A rookie, appearing from nowhere, had so provoked them that the veterans couldn't save face, yet ganging up on one person was something they genuinely couldn't bring themselves to do.

This situation quickly devolved into a series of rotating challenges.

Faced with Qin Fen's raw power, which sent two veterans reeling, these older soldiers realized they couldn't best him with mere combat skill. They resorted to a strategy of pure attrition, meeting his force head-on.

Initially, whenever a veteran was repelled by Qin Fen, they would grant him a moment to recover his breath. But with every punch Qin Fen landed, it seemed he gained a new insight into the Gang Quan (Hard Fist), and the next strike or kick was invariably stronger than the last.

The veterans, too, began to feel the heat of battle, gradually ceasing to give him any respite. The rotating challenge slowly morphed into small-scale skirmishes.

Soon after, these skirmishes evolved beyond simple brute-force exchanges. They discovered that fighting him head-on was akin to pitting their own weaknesses against the young man’s undeniable strengths, offering not the slightest advantage.

The pure brawling began to shift into tactical sparring, a style Qin Fen adapted to without any hesitation, having grown accustomed to being swarmed by veterans in recent days.

These veterans, radiating heavier killing intent and employing more insidious, vicious attacks, only served to heighten Qin Fen’s excitement; the feeling of real combat was even more fulfilling than with the previous batches of older soldiers.

The veterans had spoken too boldly before. Failing to subdue Qin Fen would be a public humiliation. Their rising anxiety made their attacks increasingly venomous. While their bare punches and kicks were manageable, the moment they employed their claw techniques, their sharpened nails sliced like blades. Though they failed to break Qin Fen’s skin, each swipe left behind several red marks.

By the end of the day, Qin Fen bore at least three hundred, if not five hundred, lacerations. Even his uniform was reduced to a ragged style that was once popular on the streets—a beggar’s ensemble.

If the Major General hadn't explicitly granted him the authority to requisition new uniforms before leaving, Qin Fen would have had to walk home naked after the first day’s training.

Leaving the barracks, he settled into the military-provided sedan. Qin Fen immediately fell asleep in the back seat.

The day’s fighting had been utterly exhausting. Each veteran fought with more ruthlessness than the last, as if driven by a personal vendetta of having their father killed and wife stolen. Some had even resorted to using their most closely guarded secret techniques.

Had he not recently engaged in such intimate contact with another group of veterans, Qin Fen felt certain he would have been taken down on the spot the first time he faced a veteran employing a finishing move.

The car stopped at the edge of a busy district. The driver turned back to the still-sleeping Qin Fen and said, "We're here. Fifteenth floor, Block B."

Qin Fen rubbed his drowsy eyes as he got out, walking into the apartment complex the military had helped lease for him.

Upon reaching the door, Qin Fen realized he didn't have the key to open the room.

The doorbell rang, and the heavy door slid open slowly, Qin Fen’s eyes immediately brightening in response to the light spilling from within.

Inside, Lin Ling was no longer the frostbitten female soldier in uniform he knew from the training grounds.

She was wearing a cute, pink pajama set, holding a towel and wiping her still-dripping wet hair. On her feet were a pair of adorable, cartoonish wolf slippers, and she watched Qin Fen quietly.

“Ahem…”

Qin Fen cleared his throat dryly. The woman’s entire aura seemed to shift dramatically based on her attire—a change so far beyond his estimations that it left him somewhat awkward.

“You’re back.”

Lin Ling’s smile was utterly natural, and even her voice had become incredibly gentle, giving an immediate sense of soothing comfort, like a devoted wife waiting happily for her husband at home.

However, to Qin Fen, who had spent the night studying psychology, it tasted like something else entirely.

The smile was so seamless it seemed computer-generated, utterly flawless, yet the smile in her eyes was slightly hollow, lacking any genuine warmth. Her voice, though soft, carried the same emotional flatness, showing no true feeling whatsoever.

The moment Qin Fen stepped inside, Lin Ling, still drying her hair, suddenly lunged into his arms. This completely unprompted move was followed by a brief, sweet kiss on his cheek.

The fiery nature of the embrace combined with the icy coolness of her lips made Qin Fen seriously doubt what kind of martial art Lin Ling practiced; how could she suppress her body temperature to such a degree, making it seem as if human emotion itself had been suppressed by her cultivation?

Qin Fen wrapped his arms around Lin Ling in return, whispering softly by her ear, “I’m back.”

He knew the real mission had just begun, and all of this was merely setting the stage for his eventual defection from the Federation.

Closing the door, Lin Ling slowly pulled away from his embrace, her face still fixed in that sweet smile, but her voice, delivered in a chillingly calm whisper, said, “You should have initiated the embrace just now, and kissed my forehead. As a soldier executing a mission, you need to adapt to these things quickly for your future time in the Golden Triangle. Please be more professional next time.”

