So, if I were to take down Qin Yi, could I gain something? The young man's mind began to race.
Chu Jungui established a model within the logic judgment module, attempting to analyze what benefits could be gained from suddenly taking down Qin Yi, and what the probabilities were for each.
The model began to run, a horizontal tree diagram rapidly diverging, branches constantly expanding. When the options became dozens, the model's operation began to slow down, then gradually fell silent.
Chu Jungui's calculation was so intense it made him feel a headache, so he quickly reduced the resources allocated to the model and meticulously checked the model's construction to see where the problem lay. If even the experimental subject's brain was having computational difficulties, this model must have some issue.
Upon inspection, Chu Jungui discovered the biggest problem lay in judging human hearts. Here, the variables were exceptionally numerous, and the calculation was particularly complex.
For example, after slapping Qin Yi down, there could be dozens of possible psychological reactions, ranging from an unending feud to immediate prostration. Each psychological reaction, combined with different environmental factors, would then produce different behavioral responses. For instance, even if his inner thought was to prostrate himself, he might still utter a few strong words to conceal his inner shyness.
Chu Jungui's headache grew worse. For the first time, he felt that human hearts were too complicated, and the hearts of the rich were even more so.
Thus, the first psychological analysis model construction ended in failure.
Chu Jungui thought for a moment, then added the prefix Xinzheng to the 4.0 above Qin Yi's head and changed its color to yellow.
Qin Yi, unaware that he had changed from a red name to a yellow one, drove while regaling Chu Jungui with tales of his past heroic deeds.
He chattered on the entire way, and as Chu Jungui listened, he subconsciously matched and compared the received information with known data. The matching analysis yielded no results; the great battles Qin Yi mentioned had indeed occurred, but Qin Yi's name was absent from the battlefield reports. This meant Qin Yi had not played a crucial role.
Qin Yi was currently summarizing, "In conclusion, I arrived at the critical time and critical location, eliminated the critical enemy, and thus won the battle."
"Hmm, a charging grunt..." Chu Jungui drew a rather unkind conclusion.
Although the data matching yielded no results, Chu Jungui arrived at an unexpected conclusion related to age.
According to rather unscientific statistical analysis, those who often reminisce about their past tend to be older in both psychological and physiological age.
So, Chu Jungui looked at Qin Yi and began to seriously consider how old he actually was. Thirty? Or forty?
The car finally reached its destination and stopped in front of a quiet small building. Qin Yi finally ceased his endless reminiscence and led Chu Jungui towards the building.
In front of the building stood a display screen, bearing the words "Special Environment Combat Research Institute."
Chu Jungui felt a sense of awe once more.
Special environments generally referred to all sorts of extreme conditions, such as high temperature, high pressure, high radiation, or darkness, strong electromagnetic interference, underwater, swarms of poisonous insects, and so on. Those who could not only survive but also fight in such environments were the cream of the crop. And those who could conduct research on them should be people capable of guiding such experts.
This, then, was the Source of the Version.
Chu Jungui followed Qin Yi inside and upstairs. As they entered, there seemed to be nothing unusual, but Chu Jungui felt several invisible rays pass over him, silently completing a scan.
Security measures that were outwardly lax but inwardly stringent were fitting for this building's status.
The interior was quiet, with occasional researchers hurrying past without a glance at them.
"Researchers are so aloof..." Chu Jungui became even more expectant.
Qin Yi approached a security door. After verifying their biological and electronic identities, the door opened. Beyond it was another security door; only when the outer door closed would the inner door open.
This time, the security measures were even stricter. Chu Jungui's biological and electronic identities were collected, and only after Qin Yi's confirmation did the inner door slowly open.
With a "boom," a powerful laser beam shot through the door crack, striking Chu Jungui's face, causing his vision to blur. Then, a deep bass reverberated, shaking his combat suit into ripples.
Chu Jungui barely managed to compose himself, staring in astonishment at the people drinking and dancing amidst the booming music and dazzling lasers.
He could never have imagined that inside this research building, externally so plain and solemn, behind layers of security measures, lay a rather explosive bar, with quite a few patrons.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go in!"
Qin Yi pushed Chu Jungui into the hall and headed straight for a central booth, sitting down in the middle. Quite a few people were already there. Chu Jungui looked around; half of the troublemakers were present, along with a few unfamiliar faces.
"Boss, what would you like to drink?" a server girl approached and asked.
