Chapter 35: Utter Madness

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Before the takeoff line, a broad-shouldered young man with a crew cut stood in position and shot Ren Jie a sidelong glance.

His eyes were full of provocation.

Ren Jie raised an eyebrow. (๑◔～◔ิ) “Who’s this guy? He looks like he’s begging for a beating.”

Tian Yu clicked his tongue. “That’s Qingwa from Team Six. His father is the captain of the Seventh Brigade. He comes from a wealthy family with money to burn. He may not have much talent, but he’s been pumping himself full of gene-enhancement drugs.”

“Half a month ago, he actually awakened an ability. Apparently, he’s a Cloud Frog from the Nonhuman lineage. His physical abilities are incredible, and he has a special power on top of that. He’s practically been guaranteed first place in this assessment. He’s only joining our Seventh Brigade to polish his record before entering military service.”

“Brother Jie, even though you’ve become a gene warrior too, you only awakened two days ago. Trying to snatch first place from him is going to be tough.”

Ren Jie froze. This guy was a gene warrior too?

Qingwa curled the corner of his mouth into a smile and lowered his body slightly. In the next instant, the muscles in his thighs bulged, his skin turned dark green, and thick veins stood out across his legs.

With a loud bang, the ground itself seemed to tremble. Qingwa shot forward like a firework, and amid the crowd’s cries of surprise, leaped clean over the sandpit before landing steadily on the other side.

“Qingwa. Standing long jump: 18.88 meters. Currently in first place.”

A collective gasp rose from the surrounding crowd.

Did that guy have springs in his legs?

How were they supposed to compete with that?

Qingwa walked over to Ren Jie, looking utterly pleased with himself, and threw down a challenge.

(๑ ͡° ✓ ͡°)✧ “No one is stealing the spotlight from me in today’s assessment. Not even you, Ren Jie!”

The reporters had interviewed him instead of Ren Jie. Of course Qingwa was feeling bitter about it.

Ren Jie glared and immediately raised his hand.

٩(•̤̀～•̤́๑) “Examiner, I’d like to report the number-one contestant for cheating. He used a supernatural ability.”

The examiner replied sternly, “It doesn’t count as cheating. It’s a standing long jump, understand? An awakened ability is still part of one’s own abilities.”

“That’s not fair!”

“There’s no such thing as fairness in this world, is there? At the scene of a demonic disaster, no one is going to discuss fairness with you.”

That one line of inspirational wisdom instantly deflated Ren Jie.

(◞‸◟) “Fine. I get it.”

Qingwa let out a mocking laugh.

“What? Can’t stand it? If you’re capable, then do it yourself. Come on!”

Ren Jie curled his lip. “Fine, I will. You think I’m scared of you?”

As he spoke, Ren Jie removed his shoes under the astonished gazes of everyone present and stood barefoot on the takeoff line.

Qingwa’s mouth twitched. “What are you doing?”

Ren Jie wore an utterly serious expression.

(｡ ͡°↼ ͡°) “Because barefoot people have nothing to lose. Just watch me take off my shoes and crush you in an instant!”

Qingwa: (≖益≖٥) …

You’re insulting me.

Is that even how the saying is supposed to be used?

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Ren Jie crouched slightly, then sprang upward with all his strength. The instant he took off, there was a thunderous explosion.

Two bursts of flame erupted from the soles of his feet. Blazing fire swept across the field, scorching the people standing nearby and sending them running in every direction while screaming.

The powerful thrust from the flames launched Ren Jie straight into the air. Under the crowd’s stupefied gazes, he traced a perfect parabola through the sky.

He flew more than thirty meters before finally beginning to descend.

Everyone’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

(๑್口್) How is that even possible?

But it wasn’t over yet. The next second, their jaws practically hit the ground.

Just as Ren Jie began to fall, the flames beneath his feet erupted again like the exhaust of a rocket engine.

The renewed thrust sent him flying another thirty-some meters forward.

Tian Yu clutched his head with both hands.

୧(°口°๑)୨ “Holy crap! A double jump in midair? Brother Jie, have you been playing too much CSGO? You call this a standing long jump?”

As it turned out, Ren Jie could do more than a double jump. He could do five, six, seven, even eight consecutive jumps, because he never landed at all. He simply kept jumping through the air like a madman.

