I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

The formal training that Cheng Fang had mentioned arrived on time the following afternoon.

All the main lights in the negative seven simulation area were turned off, leaving only a few dim red safety lights on the ground.

The light was barely enough to make out the outlines of the people around you, but you couldn't see what was ten meters away.

Immediately afterwards, high-frequency white noise rang out from all directions.

A sharp buzzing sound drilled into his ears, like someone was drilling into Lin Ye's brain.

The sounds that were originally hidden in the darkness were all suppressed.

Footsteps, breathing, and the sound of machinery churning together.

Cheng Fang's voice came through the headphones.

"Group Two, begin."

The next second, communication was interrupted.

Lin Ye: "..."

The training conditions are clearly stated.

Low light throughout the area.

High-frequency white noise interference.

Communication was intermittently interrupted.

Two opposing ability users.

The task has eight minutes.

It's one thing to write it on the screen, but quite another to actually get it in.

Lin Ye reached out to his left, but didn't touch anyone.

He had just taken half a step forward when a thin thread suddenly wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back forcefully.

He stopped instinctively.

A burst of compressed air grazed his face and slammed into the wall behind him.

The red sensor light lit up instantly.

One more step forward, and he would have been hit.

Tang Zhi's silken threads trembled twice on his wrist.

Lin Ye didn't understand what she meant.

Should we tell him to stop, or to back up?

In the darkness, Qin Zhao's embers shone for a fleeting moment.

The dark red firelight illuminated the figures ahead.

An instructor wearing a blue training vest was hiding behind the shelves, his arm facing them.

Cheng Fang rushed out from the side, his shoulder smashing directly through the shelf.

With a loud bang.

The instructors were forced to retreat.

Qin Zhao then put away the embers.

Darkness descended once more.

Lin Ye tried hard to distinguish the sounds under the white noise.

There are footsteps to the left front.

There was another breath on the right.

wrong.

The breathing on the right paused for the same amount of time each time, as if it had been pre-recorded.

Just as Lin Ye was about to report the location, he realized that the communication had been cut off.

He could only reach out and grab Tang Zhi's tendrils, trying to pull them slightly to the left.

Tang Zhi clearly didn't understand.

The thread pulled back slightly, as if asking him what he wanted to do.

During those few seconds of hesitation, a blue light suddenly flashed on the right side.

A second instructor rushed out from around the corner, firing a series of bursts from his training gun.

boom!boom!

Xu Mian and Qin Zhao's training vests both lit up with yellow lights.

"Member Xu Mian sustained minor injuries."

"Member Qin Zhao, minor injuries."

Cheng Fang said in a deep voice, "Withdraw."

The five people quickly retreated into the side passage.

Communication has just been restored.

Lin Ye immediately spoke:

"The one on the right is real, the breathing sound on the left front is a recording."

"distance?"

"About fifteen meters to the right front."

Xu Mian's shadow slid out along the dark red floor lamp.

The low light made the edges of the shadows somewhat blurry, but they were still visible.

A few seconds later, she whispered, "Confirmed, one person on the right front. No live targets on the left."

"Tang Zhi blocks the road, Qin Zhao handles the right side."

"Xu Mian, find the exit; Lin Ye, follow closely."

Several people acted at the same time.

It went much better than the first team training session.

But when the eight minutes were up, they had just found the simulated storage box; the wounded were still on another level.

The system announced:

"Mission failed."

The main light came on, and the white noise stopped abruptly.

The world suddenly fell silent, but a buzzing sound lingered in Lin Ye's ears.

Tang Zhi withdrew the silk thread and let out a long breath.

"This white noise is truly awful."

Qin Zhao looked down at the yellow motion sensor light on his shoulder.

"You're pulling too slowly."

Tang Zhi looked at him.

"I'm using one string to hold four people; do you think I'm walking a dog?"

Qin Zhao said calmly, "Dogs generally don't run in four directions."

Lin Ye stood to the side.

"I feel like I've been subtly insulted."

"It's not a feeling."

In the review room, Cheng Fang projected the training video onto the screen.

"The problem in this round is not capability."

He paused the video.

The five people on the screen weren't standing far apart, but their movements immediately became chaotic as soon as the communication was cut off.

"You only know how to cooperate using communicators."

"Once the channel is disconnected, you have no idea what your teammates are trying to do."

