CR CH10

Chapter 10: Review

Inside the dormitory, the sound of trickling water drifted from the washroom, accompanied by Feng Huo’s off-key humming.

Although Jiang Tianji hadn’t been with his new squad leader for long, he had already observed that Ji Yandong was a calm and steady person, given his patience with the rest of the squad. Ji Yandong was meticulously explaining important details, while Jiang Tianji ate his meal, periodically looking up with an earnest gaze to signal he was paying close attention.

Everything was normal until Jiang Tianji suddenly thought of something. His expression shifted, he slammed his chopsticks down with a “clack,” and after hurriedly leaving a note—”Captain, I have a matter to attend to, I’ll be right back”—he bolted out like a small cannonball.

He had suddenly remembered his official officer’s coat, which he had left behind in the new prison block. Recalling the treacherous and thrilling life he had led since meeting his “demon” captain, Jiang Tianji didn’t dare be the least bit negligent.

He jogged all the way to the entrance of the new prison and pressed his face up to the scanner. A cold, mechanical voice issued a warning: “Verification failed. No authority. Please leave immediately.”

Jiang Tianji froze for a moment before stepping back. Back at school, the old man in charge of the Command Department often sent him on errands, so he had grown accustomed to running around everywhere and instinctively thought it would be the same here.

“Forgot again.”

Jiang Tianji clicked his tongue, scratching his hair in embarrassment. There were sparse crowds of people around, but the sounds here were different from those he was used to. This was a new beginning.

The emotions he had deliberately suppressed began to bubble up. Jiang Tianji stood there, suddenly dazed.

“Hey, hey!”

Suddenly, a hand patted his shoulder. He jumped, instinctively turning around.

“Little Jiang, I saw you from a distance and wasn’t sure, but it really is you.” Assistant Jiang scrutinized his expression. “What’s wrong? You look pale. This is the new prison block that hasn’t opened yet; what are you doing here?”

“I…” Jiang Tianji was momentarily speechless, hesitating before saying, “Captain Ling borrowed my coat earlier; I left it here.”

Poor kid.

“Is that all?”

Assistant Jiang had seen him standing there, looking utterly lost, and thought something terrible had happened. It seemed this child was truly terrified of Captain Ling. “You silly kid, Captain Ling wouldn’t care about such a small thing.” Although he said this, he still activated his clearance to bring Jiang Tianji inside to retrieve the coat. Assistant Jiang was a talker, and he kept on chatting the whole way—he was clearly the worrying type.

Jiang Tianji had been anxious, but after being chattered at the whole way, his gloom vanished. Holding the long-sought-after uniform jacket, he felt much more at ease. Assistant Jiang, currently free, walked him all the way to the dorm entrance, still nagging him.

“Hurry back; it’ll be time for assembly soon. If you have any questions, ask your squad leader first. Next time, don’t stand in the middle of the road looking so pitiful—it’s heartbreaking.”

Jiang Tianji couldn’t help but laugh. Assistant Jiang waved at him and turned to leave, but the person behind him hesitated and called out.

Assistant Jiang turned back to see Jiang Tianji holding the uniform.

“Thank you, sir.”

He was tall and thin, with a fresh and clean look. He looked at him a bit shyly, smiling honestly.

“Youth is a wonderful thing; you’re just radiating warmth,” Assistant Jiang remarked with emotion. “Next time, just call me ‘Uncle Jiang.’ Everyone calls me that once we get close.”

“Ah, okay.”

Jiang Tianji agreed immediately, though he thought ‘Uncle’ sounded a bit old; Technician Jiang was clearly still very young. Assistant Jiang glanced back at him twice, the more he looked, the more he liked the boy—polite and likable. Unlike the owner of the jacket he was holding, who was arrogant and cold even when he was little; a mere glance from him was considered a greeting.

Back at the dorm, Jiang Tianji entered with the uniform. Ji Yandong’s gaze fell upon it, recognizing the silver emblem on the shoulder as Ling Kongmiao’s. A flash of understanding crossed his eyes, and he spoke before the other two loudmouths could notice.

“Alright, time’s up. Let’s head downstairs for assembly.”

“Got it.”

The group responded one after another, and Huang Qi sprinted next door to call the others. Not long after, the electronic bell chimed with a long, lingering resonance.

“Don’t know who picked the evening assembly bell,” Huang Qi said, covering his ears. “I really can’t stand this ultra-long echo; it’s bouncing around my brain like a spring.”

Feng Huo: “You’re such a drama queen.”

Large groups of squads entered the conference building in each district. Jiang Tianji observed his surroundings silently. AI sprites floated in mid-air, working to assign meeting rooms to each squad. These sprites were very serious—nothing like the quirky one he had met earlier. The silver-white walls flowed with energy ripples, like layers of waves.

The conference room was circular with a virtual screen suspended in the center. Everyone sat in a circle—front rows lower, back rows higher—not in connected chairs, but with enough space for one person to pass between them, each with a simple desk in front. After the instructor in the lead unlocked the access, a small floating screen lit up at each seat, displaying the name and number of the corresponding trainee.

Ji Yandong led them to their seats. The small screens turned off automatically after scanning.

“Scan passed.”

Jiang Tianji’s seat was arranged next to the squad leader. The others were accustomed to this, but Jiang looked like a country bumpkin, touching this and poking that.

“Hey.”

Seeing him poking around, Ji Yandong was about to warn him, but he was a second too late.

“Warning, first offense.” The screen lit up again, this time displaying an angry emoji. “Please do not fiddle with company equipment.”

“…”

Jiang Tianji pulled his hand back sheepishly. Huang Qi, on the other side, immediately started laughing, turning around to share the new joke with his teammates.

