"Repeat exactly what you just said to me, do you understand?" Before Fatty Lin could even utter a sound, the drill instructor's voice boomed in his ear like thunder.

Fatty Lin smacked his lips and shouted, "Lu Wei."

"Not that sentence. Repeat it again, are you deaf?" The instructor glared, his ox-like eyes wide, standing directly in front of Fatty Lin, staring him down.

"Damn, what a great name to give someone." Fatty Lin's mouth twitched again.

But no matter how much his lips moved, the instructor seemed highly displeased and roared once more, "I'll repeat myself one last time: repeat exactly what you just said."

At these words, Fatty Lin was momentarily stunned. He felt certain he had already repeated what he said, but recalling the instructor's intention to use a "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" tactic against him, his brow furrowed.

It wasn't just him, though; Yang Yi and Ye Xiaohou felt the same way. This instructor was clearly making trouble deliberately.

"Are you deaf?" the instructor bellowed again.

"No," Fatty Lin replied.

"Then why haven't you responded to me?"

Fatty Lin narrowed his eyes and shouted back, "Instructor, I believe I have already repeated those words once. Therefore, there is no need to repeat them again."

"Oh? You've repeated it once? I didn't hear it?" The instructor's gaze remained fixed on Fatty Lin, yet a flicker of surprise stirred within him.

Whether a recruit or a veteran, almost no one could remain calm under his intimidating stare, unless they were an officer of higher rank—then it would be expected. However, the defiant look in Fatty Lin's eyes only fueled the instructor's frustration.

"Instructor, I will repeat myself one last time: I have already repeated what I said once. I feel there is no need to say it again. As the saying goes, good words are not spoken a third time." Fatty Lin let the words pop out, one by one, his voice sounding rougher than a pig being slaughtered.

"You, get out here," the instructor hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"Boss, that instructor is clearly giving Old Second a hard time," Ye Xiaohou murmured softly to Yang Yi.

"Sigh, I thought about saying it earlier. The instructor originally wanted to use Lu Wei to make an example of someone, but this wretched fatty jumped in instead. Now look, trouble has arrived. Fatty, you handle it," Yang Yi sighed helplessly.

"I know," a nearly imperceptible smile played on Fatty Lin's lips.

Watching Fatty Lin step forward, the instructor pointed to the grass nearby and said, "You... immediately give me fifty push-ups."

"..............." Fatty Lin didn't move, his eyes fixed solely on the instructor.

Seeing his lack of movement, the instructor immediately frowned. "Did you not hear my command?"

"I heard," Fatty Lin's sudden reply nearly gave the instructor acute laryngitis from sheer anger.

"Then why aren't you doing them?"

"Reporting to the Instructor, I don't think it's necessary."

"Not necessary?" The instructor’s brows furrowed into a deep mountain range as he asked, "Tell me, why do you feel it's unnecessary?"

"Because I made no mistake," Fatty Lin stated defiantly.

"What? You made no mistake? Do I need to tell you exactly what mistake you made?"

".........." Fatty Lin remained silent.

The instructor assumed Fatty Lin truly didn't know his offense and perhaps was starting to yield. He immediately shouted, "Disregarding the dignity of a soldier, violating military discipline, and mocking a comrade—these are serious taboos in the army. Tell me, where did you go wrong?"

"I do not believe I disregarded military discipline, and furthermore, I do not believe I mocked a comrade," Fatty Lin declared with immense self-assurance.

It truly seemed as if none of those things had happened, leaving the students below stunned, especially Lu Wei, the actual subject. It was clear that apart from Yang Yi and Ye Xiaohou, hardly anyone noticed what was truly going on, including the instructor himself.

"Are you suggesting my hearing is faulty?" the instructor asked.

Little did he know how utterly foolish that question sounded, as it played perfectly into Fatty Lin's trap. The guy secretly chuckled internally while maintaining a perfectly stern expression, saying, "Yes, Instructor, your hearing is indeed very faulty."

"Nonsense," the instructor was now genuinely infuriated by Fatty Lin.

"Instructor, please tell me, in what way did I mock a comrade?"

"Wasn't your previous statement precisely that?"

"I apologize, Instructor, but your hearing is indeed problematic. Because my statement was an expression of praise for classmate Lu Wei's excellent name, I certainly did not intend it to sound like mockery."

Hearing Fatty Lin's explanation, all the students nearly fainted, and the person directly involved was even more enraged. If there had been a paving stone under his feet, he likely would have picked it up without hesitation and hurled it at Fatty Lin.

