Textbook Action Prodigy

Their exchange saved Lin Xiaosu a great deal of trouble.

He had needed to warn them that this White Serpent was extraordinarily unusual and extraordinarily dangerous, but the warning itself was difficult to phrase. Throughout the earlier journey, no one but him had known it had appeared. He could hardly tell them, "I can reverse time. I saw this White Serpent with my own eyes."

That would have been far too horrifying.

But he had to admit that Qianlong had deep foundations.

In the questions and answers between Changye and Number 88, every issue was resolved.

They had adopted the most correct method of handling the White Serpent.

And they had adopted the most correct method of handling the grapes as well.

With the correct handling method, there would be no problems. Once they reached Qianlong Headquarters, they would naturally learn just how earth-shattering this thing was, and they would naturally be able to eliminate every danger during their research. Changye had already clearly identified its dangers: scales harder than anything imaginable, speed faster than anyone could comprehend...

Xin Yue was weak in such professional knowledge. Her gaze darted around. "Hey, Instructors, can I remind everyone not to let victory go to our heads? Lin Xiaose brought us into this cave and got us a whole pile of things, but he also sent us into a dead end. How are we getting out?"

From her perspective, this was absolute rationality.

The only passage had already collapsed, with sand and rocks pouring into it. It would probably take an excavator to dig through. No matter how skilled they were, they were still human, not gods. How could they escape alive?

Yet Lin Xiaosu smiled. "Think about it. Why would someone planning to escape put on a diving suit?"

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

"As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows! Anyone planning to do evil will always leave themselves a back door! That was why I dared lead my comrades into this desperate place. And when I saw the diving suit he was wearing, I knew I had bet right." Lin Xiaosu strolled past, following the cave wall for over ten meters before stopping at one spot.

He lightly raised his hand and slapped the stone wall.

The stone wall gave off a faint echo, slightly different from solid rock.

Boom!

A small foot flew through the air!

The stone wall shattered outright. Beyond it came the murmuring sound of water—an underground river.

Xin Yue stepped to the riverbank and smiled smugly. "I opened the hidden door, so I won't ask for much. A hundred points will do!"

"Damn! One kick of yours is worth a hundred points? Are points in your family that easy to earn?" Lin Xiaosu cried.

"Then kick it yourself! If you can kick a huge hole through the stone wall in one go, I'll give you my kick for free..."

"You're too overbearing, completely unreasonable! A perfectly good door could have been opened with a mechanism, but you insisted on smashing it to pieces with one kick. You're as bullheaded as an ox..."

Number 88 and Changye exchanged a glance, each seeing appreciation in the other's eyes.

"How many times in history has a single operation allowed someone to leap from the Reserve Corps into formal Qianlong?" Number 88 asked.

Changye smiled faintly. "In the world of geniuses, the number of times is meaningless."

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

Changye said, "Looking over the entire operation, you and I were nominally in command, but in truth, he led every stage. Even if he were already formal Qianlong, an operation like this—this utterly flawless operation—would be a classic case found only in Qianlong textbooks. What reason would I have to disagree?"

"Let's go. Time to wrap things up!" Number 88 took the lead. Reaching the underground river, he jumped in.

Xin Yue followed right after him.

Changye took Lin Su's hand. "Let's go!"

Helmets rose from their Qianlong uniforms. The two exchanged smiles and stepped into the underground river.

Within the underground river was a sliver of light ahead. They swam toward it and emerged from another pool.

This pool lay in another valley.

They climbed the mountain ahead. On the other side, a highway was faintly visible.

And farther away stood a city.

The year-round mist churned through the valley behind them.

Mountain ranges, endless and dense, still stretched before them.

But the signal was back.

Their location had returned as well.

Changye stared at the mist behind them. "Once we left the mist zone, the signal returned. Could these mists be the key reason the signal was cut off?"

There was no answer to that question for now.

Number 88 raised his hand and sent a signal. From atop a mountain behind them, their flyer shot into the sky and landed before them on autopilot.

Number 88 came to Changye's side. "We've contacted headquarters. They'll take over the follow-up cleanup. We don't need to participate."

"Good!"

"Lin Xiaosu's formalization application has already been submitted. We're waiting for the council's review and approval."

Changye smiled.

Lin Xiaosu's heart trembled slightly. His formalization application had already been submitted?

He was about to become formal Qianlong?

One mission, and he had gone from the Reserve Corps to formal Qianlong...

Mom, I'm becoming a civil servant too. Not openly, perhaps, but the value of this position is ten thousand times greater than a job at the meteorological bureau...

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

There was even sweat on its tip.

Yes, what about her?

Lin Xiaosu was puzzled too. Why had Number 88 mentioned only Lin Xiaosu's formalization application and not Xin Yue's?

Xin Yue had started with 853 points. She needed only another 150 to reach the thousand-point line for formalization.

