From that night on, the special forces trainees entered a virtual war that was infinitely close to reality.
In the simulation system, regardless of time or location, Shi Ji can issue attack orders to the insect swarm at any time.
Unexpected attack angles, completely unconventional breakthrough methods. In the past two days, if Zhuang Yu and Nie Chi were not there, the students' hastily erected defense line would have been torn apart more than once.
On the third day, Nie Chi and Zhuang Yu temporarily left the training camp due to some unexpected reasons.
That night, during the sudden attack of the insect swarm, there were casualties among the trainees for the first time.
The student No. 16 who was accidentally "killed" didn't even have time to react - he was just here to take over the defense line normally, and before he could get ready for battle, the insect swarm launched a surprise attack. A stag beetle happened to meet him head-on, and within a few seconds, its sharp jaws with a cold glow easily cut off the mecha that had not yet activated its defense.
The feeling of death seemed so close to reality that student No. 16 was covered in cold sweat. He quit the game in shock and received a notice to end the training.
"I was just careless!"
No. 16 said anxiously: "It was the others who covered me well. My operation was completely in line with the requirements! At that time, I had not even entered the defense line!"
He had always performed very well in the extreme training, and his scores were always among the best among the students. If nothing unexpected had happened, he would have been almost certain to pass the assessment.
Even though they lost a game, No. 16 was unwilling to accept it: "Why would you eliminate me for this reason? Isn't the special forces supposed to select the best talents? Does this prove that I'm not as good as others? Is it just because I'm unlucky?"
In the meeting room, the students were silent.
The student who failed to protect No. 16 and caused No. 16's death buried his head in guilt and could not utter a word.
Nie Chi asked: "What requirements does your operation meet?"
"Of course it's a wartime requirement!" No. 16 gritted his teeth, "Every mecha operator has memorized it, and we can review the video. We didn't make any mistakes!"
No. 16: "It is clearly stipulated that this is the operation with the highest chance of survival under wartime standards—"
Nie Chi: "Did you survive?"
No. 16 is a stagnation.
"There are operational standards and wartime requirements," Nie Chi said. "If you can't survive, you will be eliminated."
No. 16 argued feebly: "This is not fair..."
He stood in the middle of the meeting room, looking at Zhuang Yu and Nie Chi who were the instructors, and his voice gradually lowered.
With Zhuang Yu and Nie Chi around in the past two days, even the most intense battles were fought without any danger. They also gradually relaxed their vigilance from the initial tension, and felt that this game was not a big deal, it was nothing more than an exercise with a higher degree of realism.
The instructors had only been away for one night, and they were nearly in danger of having their entire defenses overwhelmed by the insect swarm.
The fear of death, which was deliberately ignored and forgotten and was extremely close to death, came back with Nie Chi's words and strangled his throat.
Zhuang Yu and Nie Chi both emphasized to them the significance of this game.
It was a drill, a wake-up call for them all.
As the scale of the game expands, the alarm bell will ring for more people, waking more people up from their comfortable and numb slumber.
This is a simulation that is as close to reality as possible.
The simulation was about what would happen if they did nothing and the insect swarm hit.
"The special forces will continue to recruit new members. After the system is promoted to the entire army, we will also select the talents we need in the game."
Zhuang Yu stood up and said, "You can come again. We don't reject eliminated students."
No. 16 stopped arguing and walked out of the meeting room in silence.
After this day, the students' attitudes finally changed.
No longer just following the requirements of traditional combat regulations, the trainees began to spontaneously unite and set up a temporary command center. There were people patrolling 24 hours a day to closely monitor all Zerg movements.
In the constant battle with the insect swarm, the mecha operators didn't even have time to realize that they had subconsciously chosen to change their original habits.
The weapons that were originally more suitable for fighting in the ring and for combating mechas have completely become unsalable items in the system warehouse.
Everyone is doing their best to kill Zerg and accumulate experience. When they are no longer needed for garrison, they begin to modify their own mechas.
Some people choose particle weapons that are more effective in blocking the Zerg on a large scale, some choose to modify them into bait-type mechas to contain and attract the Zerg, and the mechas that are good at sniping the Zerg use the Dolphin as a template, abandon all unnecessary accessories, and push the speed and lethality to the limit.
Observing and judging the battle situation has long been out of the assessment objectives of mecha operators. Most mecha operators find it difficult to make up for this shortcoming in a short period of time. After suffering several losses and stumbling several times, they simply hand over the command power to elite observers.
With limited observers as the core, the mecha operators spontaneously assigned combat tasks.
There was almost no resistance. The combat mode that Zhuang Yu had always wanted to promote and implement had quietly taken shape among the students through the continuous and high pressure of the insect tide.
…
Sea of consciousness.
Yu Tang had just completed a new round of game maintenance. He sorted out the background data and passed it to Shi Ji who was controlling the Zerg to attack the defense line.
