113: Chapter 113 Afternoon

"Silence! Attention! At ease! Attention! At ease!"

Although they weren't very orderly, Lauren was still somewhat satisfied.

She was indeed imposing; after all, anyone brandishing a Commander's saber in front of a group of unarmed weaklings would look imposing.

After confirming they were quiet, Lauren sheathed her saber and threw it back into her rigging space.

"I am responsible for your physical training this semester," she said. "Look at you, either as thin as monkeys or as fat as grizzlies. You haven't trained your fitness much, have you?... Oh, a few of you don't seem convinced."

Looking at this group, there were naturally a few xia people among them, but...

This Special Recruit named Li Ming was standing very straight. Had he been specifically trained?

Compared to the others who were standing all crooked, he was practically a model student...

"Alright, run one lap along the academy's perimeter wall!"

A continuous chorus of wails broke out.

"If you don't train your fitness now, are you waiting for something to happen so you can hold back your Ship Girl? Left face! Double time, march!"

The group was forced to start running, but before they had gone far, the formation had already become scattered.

Lauren wasn't surprised. Today it was just two classes with over a hundred people. If all six classes with over three hundred people came together, she was afraid they'd find a few people missing after the run.

She started jogging, following behind the main group.

The Ship Girls currently training turned their heads to look at the large group running inland from the beach, then were called back by their instructors to continue their training.

Alert saw her Commander running at the very back of the group, following slowly.

Then her head was patted by Anshan. "Go back to training. The Commander can take care of himself."

Then she also followed slowly at the end of the naval gun queue. Do you expect her to trade fire with others using a 130mm naval gun? She was just an ordinary 'Destroyer,' after all.

Lauren quickened her pace to run parallel with Li Ming.

"Li Ming... right?"

"Ah, yes, Instructor." Li Ming's breathing was still regular, and he was still able to communicate.

"Have you been specifically trained?" she asked. Although as a senior instructor and a confidant of the Dean, she knew Li Ming's true identity, it was truly uncommon for a Commander to have such good physical fitness from the start.

After all, his recorded age was only just over 18. If this information was true, then he couldn't have received formal military education.

But from this perspective, his performance as a leader was also unexpectedly good?

Managing such a vast power at such a young age, and being able to perform well in front of professional talents like Olena and the General Bureau delegation (to the point where everyone's evaluation of him was quite high), it seemed this kid might really be a promising talent?

"Uh, yes, Instructor." Li Ming had indeed been trained, but it was the training content Fujian had arranged for him during those first few months.

Although it was exhausting, the results were obvious. Otherwise, he might have met his end back when he was exploring the ruins.

Speaking of which, what was Fujian doing now?

He didn't know.

"Not bad, the training," Lauren praised. "But you won't be so lucky next. Combat, firearms, swordsmanship..."

"Uh... indeed."

Li Ming didn't dare say that he had actually trained in combat and firearms, but swordsmanship...

"Instructor, about this swordsmanship..."

"Swordsmanship is the heritage of the Federation Knights and one of the mandatory subjects in the military, but now it's more for performance purposes."

Lauren could see that after she mentioned performance purposes, he wasn't very interested anymore.

With a thud, Cliff in front of them had already collapsed.

It's only been 400 meters, and it was a slow, steady run...

Li Ming stopped and took a breath. "Cliff, you..."

"I haven't run since my second year of high school..." Cliff said, his breath faint. If Li Ming hadn't been sure he was just out of breath, he would have really worried that the guy was about to die young.

Lauren paused for a moment, watching Li Ming pull him up.

"Run slower. Anyway, the instructor didn't specify a time to finish the run, did she?"

Then he continued to follow the group.

"Not bad, you didn't even need to catch your breath after a sudden stop," Lauren praised. "I'm afraid your fitness was developed through kilometer-scale weighted training."

"How did you tell, Instructor?" Li Ming was puzzled. How did she see that from just this?

"I can tell because your face isn't red and you're not panting right now." As Lauren ran, she reached out and took off her glasses—running in high heels, her glasses had almost shaken off.

"Uh... isn't that just good endurance?"

"Then you can still communicate normally with me while running. Is that still just good endurance?" Lauren shot him a glance. "I'm a Ship Girl; my physical fitness is naturally fixed at a high level. You're different."

"...Alright. Then why are some Ship Girls still training their fitness or working out?"

"That's a form of entertainment or a hobby," Lauren replied. "Anyway, I don't like it."

After a while, Li Ming still became quiet. It wasn't because he was in a bad mood, but because human physical fitness ultimately has its limits.

Lauren nodded and checked their current position.

Had they already run more than half?

Not many were still maintaining the run now, maybe about thirty or so?

That's okay; after all, the academy was very large...

——————

As luck would have it, Li Ming was the type who sweated easily.

Although he was in okay shape after running those few kilometers thanks to Fujian's training, still...

Not bad? It was exchanged for being soaked to the bone in sweat.

Looking at the others crawling back one after another, Li Ming felt like laughing for some reason.

Once upon a time, was he also one of them?

From this perspective, he really had to thank her.

"Oh man... ouch... owie..." Cliff struggled to move to the spot and then completely collapsed on the ground. "In some cases, a large school isn't a good thing..."

Li Ming shrugged. It really was true.

Lauren was also covered in sweat. Her black silk stockings were glistening, clearly damp with sweat.

But her state was better than Li Ming's; she wasn't panting at all.

"Look at you, a bunch of people ending up like this just from running," Lauren said. "Some collapsed at four hundred meters, some are still strolling back, and a few have probably even snuck away... Sigh... Look at Student Li Ming and these few who stuck it out the whole way. What about you?"

"Many of you haven't reached your physical limit, so can I say your willpower is just that weak?"

Li Ming thought 'Oh boy' to himself. This Instructor Lauren was just as Finn said; her tongue was indeed a bit sharp.

He hadn't noticed it at all before...

...

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