"Execution by firing squad?"
The interviewees at the National Security Bureau all looked exasperated. You Jilong's expression turned cold as he barked, "Who said that? Step forward!"
Ren Suo turned to look and felt that a heart-stirring figure had flashed through the crowd, but there were too many people for him to see clearly.
You Jilong scanned the more than two hundred interviewees in the hall, his face dark as he continued, "Next, all interviewees will undergo five days of basic training at an intensive training base. All communication with the outside world will be cut off during that time. Anyone unwilling to comply may give up their interview qualification and leave now."
"Five days?"
"And we'll be cut off from communication?"
The sudden news shocked all the interviewees. Someone asked, "You never told us about this before!"
Ren Suo suddenly understood—no wonder they had been told to bring a change of clothes.
"Yes, because this instruction only came down from above three hours ago," You Jilong said blandly. "We're skipping the tedious interview screening and moving directly into basic training, where everyone will be assessed together. We won't force anyone. Those who wish to leave may do so and return directly to their original workplaces."
Li Qingxuan raised her hand and asked, "We'll be living there for five days, but we didn't bring luggage. Things like toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels—we only brought clothes..."
"The base has uniforms in every size and all necessary daily supplies. Underwear can also be purchased immediately," You Jilong said. "They're internally supplied products, unavailable outside, at half the market price for similar goods. UnionPay and Alipay are accepted, so you needn't worry about that."
Someone else asked, "What position are we actually interviewing for?"
"You'll be told once you arrive at the intensive training base," You Jilong said. "I can only say that it's a position in the National Security 18th Bureau. Now, those unwilling to go may leave. Those willing to go, step out and line up when your names are called."
The crowd looked at one another, and quite a few people gradually left the National Security Bureau. They were originally newcomers from other units, whose benefits might even be better than those of the National Security Bureau. They had come to this interview in confusion to begin with, so upon hearing these terms, they naturally stopped hesitating and gave up this so-called interview qualification.
It wasn't as if they didn't already have good jobs. Why put themselves through this?
Within minutes, dozens had left the hall. Ren Suo naturally stayed—he was becoming more and more interested in this National Security 18th Bureau. Besides, the National Security Bureau's benefits really were better than those at the neighborhood office!
Li Qingxuan stayed. Jie Qiansi, Qiao Muyi, and the others stayed as well. Perhaps they had their own calculations, while the rest either wanted to join in the fun or had remained because of the "rumor" Jie Qiansi had mentioned.
Seeing that around a hundred people remained, You Jilong's expression did not change. He took out a list and began calling names. "Wang Fugui, Linghu Yao, Lai Haiwen... step forward!"
Eight men stepped out one after another, took out their ID cards, and handed them to the Black Vests for inspection. Once the checks were complete, the Black Vests led them onto the bus outside.
Li Dan was the one checking Ren Suo. He still looked half-asleep, dark circles hanging beneath his eyes, but he recognized Ren Suo. "It's you."
Ren Suo smiled. "Then can you answer the question I asked last time?"
"Hm?" Li Dan was slightly stunned. "Oh, you asked how that person knocked everyone else unconscious... Wait a few more hours, and you'll find out. Get on the bus. Remember, you're a member of the Eighth Team."
Only one bus remained outside. The earlier bus, already full, had left. When Ren Suo boarded, he saw that Qiao Muyi was already seated inside. His eyes lit up, and he unceremoniously—
"Girls should sit with girls." Li Qingxuan grabbed Ren Suo and smiled as she sat beside Qiao Muyi.
Ren Suo sat behind Qiao Muyi, pondering how he could "touch" Qiao Muyi for over two hours to obtain her key. Then, to his surprise, Jie Qiansi sat beside him too. Ren Suo naturally put on a disgusted expression. "Um, isn't it bad for guys to sit with guys?"
Jie Qiansi could not be bothered with him. He kept talking to Li Qingxuan and Qiao Muyi in front, took out his phone to add Qiao Muyi on WeChat, then repeated the line he had used earlier. "If everyone discusses things together, we can exchange information and help each other..."
Although there were quite a few girls among the interviewees, Li Qingxuan and Qiao Muyi were still above average among them. No wonder Jie Qiansi was so eager.
By then, the bus was full. A black vest boarded and announced loudly, "If you need to notify your families, do so quickly. Once we enter the base, all phones will be collected together."
"They won't even let us use our phones?" The people on the bus reacted strongly. Xuan Kingdom had fully entered the age of smart devices, and for young people like them, going a day without playing with their phones was as rare as an online game player not claiming their daily login rewards.
They had thought being cut off from the outside world merely meant they would not be allowed to use their phones normally. They had not expected that they would not even be allowed to keep them. Some people who had hurriedly bought short-term data packages to download movies and novels stopped what they were doing. Now, they could not even be offline users.
Jie Qiansi looked especially miserable. He had created a WeChat group and invited people in because he planned to use WeChat to communicate. Now that their phones were gone, the group was naturally useless...
Ren Suo lived alone, so he had nothing to worry about. He only needed to post on Moments to tell his family that he would be attending civil servant intensive training for the next few days.
Five hours later, Ren Suo and the others had completely left the Lianjiang City area and entered the vicinity of the Qingping Mountain Range. Hours of continuous travel made people tired and sleepy. Most of the people on the bus had adjusted their seats and fallen asleep. Seeing that nearly everyone around him was asleep, Ren Suo quietly stretched his wicked hand from his lap toward Qiao Muyi...
"Key detected."
"The key is asleep. Beginning acquisition."
"The key has already formed. Acquisition will require 303 seconds. Contact must be maintained throughout the process. 302, 301, 300..."
What? So with Qiao Muyi asleep, Ren Suo only needed about five minutes to finish with her?
However, Qiao Muyi shifted slightly, mumbled, and turned her head, only to see a hand resting on her shoulder.
She saw Ren Suo behind her, leaning against her seat and sleeping soundly, one lecherous hand lightly resting against her shoulder. Qiao Muyi extended a finger and flicked Ren Suo's hand away.
"Search interrupted."
Ren Suo mumbled and pretended to be sleeping uncomfortably before lying back down, wondering, Did she just happen to wake up, or did touching the key wake her up?
Still, learning that the acquisition time for a sleeping "key" would be drastically shortened was already an enormous surprise for Ren Suo—there was still a treasure chest at home waiting to be opened. Now that he had discovered Qiao Muyi, he definitely would not miss this chance. He would have more opportunities over the next few days of intensive training.
The sky outside gradually darkened, and Ren Suo's stomach told him it was nearly time to eat. At that moment, the bus finally passed through a military checkpoint and drove into a hidden base deep in the mountains.
After sitting in the bus for hours, Ren Suo finally got off. He stretched lazily and felt every bone in his body crack.
"There sure are a lot of buses here."
Ren Suo saw more than ten buses parked in the base and spoke thoughtfully.
"It's not just people from Lianjiang City," Jie Qiansi said, somewhat surprised. "Those vehicles have plates from nearby Yuanshi City and Pingjiang City... These buses were all temporarily hired by the National Security Bureau."
"So that means all civil servants across the province who meet the National Security Bureau's requirements have gathered here?" Ren Suo asked.
Suddenly, they heard someone beside them say, "With everyone gathered in such a remote place, they could execute us all and even save the trouble of dumping the bodies."
Before you continue