The next day's teamwork training began at six in the morning.
Training Room Three had been converted into a simulated Hollow environment-artificial Ether mist filled the air, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.
Obstacles littered the floor, and dummy targets simulating Ethereals appeared and disappeared in the mist.
"The rules are simple."
Willowisp's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Groups of four, clear all targets within forty minutes. All members of Obol Squad will participate. Lin Shuo, you're with Soldier 11."
Lin Shuo looked at Soldier 11.
The white-haired girl was already fully equipped, twin blades hanging at her waist, her orange eyes glowing faintly in the mist.
She nodded at him in greeting.
"Team competition," Willowisp added.
"Orphie and Trigger are together. Seed will operate alone-but her mech, Old Seed, will serve as an environmental obstacle.
Whichever team clears more targets wins-the losing team... will clean the toilets throughout the entire camp tonight."
Orphie sucked in a breath. "Captain! That's way too-"
"Too what?" Willowisp interrupted. "Nobody on a battlefield cares about fairness. Begin!"
The whistle sounded.
Lin Shuo charged out almost reflexively.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated instantly, his vision piercing the Ether mist and locking onto the nearest dummy target-a simulated "Antimony-class Ethereal," slow-moving and with obvious weak points.
He drew his issued military saber, its blade flashing coldly through the mist.
Three seconds later, the dummy target was cleaved in two.
"Wait!" Soldier 11 called from behind him. "Teamwork doesn't mean-"
Lin Shuo wasn't listening.
He was already charging toward the second target.
This was how he fought-what he had learned in the laboratory: eliminate threats as quickly as possible, rely on no one, trust no one.
The third target.
The fourth.
His movements were clean and efficient, every slash striking a weak point with precision. The informational advantage his Sharingan provided made it feel like shooting stationary targets.
But when he reached the fifth target-
Bang!
A rubber training bullet struck the dummy target squarely in the head.
The target burst apart.
Lin Shuo turned.
Soldier 11 stood twenty meters away, smoke still rising from the muzzle of her pistol.
"That one was mine."
Her tone remained level. "You rushed ahead too fast and didn't check the team markings."
Only then did Lin Shuo notice the subtle colored markings on the dummy targets-blue represented Soldier 11's team, red represented Orphie's team, and gray marked Seed's obstacles.
Of the four he had just destroyed... three had been blue, and one red.
"You're scoring points for our opponents."
Soldier 11 walked over to him. "First lesson in teamwork: distinguish friend from foe."
Lin Shuo fell silent for a few seconds.
"...Sorry."
"No need to apologize."
Soldier 11 holstered her pistol. "Follow me. Listen to my commands this time."
For the next ten minutes, Lin Shuo forced himself to stay behind Soldier 11.
It felt awkward.
He was used to making his own judgments and acting on his own.
Now he had to follow someone else's instructions-even if those instructions made sense.
"Three o'clock, two targets, fifteen meters apart. I'll take the left, you take the right."
"Understood."
"Watch the ground. Seed has laid traps."
"I see them."
"Stop-the mist ahead is abnormally dense. There may be a simulated Ether storm."
They both stopped.
The Ether mist ahead was indeed churning violently, its color shifting from pale gray to dark red-a training-system simulation of an "Ether storm." Entering it would trigger an alarm and count as being "killed in action."
"We'll go around," Soldier 11 said.
"From the west-"
Before she finished, three dummy targets suddenly rushed out of the mist.
No, they weren't dummy targets.
They were other recruits-somehow, they had wandered into the training area. They were still wearing training uniforms, but their movements were frantic. Clearly, the "Ether storm" had driven them out.
"Move!"
The soldier in front saw Lin Shuo, and his expression changed. "Get out of the way, monster!"
Lin Shuo's gaze turned cold.
"What did you say?"
"I said get out of the way!"
The soldier waved his training baton. "Don't block us! The storm's coming!"
His two companions were also staring nervously at the churning mist, paying no attention at all to Lin Shuo and Soldier 11.