To Chu Jungui's surprise, this server girl wore a portable terminal of the academy's standard issue; she was clearly a formal student. Judging by her gait – a blend of allure and agility – her skills should be decent. However, her practiced movements and way of speaking clearly indicated she was serious about being a server.
"You again," Fang Yu walked over, sat down next to Chu Jungui, and naturally placed an arm around his shoulder.
With a "snap," Qin Yi tapped her hand with a spoon, saying, "Take your claws off! Don't scare Jungui; can't you see he's already stiff?"
"Is that so?" Fang Yu removed her hand and, in passing, patted Chu Jungui's face.
Chu Jungui remained as still as a statue, indeed stiffened. "He really is, haha!"
Qin Yi looked around, asking, "Where's A Chen? Where's Su Xue? Where did those two run off to?"
"They had something going on, couldn't make it today."
Qin Yi frowned, "What could be more important than drinking?"
"A Chen recently developed a new business, and it's at a critical stage. I heard he's developed a brand-new repayment guarantee model that can make most defaulters pay up."
Qin Yi's interest immediately piqued. "What method is it? Is it effective?"
Fang Yu leaned over Chu Jungui and whispered something into Qin Yi's ear.
Qin Yi slapped his thigh and praised, "So it's a naked... oh, that thing! That's great! How did that kid come up with it?"
Fang Yu snorted, "Honestly, I had the urge to shoot him on the spot at the time."
Qin Yi said casually, "No need! Think about it, the academy has countless student loans under various names. For any normal need, you can borrow money. You can imagine what kind of people would go to A Chen for a loan."
"That's true," Fang Yu nodded.
"Um..." Chu Jungui finally spoke.
Fang Yu looked down, "What is it?"
"You've been leaning on me this whole time."
Chapter 30 Linghu Chong
Fang Yu returned to her original position, her hand still on Chu Jungui's shoulder, saying, "Just taking a little advantage, why so nervous? Not happy? Fine, when you can beat me, I naturally won't touch you. How about it, want to try now?"
"No," Chu Jungui shook his head.
What was there to try? They were on completely different levels. As long as he had a close-combat weapon like a heavy machine gun, he could completely dominate Fang Yu no matter how many times she attacked.
"Alright, I don't have the heart to bully you anymore." Fang Yu clearly understood and shifted to another approach.
Beside them, Qin Yi raised his wine glass and said loudly, "Welcome, Jungui, let's all have a drink... as much as you say."
"Linghu Chong?" someone suggested.
"No problem!" Qin Yi answered readily, picked up the wine bottle, and poured it into the pitcher. In a moment, a pitcher was placed in front of each person.
Chu Jungui was still matching and searching for the meaning behind the name Linghu Chong when a pitcher was shoved into his hand. Following the example of the others, he picked up the pitcher and drank it down in one gulp, suddenly understanding what "Linghu Chong" meant.
After a full pitcher of strong liquor went down, Qin Yi let out a breath and said, "Jungui, give me your hand."
Without waiting for Chu Jungui to react, Qin Yi grabbed his hand, opened his portable terminal, and read his account information.
On the screen in Qin Yi's hand, rows of numbers scrolled by, finally totaling a balance: -113,655 yuan.
This long string of red numbers sobered him up considerably. He frowned, "Owe this much? And it's only been a day?"
Qin Yi began to look through the account's specific income and expenditure details. Upon seeing that aside from the initial subsidy, Chu Jungui only had an extra 2015 yuan after returning home once, Qin Yi frowned. He now had some understanding of Chu Jungui's family circumstances.
Looking further down, the expenditures were a series of academy benefits. These so-called benefits were actually discounted prices, but each still cost money.
As formal students of Canshang Academy, each person had a credit limit of 150,000, used to pay for various supplies and benefits officially purchased from the academy, or to pay tuition fees. This amount might be nothing in Qin Yi's eyes, but Chu Jungui knew very well what it meant to him.
Qin Yi looked up and glared fiercely at Fang Yu. Fang Yu was clearly guilty, turned her face away, not daring to look, and began to slowly shift away.
"Come back, sit properly."
Fang Yu obediently returned, sitting close to Chu Jungui as if she were a naughty primary school student.
"Jungui's matters..."
Before Qin Yi could finish, Fang Yu quickly interjected, "I'll pay it back!"
"You don't need to meddle!" Qin Yi glared at her again.
