qin Gang stood on the stage, glanced at the students running towards the playground, then looked at the pile of bricks, and sneered inwardly.

Twenty-five kilograms is neither too light nor too heavy for these top recruits selected from various regiments.

The regular class had a 5km run with 15kg weight, which we tested yesterday, and most people could barely pass.

The peak class has jumped directly to level 25, and they still need to do more work. If these kids can finish running today and still get out of bed normally tomorrow, then they're lucky if they're tough.

He looked in the direction of the First Squadron.

Qin Gang said, "Top Class, step forward!"

Six people stepped forward from the queue.

Qin Gang said, "The peak class has 25 kilograms, but the standard sandbags in your backpacks only weigh 15 kilograms. The shortfall of 10 kilograms—go and make up the difference yourselves!"

"See those bricks over there by the flower bed? One brick costs one kilogram! If 25 kilograms isn't enough, add more yourself! Any extra is on you! Any less, you'll have to come back and run it again!!"

The trainees below gasped.

One brick weighs one kilogram, so the peak class needs to add ten kilograms, which means at least ten bricks.

What does ten bricks mean?

Stuffing it into a backpack, it felt like carrying ten heavy weights when you ran, the kind with sharp edges.

"Holy crap! So much good stuff! Guys, it's almost Chinese New Year! Grab it while you can!"

Zhao Yihang roared and ran toward the pile of red bricks with shining eyes!

Seeing Zhao Yihang run off first, Qian Kun jumped up and down in a panic: "Damn it! Old Zhao, don't steal it! Leave us two extra dollars! I want fifteen dollars!"

Ma Teng: "I want fifteen yuan too!"

Sun Dawei, this big guy: "I want twenty yuan!"

Hao Qiang: "???"

What's going on?

Those are red bricks, not gold bricks!

What are you robbing?!