Chapter 107 Perfection Through Refinement (6)

When Shu Ningmiao opened the car door, Shu Changyan was on the phone. He always had a sullen expression when he was alone. The driver didn't dare to speak either. Even before getting into the car, you could feel the tense atmosphere inside.

She closed the door, completely unaffected by the atmosphere.

The background noise on the other end of Shu Changyan's terminal was a bit loud. He glanced at her and quickly hung up.

“Because of the bombing a few days ago, many people have gone missing in Pigne.” Shu Changyan casually folded his hands in front of him: “It’s difficult to investigate these people’s whereabouts, but it makes it easier for them to take advantage of the situation.”

Shu Ningmiao remained silent. She could smell a distinct scent of blood in the Shi family garden, and the significance of this level of smell for both her and Shu Changyan was obvious.

Sometimes she felt that Shi Yu probably hated her mother to the extreme, otherwise why would she have taken action in her own home and driven Lady Grana to the point of being bedridden?

Although she had some guesses, the number of people missing in Pigne recently was far beyond the target, and the various police stations were trying to conceal the list as much as possible. She had no way of guessing what Shi Yu had done from these clues and the smell of blood.

Fortunately, she will inevitably break off her engagement with Shi Yu later, so there's no need to investigate too much.

Shu Changyan didn't want Shu Ningmiao to get involved with that kid any further, so he changed the subject and told the driver, "Go to the National United Building."

Shu Ningmiao looked over and heard him chuckle. He put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Didn't you say you wanted me to be your teacher? Before school reopens, I'll tutor you, okay?"

The top floor of the National United Building is also the main base of the Ability Users and the initial test site of the combat simulation system. It has equipment, venues, and the world's top ability users. Shu Ningmiao held her face in her hands and looked at him quietly. She had no reason to refuse.

As Shu Changyan looked at her quiet yet sparkling eyes, his heart felt like it was filled with pebbles, rattling loudly.

He was unaware of the significant difference between the Shu Ningmiao he perceived through his filter and how others perceived her. Shu Ningmiao was already an adult, and her appearance matched her personality perfectly; she was strikingly beautiful from head to toe, sometimes even bordering on aggressive.

He drifted off into his own thoughts, feeling that from this angle, Shu Ningmiao's face looked like a sweet, soft pastry, and was simply adorable.

Shu Changyan suddenly felt a faint sense of melancholy. If he could, he would like to take care of Shu Ningmiao for the rest of his life, or perhaps time could stop at this moment, and just staying together quietly would be enough to make him happy.

She is his family and his home.

The treasure he chose himself.

Shu Changyan grabbed her hand, and Shi Yu's expressionless mockery flashed through his mind.

"By what right do you point fingers at her?" The platinum-haired boy's eyes were devoid of any smile: "A jealous knight... or a disgusting older brother? You'd better be sure you know which role suits you better."

Shu Ningmiao seemed to notice his breathing and turned to look at him.

Shu Changyan closed his eyes, not wanting her to see the emotions in them.

She pinched his palm: "We're here."

-

The National Union Building remained as grand and cold as ever, unchanged. The surrounding ring slowly rotated, gleaming with a metallic luster. Shu Changyan said that it was the outermost layer of the Union Building, and structurally speaking, the most vulnerable to intrusion.

However, this place has been completely closed off since the parliamentary purge three hundred years ago.

In other words, it was impossible for anyone to break into the Union Building from here. The twenty-seven Intori assassins who infiltrated this floor a few months ago were entirely a play orchestrated by Pinheis himself to declare war.

The interior of the Union Building was more spacious than she had imagined, with few commuters coming and going. The surroundings were a cold gray, and the walls were replaced by large expanses of clear floor-to-ceiling glass. Because the building was so large, the glass acted like a mirror, and strong sunlight was still not visible.

Shu Ningmiao looked up and saw that the ceiling on the first floor of the building was very high, almost invisible, and too empty.

