The Major's head was smoking, his face blackened as he roared, "Turn right, on the double, and don't stop until I order it!"

Ziye responded with a dejected "Yes, sir," and started running along the beach. It was humiliating, saying such things in front of over three hundred people; she felt like she was regressing in age.

Yet, precisely because of that, she had finally escaped the dreaded posture of standing at attention.

—She would rather run thirty laps than stand at attention; that torture was unbearable!

Ziye ran alone around the vicinity of the beach, feeling her entire body come alive, more comfortable than if she’d rubbed on muscle liniment. She glanced sideways at the rows of classmates standing perfectly still, feeling like she was happily pedaling her bicycle past a complete traffic standstill. Simply put: it was supremely satisfying.

As Ziye ran by herself, everyone else forced to stand at attention was consumed by envy and resentment, itching to start running themselves. But the Major was ruthless; he simply wouldn't let them move, threatening aloud, "One twitch, and you stand for two extra hours!"

Ziye laughed all the more freely.

Seeing how delighted she was, the Major, his face still dark, called her back.

The Smiler strolled leisurely past Ziye, examining her from every angle—front, back, left, and right. He suddenly broke into a grin and spoke, "So, you’re the one Tang Wen took a liking to?" His voice was low. Standing before the drill instructor, Ziye was far enough from the other students that only a few instructors heard him.

The moment the words left his mouth, Ziye froze in shock, and even the few instructors showed expressions of disbelief.

Though they weren't in the same field, the vast majority of their mechs bore five engraved characters: Designer: Tang Wen. The Smiler, a "pseudo-instructor," had an unknown origin known only to the Major.

At this moment, every instructor simultaneously thought: there must be something very strange going on here.

Ziye remained silent for three seconds before forcing out a sentence: "Reporting, Instructor, this matter is unrelated to military training."

The Smiler shook his head and did not press further. The Major had been about to punish her, but that remark from the Smiler made him abandon the thought. He told Ziye, "Return to formation!"

Ziye answered, "Yes, sir," and fled back to the ranks as if escaping a disaster.

Indeed, it was far more comfortable among the crowd.

The Smiler gave her two meaningful glances, then ambled over to a tree a hundred meters away, pulled out his military hyper-comm, and said with a smile, "Tang Wen, your little girl is quite something."

Tang Wen was in the laboratory of the Interstellar Union No. 1 Research Institute on Space Station Kelaie-48, glaring coldly at the light screen behind his mask. The 60-inch wide screen displayed the Smiler's current expression vividly on the wall, like an interstellar television. The sea and the military training formation could be seen in the background.

Tang Wen glanced at it and was about to disconnect.

The Smiler quickly urged, "Don't be so cold. We haven't seen each other in three years, brother."

Tang Wen shot him a sidelong look and pulled down his mask. "Spit it out. What is it?" His skin was incredibly pale, contrasting sharply with the Smiler’s sun-kissed, tanned complexion—one was the heaven, the other the earth.

The Smiler teased, "Oh? Still so delicate and tender, haven't changed a bit. Tell me honestly, you don't miss me at all?"

Tang Wen replied coldly, "I am busy."

The Smiler spread his hands; Tang Wen clearly wanted him gone, so he got to the point: "Fine. Practical matters: your student’s physique is excellent. If you don't mind, I’d like to recruit her into my army?"

The Smiler’s army was no ordinary force. Most people never got the chance to join, but once in, leaving was nearly impossible. Tang Wen knew the nature of that army and the personality of his childhood friend well, shooting him a skeptical glance. "You took special leave during your vacation just to check out student military training for this reason?"

The Smiler shrugged. "Just happened to be passing through. **Students are an enduring source of amusement."

Tang Wen enunciated carefully: "Don't lay a hand on my people."

The Smiler looked somewhat surprised. Tang Wen was never one to care about others; for him to categorize Ziye as "his people" meant she must possess some genuine special quality.

He made a mental note of it but outwardly agreed readily, "Alright, but you have to meet me once."

This guy Tang Wen looked cold-faced and cold-hearted, but when he got truly angry, he was terrifying. Thankfully, he was far away, so the Smiler felt less constrained. He decided he would treat Ziye well enough, hmph.

After rejoining the formation, Ziye had been mentally chastising Little Sprout. Little Sprout remained silent, like a child who had misbehaved. Ziye thought it had finally regretted its actions, but then it suddenly piped up: "Ziye, I snuck into the military's database... I thought their secrets would be tougher, but they’re nothing special."

You menace! Ziye desperately wanted to grab it immediately and squeeze it flat, shouting internally, "Stop fooling around! What if something goes wrong?"

Little Sprout flapped playfully above the instructor's head, giggling, "Do you think the great me is that kind of person?"

Just as Ziye was about to say something, the instructor suddenly looked her way. She shivered internally and quickly averted her gaze.

Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "Report!"

The Major roared, "Speak!"

A hoarse voice came from behind, "Reporting, Instructor, how long do we have to stand like this?"

This was the Major's cunning move.

He didn't specify the duration.

The longer they were kept guessing, the harder it was to endure, the more unbearable the discomfort, forcing them to ask.

Fortunately, this question immediately shifted the instructor’s focus to the male student who spoke, granting Ziye a momentary reprieve from his scrutiny.

The Major shouted sternly, "Are you all getting tired? Hmm? Don't think that just because you live in space, zipping around in airships and maglevs every day, you can neglect physical fitness. I'm telling you, physical fitness is the foundation of a person! Without it, don't even think about becoming an outstanding talent! Every one of you, stand up straight!"

As his stern voice concluded, there was a heavy thud, and someone collapsed hard onto the sand—they had fainted.

The Major blinked in surprise, and an instructor immediately rushed over. Others were tempted to move, but just as the Smiler walked by, he spoke up sharply, "Who was just thinking of slacking off? Don't let me catch you!"

Everyone immediately dared not move again.

A moment later, an instructor ran out from the rear carrying a female student. Ziye, standing in the front row, saw her handkerchief slip from her pocket—a pale red color with a little white rabbit, incredibly familiar.

After a moment of thought, wasn't that Yin Lu’s handkerchief?

They stood at attention until four in the afternoon. Even Ziye, who had endured the invincible Gamma Baseline of the Purple Star, was starting to struggle. It was worse for the others; following Yin Lu’s collapse, more quickly followed—the second, the third... Those who hadn't been defeated by the ocean, by the cross-country run with weights, or by swimming against the current, were now collapsing on the beach.

When standing at attention finally ended at five in the afternoon, and the Major announced, "Run back to the camp," almost everyone instantly collapsed onto the ground, their legs trembling.

The scorching hot sand burned their behinds. Ziye immediately sprang back up—her mission wasn't complete yet; she had to run back to camp first. The Smiler was too unreliable; if he casually decided there was no dinner, she'd be finished.