The atmosphere outside the Hunter Guild's mission department, in the B-grade squad qualification review room, was somewhat heavy.
Several captains of Hunter Squads rated B-grade or higher gathered here, maintaining a cautious distance from each other, their eyes meeting with a mix of scrutiny and competition.
The opportunity to recruit an auxiliary escort squad for the 【B-41】 mission attracted many teams eager to raise their prestige and gain favor with the Central system.
Ling Chen stood in the crowd with Su Qing, his face showing a perfectly appropriate mix of nervousness and anticipation, like a newcomer eager for recognition.
Su Qing, as always, was cool and detached, her molten-gold pupils calmly sweeping over the surrounding competitors, secretly assessing their strength.
"Look, the 'Violent Bear' people are here too," someone whispered.
Ling Chen looked up to see Leimeng swaggering over with several of his fierce-looking teammates.
Seeing Ling Chen, Leimeng's eyes lit up, and he walked straight over.
"Brother Lin Chen! You've come to try your luck too?" Leimeng's large, fan-like hand clapped Ling Chen's shoulder, his voice booming.
Ling Chen swayed slightly from the pat, a "helpless" smile on his face: "Brother Leimeng, we're just here to try it out and see what it's like. The competition for such high-level missions is too fierce."
"Heh! What's there to be afraid of!" Leimeng said nonchalantly.
"You did well a few days ago, kid! Old Zhao from the Logistics Department even praised you! You've got guts! I'm rooting for you!" His loud voice drew the attention of several surrounding squads, their gazes lingering on Ling Chen for a moment, mostly with a hint of disdain.
—A C-grade squad that had just suffered heavy losses and brought in new members dared to covet such a mission?
Ling Chen showed a perfectly timed "embarrassment," whispering, "Brother Leimeng, could you keep your voice down..."
Leimeng laughed heartily, offered a few more words of encouragement, and then led his people towards the review room.
His 'Violent Bear' squad was a veteran B-grade team, powerful and one of the strong contenders for this qualification.
Besides 'Violent Bear,' Ling Chen also noticed several other formidable teams:
The 'Nightingale' squad, known for stealth reconnaissance and intelligence gathering;
The 'Solid Wall' squad, skilled in defense and positional warfare; and the 'Ranger' squad, with extensive experience in wilderness environments and mutated creatures.
The competition was indeed fierce.
The review began.
The captains of each squad entered the room in turn, undergoing a joint inquiry from mission department officials and a liaison officer from the Central Special Operations Bureau.
The questions mainly focused on the team's past mission history, members' special abilities, wilderness survival experience, and ability to handle emergencies.
When it was Ling Chen's turn, he took a deep breath, adjusted his expression, and walked into the review room alone.
Inside the room, a serious-faced Guild mission official and a middle-aged man in a Central Special Operations Bureau uniform trench coat, with eyes as sharp as an eagle's, sat behind a table.
The Special Operations Bureau man's epaulets indicated his rank as a colonel, and his aura was profound, clearly that of a Limit Breaking Stage expert.
"Captain Lin Chen, Ash Squad," the Guild official said in a flat tone, looking at the documents in his hand. "Your squad's current rating is C-grade, and you are applying for a B-grade re-evaluation.
"According to records, you recently experienced significant personnel losses and added two new members."
"Do you believe, given your current situation, what advantages you have to be competent for the auxiliary escort work of the 【B-41】 mission?" The question was direct, even somewhat sharp.
Ling Chen's face showed a sincere and slightly stubborn expression, and he answered neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Sir, ratings and paper data truly cannot fully represent our current state."
"Yes, we experienced setbacks and lost two excellent comrades, but this made us clearer about our responsibilities and made us cherish every mission opportunity even more." He paused, then continued: "Regarding advantages: First, our squad recently successfully executed an emergency support mission for the Central logistics transport team, demonstrating effective command, coordination, and response capabilities in a sudden encounter battle. Lieutenant Colonel Zhao can attest to this."
"Second, our team's ability configuration is very suitable for an auxiliary escort role."
"Su Qing (Liu Feng)'s wind element perception and acceleration ability can greatly enhance reconnaissance and early warning range;
"Wang Yuan (Hui Xiu)'s spiritual scent perception has extremely high sensitivity to energy anomalies, traps, and potential threats;"
"Chen Mo (Gray Shield)'s defensive ability and Shi Lei (Gray Rock)'s frontal endurance can also provide protection at critical moments."
"Third, our recent training focus has been on wilderness adaptation, reconnaissance and vigilance, and squad coordination, for which we have conducted targeted enhancements." His answer was clear, highlighted key points, acknowledged shortcomings, emphasized advantages and preparation, and cleverly used recent 'achievements' as corroboration.
The Central Special Operations Bureau colonel had been listening in silence, his sharp gaze falling on Ling Chen like a physical presence, seemingly evaluating every subtle expression and tone.
"As far as we know, mutated creature activity in the Jiu'an City area has been unusually frequent and extremely aggressive recently," the Special Operations Bureau officer suddenly spoke, his voice low and oppressive.
"And the Western Rift Zone mission area has a geographical connection with the direction of Jiu'an City."
"What do your squad know about the abnormal situation there? Do you have experience dealing with mutated creatures with similar berserker attack patterns?" This question was extremely tricky, subtly touching upon the core that Ling Chen wanted to conceal.
