Chapter 197: Chapter 197: Senior Brothers

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Seeing Instructor Mu hand Lin Shen a backpack, several senior brothers all started to cheer up.

The weight inside the uniform could be adjusted, but the weight of that backpack was fixed and couldn’t be changed.

One backpack equaled the weight of an Alloy Level burden, so if Lin Shen was at Alloy Level now, no matter how much his uniform was weighted, one backpack would already be enough for him to bear.

In the past, when they were at Alloy Level, they only started with the weight in their uniforms. Only when they maxed out the uniform’s weight did they start adding backpacks.

The ultimate passing requirement was to reach the uniform’s maximum weight limit combined with two backpacks and complete ten laps, which was five kilometers, within ten minutes.

Of course, that was the achievement of several years of training; at the very beginning, let alone adding a backpack, it was impossible to even run five kilometers in ten minutes with the maximum weight in the uniform alone.

Once Lin Shen put on the backpack, he immediately felt that the weight was somewhat overloading him, making it extremely difficult to run.

He originally just wanted to learn some basic fighting skills, but now it turned out like this, which also made Lin Shen somewhat frustrated.

Since he was already here, there wasn’t any other solution but to keep running.

Fortunately, Lin Shen’s Attribute was top-tier among those of the Alloy Level, so he could still manage to run with the extra weight.

It just wasn’t as easy as before, and even with Evolution Theory aiding his adaptation, it still required a process; it couldn’t possibly allow him to immediately disregard such a burden as if it were nothing.

Running at the back of the group, Lin Shen quickly broke into a sweat and found it extremely difficult to continue, almost at the same pace as several seniors, who all seemed like old grandmothers out for a stroll.

“That’s more like it.” Seeing Lin Shen in this state, several senior brothers felt this was normal for once.

Instructor Mu, observing Lin Shen through the blinds, thought it wasn’t normal when He Fang and the others did.

He Fang and the others didn’t know how much weight Lin Shen had added to his uniform, but Instructor Mu was very clear about it. He had loaded Lin Shen’s uniform with the maximum Alloy Level weight.

Typically, for an Alloy Mutator who had just started such training, completing five kilometers under that weight was already quite commendable; only those with top-tier Attributes could accomplish it.

Lin Shen being able to keep up with the five senior brothers indicated that his Attribute was surely top-tier within the Alloy Level.

Now, with an additional backpack added, theoretically, even a top-tier Attribute would struggle to persist for a long time.

Strength and speed being top-tier doesn’t necessarily mean endurance is strong; endurance isn’t something that can be seen in numbers, it must be developed through arduous training to last.

At first glance, Lin Shen did not seem to be the kind of person who could endure hardship; yet somehow, he was still keeping up with He Fang and the others with the maximum weight and a backpack, which was somewhat unusual.

“Are all the people from the Lin Family this interesting?” Instructor Mu’s eyes narrowed into slits, as if he had spotted some amusing toy.

“Little Junior Brother, you are Lin Xiangdong’s blood brother, right?” Running ahead of Lin Shen, He Fang asked while running.

“Yeah, that’s my fourth brother,” Lin Shen responded readily to He Fang’s tone, which seemed amiable, so he admitted it freely.

“That’s great; your fourth brother is my idol. Could you possibly introduce me to the senior if there’s a chance?” He Fang asked again.

“Your idol is my fourth brother? Really? I heard from Instructor Mu that during his time in the training camp, he never won despite challenging everyone, and he had a nickname, ‘Hundred-Defeats Kid’,” Lin Shen said in surprise, not expecting He Fang to regard his fourth brother as an idol.

“Did Instructor Mu tell you that?” He Fang asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” Lin Shen immediately sensed there was more to the story.

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“Your fourth brother has indeed never won, but his nickname isn’t Hundred-Defeats Kid, it’s King of Hundred Defeats,” He Fang said.

“Is there a difference? It still means he has never won,” Lin Shen didn’t understand the distinction, feeling like both were derogatory terms.

“Of course, there’s a difference. Your brother has never won a challenge, but he has also never challenged the same person twice. Each time, his opponent was stronger than the previous one, and every defeat was a narrow one. None of those who were challenged by him dared to face him again. The title ‘King of Hundred Defeats’ is certainly not a derogatory one, because the hundred defeats are not the focus; ‘King’ is,” He Fang recounted some of Lin Xiangdong’s past exploits.

Only then did Lin Shen realize that his fourth brother wasn’t purely boasting. He might not have won, but he was indeed impressive. By the time he was almost leaving the training camp, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him the uncrowned king of the Training Palace.

The last person Lin Xiangdong had challenged before leaving the training camp was Instructor Mu.

However, the outcome of that battle was unknown, as no one had witnessed it.

“Little junior brother, keep up your training and hold on, you can’t let your fourth brother lose face,” Lv Ying also encouraged Lin Shen.

Lin Shen hadn’t expected such high praise for his fourth brother from his senior brothers.

“In that case, I really have to make an effort. I can’t be the one who disgraces the Lin family,” Lin Shen gritted his teeth and persevered.

Ling Luo was consistently in the lead, with Tian Buku, Tian Bunaon, and Lv Ying following behind, and He Fang and Lin Shen at the rear, the six of them ran lap after lap.

Initially, Ling Luo and the others thought Lin Shen wouldn’t last long, especially since he wore a backpack on his first day. No matter how lenient the uniform, it would be hard to endure for long.

But after a few laps, they noticed that Lin Shen was still keeping up. Though it seemed difficult at first, now he appeared far less bedraggled.

Previously, his clothes had been almost soaked through with sweat, now the sweat on his forehead seemed to lessen.

“This little junior brother is interesting, let’s ramp up the difficulty a bit,” the senior brothers exchanged glances and silently quickened their pace.

Soon they found that even though they had sped up, Lin Shen was still able to keep up.

“Little junior brother, did you train with your fourth brother at home before?” He Fang asked, voicing the shared curiosity of the senior brothers.

“No, I didn’t train. My brother wouldn’t let me learn this stuff; he just wanted me to take over the family business and start a family early,” Lin Shen told the truth.

This statement stunned them all. He Fang said incredulously, “Then what did your fourth brother let you practice?”

“Nothing in particular. I could do whatever I wanted as long as it wasn’t causing trouble. Anything I asked for, I got,” Lin Shen’s words made the others green with envy.

“Little junior brother, later you should ask our fourth brother if the family is short of a little brother. I’m available,” He Fang said with a laugh.

“I’ll have to ask my fourth brother about that when I get back,” Lin Shen replied with a smile.

Seeing that Lin Shen was still able to keep up while talking as he ran, the senior brothers very tacitly stepped up the intensity again.

Lin Shen found it harder and harder to run; he hadn’t expected these seemingly unremarkable senior brothers to actually be so good at running.

They all had backpacks on, and they had been running even before Lin Shen arrived, with no telling how long they had been at it.

Before Lin Shen had his backpack, they were already running with theirs. Now, after running for so long, they seemed to be getting faster; their endurance was truly extraordinary.

Lin Shen hadn’t realized that his senior brothers were not at Alloy Level but Crystal Base Level, and the weight they carried was also at Crystal Base Level, different from his own.