Chapter 9

After the test ended, the cadets in the cargo hold moved towards the monorail train heading into the space station under the guidance of the officers.

Lin Xiangzhi walked beside Lin Youde, lightly touching the back of his hand, and a dialog box asking "Do you want to establish a direct communication link?" appeared in the corner of Lin Youde's vision.

Lin Youde and Xia Yongzhi had granted each other the highest level of access, so Xia Yongzhi could initiate direct communication just by touching Lin Youde. However, Lin Youde had not granted such access to Lin Xiangzhi, so the dialog box appeared.

Without hesitation, Lin Youde selected "Yes."

During direct communication, whatever the surface thoughts were would be conveyed to the other person. However, Noah seemed to have added a protective measure, so even if Lin Youde thought about Noah, Noah would intercept those thoughts. Additionally, people in this era were already very accustomed to direct communication and could skillfully control their surface thoughts. Unless they were careless, they rarely leaked information they did not want to share.

At this moment, Lin Youde's attention was quite focused, so he was not worried about any issues.

The moment the communication was established, Lin Xiangzhi's consciousness transmitted through the small patch of skin where they were touching: "That Instructor Li is really a nasty guy, giving you such a harsh test right from the start."

"Test?" Lin Youde glanced at Xiangzhi, noticing that she appeared to be a calm and obedient girl, showing no signs of communicating with him.

Lin Youde quickly put on a serious face and asked Xiangzhi, "What test?"

"Isn't it obvious? You, with only a Level 1 psychic ability, scored full marks in the first test. Many people must be jealous, and you've become a thorn in their side. Someone will definitely come to pick a fight with you. He probably wants to see how you handle it."

"You mean he gave me the highest score to test me?"

"Obviously. Covert operations can be trained, but combat ability is much harder to improve. Lin Deguang and I, after completing all the enhancement courses, can have Level 8 psychic abilities, or even reach the strongest human Level 9. You only have a Level 1 psychic ability, and even if you complete all the enhancement courses, you'll only reach Level 4 or 5. Being a fleet commander or a battalion leader in the Marine Corps might be enough, but becoming a Ghost Agent is a joke."

Lin Youde thought for a moment and then pointed out the contradiction in Lin Xiangzhi's statement: "If that's the case, there's no need to test me, right? Since I can never have the necessary combat ability to become a Ghost Agent, there's no point in setting up such a situation to test me."

"You have a point. Maybe he wants to use you to see the character of the other cadets? In that case, I should take better care of you to improve Instructor Li's opinion of me. No, from his comments just now, it seems I should bully you to improve his opinion..."

Lin Youde moved to the side.

Lin Xiangzhi laughed.

"What are you dodging for? I won't bully you. After all, you're the son of my first love, so I'll take good care of you."

To be honest, having such a beautiful girl say "I'll take good care of you" made Lin Youde feel like he had already become a winner in life—no, maybe it wasn't just a feeling.

"It's just a feeling."

Lin Youde's momentary distraction caused his surface thoughts to lose control, and Lin Xiangzhi peeked into his inner thoughts, which made him very embarrassed, and he turned his head away.

Lin Xiangzhi looked at the back of Lin Youde's head, and for a moment, a devilish smile crossed her face.

In the next moment, Lin Youde suddenly saw Lin Xiangzhi's image in her surface thoughts, and it was from her own perspective, looking at herself in a full-length mirror while showering—

Shocked, Lin Youde couldn't help but cry out and pulled his hand away as if electrocuted, breaking the contact between them.

Everyone around them looked at Lin Youde in surprise, and even Lin Xiangzhi had a slightly surprised expression, tilting her head.

"What's wrong, Lin?" she asked in a standard gentle and ladylike tone, expressing appropriate concern without being overly close, perfectly matching her appearance.

"You're a fraud, Xiangzhi," Lin Youde muttered under his breath.

Lin Xiangzhi pretended not to hear.

At this moment, Noah interjected: [I saved that image.]

[Good job, Noah! I'll use her to jerk off tonight to get back at her.]

The moment Lin Youde said this to Noah, he felt incredibly embarrassed.

[Noah, delete it.]

[Okay. But, isn't this called hypocrisy in human language?]

[No, that's the wrong usage.]

[Then what should it be called?]

Lin Youde thought for a moment and replied: [It should be called hypocrisy, I guess. After all, I really want to jerk off, but I'm making you delete it... Why do I have to evaluate my own behavior!]

In the less than a second it took for Lin Youde and Noah to bicker, everyone's attention shifted away from Lin Youde. Lin Xiangzhi touched Lin Youde's hand again, and a dialog box asking to confirm the connection appeared in his vision.