The young interstellar commanders of the future will grow faster than they imagined.
The Zerg's attack should be enough to put pressure on the students, but it should not directly break through the immature and newly formed defense line. It is necessary to restore the combat habits of the Zerg as realistically as possible, and to guide the students to start thinking and making changes without leaving any trace.
Zhuang Yu originally wanted to replace Shi Ji unnoticed, but after watching Shi Ji's control of the Zerg several times, he finally returned to Pu Ying's task force with peace of mind.
"Captain Zhuang, they found Sheng Tiancheng's traces several times, but he was very cunning and he escaped every time."
Zhan Chen ended the call with Zhuang Yu and returned to the sofa: "Pu Ying's speculation is wrong. Sheng Tiancheng has been trying to get close to Sheng Yi."
Yu Tang nodded: "Not surprising."
Sheng Yi's performance in the game was not outstanding, but he was being watched closely by Ye Hanfeng, so he had no chance to throw a tantrum or act recklessly, and thus would not cause too much disturbance to others.
Sheng Yi also tried his best to show off his ability and advance recklessly.
He endured it and didn't dare to tell others, but he had already been disturbed by the frequent illusion of dislocation. Every time he moved a little bit, his shoulder would suddenly dislocate in tearing pain. He wanted to explain, but found that there was nothing wrong with his shoulder joint.
Ye Hanfeng speculated that it was a psychogenic illusion and believed that Sheng Yi was no longer suitable for combat, so he transferred him to be in charge of logistics.
Things have changed, Sheng Yi was almost driven unconscious by this, but he had no idea what to do.
Whenever he was about to lose his temper or refuse an order, that familiar, annihilating pain would come back to him, making him unable to utter a word.
Zhan Chen poured the hot milk into the mug: "Have you found a way to modify the program implanted in him?"
“Yes,” Yu Tang said. “It’s easy to find bugs in this kind of blank program… I hacked its information search library.”
The conservatives wanted to have something to threaten Sheng Tiancheng, and also to create a national idol who was easy to manipulate. The program implanted in Sheng Yi was to make him the strongest mecha operator.
Because Sheng Yi has always truly believed that he is the strongest mecha operator, this program has almost not been started and is still in a blank state waiting to be written.
The terminal was not there, so Yu Tang tried all the possible operations, hacked into the program, and added a small note of the strongest mecha operator in the database.
Zhan Chen was curious: "What?"
Yu Tang: "The strongest mecha operator needs to consider the overall situation, obey orders, and love all work, especially cooking and raising fish in the logistics department."
“…” Zhan Chen pressed his forehead and couldn’t help but chuckle.
He liked the current Yu Tang very much, but sometimes he couldn't help but miss the time when Electronic Storm was still a small light ball.
… like now.
This kind of person is strong and rational enough to make people feel reliable, but he also fights in unexpected places and refuses to take any loss.
It makes people want to hug it and give it a good rub.
Zhan Chen sat down on the sofa. The data fragments that appeared beside him turned into a cool breeze, cooling down Yu Tang's computer: "Open your mouth."
Yu Tang's eyes were still on the screen, and he opened his mouth very cooperatively.
Zhan Chen gently placed the mug against his lips.
The sweet aroma of milk permeated his nose, and Yu Tang couldn't help but take a deep breath: "Why isn't it coffee?"
"You've consumed too much caffeine this month. Control it."
Zhan Chen: "Go to sleep if you are tired. Basic maintenance is my daily job, and I can do it no worse than you."
Yu Tang: "Senior Zhan."
Zhan Chen raised his eyes.
Yu Tang pushed the computer away: "When I don't rest, you also accompany me. When I go to bed, I also want to see you rest."
Zhan Chen was speechless for a moment: "I don't need to hibernate..."
Yu Tang: "You need to sleep."
Zhan Chen was slightly stunned.
He realized that he had used the wrong word, and after a brief pause, he apologized gently, "I was wrong."
He always handles this matter improperly.
He tried his best to let Xiao Guangtuan see a real and alive self, but he always thought that maybe he should find a time to remind Yu Tang that he had now become data.
Data that can be copied, parsed, rewritten and formatted.
No matter what, now is not the time.
Zhan Chen came back to his senses and was about to speak when Shi Ji suddenly spoke cautiously from his sea of consciousness: "Senior Zhan, you should be asleep at this time. You can only fall asleep if you have Mr. Yu by your side."
Zhan Chen: “…”
After becoming a staff member of the system, Zhan Chen for the first time had the idea of temporarily ignoring the task and asking Zhuang Yu what kind of extracurricular books he had been given.
The future interstellar commander is still trying to assure: "... I can be responsible for vigilance."
Shi Ji's plan for tonight was to control the insect swarm to launch three attacks on the defense line at 12:00 midnight, 1:40 am, and 3:59 am.
It just happens that he is also responsible for monitoring any unusual movements on the terminal.
