Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Textbook-like Action Genius
Their conversation spared Lin Xiaosu a heap of trouble.
He needed to remind them to be cautious of the White Snake, which was extremely special and extremely dangerous, but such a reminder was not an easy task to bring up; besides himself, no one else had known of its appearance in the previous journey. He couldn't possibly tell them that he could Reverse Time and that he had witnessed the White Snake with his own eyes.
That would be too horrifying.
But one must admit the solid foundation of Qianlong.
Chang Ye and No. 88, with their Q&A, solved all the problems.
They adopted the correct method to handle the White Snake.
And so they did for this bunch of grapes.
With the proper handling method, there would be no problem. Once they arrived at Qianlong Headquarters, they would naturally realize how revolutionary this item was and could preclude all dangers in their research because Chang Ye had already precisely identified the dangerous aspects of it, such as the Scale Armor, which was incomparably tough, and the speed, which was unimaginably fast...
Xinyue was lacking in this professional knowledge. Her gaze wandered as she asked, "Hey, two instructors, can I remind everyone not to get dizzy with victory? Although Lin Xiaose led us into this cave and we gained a bunch of stuff, he also led us into a dead end. How are we going to get out?"
From her perspective, this was an absolute rational concern.
The only passage had collapsed at this point, with sand and rocks pouring in, probably only an excavator could dig through. They, no matter how physically capable, were still human, not gods. How could they escape?
However, Lin Xiaosu smiled and said, "Think about it, why would a person planning to escape wear a wetsuit?"
Xinyue's eyebrows furrowed, "Escape through the Underground River? Is there an Underground River here?"
"As the saying goes, 'A crafty rabbit has three burrows!' Someone planning to do misdeeds will always leave a back door! That's also why I dared to lead comrades into a deadly place. Seeing him in the wetsuit, I'm convinced I made the right gamble." Lin Xiaosu strolled along and stopped at a spot in the cave wall after walking over ten meters.
He lightly raised his hand and patted the stone wall.
The stone wall emitted a faint echo, slightly different from the solid stone.
Boom!
A small foot soared into the air!
The stone wall shattered instantly, followed by the sound of rushing water from the Underground River.
Xinyue stood at the edge of the Dark River, smiling triumphantly, "I opened the secret door. I won't ask for much—just 100 points."
"Damn! Your single kick is worth 100 points? Are points that easy to earn in your household?" Lin Xiaosu exclaimed.
"Why don't you try kicking then? If you can kick a huge hole in the stone wall, I'll give you this kick for free..."
"So domineering, so unreasonable! A good door could be opened with a mechanism, yet you chose to smash it with your foot, you're as unyielding as a bull..."
No. 88 and Chang Ye exchanged glances, both seeing a look of admiration in each other's eyes.
"How many times in history has a mission transitioned someone directly from the Reserve to the regular forces of Qianlong?" No. 88 asked.
Chang Ye smiled slightly, "In the world of geniuses, numbers are meaningless."
"Does that mean you agree to endorse it officially, on our names?"
Chang Ye said, "Considering the entire mission, in name you and I were in charge, but in fact, he led all aspects of it. Even if he's already a regular member of Qianlong, such flawless action is only seen in the classic cases of the Qianlong textbooks. Why wouldn't I agree?"
"Let's go, wrap this up!" No. 88 took the lead and jumped into the Dark River.
Xinyue followed closely behind.
Chang Ye took Lin Su's hand and said, "Let's go!"
The helmet of the Qianlong Suit rose up, and the two exchanged a smile, stepping into the Dark River.
Within the Dark River, there was a glimmer of light ahead. Following the light, they emerged from another pool of water.
This pool was in another valley.
They climbed a nearby mountain, and on the other side was a vague glimpse of a highway.
And a city further in the distance.
A year-round Mist swirled behind in the valley.
The dense mountains still filled their view.
But now, the signal was through.
And there was positioning.
Chang Ye stared at the Fog behind, "Beyond the Fog, the signal came through. Could it be that this Fog is the key to signal interference?"
This question had no answer at the moment.
No. 88 raised his hand, sending a signal. Atop a mountain behind them, their autonomous flying vehicle soared into the sky, automatically steering to land before them.
No. 88 approached Chang Ye, "I've made contact with Headquarters. They will take over the follow-up clean-up work; we don't need to get involved."
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"Good!"
"The application for Lin Xiaosu's transition to regular status has been sent, awaiting the council's approval."
Chang Ye smiled.
A tremor went through Lin Xiaosu's heart—his application for regular status had been sent out?
He was going to become a regular?
One mission, from Reserve to a regular member of Qianlong...
Mom, I'm practically a civil servant, not officially, but the duty's prestige is a million times better than a meteorological bureau worker...
"Hey, instructor, what about me? Me!" Xinyue pointed to the tip of her nose.
Sweat was even on the tip of her nose.
Yeah, what about her?
Lin Xiaosu was also a bit puzzled; why did No. 88 mention Lin Xiaosu's application for a full-fledged position but not Xinyue?
