That very day, Mo Heng changed the access-control system at the Institute. Xilin was the only person who could enter the Research Department simply by carrying a Red Card. He was also authorized to enter many places that even fourth-year Special Recruits couldn't access. Fortunately, most people at the Institute stayed in the Research Department. Otherwise, everyone would have found out how much Vice Principal Mo favored Xilin.
Mo Heng had directly approved Xilin skipping many of his first-year classes. Since the Vice Principal had put in a word, the Grand Tutors didn't dare say anything. Mo Heng had even assigned Xilin a private workshop, so these days Xilin went mostly between his workshop in the Research Department, the Training Department, and his dorm.
Since he skipped so many classes and rarely showed up, Xilin had practically no presence at all among most of the students at Seven Luminaries.
Over the past few days, Mo Heng had taught him a great deal about machinery, and Xilin had benefited enormously. His overall precision had risen to 99.96%.
Don't underestimate that 0.01%. Across the Star Systems, there were only a handful of people with an overall precision of 99.97%, like Mo Heng. They were all renowned authorities in the Star Alliance. Hundreds of people were known to have an overall precision of 99.96%, while there were even more—thousands, even tens of thousands—at 99.95%. The higher you went, the harder improvement became. For many people, raising their precision by 0.01% beyond 99.95% was something they could strive for their whole lives without ever achieving.
Only those with an overall precision of at least 99.9% could be considered top-tier talents. Anyone who fell short of that standard had little say in this field. The mechanical instructors at Seven Luminaries all had an overall precision above 99.9%, while the Grand Tutors reached 99.96%.
Mo Heng was extremely proud of Xilin's progress. He took pride in his wise decision to pull Xilin away from those "useless" instructors in time, and was even more delighted to finally have an outstanding disciple.
If those instructors knew that Vice Principal Mo Heng thought of them as "useless," they might have been furious enough to spit blood.
Once, when Xilin went to see Mo Heng, he found him talking to someone over the comms. Mo Heng looked so pleased with himself, he was practically wagging his tail. He was very proud of his disciple, and the most obvious result was that he kept pinching Xilin's cheek more and more often. Xilin was starting to feel like his face was "putting on weight."
That day, Xilin was assembling the parts Mo Heng had given him in his workshop. Mo Heng had gone away on a business trip—which just meant he'd left Seven Luminaries Planet, though Xilin didn't know where he'd gone. Before leaving, Mo Heng had assigned Xilin a task with a bright, expectant look on his face. He'd also regarded Xilin with increasing warmth and affection, making Xilin's skin crawl. After spending enough time around Mo Heng, Xilin knew that whenever the Department Head wore that sort of smile, he was definitely cooking up some rotten scheme!
In truth, Mo Heng had gone to visit an old friend and show off a little while he was at it.
Xilin worked quickly. A computer beside him recorded the entire process and calculated his overall precision. Every time he finished assembling a machine, he had to write an assembly report and record his thoughts. Mo Heng had specifically emphasized this, and it was something everyone in the Research Department had to do. People in the Research Department couldn't just follow instructions blindly; they had to think for themselves. That was what Mo Heng had said when he became Department Head.
Xilin felt he could work even faster without compromising precision. "Time is life" was a simple saying; even children had heard it so often that their ears were nearly callused. But for Hunters roaming the Star Systems, that awareness ran deep. Whether due to human error or some other accident, if an important part of a battleship broke down and wasn't repaired, the hidden risk that the entire crew might die in less than a split second would keep growing.
It wasn't that Xilin was particularly noble. Only those with the necessary skills would be quickly accepted by a Hunter team and able to travel farther through the universe. He needed this mindset for the Vanguard, but even more for himself. It was the only way to improve his chances of survival.
After finishing the machine, Xilin checked the data on the recorder, picked up his report pad, and began to sum up his experience and write down his ideas.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Judging by the rhythm of the chime, Xilin already knew who it was.
When the door opened, a head poked inside. Seeing Xilin writing his report instead of assembling a machine, a pair of bright eyes curved into smiling crescents.
"Good thing you're not assembling anything. I was worried I'd interrupt your work."
A lovely young girl with an innocent, radiant smile walked in. She was the same girl who had been discussing Xilin and the others with Flo on the roof of the teaching building...
"You came at the right time. I just finished assembling it," Xilin said.
The girl was also a Special Recruit in the Research Department, from the Design Institute. Her name was Linglong, and she was sixteen, a first-year like him. She seemed to have some kind of background, though no one knew exactly what it was. They only knew that many of the Research Department's Grand Tutors treated her well.
After Xilin joined the Research Department, he had run into Linglong by chance. She'd pressed him with questions about his match with Knight in the Training Room, and ever since then, she'd dropped by to see him whenever she had time. She said everyone else in the Research Department was boring, but she and Xilin got along well.
