Textbook-Level Action Genius

Their conversation saved Lin Xiaosu a lot of trouble.

He needed to remind them that this white snake was extremely special and extremely dangerous, but it was difficult to convey that warning. No one besides him knew the white snake had appeared during their journey so far. He couldn't possibly tell them, "I can reverse time, and I saw this white snake with my own eyes."

That would be too terrifying.

But he had to admit Qianlong's depth.

As Chang Ye and Number 88 exchanged questions and answers, all problems were resolved.

They had taken the most correct course of action regarding the white snake.

And this bunch of grapes had also been handled in the most appropriate way.

With the correct handling, no issues would arise. Once they reached Qianlong headquarters, they would naturally understand how groundbreaking this thing was, and they would be able to eliminate all dangers during research because Chang Ye had already identified its dangerous points: its scales were incomparably hard, and its speed was unbelievably fast...

Xinyue, whose knowledge in these professional areas was a weakness, looked around. "Hey, two instructors, can I remind everyone not to get too carried away by victory? Although Lin Xiaose led us into this cave and we got a bunch of stuff, he also led us into a desperate situation. How do we get out?"

From her perspective, this was absolutely rational.

The only passage had collapsed, with sand and rocks pouring in. They would probably need an excavator to get through. No matter how skilled they were, they were still human, not gods. How could they escape?

However, Lin Xiaosu smiled. "Think about it, why would the person who planned to escape be wearing a diving suit?"

Xinyue frowned. "Escape through an underground river? Is there an underground river here?"

"As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows! Those who plan to do bad things will always leave a backdoor! This is also why I dared to bring my comrades into a desperate situation. Seeing the diving suit on him, I'm confident my gamble paid off." Lin Xiaosu walked leisurely along the cave wall for more than ten meters and stopped at a spot.

He gently raised his hand and tapped the stone wall.

The stone wall emitted a slight echo, slightly different from a solid stone wall.

BOOM!

A small foot flew through the air!

The stone wall cracked open, and the sound of water could be heard from outside – an underground river.

Xinyue stepped to the edge of the underground river, smiling smugly. "I opened the secret door. I don't want much, just 100 points!"

"Damn it! Your kick is worth 100 points? Are points that easy to earn in your world?" Lin Xiaosu exclaimed.

"Go on, kick it. If you can kick a big hole in the stone wall with one kick, I'll give you this kick for free..."

"That's too aggressive, too unreasonable. It was a perfectly good door that could be opened with a mechanism, but you had to smash it with your foot. You're as tough as an ox..."

Number 88 and Chang Ye exchanged glances, seeing admiration in each other's eyes.

"How many times has an operation like this allowed someone to advance from reserve to official Qianlong status?" Number 88 asked.

Chang Ye chuckled softly. "In the world of geniuses, the number of times is meaningless."

"So, you agree to formally submit the application under both our names?"

Chang Ye replied, "Throughout the entire operation, while you and I were nominally in charge, in reality, he was the one driving every aspect. Even though he's already an official Qianlong, an operation like this, so flawless, is a classic case that would only appear in Qianlong textbooks. What reason would I have to disagree?"

"Let's go, wrap it up!" Number 88 took the lead, reaching the edge of the underground river and jumping in.

Xinyue followed closely.

Chang Ye pulled Lin Xiaosu's hand. "Let's go!"

Their Qianlong suits' helmets rose, and the two exchanged smiles before stepping into the underground river.

In the underground river, there was a line of light ahead. They swam towards it and emerged from another pool.

This pool was in yet another mountain valley.

They climbed a high mountain ahead, and on the other side, a highway was faintly visible.

And a city in the distance.

The perpetual mist churned in the valley behind them.

The vast mountains still lay before them.

However, they had signal now.

And their location was confirmed.

Chang Ye stared at the mist behind them. "Once we're out of the mist zone, the signal works. Could it be that this mist is the key reason the signal was blocked?"

This question couldn't be answered at the moment.

Number 88 raised his hand and sent out a signal. On a mountain peak behind them, their flying car soared through the air and landed before them in auto-pilot.

Number 88 walked over to Chang Ye. "We've contacted headquarters. They'll handle the follow-up cleanup work, so we don't need to participate."

"Good!"

"Lin Xiaosu's application for formal promotion has been submitted and is awaiting review and approval by the council."

Chang Ye smiled.

Lin Xiaosu's heart trembled slightly. His application for formal promotion had been submitted?

Was he going to be promoted?

One mission, from reserve to official Qianlong...

Mom, I'm also working as a civil servant. Even though it's not officially stated, the value of my position is ten thousand times better than that of the Meteorological Bureau staff…

"Hey, Instructor, what about me? Me!" Xinyue pointed a finger at her own nose.

Sweat beaded on her nose tip.

Yeah, what about her?

Lin Xiaosu was also a bit puzzled. Why did Number 88 only mention Lin Xiaosu's regularization application and not Xinyue's?

