The next day.

The young men were gradually getting familiar with the environment, and time started to race like a fast car or a spirited horse.

But time is a strange thing; once you start running, it feels like it slows down.

The faster you run, the more uncomfortable you feel, and the slower time seems to pass.

This somewhat conforms to the theory of relativity.

"Fang Huai! Three more laps, time to pick up the pace!"

Hao Chengbin stood at the finish line with his arms crossed, watching Fang Huai running closer and then further away, continuously glancing at his stopwatch.

Four and a half laps, 1600 meters, 9 minutes— not speeding up yet? This is the new recruit group’s first physical fitness test... was he hiding his skill?

Hearing Hao Chengbin urge him to speed up, Fang Huai had a million ’damn it’s in his heart.

I’ve already been speeding up for the last two laps, okay?

My lungs are about to burst!

And now, this is just too embarrassing.

I say I can’t run anymore, and he won’t believe me!

Fang Huai took a couple of deep breaths, bracing himself against the cold air, adjusting his breathing from every four steps to every three steps.

He put his hands on his hips and twisted a bit, easing the sharp pain in his waist, and then sped up again.

Ahead were Chen Zhongqiang and Hu Deli; Fang Huai could only focus on them, not falling behind.

"Fang Huai... you’re overtaking me by so much! That’s why I couldn’t see you!"

A voice came from not too far behind.

It was Zhao Bing.

Zhao Bing was almost catching up from behind and had already lapped him.

Fang Huai nearly choked on hearing that.

He was now the heart of a little mule but carrying the hope of a Lamborghini Huracan.

The old face he had finally managed to save was now lost all at once.

Natural evolution still couldn’t keep up with a system explosion.

Within half a lap, Zhao Bing passed by him.

Three kilometers, seven and a half laps, still three to go.

Fang Huai had calculated it well, the plan was to breathe every four steps for the first five laps, stabilizing his breathing, switch to every three steps on the sixth lap, and then every two steps for the last half lap for the final sprint.

The plan was good, but he was too slow at the beginning.

He had no choice but to switch to the desperate mode of breathing every two steps earlier, throwing his arms wide and gasping for air, forcibly speeding up, chasing after Zhao Bing’s butt.

His legs felt numb, his lungs filled with cold air, Fang Huai saw large puffs of mist drifting away from him with the wind.

Fortunately, with such effort, keeping up with the steady pace of Zhao Bing wasn’t too difficult, and even after one and a half continuous laps, he wasn’t left too far behind.

But when Fang Huai had two laps to go, Zhao Bing was down to his last.

Zhao Bing sped up.

Fang Huai could only watch him distance further ahead, burying his head and relying on the inertia of his body falling forward to save some energy.

When he had a little more than one lap left, Jiang Peng also lapped him.

This guy clearly knew Fang Huai was one lap behind; as he ran past the finish line, he even spread his arms as if he was claiming victory.

"Quick, quick, quick! Fang Huai! Only one minute and 20 seconds left!" Hao Chengbin focused intently on Fang Huai, his initial expectation of being number one in the entire platoon quickly plummeting to just hoping he would pass.

New recruit standards, 14 minutes and 10 seconds to pass.

Fang Huai remembered clearly, in his previous life the first time he tested for the run, he completed three kilometers in 16 minutes and 40 seconds.

That was the result he was proudest of when he first tested because he couldn’t manage a single pull-up, scoring zero, but at least he persisted and finished the three kilometers.

Only later did he find out that they didn’t even have the three kilometer run anymore; the only three kilometer test was for the Military Academy admissions, with a passing time of 13 minutes and 20 seconds.

The time he took to run three kilometers was the time it took old soldiers in the squadron to run five kilometers in the Martial Arts Competition.

The more awesome ones could even run it in 17 minutes carrying an 8-pound air respirator.

One minute and 20 seconds left.

Fang Huai pushed himself once more.

Not even sure how many steps per breath he was taking now, Fang Huai opened his mouth wide, desperately grasping for every bit of oxygen.

Running was uncomfortable, perhaps a bit less than the push-ups that day, but breathing was even harder. The more cold air he took in, the more his lungs felt on fire.

meters, speed up.

meters, speed up.

Fang Huai’s mind kept reminding him to speed up, his running form completely lost.

Seeing Hao Chengbin, his throat burning fiercely, Fang Huai lowered his head again and charged forward with inertia.

Across the line, he couldn’t catch his breath.

He fainted to the ground.

This time, he managed to hold out until he was beside a large mat for sit-ups, before passing out.

...

"14 minutes and 32 seconds... didn’t pass... Fang Huai, don’t sleep on the ground after running, move around a bit!"

"He fainted again?"

"Hurry up and get him to the infirmary!"

"Flip him over, leave him be! Unbutton his coat!"

This time, Fang Huai could hear everything clear as day around him.

Because he was faking it.

He never thought that the "fake fainting" trick he taught Chen Shuang at the Armed Forces Department would be used on himself.

If he didn’t fake it now, he’d have to do the 100 meters in half an hour, and with his current leg power, that was pure agony; his old face definitely needed another shedding.

Better leave Squad Leader Hao with some lingering thoughts.

...

Sure enough, they quickly brought a stretcher, which were in ample supply at the Firefighting Base.

Fang Huai was carried by two old soldiers toward the infirmary.

"Crooked day, can this kid really faint from running three kilometers?"

"Hurry up! It’s not like he hasn’t fainted from training before; that day doing push-ups, I saw him, he really pushed himself to the limit!"

"Could it be some condition that makes him prone to fainting? Bad circulation? Maybe a heart problem!"

The infirmary was quite far, in the Administration building, and the two non-commissioned officers carrying him talked back and forth.

Jiang Peng was nearby, catching his breath and stretching, overhearing their conversation.

...

As soon as he entered the warm infirmary, Fang Huai gradually started blinking, readying himself to "wake up".

"Doctor! We have a fainter! Take a look!"

No one was speaking, just the urgent tapping of high heels.