Got a Mission

Mo Heng modified the research institute's access control system that very day. Xilin was the only person who could enter the Research Department with just a Red Card, and he had the authority to enter many places that even fourth-year Special Recruits couldn't. Fortunately, most people in the research institute stayed in the Research Department, otherwise, Xilin's favored status with Vice Principal Mo would have been widely known.

Many of the first-year classes Xilin chose were directly approved by Mo Heng for him to skip. Since the vice principal had put in a word, those Grand Tutors didn't dare to say anything. Mo Heng also specifically assigned Xilin a personal workshop, so Xilin now basically only traveled between his workshop in the Research Department, the Training Department, and his dormitory.

Since he skipped many classes and had low attendance, Xilin was practically nonexistent to most Seven Luminaries disciples.

In the past few days, Mo Heng had taught him a lot about machinery, which benefited Xilin immensely. His comprehensive precision improved to 99.96%.

Please don't underestimate that 0.01%. There were only a handful of people in the star systems who reached Mo Heng's level of 99.97% comprehensive precision, all renowned authorities in the Star Alliance like Mo Heng. As for those at 99.96%, there were hundreds of them, and those at 99.95% were even more numerous, numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands. The further one progressed, the harder it became. For many, improving by another 0.01% after 99.95% might not even be achievable in a lifetime of effort.

Reaching 99.9% comprehensive precision was considered high-end talent. Those who couldn't meet this standard basically had no say in this circle. The machinery tutors at Seven Luminaries were all above 99.9%, and the Grand Tutors would reach 99.96%.

Therefore, Mo Heng was quite proud of Xilin's progress. He was proud of his wise decision to pull Xilin away from those "useless" tutors in time, and even more proud that he finally had an excellent disciple.

If those tutors knew they were considered "useless" in Vice Principal Mo Heng's eyes, they might have coughed up blood from anger.

Once, when Xilin went to find Mo Heng, Mo Heng was communicating with someone and was so smug he was practically wagging his tail. Mo Heng was very proud of his disciple, and this pride manifested in him pinching Xilin's face more and more often. Xilin deeply felt that his face was starting to "gain weight."

One day, Xilin was in his workshop assembling parts given to him by Mo Heng. Mo Heng had gone on a business trip, which meant leaving Seven Luminaries Planet, though Xilin didn't know exactly where he went. However, before leaving, Mo Heng had assigned Xilin a task with a beaming face, as if anticipating something, and looked at Xilin with increasing kindness and affection, which made Xilin's skin crawl. After interacting with Mo Heng for a while, Xilin knew that when this department head smiled like that, he was definitely plotting some mischievous idea!

In fact, Mo Heng was visiting an old friend and showing off a bit.

Xilin's hand speed was very fast. There was a computer nearby, recording the entire process and calculating the comprehensive precision simultaneously. Every time Xilin assembled a complete machine, he had to write an assembly report, detailing his thoughts. This was something Mo Heng had particularly emphasized, and it was a requirement for everyone in the Research Department. Mo Heng had said when he was department head that people in the Research Department shouldn't just follow instructions blindly; they needed to have their own ideas.

Xilin felt he could further increase his speed while maintaining precision. Time is life; it's a simple saying that children hear so often their ears get calloused. But for Hunters roaming the star systems, this awareness was very high. Whether due to human error or other accidents, if a critical part of a warship malfunctioned and wasn't repaired, the hidden threat of everyone on the entire warship perishing in less than a thousandth of a second would constantly increase.

This wasn't to say Xilin was particularly noble. Capable individuals were quickly accepted by Hunter groups and could travel further in the universe. For the Vanguard, and for himself, having this kind of awareness meant a greater chance of survival.

After Xilin finished assembling the machine, he checked the data on the recorder and picked up his report book to summarize, writing down his insights and thoughts.

Just then, a ding-ding doorbell sound came. Judging by the rhythm of the doorbell, Xilin had already guessed who it was.

The door opened, and a head poked in. Seeing Xilin writing his report and not assembling a machine, a pair of bright eyes immediately curved into arcs.

"Good thing you weren't assembling the machine. I was afraid I'd be disturbing your work at this hour."

A beautiful young girl with a naive and innocent smile walked in. It was the same girl who had commented on Xilin and the other three with Flo in the teaching building...

"You've come at just the right time. I just finished assembling it," Xilin said.

This girl was also one of the Special Recruits in the Research Department, from the Design Institute. Her name was Linglong, she was 16 years old, and also a first-year student. She seemed to have some background, but many people didn't know the specifics. They only knew that many Grand Tutors in the Research Department treated her quite well.

After Xilin came to the Research Department, he accidentally met Linglong once. She had pulled him aside and pestered him with questions about his duel with Knight in the Training Room that day. Since then, Linglong would come to find Xilin whenever she had free time because she said others in the Research Department were boring, and she got along well with Xilin.