In the blink of an eye, he had reached the edge of the training field and was about to fly into the spectator stands. Still bouncing through the air, he turned his head toward the examiner.

“How do you call this one? Did I break the record? Should I jump a little farther?”

The corner of the examiner’s eye twitched violently. If he didn’t tell Ren Jie to stop, the guy might circle the entire planet.

“Ren Jie. Standing long jump: plus infinity. First place…”

Qingwa was dumbfounded.

This… this counted as a standing long jump?

“Examiner, he… he…”

(´-益-｀ꐦ) “Enough!”

His face had turned green from holding back his anger. He had just declared that using an awakened ability was permitted. If he accused Ren Jie of cheating now, wouldn’t he only be contradicting himself?

I refuse to believe you can pull this stunt in every event.

“Ren Jie! Just you wait for the next event!”

The pull-up assessment began.

Ren Jie hung from the horizontal bar. He ignited the soles of his feet in turns and used the thrust to propel himself upward. Every pull-up he performed went through the full range of motion, and he even had to grip the bar tightly to keep from flying off due to excessive force.

The bar rang with repeated explosions as Ren Jie continued without pause. Perhaps he eventually grew tired, because he switched to gripping the bar with his left hand while his mechanical arm supplied the force. He performed one-handed pull-ups so quickly that his entire body seemed to blur.

His speed was utterly outrageous.

Qingwa was drenched in sweat.

(￢益￢ꐦ) “Tsk. Next event!”

The horizontal-bar giant swing.

Ren Jie’s feet thrust backward like rocket engines, and his entire body began spinning around the bar as its center.

He rotated even faster than a wheel, turning into a human wind-and-fire wheel. No one even dared approach him.

Qingwa roared, “Next event!”

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For the rope-climbing event, Ren Jie immediately activated the climbing mode in his mechanical arm. He gripped the hemp rope with one hand, the motor inside his palm began to spin, and the arm hauled him straight to the top.

During the five-kilometer weighted run, Ren Jie used the palm cannon in his mechanical arm to stabilize his flight while flames blasted from his feet to propel him forward. He actually lapped Qingwa three times.

In every assessment, Ren Jie seemed to have activated a cheat mode, crushing all the other trainees from start to finish. Many of his scores were simply positive infinity.

He had gone completely berserk.

Mo Ji held the microphone, utterly at a loss for words. The entire field’s attention had been drawn to Ren Jie, wasn’t it?

What a waste it would have been for him not to have an ability like that.

May you grow even more powerful.

Jiang Jiuli watched the scene with a twitch at the corner of her eye. If she remembered correctly, Ren Jie had only unlocked his gene lock two days ago, hadn’t he?

And he was already this proficient at using his abilities? This wasn’t merely proficiency. He had managed to turn a simple flame-jet ability into an entire art form.

Why was he so different from the long-range fire mage she remembered?

Mo Wanrou laughed so hard the earth seemed to shake.

☜(｡థ ꇴ థ｡｀) “Pfft, hahaha! Hey, hey, hey! This guy is cheating in the assessment, and nobody’s stopping him?”

“He even had a mechanical arm installed. It has so many functions! Little Li, is that your family’s brand?”

Jiang Jiuli covered her forehead.

I was the one who had it installed for him.

By this point, Qingwa’s spirit had completely collapsed.

“Damn it, I’m not competing anymore! Go play by yourself!”

He was a Cloud Frog from the Nonhuman lineage, with incredible physical strength. How could he possibly lose the overall physical assessment to some lousy fire mage?

Wei Pingsheng watched Ren Jie show off throughout the entire assessment, still looking utterly bewildered.

“Hahaha, good! That brat is fantastic! He’s really made me proud!”

Then, looking extremely smug, he turned toward the other team captains.

The other captains ground their teeth in frustration.

They were all gene warriors already. Why had they come to the youth training team to bully the rookies?

What kind of illness was this?

However, the competition among the commanding officers was not based solely on individual scores. There were team scores as well. After all, commanding officers placed greater importance on teamwork and coordination.

There was no way those guys could keep laughing until the very end.

Soon, the individual assessments were complete, and the team events began.

The one-kilometer weighted rescue run.

The participants not only had to carry water hoses, haul ladders, and clear obstacles, but also carry dummies, lift stretchers, and transport the wounded. It was an exhausting event by any standard.

Ren Jie, however, was brimming with confidence.

No one was going to stop him from making money.

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