Chapter 47: The King of Cheng Loses to the Bandit

  Looking at Zhang Qi's very arrogant appearance, Sun Qifan couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, shook his body slightly, and immediately quickened his pace to chase after Zhang Qi.

  But in an instant, Sun Qifan rushed from the back of the team to overtake Zhuo Yi and Qiu Lin who were running at the front.

  Zhang Qi did not expect Sun Qifan's explosive power to be so strong, and in the blink of an eye, he was only one or two meters away from himself. What surprised Zhang Qi even more was that at this moment, Sun Qifan was carrying a full 50-kilogram military backpack!

  "If I lose this, won't I be too ashamed to stay in the South Sea Fleet?!" Thinking of this, Zhang Qi couldn't help but grit his teeth in hatred. Seeing Sun Qifan already chasing after him, he quickly turned around and sped up.

  Sun Qifan saw Zhang Qi speed up again, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace as well. However, he didn't overtake Zhang Qi in one breath, instead tightly keeping up with him, not allowing Zhang Qi to pull away from him.

  As Sun Qifan's distance from the main force grew farther and farther, so far that even the soldiers rushing up behind him found it hard to catch up, Jiang Yurou couldn't help but look at Sun Qifan with a different eye.

  "One! Two! Three! Four!"

  The sudden sound of the horn behind her scared Jiang Yurou into subconsciously yielding the way.

  She watched as soldier after soldier passed her one by one, each already drenched in sweat but still breathing heavily, and couldn't help feeling frustrated at being overtaken.

  Lu Tao was the same, seeing the soldiers shouting slogans, he had a sense of transcending himself, and immediately broke away from the team and ran in front of the soldiers. Although he was very unhappy about being thrown off by Sun Qifan for several streets, he would not allow himself to lose again.

  Before he knew it, Lu Tao had also surpassed Zhuo Yi and Qiu Lin, running forward alone.

  Then Jiang Yuru also surpassed Qiu Lin. However, she looked much more exhausted than the previous two people, completely relying on the explosive power of the 100-meter sprint to show off.

  Watching himself being surpassed one by one, Qiu Lin was also unwilling to give up and suddenly accelerated to chase after Jiang Yurou.

  Zhuo Yi never expected that, because of Sun Qifan, the new recruits suddenly seemed to have been injected with chicken blood and started sprinting forward desperately. The new recruits behind also accelerated voluntarily, determined to compete with the soldiers, even shouting their slogans louder than usual.

  "Come on, shout!" Zhuo Yi couldn't help but be moved by the intense atmosphere and laughed happily, shouting at all the men who were exercising in the morning.

  According to Zhuo Yi's words, the soldiers directly came to a brothel.

  "One! Two! Three! Four!"

  "One two! Three four!"

  "One, two, three! Four!"

  As the soldiers' voices fell, Xin Fei's side also came up with a circle. Responding to their bugle call, the fishing boats sailing out to sea sounded their horns and set sail, starting their long voyage. The phased array radar on the warships in the military port also started rotating, and with a sharp whistle piercing the morning sky, white foam rose from the stern of the ship.

  Zhuo Yi stopped and raised her hand to block the sun from her eyes, gazing at the departing 168 fleet.

  She suddenly turned around and shouted loudly at everyone: "At attention!"

  Everyone didn't know why Zhuo Yi called a halt, but they all immediately stopped, except for the six of them including Sun Qifan who had already run far away and couldn't hear her voice.

  "Turn back!"

  As soon as Zhuo Yi gave the order, all those who had stopped turned around and faced the military port.

  "Do you know what day it is today?" Zhuo Yi asked with a smile to everyone.

  "A soldier responded to her words: 'Report! Today is the day when the 168th fleet participates in the tenth convoy formation departure!'"

  "Yes, so what should we do?!"

  "Bow!"

  Lv Kun responded to Zhuo Yi's words, and the others responded to his shout, with their right hands drawing a beautiful arc in front of their chests, paying the highest respects to the glorious 168 fleet and its officers and men who set sail.

  In Xinfei's heart, two weeks ago they still didn't know where in their hometown they would go. Now, they have come here, and the honor of the South Sea Fleet has made them infatuated with this place, starting to love life here. It's not just the beautiful scenery, the beautiful people, but also the military song that is most sonorous for youth!

  "Practice makes perfect! Ready... sing!"

  Sun Fan didn't know when he arrived at Zhuo Yi's side, he looked at the new flying ones who were seeing off the 168 fleet's distant voyage with eyes full of pride and expectation, and couldn't help but give everyone a nod.

  Following Sun's lead, everyone else also turned their heads back, smiled at Sun and simultaneously turned around to start running, shouting out a loud but unclear military song: "Practice, practice, practice for battle, practice to become strong and good second lieutenant..."

  No more fierce excitement of rivalry with each other, but now there is a sense of harmony and unity between the officers and men, with a strong sense of solidarity.

  This relationship is much better than the trial Zhang Qi wanted. Although Sun Fan really wants to know, in the end, whether it will be Zhang Qi who runs to the base gate first, or his own nephew Sun Qifan, who usually looks unprofessional but never loses at critical moments.

