CR CH15

Chapter 15: The Simulated Combat Zone

Inside the Simulated Combat Zone.

Having just concluded their routine simulated battles, the elite instructors gathered around their respective master control consoles to evaluate data, exchanging a few quiet words with one another from time to time, while the remaining recruits rested on the spot.

Simulated combat consumed a massive amount of mental energy; those with weaker mental fortitude found themselves entirely unable to snap out of it even after a prolonged break.

Jiang Tianji leaned heavily against the wall, a thoroughly numb expression plastered across his face as Huang Qi forcefully shook him by the shoulders.

“Hahaha… no, brother… seriously, that was just too damn hilarious, HAHAHAHA!”

Ever since Jiang Tianji had tumbled and crawled off his bed upon hearing the morning alarm, Huang Qi’s intermittent, explosive laughter had been ringing relentlessly in his ears.

He had barely managed to survive breakfast and early drills to secure a brief pocket of relative silence, only to immediately collide with the simulated confrontation segment that Huang Qi had been anticipating for days. It was as if Huang Qi had been suppressed in Z01 for far too long, choosing to dump the absolute entirety of his pent-up expectation for entertainment directly onto Jiang Tianji.

And Jiang Tianji had certainly not disappointed. By a profound twist of fate, his internal squad lottery had matched him directly against Ji Yandong—who had explicitly stated beforehand that he would not be pulling any punches.

At the time, Jiang Tianji hadn’t taken the warning to heart at all. In fact, he had felt remarkably lucky, even flashing his squad captain a foolish, wide-eyed grin.

“Captain, please guide me well.”

“Understood.”

Ji Yandong’s physical build was far from imposing among a crowd of towering Alphas; he appeared slightly slender, and possessing a gentle, infinitely patient temperament, he looked entirely devoid of any natural aggression.

A captain who would personally bend down to tuck his teammate’s blanket in at night and offer quiet words of reassurance was a literal angel.

How could an angel possibly make life difficult for him?

Jiang Tianji hadn’t panicked in the slightest, even casually demonstrating to his roommates how he planned to execute a highly dignified, graceful exit from the simulation. He had been so deeply immersed in his own thoughts that he completely failed to register the deeply ominous, unnatural silence that had suddenly enveloped Huang Qi and Feng Huo.

Ji Yandong had merely smiled without offering a single word. A few nearby squad members had looked completely struck with a desire to intervene, but because an instructor happened to stroll past at that exact second, the group was forced to clamp their mouths shut, helplessly watching the pair log their biometric profiles into the simulated combat interface.

“Data synchronization finalized. Simulation matrix initiated.”

The cold, mechanical prompt resonated within his mind. The moment Jiang Tianji opened his eyes, he spotted his squad captain meticulously adjusting his tactical gloves across the digital arena. He instinctively offered a brilliant smile; across the clearing, Ji Yandong smiled warmly right back at him, tossing out a casual question.

“Are you prepared?”

Jiang Tianji nodded firmly: “Prepared… oof!“

Before the final syllable could fully clear his lips, the figure across from him exploded into motion. The captain’s offensive sequence was incredibly ferocious—unbelievably swift and terrifyingly precise. Before Jiang Tianji could even register the trajectory of the strike, a heavy blow detonated squarely against his cranium, causing him to let out a sharp cry of pain as a brilliant cluster of stars flashed across his vision.

Everything that transpired after that… Jiang Tianji was entirely unwilling to recall, nor could his brain piece it together clearly.

Ji Yandong had delivered a highly effective, unforgettable lesson. Within the foreseeable future, Jiang Tianji would never trust a gentle-looking face ever again. His primary takeaway was an absolute mountain of raw pain; whenever he had desperately attempted to raise his chin to read his opponent’s incoming trajectory, his vision was met with nothing but a blurred, overlapping cascade of incoming fists.

Jiang Tianji had relied entirely on raw survival instincts to flee across the arena with his hands locked over his head. Whatever frantic pleas had torn from his lips were completely scrubbed from his memory, though if Huang Qi’s dramatic reenactments weren’t heavily exaggerated, it was probably a blessing that he couldn’t remember.

Presently.