"You..." The instructor realized he had been trapped; Fatty Lin was now clinging to specific wording to play with him. Therefore, the instructor seemed to disregard subtlety and immediately bellowed, "I said you made a mistake, so you made a mistake. Don't you know that a soldier's duty is absolute obedience to superior orders?"

"Instructor, that statement of yours is also flawed."

"How so?"

"Because I am not a soldier, I do not know what it means for a soldier's duty to be absolute obedience to superior orders."

"You............"

In all his history, this was likely the first time this instructor had encountered such an obstinate cadet. His expression shifted, and he yelled, "Good, good, good."

"Good my foot!" Fatty Lin’s expression suddenly changed too, becoming somewhat disdainful, even his eyes mirrored it, as he addressed the instructor, "Listen here, don't think I don't know you just wanted to 'kill the chicken to scare the monkey.' Too bad, you picked the wrong target."

"You... what did you say?" The instructor trembled with rage. If looks could kill, Fatty Lin would have died countless times over.

"Oh, I knew it. Instructor, you really do have hearing problems," Fatty Lin paused, speaking with deep amusement. "Instructor, I am a man, not a woman, so you've got the wrong person."

"You—" The instructor managed to blurt out three 'you's' but ultimately could not complete a sentence.

He took a deep breath, seemingly calming the impulse he felt to kill Fatty Lin—though killing him was impossible, as he was the instructor. Yet, as he thought of something, a strange curve appeared on his lips. "Since you believe you did nothing wrong, very well. I will give you a chance."

"What chance?" Fatty Lin asked.

"Attack me. If you can defeat me, I will let all past incidents slide."

The instructor's thinking was utterly naive; he genuinely believed Fatty Lin was just a student with no strength to even truss a chicken, thus he intended to exploit his own physical advantage to teach Fatty Lin a lesson. Unfortunately... he had chosen the wrong target yet again.

"I'm sorry, Instructor, I think you've misjudged me once more!"

"Why?"

"Because I’m afraid I might accidentally injure you."

"..............." The instructor was speechless, and so were the students below, all secretly laughing to themselves, thinking, Who does Fatty Lin think he is, daring to challenge the instructor like this?

Of course, this was the thought process of those unaware of the full context. But Yang Yi and his group didn't think that way; they weren't afraid Fatty Lin would hurt the instructor, but rather that he would outright eliminate him. Thus, there was a mix of silent amusement and outright mockery among them.

"Go ahead and attack, I promise there won't be any serious harm done," the instructor thought this was an obvious statement.

"Alright!" Fatty Lin agreed, but before half a moment passed, he hesitated again. "Perhaps not."

The instructor was momentarily stunned and asked, "Why not?"

"Because I'm afraid I might hit too hard and actually kill you."

"Pfft!" The instructor couldn't hold it in, as if he had just heard the loudest, funniest joke in the world. He said, "Don't worry, no matter what happens to me after you attack, it will have nothing to do with you, Fatty Lin."

"Is that true?" Fatty Lin asked with feigned surprise.

"It's true."

"Then I still cannot attack."

The instructor was practically tearing his hair out, struggling to suppress the fire burning in his heart. "And why not now?"

"Because I'm afraid you'll go back on your word. You're the instructor; whatever you say is law. What recourse would I have? And whether it’s the school or your military authority, they will absolutely side with you, not me."

"Fine, fine, fine. I yield to you. How about this: every student present here will serve as a witness. If Fatty Lin attacks and I suffer any harm, I absolutely will not hold him accountable for a single thing. Furthermore, to show that I, the instructor, will not renege, if any of you misrepresent this contest, every single one of you will run a thousand laps around the field. No stopping before a thousand laps, or you will face military justice."

Hearing this, the students quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, yes. We are willing to testify."

Nonsense, who wouldn't agree? After all, they all believed Fatty Lin stood no chance against a regular soldier. In their minds, soldiers were 'gods' who guarded the nation; soldiers capable of defending the country must possess some formidable skill.

"Is that satisfactory now?" the instructor asked Fatty Lin with a smile.

"Satisfactory, of course. However, Instructor, one last question for you," Fatty Lin’s mouth curved into an equally eerie smile.

"Ask it."

"Do you truly want me to attack?"

"Yes, attack me. Don't worry, I’ll go easy on you."

Bullshit. There was no way this instructor would go easy on him. Looking at his smile, he wouldn't be satisfied unless he had beaten Fatty Lin into a coma for at least half a month. Only then could he vent his frustration, and he had already conjured up excuses for Fatty Lin.