CR CH8

Chapter 8: Deja Vu

Inside the District 1 simulation combat room, the two who had been bickering moments ago immediately fell silent.

“…Cap-Captain Ling.”

Zhao Hengyi was fortunate to be a bear; if he were a creature with a tail, it would have been tucked between his legs in terror by now. He observed Ling Kongmiao’s expression and stammered, “Captain.”

Ling Kongmiao gave him a cold look, then his gaze shifted to the other person. “Assistant Jiang, what is going on?”

Zhao Hengyi immediately looked up, trying to wink at Assistant Jiang, but Ling Kongmiao seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and kicked him firmly in the leg.

“Ah!”

Zhao Hengyi clutched his shin and yelped, hopping away in pain.

Assistant Jiang swallowed hard and spoke diplomatically: “It’s like this, Captain Ling. Earlier, Officer Zhao brought… uh, took Trainee Jiang Tianji here to test his reaction capabilities.”

“Because the boy was unconscious when he arrived, and his performance in the beginner trial after waking up was quite good, Officer Zhao got a bit carried away and decided to see for himself how his comprehensive abilities stacked up.”

As he spoke, his fingers tapped on the control panel. A virtual screen expanded before them, replaying everything that had just happened. The training room fell quiet, save for the sounds from the recording.

When Ling Kongmiao saw the giant, goofy bear face of Zhao Hengyi appearing on the screen, followed by that ridiculous roar, he let out a short, sharp laugh—the kind that sounds like someone being genuinely infuriated to the point of humor.

Ling Kongmiao beckoned to Zhao Hengyi. “Come here.”

Zhao Hengyi trotted over, still trying to make excuses: “You see, Captain, I really thought he was a good seed, so I…”

Before he could finish, Ling Kongmiao slapped him across the head.

“The day the transfer order came through, every single member of the Special Assistance Team 1—even Ye, who usually struggles to spit out a single sentence—came to talk to you. Do you have any idea why?”

Zhao Hengyi clutched his head and retreated a step, guilty. The Captain’s eyes looked like they could devour him, radiating such a dark, gloomy pressure that he knew better than to push his luck.

“I was wrong, Boss. I’ll go do three hundred weight-lifts right now… and add 20 laps around the training base!”

Zhao Hengyi admitted his fault honestly, his attitude impeccable.

Ling Kongmiao wasn’t buying it: “Copy the Basic Unit Code of Conduct twenty times and submit it tomorrow.”

Zhao Hengyi’s face fell: “No! Boss…”

“Punishment is meant to be uncomfortable. If you can accept it, it’s called a reward.”

“But I…” Zhao Hengyi tried to bargain for a reduced sentence.

Ling Kongmiao held up three fingers: “Thirty times.”

Zhao Hengyi shut his mouth immediately and turned to walk out. “Twenty times, yeah, twenty times. That’s all I heard.”

Ling Kongmiao ignored him. He calmly took off his gloves and walked over to the side of Jiang Tianji.

The young man inside the pod looked miserable, his brows furrowed tightly, looking thoroughly frightened. Ling Kongmiao raised a hand and rested it gently on his forehead. Fine blue energy swirled around him.

Jiang Tianji’s brows smoothed out, and he hummed unconsciously.

In his dream, the giant bear that had been hounding him relentlessly turned into a cute little kitten, holding a piece of candy in its mouth, placing it into his palm. He loved cats. Looking back, it seemed that every time he felt sad, a variety of cats would appear by his side—furry, with long tails that swept away a child’s worries.

A faint scent of jasmine drifted into his dream. Jiang Tianji subconsciously moved toward the source. The image before him faded, gathering into a black curtain leaking light.

Jiang Tianji’s eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

His consciousness wasn’t fully clear yet, so he instinctively rubbed his cheek against what he was holding.

It wasn’t soft; it was bony and articulate…

Wait, articulate?

Jiang Tianji focused and realized it was a slender, beautiful hand, the fingertips calloused from daily training, looking remarkably agile. His brain stalled for a moment, and as realization dawned, he slowly looked up.

Meeting a pair of deep blue eyes, he pulled his hand back as if he had seen a ghost.

“Quite the little cuddler, aren’t you?”

Ling Kongmiao pulled his hand back leisurely and put his glove back on. “Too bad, I’m just your commanding officer, not your mother. Otherwise, I suppose I would be flattered.”

Assistant Jiang watched Jiang Tianji, whose face was turning redder than a monkey’s bottom, and couldn’t help but sigh. It’s been so many years, and Captain Ling is still just as caustic.

Jiang Tianji sat up awkwardly, struggling for a long time before managing to squeeze out a single sentence.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

Ling Kongmiao leaned against the control console: “Any physical discomfort?”

Jiang Tianji was surprised by the sudden concern and shook his head repeatedly, hesitating before speaking, “But just now…”

His voice grew smaller. It was clear he felt the first half of the nightmare had been terrifyingly real, but the second half truly felt like a dream.

“Simulation pod,” Ling Kongmiao tapped the console. “What happened just now was real. The beast in the first part was part of the standard program. As for the one in the second half… it’s already been punished by being sent to copy the regulations.”

Just then, Ling Kongmiao’s communicator buzzed a few times, and his brows furrowed imperceptibly.

