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What they didn’t expect was that the fickle weather, which had been fine in the morning, suddenly began to rain in the afternoon.

The weather in Linhai was fierce when it rained, no matter the time, and the autumn rains were particularly cold, making people shiver.

But the training didn’t stop. Sun Ru brutally held a megaphone, laughing loudly, "I’m giving you a chance to quit, don’t force yourselves if you can’t take it.

I’ve already called the medical team, ready to take away anyone who faints at any moment.

I expect everyone to be self-aware; our requirement is simple: we will eliminate ninety percent of you, keeping only ten percent. "

Many were crying but persevering, few fainted and were carried away, and some dragged their weary bodies, took off their jackets, dropped their helmets, and left.

The heavy autumn rain washed over the Land of Kings in the afternoon.

Here, a soldier’s abilities contained no fluff.

Basically, anyone who rose from here could stand on their own.

Gu Xiaoxi was certain that this selection phase was indeed cruel.

After enduring such long, tedious, and arduous training, even she, who could continuously adjust her physical strength, felt completely spent, let alone the others.

Especially Song Jingyi and Qin Chu, whether in combat skill or physical strength, both were far behind her and Yun Xiao.

In the rain, everyone crawled through the muddy, low barbed wire, climbed over high walls, dragged their exhausted bodies, clenched their teeth and rushed towards the mud pits, clambered over hills filled with jumbled rocks, and reached the finish line.

They ran a six hundred meter course 50 times in a row.

Gu Xiaoxi finished with the fastest speed, sitting down at the finish line, breathing heavily.

Yun Xiao was three runs short, while Song Jingyi and Qin Chu lacked twelve. Soon after Gu Xiaoxi, the next to complete the task was Zuo Yu, who undoubtedly excelled in speed.

Gu Xiaoxi, despite the rain, sat on the side steps, waiting for everyone to finish their tasks.

Zuo Yu glanced at her, curious, and asked, "Why are you sitting here with the rain pouring down?"

"Waiting for them to finish together!" Gu Xiaoxi wiped the rain off her face. Even if she finished quickly, what would she do alone if the others didn’t complete the task?

She sat at the finish line waiting for them, hoping only to encourage everyone to persist!

Zuo Yu looked around—the rain was particularly heavy, and the instructors were nowhere to be seen. He turned and sat beside Gu Xiaoxi, confused, "Why did you come here? You could have gone directly to the Special Forces!"

Gu Xiaoxi’s hair was drenched as she looked at him with a smile, "Then why did you come here? Aren’t you a specially recruited member of the Z Unit?"

"I..." Zuo Yu lowered his head in thought. He and Gu Xiaoxi’s acquaintance could be described as accidental, because during a chance meeting, she dragged him into a month of boxing practice. This woman had a bit of a rogue and hooligan air, and usually didn’t play by the rules.

She obviously had the ability, yet chose to take on extreme challenges.

Why else would she do that? Wasn’t it, like him, to prove her own strength?

If she couldn’t even pass the most basic and common selection for Special Forces soldiers, how could she, as a specially recruited candidate, stand at the highest place without feeling ashamed?

"But you’re different from me. As a girl coming to such a place for training, you’re at a disadvantage. You could have avoided this kind of training if you had the capability, without needing to prove anything," Zuo Yu said bluntly.

Yet, Gu Xiaoxi shook her head and replied with a faint smile, "You came to prove yourself, I came to find teammates!"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Yu stiffened, it took him a long time to recover before he turned to look at Gu Xiaoxi’s profile.

The cool autumn rain soaked her clothes, and even her delicate features covered in mud were still visible, her long eyelashes and bright eyes evident. In her calm gaze, there was always a confident and charming luster.

She came looking for teammates, which made sense. Only after a long time of working together, understanding and recognizing each other, could one find comrades who work in unison.

"Have you found them?" Zuo Yu looked up at the soldiers still struggling hard on the training ground. Each person was rolling in the mud, their appearances unrecognizable, unable to tell who was who.

No matter how tired they were, they refused to give up. Some fell but still clenched their teeth and crawled back up to continue forward.

Fate was fair to everyone. Setting aside Special Abilities, everyone’s physical capability was nearly the same. Whether it was Tang Yisheng, Yun Xiao, or Song Jingyi and Qin Chu, all of them felt like crying from exhaustion.

But what could they do?

