Chapter 26: We Will No Longer Complain of Weariness

At the moment those words were spoken, the entire hall erupted in astonishment.

Du Huaishan remembered that, before the film began, Instructor Lin Zhaoshu had looked down at the audience with a meaningful gaze. Now he realized that, at that moment, Lin’s eyes had been fixed on Lai Yanlong.

This time, Lai Yanlong did not stop the new recruits from whispering among themselves. It seemed that, in this matter, he felt he had neither the right nor, more precisely, the confidence to intervene.

With the air of a storyteller, Lai Yanlong’s tone grew somber as he began to recount all that had happened on the battlefield at Jiangtun.

Over thirty years ago, the Yingzhou Army had just discovered a new red marrow mine and had purchased third-generation mobility grappling hooks from the Nipan Empire—their momentum was surging.

Then, Pingliao’s Jiangtun City suffered a demon attack.

As an elite cavalry squad, Class Eleven was outfitted with the new equipment and rushed to the battlefield to assist.

“Our squad had already supported two battle points in a row. After slaying a giant serpent demon at the city gates, another squad member, Yu Xiumin, and I found ourselves depleted. We were forced to withdraw from our demonized state.”

“The giant serpent demon was a level sixteen disaster, and highly venomous—rare at the time. I had a dispute with our squad leader, Niu Yichang. As an elite support team, we weren’t carrying any soul vessels.”

“Niu Yichang’s advice was to abandon the demon’s soul and continue supporting the eastern side of Jiangtun, but I believed that the continuous fighting had left us exhausted, and as the Yingzhou Army was expanding, they desperately needed demon souls. We should have brought it back to headquarters before it dissipated.”

At this point, Lai Yanlong fell silent.

For the outcome, the recruits had already seen it in the footage.

Silence fell.

No one knew how to judge the matter.

Before hearing Lai Yanlong’s explanation, they had believed the fault lay with those two blood-spitting soldiers. Now, after hearing the story, it seemed each had their reasons.

“Seems like Lai Pilong wasn’t really at fault…” muttered Tan Hai.

Du Huaishan did not respond.

“Do you all think that the arguments I’ve made in my own defense sound reasonable?” Lai Yanlong suddenly spoke after a long pause, laughing at himself. “Heh… Wrong. Utterly, fatally wrong!”

“In the army, once you’re on the battlefield, it is never a place for debate or individual opinions. As a soldier, your sole duty is to obey your superiors!”

“The Yingzhou Army Academy evolved from the Chiyu New Army’s training program. Before the reform, we focused all our training on how to fight the enemy and demons, neglecting military discipline and regulations.”

“And what was the result? You saw it in the first scene of the film—infantry squads scattered and undisciplined. No matter how good the equipment, no matter the numbers, what use is such an army? When the demons arrived, they threw down their armor and fled in panic!”

Only after a long while did the recruits begin to understand.

They realized why Lai Yanlong had drilled them so hard on military discipline that morning: not just to strengthen their sense of belonging, but to establish the authority of command!

And running—above all—was the most direct way to build a soldier’s endurance!

If Lai Yanlong and his comrades had more stamina, perhaps the tragedy at Jiangtun would never have happened. Or, to put it harshly, even if you ran away, you wouldn’t have collapsed in exhaustion, casting aside your weapons and armor, to be ground into pulp by the demons!

“Sir!” someone suddenly shouted from below.

It was the round-faced recruit who had earlier complained of exhaustion and sat down on the ground.

“Speak.”

The round-faced soldier sprang to his feet, straightening his back. “Chief Instructor, Recruit Jiang Yuzhong requests punishment! Chief Instructor... I am also from Class Eleven. This time, I won’t complain about being tired again!”

Lai Yanlong’s gaze sharpened.

Boom!

In that instant, one after another, the recruits leapt up, shouting in unison: “Chief Instructor, we’ll never complain about being tired again!”

Their powerful voices surged through the hall like waves.

Du Huaishan, among them, saw the fiery expressions on each recruit’s face, and a surge of hot blood rushed uncontrollably to his head.

Lin Zhaoshu, new to his post as instructor, had never witnessed anything so stirring.

So this was the Yingzhou Army...

...

Stepping out of the assembly hall, the sunlight was blinding—it was already midday before anyone realized it.

No wonder Lai Yanlong had finally shown mercy and let them go for lunch.

“Did you guys notice that, in the mess hall last time, one of Lai Pilong’s guardian spirits was a snake, just like the one in the film…” Yang Anfu seemed still lost in the story.

“Very similar?”

“It’s probably the very same one,” sighed Guo Tingyu. “Old Lai chose the giant serpent as his guardian spirit, likely to bear the memory of his fallen comrade from Class Eleven and atone for his mistake at Jiangtun…”

“Old Lai’s life is tough. At least he still has a classmate by his side.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Tan Hai cut off Wu Ming. “On November 7th, Year 5 of the Anguo Era, at the Xintun battlefield, Yu Xiumin, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 68th Brigade, died heroically while covering the civilian retreat!”

Yu Xiumin.

The very last surviving member of Class Eleven, as Lai Yanlong had mentioned.

With that, the conversation came to an abrupt halt.

Du Huaishan gazed after Lai Yanlong, who silently followed the recruits out. Suddenly, he recalled the words Lai had once shouted in the mess hall to the entirety of Class Eight:

“They are your comrades! On the battlefield, the only people you can truly trust!!”

...

After lunch, Du Huaishan made a point to weigh himself at the infirmary: 67.5 kilograms.

By the IBM formula, that was exactly within the standard weight range.

“A professional athlete has to keep body fat below 10% all year round. I’m at 16% now, so I need more training.”

He wasn’t worried about burning fat—what concerned him was muscle.

Losing fat often meant losing muscle as well.

From Lai Yanlong’s story, it was clear that the duration of demonization depended on physical endurance.

That was also why female soldiers could serve on the battlefield.

Women have a higher proportion of Type I muscle fibers.

Type I fibers have denser capillaries and can carry more energy, so women have greater endurance, while men’s muscles fatigue more easily.

So, Du Huaishan had to find a way to train without losing muscle.

Not an easy task.

As the saying goes, “Thirty percent is training, seventy percent is eating.”

Food is the main source of energy for the human body.

Professional athletes consume not only carbohydrates, vitamin B, and vitamin C, but also a large amount of protein and phosphorus, as well as plenty of fruit and alkaline foods.

In his old world, all these things were easy to find.

But in this new world, carbs and vitamins were manageable—available from grains and vegetables. But high-quality protein, especially meat, was precious indeed.

The midday break ended.

At one o’clock sharp, the recruits assembled in formation on the training ground, eyes filled with curiosity and a touch of shyness.

For standing before them, alongside Lai Yanlong, was an alluring female officer.