Jiang Tianji kept his eyes squeezed firmly shut and his hands clamped tight over his ears, entirely relinquishing himself to his fate as Huang Qi, Feng Huo, and the surrounding teammates continued to laugh up a storm around him.

Someone nudged him sharply on the shoulder. Jiang Tianji didn’t budge, merely applying an extra layer of force to clamp his ears tighter.

In the next heartbeat, a heavy smack descended right against the crown of his head.

He released his grip with a sharp hiss of pain, only to find Instructor Zhao Hengyi standing directly before him, his gaze radiating an incredibly complex mixture of emotions.

“I say, kid, are you trying to run a comedy routine in my arena? With your physical baseline parameters, even a completely blind brawl would have looked more dignified than that pathetic display. Did you grow that entire frame of lean muscle just for theatrical display?”

“Reporting to the Instructor,” Jiang Tianji stood up helplessly, muttering under his breath in a tiny murmur, “I’m fundamentally a scholar. I don’t know how to fight.”

“To think I actually went through the trouble of hauling myself all the way over from Sector 3 just to see this. Granted, my operational clearance with Z01 was quite limited prior to this deployment, but across the two months I’ve spent stationed here, I’ve observed countless fresh recruits. You are, without a doubt, the most hilarious spectacle I have ever witnessed.” Zhao Hengyi patted him on the shoulder, offering a piece of profoundly sincere advice. “Son, just endure it for a little longer. Once your two years are up, go back home and focus entirely on your books.”

Jiang Tianji: “…”

Standing nearby, Huang Qi looked as though he were on the absolute verge of asphyxiating from laughter. Clinging tightly to Feng Huo, the frequency of their synchronized shoulder tremors spiked dramatically. A few other recruits who had only briefly crossed paths with Jiang Tianji felt too embarrassed to openly mock him, forcing them to turn their heads away as their frames shook with suppressed amusement.

Jiang Tianji was fully aware of his “stellar” performance, choosing to swallow his humiliation and keep his chin tucked low.

Instructor Zhao Hengyi possessed a remarkably warm, enthusiastic disposition, but the overwhelming pity occasionally leaking from those eyes made Jiang Tianji’s skin crawl. It was impossible to tell whether the veteran officer was mourning a tragic waste of potential or genuinely considered him a charity case. Instructor Zhao offered no harsh reprimands, merely continuing to pat him on the shoulder, the raw worry infusing his voice entirely genuine.

“Look at it this way, our logistical divisions aren’t actually running at a deficit.” He stared down at Jiang Tianji, letting out a heavy, worried sigh as his brows locked in a deep scowl, murmuring to himself, “But given your current state, even the most basic operational deployment would probably… actual combat missions always carry an intrinsic level of extreme hazard… if you navigate a live engagement like this, how are you supposed to come back alive? A life is still a life, after all…”

“Instructor Zhao… I’m perfectly fine,” Jiang Tianji cut in weakly.

Zhao Hengyi failed to acknowledge his response entirely, remaining profoundly trapped within the dark confines of his own internal monologue.

“An operational puzzle this severe is truly a first for me. Even though the Boss explicitly instructed me to pack a functional brain when dealing with Z01 affairs, we are ultimately dealing with a human life here.”

Jiang Tianji fell silent for a brief moment before offering, “Instructor Zhao, honestly, perhaps if I just put in some extra drills, I’ll snap into shape.”

Zhao Hengyi let out a sharp click of his tongue, his vocal tone sounding thoroughly perplexed yet entirely devoid of malice: “How on earth did someone like you manage to differentiate into an Alpha anyway?”

An instructor standing nearby finally found the display too agonizing to endure, clearing his throat loudly as he stepped forward to forcefully drag Zhao Hengyi away.

“Alright, Instructor Zhao, let’s wrap up the comedy routine. Sector 3 still has an active operational ledger waiting for you; there’s no way we could actually dump him into a permanent logistics track.”

Zhao Hengyi allowed himself to be physically propelled out of the sector, though he continued to glance back over his shoulder with every step, his face written with a desperate desire to elaborate further.

Jiang Tianji forced a highly rigid, cosmetic smile onto his face, politely tracking their departure before letting out a massive, exhausted sigh from the depths of his nose.

“What’s so bad about logistics anyway? Why shouldn’t I go?”

