CR CH80

Chapter 80: Special Assistance

In the small conference room, the floating screen displayed Jiang Tianji’s detailed information.

Ling Kongmiao nodded to signal him to enter. Jiang Tianji greeted all the officers politely, and Irene smiled.

“Relax. You’re part of Team 1 now, so just call us by our names.”

“Alright, Sister Irene,” Jiang Tianji called out sweetly.

Although these officers held ranks far higher than Jiang Tianji’s, he was internally designated by Special Assistance Team 1 right after his promotion from Z01, making his future smooth path plain to see.

The danger factor of Special Assistance missions was maxed out. Jiang Tianji being directly drafted into the reserve of the first echelon meant his comprehensive combat strength had reached the standard, with an extremely high ceiling.

Currently, the trickiest issue was his mental trait flaw. Speaking strictly of combat stats, he could adapt to new mission intensities in an extremely short time, but high-level mental domains were his fatal weakness.

The plan proposed by the Star Inspection Office was to pair him with an S-Rank mental-type teammate and introduce specialized mental training.

Originally, the teammate paired with Jiang Tianji had a compatibility rate as high as 99%—an outstanding user from the Mental Center—but Ling Kongmiao vetoed it.

At that time:

Supervisor Wang slammed the files down in front of Ling Kongmiao, his blood pressure spiking.

“Chief Ling, Captain Ling.”

He laughed out of sheer frustration, pointing at the pairing value on the floating screen.

“You are indeed an exceptionally outstanding mental-type capability user, but your compatibility with him is only 28%.”

“Besides, your capability leans toward mental manipulation. Both of you are far too aggressive; it’s not suitable.”

“Not suitable?” Ling Kongmiao said indifferently. “That’s what you said before I took over Special Assistance.”

He mimicked Supervisor Wang’s tone back then: “How can a mental-type user take over a combat unit? This is ridiculous.”

Supervisor Wang: “That’s different, you’re…”

“How is it different?” Ling Kongmiao dealt another blow. “The person you supported back then had a comprehensive evaluation score as high as 9.8, with data so pretty it was absurd. Yet right after finishing that arena match, he transferred straight over to Special Operations.”

Thousands of miles away, Sun Fei, who had just wrapped up a mission, sneezed twice in a row.

Ling Kongmiao didn’t bother wasting more words. Before he tapped the binding button on the system, Supervisor Wang completely gave up communicating with him, muttering a quiet curse under his breath.

“Once bound, it’s confirmed. Do as you see fit.” Supervisor Wang took a sip of water. “That kid is truly pitiful—he doesn’t even get a choice, does he?”

Ling Kongmiao’s fingertips paused for a second, hovering over the confirmation key in a moment of stiffness before he ultimately shut down the device.

“Ch— Captain?”

Noticeably zoning out for a brief moment, Ling Kongmiao heard Tang Min’s hesitant voice and raised his eyes without changing expression.

“What is it?”

Jiang Tianji stood to one side, clearly waiting for him to speak.

“Sit here.” Ling Kongmiao pointed to the spot beside Tang Min. “When I’m away, Tang Min will temporarily be in charge of you.”

“You’ll spend most of your time following Team 1; familiarize yourself first.”

“Alright.” After taking his seat, Jiang Tianji called out sweetly, “Sister Tang.”

Tang Min chuckled: “Xiaotian, I’ve heard so much about you!”

Jiang Tianji picked up on the teasing in her tone. His eyes flickered slightly, but just as he was about to speak, Ling Kongmiao cut in.

“Alright, meeting adjourned.” He looked at Jiang Tianji. “You stay.”

The others nodded at Jiang Tianji and left first, while Ling Kongmiao sent a file containing member information to Jiang Tianji.

Although they weren’t complete strangers to one another, as a team member, he needed a deeper understanding of everyone’s roles, specializations, and so forth.

The moment the conference room door closed, Jiang Tianji naturally stood up and sat down beside Ling Kongmiao.