Shu Changyan's access was unimpeded here. The elevator doors closed, and the data on the screen began to fluctuate. Shu Ningmiao turned her head and looked out through the semi-circular glass. She could see a tiny patch of lights in the main city, which appeared extremely distant as it rose higher.

"Because of the preparations for war, the envoys will be recalled to the capital to garrison and await new missions."

As the elevator ascended floor by floor, the scenery outside the glass flashed by. Shu Changyan took off the small medal from his coat and reached out to pin it to her collar.

It was a small shield emblem with a relief pattern of a scale pierced by a sword. She hadn't paid much attention to it before, thinking it was a decorative brooch, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was the only unchanging anti-counterfeiting pattern on Pinheit's annual recruitment advertisements.

"Besides Zhao, is there anyone else?" Shu Ningmiao looked up and sized him up a few times. She really disliked that idol-star-like flamboyant manner.

"Not much." Shu Changyan found her evasive manner amusing. "Didn't he give you a gift?"

"You mean that gem that can bother you?" Shu Ningmiao smiled. "I'll remember to bring it next time."

“It’s just not very obvious.” A faint smile appeared on Shu Changyan’s lips. “His ability is one of the ones that Pinne has publicly recorded so far. You can ask him if you have any questions about his ability.”

"What kind of superpower?" Shu Ningmiao's curiosity was piqued by this prefix.

Shu Changyan was about to say something, but then he wanted to tease her a little more: "You've actually met him before, why don't you guess?"

"Since we're going to guess," Shu Ningmiao suddenly had a thought, grabbed his arm, and stood on tiptoe slightly, "what's your special ability?"

He lowered his eyes, gazing at her gently. He remained silent for a moment, still not uttering a sound; such silence between them was rare.

Shu Changyan's lips twitched slightly, as if he was about to say something.

The elevator doors opened with a ding, casting a warm yellow light that made his face appear pale and bland compared to his usual sharp features.

"Ah...ah..."

A stiff voice came from outside the elevator doors: "Sir."

She turned her head and met the man's shocked eyes.

A tall, silent officer stood beside Zhao, his jaw clenched, staring ahead in fear, as if he were seeing a departing soul.

Zhao spoke first: "I'll go with the person from the Organization Department to fill out a form."

He turned to the trembling officer beside him and explained with a smile, "It's his family member."

Shu Changyan nodded slightly and stepped aside to let them in.

The tall officer set up the elevator, but Zhao shrugged and backed away step by step until he was next to the two of them. Suddenly, he waved his hand and said, "I suddenly remembered that I have other work to do. I'll fill out this form another day."

The people inside were dumbfounded. As the elevator doors closed, he smiled and squinted at Shu Ningmiao: "Long time no see, little sister."

Shu Ningmiao bowed politely, her mind slightly distracted as she secretly wondered what this person's special ability was.

It is rare for something to be open and irreplaceable within Pinheis, and it is unlikely that it would be targeted by others.

Judging from Zhao's physique, he doesn't seem to be a physical combatant or an enhanced ability user. She had witnessed him use his ability once before, when Cornunos was attacked.

He suddenly severed the combat simulation system controlled by Prometheus. Purely psychic abilities aren't very powerful, so it's unclear how he did it.

She wanted it too.

Shu Ningmiao's ideas about superpowers were frighteningly simplistic.

"I see." Showa Shu Changyan walked ahead, chatted casually for a few minutes, and laughed, "Perfect timing. Nobody's using the combat simulation system. Those idiots at the research center are going to write letters to the military to curse us again. Let's give it to my sister to play with."

Zhao was good at socializing and always had something to say. The three of them entered the lounge, which was empty. Several stacks of reports were spread out on the table, taking up the entire surface, and many more were lying on the floor, having been stepped on.