Because Huang Qi and Feng Huo shared a closer bond with him, once the initial wave of mockery ran its course, they stepped forward out of sheer humanitarian concern to pull him down into a seating area, offering a stream of earnest, well-meaning comfort—finally displaying a shred of concern for their teammate’s psychological wellbeing.

Jiang Tianji paid them no mind, letting out a couple of noncommittal grunts. As his gaze drifted casually across the surrounding courtyard, it happened to collide directly with a pair of highly condescending, mocking eyes.

His frame stiffened. Just as he went to narrow his eyes to lock onto the source, the individual smoothly retracted his gaze, letting out a thoroughly disrespectful, icy sneer.

Fascinating. So he thinks he’s entirely in the right for blatantly glaring at people?

The man possessed an incredibly harsh, sinister countenance, his entire presence radiating a profound, arrogant condescension that suggested he viewed everyone around him as absolute garbage. He looked exceptionally difficult to deal with.

Jiang Tianji recalled his teammates mentioning him previously—his name was Jia Yun, and his performance metrics sat firmly within the top tier of the division.

Having remained silent throughout the aftermath, Ji Yandong immediately registered the brief, tense friction. His brows knit together slightly as he shifted his frame closer to Jiang Tianji.

“Do the two of you share some prior history?”

The instant Jiang Tianji noticed the captain leaning into his personal space, his arms instinctively flew up to protect his head. Meeting his commanding officer’s thoroughly unamused stare, he slowly, awkwardly lowered his hands back down.

“No.”

“Is that so?” Ji Yandong fell into a brief moment of calculation before offering a stern directive. “Do your absolute best to avoid actively initiating any friction with him. That individual isn’t particularly known for listening to reason.”

“Oh.”

Ji Yandong’s vocal tone experienced a highly subtle, amused pause: “Are you seriously throwing a tantrum at me right now?”

Jiang Tianji let out a sharp huff, deliberately twisting his chin away to avoid looking at him. “I’m not throwing a tantrum. And I don’t feel a single shred of pain.”

Ji Yandong looked thoroughly thoughtful: “Is that right? In that case, I won’t hold back during our next session.”

Jiang Tianji snapped his head back, his eyes wide with absolute disbelief: “You actually consider what you just did holding back?!”

“Naturally. Otherwise, how do you expect your skeletal structure to still be perfectly intact right now?”

“…”

The daily training remained profoundly monotonous and exhausting. As the lighthearted banter of the rest period finally dissolved, the space was ground down by sheer physical depletion until nothing remained but a heavy chorus of labored breathing.

Across the courtyard, the massive command screens continuously cycled through active data regarding interstellar mutant incursions, newly registered psychological domain classifications, and operational task deployments. Across the entire ledger of military forces, the mission assignments spanned the gamut of the Federation’s elite units, yet the prestigious, golden-bordered S-Rank classifications displayed a perfectly uniform, unvarying unit assignment down the entire line—

The Federation Special Support.

Time felt as though it had been artificially slowed down by a factor of ten. The absolute second the dismissal whistle finally tore through the arena, the assembly let out a collective, profound sigh of relief. With the morning training cycle officially concluded, Feng Huo casually slung an arm across Jiang Tianji’s shoulders.

“Let’s move. What are you planning to eat?”

Having just wrapped up a high-intensity drill, their frames were entirely slick with sweat; the sensation of damp, sticky skin sliding against skin was profoundly unpleasant. Jiang Tianji forcefully nudged him a few inches away, responding with an utterly drained cadence: “It’s too damn hot. Anything is fine as long as it’s technically edible. I’ll follow your lead.”

Without a proper buffer period to adapt to the sudden escalation of physical demands, even a naturally robust constitution would struggle to cope. His breathing remained highly erratic, his appetite non-existent.

Huang Qi let out a miserable groan, muttering petulantly, “I desperately want some fresh vegetables.”

Jiang Tianji’s green eyes instantly illuminated, his somber expression experiencing a theatrical turnaround: “Move, move, move! Which floor?!”

“My dear young master,” Li Cheng, who had just accidentally choked on his water ration, stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder, raising his hand to flash a specific number of fingers. “We genuinely cannot afford that luxury here.”