Ling Kongmiao glanced at the person beside him without saying anything, opening his holographic screen.

“You are currently in a weakened state, and your mental trait flaw requires assistance from a professional mental-type teammate. The Star Inspection Office selected a capability user with a 99% compatibility rate for you. A number like that is hard to come by; your luck isn’t bad.”

Ling Kongmiao pulled up the user’s information, showing an ID photo directly above detailed numerical analyses.

He was a gentle, refined male Beta wearing silver-framed glasses, looking very mild-mannered.

Impeccable conditions across all aspects—indeed an extremely suitable candidate.

“There is another option,” Ling Kongmiao said. “That person’s compatibility with you is 28%.”

Jiang Tianji remained silent for a moment, seemingly not expecting this step. Aside from his surprise, his hand resting on the table tightened slightly.

“Are there only these two options?”

Ling Kongmiao: “How many more do you want? Picking favorites now?”

Jiang Tianji: “Haven’t you been the one performing my guidance all along?”

“Why pass me off to someone else?” The emotion in this sentence was completely undisguised.

“Aren’t I letting you choose?”

Before his temper flared, Ling Kongmiao tapped the virtual screen, pulling up the file of the other capability user with 28% compatibility.

Jiang Tianji followed his line of sight. The moment he saw Ling Kongmiao’s ID photo, the flame in his heart extinguished with a whoosh.

Ling Kongmiao in the photo looked much more tender than he did now, his thin lips lightly pursed as he looked straight ahead. Jiang Tianji felt his vision brighten considerably, momentarily forgetting what he was doing.

“The other one is me, but the compatibility is far too low.”

“Is this even a choice?”

Jiang Tianji’s gaze remained glued to that ID photo, reluctant to blink: “Captain, how old were you here?”

Ling Kongmiao didn’t answer his question, his brows knitting slightly.

“You know the consequences of losing control.” He added weight to his tone. “Binding means placing your safety into someone else’s hands; it’s no joke.”

“But choosing either one is very dangerous.”

Jiang Tianji spoke out of nowhere, a calm gaze carrying a composure that saw through everything.

Ling Kongmiao’s expression didn’t change at all, merely stiffening ever so slightly.

“Since it’s a matter of life and death after all, I’ll choose the most beauti… the person I trust the most.” In a split second, that touch of anomaly returned to normal, and Jiang Tianji winked at him. “I believe you’ll take responsibility for me.”

Ling Kongmiao sneered, lowering his eyes to conceal a multitude of complex emotions.

“Just a reminder, my methods aren’t like those moderate factions.”

“Mental training is the opposite of guidance. The process of filling in flaws is very painful. I only look at values; your personal feelings are not within my consideration.”

Indeed, Jiang Tianji had already experienced this point during the previous trial.

People naturally felt uncertain about things they weren’t good at, and Jiang Tianji was no exception. He asked probing: “If I really can’t hold on, will it be a bit gentler?”

“No,” Ling Kongmiao answered. “I know where your limits lie; I will stop when it’s time to stop.”

Seeing Jiang Tianji sigh, Ling Kongmiao closed the floating screen.

“You have one day to consider.” He glanced at the time and stepped outside. “Next up is a preliminary assessment, starting immediately upon arrival at Special Assistance, acting as your initial evaluation score.”

“Okay.” Jiang Tianji walked by his side. “No need to consider, I’ll only choose you anyway.”

When Ling Kongmiao looked over sideways, Jiang Tianji was also staring at him, the atmosphere shifting subtly in an instant.

Suddenly, both of their devices vibrated at the same time.

Jiang Tianji looked down and found himself added to a group chat named “High-Value Visuals Squadron”.

Glancing briefly at the messages above, he clicked open the latest voice message.

Zhao Hengyi’s hearty laughter echoed out:

“Boss! To celebrate our High-Value Visuals Squadron adding another major general, You Li booked a hot spring! Let’s go soak together tonight!”