After Lin Youde selected "Yes," Lin Xiangzhi's consciousness came in again: "Give me access."

"No," Lin Youde firmly refused. If Lin Xiangzhi's personality matched her appearance, he would have definitely granted access, as he had no resistance to that type of girl. But now, Lin Youde clearly knew that if he granted access, he would be completely devoured by this aunt, leaving no trace behind.

"Tch." This time, Lin Xiangzhi let go of his hand and broke the connection.

Lin Youde glanced at her, wondering if he had upset her, but found that her appearance was still that of a flawless young lady, showing no signs of displeasure.

At this moment, they had arrived at the station, but for some reason, there was no train waiting behind the shield door.

Lin Youde was puzzled when the bald Instructor Li's booming voice echoed in everyone's ears again: "The train is currently running from the other end of the space station and will arrive in about fifteen minutes. During this time, we have a small test. As everyone knows, Ghost Agents do not act alone but lead a special operations team, and sometimes even command a special agent ship. Therefore, Ghost Agents must have leadership skills and the ability to unite people.

"So now we will test the leadership skills of the cadets. When the train arrives, each Ghost Agent cadet should have two to three companions. This test is for those who still have the potential to become agents. Those who have already joined the support group can watch from the sidelines, or they can find the agent cadets they are interested in."

Lin Youde's jaw almost hit the ground. He recalled what Lin Xiangzhi had said earlier: with only a Level 1 psychic ability, he had stood out in the first test, making him a target for the other eliminated cadets. Asking him to find two to three companions at this moment was clearly a deliberate challenge.

However, since he already had Lin Xiangzhi, he only needed to find one more, Lin Youde thought. Considering Xiangzhi's excellent appearance, there might be some people who would join their group out of lust—

The moment this thought crossed his mind, the bald chief instructor shattered his hopes: "Of course, other agent cadets cannot be companions to another cadet, and robots do not count as companions."

When he said this, the bald chief instructor stared directly at Lin Youde, clearly making a special clarification for him.

Lin Youde felt like a million horses were galloping in his heart.

Lin Xiangzhi patted Lin Youde's shoulder: "Good luck."

Then she walked over to a small group of support group members, and Lin Youde immediately recognized them as the people Lin Xiangzhi had helped during the test.

"Did you know this was coming?"

Lin Xiangzhi smiled at Lin Youde and said in a proper tone: "Even without this test, I would still help those in need."

Although her smile was very sweet and calm, Lin Youde felt like he could see a little devil's tail with an inverted triangle wagging behind her.

In an instant, Lin Youde was left alone. All the support group members stood far away, watching him with expressions of anticipation.

In the distance, Lin Deguang was loudly laughing with his followers who had already been assigned to the support group, occasionally glancing at the embarrassed Lin Youde.

Instructor Li crossed his arms, spread his legs, and stood in a very dominant pose, staring at Lin Youde with a sharp gaze that seemed to pierce through his body.

It's over, Lin Youde thought. He would have to join the support group, but maybe he would be happier there—

At that moment, Xia Yongzhi's face flashed in Lin Youde's mind. A long time ago, Xia Yongzhi had told Lin Youde that her dream was to become a female captain in the United Nations Space Force, and now she was steadily moving towards that goal.

If he stopped moving forward, he would eventually be left far behind by Xia Yongzhi.

Lin Youde took a deep breath.

He didn't notice that Instructor Li's expression had changed at that moment. The bald man was still in the same pose, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned.

[Noah.]

[Shh, Harry is about to find the Philosopher's Stone.]

[You're actually watching it! You said you would only understand the charm of the movie through my feelings!]

[I was wrong. It's charming even without you.]

[But now I need your help!]

[Then just say it. I'm super capable, so I can help you while watching the movie.]

Lin Youde really wanted to complain about Noah's self-proclaimed awesomeness, but since she was indeed very capable, he let it go.

[Use the mathematical model you built to determine who won't run away when I approach.]

In the next moment, a series of virtual arrows appeared in Lin Youde's vision, visible only to him. Lin Youde ignored the arrows pointing to Lin Xiangzhi and Instructor Li, as they wouldn't run away when he approached, but getting close to them was meaningless.

Lin Youde randomly chose a few people who looked friendly and gathered together, then took a deep breath. Just as he was about to take a step, a low but surprisingly loud voice echoed on the platform.

"Chief Instructor, I have an objection to this test."

(Although we didn't reach 20,000 votes, the current performance is still quite impressive.)

[Page break for ads]

[End of page break for ads]