Soldier 11 stepped forward. "The training areas have overlapped-evacuate with us. There's a safe passage to the west-"
"Who wants to go with you?!" The soldier shoved Soldier 11 aside. "Especially with this monster!"
The instant he shoved her, Lin Shuo moved.
It wasn't an attack-he stepped sideways in front of Soldier 11 and caught the soldier's wrist with one hand.
He used very little strength, but it was enough to immobilize him.
"Apologize," Lin Shuo said coldly.
"Apologize my fucking ass! Let go!"
Seeing this, the other two soldiers closed in as well.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
"Lin Shuo..." Soldier 11 said quietly.
"Let him go... training comes first."
Lin Shuo stared into the soldier's eyes.
There was fear in them, disgust, and... that familiar look people gave a monster.
Just like the researchers in the laboratory.
Just like the people whispering in the mess hall.
He released his grip.
"Get lost."
The soldier staggered back, shot Lin Shuo a vicious glare, and ran off with his companions.
The mist grew thicker, the dark red almost swallowing the entire training room.
"We're evacuating too."
Soldier 11 turned. "Stay close-"
She didn't finish.
Because Lin Shuo suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Something's wrong."
"What?"
"The mist isn't spreading at the right speed."
Lin Shuo stared at the churning mist, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning rapidly. "A normal Ether storm spreads evenly, but this one... fluctuates in a regular pattern."
He paused. "It's Seed."
The moment he spoke, the hum of machinery came from within the mist.
The outline of a massive mech emerged through the red fog-it was Old Seed.
Inside the cockpit, the blue-haired girl was leaning over the control console, drawing something on a tablet with a stylus, without looking outside at all.
"She's controlling the mist."
Lin Shuo said, "She changed the training system's Ether concentration parameters to create a fake storm... the real safe zone is at the center of the storm."
Soldier 11 froze briefly. "How do you know?"
"My eyes can see the paths of Ether flow."
Lin Shuo explained simply, "There's a gap in the center of the storm where the Ether concentration is actually lowest-that's the safe zone she left for herself, and it's also a trap."
He looked at Soldier 11. "Care to gamble?"
Soldier 11 stared at him for two seconds, then nodded.
"Lead the way."
They charged into the dark red mist.
Visibility was almost zero, but Lin Shuo's Sharingan could clearly see the paths of Ether flow.
Pulling Soldier 11 along, he threaded through the mist, avoiding the areas of high concentration.
Ten seconds later, they burst through the wall of mist.
Before them was a "hollow" roughly five meters in diameter-the mist was thin here, and visibility had returned to normal.
At its center, Seed crouched beside Old Seed's cockpit, recording data on her tablet with a stylus.
Seeing them appear, she raised her head.
"You found it."
Her voice was as airy as ever. "Two minutes and seventeen seconds faster than projected."
"You were testing us?" Soldier 11 asked.
"Testing him."
Seed pointed at Lin Shuo. "Captain's orders: assess the new member's ability to adapt under extreme conditions-you passed."
Lin Shuo frowned. "So all that just now-"
"Part of the training."
Willowisp's voice suddenly came through the communicator. "Lin Shuo, well done. You too, Soldier 11-even if he was the one leading you around."
The mist began to disperse.
Orphie and Trigger emerged from the other side of the training room.
Orphie looked a little bedraggled, droplets condensed from the mist clinging to her orange hair.
Trigger, by contrast, was composed, her eye covering's indicator flashing a green that meant "satisfied."
"So who won?"
Orphie asked.
Willowisp snorted. "A tie-Lin Shuo destroyed three friendly targets, so points deducted.
But he discovered Seed's trap, so points added-the final result: both teams cleared the same number of targets."
She paused. "So tonight's toilets... everyone cleans."
"Whaaat?!" Orphie wailed.
In the showers after training, Lin Shuo stood in the stall in the farthest corner.
Hot water washed over his body, carrying away the fatigue from training. But the scenes from earlier kept replaying in his mind-
The way those soldiers had looked at him.
