Chapter 114: 113 selection begins

Bai E arrived at the training ground early, but Helen, who had been absent all night, seemed to have been waiting there for a while.

"There's some more data that needs to be collected."

After analyzing the data, Helen discovered something amiss. The body data collected from Bai E were from his second phase of weight bearing, which is 43 kilograms, while most soldiers start their high-level physical training from the first phase with a 30-kilogram load.

Helen instinctively felt that there might be some differences between the different weight-bearing levels. For research to be cautious and comprehensive, under the right conditions, she needed to gather as much evidence as possible.

Bai E's gaze swept over the soldiers who were gradually arriving for assembly, with a noticeable unease in his eyes about disrupting Order.

"Don't worry, I've spoken with your instructors. It's just like yesterday with the sensor attachment; it will be quick, and you'll be able to make it back for training," Helen reassured him.

"Oh~"

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After attaching the sensors again, Helen specifically instructed, "Remember, just use a 30-kilogram weight this time, understand?"

"Understood."

Upon hustling back to the training ground, Bai E noticed that the atmosphere was somewhat peculiar.

Though everyone was still training diligently, the scent of hormones in the air was quite different from usual.

There was an added sense of restraint, a touch more fervor.

Although the soldiers usually trained earnestly, the repetition of daily workouts would inevitably lead to feelings of weariness.

Artificial humans are natural soldiers and absolute war machines, but fundamentally they cannot escape the category of being human.

Being human means feeling tiredness, feeling boredom.

Even though they would habitually expend energy in daily training, to say that they give their utmost effort to explore their limits without reservation every single day... that's not quite realistic.

Artificial humans also have their own joys and sorrows, happiness and worries.

They ponder about what to eat today, strive for the rewards they want, pursue honors, and might even build small nests under bridges...

Today... they seemed a few degrees more earnest, their actions a bit more rigid.

Was it because of those two officers wandering around the sidelines?

Bai E cast a quick glance, then withdrew his gaze calm and unruffled.

Yesterday, Carlos had given him a heads-up, saying that the military camp would soon be selecting a small number of soldiers for a secret mission to explore ruins. He was advised to perform well when the time came.

The ones before him were probably the officers responsible for selecting the targets?

Exploration of ruins... the goal required by the main mission.

"Make a good impression." Drill Sergeant Chavez, the stern-faced instructor, noticed Bai E's return and stealthily came over. With his back to the two officers, he reminded in almost motionless lips.

The grassroots instructors weren't aware of the specifics, but they understood that such exceptional observation and selection surely meant something favorable was at hand.

As for asking for details... seeing how those two officers maintained a careful distance from them, it was evident that strict orders had come from above, leaving no room for leniency.

"Understood." Bai E nodded slightly and walked over to start donning his weight-bearing equipment.

...

"How come there's still someone late?"

"Lack of seriousness in training attitude, deduct five points."

The two officers strictly followed commands, executing them rigidly.

Even though they held the same rank as the grassroots instructors in terms of military hierarchy, their responsibilities differed. They simply carried out higher-ranking officers' orders without understanding the details.

"What's the number?"

"95... 95B27, I think." One of them stared vacantly for a while before approximately confirming it after comparing with the photo on his tablet.

"...Sounds familiar."

"Right... I think so too."

"Hey~ who cares, just log it down. Oh, and for the instructor's lack of supervision, dock ten points."

"..." His companion paused briefly, "The instructor gets logged too?"

"Log... it?"

"Sure, I'll follow your lead."

...

[You are paying in combat experience to correct your training movements... (Consumption: 10 points of experience/min)]

[Current simulation completion: 125.0％]

Heeding Helen's advice, Bai E followed the guidance of experience to enhance his workout results to the extreme. Searᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

He also noticed that under the premise of a 30-kilogram weight, even with the correction from expending experience, he could only increase his completion to 1.25 times that of the instructor's before he could no longer make any progress.

Within the confines of limited conditions, there is a benchmark for the extent to which one can push the body, and this was likely his own benchmark.

While utilizing experience to drive the efficiency of his body's consumption to the limit, Bai E's progress towards exhaustion naturally far outstripped the others.

