Huang Yan, He Siyu, and the others spent three exhausting days at the Federal Academy of Sciences.
On the morning of the fourth day, when they were finally allowed to leave, the four of them practically jumped onto the aircraft!
Dr. Todd came specifically to see Huang Yan off, but was shoved a package instead.
"I was so busy these three days that I forgot about this... Take it. You can also bring it home for Jiajia to eat."
With that, he boarded the aircraft without looking back, afraid that if he lingered even a second longer, he'd be left behind.
Todd opened the package and nearly burst out laughing when he saw it was salted fish. It must have been Xiao Wang and the other kids who packed it!
"I'll have to store this properly. The kids personally caught and made these fish from the Ershui Nuoxing..."
Even Huang Taihe probably didn't have any of this. Hmm, should he tease him about it?
The moment the aircraft took off, the four commanders finally let themselves collapse into their seats in relief. Three days... three whole days!
Aside from eating, they hadn't had a proper chance to sit down and rest!
At night, they had to sleep with electrodes stuck to their bodies. Every time they turned over, the wires tugged at their skin, making it impossible for people used to freedom to get any decent sleep.
Although their usual study and training were busy, at least they could adjust the intensity themselves, and eating and sleeping weren't restricted. When they were truly tired, they could take a break.
Here, there was always someone watching you. The moment you paused, they'd urge you to get up and keep going!
Also, maybe because they'd seen the live broadcast of the Qilin team celebrating a teammate's birthday, every wall in the testing center was hung with banners:
"Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime."
"Young people have soaring ambitions."
"Stay grounded and strive for excellence."
Every time they saw those words, they felt too embarrassed to slack off! If it weren't for Huang Yan's occasional "extra meals" to keep them going, the four of them wouldn't have made it through the first day.
More importantly, before they left today, each of them received a tailor-made training plan.
Just now, everyone was busy "escaping" and hadn't opened it yet. Now that they finally had time, after five minutes of pure "silent sitting" without saying a word, Huang Yan finally steeled himself to open his personal terminal.
When he saw the densely packed schedule starting at five in the morning... He blankly closed the window. Pretend he hadn't seen it.
Avoidance might be shameful, but if it works, it's useful.
After a moment, Huang Yan, still puzzled, opened the training plan again... So all the training he'd gone through since childhood was really just Uncle Todd going easy on him? He thought those words were just comfort!
Seeing Huang Yan's reaction, Elizabeth tremblingly opened her own training plan.
"Oww!"
Just a glance was enough to make her see stars.
She had always been proud of her mental strength. When she learned at the Academy that her mental strength had been upgraded to S+, she was overjoyed!
But after three days of testing and seeing this training plan, she now really wanted to ask if everything could go back to the way it was.
Not even Mika and Maxim trained like this! This plan was simply too much for her to bear!
The other two squad leaders, seeing their reactions, wisely chose not to open their plans for now.
Wait a bit. Wait a little longer... When to read it? Definitely not now.
For the rest of the time, Huang Yan resignedly set no fewer than ten alarms on his terminal, planning to start executing the plan today.
Sigh, die early or die late, you're going to die anyway. What was the point of avoiding it for half a day? He might as well drag a few more people down with him.
With the alarms set, the aircraft arrived at the camp gate.
Elizabeth waved goodbye to the other three.
"I really wish I could come back to the camp with you guys, but by the time you return, we'll probably meet again soon... Anyway, good luck in the finals!"
"...Thanks."
"See you."
"Goodbye, Elizabeth."
Huang Yan picked up the cake delivery he'd ordered at the camp gate. Tired as he was, he hadn't forgotten the promise he'd made to his teammates.
These three days, they'd been relatively quiet. The news was full of routine reports, and nothing major had come up in the group chats.
As a captain, keeping his word was basic.
Three days- it was time to give Wang Tianwei a little taste of sweetness. She should have reflected by now... right?
He cleared security and scanning, both himself and the packages, and headed straight to the training ground without notifying his teammates that he'd arrived.
At this time of day, they'd be in one of two places.
When he didn't see his teammates at the training ground, Huang Yan didn't hesitate to push open the mecha room door.
"Huang Sir!!!"
Seeing Huang Yan return, Jian Jingyu was overjoyed.
"Why didn't you tell us you were back? We would've gone to greet you at the gate!"
Zhang Laila immediately came over too.
"In just three days, you've lost so much weight! Didn't you say it was only for tests?"
"The tests were too intense."
The two still carried the smell of mala hotpot on them. Huang Yan replied calmly while reaching out to push aside the two soldiers blocking his way.
"Hmm? Huang Sir, did your grip strength increase?"
Zhang Laila could feel it clearly.
"Do grip strength tests five hundred times in three days, and you can do it too. Wang Tianwei, what did you just stuff in your mouth?"
Wang Tianwei had just shoved the last big bite of ice cream cake into her mouth and, frozen solid, couldn't say a word.
When she heard Huang Yan call her, she forced her mouth shut and gave a smile that was more painful than crying. Why was he using her full name again?
Huang Yan strolled casually over to her, scanning her from head to toe. Oh, new hairstyle?
She also reeked of hotpot. She must have been eating well these days- the smell had even soaked into her clothes.
Glancing at the empty ten-inch ice cream cake tray beside her,
"Eating cake?"
Wang Tianwei's eyes widened, and she shook her head.
How could he be back so soon? The desserts his younger brother had sent had just arrived. Couldn't he at least let her finish eating first?
"No? Then who ate this?"
Huang Yan's eyes were like scanners. Seeing her look guilty, Wang Tianwei averted his gaze, trembling as she pointed a finger at Goldfish.
"Are you saying that the two of them ate an entire ten-inch ice cream cake in the mecha room, and you just watched the whole time?"
"..."
"Uh, yes! We're the ones who ate it all..."
Jian Jingyu tried to cover for her.
"..."
Zhang Laila's face twisted in confusion. Did Huang Sir believe that or not? Should she go along with it? Commanders were so hard to read.
Huang Yan's eyes narrowed. Excellent. Paying lip service, were they?
"You three..."
Wang Tianwei, sharp as ever, swallowed the melted ice cream with a gulp and immediately dropped to her knees in dramatic apology.
"Godfather! Godfather, you're back from the hunt. Please, have a seat.
Did Doctor Todd like the salted fish? Did all that food come in handy? How do you like our new hairstyles?
We got them done at the camp's beauty salon. I'll take you there in a bit..."