Soldier 11 saying, "First lesson in teamwork."
Seed's test.
Willowisp's "well done."
He didn't understand.
In the laboratory, everything had been simple: complete the tests, record the data, avoid punishment.
But here... what was right? What was wrong? How was he supposed to get along with people?
He didn't know.
"Lin Shuo?" Orphie's voice came from outside the stall.
"Are you done? Trigger said... uh, she wants to talk to you."
Lin Shuo turned off the water, dried himself, and changed into a clean training uniform.
When he left the showers, Trigger was waiting for him, leaning against the wall outside.
Her eye covering's indicator glowed a soft green.
"Have some time?" she asked.
Lin Shuo nodded.
They walked to the corridor outside the training room and sat on a bench.
The evening sunlight slanted in, casting long shadows across the floor.
"About what happened today."
Trigger began, "Don't take what those recruits said too much to heart."
"...I didn't."
"You cared."
Trigger sounded certain. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have grabbed his wrist."
Lin Shuo was silent.
"I'm not blaming you."
Trigger continued, "On the contrary, I think you did the right thing-protecting your teammates is the Obol Squad's first rule."
She paused. "But you could have handled it better-for example, you could have warned him first instead of getting physical right away."
"Would a warning have worked?"
"Not necessarily-but at least it would have given him a choice."
Trigger turned her head to "look" toward Lin Shuo-although she couldn't see, Lin Shuo could feel her attention.
"Lin Shuo, I know you're used to fighting alone. In the lab, you could only rely on yourself-but here..."
She said softly, "You have teammates now-people you can trust."
Lin Shuo clenched his hands on his knees.
Trust.
The word was so unfamiliar.
"I don't understand."
He finally said, "How do I trust people? How do I... be a normal person?"
Trigger smiled.
It wasn't a mocking smile, but a gentle, understanding one.
"At Obsidian Camp... nobody is 'normal.'"
She said, "Orphie is a clone, Soldier 11 is a modified soldier, Seed... Seed is Seed-I don't even have eyes... but together, we're the Obol Squad."
She paused. "So you don't have to force yourself to become 'normal.'
"Just learn to... trust your teammates to watch your back when you need them. That's enough."
The corridor fell quiet.
In the distance came the clamor of other soldiers finishing their training.
Lin Shuo looked at Trigger for a long time before asking softly, "Why... are you all so good to me?"
Trigger tilted her head. "Because you're our teammate. Isn't that reason enough?"
Was it enough?
Lin Shuo didn't know.
But he remembered the red bean bun Orphie had handed him.
He remembered Soldier 11 saying, "Keep up with me."
He remembered Seed's words: "You passed."
He remembered what Trigger had just said about trusting his teammates to watch his back.
Maybe... it was enough.
"Thank you," he said.
This time, his voice was more sincere than ever before.
Trigger stood and patted his shoulder. "You're welcome. Oh, right, don't forget we're cleaning the toilets after dinner-that's an important part of 'teamwork.'"
She left with a smile.
Lin Shuo sat on the bench, looking at the sunset outside the window.
Golden light spilled over the camp's buildings, gilding the cold metal with a layer of warmth.
He suddenly remembered something Qian An had once said:
"Sometimes, light doesn't appear all at once. It seeps in through the cracks, little by little."
Maybe... he was in a crack right now.
But at least some light was seeping in.
Even if it was faint.
Even if it still needed time.
At least it was there.
That was enough.
"Lin Shuo!"
Orphie came running from the other end of the corridor, another paper bag in her hand.
"Red bean buns! The cafeteria made bean paste ones and cream ones today. I brought you two!"
She ran up to Lin Shuo, pushed the paper bag into his hands, then crouched down and looked at him with sparkling eyes.
"Um... we have training again tomorrow... let's both do our best!"
Lin Shuo looked at the paper bag in his hands, then at Orphie.
Then he nodded.
"Yeah."
The corners of his mouth lifted just a little.
It was still very stiff.
But at least... it was a smile.
