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"Are you all ready?"

"Always ready!" Four hundred soldiers with their military dogs, standing in neat rows, their resounding voices even more explosive than that of the loudspeaker.

At the peak of the midday sun, the training field erupted into sky-high enthusiastic applause, filled with everyone’s anticipation, confidence, and hope.

Gu Xiaoxi and Yun Xiao both swore that they would strive to win the competition and fight their way into the world championship.

They were not only fighting for themselves, for their country, but also for him.

Quan Shaoqing’s gaze swept across the crowd standing off the field. Everyone was dressed in tidy uniforms, and he spotted Gu Xiaoxi in the crowd at a glance.

She stood tall, chest out, and the moment her eyes met his, a radiant smile spread across her face.

She would work hard! She would never let him down.

When he saw her smile, the corners of his mouth also lifted into a warm curve, slight but stunning enough to awe the crowd, especially the female soldiers whose hearts fluttered and cheeks blushed, each thinking Quan Shaoqing was smiling at them.

With the end of Quan Shaoqing’s speech, the competition officially began.

The two afternoon events were the military dog four-hundred-meter obstacle challenge, and the basic psychological quality challenge for dogs and their handlers.

The large scale contest with four hundred people was neatly divided into two groups, each heading to their respective event areas.

In the four-hundred-meter obstacles, they first had to crawl through a one-meter diameter, twenty-meter-long concrete tunnel, then leap over a 1.

4-meter obstacle, followed by the dog’s crossing over a broken bridge with three sections, measuring three meters, 3.

6 meters, and four meters. After crossing, they would sprint, scale a 1.

58-meter high wall, then crawl under a twenty-meter-long barbed wire mesh just thirty centimeters high, jump through rings of fire, six in a row, and finally, swim across a hundred-meter-wide pond to the finish line.

Only then would the race be considered complete, with each competitor having three chances to challenge. The military dogs with the fastest times would be ranked accordingly.

This event summarized all the physical training that military dogs usually undergo, all to be completed in one go.

With three chances to challenge, the success rate was also extremely low.

It required not only a robust constitution, keen reflexes, and great speed from the military dogs but also superior execution capabilities and absolute understanding between the dogs and their handlers.

Gu Xiaoxi patted Xiao Xiao’s head. At noon, she had punished it by not allowing it to eat lunch, and she joined it in fasting. Mistakes must be met with consequences, or else it wouldn’t remember for next time.

In her heart, she knew Xiao Xiao’s Physical Strength would ensure it had no issues completing the four-hundred-meter event, even without lunch.

She needed it to understand precision, to know that commands must be followed.

Ever since Xiao Xiao realized it had done something wrong, it became very well-behaved.

"Yun Xiao, will Xiao Xiao have any problems with the four-hundred-meter obstacle?" Gu Xiaoxi asked, looking towards her.

Yun Xiao nodded and said with confidence, "No problem, Xiao Xiao is different from the others. It’s a fully trained adult dog that has encountered all these obstacles before, and it’s been very brave in its early training. So, it definitely won’t have any issues."

Gu Xiaoxi nodded and then turned to Xiao Xiao with a serious tone, "See that? Xiao Xiao will win, and so will the other military dogs. If you lose, the two of us will have to go back to that place in the Sixth Regiment, and life will be meaningless. But if we win, in the future we’ll go to even more fun places, meet a variety of other military dogs, and then defeat them all. "

Xiao Xiao perked up, tongue out, gazing at Gu Xiaoxi with a pair of shiny black eyes that twinkled brightly. It seemed to say, "I understand!"

Seeing this, Gu Xiaoxi gently patted its head, and at that moment, the competition had already started.

The first to enter the competition were the Special Forces military dogs, undoubtedly valiant. The first challenger was a man of medium build, slightly lean, his tanned skin giving him a spirited and vigorous look.

"Song Xiahe is ready!" the man’s booming voice rang out. The crowd watched him lead his military dog, Tian Ba, charging forward at the sound of piercing whistles.

Crawling through the small tunnel, sprinting over the 1.

4-meter obstacle, and then leaping onto Bridgetrack—the military dog traced a beautiful arc over the obstacles.

Panting with its tongue out, it moved at an astonishing speed, not pausing at the edge of the broken bridge, dashing across the three segments in one go.

It even managed to leap over the four-meter section with ease, looking entirely effortless.

