A few days later, as the "Old Task Force" was about to begin its afternoon training session,

Jiang Baimian walked back into the room, a slightly complex expression on her face.

She approached Long Yuehong and, after a moment of silence, said:

"Your transfer application has been rejected."

Long Yuehong's body swayed slightly, and he couldn't hide the disappointment on his face.

Jiang Baimian sighed softly:

"The higher-ups said that they shouldn't abandon or give up on lagging team members. They can't hand down a death sentence just because someone showed psychological maladjustment in one training session.

"Moreover, no one has applied to join the 'Old Task Force' yet. Everyone is short-handed everywhere, so replacements can only happen during the next job allocation."

"...I understand, I understand," Long Yuehong replied, his head lowered, as if talking to himself.

Jiang Baimian hummed in acknowledgement and said with a smile to reassure him:

"I won't say it louder this time."

Long Yuehong was silent for a moment before saying:

"Actually, I'm not, that disappointed, and, in pain.

"At least I, now feel that, the 'Old Task Force' work is still very meaningful."

Jiang Baimian smiled:

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have formed the 'Old Task Force'."

With that, she patted Long Yuehong on the shoulder:

"Train hard, improve yourself, and strive to live until next July. Then, I can apply for new team members and replace you."

Long Yuehong's smile was more like a grimace:

"Team Leader, that's not a very auspicious thing to say."

At this moment, Shang Jianyao approached, smiling, and said:

"Team Leader, you should say:

"I'll beat you up properly later to improve your survival skills!"

Long Yuehong's face paled, and he inexplicably found this even more terrifying than an external investigation.

After all, the official start of the mission, facing various dangers, would be after spring, still several months away, while training was only a dozen minutes away.

"I'll beat you up properly later to improve your survival skills!" Jiang Baimian repeated Shang Jianyao's words, but she wasn't looking at Long Yuehong; she was looking at Shang Jianyao.

She struck a pose as if her hands were itching for a fight.

Then, she thoughtfully said to Long Yuehong:

"If we have the chance, we'll get another set of military exoskeletons; that can effectively improve your strength."

"Great, great," Long Yuehong's eyes lit up.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and added:

"Actually, you can also consider biological prosthetic transplants; they're much safer than genetic modification.

"If you have a man's romantic side and like machines, you can try replacing certain parts of your body with machines. Some major factions are very good at this. I remember there's a mechanical arm with so many functions that it's really tempting."

"...That's not necessary for now, is it?" Long Yuehong still preferred his original body.

"Hey, you're only 1.75 meters tall after genetic modification; you might as well replace it," Shang Jianyao chimed in from the side, "helping."

Long Yuehong's facial muscles twitched, and he blurted out:

"Why don't you replace yours?"

"I haven't had the chance yet," Shang Jianyao replied earnestly.

Long Yuehong was speechless.

Seeing the atmosphere improve, Jiang Baimian turned to Bai Chen, who was quietly observing, and said:

"The previous suggestions were also for you.

"Biological prosthetic transplants and mechanical modifications are both relatively mature technologies and not that dangerous.

"Do you want to team up with me and become the Lightning Sisters?"

Before she could finish speaking, and before Bai Chen could say anything, Shang Jianyao commented:

"Team Leader, your naming is so awful.

"You must listen to fewer radio shows!"

"...I think you've been electrocuted too little," Jiang Baimian gritted her teeth.

Bai Chen slowly exhaled and nodded gently:

"I'll consider it."

"The only problem is, who's the older sister and who's the younger sister?" Shang Jianyao once again "helped" Bai Chen with his words.

Jiang Baimian didn't know how to answer for a moment, because Bai Chen was indeed older than her and had a more mature psychological age.

But to make her acknowledge herself as the younger sister would be beneath the dignity of a team leader.

All along, she had positioned herself as the team's protector and guardian.

Soon, Jiang Baimian realized what was happening and glared at Shang Jianyao.

In the process, she laughed twice to change the topic:

"After today's training, there will be a special training.

"That's to train your courage."

"How do we train?" Long Yuehong asked, a little afraid.

Jiang Baimian raised her chin slightly and said with a smile:

"Tonight, one person will stay here alone, without flashlights or any lighting tools."

"Sounds a little scary..." Long Yuehong said sincerely.

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"This training can only be done one person at a time; otherwise, it won't be effective.

"Shang Jianyao, tonight it's you; Bai Chen, tomorrow night it's you; Long Yuehong, the night after tomorrow it's you."

Seeing that he wasn't the first, Long Yuehong breathed a slight sigh of relief:

"Yes, Team Leader!"

Shang Jianyao followed suit, sounding a bit serious:

"Yes, Team Leader!"

After Bai Chen also responded, Shang Jianyao raised his hand and asked:

"Can we sleep while staying behind?

"Can we turn on the stereo to listen to music?"

"No to both!" Jiang Baimian replied decisively.

…………

After dinner, Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen left Room 14 and returned to their respective floors.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian also took away all the flashlights and all the batteries.

