New Skill

As she led Jiang Yan Hai outside, Tang Xin Yi kept studying him along the way. The curiosity in her heart still hadn't been eased.

Jiang Yan Hai had only given a rough explanation earlier, leaving out all the truly essential parts. Although Tang Xin Yi wasn't in charge of cybersecurity, she still knew a thing or two about it.

She understood very well that achieving anything in cybersecurity—or in networking in general—required many people to devote themselves to that single field all the way through university.

But what about this one?

At eighteen, he had graduated from Peking University with a Triple Degree and had even been admitted to graduate school without an entrance exam—yet he had turned it down. Then, less than a few months after joining the military, he had nearly reached master-level proficiency in shooting, boxing, wilderness survival, camouflage, and more.

There was no need to explain those abilities in detail. One only needed to look at how many Special Forces Soldiers he had eliminated during the exercise.

It wasn't as though ordinary soldiers had never taken out Special Forces Soldiers before, but those kills had only been lucky accidents.

Could those ordinary soldiers, while being specifically hunted by a Special Forces combat squad, turn around and kill the enemy before crushing them?

No.

But this newly enlisted soldier, who could practically be called barely an adult, had done it! Not only had he done it, he had shocked the entire military region!

Tang Xin Yi knew perfectly well just how formidable that record was.

"Commander, if you have any questions, just ask. Please don't keep looking at me like that," Jiang Yan Hai said helplessly.

"Are you really a new recruit?" Tang Xin Yi couldn't help asking.

"This... Commander, you should have read my file, right?" Jiang Yan Hai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Other things might be faked, but could that be faked too?

"If there's a chance, I may have some questions to ask you," Tang Xin Yi said after thinking it over. She was responsible for the anti-sniper infiltration system, and Jiang Yan Hai had practically turned that system into scrap.

The system definitely had to be improved, and she would certainly be responsible for the follow-up work.

"I obey orders," Jiang Yan Hai immediately replied seriously.

Tang Xin Yi curled her lips. As an Intelligence Operative who had once worked in the intelligence department, she had studied psychology extensively. She knew very clearly whether Jiang Yan Hai was telling the truth.

Perhaps that was indeed the truth.

But it was definitely not what he wanted to say.

Since the kid didn't want to talk, Tang Xin Yi naturally didn't press him further.

After seeing Jiang Yan Hai out, Tang Xin Yi said directly, "Someone will deliver your equipment to your company later. Wait here for now. Someone will take you away shortly."

"Yes!" Jiang Yan Hai immediately stood at attention and saluted.

Tang Xin Yi turned and left. Jiang Yan Hai waited quietly where he was. Although he badly wanted to know what skill his mission reward had given him, he knew better than to rush things.

Before long, someone came to take Jiang Yan Hai away and sent him directly back to the Sharpshooter Fourth Company's camp.

However, when Jiang Yan Hai returned, Old Hei was waiting for him in the dormitory.

"Pack your things and come with me," Old Hei said directly.

"Where are we going?" Jiang Yan Hai was a little confused.

"Your new quarters." Old Hei smiled, then reached out and patted Jiang Yan Hai on the shoulder. "Good work!"

The latter remark was clearly praising his performance in the exercise.

"Thank you, Squad Leader, but why am I being assigned new quarters?" Jiang Yan Hai froze for a moment.

"Don't you know what you did? What you'll be doing next needs to be kept confidential." Old Hei was somewhat helpless. Did this kid really have no idea?

Although this was the military, different things had different levels of confidentiality. What Jiang Yan Hai would be doing next was classified at the highest level. Even Old Hei had no authority to know about it, and professional guards would be assigned to protect his quarters.

Moreover, those guards wouldn't be from their regiment, but from the military region.

"Oh, I understand." Jiang Yan Hai nodded. To be honest, that did surprise him a little, because the Iron Fist Regiment itself already had a fairly high security classification.

It should have been very safe here. He had overlooked the fact that there were some things even ordinary soldiers weren't allowed near.

Very soon, Jiang Yan Hai was taken to a two-story building. It looked rather old from the outside, but the interior was surprisingly nice.

Once he entered a private room, Jiang Yan Hai was slightly astonished. He had a room of his own, along with a separate desk and a bookshelf beside it.

This had probably been Master Kang's office before, hadn't it?

"This is where you'll be staying until you complete your work. Someone will come later to transport your equipment and handle your security and confidentiality arrangements. Just cooperate with them," Old Hei instructed.

"Also, now that this exercise is over, you all have leave. You've been specially granted fifteen days off. Is there anyone you need to visit?" Old Hei added.

"Reporting, no," Jiang Yan Hai immediately answered.

"Fine. Then get some rest. If anything comes up, come find me." Old Hei nodded.

"Yes!" Jiang Yan Hai gave a military salute.

Old Hei soon left. After he was gone, Jiang Yan Hai first put away all his belongings. Only then did he close his eyes and directly select Claim Skill.

Red Star Engine's mechanical voice immediately rang out:

Skill claim complete. Obtained Ground Driving Skill, Grade B ×1. Skill data transfer countdown: 10...

Jiang Yan Hai took a deep breath. Ground Driving Skill? That meant it should cover multiple types of vehicles—anything that operated on the ground could be driven?

He just didn't know whether he could drive Bumblebee, if he had one...

The ten-second countdown quickly ended. Then, an enormous amount of information rapidly flooded into his mind. It was the familiar feeling, the familiar process. This time, though the amount of information was still immense, it didn't last very long.

However, Jiang Yan Hai hadn't rested properly for quite some time. As his mind gradually grew heavy, he simply fell asleep.

Jiang Yan Hai had no idea how long he slept. A knock on the door woke him. The instant he awoke, he rolled off the bed and immediately assumed a defensive stance.

However, he quickly came back to his senses. After taking in his surroundings and looking down at his body, Jiang Yan Hai froze for a moment before getting to his feet.

He definitely hadn't possessed this instinct before. This defensive reflex must have been inherited from the Special Forces Experience Card.

Some of the things inherited from the Experience Card could be felt directly, while others worked subtly beneath the surface. Only after discovering them would you realize, with surprise, that you had inherited that as well.

Bang bang. Knocking continued from outside.

"Coming." Jiang Yan Hai straightened his clothes and stood upright.