Chapter 15: The 101st Training Ground

Inside the flying car, it was as though one had stepped into the heart of the starry sky.

Everywhere the eye could see, points of light shimmered and danced.

An ordinary person would be dazzled at a glance. Even Lin Xiaosu, with his peerless Divine Eyes, could only discern the twinkling lights, unable to fathom the reasons behind their flickering.

There was no one inside; the vehicle was piloted entirely by itself.

Changye settled comfortably into a reclining chair and spoke offhandedly, "One-oh-one!"

In that instant, a stream of light flashed, their bodies felt weightless, and Lin Xiaosu was whisked away with the flying car.

Nothing outside was visible—not the slightest glimpse—but the sensation of speed was palpable; in a heartbeat, they had reached a realm of velocity beyond imagination.

"What does ‘one-oh-one’ mean?" Lin Xiaosu asked, settling into the seat beside her.

"It’s a rather interesting symbol," Changye replied, a faint smile playing at her lips.

"A symbol? Isn’t it just a number?"

"It is a number, but to truly grasp its meaning, you have to interpret it from its form... The ‘0’ represents the Earth, while the two ‘1’s beside it stand for pillars."

Lin Xiaosu leaned his head back slightly. "The two pillars of the Earth... And you say I’m the narcissist. I think it’s you people who are truly self-obsessed... Is it not possible to see outside from within this car?"

"You can, but at the moment, you don’t have the clearance."

"When will I have it?"

"In principle, you’ll need to earn the Hidden Dragon Gold Medal, or at the very least, pass the training assessment. Any other questions?" Changye asked.

"Just one last thing..." Lin Xiaosu ran his hand over the car’s exquisite interior. "With our salaries, how many years would it take to afford a flying car like this?"

Changye shook her head lightly. "You’re still hung up on income, aren’t you?"

"Of course. Isn’t that what any job applicant cares about most?"

"Can you broaden your horizons a little?"

"Alright, let me ask something bold... If I work hard, is it possible to buy a car and a house within a year? This kind of car, and a home in the provincial capital..."

Changye’s head thudded softly against the backrest as she muttered, "Comrade Xiao Lin, you really shouldn’t speak this way at the base. Any utterance that ties your thoughts to material wealth will only make your assessment more difficult. For a Hidden Dragon member, being fixated on making money is a serious taboo..."

"It seems we have a major difference in philosophy," Lin Xiaosu replied. "I know you’re wholly devoted to serving the nation, but surely serving one’s country and pursuing personal goals aren’t mutually exclusive? I once had a friend who said something that sounded trivial at first, but on reflection, it made a lot of sense: ‘If a person has no personal ambition at all, can you really expect them to work for the people’s welfare?’ Which brings us to that ancient adage: ‘He who cannot manage his own home cannot hope to rule the world.’ If someone won’t take responsibility for their own family, how can they be responsible for anyone else?"

Changye glanced at him. "That friend of yours—was it Li Diandian?"

"No, of course not! She’s too pure-hearted... The only one not so pure is me!"

"Hmm..." Changye nodded gently. "Though you still reek of the stench of money, and hedonism seems to run deep in your bones, you’ve at least one redeeming trait: you’re loyal and don’t cause trouble for your comrades. Not bad. If this were an assessment, you wouldn’t be far from passing..."

Now it was Lin Xiaosu’s turn for his head to knock against the backrest.

So, even this journey was part of the assessment. Every word and deed under scrutiny—damn, I’m just an ordinary college student, filled with a host of human desires. If you’re going to assess me by the standards of a machine, I might as well pack up and go home...

After about three hours, the flying car descended.

As the doors opened, Lin Xiaosu was left dumbfounded.

Before him lay an island, vast and sprawling, with mountains, rivers, forests, and all manner of modern architecture—a place that looked as though it had been built as a luxury resort, and behind him, everywhere he looked, there was only the sea.

Within his field of vision, there was not a single other patch of land.

The sea and sky merged into one, and there was no telling where he was.

"Guess where you are right now?" came Changye’s voice. The sea breeze had picked up, but her hair remained perfectly still—naturally, for she was a Poisoner, and every strand was a deadly weapon. Under normal circumstances, not a single hair would be out of place.

Lin Xiaosu took out his phone.

It displayed the time, but the location was unknown and the signal was restricted.

Changye laughed. "You were hoping to check your location here with your phone? What were you thinking?"

"So it’s completely cut off?"

"There is satellite coverage on the island, but you haven’t been granted access. Luckily, you and your mother have already requested leave, and as my research shows, you’re not in a relationship."

Not having a girlfriend now counted as luck!

Damn, if that’s not a tragedy, what is?

Lin Xiaosu’s gaze flickered. "So your question was another assessment?"

"An assessment... of what?" Changye asked.

