Chapter 180 Standing There and Looking Up at the Sky
Ebony woke up the next morning and did exercises.
Lloyd was still seen on the instructor panel.
She knew it. As a guest of the show, he would not leave so easily.
At noon, however, Lloyd was no longer there.
He didn't show up in the afternoon either.
In the evening, Ebony couldn't help but find Ms. Shockley and ask her about it.
Ms. Shockley, who was doing an assessment, replied, "I'm not quite sure. Mr. Vasquez left in a hurry. It should be an emergency."
Ebony's brows were knitted together.
Seeing no cameraman around, Ms. Shockley looked at Ebony and asked mysteriously, "It's been just one day, and you started to miss him?"
Ebony froze and waved her hand in a hurry, "No, it's not like that."
Ms. Shockley smiled and said with a knowing expression, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. If you're concerned about him, you can give him a call. Your phones have been locked away, but I can borrow you mine."

With that, Ms. Shockley took out her phone from the drawer and handed it to Ebony.
Instead of taking it, Ebony stepped back and said hastily, "It's okay. I should go back!"
She ran away.
Ebony learned about Lloyd's sudden dropout on the first day. The seven guests took no notice.
But on the second and third days, they realized that the chief instructor was gone.
On the morning of the shooting rematch day, Ebony, Alfredo, and Ethan were squatting on the stairs outside the venue.
In military uniforms, they squatted in the same manner. With straws in their mouths, they looked like delinquent soldiers.
Ethan broke the silence. "Is he really gone? They don't have enough budget to pay him? He quit midway?"
Alfredo muttered, "Could it be because of the fight? As the chief instructor, he is responsible."
Ethan said, "I don't think so. Not universally true since he is a superstar and movie king."
Alfredo said, "What else could be the reason? Ebony, what do you think?"
Squatting in the middle, Ebony spat out the straw, stood up, put her hands in her pocket, and shook her head. "Probably because he is hurt."
Ethan and Alfredo got up before asking in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Ebony replied with dejection, "You won't understand. Sigh, I hurt him."
They indeed didn't get it.
Ethan asked, "What did you do? Did you hit him?"
Ebony wouldn't tell. She just shook her head.
She sighed to herself. "The way I look at it. You should stay away from me. I've figured out everything. The person everyone wants to have around him is an ordinary-looking but funny dude and not a hot guy like me. If you continue to associate with me, I'm afraid you'll fall in love with me."
Ethan was speechless.
And so was Alfredo.
Ethan said seriously, "We won't."
Alfredo said in a more serious way, "Definitely not!"
Ebony glanced at them sadly and continued to shake her head. "It's hard to say if you'll keep your promise. Take a look at my hand."
Ebony showed them her right hand.
The two men leaned over for a look but found nothing unusual.
Ebony touched her right hand with her left hand before saying exaggeratedly, "Ouch, it hurts. Sure enough, you're a thorny rose."
Ethan was flabbergasted
And so was Alfredo.
They exchanged looks and turned to leave.
Ebony stood there alone and looked up at the sky, still immersed in melancholy.
In the afternoon, it was Ebony's turn to take part in the competition.
She entered the venue and saw at the judging table an unfamiliar man sitting in the seat of the Chief Instructor of the Second Company.
As Ebony saw it, this man was the real chief instructor.
Lloyd was assigned to the post by the producer. He was not a real coach.
This man was probably the real one.
The rules of the shooting competition were simple. The person who hit the most targets and earned the highest point would be the winner.
Ten targets were swinging back and forth in front of her.
Ebony deftly assembled her gun. Before firing, she glanced at the Chief Instructor of the Second Company and quickly loaded the gun.
Bang, bang, bang!
Ebony fired ten times in a row, and the entire venue fell into silence.
The referee checked it, froze for a moment, and announced, "Zero miss. Hits the target on the dime."
The three chief instructors looked at each other in shock.
Some soldiers could make such feats, but most of them were veterans.
Ebony was still the only newbie who didn't miss a single target. It was even more shocking since she was not a real soldier. She was just here to experience life.
After taking down the note, the Chief Instructor of the Second Company thought for a moment and asked Ebony, "Did you glare at me before firing your gun?"
Ebony certainly couldn't say that she did because she didn't like him.
Instead, she denied it, "Sir, I didn't."
The Chief Instructor of the Second Company took another glance at her and waved his hand. "Alright, you can go."
After Ebony left, the three chief instructors murmured to each other, "What a genius!"
"Yeah, high accuracy, steady hands, and fast moves. She's a born sniper."
"She has potential."
"Unfortunately..."
"Alas, she is not our soldier. Forget it..."
Ebony took part in the second round in the evening.
In the preliminaries, 17 soldiers beside Ebony hit all the targets on the dime.
That was why the organizer arranged for the second round.
The difficulty increased.
The number of targets turned 30.
The shooting should be finished in 30 seconds.
In other words, the participants had to shoot one moving target every second and should make sure that they hit the targets.
Ebony was the third to the last person to load her gun.
Before her, the best performer scored 241 points.
The total score for the 30 targets was 300 points. It was rare for someone to score 241 in 30 seconds.
Ebony calmly walked forward, held up the gun, and checked the front sight.
A moment later, the referee shouted, "Start."
Bang, bang, bang!
30 seconds later, the three chief instructors stiffened at the sight of the results.
299 points.
She got ten points from each of the 29 targets and nine points from the rest.
"Damn!" The Chief instructor of the First Company cursed and marveled, "What a dead shot!"
Ebony, however, was not impressed.
She looked at the target from which she got nine points and sighed to herself.
She was out of practice. When Max trained her in the past, she was not allowed to eat if she couldn't hit all 50 moving targets in 50 seconds.
In the end, Ebony won first place.
She was handsomely rewarded with a certificate of merit, a hard-cover notebook, and a pen.
When they were taking a group photo, Ebony looked disdainfully at the Chief Instructor of the Second Company who was standing next to her.
She lamented the absence of Lloyd.
The day after the shooting competition, the program team informed a switch of their camps.
Everyone asked about it with excitement.
The program team kept it a secret.
A dozen hours later, the eight people were sent to a fighter.
The hatch of the fighter opened, and a strong wind whistled into the cabin.
Abigail, Miranda, and Sarina huddled in a corner, crying and panting for breath.
Ethan and Alfredo supported each other. They didn't dare to move a bit from their seats.
As for the other two male guests, one was holding a plastic bag and throwing up bile.
On the plane, the soldiers shouted with a smile, "Welcome to the 8th Battalion of the Air Force!"
Their leader pointed to the azure sky outside and demanded, "Come on, jump off one by one."
Jumping out of the plane?
The seven celebrity guests had a mental breakdown!
Standing on the other side, Ebony pulled on the parachute, raised her hand, and asked aloud, "Report, I have a question."
The leader looked at her, admiring her for winning first place in the shooting competition held by the Army. "Go ahead," he said.
Ebony pointed outside and asked, "Is Mr. Vasquez from our crew down there?"