Fang Yu stealthily glanced at Chu Jungui with some concern. Seeing his utterly bewildered expression, her heart settled slightly.
Qin Yi said sternly, "Jungui, Fang Yu is a bit thoughtless, don't take it to heart. However, I've looked at the benefits she chose for you; they are all things you'll need later, so keep them for now. As for the money, just owe it for now. I'll apply for an interest-free preference for you. Don't worry about earning money; I'll arrange something for you right now. Fang Yu!"
"Boss, what is it?" Perhaps because she had made a mistake, Fang Yu was exceptionally obedient.
"Don't you have a work-study program? Add Jungui to it."
"That program? The core or the periphery?"
"Of course, the core."
Fang Yu looked at Chu Jungui with some concern and hesitated, "The core might be a bit dangerous."
"If he doesn't train properly, the danger will be even greater by year-end," Qin Yi said coldly.
"Alright, I'll take good care of him."
Qin Yi patted Chu Jungui's shoulder, saying, "There, you have a place to earn money. Now, let's drink!"
With no immediate financial worries, Chu Jungui put his mind at ease and began to drink. He didn't know any drinking etiquette, just followed suit, accepting all drinks offered, and if someone toasted him, he would return three toasts.
In the blink of an eye, his consciousness began to drift.
He suddenly remembered a question and asked it as it came to him, "Isn't this a research institute? Why is there a bar here?"
"This isn't a bar; it's a training base."
Chu Jungui had already shouted "Linghu Chong" countless times at this point, and his brain's processing speed had dropped a tier, making him unable to react immediately. It clearly looked like a bar; what did it have to do with a training base?
Qin Yi's eyes were already a bit glazed. He beckoned Fang Yu over and said, "You explain it to him."
Fang Yu hooked her arm around Chu Jungui, pulling him closer, and pointed to the bar counter and dance floor ahead. "Wherever there are gatherings of people, there will be bars; this is a very common special scenario. Many mission targets appear here. So the academy set up a dedicated bar to train how to eliminate or capture specific targets using various means in such an environment. Everyone you see here, from customers to cleaners, is a student in disguise. We are training now, not drinking, understand?"
"So it's for training," Chu Jungui realized.
"Clever!"
But looking at the people in the booth who were already slumping over, Chu Jungui still felt they were just there to drink.
Before he could fully grasp it, Fang Yu leaned in, waved the pitcher in her hand in front of Chu Jungui, and said, "Training has begun! Come on, give it another shot!"
Training was serious business. Chu Jungui trained diligently, and in the blink of an eye, his face was flushed red, and his consciousness was blurred.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly broke out in a sweat and woke up. The first thing he saw was a pair of snow-white legs pressing down on him.
Chu Jungui steadied himself and recognized them as Fang Yu's legs; she herself was slumped on the sofa, fast asleep.
Looking to his left, Qin Yi was also passed out drunk.
On the table in front of them were piled empty wine bottles. No one in the booth was sober.
The servers, seemingly accustomed to it, continued to attend to the still-conscious patrons at other tables.
Chu Jungui rubbed his head, checked the time; it was already three in the morning.
Yueyong Star was close to its home planet, with a 26-hour day. Three AM was the time most people were in deep sleep. Chu Jungui wanted to return to his dormitory, but he had no car, and he was also worried about these drunken fellows. He ended up staying seated. Before long, the alcohol kicked in, and he too fell into a deep sleep.
After an unknown period, a call woke Chu Jungui from his slumber.
"Jungui! Wake up, it's time to get up!"
Chu Jungui opened his eyes and saw Fang Yu's face inches away, her beautiful large eyes occupying nearly his entire field of vision.
"I'm fine."
"Still saying you're fine? With such a low tolerance, don't challenge me again in the future." Fang Yu patted Chu Jungui, speaking earnestly.
Chu Jungui distinctly remembered that she had passed out first last night; why did she seem to have forgotten everything that happened?
"No!" A roar suddenly came from nearby, followed by intermittent sobs.
Chu Jungui turned his head and saw Qin Yi lying on the sofa, fists clenched, his whole body trembling, tears streaming from his tightly closed eyes.
Fang Yu sighed, "The boss is thinking about his comrades again. Only half of them returned from that battle. You'll know later; the boss always gets like this when he drinks too much."
Chapter 31 Subsidy Program
"Let's go, I'll take you back to your dorm, and I'll tell you about the project on the way," Fang Yu pulled Chu Jungui up, ignoring the others, and led him out of the experimental building, heading back to the dorms.
