12: Chapter 12 A Cruel Lesson: The Mortality Rate Soars!

In the blink of an eye, military training entered its second week.

The atmosphere in the New Recruit Training Camp had changed.

If the first week was filled with the defiance and complaints of the raw recruits, then now, this place felt more like a real slaughterhouse.

The initial rumors about the government setting a 30% death quota were no longer just cold numbers on a forum.

They had become a living, breathing reality.

In the New Recruit Training Camps of various Military Regions, quite a few freshmen had already perished.

At this very moment, Company Commander Zhou Hailong stood on the high platform, his expression even colder than yesterday.

"Starting from today, your training subjects will no longer be child's play."

His voice, transmitted through the loudspeaker, reached the ears of every recruit with a metallic texture.

"Next up is a one-week challenge of extreme survival and willpower."

"The first task today: a ten-kilometer forced march in a simulated poison gas zone with a fifty-kilogram load."

"Buzz—" An irrepressible commotion broke out in the crowd.

Fifty kilograms! That was almost equivalent to the body weight of a skinny girl!

And having to run ten kilometers in a poison gas zone? Was this trying to kill them?

"Report!" A bold male student stepped out. "Company Commander, this intensity is too high; people will die!"

Company Commander Zhou Hailong's gaze swept over him, his eyes devoid of any warmth.

"The Military does not need trash. The country needs it even less."

"Now, you have no way out. Either you face the Military Court, or you crawl if you have to, but you will finish it."

He pointed toward the camp entrance. "Over there, the Military Court's vehicle is waiting for you."

Everyone shut their mouths.

Qin Feng stood in the ranks, feeling the various changes in his physical functions over the past week.

Whether it was the physical enhancement serum or the visual enhancement serum... the effects of these various serums far exceeded his imagination.

They had directly elevated the original owner's body functions by more than just one level.

He could clearly hear the sound of the breeze brushing against the rope on the flagpole a hundred meters away and smell the subtle differences in sweat on different people in the air.

"Brother Feng... this... is this even possible?"

Fatty Liu Wei was beside him, his voice trembling.

Zhao Hu pressed his lips together tightly, his fists clenched deathly hard. There was fear in his eyes, but even more so, an unyielding ferocity.

Li Lang was completely wilted; the bravado he had shown yesterday was gone, and his face was deathly pale.

Qin Feng felt no ripples in his heart, and actually felt a little like laughing. Scared already? We've barely started.

This level of intensity was merely an appetizer in his previous life. The military training on Blue Star still had room for improvement!

"If you don't want to die, stay close to me."

Qin Feng said calmly. Ever since they fought together last week, their relationship had improved, and they had habitually started relying on Qin Feng.

The training began.

The heavy packs pressed down on everyone's backs, almost crushing their spines.

As the shrill alarm sounded, yellow-green smoke spewed out from the generators all around, quickly enveloping the entire area.

It was not ordinary smoke. A pungent smell, a mixture of rotten eggs and chemicals, instantly drilled into their nasal cavities, shooting straight to their skulls.

"Cough, cough, cough!" "Ugh—" The formation instantly fell into chaos.

Sounds of violent coughing and retching rose one after another. The smoke seemed corrosive, irritating everyone's eyes and respiratory tracts.

Tears and snot flowed uncontrollably, and their lungs burned with pain. Every breath was a form of torture.

"Run! Everyone run! If you don't want to die, run!"

The instructors, wearing gas masks, used their rifle butts to drive the stragglers like cattle.

Qin Feng took a deep breath, but only used one-third of his lung capacity.

He quickly adjusted his breathing rhythm, using a turtle-breathing technique learned in the Special Forces of his past life to maximize oxygen utilization.

The fifty-kilogram load felt as light as a feather on his enhanced body.

He set off, neither fast nor slow, maintaining a steady pace throughout.

He saw Zhao Hu gritting his teeth, charging forward with his head down like a wild bull.

He saw Li Lang, having run less than five hundred meters, collapsing by the side of the road, vomiting violently, looking like he was about to give up.

Not long after, many people fell into the smoke, struggling, wailing, and collapsing, only to be forced by the instructors in a brutal manner to stand up and continue forward.

This wasn't military training; it was hell. Qin Feng's eyes were as cold as ice.

He saw with his own eyes a handsome guy, usually quite popular with the girls in the New Recruit Training Camp, overexerting himself by trying to rush too fast. His physical strength was exhausted, and he inhaled too much smoke, causing him to go into shock and collapse. He was dragged away by the medics like a dead dog.

Qin Feng ran to Li Lang's side and kicked him in the butt. "If you want to die, then lie here!"

Li Lang was jolted by the kick. Seeing Qin Feng's terrifying eyes, he found strength from somewhere unknown, scrambled to his feet, and followed behind Qin Feng.

He ran to Fatty Liu Wei's side; Liu Wei was already rolling his eyes.

Qin Feng didn't speak, just pulled a spare rope from the side of his pack. He tied one end to Liu Wei's pack and wrapped the other end around his own hand.

He began to drag a person, continuing to move forward at a steady pace.

Zhao Hu saw this scene. The muscular man's eyes reddened; he ran over and took the rope from Qin Feng's hand. "Let me do it!"

The Seventh Squad, in a strange formation, tenaciously pushed forward.

Qin Feng paved the way at the front, Zhao Hu dragged the half-dead Liu Wei, and Li Lang and Sun Zhengyi followed at the very back.

Time was infinitely stretched out in the midst of pain. The ten-kilometer road seemed endless.

It was unknown how much time had passed; very few people in the New Recruit Training Camp could hold on. Finally... when the blurry outline of the finish line appeared in the smoke, everyone still standing erupted with a will to survive.

Just less than one hundred meters from the finish line, Qin Feng saw Zhang Hao, whose memory was still fresh in his mind.

Zhang Hao had been struggling to hold on at the end of the line, his face already turned a deep purplish-red. His eyes were filled with a longing for life.

He saw the finish line and even squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying. "I... I can..."

Before he could finish, his eyes suddenly widened, his body went rigid, and he fell straight backward.

"Thud." With a dull sound, he fell to the ground, his body began to convulse violently, and a large amount of white foam poured from his mouth.

The students around him screamed and scattered. Two Military Doctors rushed up immediately, performing CPR, injecting adrenaline, and using all available first-aid measures.

But it was to no avail. A few minutes later, the Military Doctor stood up and shook his head at Company Commander Zhou Hailong on the high platform.

Zhang Hao's body stopped convulsing. He... he had perished!

Soon, Zhang Hao's body was covered with a white cloth and silently carried away by two soldiers, as if he had never existed.

All that remained in the air was the lingering chemical smoke and a despair so thick it couldn't be dissolved.

All the survivors who crossed the finish line stared blankly at this scene. Some were crying. Some were vomiting. Most were numb.

Qin Feng witnessed all of this with his own eyes. His heart remained completely calm. In fact, there was even a trace of cold sarcasm.

Is this it? Collapsing just because of this?

In his previous life, on a real battlefield, he had seen too many deaths a hundred times bloodier and a thousand times crueler than this.

Comrades-in-arms were blown to pieces right beside him, to the point where not even a complete piece of flesh could be found.

The entire squad was besieged, out of ammunition and food, and in order not to be captured, they pulled the pin on their last grenade.

Those scenes were the true hell. This lesson had to be learned. Learned with lives.