...

Watching the helpless figure collapse from the obstacle in exhaustion, the two recording officers hissed.

"That's it?"

"This is just the level of a clueless new recruit..."

The officer responsible for observing advanced physical training can't ask the teaching instructors for fairness, so they need to have a certain level of judgment. Those capable of holding this duty all have some level of understanding, or may even have been high-level physical training instructors themselves.

Right now, that 95B27's performance is blatantly obvious.

You can't expect to be more efficient than the instructor, can you?

The current performance is just like that of the most unskilled and unaware novice who has just started advanced physical training.

"Ah, I remember now! Isn't this the new recruit War God that's been the hot topic these past few days?"

"Seems like the level isn't that great, huh?"

"Who cares... We do our job, just make a note of it."

"Mmh... Huh? Who's that over there?"

A figure in a white lab coat suddenly entered the line of sight of the two.

"Looks like it's the Scientific Research Institute's Helen?"

"Why is she here?"

"Seems like... she's looking for that 95B27."

"...He's been taken away!"

"I saw it..."

"Does he... have some special circumstances?"

"Should we ask about it?"

"Then, shall we ask?"

...

"Now, let's start compiling the physical performance scores observed by everyone."

In the dimly lit conference room, the officer responsible for coordinating those qualified for advanced physical training and currently the only one in the know instructed their subordinates: "Each of you put forward the top ten targets from your scores, and we will consider them collectively."

Physical attributes are physical attributes, and physical performance is physical performance. Otherwise, why bother observing when you can just thoughtlessly pull out a bunch of soldiers with full 15-point physical attributes?

Under the same attributes, each soldier's ability to use their attributes can vary significantly, and even under the same physical attributes, there are different types of sub-scores composing the combination.

In this mission, would a pure damage sponge be of any use? Obviously not.

Suitability for the mission's objective is far more important.

"These are my five."

"These are the five I've picked out..."

The officers responsible for observation each expressed their opinions, sharing their data onto the screen in front of their high commander through the local network.

"Commander Griffith, I have a special situation to report."

Looking at the subordinate who had stood up, Griffith nodded and replied, "Speak."

"We observed a peculiar soldier, his performance... is a bit odd."

"Go into detail."

"We first noticed him when he was late to training, and when he officially joined, his body's functional balance deteriorated extremely quickly. Even with the highest consumption rate set by the instructors and a combination of 13 points—the lowest physical attributes—it was far from what it should be.

Plus, the target had just been released as a new artificial recruit from the previous batch, so we judged him to be just a newcomer to advanced physical training with poor performance..."

"What's so special to report about that?"

"Isn't the answer obvious? Your judgment is not wrong."

"You had to mention that separately?"

The other officers assigned to observation were puzzled and there was a buzz of discussion.

Being selected as the target of their observation meant achievements for them.

Military merit is what most people in the army pursue.

However, the word "special" often is indeed very special. Once it appears, it means it will definitely occupy a spot, and those who realized it was a false alarm expressed their dissatisfaction.

"But..." The reporting subordinate waited quietly until the conference room's discussion subsided, then slowly spoke, revealing the unexpected information they had last obtained, "I heard from their teaching instructors that the soldier's performance was actually outstanding, surpassing everyone. This was personally confirmed by Helen from the Scientific Research Institute..."

The irritable officer didn't wait to hear everything and interrupted impatiently, "Aren't we not supposed to contact those teaching instructors?"

Teaching instructors and their own soldiers spend day and night together. They might have their own biases, and taking their opinions can easily mislead them.

To ensure fairness, they had been strictly ordered not to contact the teaching instructors during the observation process, with violations leading to the deduction of military merit.

And now...

"Shut up!" Griffith narrowed his eyes and shouted angrily, silencing the conference room.

He looked at the subordinate who had stood up to report, his eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty, "You just said... that soldier is related to Helen?"

"Yes." The subordinate nodded slowly, "We saw with our own eyes Helen take him away."

"..."

Griffith was silent for a moment before pressing his hand down, "Keep your opinions about this soldier on hold for now. I will go to verify with Helen. Everyone else, continue with your reports!"