Chen Yong stared at Li Chonglou and issued a challenge.
In his opinion, everyone admitted to the Falcon Brigade was an elite soldier. Even if they competed later, there was no question of bullying Li Chonglou.
Moreover, the fact that his palm strike earlier hadn't knocked Li Chonglou down indicated that this bony frame was much stronger than it appeared.
Therefore, the challenge was fair and just.
"Okay, I accept." Li Chonglou agreed without hesitation.
Regardless of anything else, his attitude alone earned a silent thumbs-up from Chen Yong's two soldiers.
Falcons were not cowards.
Though Li Chonglou's appearance was unremarkable, he was at least full of courage.
He faced the squad leader's challenge without fear.
Even if he lost, he had already earned their respect.
"Let's go!" Chen Yong was also straightforward. Seeing Li Chonglou accept the challenge, he immediately suppressed his anger.
He asked two squad members to escort Li Chonglou back to the barracks.
Shortly after the four of them left, the office door opened, and Fan Lei stood at the entrance, his hands clasped behind his back.
Looking in the direction they had disappeared, his eyes flashed with electricity, and a half-smile appeared on his face.
In his hand, hidden behind his back, was the tiger-shaped jade pendant that Li Chonglou had given him.
He murmured, "You little brat, Chen Yong's temper flares up instantly. If you can't even handle his provocations, you're not qualified to be my successor!"
The barracks for the Fourth Squad were located in the northwest corner of the valley.
A babbling stream flowed down from the mountain, crystal clear and without a trace of impurity.
It carried a chill, making the late autumn feel even more bleak.
The surrounding trees were dense, and the sky was barely visible overhead. Despite it being late autumn, there were still many mosquitoes and insects in the camp.
Li Chonglou was taken to the dormitory, four men to a room.
"My name is Liu Hai. You can call me either Da Hai or Da Liu, whichever you prefer. This is your bed," said the burly man with a broad face and an honest expression, patting the upper bunk. "However, I suspect you'll only be able to sleep here for two days."
"You'll definitely lose when you compete with our Brother Yong the day after tomorrow."
Then, the man next to him patted Liu Hai and said, "Da Liu, don't scare him."
"If his guts are scared out of him as soon as he arrives at our Fourth Squad, how are we going to explain it to Commander Fan?"
It was clear that this man with a slender face, small eyes, and a resemblance to Li Ronghao was relishing the situation.
Li Chonglou, of course, was not angered by this. Instead, he smiled and asked, "Oh? Is your Brother Yong very powerful?"
"That's a given," Da Liu nodded repeatedly. "He's ranked eighth in the entire Falcon Brigade. How could he not be powerful?"
"Although our Fourth Squad's results are always at the bottom, Brother Yong's individual combat capability is absolutely top-notch."
"Only eighth?" Li Chonglou frowned slightly.
He had indeed felt Chen Yong's palm strike and had some understanding of his strength.
It was roughly equivalent to Xu Lie's strength before he became a vegetative state.
And that was with Chen Yong holding back, seeing how skinny Li Chonglou looked and not going all out.
If he had used his full strength, Li Chonglou estimated he would have been comparable to Ayi Qu Bi.
It could be said that he was more than ten times stronger than an ordinary person.
If his cultivation technique hadn't reached the second level, he would have been knocked down by that single palm strike.
Such a formidable person was only ranked eighth in the entire Falcon Brigade...
Doesn't that mean there were seven experts ahead of him?
"Only eighth? Do you know what eighth means?" The man with small eyes sneered upon hearing this. "Excluding Commander Fan, no one in our squad, except for Deputy Commander Zhou, has ever seen him fight."
"The squad leaders and deputy squad leaders of the other three squads, plus Commander Fan's bodyguard, Zhu Zi, these are the seven top experts."
"Their skill is top-tier even nationwide."
"You'll know how terrifying they are after you've sparred with them."
As he spoke, the cold sneer on his face gradually faded, replaced by an expression of lingering fear.
"Zhou Jiao isn't included?" Li Chonglou asked in surprise.
"Deputy Commander Zhou? He's good with his mind, but in terms of martial power, he's only this much in our brigade," the man with small eyes glanced around and then held up his pinky finger.
This statement astonished Li Chonglou.
He had always thought Zhou Jiao was a top-tier figure in the Falcons.
He never expected him to be at the bottom.
It seemed that these Falcons were very different from what they appeared to be.
For a moment, a sense of curiosity welled up in his heart.
After setting up his bed, Li Chonglou remembered Liu Ping'er.
He asked Da Liu, "Earlier, Commander Fan had his bodyguard, Zhu Zi, take a friend of mine to test her individual combat capabilities. Do you know how it went?"
"Do you know where it was?"
"It must be at the shooting range. Since there's no training this afternoon, I'll take you," Da Liu said enthusiastically.
The man with small eyes also chimed in, "Let's go together!"
With that, the two of them led Li Chonglou to the shooting range used for competitions.
Liu Ping'er was half-crouched on the ground, holding a semi-automatic rifle and diligently loading it.
The towering Zhu Zi stood beside her, silent.
Li Chonglou didn't make a sound and approached to watch.
"This girl is pretty, tsk tsk... No wonder this kid has a crush on her." The man with small eyes, after just a glance at Liu Ping'er's profile, put on a lecherous expression.
Da Liu nudged him, signaling him to shut up.
"Alright, begin!" Zhu Zi commanded after she finished loading, pointing at the hundred-meter target.
Bang, bang, bang, bang...
With seven shots, Li Chonglou's eyes widened in shock.
The others were too far away to see the targets clearly, but Li Chonglou, with his superhuman eyesight, could see perfectly.
All seven shots hit their mark. The lowest was a nine, and three shots landed within the ten-ring.
