Regimental Exercise Results and the Second Monthly Exam

On Evan Lin's desk lay a pen and a sheet of scratch paper.

The math test in front of Evan was so easy it was almost ridiculous.

Originally, Colonel Su wanted to invite Evan to the military command center to observe this team exercise, but Evan had zero interest in getting involved and turned him down flat.

In his view, with First Blade Frank Xu and the others still benefiting from the Human Pill and their recent training, they should be able to score well in the exercise.

Inside the classroom, Byron Yang stood at the podium, head down, watching the students below. The sound of pens scratching on paper filled his ears. When his gaze landed on Evan, he saw that Evan had already put down his pen, leaning back in his chair, gazing out the window, looking completely relaxed.

"Fifteen minutes."

Byron Yang instinctively glanced at the clock, silently counting the time in his mind.

Only fifteen minutes since the test started, and he was already done?

He believed in Evan's mathematical talent, but it was still hard to wrap his head around.

So Byron Yang wandered down from the podium, strolling through the aisle as if casually, but deliberately paused behind Evan for a few extra seconds.

His gaze swept lightly over Evan's test paper, barely leaving a trace.

"Multiple choice: AADCB... DBBAC."

"Fill-in-the-blanks: -1, negative infinity, 3.278..."

Byron Yang mentally recited the answers, quickly cross-checking them against his own.

All correct.

A perfect score!

Byron's heart skipped a beat as he looked down at the proof questions.

The test paper was filled with neat formulas and flawless geometric diagrams, the auxiliary lines almost perfect—no sign of erasures anywhere.

"Every problem solved in one go!"

Byron opened his mouth as if to speak, but stopped, glancing at Evan sitting there. A hint of regret flashed in his eyes.

His math talent was extraordinary, but it was already senior year. At Capitalview First High, Evan barely had any shot at qualifying for the math olympiad team, so there was no way to use his talent to win a direct admission to a top university.

"It's a shame. His scores in science and other subjects are still lacking. Even if he gets a perfect math score in the college entrance exam, at best he'll end up at a second-tier university."

Byron Yang shook his head, feeling a mix of disappointment and lack of interest.

At 9:30, the bell rang for the end of class. Byron collected the papers and announced dismissal.

Meanwhile, more than ten military helicopters hovered above a desolate island.

With the doors open, soldiers from each company picked their landing spots on the island and began to descend by rope.

The island itself was bleak and isolated, sitting in the middle of the sea.

Once everyone had landed, the helicopters roared away, their steel rotors churning the air as they vanished into the horizon.

At the same time, the giant screen in the Jinnan command center switched to a satellite view of the whole island, instantly lighting up with countless blinking red dots—each one representing a soldier.

"Let's wait and see."

Colonel Sean Chen grinned, his eyes glinting coldly as he stared at Colonel Su.

Colonel Su's face darkened slightly. He snorted, turned away, and silently prayed.

He believed in Evan's strength, but could even someone as strong as Evan really boost Frank Xu and the others so much in just one week?

Especially when the other side had a monster like Tiger Fang from the Tiger Special Forces!

For the next three days, Evan went to and from school as usual. Sometimes, at the school gate, he would run into Lucy Lu, who was there to pick up Lynn Chen.

Lucy Lu would always buy Evan plenty of snacks and fuss over him. As for Lynn Chen, even if she saw Evan right in front of her, she just kept her eyes glued to her vocabulary book. Only after Evan left would she finally sneak a dazed glance at his back, watching until he disappeared around the corner before looking away.

The atmosphere at Capitalview First High grew tense again.

The second monthly exam was just a week away.

This exam's ranking would basically determine what kind of university each student could get into for the college entrance exam.

Whenever he had free time, Evan would flip through his practice books and casually do a few problems. Life was pretty relaxed.

On the third afternoon, at 5:10 p.m.,

The dismissal bell rang at Capitalview First High.

At the exact same time, Evan's phone started ringing.

Evan pulled out his old Nokia and glanced at it. The call was from Colonel Su.

"Hello?"

Evan answered the call while heading out of the school gate.

On the other end, Colonel Su sounded tired. "Master Lin..."

"The exercise results are out?" Evan glanced at the sky—it was a nice day, with white clouds drifting lazily by.

"They're out," Colonel Su sighed. "We took second place. First went to Flying Eagle Company."

At this, Colonel Su hesitated, as if he wanted to say more.

Evan frowned slightly. "Second place?"

Hearing the chill in Evan's voice, Colonel Su shivered. "It's not Frank Xu and the team's fault. Flying Eagle Company brought in a major player this time."

They recruited Tiger Fang from the Tiger Special Forces—a top-tier operator! Getting second place was already a great result for Knife-Edge Company, but..."

Colonel Su sighed, sounding a little dejected.

Even though Knife-Edge Company was beaten by Flying Eagle Company, which frustrated Colonel Su, their previous best had only been fifth in the whole district. Taking second this time was actually a big achievement.

Most importantly, Evan had only trained them for a week!

If Flying Eagle Company hadn't brought in Tiger Fang, they might've actually taken first place!

"Just say what you need to say."

Evan could sense there was more to the story.

"First Blade and Second Blade were injured—seriously. They're still in the military hospital," Colonel Su said through gritted teeth. "That Tiger Fang is vicious. He knew the single-soldier showdown is coming soon, but still went all out during the team exercise. He did it on purpose!"

Colonel Su's voice was heavy with anger and helplessness.

Since they were injured on the island and Tiger Fang was acting within the rules, injuries are expected in the annual team exercises.

"Now that they're hurt, they might even be forced to retire! I just..."

Colonel Su's voice was already choked with emotion.

He was always the tough, commanding Su family eldest brother in front of outsiders, but when it came to his men possibly leaving military life for good, his grief was overwhelming—he was on the verge of tears.

"Send someone to pick me up. Take me to the military hospital."