How's the Investigation Going?

"So how did you talk to her?" Lin Xiao asked curiously, trailing after Xu Lingqu while casting uneasy glances at Jin, Xu Xiqin, and Shen Shouli around her—people she normally wouldn't dare approach.

Just moments ago, Lin Xiao had summoned her courage for the first time to approach Xu Lingqu, specifically about Liu Zheng.

It was her nosy nature that had led her to proactively talk to Sun Liao during combat training. And when she saw Liu Zheng's usually expressionless face show helplessness and vulnerability at the end, Lin Xiao stubbornly believed Xu Lingqu should know what shooting meant to Liu Zheng.

So she braved it and played the role of a 'middleman.'

After hearing Lin Xiao describe Liu Zheng's story and what shooting meant to her, Xu Lingqu hadn't said much—partly because they had just finished training, and she was resting, exhausted.

Then Liu Zheng had come over, and Lin Xiao quickly stepped aside. She wanted to listen but couldn't hear what they said, so she chased after Xu Lingqu to ask now.

"I gave her a little encouragement," Xu Lingqu said, recalling the expression on Liu Zheng's face that was like a crack in an iceberg. "It helped."

Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief at the word 'encouragement.' She had wanted to mend their relationship, and now that they were on the path to encouragement, it couldn't get much worse.

Jin watched Lin Xiao leave contentedly and shook his head. "She's still too naive. Knowing our commander as I do, her 'encouragement' is no different from suppression and provocation. In any case, it definitely wasn't some uplifting mental-health chicken soup."

"Do you know my sister that well?" Xu Xiqin immediately jabbed him with her elbow and drawled in complaint. "Your group was so impressive today, but I didn't even know when Liu Zheng started going head-to-head with my sister..."

Today's final training results were both unexpected and not. Xu Lingqu scored thirty points with ten rounds despite missing a shot each round, plus one point for escaping, totaling thirty-one and ranking first. Shen Shouli followed closely with thirty points, missing five shots and escaping four times.

Liu Zheng, however, was too focused on competing with Xu Lingqu, spending roughly all three shots each round on her. Only after Xu Lingqu was taken down would she consider scoring points elsewhere. During the obstacle course escape, she was often taken out by Xu Lingqu in one shot, so her final score was not ideal—she nearly fell into the deduction zone.

Kai Ang was still somewhat surprised when he saw the students' score reports. He burst into Instructor Chen's dormitory like it was his own home, flopped onto the sofa, and turned to look at Instructor Chen, who was used to this and was brewing tea.

"Liu Zheng didn't get first place in this training? That's not right," Kai Ang said, sending the scores to Instructor Chen's smart terminal.

Instructor Chen paused mid-pour, then placed a small cup of tea in front of Kai Ang with a helpless look.

"Instructor Kai Ang, if I'm reading the time correctly, aren't I on leave?" A half-day was still a leave, and since the morning training had just ended—before noon—Instructor Chen cherished every second of his leave.

Kai Ang sat up, glanced at the time, and flopped back. "Oh, come on, what's a few minutes to you? Aren't you surprised by these scores?"

"What's there to be surprised about?" Seeing Xu Lingqu at first place, Instructor Chen was already numb. He now felt he wouldn't be surprised even if someone told him Xu Lingqu had piloted a mech.

In just a few days, Xu Lingqu had created too many miracles and surprises. Adding excellent marksmanship to the list was hardly unexpected.

"I'm not just showing you that—there's another set of data," Kai Ang insisted on having Instructor Chen 'end his leave early.' Under his persistence, Instructor Chen reluctantly opened the second dataset.

It was a detailed record of the sniper duels between Liu Zheng and Xu Lingqu today. Seeing the dense kill records each had against the other, Instructor Chen fell silent.

"When did they start butting heads?" There hadn't been any sign of it a few days ago. Instructor Chen took a sip of his own tea—it was a bit bitter, and he frowned slightly, then poured the rest for Kai Ang.

The interpersonal relationships among students were a key point of assessment during this trial period, after all, they were brought here and tormented for the upcoming military academy league.

As for the second- and third-year students at Moye Military Academy, Kai Ang didn't mince words: he had no hope for their performance in the league.

They were counting on this newest cohort—Moye's best-recruited cohort yet—to make a name for themselves in the league. And in the league, especially in team events, an individual's strength was useless; coordination and cooperation were what mattered most.

This trial period was designed to make students compete with each other, but building trust among them in a short time was more challenging.

Especially with unexpected situations like the one between Liu Zheng and Xu Lingqu.

Having gotten very little information, Kai Ang was already imagining a dramatic confrontation between the two.

"Stop your fantasies. With Liu Zheng's personality, there's no way she'd jump on a table and gloat at Xu Lingqu," Instructor Chen interrupted. "Don't project what you want to do onto the students."

"Hey, I'm just thinking," Kai Ang said, gulping down a large mouthful of tea and grimacing at the bitterness. "Is this the poison water you brew during your precious time off?"

"What do you have planned to torment them with this afternoon?" Instructor Chen deftly changed the subject, probing Kai Ang's plans.

"You'll handle the afternoon—train them as you see fit. The surprise I've prepared for them... heh, that's for tonight," Kai Ang smacked his lips, still feeling the bitterness lingering, and reached out to ask Instructor Chen for candy, only to be mercilessly rejected.

Meanwhile, during the lunch break in the boys' dormitory, Jin watched Shen Shouli go for yet another shower and finally couldn't take it, pulling him back for a forced discussion about the training.

"I saw you were fine during the obstacle course today—you didn't have a tantrum. But now you're getting worked up over it afterward," Jin said. At the start of today's training, he had worried Shen Shouli's cleanliness obsession would make him refuse to participate or just give up. After all, the obstacle run was full of hiding, dust, and dirt. But surprisingly, Shen Shouli had been quite serious throughout.

"When have I ever thrown a tantrum?" Shen Shouli said through gritted teeth, and to prove he didn't like throwing tantrums, he reluctantly gave up on taking another shower and sat down.

"You don't throw tantrums? Since we were kids... forget it, I can't be bothered with you," Jin said, crossing his arms with a helpless expression.

Their other two roommates were mech engineering students and were still training at another venue, so this dorm was no different from a double room.

"Alright, back to business," Jin said, turning serious for once. "How's that investigation on Xu Lingqu going?"