Tang Zhi asked, "Will we not need to communicate anymore?"

"use."

Cheng Fang said, "But we can't just rely on it."

He displayed a set of silence signals on the screen.

Pull the thread slightly, then stop.

Two strikes, then retreat.

Three steps forward.

Xu Mian's shadow tapped once, signaling that the path ahead was safe.

The target was spotted twice.

The continuous tapping indicates danger is approaching.

Lin Ye was responsible for using hand gestures to supplement the location and quantity.

Cheng Fang was responsible for deciding whether to advance or retreat.

"Everyone, remember your place."

"When something happens, you don't need to look for anyone; you should know who's around just by reaching out your hand."

Tang Zhi glanced at Lin Ye.

"Then he'd better not get lost again."

Lin Ye said, "Last time it was because the lights were too dim."

Qin Zhao said, "If a black light isn't black, is it supposed to be called a white light?"

Lin Ye decided to save his energy.

For the next few days, Group Two spent almost all their time in the negative seven simulation zone.

White noise, low light, communication interruption, random route changes.

The training conditions are becoming more and more unreasonable every day.

On the first day, they were four minutes overtime.

The next day, the wounded were rescued, and the storage box was left on the second floor.

On the third day, the boxes and the wounded were brought out, but Qin Zhao was deemed incapacitated.

Individual training has not stopped.

Lin Ye continued his morning training with weights and shooting practice, and his accuracy on fixed targets gradually stabilized at around 70%.

Moving targets are still not very good, but at least you won't be hitting nothing with a whole magazine anymore.

I went to the simulation area in the afternoon and reviewed the game in the evening.

When he gets back to his dorm, he usually feels too tired to even talk.

Lu Zhixia would occasionally send him messages.

"Have you got a meal yet?"

Lin Ye replied from his bed:

"I ate it. I almost ate the walls of the virtual shopping mall today too."

Lu Zhixia quickly replied:

"Didn't pass the training again?"

Lin Ye stared at the screen for two seconds.

How did you know?

"You wouldn't say that now."

Lin Ye felt that she was understanding him more and more.

It's unclear whether this is good news or a warning sign.

On the fourth day, Cheng Fang arranged for a completely silent training session.

The scene this time is an abandoned hospital.

The mission is to locate three wounded soldiers, confirm whether one of them has been affected by any abnormalities, and then evacuate them to a safe location.

Less than a minute into the show, Lin Ye heard footsteps around the corner.

Two people.

One fast, one slow.

He raised two fingers and pointed to the two o'clock position.

Qin Zhao immediately turned the gun barrel.

Xu Mian's shadow slid along the wall and tapped lightly twice on the ground.

There is a goal.

Cheng Fang raised his hand and clenched his fist.

The whole team stopped.

The next second, two moving targets rushed out of the ward.

Qin Zhao fired two shots.

The sensing area simultaneously lights up with a green light.

In the past, when faced with this situation, Lin Ye would have wanted to recount every single detail he heard.

Now he only provides direction and quantity.

Xu Mian confirmed.

Qin Zhao handled it.

Cheng Fang made the decision.

Nobody needs him to do everything by himself.

When I reached the second floor, I suddenly heard a cracking sound overhead.

Lin Ye had just looked up when his waist tightened.

Tang Zhi's tendrils entangled him, pulling him back a meter.

The training board hit the spot where he had just been standing.

Lin Ye staggered two steps and bumped into Tang Zhi's shoulder.

He opened his mouth as if to speak.

Tang Zhi covered his mouth and pointed to the silence sign on the wall.

Lin Ye nodded and raised his hand to say thank you.

Tang Zhi let go of him and patted him on the shoulder twice.

They completed the training in nine minutes and eight seconds.

All three wounded soldiers have been found.

The abnormal target was successfully separated.

Everyone evacuated.

System evaluation:

good.

After the lights came on, Tang Zhi, while reeling in the silk threads, sighed:

"I understand now."

Lin Ye asked, "What?"

"Some people just have to be kept in check."

Qin Zhao put the training gun back into its holster.

"agree."

Xu Mian lowered her head to record the data, and her shoulder trembled slightly.

Lin Ye looked at her.

"You just laughed, didn't you?"

Xu Mian immediately shook her head.

"no."

"You've been going astray lately."

Xu Mian thought about it seriously.

"It might be teamwork."