Xinyue started out with 853 points and needed only 150 points to reach the full-fledged threshold of a thousand points.
During this journey, the girl worked so hard, how could she possibly not accumulate 150 points?
According to the Reserve Chapter, Lin Xiaosu did a rough estimate, and her points should have increased by at least seven or eight hundred.
"You, not enough points, still need to work harder!" No. 88 said.
Xinyue leaped up furiously: "My points are not enough? I took out seven felons in the valley, according to the Chapter, each felon is worth a hundred points, that's seven hundred! Seven hundred plus 853, can't you do math?"
"1553!" No. 88 answered.
"Isn't that settled then? Passed a thousand points, why not approve this lady's full status?" She got so agitated that she almost blurted out "granny", luckily she caught herself in time, otherwise, she would have lost points again.
No. 88 spoke slowly: "Don't forget, you have points deducted for infractions!"
"What?"
"Before entering the cottage, did I or did I not clearly issue a combat order, telling you to stop the ongoing fight and get inside?"
"You did, but at that time..."
No. 88 interrupted her: "If you had entered the cottage earlier, even if the enemy began the self-destruct sequence, wouldn't there have been ample time to react, a chance to interrupt the self-destruct sequence, thereby obtaining the enemy's research data?"
"Yes, but at that time..."
No. 88 interrupted again: "Does the Reserve Chapter specifically state that those with major dereliction of duty during operations resulting in significant losses will have all earned points wiped?"
"It does, but at that time the battle was rapidly changing, and the enemy was already on my tail, isn't it major dereliction if I deal with the imminent threat before following the superior's orders?"
"I believe, it is!"
"Son of a... " Xinyue jumped to her feet.
No. 88 stared at her coldly: "Come on, finish swearing!"
Xinyue suddenly turned to Lin Xiaosu: "Lin Xiaose, I curse your eight ancestors..."
Lin Xiaosu was dumbfounded: "What did I do?"
"It's not about you, but granny here has a vexed breath to release, only swearing at you doesn't deduct points!"
Damn!
Lin Xiaosu ran into the flying car.
Chang Ye also followed inside, outside, No. 88 and Xinyue were like bulls locking horns...
Inside the flying car, Lin Xiaosu's gaze shifted to Chang Ye, he smiled lightly, lowering his voice: "Why not authorize her full status?"
"You've noticed?" Chang Ye also smiled lightly.
"Of course I've noticed, her not becoming full-fledged has nothing to do with the operation itself; it's simply No. 88 not allowing it. So even if she performs outstandingly, he will take corresponding measures to keep her locked in reserve."
Throughout the operation, Lin Xiaosu watched everything.
Including the so-called "major dereliction" committed by Xinyue.
This dereliction, how should it be put?
It's completely subjective.
You could say that because Xinyue did not follow her superior's orders, crucial data were destroyed.
But if you consider the scene at the time, Xinyue saw the enemy close at hand, could she not deal with the enemy first?
In other words, whether Xinyue is commended or rule-breaking, all depends on the whims of No. 88.
No. 88 merely negated all her merits. Clearly, there was intentional suppression.
Superiors deliberately suppressing subordinates is normal in any organization, but in an organization like Qianlong, Lin Xiaosu felt it shouldn't be the case, because this is a battlefield of blood and fire, where comrades should be genuine and sincerely interact.
Chang Ye said, "Not allowing her full status, that's my intention, No. 88 is taking the punishment for me."
"What?"
"Her temper needs grinding. As long as she's in reserve, the Reserve Chapter reins her in, even if she errs, it's not too severe. But once she becomes an official member, breaking the rules means being bound by the Qianlong Regulations, which lack flexibility."
Lin Xiaosu was taken aback: "Is this protection? Carefully considered?"
"When her grandfather left for Luoba State, he entrusted her to me, how could I not protect her?"
"...You could've just told her outright."
Chang Ye sighed softly, "How to tell her? She's not stupid, she's long suspected that there's a hidden hand keeping her from becoming full-fledged, she's even put that hand at the top of her grudge list, hating with gritting teeth every day... If I tell her, the person you've been bitterly chasing, the person you've cursed to the point of digging up your ancestral grave, that person is me, this sisterhood would flip over... so better to let No. 88 take the fall, anyway, he ranks second on Xinyue's grudge notebook."
Lin Xiaosu rubbed his forehead, his gaze drifting away...
"Think I'm being fake?" Chang Ye's gaze floated over.
"Cough cough..."
"That's because you don't know how disruptive she is, nor have you dealt with the Qianlong Regulations, you don't understand just how inhumane the Qianlong Regulations are..." Chang Ye said.
Her voice abruptly stopped, because Xinyue ran over, with a frenzied little expression.
No. 88 came over too, squeezing into the flying car.
The flying car started up, soared over Lao Mountain, and inside, squeaking sounds persisted throughout the trip.
It was Xinyue grinding her teeth in frustration.