“Quiet.”

The instructor sat at the highest point in the front of the circular room and cleared his throat into the microphone. He didn’t speak much, frowning as he pulled up the combat footage in the center. The 3D imagery allowed everyone to see clearly, and as the system linked with the AI, a series of data and voice analyses began to play.

“Squad A012 member Zhang Ying, Squad B214 member Liu Ziyun. Combat capability assessment: A-level…”

Jiang Tianji watched, yawning instinctively—he was so used to sleeping in class—but the next second, his eyes went wide. His mouth hung slightly open; after the shock, terror began to stain his expression.

In the imagery, two men in black combat suits were brawling, evenly matched, the situation fierce. Then, Jiang Tianji watched as one of them twisted the other’s arm until it snapped. The man let out a muffled grunt, then smashed his fist into the other’s nasal bridge with a violent strike. Blood sprayed instantly, the other man’s vision went black, and he collapsed backward. The first man seized the opportunity and went in for a leg lock.

Wait. No.

“…”

He looked around instinctively, only to find that the people around him seemed used to this and were watching intently. Jiang Tianji swallowed, quietly wiping the sweat from his palms onto his clothes. The scenes that followed made any trace of sleepiness disappear, and he sat with rigid, disciplined posture.

Scenes of people being hurled a dozen meters into walls, broken limbs, and blood-soaked faces filled the air. Jiang Tianji gripped his hands tightly in silence. Beside him, Ji Yandong noticed his unease and patted him comfortingly.

“…Are you guys playing for real?”

Jiang Tianji leaned over, his voice filled with the confusion of someone who had walked into the wrong movie. “We’re the Z01 Basic Combat Force, right? Aren’t most of us just fulfilling an obligation?”

“You know, train, get physically tired, perform some simple missions, and then go back to study after two years.”

Jiang Tianji tried hard to describe the feeling he had imagined.

Ji Yandong nodded and replied in a low voice: “Logically, that is the case. But we are the Z01-1 Basic Unit under the Capital Planet Headquarters, directly managed by the Federal Military. After the initial comprehensive screening, everyone who comes here is a superior alpha.”

He tilted his chin, signaling him to look at the people in the video.

“These are the regulars of the ring sparring; a group with very strong skills. They are the ones preparing to move up. The recommendation quota is limited every year, so the competition is fierce. The daily training isn’t usually this scary.”

“Ring sparring?”

“Yeah, it’s a form of selection. Once a week, chosen at random, though you can choose to abstain.” Ji Yandong shrugged. “Those with a huge gap in strength abstain cleanly. Those who are evenly matched… well, they’re like these guys. Neither wants to admit defeat.”

Jiang Tianji watched the 3D realistic footage and couldn’t settle his heart. Everyone around him was focused; even the usually flighty Huang Qi was motionless. He didn’t disturb Ji Yandong further and stayed quiet.

The AI’s data and analysis were thorough. Once the video finished, the conference room fell into a deathly silence. The instructor only gave a few brief comments, adding a few words of comfort at the end.

“You haven’t been in Z01 long; you have a long way to go, and plenty of room for improvement. Ring sparring is for refinement, but overall, it depends on comprehensive quality and assessment. Everything we do now is to better respond to actual combat. Sparring and supervising each other is all to face stronger enemies together.”

His gaze swept purposefully toward a certain direction. Jiang Tianji followed his eyes and happened to see a man with furrowed brows who looked very difficult to deal with. The man was sharp; he seemed to sense his gaze and glared over immediately.

Jiang Tianji was startled by the man’s cannibalistic glare and retracted his gaze instantly.

“That guy, ‘Little Three,’ has a terrible temper. Don’t provoke him. Tsk, tsk, tsk… his face is already fierce, and now that he lost the ring match, he looks even scarier.”

Huang Qi whispered to him with moving lips.

Jiang Tianji: “Little Three?”

Huang Qi: “Yeah. Young, but consistently ranks third on the combat list. If you don’t call him ‘Little Three,’ what do you call him?”

Ji Yandong sneered: “Just say that out loud in front of him one day and you’re dead meat.”

“Don’t curse me; I can’t handle being hit by him.”

Ji Yandong ignored him: “His name is Jia Yun. A formidable kid, don’t listen to Huang Qi’s nonsense.”

“He is indeed very formidable.”

Jiang Tianji recalled the man’s performance just now. Even though he was young, he had a ruthlessness that most people didn’t have; he was just too impatient.

“Here it comes! Here it comes!”

Huang Qi’s lowered voice came from his side, and the surrounding area began to rustle with excitement.

He was just wondering why when the scene in the center suddenly twisted and changed.

“Simulation scenario active.”

It was a seaside ruin, waves crashing against the cliffs with a loud roar. The latest simulation system provided by the Star Alliance made it feel like they were there in person.

Several figures appeared before them, one of them particularly familiar—a head of silver-white hair tied back, fluttering with the wind. His eyes were cold as he stood on the edge of the cliff, staring at the calm sea, seemingly waiting for something.

“It’s coming.”

Blue energy gathered in his hands, and then his figure suddenly blurred, disappearing into thin air before their eyes. At the same time, a massive defensive net appeared, and a steady, reliable-looking man raised a defensive ability.

The calm water suddenly surged into a whirlpool, and a giant creature shot into the sky amidst the spray. The sharp screech made everyone frown, and behind the giant shadow, several chains formed by blue energy appeared out of thin air.

A phantom stepped onto the energy chains, leaping effortlessly onto the top of the giant beast. His silver hair whipped around in the wind. Ling Kongmiao crouched slightly, his blue eyes reflecting the water, killing intent rising like frost.

“Move.”