By the seventh day, they were able to maintain their formation even when communication was interrupted.

The distances reported by Lin Ye are getting shorter and shorter.

"Twenty meters to the left front, two people."

"Second floor mechanical target, hold for now."

"There's no wind in passage number three; it seems like a dead end."

Sometimes, he would have barely finished giving directions when Qin Zhao's gun would already be pointed at him.

Sometimes, Xu Mian's shadow would only knock twice, and he would know there was someone behind the door.

Tang Zhi doesn't need to turn around to accurately throw the silk threads onto each person.

Cheng Fang's orders became shorter and shorter.

"Enter."

or:

"withdraw."

The remaining four people already knew where to stand.

On the ninth day, the simulation area was transformed into an underground parking lot.

Halfway through the mission, the system suddenly announced:

"The captain is incapacitated."

The training vest on Cheng Fang's chest automatically lit up with a red light.

He sat down where he was.

All four people stopped at the same time.

Tang Zhi subconsciously looked at him.

Qin Zhao asked, "Can you still command?"

Cheng Fang said, "I'm out of the game."

"Don't wait for me to give the order."

The sound of machinery turning could be heard in the distance.

Footsteps could be heard on both sides of the passageway.

Only four minutes left in the countdown.

Lin Ye quickly closed his eyes.

The two moving targets on the left.

A drone on the right is approaching the exit.

The wounded are on the left.

The storage box is located further back on the right side.

He opened his eyes.

"Two targets on the left, eighteen meters away."

"The drone on the right is blocking the exit."

"The wounded are on the left, the boxes are on the right."

Qin Zhao asked, "The plan?"

Lin Ye paused for half a second.

"I suggest we save people first."

"You and Xu Mian handle the drones, and pick up the boxes on the way."

"Tang Zhi and I rescued the wounded, and in the end, we led Team Leader Cheng to retreat together."

Tang Zhi looked at him.

"Are you confident?"

"Seventy percent."

Qin Zhao had already turned around.

That's enough.

Lin Ye and Tang Zhi rushed into the left passage.

As soon as the two moving targets appeared, Lin Ye raised his gun.

The first shot hit the edge of the target.

The sensor area was only illuminated on the second shot.

Another moving target had its arm entangled by Tang Zhi's silk threads and was suddenly pulled towards the wall.

Lin Ye fired a follow-up shot.

The green light comes on.

After the two found the wounded, Tang Zhi used the connecting threads to share the weight, while Lin Ye carried the upper body of the dummy.

When they returned to the original spot, Qin Zhao and Xu Mian had already rushed back with the sealed box.

A yellow light was shining on Qin Zhao's shoulder.

Xu Mian, however, was not injured.

Lin Ye, panting, asked, "Where's the drone?"

"It's been dealt with."

Xu Mian added in a low voice, "He took a bullet for me."

Qin Zhao glanced at her.

"Retreat first."

Tang Zhi's silk threads entangled Cheng Fang's training vest.

"Today is the day of the delay team."

Cheng Fang didn't speak, his expression was a little colder than usual.

In the final twenty seconds, the exit roller shutter began to descend.

Qin Zhao raised his gun and hit the door hinge sensor point.

Xu Mian's shadow slipped through the crack in the door at the same time, triggering the emergency switch.

The roller shutter door paused briefly for two seconds.

enough.

The five of them rushed out of the passage together.

Before the countdown reached zero, Cheng Fang was also dragged across the finish line.

"Mission accomplished."

"Simulated storage box recovery successful."

"The wounded have been successfully evacuated."

"The incapacitated member was successfully brought back."

Overall rating: Pass.

Tang Zhi was so tired that she sat down on the ground.

"What constitutes a passing grade?"

Qin Zhao leaned against the wall, panting.

"The captain is gone."

Tang Zhi looked at Cheng Fang, whom she had dragged out all the way.

"Captain Cheng, do you usually hide your weight?"

Cheng Fang untied the silk binding his body and stood up.

"The dragging path was unstable, and I hit the back of my head three times."

Tang Zhi immediately sat up straight.

"I'll change it next time."

Cheng Fang turned to Qin Zhao.

"Unauthorized act of taking the hit for a scout will result in a two-point deduction."

"If that shot is deemed fatal, the team will simultaneously lose its damage dealer."

Qin Zhao said, "She's closer to the box."