Shu Ningmiao glanced over casually and saw that there were large blank spaces on the paper. Zhao noticed her gaze and shrugged, saying, "Nobody wants to write anything. We can just wait for the cleaning robot to come and collect it."

Upon closer inspection, she realized that these scraps of paper, which were treated as quasi-garbage, were actually reports that the military wanted to keep on file. These people were clearly much more unscrupulous than ordinary officers—relying on their special status, they were indifferent to punishment.

Shu Changyan opened the innermost automatic metal door of the lounge. Behind the door was a uniquely designed sunken space, about the size of two classrooms. The room was empty, with no props or furnishings. The walls were a slightly dull silver-white, and the surface was not as smooth as metal, so it was impossible to tell what material it was.

“The walls are all made of pure gold.” Zhao tapped the wall, summoning a semi-transparent menu: “It’s indestructible.”

Their only requirement was that it be indestructible; any other fancy accessories were superfluous. The combat simulation system embedded in the wall of Xijin was brand new and had never even been started before; this was the first time it had been turned on.

After listening, Shu Ningmiao looked around the room again. The entire area was covered in Xi Jin gold, and she couldn't even calculate its value. No wonder military spending has been soaring year after year.

The pop-up menu was similar to the framework of a typical game, and the operation was very simple—and it was all too familiar to Shu Ningmiao.

Perhaps recalling the previous incident where Kornunos's combat simulation system was hacked, Showa joked, "Don't worry, this system doesn't have a network, and the large model data is also independent."

The researchers at the research center wouldn't dare install a system with network vulnerabilities in the National Union Building. Moreover, as an experimental version, this system was probably developed under Weston's leadership when he was still at the research center.

Shu Changyan entered her access permissions at the door and closed the access control. The sensor light outside the door flashed a different color, indicating that it could no longer be opened at will from the outside. Shu Ningmiao called out to him, "You don't need to do that."

"It's alright." Shu Changyan walked to her side and helped her put on the assistive device.

Zhao echoed, "There are more than a dozen of these training grounds in the United Building, but no one uses them normally."

Such training opportunities are rare at school, so she was quite focused on it. When studying how to use it, her expression was calm and she showed no impatience. Shu Changyan did not disturb her. He bent down and touched her hair, and gestured with his eyes for Zhao and him to leave together, consciously giving her space.

The metal door behind him closed, and Zhao raised his arm, controlling Pandora to sweep away the report papers that had fallen on the chair, and sat down himself: "The parliament is now relatively stable. After the representative elections are over in a month, the declaration of war can be officially approved."

“Kovina won’t let Xiao Jiang leave Intori. The only candidates are you and me. Have you told your sister about this?” When Zhao got down to business, the playful look on his face disappeared. “My whole family is dead except for one person. You and I are not the same.”

Shu Changyan gazed out the window, his voice carrying an emotionless warmth: "If I die, it's best to do it silently, not in front of her."

Therefore, he neither wanted to mention it nor intended to make any announcements.

Zhao rested his chin on his hand, stood up again, and stood helplessly with his hands behind his back.

Shu Changyan's personality is more reserved and calm than when he first came here as a teenager. He now appears to be determined, gentle and open-minded, but deep down he is still a stubborn rock.

“Whoever loves,” Zhao flicked the quill in his hand, “shall share his fate with the one he loves.”[1]

The silver-haired youth gave him a meaningful look and stopped talking. Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly; there's no point in saying anything more.

"She finally got a break, shouldn't we let her enjoy dating and her vacation? What's so great about spending all her time on the training field?" Zhao sighed, "I miss the youth I didn't cherish. What's that saying? You can't have youth and the feeling of youth at the same time. What a pity."

Shu Changyan's lips twitched: "Do you have such a thing?"

Zhao was an orphan of his family, with no direct relatives. He was raised by the government from a young age and grew up in the military. After awakening his superpowers, he naturally became an executor. Not to mention the sweet and innocent campus life, he never even attended any school in Pinne.

