Chapter 45: Surpassing from Behind, Old Wang's Approval!

"Hurry up, damn it! The last ten at the bottom are getting an extra lap as a reward!"

"Did you hear that? The last ten from the Second Platoon get an extra lap, and the same goes for us. Everyone, give it your all and push forward!"

On the sports field, the platoon leaders of the two platoons transformed into giant megaphones, standing by the edge of the running track and constantly increasing the pressure on the recruits running upon it.

Fortunately, Chu An was not among the last ten.

Unfortunately, however, he was actually not all that far from the bottom ten.

His legs felt sore and numb with every single step, and the burning ache in his leg muscles was intensely overwhelming.

Because of this, those of them with muscle soreness started out slower than everyone else.

Yet there was also a rather positive phenomenon: as they kept running, this numb and aching sensation gradually weakened.

Gazing straight ahead, Chu An paid no attention to who was leading at the very front; he kept his eyes locked solely on the person immediately ahead of him.

"Pass him, I must pass him."

Gritting his teeth, Chu An continuously pushed his own willpower to the limit, forcing his somewhat disobedient legs to accelerate.

One lap...

Two laps...

Until the sixth lap...

Abruptly, someone caught up from outside the track: "Chu An, run faster! You're the only one left!"

"Huh?"

Panting heavily and feeling almost unable to sustain the pace, Chu An turned his head at the sound.

It was Old Wang.

"What do you mean, 'huh'?! Just run! Quick, overtake that guy from the Second Platoon in front, and if we maintain this, we win!" Old Wang roared.

"Huh?" Chu An's spirits jolted.

He looked back ahead.

Well, not that he could really tell much.

There were people ahead and people behind; the recruits from the two platoons were intermingled, linked head-to-tail, making it impossible for him to distinguish exactly how many people were faster than him up front.

Still, it didn't matter if he couldn't tell. Since Old Wang said so, all he had to do was grit his teeth and push through.

Fixating once more on the recruit ahead of him, Chu An, whose mouth was already wide open for breath, clenched his fists tightly and forced himself to pick up the pace little by little.

Yet soon enough, to his despair, the moment Chu An accelerated, the Second Platoon recruit in front of him accelerated as well—and that guy's acceleration was far faster than Chu An's.

Old Wang's voice hadn't just been heard by Chu An.

Upon hearing that he was currently ranked twentieth, and that Old Wang was urging Chu An to pass him, the Second Platoon recruit immediately lost his composure.

"Oh no!"

Seeing this situation from the opposite side, the Second Platoon recruit's squad leader instantly turned anxious with a worried expression, marching over in big strides.

"Luo Yongmin, maintain your rhythm! Don't get distracted, just keep him from passing you! Stop speeding up!"

Even from a distance, he hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs.

There was still a lap and a half left; if he expended all his stamina by accelerating too early, what would he do later?

Yet it would have been better if he hadn't shouted. The moment he yelled, the recruit obediently slowed down.

Then... a few seconds later, he felt a gust of wind sweep past his side.

Chu An had overtaken him.

At this very moment, Chu An entered a marvelous state.

Originally, he had felt completely spent, but after forcing that brief acceleration just moments ago, he suddenly felt his breathing become less labored and his footsteps gradually grow lighter.

A short video he had once watched flashed suddenly through his mind.

Second wind.

The short video introduced that athletes engaged in middle- and long-distance running often break through their breathing rhythm when reaching their limits, thereby entering a state of second wind.

Once entering this state, all physical discomfort would vanish, movements would progressively ease, and breathing would return to an even rhythm.

Yesterday, during his run, Chu An had never encountered such a situation.

Yet unexpectedly, it appeared today.

Instantly, Chu An felt his strides truly growing lighter and lighter.

The sensation felt rather exhilarating, almost addictive.

However, while Chu An felt exhilarated, the Second Platoon recruit who had just been passed by him was anything but pleased.

Suppressing his breath, he gritted his teeth, desperately wanting to retake the lead.

Yet after his brief burst followed by a sudden deceleration, his rhythm was shattered and his momentum completely lost. Now, try as he might, he could no longer muster an explosive sprint, and could only eat dust trailing behind Chu An, falling further and further back as Chu An sped up.

Time slowly slipped away. Before Chu An's seventh lap was even finished, some people at the front had already completed the entire course.

Some of those beasts were simply incomparable to Chu An at this stage.

Chu An's foundation was too shallow; being able to reach this level right now meant he was truly pushing his absolute limit.

Nevertheless, as Chu An crossed the finish line, he could consider his mission accomplished.

He finished this three-kilometer run in nineteenth place.

Moreover, there were actually people timing and recording scores at the finish line this morning.

As soon as Chu An finished, he walked around slowly to cool down following the senior squad leaders' instructions, and Old Wang came over with a hearty laugh.

"Haha, not bad, kid! Eleven minutes and eleven seconds. Put in a bit more effort next time and strive to break under eleven minutes, you hear me?"

Old Wang was in high spirits.

Squad 4 actually had two people break into the top twenty this time.

One had to know that the two platoons combined only had eighteen squads, and very few squads managed to place two people in the top twenty on this occasion.

Before the run even started, he hadn't held any hope for this; he never imagined that Chu An, who started out dragging at the very tail end, would deliver such a massive surprise.

To be honest, the more he looked at Chu An now, the more pleasing to the eye he became, and he felt all the more convinced that listening to Tong Lianzhong's command to choose Chu An during the squad-building selection had been the right decision.

Naturally, one man's joy is another's sorrow.

At the finish line, quite a few squad leaders wore expressions darker than the bottom of a wok.

Not a single person from their own squads made the top twenty.

Even though everyone understood there were objective reasons—during the selection, their turn came too late, and the best recruits had already been picked by the preceding squad leaders—the military did not look favorably upon excuses, nor did it dwell much on objective circumstances. They only recognized results and achievements.

Because of this, today was destined to be a rough day for certain squads.

...

"Hey, what absolute beasts! That guy actually came from the Shaolin Temple!"

Having walked around to cool down for a bit, Gong Liqun, who had finished earlier, walked over right as Chu An stopped.

The moment he arrived, he shook his head and exclaimed in amazement.

"Who?" Chu An asked in bewilderment.

Qiu Wei, who had also finished running and walked over, wore an equally curious expression.

"Who else could it be? Look, the guy in first place, from the Second Platoon. I asked him just now, and he said he went to the Shaolin Temple when he was six years old and only came down the mountain last year!"

"..."

Chu An was speechless.

"Do you know what his score was?"

"Ten minutes and twenty-six seconds!"

"Alright then!"

Chu An stopped talking.

Ten minutes and twenty-six seconds!

A full fifty seconds faster than him, though he wasn't particularly surprised by the outcome.

Naturally so—he himself could run it in eleven minutes and eleven seconds, and back when he was barely finishing his seventh lap, he had already seen people crossing the finish line and stopping.

Being ahead of him by more than half a lap, a fifty-second gap wasn't strange at all.

Still, running fast today didn't do him any good.

The results were already out.

Counting Chu An, the First Platoon had exactly eleven people in the top twenty.

Therefore, even with him taking first place today, it wasn't enough to save the twenty eggs their platoon leader had half-promised in his wager.