Linglong had said this in the Research Department's cafeteria, and she hadn't lowered her voice, so a crowd around them heard it. They looked at Xilin with strange and ambiguous eyes. One was the famous beautiful "little elf" of the Research Department, and the other was Minister Mo Heng's favored disciple. A perfect match.

Xilin just smiled at the ambiguous glances from others. He knew in his heart that Linglong, despite appearing innocent, was very secretive and not as naive as she seemed. Furthermore, the first day Xilin and Linglong ate together in the cafeteria, Mo Heng had told him to keep some distance from Linglong if possible. Xilin also noticed that Mo Heng's attitude towards Linglong was friendly yet distant. Mo Heng didn't explain the reason, and Xilin didn't ask.

Linglong touched the machine Xilin had just finished assembling, curiously asking about it as she spoke, "Xilin, someone from our institute is treating us to a meal. A rich patron just had a son and is preparing a big feast to celebrate. Everyone in the institute can bring a companion. What do you say, want to go?"

"Are you asking me to go freeload?" Xilin asked, still writing his report with a smile.

Linglong looked at Xilin, blinking her eyes. "It's not the first time anyway. Last time, someone from the Information and Communication Institute treated us, and we went to freeload too. Come on, come on." As she spoke, Linglong nudged Xilin with her elbow.

Just as Xilin was about to speak, his communicator suddenly rang.

"Sorry, excuse me for a moment."

Xilin walked into a resting cubicle in the studio, where he could speak without being overheard.

The person calling was Knight. Normally, Knight wouldn't call Xilin during his work hours, but after seeing the "urgent" graphic code from Ite on the display, Xilin immediately moved to the cubicle to take the call, avoiding Linglong.

"What's wrong?" Xilin asked.

"Xilin, something's come up!!" On the displayed image, Knight was very excited. After holding back for so long, he could finally do something big.

"Tell me." Xilin knew that if Knight was reacting so strongly, the mission wouldn't be simple.

Knight straightened his expression and asked, "Do you know about the Seven Luminaries' Asteroid Experimental Base?"

"I do."

Not far from the Seven Luminaries Star were several asteroids, on which were experimental bases established by the Seven Luminaries. One asteroid corresponded to one experimental base, which showed the scale of the Seven Luminaries' undertaking.

Because some experiments were too dangerous to conduct on the Seven Luminaries, such as large-scale communication interference, high-risk biochemical virus experiments, and large-scale radioactive weapon research, extraterrestrial experimental bases were established. Ci Jincheng was currently conducting research on an asteroid where a communication base was built.

"Something has happened at the Biochemical Virus Base. Uncle Huo didn't say exactly what happened; it's a Seven Luminaries secret. This time, the Security Team and those from the Training Department who were transferred from the Army have joined the action team. Uncle Huo originally didn't plan to let the trainees participate, but later some trainees applied multiple times, so only those with excellent scores were allowed to join. Others had no say."

There were only four grades in the military system: no fifth, sixth, or seventh grades. If one's performance was very good within those four years, they would be recommended to join the Army. Generally, such people were rare.

"Counting it up, there are two from the second year, and three each from the third and fourth years. Originally, not a single person from our first year was allowed to participate. I blocked Uncle Huo at his door for a whole day, but he wouldn't change his mind. However, after I contacted my grandfather, Uncle Huo finally agreed to add my name to the action team. As for that Pride kid, hehe, he's not so lucky. His family won't allow him to go. But I suspect that guy won't give up so easily. He's either persuading his second brother, Ji Feihang, or trying to contact his maternal grandfather. Only these two people could possibly agree," Knight said gloatingly.

Uncle Huo, the Head of Training Department, was well aware of Knight's and Pride's backgrounds. If the mission weren't dangerous to a certain extent, Uncle Huo wouldn't have been so resolute.

"So, Xilin, are you interested in participating?" Knight asked.

"Sure, I'm looking forward to it," Xilin said with a smile. It had been a while since he'd done anything, and his hands were itching.

"Okay, I'll go tell Uncle Huo directly. You come over immediately. There's a preliminary preparation before the operation."

After disconnecting the call, Xilin came out and gave Linglong an apologetic smile. "Something came up, I can't go freeloading."

Linglong wrinkled her small nose and drew circles on the ground with her toes. "Okay, I'll go eat two portions myself! I'm leaving now!"

After Linglong left, Xilin quickly finished the report he was almost done with and began tidying up things in the studio. Five minutes later, he picked up his backpack and left on his Flying Skateboard.

In a room in the Research Department, Linglong frowned as she looked at Xilin's retreating figure on the monitor, leaving in a hurry on his Flying Skateboard. She opened the communicator in her hand and dialed a number. The call was connected quickly.

Listening to the report from the other end of the communicator, Linglong's frown deepened.

Seeking recommendation votes. Uh, please don't find me annoying. It's the third week of the new book. If we can push forward, we should. We can't hold back, right?