Chapter 77: Chapter 76: You Are a Mortal—1
Translator: 549690339
“The second event for the T800 Group, short-distance shuttle run, is about to start. Please have Sergeant Harrison Clark prepare and calibrate his equipment as soon as possible.”
Here, Professor Owen was working closely with Chen Feng to calibrate the machine, and an electronic referee’s tone had already sounded by Chen Feng s ear.
He was taken aback, “Huh, when did I become a sergeant?
Nora Camp outside answered, “We just received a notice from the higher-ups.
In recognition of your outstanding performance in the cross-country long-distance run, which has set an example for the whole army, you have been granted a promotion in military rank. From now on, you are Sergeant Harrison Clark.”
Chen Feng was puzzled, “Is it that casual?”
In his past understanding, the promotion of military ranks was a serious matter, especially with a strong sense of ceremony.
In the past three times, he was just a bottom-level recruit and had never experienced the taste of promotion.
This time, he became a corporal early on.
At the time, he didn’t feel much about it. After all, a corporal is only one step higher than a private and is still considered a lower-level soldier.
But now he’s just participating in a competition, and even if his performance was excellent, his unexpected promotion to sergeant without a medal ceremony made him even more confused. He didn’t think much about it and blurted out his question.
Nora Camp explained again, “The military has now entered a state of readiness, so many affairs are simplified. Unless it’s a particularly important promotion, there is no ceremony.”
“Oh, is that so? “Harrison Clark suddenly realized, feeling somewhat surprised.
If it weren’t for this person mentioning it, he really wouldn’t have realized that they were in a state of readiness now.
In the past, he never paid attention to this issue. The old reason was that his military rank was too low, and he didn’t even have the qualifications to feel the urgency of a state of readiness.
In this era, indeed many people have been making self-sacrifices and
struggling.
However, the daily lives of those on welfare and ordinary civilians were well protected until the final judgment came.
As for why the leadership of the World Government decided to keep the news
so secret, Harrison Clark had many immature thoughts.
He couldn’t fully understand their intentions, only conjecture conclusions.
That was that there was no benefit in letting ordinary people know, forcibly raising their sense of urgency wouldn’t strengthen society’s productivity, but rather it could cause chaos and hinder progress.
Ordinary people didn’t have the ability to bear such great pressure, and they were more likely to enter a state of collapse and madness before the end came. The outside world seemed peaceful, but apart from the welfare recipients who were idling, other workers and creators with creativity and initiative had already reached their limits under the World Government’s meticulous division of labor and planning.
“By the way, who are you, beautiful woman, you seem to know the ropes.” Seeing that the second round of the competition was about to begin, Harrison Clark himself wasn’t too nervous, but the tense atmosphere outside was conveyed, especially as Professor Owen was sweating profusely and gasping for breath. He deliberately made a joke to liven up the atmosphere.
Of course, he was also a bit curious.
When he came out of the eighth simulator earlier, it was the graceful beauty
who spoke first.
Although he was not in the mood for flirting, he couldn’t help but admire her beauty. He couldn’t help but take an extra glance, pay attention, and become curious about her in his heart.
Now, it was this crisp and pleasant voice talking to him again, and he was even more curious.
Harrison Clark’s remark astonished everyone outside.
As Harrison Clark’s direct instructor, Daniel Thompson wanted to find a crack
to crawl into.
Are you blind, man?
Didn’t you see the big gold five-star on the general’s shoulder?
As a soldier of the Black Bear Training Base, not recognizing their own base’s
BOSS and asking “who’s the beautiful woman,” it’s really frustrating.
Daniel Thompson sneakily glanced at Nora Camp’s face, fearing she would hold
a grudge.
But Nora Camp didn’t show any anger, instead, she showed a smile full of interest.
“My name is Nora Camp. I guess, you could say I’m also an instructor.
That’s how she answered.