Shi Ji had learned a lot from Yu Xian recently, and was very conscious. He obediently added a layer of visual and auditory shielding to himself in the sea of consciousness.
A melodious violin piece of music set the mood in the sea of consciousness.
Yu Tang: “…”
Zhan Chen: “…”
Zhan Chen appreciated the kindness of the future interstellar commander. He temporarily stopped the background music and put the system holding the loudspeaker and the Dolphin into the warm sack.
It was the first time that Yu Tang saw Zhan Chen using the small dark room, and he felt something new: "Senior Zhan, have you ever cared about me like this before?"
Zhan Chen put the two-player game console into the sack and said, "Turn it off."
Yu Tang hadn't recovered this memory yet. He couldn't help but be curious and put down the computer: "What did I do at that time?"
"You drank my medical alcohol and fell into the iodine bottle."
Zhan Chen stood up and looked at the excited little ball of light, with a half-teasing smile in his tone: "You stuck the cotton swab into the ball of light, rolled up my bandages and flew everywhere. I tried everything I could to get you off the lampshade."
Yu Tang: “…”
He had a hunch that Senior Zhan was making things up.
Yu Tang had no intention of recovering this memory, so he stood up and dragged Zhan Chen to the bed.
When they were still in that cabin, he would curl up among the pillows to play games, and Zhan Chen would occasionally rest on this bed.
Now that Zhan Chen has turned into data, he no longer needs to hibernate frequently. This bed is no longer useful. It has been placed in its original place in order to restore his previous residence in the sea of consciousness.
Yu Tang pressed Zhan Chen onto the bed.
He bent his knees against the edge of the bed and rested his forehead on Zhan Chen's shoulder, where the familiar warmth and scent still lingered.
All of these have been re-simulated and synthesized.
It took Zhan Chen a long time to find this lost shadow from the data, and he couldn't let anyone go.
"Sleep for a while."
Yu Tang said: "I'm going to play games, Senior Zhan, you take a nap."
Zhan Chen raised his hand and placed it on his back.
Zhan Chen said in a gentle voice: "Okay."
He did not take off his outer clothes directly, but still followed his usual habit, getting up, washing, and changing into pajamas in an orderly manner.
Zhan Chen lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and let sleepiness come over him.
He had already noticed that Xiao Guangtuan had used the Sleep Card on him.
Xiao Guangtuan showed no mercy to his own people. The transaction notification in the mall background had been ringing non-stop since a while ago. Ninety-nine sleep-inducing data quietly flowed into his body and were gradually decomposed and assimilated.
In the warm light of the desk lamp, Zhan Chen's breathing gradually calmed down.
Yu Tang finished typing the last line of code on the computer.
…
In this large-scale insect swarm simulation game, Yu Tang implanted a thousand completely different Trojan programs.
This is a new method he learned from the human world.
This program is completely ineffective against humans and will not cause any interference to the students and Shi Ji. However, if there is external intrusion data - such as a terminal, if you want to enter this game, you will definitely be filled with a thousand pop-up ads.
He knew that the terminal could easily swallow this Trojan program, and this was exactly what he wanted.
Yu Tang closed his computer and typed through the shield of his consciousness: "Shi Ji?"
Shi Ji had already learned Morse code, and replied to him from outside: "Mr. Yu, I'm here."
"I have done everything I should do."
Yu Tang: "I'll leave the world to you. I'm going to take care of my personal business."
Shi Ji replied neatly, "Received."
Yu Tang stretched and stood up from the sofa.
He finished drinking the hot milk left by Zhan Chen, wandered around the room casually for a few times, tidied the table casually for a while, and fiddled with the desk lamp twice.
He walked slowly to the bed and spent some time tidying up the clothes that had been folded neatly.
… He thought Zhan Chen must have fallen asleep.
He bought ninety-nine sleep cards at once, each worth one thousand experience points. No matter how strong one's will is, one still needs to get enough sleep.
Yu Tang flashed calmly.
The desk lamp was lowered, and under the dim warm light, the small ball of light tiptoedly lifted a corner of the quilt and sneaked in silently.
Zhan Chen lay on his side, his eyes closed peacefully, his breathing and heartbeat calm and steady.
The little ball of light quietly opened a little of his collar.
The temperature of Zhan Chen's body was different from what he remembered. In the past, Zhan Chen had been resisting the program, his body was very cold, and his heartbeat was shallower and faster than it is now.
Zhan Chen never told him this, but Zhan Chen didn't know either. In fact, he didn't just sit on the sofa playing games that night.
Yu Tang touched Zhan Chen's forehead.
The light from the desk lamp was partially swallowed by him, and the room became darker.
The cotton in the quilt completed the particle exchange in the inconspicuous aurora, and the cotton in the inner core was replaced by warm light, becoming light and soft, like a cloud that can bring people good dreams.
The warm little ball of light was familiar with the place. It curled up in the quilt, pressed against Zhan Chen's chest, and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.