The girl had worked hard throughout this trip. How could she possibly have failed to scrape together even 150 points?

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

"You? Your points aren't enough. Keep working!" Number 88 said.

Xin Yue practically jumped eight feet into the air. "My points aren't enough? I took out seven thugs in the valley! According to the Regulations, each thug is worth one hundred points—that's seven hundred! What's seven hundred plus 853? Can't you do basic arithmetic?"

"1553!" Number 88 answered.

"Then doesn't that settle it? I crossed the thousand-point line, so why won't you make this auntie... make this young lady formal?" In her agitation, she had nearly let "this old lady" slip out. Luckily, she caught herself quickly, or points would have been deducted again.

Number 88 spoke unhurriedly. "Don't forget that you have a point-deduction item."

"What?"

"Before the cabin, did I clearly issue you an order to stop the fight you were engaged in and enter the building?"

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

Number 88 cut her off. "If you had entered earlier, then even if the enemy's self-destruct program had activated, wouldn't there have been ample time to react? Wouldn't there have been a chance to stop the self-destruct program and obtain the enemy's research materials?"

"Yes, but at the time..."

Number 88 interrupted her again. "Do the Reserve Corps Regulations clearly state that anyone who commits serious dereliction of duty during an operation and causes major losses will have all earned points cleared?"

"They do, but the situation in battle changed in the blink of an eye. The enemy was right on my ass. I dealt with the immediate crisis first before carrying out my superior's order. Does that count as serious dereliction of duty?"

"I believe it does!"

"Fuck..." Xin Yue sprang up.

Number 88 stared at her coldly. "Come on. Finish cursing."

Xin Yue abruptly turned toward Lin Xiaosu. "Lin Xiaose, I'll fuck your eight dads..."

Lin Xiaosu was dumbfounded. "What does this have to do with me?"

"It has nothing to do with you, but this old lady has a knot of anger in her chest. Only cursing you won't cost me points!"

Damn!

Lin Xiaosu ran into the flyer.

Changye followed him inside. Outside, Number 88 and Xin Yue were like fighting bulls...

Inside the flyer, Lin Xiaosu turned his gaze toward Changye, smiled faintly, and lowered his voice. "Why won't you let her become formal?"

"You noticed?" Changye smiled faintly as well.

"Of course I noticed. Her inability to become formal has nothing to do with the operation itself. It's simply that Number 88 won't let her become formal. So no matter how outstanding her performance is, he'll find corresponding ways to keep her locked in the Reserve Corps."

Lin Xiaosu had seen everything throughout the operation.

Including the so-called "serious dereliction of duty" Xin Yue had committed.

How should that dereliction be described?

It was entirely subjective.

You could say that because Xin Yue had not obeyed her superior's order, the materials were destroyed.

But considering the circumstances at the time, Xin Yue had seen an enemy right within reach. Could she have ignored the enemy and not dealt with them first?

In other words, whether Xin Yue had rendered merit or violated the rules depended entirely on Number 88's whim.

Number 88 had chosen to erase all the merit she had earned. He was clearly suppressing her deliberately.

Superiors deliberately suppressing subordinates was normal in any organization, but in an organization like Qianlong, Lin Xiaosu felt it was not normal. This was a battlefield of blood and fire. Comrades should be sincere with one another and meet one another with honesty.

Changye said, "Not letting her become formal was my idea. Number 88 is taking the blame for me."

"What?"

"Her temperament needs tempering. While she remains in the Reserve Corps, the Reserve Corps Regulations restrain her. Even if she makes mistakes, they cannot become too serious. But once she becomes formal, if she breaks the rules, she will be bound by the Qianlong Regulations. The Qianlong Regulations have no flexibility."

Lin Xiaosu was utterly taken aback. "This is protection? Such painstaking care?"

"Back then, her grandfather went far away to Luoba Prefecture and entrusted her to me. How could I not protect her?"

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

Changye sighed softly. "How could I say it? She isn't stupid. She already guessed that there was a black hand behind her failure to become formal. She even put that black hand at the very top of her Hate Notebook, grinding her teeth in hatred every day... If I told her that the person she had been painstakingly hunting down, the person whose ancestors' grave she had claimed to dig up in her words, was me, then this little boat of friendship between besties would capsize at the drop of a hat... So Number 88 can only take the blame. Besides, he ranks second in Xin Yue's Hate Notebook."

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

"Want to say I'm fake?" Changye's gaze drifted over.

"Ahem..."

"That's because you don't know how utterly disruptive she can be, and you haven't encountered the Qianlong Regulations. You don't know how merciless the Qianlong Regulations are..." Changye said.

Her voice cut off abruptly because Xin Yue came running over with a frantic little expression.

Number 88 came over too and climbed into the flyer.

The flyer started up and flew over Prison Mountain. Squeaking sounds filled the cabin the entire way.

Xin Yue was grinding her teeth.