Gu Xiaoxi just sat at the finish line, her bright eyes watching over them. As long as she was there, she guided their effort.

Finally, Yun Xiao, too, completed her training and sat down in front of Gu Xiaoxi.

"So tired!" She lay straight on the steps, looking up at the sky and letting the cold rain wash the mud off her face. At last, she realized that nothing in this world came easy.

Growth requires countless pains to coalesce, and even kings need to endure the battering of winds and rains to forge their strength.

Just at that moment, someone knelt on the training field, closed their eyes, hating themselves for being too powerless, even though they had exhausted their energy, they had only run twenty times by then.

Gu Xiaoxi thought that after this training session, they would at least be able to sleep soundly.

Unexpectedly, Sun Ru suddenly emerged in the pouring rain, her voice ferocious as she said to everyone, "Those who have finished fifty laps come here and gather."

Yun Xiao immediately had a bad feeling, but there was nothing he could do, so he walked over with Gu Xiaoxi to gather.

By then, Shao Changfeng and Zhao Zilong, Zhong Ming and Yi Chentian had also completed fifty laps.

Everyone stood in front of Sun Ru to gather.

"All present, get ready for push-ups!" Sun Ru didn’t hesitate, her tone cold.

Gu Xiaoxi and the others instantly took a sharp breath.

There was no plan to let everyone rest, the sky had already darkened, if it weren’t for a few lights on the training field, nothing would be visible at all.

Gu Xiaoxi clenched her teeth; this training was indeed infuriating. It was nothing short of devil training, without a single break, not even letting up in the rain.

"I told you to get ready for push-ups, what are you staring at?" Seeing everyone’s gaze turn to Gu Xiaoxi, Sun Ru suddenly burst into a rage without reason.

He was the instructor; weren’t they supposed to listen to him instead of looking at her? He had designed the training plan. They could rest only if he said so, they could eat only if he allowed them to.

Gu Xiaoxi certainly couldn’t feed them...

Gu Xiaoxi didn’t speak; she lay down, push-ups! No matter how hard or tiring, she could endure; kings fear no hardship.

After Gu Xiaoxi did her push-ups, everyone else followed suit.

Afterward, the others who completed fifty 600-meter obstacles came over to do push-ups together.

Many still crossing the obstacles saw this and despaired.

The bell to give up rang out at that moment...

Yun Xiao looked back and saw people dropping out in groups. They dragged their exhausted bodies, dejectedly removed their helmets, realizing the gap between themselves and the elite soldiers.

Soon, only Song Jingyi and Qin Chu were left on the 600-meter obstacle course.

They jumped off the zip line, crashed hard into the mud, cutting their arms, the pain making them sob. Their comrades were punished for their slowness, and seeing no hope ahead, everyone else had given up.

There were five more 600-meter obstacles to overcome. They had no strength left, they couldn’t run fast anymore.

Gu Xiaoxi looked up and saw Song Jingyi and Qin Chu who had fallen; by then, more than twenty people had passed, leaving only the two of them still on the training field.

As for Song Jingyi, Gu Xiaoxi felt she had her merits. Although she lacked physical strength, this could be compensated for through long-term training.

She possessed a will and kindness that many lacked, and most importantly, her Thief Skills were as elusive as a ghost’s, and her lockpicking skills were top-notch. Those hands were more terrifying than one could imagine.

As for Qin Chu, her fighting technique was excellent. She was even stronger than Gu Xiaoxi in judo and karate. Her only shortcoming was that her training was insufficient, so her explosive power wasn’t up to par, which was why she lost to Chi Huo.

If the two of them could endure until the end of all the Special Forces training subjects, they would certainly not be inferior to Chi Huo and the others.

"We can win!" Gu Xiaoxi suddenly called out to the front.

Following, Yun Xiao and others also sang the song loudly.

"Perseverance is victory, you must believe we can win..."

This was a very motivational song, entitled "We Can Win." In the military, almost every soldier could sing it; it conveys a belief in persistence.

Song Jingyi and Qin Chu heard the song, clenched their fists tightly, then crawled out of the mire and continued forward as fast as they could. Although their fastest was like that of a snail, they didn’t give up.

...

The night rain gradually stopped, and the wind blew, causing everyone to break out in goosebumps.

Sun Ru stood in front of everyone, looking at this group of people gritting their teeth and holding on, and ultimately had to admit, Gu Xiaoxi was indeed quite remarkable.