“Professional?” Qin ফেন replied with an identical smile. He reached out, wrapping an arm around Lin Ling’s waist, and slowly guided her toward the window, closing the curtain before turning back to face her, his expression still deeply affectionate. “Do you think you’re professional? Then please drop that false smile and unleash a radiance in your eyes as genuinely happy as mine. Furthermore, your voice sounds gentle, but it lacks any sincerity or sweetness. If you were acting in a movie or TV show, this technique might work. But to deceive the Head of Criminal Investigation? That might be difficult. Being professional is your job, not mine.”

Lin Ling’s hands, so fair they seemed almost sacred, gently cupped Qin Fen’s face. She stared at him with the perfect expression of a woman deeply in love, saying, “Where am I being false? My smile, analyzed by computer projection, is perfect. Every muscle and patch of skin is precisely where it should be.”

Qin Fen laughed. He had heard similar statements before, once from Squad Leader Hao.

The result then was that the smile-hiding Squad Leader ordered him to smile in front of a mirror, maintaining that expression at all times, until his face cramped from exhaustion.

Then Squad Leader Hao returned with the mirror, making him look at the face that was now painfully contorted in a rictus.

“Is this smiling?”

“Can a cramped face not smile?”

“A smile isn't composed of muscle; it’s emotion! Emotion!”

“Even if your facial muscles decay, you must make others feel that you are smiling, that you are happy!”

“Look at this grimace, look at these streaming tears—am I crying?”

“No! You are smiling!”

Qin Fen recalled those days of brutal training and finally understood how inadequate he had been in front of the squad leader back then.

“Shall we go look in the mirror together?” Qin Fen draped his arm around Lin Ling’s waist and walked toward the bathroom, simultaneously marveling at how Lin Ling maintained such an excellent physique despite her formidable martial arts prowess.

Even with just his hand resting on her waist, Qin Fen could sense that Lin Ling’s figure possessed an extraordinary feel—one that could easily spark inappropriate thoughts, especially for a man who had just experienced arousal and deeply yearned for that sensation—it held a nearly fatal allure.

In the bathroom, before a massive mirror, Qin Fen and Lin Ling stood head-to-head, forcing smiles.

“See?” Qin Fen ground out through clenched teeth, “Tell me honestly, whose smile is more real?”

Lacking Squad Leader Hao’s ability to hold a smile regardless of facial expression, Qin Fen noticed in the mirror that he too had failed—he hadn't managed to smile at all.

…

Lin Ling fell silent. The smile vanished from her face.

A few seconds later, she displayed the smile again.

It was still the perfect combination of muscle and bone structure forming a façade of happiness, yet there was not a hint of joy in her eyes.

Soon, the smile vanished again. She stood quietly contemplating for over ten seconds before attempting to mimic Qin Fen’s smile, failing once more.

After more than ten failed attempts, the smile completely deserted Lin Ling’s face. She had to admit that Qin Fen possessed far more authenticity than she did.

“How did you do that?” Lin Ling asked, her expression betraying no confusion through furrowed brows; her voice remained flat, making even the tone of inquiry difficult to discern.

Qin Fen’s smile brightened considerably at that moment. “Simple. Think of things that make you happy.”

“Happy things?” Lin Ling’s next question stunned Qin Fen. “What kind of things make one happy?”

For a moment, Qin Fen didn't know how to answer. He stared at Lin Ling for several seconds before asking, “You mean… you’ve never been happy?”

“Happy, no,” Lin Ling shook her head decisively and succinctly.

“Then think back to your childhood; there must have been some joyful moments, right?”

Qin Fen felt compelled to guide her; this likely affected the success or failure of the mission ahead. He certainly didn't want to be eliminated the moment he entered the Golden Triangle.

“Childhood?” Lin Ling shook her head again. “I had no childhood.”

No childhood? A faint glint flashed in Qin Fen’s eyes. Could Lin Ling share an experience similar to, yet different from, Du Peng’s—an experience devoid of any childhood joy?

“Do you have a wish?” Qin Fen felt obligated to prompt her again.

According to Squad Leader Hao’s teachings, even a person who had never known happiness possessed the foundation for it as long as they held an unfulfilled wish. The moment that wish was realized, happiness would bloom.

“I do,” Lin Ling finally nodded once. “My objective is to complete this mission successfully.”

“That’s good,” Qin Fen smiled. “Then imagine the scene after we complete the mission.”

“According to the plan, we will need to execute an emergency extraction, and there will be many, many dangers.”

Lin Ling’s words felt like a bucket of ice water dousing Qin Fen’s enthusiasm. Instead of drawing out her happiness, he had only managed to make himself unhappy.

“Then, a successful and safe withdrawal…”

Qin Fen adjusted his mood and tried once more to coax the feeling from her.