Shang Jianyao read the thick oral history by the light in the room and could occasionally hear the hourly news report on the radio.

At 9 p.m., all the lights on the entire floor went out simultaneously, and Shang Jianyao's eyes were plunged into darkness.

There wasn't a single natural light source here, and the surroundings were all desks, chairs, and walls, so much so that Shang Jianyao couldn't even see his own fingers, let alone the outlines of various objects.

He subconsciously wanted to turn on the desk lamp, but when he pressed the switch, he found that it didn't work.

This wasn't like the "Living Area," where, after the streetlights went out, one could use one's own energy ration to restore light to one's home. Here, once it was time, every room would be cut off from electricity unless the relevant person in charge applied to work late or all night.

Shang Jianyao withdrew his hand and looked around again.

All that met his eyes was dense darkness.

In such darkness, he didn't know where the boundaries were, and he didn't know if there were any other things hidden around the familiar objects.

Moreover, unlike the "Living Area," where the rooms were dense and the soundproofing was poor, Shang Jianyao could always hear whispering conversations and moans when the "night" was quiet.

Sometimes, there would also be children crying, adults arguing, and snoring from who knows who.

Before Shang Jianyao fell asleep, the night was often not so absolutely quiet.

But in this kind of workplace, it was still quite lively during the day. After 7 p.m., there might not even be more than ten living people on the entire floor, and once the lights were turned off, there were almost no humans.

Therefore, at this moment, Shang Jianyao only felt that this place was unusually quiet, so quiet that it seemed to be frozen.

A creaking sound suddenly rang out, and Shang Jianyao actively moved a chair to break the chilling stillness.

However, the movement couldn't last, and the sound quickly subsided, as if it had been swallowed up by the surrounding dense darkness.

Shang Jianyao sat there, his eyes wide, staring into the depths of the darkness, wanting to see some order in the chaos.

Such darkness and such silence made him unable to even determine his own existence, and he had the feeling that he would be eroded and swallowed by the darkness at any time.

After an unknown amount of time, Shang Jianyao suddenly opened his mouth and began to sing:

"Remembering the past, the painful lovesickness is unforgettable..."

As he sang, he switched to a more intense type:

"Arise, ye prisoners of starvation...

"Arise, ye wretched of the earth..."

He roared at the top of his lungs, as if to break the current extreme darkness and extreme silence.

As he roared, Shang Jianyao stopped, breathing heavily.

The entire room and the entire floor became quiet again, and the darkness never changed.

Shang Jianyao calmed down for a while and started singing again.

He sang and stopped, but he couldn't get any response and couldn't break the darkness.

After a while, Shang Jianyao suddenly opened his mouth and shouted loudly:

"Is anyone there?

"Is anyone there!"

All he got was his own echo.

Huff, huff, unknowingly, Shang Jianyao's breathing became heavier, as if he was using this method to prove that he still existed.

At this moment, he suddenly turned his head and looked towards where the door should be.

The faint sound of footsteps came from the side, rapidly approaching.

A beam of yellowish light shone into the room.

The beam then rose, revealing a "bright white" face.

"Am I scary?" A ghostly female voice echoed in the room.

Shang Jianyao glanced at Jiang Baimian, who was shining a flashlight on her face:

"You're so childish."

"..." Jiang Baimian replied, amused and annoyed, "I'm showing you concern and adjusting the atmosphere!"

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to speak, she curled her lips:

"Your singing is really not very good."

"You've been hiding in the next room?" Shang Jianyao asked directly.

"The room next to the next room; otherwise, you, as an Awakened, would have discovered me," Jiang Baimian explained with a smile, walking to Shang Jianyao's side and pulling out a chair to sit down.

She shook the flashlight, watching the light dart around.

After a few seconds, she said casually:

"This special training is mainly designed for you.

"Your fear of enclosed darkness and extreme silence should have been caused by the time after your father disappeared and your mother was hospitalized for a long time, right?

"At that time, you were only thirteen or fourteen years old, and you would wake up in the middle of the night to find that there was no one at home and no sound around... And then, you would sing to embolden yourself?"

Shang Jianyao was silent, not answering.

Jiang Baimian chuckled and continued:

"This kind of problem has to be approached step by step, gradually adapting. It can't be too stimulating at the beginning; otherwise, it will only exacerbate the fear.

"So, for the first few times, I'll accompany you, maybe chat with you a bit, but without turning on the flashlight.

"Once you've adapted to this situation, I won't talk and will sit even further away.

"Once this stage is over, if you haven't had any negative problems, then I'll go to the room next to the next room and stay there, so you can't see or hear me but know that someone is nearby.

"Then, maybe one time, I'll quietly go home, but I won't tell you."

Shang Jianyao listened quietly and nodded in the flashlight's light:

"Okay."

Jiang Baimian smiled and turned off the flashlight.

The entire room became exceptionally dark again, but compared to before, there was now the sound of breathing nearby.