  Just as the singing and the whistle broke the tranquility of Zhanjiang in the early morning, Sun Qifan and Zhang Qi also ran to the end of the beach and rushed onto the road back to the base. At this time, among the coconut trees, a thin fog was swirling, and a chilling feeling that made Sun Qifan shiver all over his body was unavoidable.

  Suddenly tightening muscles, apparently affected his speed, but he didn't want to lose to Zhang Qi, so he had to accelerate again.

  Zhang Qi did not expect Sun Qifan to maintain his explosive speed and closely follow him. He had thought that once they reached the coconut forest, the sudden cold would slow down Sun Qifan's speed, but he did not expect that the distance between them still could not be opened up.

  Thinking of this, Zhang Qi couldn't help but want to attack Sun Qifan psychologically, so he smiled and said: "Kid, if you can't do it, then don't force yourself."

  Listening to Zhang Qi's provocative words, Sun Qifan just smiled disdainfully and didn't take Zhang Qi seriously.

  "See how long you can keep up with me!" Seeing Sun Qifan not taking the bait, Zhang Qi's plan fell through and he couldn't help but feel a bit unhappy. Turning his head back, Zhang Qi once again accelerated, his speed not one bit slower than that of a 400-meter dash.

  Sun Qifan saw the distance between himself and Zhang Qi suddenly opened up, while his own legs were now as heavy as lead, making it difficult to take bigger strides. He couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat in his heart. What Sun Qifan didn't expect even more was that Lu Tao also appeared behind him, although he looked exhausted, the distance between them had decreased significantly and was still shrinking.

  Losing to Zhang Qi was not shameful, but losing to Lu Tao? Sun Qifan did not want to see such a result. He had been watching Lu Tao's serious attitude towards everything for the past two days and genuinely disliked him from the bottom of his heart.

  To be surpassed by someone you dislike is an even greater shame!

  Thinking of Sun Qifan, he couldn't help but let out a loud whoop and quickened his pace, the soreness in his legs making him grit his teeth.

  Lu Tao saw the distance he had reduced with great difficulty suddenly increase again, and he also took a deep breath, using his full strength to chase after Sun Qifan at a speed of 100 meters per second.

  In the blink of an eye, the three people turned a corner and looked up to see the base gate one kilometer ahead.

  The finish line was just ahead, and Lu Tao, who always fought to be the first in everything, took off first. He shook his backpack once and started sprinting towards the finish line at an accelerated pace. Sun Qifan saw Lu Tao suddenly overtake him and, after a moment of stunned silence, also took off in a rush.

  As he heard the rapid footsteps and heavy breathing getting closer behind him, Zhang Qi couldn't help but turn his head to take a look.

  Only Sun Qifan and Lu Tao, one on the left and one on the right, surpassed Zhang Qi from both sides, which was an unacceptable feeling for Zhang Qi. Turning back, Zhang Qi also quickened his pace and rushed up with a faster frequency.

  The speed of the three people was too fast, so fast that it seemed to fly. The reverse morning wind blew Zhang Qi's lips trembling constantly, but even so, Zhang Qi did not gain any advantage, and the three people were about to cross the finish line at the same time.

  Lu Tao's hand suddenly rose and pushed towards Zhang Qi, who was sandwiched between him and Sun Qifan.

  He just gave a slight push, and Zhang Qi instantly lost his balance and stumbled onto Sun Qifan's body, carrying Sun Qifan heavily to the ground, and the two of them rolled forward on the asphalt road for several meters before finally coming to a stop.

  Looking at the scratched arm, Zhang Qi couldn't help but stand up, and with a fierce throw, he threw the camouflage hat in his hand to the ground. He rushed forward and grabbed Lu Tao's collar, pressing him tightly against the pillar of the base gate. His hand was also raised instantly, but just as it was about to fall, it was pulled down by Sun Qifan.

  "I've got my hat back, and neither of us has lost." With that, Sun Qifan let go of Zhang Qi's hand, brushed off the dust on his military badge, and limped into the base gate with his backpack.

  Sun Qifan didn't pursue Lu Tao's excessive behavior, so Zhang Qi could only endure it and hit the pillar next to Lu Tao's ear with a circle of his fist, giving him a cold stare before releasing his hand.

  Ke Lu Tao couldn't help but laugh, turning around to face Sun Qifan who had walked to the center of the square and shouting: "The winner becomes the king, the loser becomes a bandit, this is an eternal truth!"

  Hearing Lu Tao's words behind him, Sun Qifan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

  He looked up at the national flag and military flag fluttering in the morning wind on the top of the flagpole, making a "whooshing" sound, and couldn't help but chuckle.

  Sun Qifan gently placed his backpack on the left side of his foot, raised his right hand, and saluted the national flag and military flag. Lu Tao's words were actually not wrong, since ancient times, it has indeed been the case that the winner is king and the loser is a bandit. But in Sun Qifan's heart, he still revered another phrase, which was "The benevolent have no enemies!"

  Zhang Qi looked at Sun Qifan, who had just been humiliated, and couldn't help but feel a little incredulous at his carefree smile in front of the military flag. But with this smile, he also sincerely admired Sun Qifan and understood why Commander Zhao liked him so much.