Orphie froze for a moment, then blushed.
"Y-you smiled..."
Lin Shuo turned his face away.
"...No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did! I saw it!"
"You saw wrong."
"I did not!"
Their shadows stretched long beneath the setting sun.
In the distance, Soldier 11 leaned against a wall, watching the scene, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly too.
Willowisp's voice came from the communicator on her shoulder. "How's it going?"
"He's making progress," Soldier 11 said.
"Slowly, but he really is making progress."
"Good." Willowisp huffed. "At least arranging this training wasn't a waste of my time."
The call ended.
Soldier 11 watched the two in the corridor for a long time before turning to leave.
Meanwhile, Lin Shuo was still arguing with Orphie over whether he had actually smiled.
Cleaning the toilets that night was... not as bad as Lin Shuo had imagined.
Orphie hummed an off-key military song as she wiped the partitions, Trigger used her millimeter-precise control to spray disinfectant in an even mist, and Soldier 11 silently but efficiently cleaned the dirtiest corners.
Seed even controlled one of Old Seed's mechanical arms to carry a bucket back and forth with water-though he nearly spilled it on Willowisp's tail along the way.
"Hey! Watch it!"
Electrical sparks crackled from Willowisp's muzzle.
"The margin of error is within acceptable limits."
Seed answered calmly, his rectangular pupils fixed on the data pad.
Lin Shuo was assigned to mop the floor.
He took it very seriously, his movements as precise as if he were carrying out a tactical mission-he missed none of the gaps between the tiles, and every streak of water had to run in the same direction.
"You don't have to be so thorough."
Orphie wiped away her sweat. "It'll get dirty again tomorrow anyway."
"If you're going to do it, do it properly." Lin Shuo didn't even look up.
Trigger chuckled beside him. "With that personality... you'll probably plan missions down to the second in the future."
"There's nothing wrong with that."
Soldier 11 chimed in.
"At least he won't be late."
It was already nine in the evening when they finished cleaning.
Everyone stood before the newly refreshed toilets-they were really just ordinarily clean, but by military camp standards, that already counted as "sparkling."
"Pass."
Willowisp announced, "Dismissed. Go get some rest-Training Room Three, six tomorrow morning-real team tactical training."
On the way back, Orphie skipped ahead, her orange ponytail swaying in the night.
"See you tomorrow, Lin Shuo!"
"Yeah."
Lin Shuo returned to his single room.
After closing the door, he leaned against it, feeling the slight ache in his muscles-not from training, but from keeping his body tense the entire time he had been cleaning the toilets.
It was strange.
Back in the lab, he had also been tired after high-intensity tests.
But that exhaustion had been empty, as though every ounce of strength had been hollowed out, leaving only a shell.
The exhaustion now... was different.
His body was tired, but somewhere inside, it felt as though something had filled him up just a little.
He walked to the window and looked at the camp's lights.
In the distance, Orphie and Trigger were walking back to the women's barracks together, Soldier 11 was heading toward the tactical analysis room alone, and Seed... who knew where he had disappeared to this time.
These people.
These... teammates.
He still didn't understand how to get along with them, how to "trust," or how to "be a normal person."
But at least tonight's red bean buns had been sweet.
At least nobody had complained while cleaning the toilets.
At least... they called him "Lin Shuo," not "test subject" or "monster."
That was enough.
There were only a few stars in the night sky outside his window.
But Lin Shuo felt that perhaps one day, he would truly be able to see those stars.
Not through a laboratory window.
Not through the gloom of a Hollow.
But... together with these people.
He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
That faint trace of a smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth, unnoticed even by him.
(PS: Four chapters in a row today. Besides the sudden inspiration I got after grinding through Honkai: Star Rail's story and getting stabbed in the feels, this is mostly a way to give back to the readers willing to tip-and thank you all for your continued support, requests for updates, comments, and tips.
Also, I recently set up a big ZZZ family. Click on my profile and enter the string of code below into QQ to join.
The first ten members to arrive can become admins.)