Ling Chen sneered inwardly, but his face showed a perfectly timed solemnity and a hint of "lingering fear": "Sir, regarding the situation in Jiu'an City, we have also heard about it, and it is indeed very alarming."
"Our squad has not directly engaged with the new type of mutated creatures there, but previously, when supporting the transport team, the mutated creature swarm we encountered was also extremely aggressive, with chaotic and frenzied patterns."
"We successfully defused the crisis by relying on close coordination and precise early warning."
"We believe that in such a high-risk environment, cautious reconnaissance, timely early warning, and flexible response are more important than simply head-on confrontation." He skillfully steered the conversation back to his emphasized advantages of "reconnaissance and response," avoiding direct knowledge of the Jiu'an City situation, while indirectly proving his capabilities with previous battle examples.
The Special Operations Bureau officer stared at him for a few seconds, his gaze seeming to flicker slightly, but he did not press further, merely nodding faintly.
After the Guild official asked a few more routine questions, he motioned for Ling Chen to leave.
Walking out of the review room, Ling Chen quietly let out a breath, a complex expression of "relief" and "anticipation" on his face.
Su Qing came up to him, offering an inquiring look.
"I did my best, let's wait for the results," Ling Chen smiled at her, a hint of fatigue in his smile.
The waiting process was not long.
Half an hour later, all squad reviews were completed.
The mission department official and the Special Operations Bureau officer discussed in low voices for a moment, then finally announced the results.
The two squads that obtained auxiliary escort qualifications were: the veteran strong team "Violent Bear," and... to many people's surprise—the "Ashes" squad!
As soon as the results were announced, a low murmur rippled through the scene. Many looked at Ling Chen with incredulous eyes.
Even Leimeng was stunned for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter, slapping Ling Chen's shoulder vigorously: "Good kid! I told you you could do it! Hahaha! I didn't expect us to be going on a mission together!"
Ling Chen's face instantly filled with an expression of "pleasant surprise" and "disbelief," as if struck by a huge windfall, and he quickly thanked Leimeng and the officials who announced the results: "Thank you, sir! Thank you, Brother Leimeng! We will definitely do our best and not let down your trust!" He acted like a lucky, extremely excited young man.
However, in the depths of his downcast eyes, there was a cold calm.
It was a success.
The first step of the plan was smoothly taken.
He keenly noticed that when the Special Operations Bureau officer announced the results, his gaze lingered on him for a moment again, and there seemed to be a hint of... an unspeakable scrutiny and... pensiveness in his eyes?
A faint warning sign rose in Ling Chen's heart.
The people from the Central Special Operations Bureau were indeed not so simple.
Their choice of the Ash Squad was probably not just because of the so-called "reconnaissance advantage," but perhaps also for deeper considerations.
—For example, an unspoken connection that might exist with the "Jiu'an City anomaly"?
Or, they wanted to place a squad with a "relatively simple background" and "in urgent need of proving itself" under their watchful eyes, to facilitate observation or even... control?
Or... was it Lei Bao's trick, wanting to lure him to a secret place and eliminate him? Regardless, the goal was achieved.
The process was a little more complicated than he expected, but the result was the same.
Next, he would have to perfectly play the role of "auxiliary escort" under the gaze of these hidden eyes (or multiple pairs of eyes), and seize the opportunity to find the true target.
After leaving the mission department, Ling Chen immediately gathered all his teammates and announced the "good news."
Chen Mo, Wang Yuan, Zhang Hou, and Li Xun all seemed very excited and thrilled.
Being able to participate in a Central-level mission was a great honor and opportunity for them.
Only Su Qing, amidst her excitement, still harbored a trace of imperceptible worry deep in her eyes.
She seemed to instinctively feel the unusual nature hidden behind this mission.
Ling Chen ignored her doubts and began preparing for the mission with extreme efficiency:
Collecting the upgraded wilderness equipment and supplies issued by the Guild.
Verifying the preliminary route map and precautions provided by the exploration team.
Organizing targeted emergency plan drills for the team members... He attended to every detail, personally overseeing everything, demonstrating all the qualities of a responsible captain.
All of this, naturally, also fell into the eyes of certain interested parties.
Security Department, inside a monitoring room.
"Hmph, he's putting on quite a show," an investigator said coldly, watching Ling Chen's busy figure on the screen.
"Why would the Central Special Operations Bureau choose them? Just because of that transport team support mission?" another person asked in confusion.
"It's probably not that simple," the leading cold-faced investigator said, his eyes sharp.
"Those Special Operations Bureau guys have noses sharper than dogs. They chose the Ash Squad either because this kid really has some crooked talent, or... they might have smelled something else and want to use this opportunity to probe."
"Then us..."
"Keep a close eye on him! This mission is the best observation opportunity! Inform our people in the logistics support and intelligence analysis departments to closely monitor all movements of the Ash Squad!"
"Especially this Lin Chen! I want to know his every abnormal move!"
"Yes!" Undercurrents never stopped surging.
Meanwhile, Ling Chen, amidst his intensive preparations, quietly hid the "Life Essence Concentrate" given to him by Bai Zhi and several other carefully prepared, specially purposed trinkets close to his body.
He had arranged for Tang Yinmeng to stay in the room; with her personality, she shouldn't run around in an unfamiliar place.
The chess game had entered its middle stage, and the pieces had already crossed the river.
The true confrontation was about to begin in the unknown and dangerous Western Rift Zone.