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The second event, minesweeping!

Xiao Xiao directly led Gu Xiaoxi to an area covered with soft soil and then, pausing every three seconds, Gu Xiaoxi would plant a pennant at each spot where it paused, doing this twenty-one times in succession.

Now Gu Xiaoxi felt uncertain because she saw that Sa Mo had left behind twenty pennants. Yet, Xiao Xiao led her to leave twenty-one pennants.

But she had to trust Xiao Xiao, right or wrong, she had to prioritize its decisions. Because this was its competition.

After the minesweeping, Gu Xiaoxi took Xiao Xiao onto a four-hundred-meter track. Alongside the track were placed cooked beef, various delicious-smelling bones, and even specially processed spicy ingredients that made the meat incredibly tempting.

This was the military dogs’ distraction resistance challenge, and four hundred meters is a significant distance. Eighty percent of military dogs fail here because they cannot resist the allure of the meat and bones and end up stopping in their tracks.

Gu Xiaoxi had trained Xiao Xiao before, but that was just by placing a few things by the roadside, and now there was an entire street’s worth.

Even though she felt uneasy about Xiao Xiao, she still gave the command and started running towards the opposite end of the track with it.

To Gu Xiaoxi’s surprise, Xiao Xiao was very obedient this time, not looking sideways, and followed her at top speed to the finish line, entering the final search and rescue.

By this time, three minutes had already passed.

In the final thirty seconds, Xiao Xiao needed to sniff a stinky shoe on the ground, then accurately identify the shoe’s owner among three hundred people, completing the search and rescue.

To everyone’s amazement, Xiao Xiao lingered around the shoe for ten seconds. Then, at its fastest speed, it charged into the crowd of three hundred people, knocking over the person standing right in the middle.

With the sound of a whistle.

Gu Xiaoxi felt her heartbeat pounding like a drum as she walked up, patting Xiao Xiao on the head; the competition was over.

At this point, Xiao Xiao was also panting heavily, tongue lolling out, looking up at her as if waiting for her to praise it.

Gu Xiaoxi patted its head and said with a smile, "Good, I know you did your best. You were great, let’s wait for the results now!"

There was only one chance in this big competition, and if they didn’t make it this time, they would have no connection with the gold medal. So, Gu Xiaoxi was also very nervous.

After the next competitor was ready, Gu Xiaoxi’s results came out.

She finished in three minutes and twenty seconds, scoring full marks.

Instantly dazzling the entire audience, someone had broken the previous record again. This meant that the later contenders would have no shot at the medals unless they achieved better results.

Zhuang Xiaomeng immediately jumped up excitedly, even more thrilled than Gu Xiaoxi. "I told you! Xiao Xiao would definitely come first, this guy is too incredible."

"Don’t celebrate too early. Today is only the first day of the competition, and fewer than one-sixth of the participants have been assessed.

There are still five-sixths yet to challenge.

Although this score is astonishing and currently leads, it does not guarantee first place," Ji Xinyu said seriously.

Zhuang Xiaomeng got angry when he heard this and started jumping, giving him a thrashing on the head, "You, this is why the boss said you need a beating. Don’t discourage others to undermine your own spirit.

The captain is the best in the world. I can’t understand why you were allowed to participate in the final military competition but I was relegated to reserve. "

Ji Xinyu was walloped to the verge of tears but didn’t dare to fight back. He had been scared by beatings for these three months.

Any mistake he made would result in a collective beating. So now, he just kept a low-profile as a little follower.

Seeing Gu Xiaoxi returning with Xiao Xiao, Zhuang Xiaomeng happily greeted her, "Boss, that was a great start! I’m about to compete with Xiao Fei too, pass on some experience to me. I’m feeling very nervous."

"You better communicate properly with your military dog first. Make sure it is free from distractions; passing this temptation resistance challenge is not easy. Look at Xiao Xiao, it’s still drooling over the meat on the field," said Gu Xiaoxi, after which Zhuang Xiaomeng immediately looked towards Xiao Xiao.

Without realization, one is unalarmed, but upon seeing it, one gets a shock. Indeed, the dog had drooled a puddle.

Zhuang Xiaomeng’s turn to compete came after twenty others following Gu Xiaoxi, by which point the first day’s competition would soon end.

His Xiao Fei was very brave indeed, but as Gu Xiaoxi expected, the array of delicious food slowed it down on that stretch. It took five minutes to complete the entire course, and the worst part was, it got three points deducted for misidentified mines.

You should know that three points meant it got three mines wrong, which was enough to indicate it made a significantly high number of mistakes.

His placement was definitely out of reach.

In the next six days, there were on average a hundred matches each day.

On the sixth day, the competition ended.

The results came out as well.