Linglong had said this in the Research Department's cafeteria, without lowering her voice, so a whole crowd of people nearby had heard her. They'd looked at Xilin with strange, suggestive expressions: she was the Research Department's famous pixie-like beauty, and he was Department Head Mo Heng's prized disciple. A talented young man and a beautiful young woman.
Xilin just smiled at the suggestive looks from others. He knew that Linglong seemed innocent, but she was actually very guarded and wasn't nearly as naïve as she appeared. On the first day he and Linglong had eaten together in the cafeteria, Mo Heng had told him to keep a little distance from her if he could. Xilin had also noticed that Mo Heng treated Linglong warmly, yet kept her at arm's length. Mo Heng wouldn't explain why, and Xilin wouldn't ask.
Linglong touched the machine Xilin had just finished assembling, examining it curiously as she said, "Xilin, someone at our Institute is treating everyone. He's loaded and just had a baby boy, so he's putting on a big feast to celebrate. Everyone at the Institute can bring a companion. So, coming?"
"Are you asking me to come along and mooch free food?" Xilin asked with a smile, still writing his report.
Linglong looked at him and blinked. "It's not the first time, anyway. Last time someone at the Information and Communication Institute treated everyone, we went and mooched a meal together, didn't we? Come on, come on." She nudged Xilin with her elbow.
Xilin was about to answer when his communicator suddenly rang.
"Sorry, I'll be right back."
He walked into a small break room in the workshop. No one outside would hear him talk in there.
The call was from Knight. Normally, Knight wouldn't contact Xilin during working hours, but as soon as Xilin saw Ite's symbol on the screen, he stepped away from Linglong and answered in the break room. It meant "urgent."
"What's going on?" Xilin asked.
"Xilin, we've got something to do!" Knight was visibly excited on the screen. He'd been waiting so long to finally get a chance to go all out.
"Tell me about it." Xilin knew that if Knight was this worked up, the mission couldn't be simple.
Knight composed himself and asked, "Do you know about Seven Luminaries' Asteroid Experimental Base?"
"I do."
There were several asteroids not far from Seven Luminaries Star, each with an experimental base established by Seven Luminaries. The fact that there was one base on each asteroid showed just how extensive Seven Luminaries' operations were.
Some experiments would be too dangerous to conduct on Seven Luminaries, such as large-scale communications jamming, high-risk biological and chemical virus experiments, and research into large-scale radioactive weapons. That was why the off-world experimental bases had been set up. Ci Jincheng was currently conducting research on an asteroid where they were building a communications base.
"Something happened at the Biochemical Virus Base. Uncle Huo hasn't said exactly what, because it's classified information belonging to Seven Luminaries. This time, the Security Team and the people transferred from the military to the Training Department have all joined the Action Team. Uncle Huo didn't plan to let any students take part, but some of them applied repeatedly, so he agreed to let only those with outstanding grades join. Everyone else was out of luck."
There were only four year groups in the military track, with no fifth, sixth, or seventh years. Anyone who did well over those four years would be recommended for the military. Generally speaking, there weren't many people like that.
"There are two second-years, and three each from the third and fourth years. None of us first-years were originally allowed to go. I stood outside Uncle Huo's door all day, but I couldn't get him to change his mind. But after I contacted my grandfather, I got Uncle Huo to add my name to the Action Team. As for that kid Pride, heh, he's out of luck. His family won't let him go. But I bet he won't give up so easily. He's either trying to convince his second brother, Ji Feihang, or looking for a way to contact his maternal grandfather. Those are the only two people who might agree," Knight said gleefully.
Huoding knew all about Knight and Pride's backgrounds. If the mission weren't dangerous enough, he wouldn't have been so adamant.
"So, Xilin, interested in joining?" Knight asked.
"Sure. I'm looking forward to it," Xilin said with a smile. He'd been itching for a fight after being idle for so long.
"Great. I'll go talk to Uncle Huo. Come over right away. We have some preparations to make before the mission."
After ending the call, Xilin came out and smiled apologetically at Linglong. "Something came up, so I can't go mooch food with you."
Linglong wrinkled her dainty nose and traced the floor with her toe. "Fine, I'll eat two portions by myself! I'm off!"
After Linglong left, Xilin quickly finished the report he'd nearly completed and started tidying up his workshop. Five minutes later, he grabbed his backpack, hopped onto his Flying Skateboard, and left.
In a room in the Research Department, Linglong watched Xilin's hurried departure on the monitor, riding his Flying Skateboard, and frowned. She picked up her communicator and dialed a number. The other person answered almost immediately.
As she listened to the report coming through the communicator, Linglong's frown deepened.
Before you continue