The final wall at 1.58 meters was even more fiercely conquered, utterly unstoppable. The dog cleared the jump, landing on its hind legs, bursting with strength, leaving onlookers agape with amazement.

During the crawl section, the military dog moved as quickly as the handler, both racing toward the six flaming hoops not far away.

The dog didn’t hesitate at all—on the handler’s signal, it jumped through the first hoop, then the second. Those steel rings ablaze with fire looked incredibly daunting, but the military dog paid no heed to the flames, jumping through with even more bravery each time.

After completing a spectacular series of six jumps, the dog sprinted straight to the hundred-meter pond and swam swiftly to the finish line.

The entire course took four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, which was immediately met with enthusiastic applause. The first contender was undoubtedly the bravest and the strongest.

Gu Xiaoxi was filled with envy. Without a doubt, regardless of how long Song Xiahe’s time took, their ability to complete all the training tasks in one go meant they had won.

Next, the second and third challengers appeared one after another, but none navigated the course as smoothly as the first. Some failed to cross the four-meter break in the bridge, others retreated at the hoop of fire, and still others, having jumped through only two hoops, dared not attempt the rest.

Even though they were from the Special Forces, many lacked the psychological and physical qualities necessary. The four-hundred-meter obstacle course posed a significant pressure for some military dogs.

As Yun Xiao had said, Xiao Xiao was a battle-hardened military dog, and with her training and guidance, the four-hundred-meter obstacle course was a breeze. She finished with a steady three minutes and twenty seconds, becoming the participant with the least time used thus far.

When it was Gu Xiaoxi’s turn, she rubbed Xiao Xiao’s head, hoping it would do its best! She was still a bit nervous inside; she feared that the dumb Xiao Xiao might do something foolish and disrupt the competition.

As the whistle sounded!

"Go!" Gu Xiaoxi gave the command, then raced with Xiao Xiao into the arena, through the concrete tunnel. Xiao Xiao kept running ahead of Gu Xiaoxi, moving very fast. At the second phase, on Gu Xiaoxi’s command, Xiao Xiao immediately charged the 1.

4-meter obstacle and then onto the broken bridge.

Without much pause through the three different obstacles, it boldly leaped through the hoops of fire and finally swam to the finish line.

This time, it performed brilliantly, moving swiftly and responding quickly, with a serious and strict attitude.

Only then did Xiao Xiao resemble a true military dog.

Gu Xiaoxi, excited, took out a piece of beef jerky from her pocket as a reward for its cooperative behavior. Only now did Xiao Xiao show a bit of joy.

"Gu Xiaoxi, Xiao Xiao, your time is two minutes and twenty-eight seconds." The scene instantly erupted, and everyone was shocked—another female soldier with a military dog had broken the time record of the competition, and they weren’t even from a front-line squad’s dogs.

Upon hearing her and Xiao Xiao’s results, Gu Xiaoxi’s face beamed with a radiant smile. When taken seriously, Xiao Xiao could be said to be truly invincible. As long as Xiao Xiao didn’t mess up, nothing was a problem.

At that moment, Zhang Jingyue stood among the crowd, her eyes on Gu Xiaoxi’s brilliant smile, feeling extremely annoyed. Liu Wenxing’s failure to stop Gu Xiaoxi and Xiao Xiao was her biggest regret.

If Gu Xiaoxi managed to win and enter the national competition, particularly with Xiao Xiao’s remarkable abilities—after all, even the bravest military dog, Tian Ba, had been bitten by it.

If she wasn’t stopped, she’d truly shine in this world competition.

She wasn’t unpatriotic—in fact, she was very patriotic. She hoped to win the world competition, but that person definitely shouldn’t be Gu Xiaoxi.

The competition continued, and just from this one event, one-third were eliminated.

And for those handlers who passed, they must lead their military dogs to the next challenge.

The second event was as follows: basic psychological challenges for military dogs and handlers.

Military dogs and handlers had to face extreme danger with explosions and gunfire, with handlers leading their dogs swiftly through the hazardous area. If the military dogs panicked, they were directly disqualified.

Compared to the previous four-hundred-meter obstacle challenge, fewer military dogs were eliminated in this training as many were already accustomed to sounds of explosions and gunfire from the battlefield.

Out of the twenty participants from the Sixth Regiment who joined the two events, only four remained.