“Kai, is that you?" Jackson said. He hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much. You can't imagine how far I traveled to see you."
Kai looked beautiful at that moment. Her crescent-shaped eyes sparkled when she smiled. Her teeth shone brightly in the sunlight.
Jackson felt confused. Why didn’t Kai speak? He had just traveled all the way from Kabbas to see her.
Suddenly, a flash of light shot from Kai’s eyes. It struck Jackson without warning.
Jackson screamed in pain. "Ah!" He fell to the ground.
Instructor Hoffman, holding a stun baton, glared at Jackson. "Private Clown, you’re not alert! If I were the enemy, you’d be dead already. A soldier must always stay alert!"
Jackson realized he had been dreaming. Hoffman had used the stun baton to wake him, causing him to fall out of bed.
Jackson rubbed his sore waist. He heard Hoffman’s words clearly, but didn’t care. He cursed Hoffman in his mind.
"I finally meet Kai in my dream, and this freak Hoffman ruins it," Jackson thought. "He deserves to be alone forever."
Jackson didn’t care about Hoffman’s comments. Who would sneak into enemy territory in the age of space travel? It made no sense.
The 7th Company barracks were chaotic. Three instructors moved around, waking up the recruits with stun batons. The time was 4:15 AM.
The recruits weren’t lazy. They were supposed to wake up at 6 AM. But Hoffman had his own rules. He called it a "flexible wake-up policy."
This meant the recruits never knew when they had to get up. If Hoffman decided it was time and they weren’t awake, he’d bring two assistants and use ice water, whips, loud noises, or electric shocks to wake them. No method was too extreme.
With such an instructor, the recruits had no choice but to deal with it. They couldn’t stay awake all night. Even the toughest recruits needed sleep.
Over time, the "flexible wake-up policy" had some benefits.
First, the 7th Company recruits had better discipline. When the instructors gave the sleep command, everyone rushed to bed. No one wanted to miss sleep, fearing Hoffman would wake them up early.
Second, their reaction times improved. At the smallest sound, they quickly got up. If they didn’t, they’d face Hoffman’s wake-up services.
Jackson had been so focused on his dream of Kai that he forgot to stay alert. By the time he looked around, half the recruits were already gone. The smart ones had already heard the first sound and quickly left.
The shock was so strong that Jackson’s body still felt numb.
When Hoffman saw Jackson standing still, he grabbed him by the collar. With one swift move, he threw Jackson out of the barracks. Jackson screamed as he hit the ground again.
Jackson quickly got up. He didn’t want to hit the ground a third time. He ran toward the training field.
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Running 100 laps around the training field was part of the 7th Company’s routine. By the time they finished, it was close to 6 AM, the time when recruits in other companies woke up.
This intense training showed results. The 7th Company recruits were stronger than recruits in other companies. But the training was tough. Three recruits had already been eliminated, leaving only 120.
"Gene, don’t worry. You’ll catch up," Jackson said, noticing that Gene was out of breath. Gene had been punished by Hoffman for waking up late.
"Thanks," Gene said. Then he added, "I’m so hungry."
Jackson didn’t reply. He focused on his laps.
Obstacle training was also effective for building strength and coordination. It was an old method, but it was still used by the starship paratroopers.
The recruits lined up to cross the horizontal ladder. Three instructors watched closely.
As the recruits moved through, Hoffman grew frustrated. He jumped between the ladders and yelled, "Damn it! You should finish in 10 seconds! Hurry up!"
The recruits sped up. Hoffman’s presence pushed them to perform better. No one wanted to be the next target of his anger.
When Hoffman saw Xiao Yi moving too slowly, he shouted, "If anyone takes longer than 10 seconds, no one finishes the training!"
Xiao Yi took a deep breath and pushed forward. He didn’t want to hold anyone back.
The next challenge was the composite high platform. Jackson climbed a rope to a small platform. He saw Hoffman standing nearby, watching everyone carefully. Jackson quickly climbed a ladder to the next platform, grabbed the rope, and slid down to the next obstacle.
"Even though Hoffman is tough, he’s dedicated," Jackson thought.
Two recruits, Bo Er and Townsend, sparred with wooden swords. They were the strongest in the 7th Company. "Die!" Bo Er yelled as he knocked Townsend down.
"Bo Er wins! Move to the next challenge!" Instructor Yan Hui announced.
Jackson was paired with a recruit ranked 9th. After taking a heavy hit, he barely managed to win.
Next was the three-bar challenge. The recruits had to jump on the lowest bar, climb the middle one, and use it to jump over the highest bar.
Hoffman made them race. He ordered each pair to finish together.
When it was Jackson and Xiao Yi’s turn, Hoffman shouted, "Hurry up! Get through the obstacle!"
Though Jackson was tired, he kept pushing himself. He didn’t want to slow down in front of Hoffman.
When Jackson reached the highest bar, Hoffman shouted, "Private Clown, show us what you’ve got!"
Jackson did a 360-degree flip and landed perfectly. The other recruits cheered.
"Did I just do that?" Jackson thought, amazed. The intense training and Hoffman’s pressure seemed to have unlocked his potential.
When Gene and Li Feng reached the obstacle, Hoffman shouted, "Private Fatty, get through faster with your fat!"
Gene froze. As he climbed the middle bar, his strength gave out. He hung there for a moment, then pushed himself up.
"That’s better, Private Gene!" Hoffman said.
When Gene almost fell, Hoffman warned him, "Don’t try to pass without effort."
Gene fell but quickly tried again.
Hoffman shouted, "Let the gods help you! They’ll show you the way!"
Gene failed again and felt discouraged. Hoffman was angry. "Get your fat ass up there!" he shouted.
Gene failed again on his third try.
In the waiting group, Bo Er sneered, "That fatty deserves it. He’s always hanging out with the Panhua people." Some recruits agreed quietly.
Gatsby rolled his eyes. He thought Bo Er was too narrow-minded. While Hoffman yelled at Gene, he shot a glance at Bo Er.
Furious, Hoffman turned to Gene. "What’s your problem? Are you a woman? Get your fat ass up there! Your butt looks like it weighs a hundred pounds..."
Under Hoffman’s insults, Gene failed for the fourth and fifth times.
The next challenge was pull-ups. Hoffman watched Jackson. Jackson did pull-ups and shouted, "Salute to the instructor!" on one pull, and "Salute to the starship paratroopers!" on the next.
He kept going until he completed 1,000 pull-ups.
When it was Gene’s turn, Hoffman didn’t yell. He simply said, "You haven’t done one for the starship paratroopers. Get up there, Private Gene."
Gene struggled. He tried to lift himself but couldn’t.
Hoffman sighed. "You can’t even do one? You’re useless. Get out of here."
Gene felt embarrassed and moved on to the next obstacle.
When it was Bo Er’s turn, Hoffman said flatly, "Up you go, skinny monkey."
The next challenge was the high iron ladder. It stood 20 meters tall. Recruits had to climb it without any safety gear, cross over, and climb down the other side.
Gatsby encouraged Gene, "Come on, Gene! Get up there!"