“That’s right. I’m Lu Yun.”
Lu Yun answered calmly, his tone even and unhurried.
“I…
I didn’t mean it like that.” Seeing how indifferent he seemed, Su Quyun hurriedly explained, “I was just… curious.”
Lu Yun smiled faintly.
He could tell she had a gentle, timid personality.
“It’s fine. I’m leaving.”
Before Su Quyun could respond, Lu Yun had already turned and walked away.
She remained standing there, silently watching his departing figure.
“Quyun, do you know Lu Yun?” a male soldier from the performance troupe asked as he walked over.
“I suppose you could say that,” Su Quyun replied, recalling everything that had happened the previous day.
“Heh, you’ve only just arrived at the Special Forces base, so you probably don’t know yet. That Lu Yun is an ignorant, good-for-nothing playboy. He’s bad news. You’d better stay away from him.”
“That’s nonsense! He’s not a good-for-nothing!”
Su Quyun suddenly turned around and glared at him, raising her voice for the first time instead of displaying her usual meek demeanor.
Without another word, she quickly walked away.
The male soldier stood there in stunned silence, his expression darkening.
Three o’clock in the afternoon.
After preparing a few tools and pieces of equipment, Lu Yun headed alone toward the area at the rear of the military base, where it bordered the mountains.
The road there led directly into the depths of the mountain range.
The Special Forces base had been deliberately built beside it so soldiers could conveniently conduct wilderness training.
Several groups of soldiers were currently training there, preparing for an upcoming assessment.
Those who passed would officially become special forces soldiers and be assigned to military districts across the country.
They noticed Lu Yun but paid him little attention, continuing their strenuous training.
Lu Yun looked around curiously.
The wilderness training grounds were enormous, containing every imaginable course—loaded cross-country runs, armed river crossings, outdoor combat drills, and many other training exercises.
After traveling quite a distance, he still hadn’t found the type of wood he needed.
If he kept walking, he probably wouldn’t make it back before nightfall.
After thinking it over, he broke into a run, heading straight toward the heart of the mountains.
Fortunately, this was still military territory.
Although the terrain was rugged, it wasn’t especially difficult to traverse.
Half an hour later, he encountered a large group of soldiers conducting a loaded cross-country run, following the winding mountain trail.
Lu Yun paid them no attention and simply continued running.
The soldiers, however, recognized him and looked surprised.
“What’s that guy doing here?”
“Is he trying to race us?”
“Don’t tell me he’s actually training?”
“Haha, him? Give me a break. With his physique, he’ll collapse halfway.”
Ignoring their comments, Lu Yun continued running along the mountain path.
Sweat poured from his forehead, yet he felt exceptionally refreshed.
Another five kilometers passed.
At last, the soldiers’ expressions changed as they stared in disbelief at Lu Yun, who continued running ahead of them.
“Holy crap… something’s wrong.”
“How does that kid have so much stamina?”
“He doesn’t even look tired.”
“What the hell is he trying to do?”
“Damn it! Keep going! We can’t lose to him!”
Encouraging one another, they glared at Lu Yun’s back and desperately chased after him.
After consuming the Strength Fruit, not only had Lu Yun’s strength increased, but his endurance had improved as well.
Although he still couldn’t compare to a true elite special forces soldier, he was significantly stronger than these recruits who had yet to officially qualify.
An hour later, they finally reached the finish line of the loaded cross-country course.
Lei Zhan, Old Fox, and several other veteran special forces soldiers were waiting there.
“Not bad. Which company is that soldier from? He’s way ahead of everyone else,” Old Fox remarked in admiration as he spotted a figure sprinting toward them.
“I can’t tell from here. Let’s wait until he gets closer,” Yan Wang replied.
“Interesting. Let’s see how he performs. If he’s really this good, we can cultivate him,” Lei Zhan said with a rare approving smile.
Soon, the runner arrived.
The moment they saw his face, Lei Zhan and the others froze.
“Lu Yun?!”
“How is it him?!”
The veteran soldiers wore expressions as though they had swallowed something rotten.
Lei Zhan, in particular, immediately remembered the previous shooting competition.
To this day, he still hadn’t fulfilled the bet requiring him to announce over the base loudspeaker three times that he was useless.
The memory was utterly humiliating.
“Lu Yun!” Yan Wang shouted angrily.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you know training is in progress?”
“Lu Yun, are you here to cause trouble?” Lei Zhan demanded coldly.
Lu Yun merely glanced at him.
He didn’t even bother replying.
Without saying a word, he brushed past them and continued running toward the deeper mountains.
“…”
The veteran soldiers stood there dumbfounded, their faces burning with embarrassment.
He couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge them?
Watching Lu Yun disappear into the forest, they became even more irritated.
Not long afterward, the remaining soldiers finally reached the finish line.
Seeing the grim expressions on their instructors’ faces, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.
Sure enough, Lei Zhan roared furiously,
“Are you all useless? Why are you so slow?! Get back out there and run another lap!”