When Li Ling returned to the camp, there were still four hours left before the deadline, and he seemed to be in good physical and mental condition.
While the high school team was still monitoring the surveillance in the control room, Gray Wolf came out and saw Li Ling. Seeing Li Ling sitting on the ground panting, Gray Wolf gave him an appreciative smile: "Rookie, not bad! Back so early."
Li Ling grinned: "Luck, hehe, just good luck. Gray Wolf, can you get me something to eat? My mouth is practically watering at the seams."
Gray Wolf smiled and shook his head, refusing him: "That won't do, it's not time yet! Besides, your brothers are still hungry, how can you eat first?"
"Well, I knew it would turn out like this. Luckily, I still have some food left." Li Ling rolled his eyes, took out a small bag wrapped in large leaves from his pocket, and opened it to reveal the bamboo rat meat that he had cut and preserved.
"Hey, this is pure, natural, and pollution-free bamboo rat meat. Want a piece?" Li Ling chuckled and stretched out his hand to the gray wolf.
Gray Wolf swallowed hard and gave an awkward laugh: "No need to be polite, I've already had lunch, you can eat by yourself! Hehe."
"Then you're really out of luck, this meat is so tender!" Li Ling said, picking up a piece of raw meat and throwing it into his mouth to chew.
Gray Wolf shook his head helplessly, turned around and walked towards the monitoring room. This kid is simply a man standing at the top of the food chain.
More than three hours later, the high school team and the gray wolves came out together, because the rookies were returning one after another. Li Ling had already fallen asleep on the ground. Fortunately, it was the height of summer, so sleeping on the ground wouldn't make him catch a cold; in fact, it was quite cool.
The first to arrive were Geng Jihui and Lao Pao. When they saw Li Ling sleeping, they ran straight to his side, rolled over on the ground, and Li Ling was awakened by their commotion.
------------
Chapter 54 Unexpected Real-World Combat
"You're back!" Li Ling greeted casually, sat up, and stretched.
"How long have you been back? You look like you've been asleep for a while," Geng Jihui asked Li Ling in surprise.
Li Ling shrugged and said with a smile, "I don't know either, probably a few hours!"
"A few hours? How did you do that?" the old man exclaimed incredulously, his eyes wide.
Li Ling grinned and explained, "I was lucky. The map I got was fairly accurate, so I didn't go in the wrong direction and came straight here."
"..."
Following closely behind were medic Shi Dafan and Chen Pai. Seeing Chen Pai limping, Li Ling's heart tightened, and she quickly stood up and waited inside the finish line. As soon as he entered the finish line, she immediately helped him up and took the backpack from his back.
"Chen Pai, is your leg alright?" Li Ling whispered in his ear.
"It's nothing, I just ran too far and my calf muscles are sore."
Chen Pai knew what Li Ling was worried about, and he didn't need to hide anything from Li Ling. He could just tell him the truth. However, his condition was really not serious. His current situation was just a normal aftereffect of traveling long distances.
Li Ling breathed a sigh of relief and felt at ease. After Chen Pai sat down, Li Ling quickly massaged his legs.
"I have Lao Gao in front of me... Gray Wolves behind me... How many... secrets..."
Shi Dafan, that kid, slumped down next to the group, singing a song he didn't even know what he was singing, unconsciously chanting, "I'm a little goat... little goat..."
Following behind Shi Dafan was Qiangzi, who was also muttering to himself. This was a way for them to distract themselves and help them ignore some of the physical pain.
"What do you mean by 'acting up'? I am acting up. I gave up being a good class monitor to come here and suffer..."
What does it mean to be shameless? I'm shameless. I'd rather forgo a comfortable life and come here to suffer... Ah... huff huff huff..."
About twenty minutes after their group arrived, another group appeared. The most conspicuous among them was Deng Zhenhua, who was limping and carrying something in his hand.
"Hey, it's an ostrich."
"Ostrich, hang in there!"
"Paratroopers, hurry up, keep going!"
"No way! He brought back a snake?" Geng Jihui said in surprise after seeing what Deng Zhenhua was carrying.
Shi Dafan chuckled: "I reckon the snake couldn't catch him, so it committed suicide."
"Ha ha ha ha……"
"Paratroopers, hurry up!"
"What happened? So late? Did you run into a mother ostrich on the road?"
Hearing Shi Dafan's words, Deng Zhenhua glared at him angrily, threw the headless snake in his hand to the ground, and said after catching his breath, "Go to hell, I've run into this damn thing."
Seeing this, Li Ling laughed, "Hey, what a big one! I'll ask the cook to make a pot of snake soup later. This stuff is very nutritious."
"Haha, this is great, this is great."
A group of people were chatting and joking around, waiting for the other newbies to return.
...
After completing this jungle wilderness survival training, the newbies were given two full days to rest and adjust. The veterans' attitude towards the newbies also changed significantly, becoming more amiable and no longer acting as if they owed them a fortune.
The rookies ate well and slept soundly, and some even secretly wondered if the selection training was about to end.
Because they will soon become one of the veterans, the veterans are now starting to treat them as comrades-in-arms.
Of course, newbies are overthinking things. When they finally understand the changes made by veterans, they suddenly feel lost and even caught off guard.
Because the gray wolves told them that they were about to go to the border to participate in actual combat, ambushing a group of drug traffickers crossing the border, and this time, their guns were not loaded with blanks, but with live ammunition!
In real combat, there is a risk to life!
From that moment on, the newbies' hearts became unusually heavy.