Jiang Tianji stared intently at the fingers presented before him, executing a rapid mental calculation before responding with absolute, staggering shock: “Ten times the standard base rate? Are they completely insane?!”

Liu Zhaoxi explained smoothly, “Because fresh produce is restricted to specialized logistical pipelines, the transport overhead alone is astronomical. The base manages the supply through commercial partnerships to turn a heavy profit.”

Having just been brutally stripped of his vegetables, the light completely vanished from Jiang Tianji’s eyes once more: “Why don’t they just initiate a literal highway robbery instead… does anyone actually pay for that?”

“Naturally they do. You have to remember that this is the premier Basic Force unit situated squarely within the Capital Sector of the Capital Planet. The recruits funneled into this facility are either the direct descendants of high-ranking political families or elite Alphas possessing exceptional Dominance Ratings; the former accounts for a massive percentage of the demographic.” Li Cheng leaned in close, lowering his voice to a bare murmur. “Ordinary guys like us can’t possibly afford to eat like that—one glance at our personal balance sheet is enough to induce physical chest pain. But those individuals simply stroll up to the automated terminals, scan their credentials to clear the invoice, and don’t even bat a single eyelash during the entire process.”

“Li Cheng,” Ji Yandong’s voice cut down from behind them, his brows locked in a firm scowl. “Keep your mouth shut. Everyone stationed within this theater is a teammate; there are no distinctions between us.”

“Right,” Li Cheng shrank back into the line with a sullen expression. “I was merely making a passing joke.”

As they navigated the corridor towards the mess hall, a small group of individuals clad in the pristine white uniforms of the Genetic Research Institute emerged from the opposite direction.

戚修意 (Qi Xiuyi), who had remained completely silent up until now, tilted his chin slightly toward the group. “Is that Dr. He?”

“Yes,” Ji Yandong tracked his line of sight, his footsteps experiencing a slight pause. “It appears she is heading directly toward our unit.”

Jiang Tianji raised his eyes, locking coordinates directly with He Qian’s warm, smiling gaze.

“Tianji, do you happen to have a moment right now?” She raised a hand to wave him over.

“The comprehensive diagnostic results should be finalized. You guys head to the mess hall first, don’t worry about waiting for me.”

Jiang Tianji tossed a brief explanation over his shoulder to his roommates before hastily pivoting to jog toward He Qian.

Because the base was currently navigating the peak lunch hour rush, the surrounding corridors were choked with a massive volume of foot traffic. Countless overt and covert glances instantly converged directly upon Jiang Tianji’s silhouette.

“Who is that guy? He looks remarkably familiar.”

“That’s the literal legend who was forced to hoist Captain Ling’s promotional poster above his head for thirty laps, right after managing to show up late on his very first day of deployment.”

“Oh! The one who openly confessed his love to Captain Ling? Right, right, I know him, I heard the rumors.”

“You don’t know shit. Who the hell told you he confessed to Captain Ling? That’s absolute nonsense.”

“But I also overheard whispers that his family commands some massive political leverage in the upper echelons… no wonder he acts so completely unhinged…”

As the toxic stream of whispers drifted into their immediate radius, Ji Yandong swept a piercing, frigid glare across the surrounding crowd. The gossiping recruits instantly clamped their mouths shut, dragging their companions along as they sharply accelerated their pace down the hall.

Qi Xiuyi turned his cold gaze toward Li Cheng: “You spend every waking hour criticizing Huang Qi for being entirely devoid of a filter, yet how are you any better? Do you actually possess concrete data regarding his background parameters? Your mouth runs far too loose.”

Dr. He Qian was a demi-beastman; while she maintained an incredibly gentle, soft-spoken demeanor with everyone on base, her interactions with Jiang Tianji carried an unmistakable, distinct layer of maternal warmth.

“Hey, I didn’t mean anything malicious by it.” Realizing the inappropriate nature of his prior commentary, Li Cheng scratched his cheek with a thoroughly awkward expression. “My words were poorly chosen. Tianji possesses an incredibly easygoing, resilient temperament; he probably won’t take a passing comment like that to heart, right?”

“He won’t. Don’t overthink it.” Ji Yandong initiated the march once more. “Let’s eat first.”

“Move, move, move…”