“This whole affair was poorly handled. The afternoon training is canceled.” He patted Assistant Jiang on the shoulder. “Assistant Jiang, take him to see the dormitory.”

“Understood,” Assistant Jiang nodded. “Go ahead, Captain Ling.”

Ling Kongmiao nodded at him, answered the call, and turned to walk away. His long, silver-white hair carved an elegant arc in the breeze, and Jiang Tianji couldn’t help but stare for a moment.

Assistant Jiang followed his gaze and laughed: “Captain Ling is unique, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” Jiang Tianji rubbed his nose. “But Special Assistance missions are very dangerous. Won’t his long hair get in the way?”

“Little Jiang, is it? You won’t have that doubt once you see the training footage of Captain Ling’s missions.”

Assistant Jiang walked to his side and patted his shoulder. “Alright, let’s go. I’ll take you to check out the dormitory.”

Jiang Tianji got up obediently: “Okay, thank you for the trouble.”

Assistant Jiang was warm-hearted, and he was easy to get along with.

Knowing Jiang Tianji was new, he shared plenty of tips and insider information that only someone who had been here for a long time would know.

For example, the food in Area D on the first floor of the canteen was terrible; the snack bar in Area C on the third floor was much better. If you were exhausted and couldn’t eat, you could go to the fifth floor to buy nutritional supplements—they had released many new flavors recently.

In the evening, when there were no surprise inspections, the basic unit had one hour of free time; as long as you were back in the dorm and lights were out before 11:30 PM, it was fine. There was a large lake behind the training base near the officer’s building where you could go to get some air if you were in a bad mood during breaks… and so on.

Jiang Tianji started daydreaming halfway through, imagining that if the test results were a mistake, he could just pack up and go back to school. He promised himself he’d never sleep in class again.

“We’re here.”

Before he could craft a more detailed script for his escape, Assistant Jiang pointed ahead.

“Considering your special situation, your dorm arrangement has been adjusted. We’ve put you with your Captain. It saves a lot of trouble. We talked to the previous occupant, and he said it was no problem—all his stuff has been moved next door.”

The basic unit dormitory was better than he had imagined, at least more high-end than the dorms at the Federal Military Academy. It was mostly made of silver-blue metal, looking quite durable.

Following Assistant Jiang into the elevator, they arrived in front of Room B05.

“Verification passed. Hello, Technician Jiang.”

The mechanical electronic voice sounded, and the dorm door opened automatically.

Assistant Jiang led him to a bed and tapped the railing. A small virtual screen lit up in front of them, displaying Jiang Tianji’s personal information:

Name: Jiang Tianji

Gender: Male

Secondary Gender: Alpha

Age: 20

Jiang Tianji’s eyes swept past his ID photo and landed slowly on one of the lines.

—Alpha.

Seeing this word again, it still felt incredibly unreal. Jiang Tianji couldn’t help but raise a hand to touch the back of his neck. It was smooth; it was hard to imagine that buried beneath it was something that had changed his destiny.

Assistant Jiang saw that he had been distracted the whole way and assumed he was still upset by Ling Kongmiao’s words. After all, he had heard a bit about the tardiness incident this morning—hard not to, with a big mouth like Zhao Hengyi around.

“Your case is indeed very rare. Aside from some families with a genetic history, it’s very uncommon for ordinary people. Come to think of it, if I were living normally at school and suddenly got hauled in here, with such a strict officer, I’d feel a sense of loss too.”

He sighed and advised, “Captain Ling has always been like this. Back when he was a trainee, he was a master at snapping back; he could say one sentence that would make his superiors furious. Don’t take what he says to heart.”

“He’s famously sharp-tongued, but he’s actually a good person. I’ve been in the basic unit the whole time, and I basically watched him come up from the start. Just now, when he saw you were pale with fright and having nightmares, Captain Ling actually used his special ability to help stabilize your mind.”

“Stabilize?” Jiang Tianji asked subconsciously.

“Yeah, Captain Ling’s ability is psychic-based, a very rare talent.”

Jiang Tianji paused, stunned. “Isn’t Captain Ling a combat-type?”

Assistant Jiang shook his head, his gaze complex: “In terms of pure talent, no.”

“Many people overlook this now, but in the beginning…”

Assistant Jiang seemed to be lost in thought, his gaze growing distant.

Jiang Tianji wanted to ask more, but Assistant Jiang suddenly came back to his senses and slapped his thigh.

“Blast it! I get to chatting and forget things. They’re almost finished with physical training, I have to get back…” He jogged away while speaking, waving at Jiang Tianji. “I’m off, Little Jiang! Come find me at the simulation room if you need anything!”

Jiang Tianji waved back: “Ah, okay, take care!”

Click.

The dorm door closed automatically.

Jiang Tianji felt a bit bored. He wandered around the room like he was inspecting his own territory, but didn’t want to look too closely for fear of prying into someone else’s privacy. He found his locker, and after facial recognition cleared, the door opened to reveal a set of daily necessities.

The afternoon sun shone in, warm and inducing drowsiness.

Jiang Tianji couldn’t help but yawn. He walked to the bed wanting to lie down for a moment, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

As his consciousness deepened and he was about to be swallowed by darkness, a lock of silver-white hair appeared in his mind.

It looked smooth and beautiful.

Somehow… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.