Gu Xiaoxi took first place in the first military dog event by a margin of one minute and ten seconds over Sa Mo, securing the title of Canine King.

Sa Mo took second place in the first event.

Ji Xinyu’s military dog performed better than Zhuang Xiaomeng’s to claim third place in the first event.

Besides, Jing Haoran and his military dog won the gold medal for the sixth event.

Ning Hai and Yun Xiao claimed the silver badges as second-place finishers in both the third and fourth events.

Baili Tao and Guan Dongjiu earned the bronze medals for the second and fifth events, taking the third-place positions.

They won a total of two gold, two silver, and three bronze medals. This accounted for one-third of all the medals, plus one extra. This left many competitors from other countries feeling dissatisfied.

There were a total of eighteen medals, six gold, six silver, and six bronze.

Gu Xiaoxi and her team took home seven, instantly kindling jealousy in everyone else.

Danny Jay’s team secured three medals, one of each kind, which was also a satisfying achievement.

Of the more than twenty countries participating, many returned empty-handed.

That evening, Gu Xiaoxi and Quan Shaoqing sat on the sofa, reading media commentary on Liuli Country with sheer delight.

Because they had won the most medals, the national prestige of Liuli Country immediately soared in the eyes of the world.

They represented collective honor. The opening ceremony’s military dog warm-up competition was enough to demonstrate the bravery and capability of the people of Liuli Country. A skilled dog trainer and a Champion Dog from Liuli Country captured the world’s attention in an instant.

"Wife, you’ve worked hard." Quan Shaoqing was naturally very happy as well. Jing Mingcheng personally called to congratulate the winners and decided to reward them for their achievements.

"With honor, the hard work is also joyful," Gu Xiaoxi smiled. "I think the military dogs should be rewarded for the competition. They are the ones who have given the most, and they earned these awards."

"Don’t worry, once we’re back, each military dog’s food allowance will increase by ten million per month," Quan Shaoqing said with a chuckle. These were Mr. President’s own words.

"Then Xiao Xiao has really brought glory to the Military Department," murmured Gu Xiaoxi, tongue in cheek. Its life is even better than mine.

Of course, the happiest person was Gao Yitian. He originally didn’t have much hope for Gu Xiaoxi and Yun Xiao.

But not only did these two female soldiers make it out of Unit Z, they successfully advanced to the national competition and then on to the world stage. They completely overturned his understanding of dog trainers.

A standard dog trainer needs at least a year to understand and develop a rapport with a military dog.

Gu Xiaoxi and Yun Xiao, however, had been under his command for less than a month before they began competing in various contests, steadily claiming gold medals.

They not only brought credit to Unit Z but also raised his own stature.

Now, as he walked the paths of the Military Department, he felt his back was straighter than anyone else’s. Whenever it was brought up, he could proudly claim that those new recruits were from his team.

...

That night, Gu Xiaoxi didn’t linger with Quan Shaoqing and quickly returned to her team.

Because the grand competition might start at midnight.

Therefore, she had to be ready at all times.

Of course, where there is joy, there is also sorrow.

Southern State Country didn’t even manage to grab a bronze, leaving them quite embarrassed.

What could they do?

Even though their men were big and strong, the military dogs were unreliable; encountering tasty food, they would leap at it voraciously.

Not only did they fail to win any medals, but they also became a laughingstock for the television audience.

The most furious among them was Aili and her companions.

Because of messing with Gu Xiaoxi, Aili was not just beaten but also had to swallow her anger, unable to express it, and in the end received a severe scolding from her superiors.

If it hadn’t been for their participation in the world competition, with no way to back out, their commander would have almost replaced them.

"The ultimate world military competition is about to begin, so we still have a chance to turn the tables. As long as we get medals in the ultimate competition, I’d like to see who dares to laugh at us.

The military dogs are useless, what does that have to do with us?

" Aili said angrily, tearing up the military cap in her hands.

That night, the three female soldiers gathered to discuss strategies for the grand competition.

"Winning the military competition won’t be easy, so we should still find allies first."

"Qing State Country is our neighbor, and many important transportation routes pass through our country, so we can form an alliance with them."

"We could also ally with Hong Country! Despite their wealth, they rely on us for peace. We share a mutually dependent relationship and must get them to form an alliance with us."

Upon reflection, Aili thought this strategy was feasible, and began to make plans in her mind.

...

At one in the morning, just as Gu Xiaoxi had predicted, the instructors put bulletproof vests on the military dogs and trackers, and released them into the city.

Gu Xiaoxi and her companions were awakened by a tear gas grenade, followed by a random beating, dragged out of bed, and then thrown onto the parade ground.

The instructors informed them that the world military competition had started at that moment, and the mission card was on their military dogs.

If they wanted to know their mission, they had to reach the city before dawn to find their own military dogs, or else they’d be eliminated.