Flipped Over

"Digression, digression..." On the lecture podium, the middle-aged teacher in a white shirt waved his hand again—probably for the tenth time—before looking down to flip through his lesson plans. Barring any surprises, he would look up in a moment, say, "Oh, right, have you heard of...?" and then continue chitchatting. Han Qingyu looked up at the wall clock... Only three minutes were left before class ended. Yet even now, he still had no idea what "Violating Physics" actually was. So aside from having slightly better Mandarin, how was this Azure teacher any different from his high school teachers? "Oh my... Class is almost over?! Look at that, look at that! None of you even thought to remind me... All right, let's hurry." The teacher, who had spent practically the entire period talking about irrelevant things, finally snapped back to reality and began: "The so-called 'violating physics' doesn't mean genuinely breaking or abandoning the fundamental principles of physics. Rather, your conscious thought patterns from now on must violate and overcome certain specific principles in current physics... "Now, take the class next door—the one for recruits below elementary school level—they don't need to study this. They're naturally better off than you... because they never learned physics in the first place. "This course of ours is very important, yes, extremely important! It's the foundation for the other subjects you'll study later. For instance, New Combat Studies... New Special Mechanics, which basically covers that three-dimensional apparatus thing... "And New Cosmology. Oh, that one—the new textbook hasn't been compiled yet. "Speaking of which, Old Zhang, who's responsible for compiling the new textbook for that course, is actually an old friend of mine. We were college classmates, heh-heh... Privately speaking, it's totally normal for him to drag his feet. Back in the day, he was so lazy he didn't even take showers..." *Tap... tap-tap.* "Teacher!" Finally, a student could bear it no longer. He raised his hand and tapped his elbow against the desk to interrupt. "Teacher, why exactly do we need to violate and overcome them? And what specific principles do we need to overcome?" "Because of the emergence of source energy!" The middle-aged teacher puffed out his chest, leaning back as he said, "I've been lecturing for half the day, and you haven't even understood that yet? The emergence of source energy..." *** Meanwhile, at the shooting range. The Ninth Army combat training base also had a shooting range, but it held little importance or prestige and was rather rudimentary. Sometimes soldiers came here not to practice their marksmanship, but simply to vent their emotions with bullets. Right now, aside from a few disabled veterans watching over the grounds, only Wen Jifei and Milla were practicing their shooting... Wen Jifei was inspecting his target. Milla had told him that since no one else was around, examining his own target while recalling the tactile sensation at the moment he fired was one of the most effective ways to improve his shooting. *Whoosh.* Completely without warning, a bullet whizzed chillingly past Plague Chicken's shoulder... accurately striking the bullseye of the target right beside him. Milla had fired while he was still checking his target. *She must be training my mental resilience, so that I can calmly aim and fire in chaotic, dangerous environments down the road...* Wen Jifei scrambled up from the ground, surreptitiously checking his groin. Thank goodness, he hadn't pissed himself... He thought this without looking back. "Sorry about that," Milla's apologetic voice drifted from a distance behind him. "I got distracted for a second, and then... well, the gun went off accidentally. Luckily, it didn't kill you." Wen Jifei: "..." "Are you all right?" "...I'm fine. Though I think it's time for me to head back to the equipment depot." Wen Jifei covertly wiped away his cold sweat, fighting back tears. He gave the muzzle of Milla's gun a wide berth, looping all the way around before returning to where he had started. Milla signed off for him, and he left the shooting range. "Hey, Captain Milla, I'm curious about something," Wen Jifei said on their way back to the equipment depot. "Does absorbing source energy make a person more handsome?" It was the first time Milla had ever heard such an idea. She blinked, baffled. "Huh?" "Do you think Qingzi is handsome?" Wen Jifei pressed. "I..." Milla panicked. Wen Jifei didn't notice. Keeping his head down as he walked, he continued muttering, "Honestly, back in school, Qingzi wasn't bad-looking, but there's still a pretty big difference between then and now. Who would've thought that putting on a military uniform—especially that combat suit of ours—and getting a crew cut... How should I put it? It feels like even his temperament has changed." Milla looked up. "Really?" "Yeah. You can't tell under normal circumstances, but in certain special situations, it shows. He's become remarkably calm now, maybe even a little cold... Take this morning, for instance. Qi Shantong fired all those bullets right into the ground in front of him, and he didn't flinch at all." Wen Jifei pondered for a moment before adding, "I mean, his family has been catching snakes for eighteen generations, so he's always been fairly calm. But in the past, whenever I jumped out from behind a door to scare him, he'd still scream bloody murder." As Wen Jifei talked, he suddenly remembered that Qingzi had actually killed someone—someone from Pure Purgatory... After a brief thought, he decided not to mention it. "Hmm, I've never heard of source energy changing someone's physical appearance. It might just be like you said, related to joining the army and wearing the uniform. But as for temperament, I think that's definitely possible," Milla said seriously. "Didn't you two just go through the source energy field? The field amplifies certain emotions and personality traits in a person. That experience and its effects linger to some degree." "Is