This marksmanship was incredible.
As expected of the founder of a water gun club.
Liu Ping'er's shooting accuracy was definitely not comparable to that of an ordinary person.
Indeed, one should not judge a book by its cover. Who would have thought that such a delicate-looking girl would possess such marksmanship?
Soon, the scoring result was announced.
Da Liu and the man with small eyes both showed shocked expressions, their eyes wide and their faces filled with disbelief.
"How... how is it possible? This girl's marksmanship is even better than mine!" the man with small eyes exclaimed.
Da Liu shot him a glare. "If you don't train harder, you'll be kicked out of our Fourth Squad, you dead weight."
"Who are you calling dead weight? I'm at most second to last. Isn't there someone at the very bottom in our squad?" the man with small eyes retorted indignantly.
If he were kicked out of the Fourth Squad, it would mean being kicked out of the Falcons.
After all, the Fourth Squad was already the worst squad in the Falcons.
Although Da Liu was not as vocal as the man with small eyes, his gaze towards Liu Ping'er now held more respect.
The strong were always respected, especially if they were beautiful.
Even Zhu Zi couldn't help but show a hint of admiration in his eyes.
He announced loudly, "Qualified!"
He had tested Liu Ping'er in three areas. Her physical fitness was only average, barely passing.
In terms of electronic equipment operation, her performance was excellent; she could hack into the brigade's firewall.
Her shooting accuracy was so good, it was truly unexpected.
In terms of individual combat, there was no need for further testing; her physical fitness was evident, and further testing would be meaningless.
Fortunately, the Falcons were not solely about fighting; they also had logistics and communications departments.
After Liu Ping'er stood up, she saw Li Chonglou not far away and gave him an OK gesture, smiling brightly.
She appeared very happy.
She was naturally inclined towards things like guns and artillery, like a boy. Otherwise, she wouldn't have opened a water gun club.
Now, thanks to Li Chonglou, she had the opportunity to handle real firearms. The joy she felt from the bottom of her heart swept away her recent confusion.
She decided to stay in the Falcons.
Li Chonglou smiled and watched as she was led away by Zhu Zi.
Having witnessed Liu Ping'er's marksmanship, he was no longer worried about Fan Lei expelling him.
"Little Li, I'm on duty tonight. Want to accompany me?" On the way back, the man with small eyes said with a sly grin.
"Don't bully the new recruit. He hasn't been assigned duty yet, and besides, he has to fight Brother Yong the day after tomorrow," Da Liu glared at him and then patted Li Chonglou's shoulder. "Ignore him. This guy is like this, always messing around."
Li Chonglou nodded and gave Da Liu a deep look.
This big guy was an honest person. When Chen Yong wanted to hit him earlier, it was Da Liu who grabbed Chen Yong's waist and talked him down.
He showed no hostility towards Li Chonglou, a new recruit, and was even very enthusiastic.
He was someone worth befriending.
As for the man with small eyes, he was cunning. On the surface, he seemed worldly, but he wasn't truly malicious. However, compared to Da Liu, he was less likable.
"Da Liu, I've never served in the army before. The squad leader is competing with me in an all-around individual competition. What events does that include?" Li Chonglou asked sincerely. "If I train intensively for two days, I might have a chance."
"No way?" Hearing this, Da Liu and the man with small eyes simultaneously widened their eyes.
"Weren't you specially recruited from another military unit? Did you really get in through Commander Fan's back door?" Da Liu asked in disbelief.
The Falcons' convention was to select promising individuals from major military units across the country and recruit them into the brigade for training.
There had never been an exception.
Li Chonglou saying he had never even been a soldier before—wasn't this breaking the rules and an exceptional recruitment?
Such a thing had never happened in the history of the Falcons.
Why did Commander Fan suddenly go mad and recruit an ordinary person through special channels?
No, possibly two.
And that beautiful woman too.
"There's no time."
After his shock, Da Liu sighed and said, "In a normal military unit, there are six individual all-around events: physical fitness, tactics, shooting, psychology, combat, and sniping."
"Our Falcons have one more event: camouflage."
"You need to win at least four out of the seven."
The man with small eyes chimed in, "Except for camouflage, these should all be basic skills, but you have no foundation at all."
"Even if you had thirty days, you still wouldn't be Brother Yong's opponent."
"What a shame, I thought there would be something interesting to watch, but I'm disappointed..."
Li Chonglou heard this and showed a look of realization, but without any fear, he fell into silent contemplation.
In terms of physical fitness, psychology, and combat, he was not afraid of Chen Yong at all.
However, in tactics, shooting, and sniping, he had never touched these before.
Compared to Chen Yong, the gap was likely vast.
With only two days, it was almost impossible to master three skills; he wasn't a god.
It seemed he could only focus his efforts on the camouflage aspect.
Thinking of this, a sharp glint appeared in Li Chonglou's eyes. "Da Liu, I need to go out of the valley to buy some things."
With that, he left the two of them.
Da Liu, seeing this, showed a look of urgency and called out from behind, "Wait up... don't run around..."
Unfortunately, his speed was far inferior to Li Chonglou's. He watched as Li Chonglou disappeared.
Li Chonglou, guided by his memory, sprinted towards the direction where the vehicles were parked at the valley entrance.
He recalled the disguise and makeup techniques Xu Qing had used to help him last time. Wasn't this a camouflage skill?
If he could follow her steps, even if the effect wasn't as good as hers, could he still not surpass Chen Yong?
With two days left, he needed to go out and buy some materials to practice.
"Halt!"
Just as Li Chonglou was about to reach the valley exit, he was stopped by several military police, who sternly reprimanded him, "Who are you? Why are you running around in the camp!"
"Do you know the consequences?"