Soon, Fang Yu's car entered Zone 2. Her car seemed special, as all checkpoints along the way recognized it automatically and granted passage. After parking below the dorm building, Fang Yu said to Chu Jungui, "Aren't you going to invite me up for a drink?"
"You've had enough, haven't you?" Chu Jungui didn't want to get a headache again.
Fang Yu laughed heartily, "Then I'll be going. Don't forget about the project; report in three days."
"Don't worry."
Fang Yu didn't linger and drove off in a cloud of dust.
Chu Jungui checked the time; it was only seven in the morning, two hours before class. He returned to his dorm, took a shower first, and then sat down at his desk, opened his personal terminal, and began creating a schedule and a study plan.
On the way back, Fang Yu had already roughly explained the project's content to Chu Jungui.
As a military academy founded in the frontier starfield, Canshang Academy placed great emphasis on practical training, perhaps to an obsessive degree. The academy organized countless large and small practical training exercises, including numerous alien survival training sessions with hundreds of participants, not to mention various tests and assessments within the academy.
Within Canshang Academy, there were over three hundred practical training grounds, not only simulating various planetary surfaces and terrains but also training halls simulating various cities, villages, ruins, and even zero-gravity combat in outer space.
Canshang Academy particularly emphasized teamwork, which was also in line with the style of the Sheng Tang Dynasty. Many team or student assessments were conducted through practical combat tests. Their performance not only affected their academic scores but also directly determined their post-graduation placement. Some excellent students would be earmarked by the elite troops of Xinzheng after only two academic years, and there were even precedents for them to be directly recruited by Celestial Dynasty forces.
To conduct practical combat tests, an opposing force was often needed to simulate combat scenarios in various environments. Fang Yu was responsible for assembling this type of opposing force.
The so-called opposing force was established to test the combat capabilities of the assessed forces. Depending on the mission content of different combat scenarios, volunteers would be given certain remuneration. Although the amounts varied, they were generally quite generous. A basic assessment could often yield a thousand yuan.
Such generous compensation naturally had its reasons. Many practical combat exams required the assessed forces to completely annihilate the enemy. This meant that as a member of the opposing force, you were highly likely to be hit by a stun bullet, and one might not even be enough. That feeling was not pleasant; who would be willing to suffer such hardship without sufficient compensation?
Furthermore, in some survival battles, the attacking side would often deploy heavy equipment to test combined combat capabilities. As an enemy force defending a position, it was likely to be bombarded by heavy artillery first. In such scenarios, there would be certain casualty quotas.
Fang Yu had a practical combat assessment in three days. The combat scenario was an infantry position attack and defense. Chu Jungui's side, as the defending force, had to hold a high ground, relying on the already constructed positions to counter the assessed force's attack. In this combat scenario, the assessed force had nearly two hundred people, while Chu Jungui's side had only thirty and no heavy weapons.
Among various assessments, this scenario was considered moderately difficult for the opposing force.
Fang Yu was initially worried that Chu Jungui might be intimidated, but to her surprise, Chu Jungui agreed immediately. The reason was quite simple: upon hearing that the remuneration for this battle was fifteen hundred yuan, Chu Jungui stopped listening to anything else.
Having accepted the job, he naturally had to prepare well. After opening his personal information terminal, Chu Jungui began to review materials related to positional attack and defense.
As the defending side, Chu Jungui could only use light weapons, and the variety was limited. The most powerful were squad-level medium-caliber heavy machine guns, followed by light machine guns, assault rifles, and high-precision assault rifles. There were no indirect fire weapons or any other support firepower.
After understanding the content, Chu Jungui found two courses in the curriculum materials: Basic Light Weapon Combat and Intermediate Light Weapon Combat. He habitually checked the version numbers and found that the basic version was 2.1, while the intermediate version was 2.0. For publicly taught courses, the version numbers were quite high, indicating at least one major foundational revision had occurred.
However, after Qin Yi's guidance, Chu Jungui now looked at version numbers more carefully. Indeed, in the description section, he saw markings for Xinzheng and Canshang Academy. This meant that both versions were developed by Xinzheng based on the Celestial Dynasty's 1.0 version, and could not be compared to the Celestial Dynasty's own 2.0 version.
Over the next two days, in addition to the basic armored combat he had initially chosen, Chu Jungui added Basic Light Weapon Combat to his schedule.