"I say, why don't we do another play? The response last time was quite enthusiastic."

"Last time? That was purely due to the choice of subject matter. Don't you think about how many eye-catching, idiotic and anti-intellectual plots you guys added back then? If you do it again, I think our club should just disband immediately, or we'll be criticized every time we go out!"

In front of Jiang Ling, the club members were still enthusiastically discussing the next day's activities. They didn't seem to have planned anything in advance; their demeanor was pure spontaneity. They were like flocks of migratory birds perched on power lines in March or April, chirping and fluttering, each one arguing with the other, each refusing to yield. If it weren't for the presence of several highly respected elders maintaining basic order, this would have likely devolved into a mass incident, making headlines on the campus forums.

Amidst the chaos, Ruan Danxin, who was sitting to Jiang Ling's left, tugged at her skirt, then turned sideways and asked mysteriously in a low voice, "Sister, what are you planning to do in the next few months?"

"Go travel."

"Go out? That's right, you can leave the school by yourself. I almost forgot."

"What's wrong?"

"It's been months, and you still don't know?" Ruan Danxin thought. "The younger students are essentially under house arrest at school, and the older students have to report if they want to leave. Didn't you notice the guards' looks when you were free to come and go?"

"Oh - no wonder, I was wondering why every time I went out to buy something, I could feel several pairs of eyes staring at me. So that's how it is! I thought my charm was very popular with these kids!" As she spoke, she reached her hand behind her neck, lifted up the soft hair that was hanging in her coat, and let it fall on her shoulders.

Ruan Danxin held her forehead with her hand: "I really can't stand a guy like you who has such a thick nerve."

Jiang Ling said, "So what do you plan to invite me to do? I can still see that. But I see that your shrine is in good order and doesn't look like it needs any help."

"It's definitely not about the shrine," Ruan Danxin replied. "Old Ning asked me to tell you something. He wants to take you to a military academy for further training. After all, you have A-level clearance, so there's no reason to prevent a soldier from becoming familiar with the modern military."

"That's right." Jiang Ling nodded, then suddenly turned and looked into her eyes. "So—you traded your planned 'my vacation plan' with Lao Ning for some benefits, right?"

"No, it's not happening!" Ruan Danxin protected her neck and tried to dodge.

Jiang Ling sat still and said with a smile, "Why are you in such a hurry? I'm not planning on arresting you! Let me guess, are you planning on taking Xiaobai out to play?"

"You, you, you, how do you know?"

"This is not the first day we've dealt with each other." Jiang Ling drank the tea in the cup.

The transport boat sent by Lao Ning was already waiting outside the school gates. Jiang Ling spotted it the moment she stepped outside. It was a shuttle-shaped craft, roughly fifteen meters long, painted blue and black, supported by three sled-shaped legs. The hatch on its belly was open, and four heavily armed exoskeleton warriors stood guard around it, though they didn't seem particularly vigilant. Jiang Ling stepped forward and, as expected, handed her citizen ID to one of them. A single glance and the rest of the group gathered around her without a word, forming a small, coordinated formation to escort her aboard.

The interior of this transport craft resembled some of the military transport aircraft of yesteryear. The floor was a hollowed-out, metallic-sheen panel, beneath which ran a variety of wiring, like the blood vessels and nerves of the human body. A high-strength synthetic fiber mesh hung from the walls, with numerous square packages of goods strapped to it, seemingly some common military hobby. A red-painted rail sat in the center of the ceiling, its sides marked with wear marks, but no objects were being hung on it this time, evidently meaning that this mission did not require airdrops.

"Special A1071 to command, target boarded, requesting instructions." The two pilots in the forward cockpit were poised to initiate takeoff. The co-pilot, upon hearing the mechanical sound of the hatch closing, transmitted a signal somewhere in this world. Jiang Ling saw the four people surrounding her sitting in pairs on either side of the cargo hold, leaving no room for her. However, she didn't lose her temper. Instead, she glanced around and grabbed a structural column near the front of the hold with one hand.

Soon, a vibration was felt, and the roar of the transport's engines grew louder and louder. Through the windshield of the front cockpit, Jiang Ling watched the outside world rapidly descend. The dense air thinned, and the obstruction of the sky disappeared, and the vision grew dim. Then, after another period, the simulated gravity gradually disappeared, and everything in the cabin floated. The transport was now aligned with the mothership's main axis. By comparing it with the huge high-strength material, Jiang Ling could finally clearly feel the movement of the ring surface farther away.

Then, after two incomprehensible instructions were issued from the cockpit, gravity in the cargo hold reappeared for a moment, and the transport boat began to merge into the busy route ahead.

Jiang Ling enjoyed this process very much, but the journey afterwards was not very pleasant. She had to look around in the cabin, looking for things that could bring her fun.

Perhaps her actions had annoyed the people in the cargo hold, and when she tried to touch their exoskeletons, one of them turned on the speaker. "Hey, you! Stop!" His voice was mechanical, lacking the grammar of a normal person.

"So you can talk? I thought you could really hold it in." Jiang Ling turned in mid-air and looked in the direction of the sound.

Looking at Jiang Ling, who was slowly approaching with one hand supporting her head like Sleeping Beauty, the soldier who was speaking realized that he had made a wrong decision and his body suddenly became stiff.

"Ahem, hibernator." The person behind Jiang Ling spoke.

"What can I do for you?" Jiang Ling waved her hand, and her body began to sway due to inertia.

"Tsk!" another person spat unwillingly.

"Hibernator, please be mindful of your behavior. The place you're going to is different from an ordinary school. These people are all well-trained awakened individuals and soldiers, far from being comparable to the mob in ordinary schools." The man behind him added, "This is a piece of advice, not a request."

"Then it seems you're the weakest bunch in the academy." Jiang Ling turned half a circle again, then stood upside down in front of the group with his hands on his hips. "The truly well-trained guys I've met would never say a single extra word during a mission like yours."