Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Dragging her exhausted body back to the dormitory, Ruo Manni didn’t even take a moment to rest. She hurried into the bathroom to fill the tub with hot water and added the herbal mix needed for a soak.

Though their training outfits had self-cleaning functions, nothing beat washing with water.

Even if her body wasn’t dirty, after sweating all day, her hair had gone from wet to dry and back again. Ruo Manni had a highly sensitive sense of smell, and the odor on her was quite unpleasant.

Moreover, after such intense training, her muscles were definitely strained. If she didn’t soak in the herbal bath to relieve them, she might struggle to even get out of bed tomorrow.

Today had been exhausting, and as she relaxed in the warm water, the herbal properties eased her tired muscles. This warm, comfortable feeling made Ruo Manni’s eyelids droop, wanting to close involuntarily.

Dozing in and out, she reluctantly stayed in the herbal bath for an hour before getting up and collapsing onto her bed, too tired to even enter the war realm, which she hadn’t planned to do anyway.

Though entering the war realm also meant being in a sleep state, the official statements had made it clear that it wouldn’t affect human sleep. However, it still consumed some energy, especially mental energy.

Therefore, the war realm game is only suitable for players who haven’t undergone extensive training that day.

If players train heavily offline, they must ensure they get enough sleep to recover their energy; otherwise, they risk serious injury.

Ruo Manni had never gone to bed this early, but waking up to the morning call, she still felt extremely tired and wanted to keep sleeping.

When she forced herself to get out of bed, she noticed that every muscle in her body ached, and her limbs felt a bit stiff.

Enduring the pain, she quickly changed into her training gear. Fortunately, the soreness was lighter than she had anticipated. After all, neither she nor the original owner had ever done such extreme training before yesterday.

Even though she had soaked in a relaxing herbal bath the night before, the muscles strained from extreme training didn’t heal so easily.

However, for cultivators like them, this was just a minor issue; as they continued training, their muscles would adapt, making it harder to injure them in the future.

Yesterday, Ruo Manni had programmed the robotic butler in the jade pendant’s space to prepare a hearty breakfast for her each morning to replenish her energy. After all, a good day starts in the morning, so she wouldn’t have to rely solely on nutritional supplements.

Thus, when Ruo Manni entered the jade pendant’s space, the table was already laid out with a lavish breakfast filled with her favorite foods.

After eating her fill, Ruo Manni felt her spirits lift, and the pain in her body had significantly decreased.

Before the second call to gather sounded, Ruo Manni left the dormitory and arrived at the assembly point in the square downstairs, where her teammates were almost all present.

Looking around, she noticed that her fellow teammates didn’t look too well; each of them appeared somewhat lethargic. Even Hua Deli, the strongest among them, was no exception, lacking the spirited demeanor he had shown yesterday.

Seeing that everyone was struggling, Ruo Manni felt a sense of psychological balance; it turned out she wasn’t the only one feeling weak, which was quite a relief.

Among them, Dean Atchison seemed to be in the best spirits, likely due to his usual high training volume. As he noticed Ruo Manni approaching, he looked at her with an odd expression and suddenly pinched her arm.

The soreness in her muscles immediately registered in her brain, and Ruo Manni winced, quickly swatting his hand away. “What are you doing?!”

Dean Atchison smirked and said, “So it turns out your muscles are sore and your body is stiff. No wonder you look a bit off while walking.”

Ruo Manni shot a glare at him. “You know I used to major in mecha engineering; when have I ever trained like this?”

“Well, you should soak in a herbal bath tonight; otherwise, you’ll be in more pain tomorrow,” Dean Atchison said kindly.

“Thanks, but my mother is a pharmacist,” Ruo Manni replied, appreciating his suggestion.

Regardless of whether they were high-level or low-level pharmacists, they could prepare herbal baths to relieve muscle strain, just with varying potency.

The morning sunlight warmly bathed the base, and Ruo Manni stood alongside the top talents of the Gus Empire. Although her body ached a bit, her spirits were lifted, feeling that she had already altered the original fate of the previous owner.

After running a lap around the perimeter of the base yesterday afternoon, Ruo Manni had a rough understanding of the basic structures and layout of the training facility.

The training base was established on a small island, with most of the area dedicated to the facility, while a modest villa was built on the side facing the rising sun. Judging by its style, it seemed to be a leisure villa.

Truly, as expected of the royal prince, to have a private island in the valuable capital star.

Instructor Dudley, as usual, didn’t waste any words. After gathering everyone, he instructed them to start with a warm-up by jogging around the island.

Then, he led the new recruits to the training ground and informed them that this morning they would be tackling a 20-kilometer obstacle course multiple times.

The recruits began crawling under barbed wire, climbing a 200-meter rock face at a 90-degree angle, rushing up a ten-story building, then quickly descending the exterior wall, crossing a narrow log bridge with traps beneath, carrying stones weighing about as much as a person across muddy terrain, and finally swimming back and forth for ten kilometers.

Moreover, this was not a one-way route, but a repeated course.

Upon hearing Instructor Dudley’s order for the warriors to conquer this route twenty times, Ruo Manni only had to complete ten, while Mina-Olli was tasked with seven. The teammates all displayed sour expressions, as this was far more exhausting than just running laps.

After a morning filled with various thrilling climbs, mud crawls, and swims, by the end, only Hua Deli and a few of the boys managed to barely complete the training tasks within the time limit.

However, Mina-Olli and Sheila couldn’t hold out until the end. Shortly after entering the water for the final leg, they both succumbed to exhaustion and sank, only to be rescued in time by Instructor Dudley, who pulled them onto a small boat.

Ruo Manni managed to last until the end, but when she finally reached the shore, she was so exhausted that she couldn’t even muster the strength to climb up. Her teammates were too drained to help her, so it was Instructor Dudley who pulled her up.

Once the new recruits reached the beach, they all lay flat on the ground, completely disregarding their drenched and dirty state.

Of course, the girls were a bit more concerned about their appearance and cleanliness. After recovering some strength, the three girls struggled to their feet and activated the self-cleaning function of their training suits.

Five minutes later, their clothes and bodies were dry and clean. However, their hair remained wet, and the cleaning function didn’t extend to their faces.

Fortunately, during their last swim, they had intentionally rinsed off a bit, or else they would have looked as muddy as the boys, completely losing any semblance of their noble image.