Zhao chuckled: "It was just my imagination."

He felt something was amiss and retorted, "You didn't have any either."

The gains and losses were equal. Since he had to enter the army as early as possible, it was impossible to have a normal campus life. Like him, Shu Changyan also graduated through private tutoring.

"She is my youth." Shu Changyan's tone was indifferent and unusually calm: "There's nothing to regret."

Zhao hesitated for a moment, then reached up to rub his forehead: "You're really hopeless."

Shu Ningmiao opened her eyes again after turning on the virtual console. The empty gray walls around her were no longer there.

Snowflakes drifted down from the dark sky, serene and beautiful. The simulated scene was so realistic that it felt like being there in person.

Shu Ningmiao raised her hand and felt the snowflakes melting in her palm. This was a rare sight. The combat simulation system inside the National United Building also used real people's data for calculations, so the venue usually wouldn't appear so peaceful and beautiful.

Moreover, the scene is so realistic that it shows the snow color is of great significance to the data provider.

A familiar task popped up in front of her. Although it had nothing in common with the dialogue box in "Secret Love," she still felt a little uncomfortable.

Current mission: Enter Base A197 and obtain relevant intelligence.

A small map with directional arrows popped up, showing her standing on a hillside at the rear of the base. Further ahead was the scanning range of the drones hovering in the air.

The system automatically equipped her with a long-bladed knife, a telescope, and a whistle. That was all the initial equipment she had; there was no need to waste time exploring on her own.

She picked up the knife, and an explanation box appeared on it.

Training with ordinary knives: tough and durable.

He picked up the whistle again.

Signal whistle: Sounding this whistle will trigger an emergency system exit; failure is the default outcome.

Shu Ningmiao finally picked up her binoculars and glanced at the target base in the distance. An uneasy atmosphere pervaded the massive base, with well-equipped mercenaries constantly patrolling around.

She observed for two minutes, and the group of five people rotated in groups of no more than thirty seconds, keeping a tight watch so that there was almost no chance of them taking advantage of the situation.

Now she only has two choices: either find a way to sneak in through this patrol team that has almost no blind spots, or just kill all the obstacles and walk in openly.

On her first attempt, Shu Ningmiao couldn't accurately predict the difficulty of the task, and she wasn't confident about either method.

Compared to this straightforward mission, Kornunos's combat simulation system was so mild it was almost like children playing house.

Shu Ningmiao's mood improved considerably, and her body temperature gradually rose in the snowy night as she became excited.

Compared to real enemies, patrol drones are not a big problem; there are always loopholes they can exploit along fixed routes.

She tucked the training knife into the buckle on her back, bent over, and quietly shuffled across the snow with her hands touching the ground. After a brief gap when the two drones took turns flying, she swiftly slid down the mountaintop and landed in the waist-high reeds below.

It was as if a new game scene had been loaded. The white moon in the sky was as bright as day, illuminating the surroundings. The reeds perfectly concealed her figure, like a tailor-made safe house.

She adjusted her posture, hid in the reeds, and pondered.

A clear, youthful voice rang out beside me: "Why are you so late?"

His questioning voice was somewhere between a phonation change and a little hoarse, which Shu Ningmiao immediately recognized.

As the sound reached her ears, an unlock pop-up appeared before her eyes.

Special Mission: ??? (Condition: Teammates unlocked)

?

—Why are there still bot teammates?

-----------------------

Author's Note: [1] Bulgakov

The robot guy is online! Shi Yu is about to start the next part.

As for why the data is from a long time ago, it's because I've become a seasoned veteran and no longer provide videotapes, just like how Zhao stopped writing reports.

It feels like I've been writing for a century... I've really been trying my best, it's not that I don't want to update frequently, but even writing 3,000 words continuously for six or seven hours is exhausting. Revising and cutting so much text repeatedly makes my brain and my writing slow down. I'm so sorry XD I've been taking fish oil to boost my brain recently.