Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Warm Up
Just as Ivy was lost in her thought, she stood up with a dazed expression and realized that her supplies-picking superpower was again activated.
This time, she didn’t need to walk too far and appeared in the corner of her base. Though the spot was somewhat secluded and almost no one visited the corner, Ivy didn’t want to take any risk.
The only silver lining was the supplies were visible only to Ivy. Soon, a timer appeared, and Ivy’s lips curled a bit when she saw the 20-minute timer.
Soon the timer will transform to 30 minutes. She had a feeling that... in another month or so... her powers will be upgraded.
Once the timer started, Ivy focused her attention on the supplies littered on the ground.
’Oh... Garlic...’
Rocambole Garlic of 300 g? Picked!
Purple Garlic of 250 g? Picked!
Spring Garlic of 400 g? Picked!
Chesnok Red Garlic of 300 g? Picked!
Porcelain Garlic of 200 g? Picked!
Black garlic, Inchelium red garlic, pink garlic, Star of Persia garlic, music garlic, German white garlic, Creole garlic, artichoke garlic, and elephant garlic.
After picking up nearly 400 kg of garlic, the timer ran out, and Ivy slumped on the ground. Though her stamina had improved a lot, her body was severely malnourished.
In her previous life, when she met her real family, they took care of her, and though she didn’t gain weight, her health had improved drastically.
’Hm... where are they right now? I hope they are doing well... I hope Silas will have some news about them soon.’ She thought, sadness gleaming in her eyes.
After standing up, she patted off the dust and made a beeline to the entrance of the base. In the past week, Ivy never stopped clearing up the zombies around her base.
Since she will need to expand her base later anyway, Ivy took the opportunity and even tried to clear up zombies in the neighboring area.
A hefty sum of crystals accumulated in her temporal storage, which Ivy used for her cultivation. Almost close to 30,000 crystals.
"Is she leaving again?" Lucas muttered as he stood on the recently developed Archer Tower.
The soldiers in the base were trained by Ivy. From shooting to martial arts, Ivy was well-versed in everything. They still remembered how ridiculous all of them felt when they first met Ivy as an instructor.
...................
"Good morning, everyone. I am your instructor, Ivy." Ivy introduced herself; her beautiful pink hair was tied in a classic bun, and she was wearing a plain black t-shirt paired with gym pants.
Lucas, the captain of the team, frowned, while other soldiers under him cast a hesitant glance in Ivy’s direction.
They truly didn’t look down on Ivy... but... she was way too... thin and petite. Not to mention her skin was fair like snow... a clear sign of how she hardly leaves her home.
A person who trains under the sun can never stay so pale.
How can she train them... humans who were at least 2 times larger than her?
Ivy ignored the hesitant gaze and commanded, "We will start with warm-up. Run 2 laps of the entire base, and then do 200 pushups."
Others stared at Ivy in shock. Was she crazy? 2 laps of a 20,000-meter base? Wasn’t that 40 km? Even a car needs half an hour to complete that distance! And she was calling it a warm-up?
Yet under Ivy’s cold gaze and authoritative aura, no one dared to slack off and begin.
Along the way, some of the soldiers started to gossip, "Say... why did the base even hire her as our instructor? She looks like a weakling."
This was Arthur; he had shoulder-length copper blonde hair that shimmered under the sunlight. Other than fighting, he loved to gossip.
"Shh!" Piers, a man with black hair and deep green eyes, put his index finger on his lips while glaring at Arthur. "Do you know who she is? The representative of the base leader. She had played a major part in the admission of talents in the base."
"Well... she indeed seems to be politically powerful, but did you hear her amateurish command? She calls a 40 km run and 200 push-ups a warm-up. I bet she might have never run more than 1 km under the sun; otherwise, she would never have commanded us to do so much as a warm-up exercise!" Arthur complained.
"Hey buddy, you seem not to know this, but in the military, we indeed used to do 100 push-ups as a warm-up." Maxwell flashed his set of white teeth; his sun-kissed skin, coupled with his friendly smile, had an undeniable charm, making the tense atmosphere disappear in an instant.
"I know. I know. I still just... can’t respect her..." Arthur muttered, but the next second, the sound of mummering attracted his attention.
"Wait, our instructor has joined us too?"
"Hey, I bet she will start to pant after a 1 km run."
"I bet on 500 meters!"
"..."
Arthur was excited and bellowed, "I bet she will be out by 700 meters."
All the soldiers fell silent. Their murmuring voice was low, and the instructor hardly paid any attention, but now... with Arthur’s shout, she must have heard everything, right?
Will she be furious? Or will she cry hearing those words?
The mere thought of seeing a beautiful woman like Ivy cry filled many of the soldiers who had remained silent till then with righteous indignation. They glared at Arthur, who, while jogging behind, scratched his nose in embarrassment.
Even he felt that he had gone far, and opened his mouth to apologize, when a loud, clear voice replied with amusement-laced words,
"I bet on completing the warm-up before all of you."
Arrogant yet... pleasing. That was the first thought that appeared in everyone’s mind.
Before either of them could even continue to gossip, Ivy ran ahead. It took her only 15 minutes to complete 2 laps. By the time the soldiers completed the 40 km run, Ivy had finished the 200 push-ups too.
The worst part? She didn’t even sweat!
"How..."