Xinyue started with 853 points and only needed 150 more to reach the regularization threshold of a thousand points.

During this trip, the girl had been working very hard. How could she not have accumulated 150 points?

According to the "Reserve Regulations," Lin Xiaosu roughly calculated that her points should have increased by at least seven to eight hundred.

"You, your points aren't enough. You still need to work harder!" Number 88 said.

Xinyue jumped eight feet high: "My points aren't enough? In the valley, besides the seven fierce enemies, according to the 'Regulations,' each fierce enemy is worth 100 points, so that's seven hundred already! Seven hundred plus 853, do you know how to do math?"

"1553!" Number 88 replied.

"So there you have it! I passed the thousand-point mark, so why aren't you regularizing me?" In her excitement, she almost blurted out "Grandmother," but thankfully she caught herself quickly, or she would have lost more points.

Number 88 spoke slowly, "Don't forget, you have deductions!"

"What?"

"Before the cabin, did I explicitly issue a combat order for you to stop the entanglement you were in and enter the building?"

"You did, but at that time..."

Number 88 interrupted her, "If you had entered the building earlier, even if the enemy's self-destruct program was activated, wouldn't you have had enough time to react, wouldn't you have had a chance to interrupt the self-destruct program and obtain the enemy's research data?"

"Yes, but at that time..."

Number 88 interrupted again, "Does the 'Reserve Regulations' explicitly state that if a person commits a major dereliction of duty during an operation and causes significant losses, all their accumulated points will be cleared?"

"Yes, but the situation at the time was changing rapidly. The enemy was already right behind me. If I dealt with the immediate crisis first and then executed the superior's order, would that be considered a major dereliction of duty?"

"I think it counts!"

"Damn it..." Xinyue jumped up.

Number 88 stared at her coldly, "Go on, finish your curse!"

Xinyue suddenly turned to Lin Xiaosu, "Lin Xiaose, I R your eight fathers..."

Lin Xiaosu was stunned: "What does this have to do with me?"

"It has nothing to do with you, but Grandmother is just upset and can only curse you without losing points!"

Damn it!

Lin Xiaosu ran into the flying car.

Chang Ye also followed him in. Outside, Number 88 and Xinyue were like fighting bulls...

Inside the flying car, Lin Xiaosu shifted his gaze to Chang Ye, smiled faintly, and lowered his voice, "Why isn't she being regularized?"

"You could tell?" Chang Ye also smiled faintly.

"Of course, I could tell. Her not being regularized has nothing to do with the operation itself. It's just that Number 88 doesn't want to regularize her, so no matter how outstanding she performs, he'll find a way to keep her stuck in the reserves."

Lin Xiaosu had watched the entire operation.

Including Xinyue's so-called "major dereliction of duty."

How to describe this dereliction of duty?

It was entirely based on personal subjective judgment.

You could say that because Xinyue didn't obey the superior's order, the data was destroyed.

However, considering the scene at the time, Xinyue saw the enemy right in front of her. Could she not deal with the enemy first?

In other words, whether Xinyue was credited for merit or violated regulations was entirely up to Number 88's decision.

Number 88 deliberately erased all the merits she had earned, clearly intending to suppress her.

Superiors deliberately suppressing their subordinates is normal in any organization, but Lin Xiaosu felt it was abnormal in an organization like Qianlong, because this was a battlefield of blood and fire, where comrades should be sincere and treat each other with honesty.

Chang Ye said, "It was my decision not to regularize her. Number 88 is taking the blame for me."

"What?"

"Because her temperament needs to be tempered. While in the reserves, she's governed by the Reserve Regulations. Even if she makes a mistake, it won't be too serious. But once she becomes a formal member, if she violates regulations, she'll be bound by the 'Qianlong Regulations,' which are inflexible."

Lin Xiaosu was greatly surprised: "This is protection? Such good intentions?"

"Her grandfather entrusted her to me when he left for Europa State all those years ago. How could I not protect her?"

"...You could have just told her directly."

Chang Ye sighed softly, "How could I tell her? She's not stupid. She already guessed that there was a hidden hand behind her not being regularized. She even put the first name on her blacklist of enemies, hating me to the bone every day... If I told her that the person you've been desperately searching for, the one you mentioned digging up someone's ancestral grave, is me, our friendship as best friends would be shattered in an instant... I can only let Number 88 take the fall. Anyway, he's second on Xinyue's hate list."

Lin Xiaosu rubbed his forehead, his gaze drifting...

"You think I'm being fake?" Chang Ye's eyes drifted over.

"Cough, cough..."

"That's because you don't know how disruptive she is, and you haven't dealt with the Qianlong Regulations. You don't know how unreasonable they are..." Chang Ye said.

Her voice suddenly stopped because Xinyue ran over, her face contorted in a frustrated expression.

Number 88 also came over and climbed into the flying car.

The flying car started, soaring over Laoshan. Squeaking sounds could be heard from the car the entire time.

It was Xinyue grinding her teeth.