that so?" Wen Jifei replied dumbly. He thought of Qingzi... But Qingzi had calmly killed that man *before* he ever stepped into the source energy field. Then he thought of himself and realized that it really did seem to be the case. Ever since he experienced that amplified feeling of loneliness in the source energy field, he had become far more sentimental than before. For example, his stubborn refusal to go to the Rejecters this time was likely influenced by that emotion... He feared loneliness and dreaded parting, especially in an environment where every meeting and farewell could well be the last. "What about you, Captain Milla? What did you think of back then in the source energy field?" he suddenly asked. "Me?" Milla thought for a moment, her gaze drifting toward the distance. "I... I saw myself become a captain. Then my brother walked over and changed my shoulder boards with his own hands... He praised me, saying his little Milla had grown up..." Sensing herself growing downcast, Milla hurriedly cut her reminiscence short. She turned her head and asked in return, "What about you?" "Me? I..." Wen Jifei chuckled. "Well, it's just that I'm too charming. Far too many girls liked me, and it was driving me crazy at the time." *** The bell rang for the end of class. There was no chance of holding the recruits over. The moment the teacher said, "Class dismissed," they scattered in an instant. They still had to go to the equipment depot to return their three-dimensional apparatuses. In truth, the afternoon training hadn't been terribly grueling. For those who had fainted that morning, the training consisted of practicing walking and jogging while wearing the apparatus. For Han Qingyu's group, it was still running, with the only difference being that while running, they had to catch iron balls thrown at them at any moment by Qi Shantong or the assistant drill instructors, and immediately hurl them accurately in a designated direction. This ball-throwing drill was essentially the foundation for swinging a blade in future combat; it likewise required synchronizing with the surging frequency of source energy. Both of Han Qingyu's arms were sore. He quickened his pace, put down his apparatus, and looked up, only to find Wen Jifei sitting comfortably at his desk with a bag of peanuts before him, shelling them. Milla was doing the same. "How come you..." Han Qingyu started, wanting to ask if he wasn't supposed to be packing up the apparatuses, lining them up neatly, and inspecting them for damage or malfunctions. Turning around, he discovered two unfamiliar female soldiers standing inside, happily bustling about. "They insisted on coming, saying they were done with their work anyway and had nothing to do for the moment... I had no choice, couldn't stop them even if I tried," Wen Jifei whispered. "Impressive, right?" "...Impressive." Han Qingyu considered it for a moment. "Well, since you're so free, you might as well do some source energy conditioning." With that, he placed a blue crystal source energy block—part of his previous reward—onto the table. "Isn't this... too much of a waste?" Wen Jifei didn't accept it as readily as he had last time. He understood his situation clearly now and knew just how precious a source energy block was. "Not at all," Han Qingyu said. "Aren't you practicing your shooting? Marksmanship alone definitely won't be enough for you to survive on the front lines... First build up your physical foundation. Raise your speed, strength, and agility... That way, even if you roll an F, you won't be in too bad a shape." As he spoke, Milla nodded beside them, adding, "Actually, if someone absorbs source energy to a very high level, ordinary bullets will only leave superficial wounds, even if they aren't wearing an apparatus." This was something even Han Qingyu hadn't known. "Really?" he asked. "Yes." Milla glanced into his eyes, then looked away. "See?" Han Qingyu turned back to Wen Jifei. "So the only question left is whether you could borrow an apparatus from here to use once in a while... I wonder if that's allowed?" "It isn't. Using equipment from the depot for personal purposes is a disciplinary violation—a very serious one." A voice spoke from the doorway. Zhang Dao'an walked in, came to a halt, and suddenly softened his stern expression into a brief smile. "Use mine. I don't need it anytime soon anyway." At that moment, the same question and marvel arose in the hearts of both Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei: *Zhang Dao'an can actually smile?* Not only could he smile, but he had also already brought the apparatus over. Once all the recruits' apparatuses were returned and organized, the door to the Regiment 425 equipment depot was left slightly ajar. Wen Jifei strapped on the apparatus and sat on the floor, several jackets padded in front of and behind him. Having witnessed the morning scene of people spewing vomit and tumbling all over the field, he was quite nervous. "Well then... I'm starting, okay?" The three standing people nodded. *Click, hum.* Blue light flickered, and the apparatus activated. Wen Jifei furrowed his brow, gritted his teeth, and held on, holding his ground... "It should be on Side A, or at least Side B," Zhang Dao'an remarked. At the same time, *crack*, he pinched open a peanut, popped it into his mouth, and reached for another handful. He looked as natural as an ordinary middle-aged villager cracking sunflower seeds while watching a show at the village square. Such a sight would have been utterly unimaginable before. Han Qingyu quietly glanced over. Fearing Zhang Dao'an might feel embarrassed, he didn't say anything, suppressing a chuckle as he thought: *Instructor Zhang really seems to be coming back to life, looking more and more like a normal person.* A few seconds later, Wen Jifei opened his eyes. "Ha! I actually... *Pfft...*" A mouthful of blood sprayed out, and he blacked out. He swayed a few times, and then—*thud*—toppled sideways onto the ground. "It flipped over," Zhang Dao'an provided calm commentary.