Chapter 600
The long march kicked off. Normally, new recruits had to cover fifty kilometers, but since everyone here was a student and not exactly in top shape, it got knocked
down to thirty.
Charlotte, thanks to her height, ended up near the back of the group. Cotton kept glancing her way, watching as she moved at what looked like a snail’s pace. He couldn’t help but smirk. With stamina like that, she still acted tough at school? Kids fresh out of the classroom really had no idea.
By the time they finished, the sun was already setting. Students dropped wherever they could, massaging their aching ankles and complaining nonstop about how brutal the training was. Most of them just weren’t built for this.
Cotton scanned the crowd until he spotted Charlotte. She was already sitting, legs bent, gulping down water and chatting with the girl next to her, who was dripping with sweat. Cotton had to do a double take. Everyone else looked flushed and out of breath, but Charlotte looked perfectly normal, like running thirty kilometers was no big deal.
She wasn’t crying? Cotton’s mind tripped over itself. Maybe she was tougher than he thought.
On the third day, the group got handed a new challenge: the obstacle sprint. Charlotte’s team, Team 1, had to share the training grounds with Team 4. The event split everyone into boys and girls, then put them through elimination rounds in small groups.
At the end, the top boy’s group and top girl’s group from each team would face off, and those results would count toward the “best team” awards later.
In the boys group, Andrew was naturally athletic and took first place, so he’d go up against Team 4’s best guy. The girls… well, Team 1 had already run several heats, and the results were embarrassing. They either barely managed a tie or got left in the dust by Team 4, sometimes by as much as thirty or forty seconds.
“Cotton, your team’s really not looking great,” called out Leland, Team 4’s instructor and a member of The White Whale special forces. His tone was loaded with teasing. “Last place in the march yesterday, and now this obstacle course
Cotton’s face fell at the jab.
Stella was up next. When Cotton looked over and saw her delicate and shaking— he could only shake his head. There was no way they’d escape last place now.
“Good luck, Stella,” Shirley called. She’d fallen flat on her butt earlier and had the honor of coming dead last in her group.
Stella nodded, but her face changed as soon as she saw her opponents: Janie and Olivia from Team 4. Both were from The Cabinda University, studying clinical medicine too.
Janie caught Stella looking and gave her a cold, mocking smile. Stella’s hands batted into fists and her brow creased nerves getting the best of her for a moment Right then, Charlotte leaned in and said quietly, “Just be careful. All you need to do is finish.”
The sound of Charlotte’s voice instantly soothed her. As long as Charlotte was there, nothing seemed too scary.
Their little exchange didn’t escape
Olivia or Janie. Olivia hid her
annoyance with a soft smile,
glancing at Janie, whose eyes were already burning with spite. In a low voice, Olivia said, “They’re really close, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, really close,” Janie replied, her smile icy and her hands tightening at her sides. Her eyes turned sharp and dangerous. Let’s see if she’s still smiling after this.
The race started.
Both teams shot
forward at the same time. The first
SO
challenge was a narrow bridge made of chained tires. The rules always stressed Sanship even if someone got jostled, nobody was supposed to actually get hurt.