Professor Owen had completed the calibration, and Harrison Clark began to check the parameters while reviewing the rules of the short-distance shuttle run. He wasn’t really thinking, but absent-mindedly replied, ‘Well, I’m really envious of the new soldiers you teach, having such a beautiful instructor like you.”
“Haha, of course.”
-Not like my instructor, who has a bad temper, is ugly, and not caring at all. Which team are you with, Nora? I performed so well this time. Afterward, I’ll file a report and join your team.”
Daniel Thompson’s heart was blocked by suppressed resentment. He really wanted to rush in and strangle Harrison Clark to death.What’s with the “sweetheart and beauty” jab?!
You’re going to get me killed!
You really have a death wish, huh?
“Fine, if you can make it into the top hundred after today’s matches, you can follow me.”
“Of course, I will.”
“Just a reminder, don’t get cocky because you got first place in the cross-country race. The upcoming challenges are even more difficult, especially the combat drills. Don’t force yourself.
“No problem.”
After Harrison Clark replied, the communication was automatically cut off, and the referee took over the channel.
Finally gathering his courage, Daniel Thompson said, “General, why bother with all this talk? What if he really makes it to the top hundred? Are you really going to take a newbie with you?”
Nora Camp turned around and smiled, “Isn’t he already my soldier and following me right now?”
Daniel Thompson suddenly realized that she was right.
“Professor Owen, you told Harrison Clark about the T800 Group during lunch, right?”
Professor Owen was engrossed in the scene inside, where Harrison Clark had already begun to move in sync with the others. He replied, “Yes, I did. Nora Camp said, “No wonder. He’s actually a bit nervous, so he deliberately made a joke to distract himself and ease his nerves. What a clever guy, good at utilizing all external resources.’
“The general’s analysis is correct; he has great potential,” John, the logistics officer in charge of the base, agreed.
Nora Camp shook her head, “No, not potential, he’s already a finished product.
No need to groom.”
Daniel Thompson once again questioned whether he knew enough about Harrison Clark.
The general’s analysis sounded so reasonable.
But why did he always feel that this guy had a “puppet master” mentality?
It was completely about picking up girls!
What nerves were they easing?!
The short-distance sprint was only about 1 kilometer long, but during the race, the contestants had to make a total of 50 back-and-forth u-tums within the track. This test pushed the contestants’ acceleration and deceleration abilities to the limit, with their bodies constantly under extreme stress.
Moreover, if not properly controlled during the u-turn sprint, the contestants would run a lot more than necessary. It wasn’t simply about speed.
If a contestant were to just bolt out at full speed, they would end up running an extra few dozen meters for no reason, resulting in a worse score.
The less time spent, the better the score.
The shorter the extra distance ran, the better the score.
The final judgement would take both factors into account.
Even more brutal was the fact that the u-turn distance wasn’t fixed; it randomly varied between 10 and 30 meters. Each u-turn required different judgment calls.
Since everything happened so fast, it was difficult for contestants to rely solely on mechanical assistance for calculations.
While machines could react on time, humans tended to experience a delay between hearing a piece of information and making a decision based on it, which often led to mistakes.
Therefore, this competition not only tested acceleration capabilities but also the contestants’ fine control and execution.
So, what was needed here was experience. Only through experience could contestants rely on intuition to make better judgments and reduce their u-turn distance to a minimum.
Upon seeing Harrison Clark overshooting the u-turn by more than a dozen meters (while others only went two or three meters past), Daniel Thompson said disappointedly, “Sigh, Harrison Clark’s training time is too short. In the long-distance race, he could rely on his talent to catch up, but the u-turn sprint is too reliant on experience. There’s no way he could…uh…”
He immediately shut his mouth.
That’s because, on just his second attempt, Harrison Clark had already reduced the distance to less than a meter!
Nora Camp laughed.
“Instructor Daniel Thompson, you don’t understand the realm of genius. Sometimes, when talent is strong enough, it can truly crush everything..”