"You want to see if I can deduce where I am without any technological aid?"

Changye smiled. "You’re mistaken! For something to be an assessment, there must be a real chance of success. What you described is impossible, so it’s not an assessment. I simply wanted you to understand your current situation."

Lin Xiaosu’s heart skipped a beat.

He seemed to have glimpsed the hidden depths of Hidden Dragon—depths that were profound, yet still bounded.

For instance, even someone as important as Changye could make a mistake.

She claimed that without technological assistance, it was impossible to deduce one’s location. In theory, she said, it couldn’t be done.

That was an error.

In truth, it was theoretically possible.

How? As long as you have the sun and the time.

The Earth revolves around the sun, and as the seasons change, the direction of sunlight shifts in a predictable pattern. In winter, the sun shines directly on the southern hemisphere; in summer, the northern. At any given time, the sunlight received at each latitude and longitude differs.

If someone could internalize this vast database—matching the sun’s angle to the time of day—they could, in theory, deduce their location.

That’s the theory.

Of course, turning theory into practice is no simple feat. A supercomputer might manage it, but a human brain could not.

But who’s to say what a mind like "Ren Dao Lan Xin" is capable of?

Lin Xiaosu didn’t pursue this bizarre line of questioning further. Instead, he took the card Changye gave him and entered his assigned testing area.

The Hidden Dragon’s test quarters for newcomers were nothing like standard military barracks—they were a thousand times more luxurious.

His room was like a hotel suite.

A five-star suite, at that.

There was a living room, a bathroom, a restroom, even a kitchen. What he hadn’t expected was that there was also a hostess...

The moment he walked in, he saw a tall woman, her beauty rivaling that of Tiger Girl, standing before him with a smile. "Mr. Lin, I am your personal assistant, Xiao Luo."

"Personal assistant? And what exactly do you do?" Lin Xiaosu inquired.

"I cook for you, wash your clothes, and answer any questions you might have..."

The treatment here was remarkable—even the training offered personal assistants. Lin Xiaosu sat down. "You can cook, you say?"

"Yes, all eight major cuisines and seventy-two regional snacks—I can make them all!"

"Can you make Xuehua Rice Cakes from Fengcheng?"

"I can!"

"Could you make some for me?"

"I can’t," Xiao Luo replied. "You haven’t been granted the necessary clearance."

"Come on, not this clearance business again? We’re going to be comrades from now on—no need to be so rigid, is there? It’s just a meal, not a matter of principle."

"I’m sorry, I can’t! Because I’m not human—I’m a simulation robot!" Xiao Luo blinked her eyes at him.

Lin Xiaosu’s own eyes went wide.

His Divine Eyes could truly see through to the tiniest detail, but at first glance he hadn’t realized the woman before him was a robot. Only now, with her admission, did he look closely and finally see: she really was a simulation robot. Her hair, skin, eyes, lips, and teeth—all of it.

Absolutely flawless, but so perfect as to be unreal.

"So what do I need to do to unlock clearance?"

"Here’s the clearance chart—you can have a look..."

With a gentle blink, Xiao Luo projected a hologram into the room, displaying a clear table of clearance levels.

Her functions were many and powerful, but the permissions were equally complex.

The test area was divided into five types, or directions.

One was Combat.

One was Firearms and Equipment.

One was Espionage.

One was Medicine.

One was Special Operations.

They didn’t require anyone to be an all-rounder; each person could choose the path best suited to them.

Every test area had its own assessment criteria. Pass the assessment, and you could unlock your assistant’s permissions.

Perhaps the assistant’s true function was to serve as a constant incentive—reminding you to strive for success. Otherwise, when everyone else’s assistant has advanced permissions and yours is standing beside you with a pout, can you bear it?

After perusing the details, Lin Xiaosu was left a bit speechless. "So even though I have a personal assistant who can cook all eight major cuisines, when I’m starving, I still have to take a bowl to the canteen like everyone else?"

Like magic, the assistant produced a bowl from behind her and handed it to him.

Lin Xiaosu accepted the bowl and headed to the canteen.

Along the way, he finally saw some fellow newcomers.

In fact, there were quite a few.

Ahead, three long queues had formed in the canteen—men and women alike. They all had bronzed skin, the kind that comes from repeated exposure to the sun.

Chances were high that nearly all of them were soldiers—elite ones, at that.

Hidden Dragon’s selection process had two main channels.

The primary route was to pick the best soldiers from the military and the top police officers from law enforcement.

The alternative, less common route was civilian selection.

A pretty boy like him, walking among a group of battle-hardened elite soldiers, was an oddity.

Among the other obvious civilians was a thin young man, head bowed, looking a bit shy.

Yes, when facing these kings of the battlefield, those chosen from civilian life couldn’t help but feel less confident.