Chapter 61: Instant Kill

Chapter 61: Instant Kill

Xu Wenyu finally put away her smile and glanced at them. "What, do you all want to choose me too?"

Everyone instantly reacted and hurriedly looked at those around them to pick their opponents.

Although the training ground was vast, fighting in such a chaotic melee was quite a sight.

The scene descended into momentary chaos.

While Xu Qiao was still debating whether to take the initiative or wait for someone to challenge her, someone suddenly rushed over. "Xu Qiao, do you dare to fight me?"

Seeing this familiar face, Xu Qiao couldn't help but chuckle. She hadn't expected Xu Yang to become increasingly courageous; after suffering two setbacks, she was coming back for more.

Without wasting words, Xu Qiao immediately assumed a combat stance.

Seeing this, Xu Yang did not stand on ceremony. Stepping forward, she swung her arm and threw a punch straight at Xu Qiao.

Xu Qiao wanted to test her opponent's baseline and didn't block it head-on, instead dodging with nimble footwork. Xu Yang was not without skill; missing the punch, she immediately followed up with a low kick in an attempt to topple her opponent.

However, just these two moves allowed Xu Qiao to gauge her capability. With a side-step to evade, she launched a swift counterattack, fiercely kicking Xu Yang in the flank.

Even with the changes she had undergone, she shouldn't have improved to this extent, right? She couldn't match her in shooting, and now she was getting beaten in hand-to-hand combat. Xu Yang was momentarily at a loss for how to react.

"You... you sneaked up on me!" Xu Yang gasped for air, pointing at Xu Qiao and crying out.

Xu Qiao glanced around. Her own squad was doing reasonably well; at least a large majority had survived the first round.

However, this was merely the beginning, and the next round soon commenced.

In everyone's impression, Xu Qiao was nothing more of a good-for-nothing recruit who had previously dragged down the entire company.

Yet no one witnessed—though Xu Yang knew all too well—how much pain she had absorbed into her own body.

Sitting slumped on the ground, Xu Yang instinctively wanted to retort, but the moment she tried to get up, her legs turned to jelly, and she collapsed back down.

The crowds on both sides grew larger while those still fighting dwindled.

Xu Qiao looked up at the instructor not far away, seeing that they were watching closely with zero intention of intervening.

Curiously, the female soldiers still made up a significant portion of the remaining group.

Realizing that continuing like this was going nowhere, Xu Yang instinctively reached out to grab Xu Qiao's wrist in an attempt to subdue her.

Even so, their skills were merely decent within the Communications Company. In Xu Wenyu's eyes, these people's combat abilities were truly negligible.

Yet the "game" had not yet concluded, and Xu Wenyu did not interrupt them. She merely stood by, watching them one by one.

Hearing Xu Wenyu's words, Xu Qiao stopped waiting for someone to approach her and instead walked straight up to the male soldier nearest to her. "Come on, do you dare have a match with me?"

With an angry cry, Xu Yang lunged forward once more. This time, Xu Qiao did not dodge; the two exchanged blows, using elbows and knees to attack each other.

Having said that, she walked directly over to the cluster of victors.

The female soldier who had just been rejected by Xu Qiao did not hesitate in the slightest, stepping right in front of her and taking a deep breath. "You have no reason to refuse this time, right?"

"Furthermore, on the battlefield, expecting to accuse the enemy of a sneak attack is utterly childish."

Xu Qiao chuckled. "Pardon me, but you need to defeat someone else first before challenging me."

The Communications Company naturally had more women than men, making such an outcome entirely normal.

Yet upon closer reflection, the reason became clear: the male soldiers still lacked the thick skin to challenge female soldiers, resulting in men fighting men and women fighting women.

Clearly, they all understood that while Xu Wenyu called it a little game, it was definitely not meant merely for casual entertainment.

Seeing that the matches were dragging on, several people exchanged glances. Just how long were they supposed to keep fighting?

Refusing to give them time to hesitate, Xu Wenyu shouted, "What are you all staring at? Keep going!"

Her opponent's expression shifted slightly, and he instinctively retorted, "But this is just training..."

If she hadn't blocked just in time, she probably would have fallen flat on her face.

Through these two bouts, Xu Qiao had realized that her own martial prowess was already quite good within the Communications Company. To pick a fight with another female soldier now would feel somewhat like bullying.

Instantly grasping their underlying meaning, she burst out laughing. "That's right, this isn't a battlefield. But if you're this cowardly on the training ground, who would ever dare let you onto a battlefield?"

With no other choice, Xu Yang supported herself against the ground and slowly climbed to her feet, limping out of the combat zone.

Xu Qiao's other hand shot out, clamped onto Xu Yang's ankle, and with a sudden heave, sent her crashing to the earth.

"Ah!" The opponent let out a miserable shriek, slamming flat onto the ground.

Taking advantage of the opening, Xu Qiao immediately launched a counter-constraint. Panicked, Xu Yang kicked out blindly.

Thus, choosing a male soldier wasn't entirely due to following the instructor's prompt.

Xu Qiao looked her up and down, straightening her military uniform. "You may step out now."

Xu Qiao gave a cold snort. "Don't forget, you were the one who came looking for me."

As Xu Qiao watched her depart, she withdrew her gaze and looked around, noticing that everyone else was still locked in tangled combat.

Consequently, Xu Qiao standing there entirely alone inevitably drew the attention of others.

At that moment, another female soldier from the Wire Platoon walked straight toward her. "Xu Qiao, I challenge you!"

Without waiting for her response, the challenger turned and walked off toward the winner's zone on the other side.

"Stop holding back out of misplaced chivalry. On a battlefield, no one cares whether you are male or female. Since you belong to the same company, you will be evaluated together."

Even when facing Xu Yang's provocations earlier, she had never uttered such harsh words. But once her bottom line was crossed, they had only themselves to blame.

Following two rounds of "slaughter," only a little over twenty people remained.

Having survived the first round of elimination, the remaining individuals were, for the most part, relatively skilled.

Therefore, they fought quite diligently, though most others remained evenly matched and did not wrap up their fights as swiftly as she did.

A dull thud echoed as Xu Yang stumbled sideways, crashing into the person behind her before barely managing to steady herself.

This time, Xu Qiao truly had no desire to bide her time with her. Hearing the challenger's words, she stepped forward instantly, executing a swift takedown before the opponent could even react, subduing her in a single motion.

Thus, Xu Qiao, who had dispatched her opponent in a single move, naturally caught everyone's attention.

Xu Yang's current mood was undoubtedly identical to Liu Qiang's, perhaps even more despondent, or rather, utterly shocked.

If anyone had observed their combat closely at that moment, they would have noticed that while both were on the offensive, every single one of Xu Qiao's strikes landed precisely on target, whereas Xu Yang's attacks either punched empty air or were firmly blocked.

Almost simultaneously, with another forceful twist, Xu Qiao hurled the opponent away.

The challenged male soldier's expression flickered as he looked over in disbelief. "You're challenging me?"

Xu Qiao smiled. "That's right."

With those words, she threw a punch straight at him.