"Then let's eliminate the threat in advance."

"clear."

"Xu Mian, the distance between the shadow probes is beyond the safe zone."

"Yes."

Finally, he looked at Lin Ye.

"The proposal is too long."

Lin Ye nodded.

"clear."

Cheng Fang paused for a moment.

"But the judgment was correct."

Lin Ye raised his head.

Cheng Fang asked, "Why save people first?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"The box won't die on its own."

The training area quieted down for a moment.

Cheng Fang nodded.

"Remember this judgment."

"The abnormal object is important, but people are a higher priority."

"Unless it causes even greater casualties immediately."

In the following days, Group Two's performance began to stabilize.

From qualified to good.

Occasionally, I might receive an "excellent" rating.

Failures will still occur.

Lin Ye misheard the direction due to the white noise.

Tang Zhi's connecting threads were burned off by simulated flames.

Qin Zhao overexerted himself to save time, and his fingers were burned and blistered.

Cheng Fang can also make misjudgments, leading the whole team into a dead end.

But they won't be completely thrown into chaos by one person's mistake.

If someone makes a mistake, others will fix it.

If someone is injured, the position is immediately adjusted.

The five names on the training sheet gradually stopped being written side by side.

Instead, they truly began to resemble a team.

On the afternoon of the twelfth day, they completed a simulated warehouse mission.

The grades are excellent.

Tang Zhi slumped on the bench, holding a water bottle and sighing:

"Group Two is finally starting to look somewhat human."

Lin Ye sat down beside him.

"Didn't it look like that before?"

Qin Zhao was wiping his training gun.

"It used to be like something hastily put together."

Xu Mian, holding the record board, whispered a reminder: "Lin Ye is still a temporary member."

Lin Ye turned to look at her.

"You've gotten better and better at last-hitting lately."

Xu Mian said earnestly, "I learned it from you guys."

Tang Zhi couldn't help but laugh so hard she almost spilled the water.

The door to the training area opened at that moment.

Cheng Fang walked in.

He didn't bring his usual training tablet.

He was carrying five black field bags and a small, transparent isolation box.

The laughter gradually subsided.

Cheng Fang placed the fieldwork bag on the table.

"Individual training will be suspended tomorrow."

Tang Zhi's eyes lit up.

"Have a holiday?"

"Low-risk on-site practical assessment".

Tang Zhi's smile vanished instantly.

Cheng Fang sent the data to their encrypted phones.

Location: Folk Customs Exhibition Hall, Western Suburbs of Beijing.

"After being closed for three years, residents in the surrounding area have been hearing opera music at night on several occasions in the past two weeks."

"After the two inspectors entered, they spent four hours circling the exhibition hall on the first floor before finally exiting through the same door they had originally entered through."

"No fatalities have been reported so far."

"The anomaly level is initially determined to be Level C."

Lin Ye opened the document.

The exhibition hall in the photo is not large.

The exterior is grayish-white, with a red-painted door and a faded notice of closure posted on it.

Cheng Fang continued:

"Mission objective: Identify the source of the anomaly, locate the suspected magical artifact, and complete the temporary sealing."

"There is a formal field surveillance team monitoring the perimeter."

"If the risk escalates, the team loses contact, or their vital signs reach the intervention threshold, they will immediately take over the site."

Qin Zhao asked, "When do we depart?"

"Tomorrow at four o'clock in the afternoon."

Cheng Fang pointed to the isolation box on the table.

Inside was a faded red theater ticket.

"It was found inside the jacket of one of the inspectors."

He confirmed that he did not bring it with him before entering the venue.

"No active contamination has been detected in the sealed area so far; only abnormal fluctuations in residual contaminants have been confirmed."

Lin Ye approached the table.

He didn't reach out.

The theater ticket lay quietly inside the transparent box.

The ticket was yellowed and had a blurry image of half a stage printed on it.

He stared at it for a few seconds.

Suddenly, a very soft gong sounded in my ear.

when.

Immediately afterwards, a delicate singing voice drifted from afar.

I couldn't hear what was being sung before.

Only the last three words fell close to his ear.

"The guests have arrived."

Lin Ye's fingers slowly tightened.

Cheng Fang saw his reaction.

"What did you hear?"

Lin Ye stared at the theater tickets in the isolation box.

"Team Leader Cheng."

"Is this place really only classified as Grade C?"