The Age of the Heroes

大英雄时代

the-age-of-the-heroes

Chapter 23

At the crack of dawn, Fu Luo's slightly muddled mind instantly became crystal clear. She put away her phone and walked slowly around the room, her footsteps as light as a cautious feline carefully considering something.


 Her parents were desperate to keep her on Earth, Colonel Yang invited her to join the Second Department, and the school sent out a grassroots conscription notice...


 The Second Department...


 The Second Space Command was the core of the entire space force. Unlike the special forces vanguard who were ready to risk their lives at any time, this was an elite force through and through, with the strongest equipment, cutting-edge weapons, and the leanest personnel.


 It was said that over 70% of the high-ranking generals on the fortress came from the Second Department.


 In peacetime, countless privileged classes tried to get their children in there. Even for Fu Luo, being assigned to the Second Department as a duty soldier was only possible due to her excellent grades and Wang Yizheng's connections.


 And at this special juncture, Yang Ning's invitation was definitely not for her to be a duty soldier.


 Fu Luo slowly sat down at the desk, turned on the desk lamp, and after a moment of blank staring, she drew a "C-file sight" on a piece of white paper from memory.


 Her close-quarters mech instructor had said that the elegance of the C-file sight was indescribable, just like the Fibonacci sequence to mathematicians, or the mass-energy equivalence to physicists... For every close-quarters mech expert, the C-file sight must be like a first love.


 It only had two perpendicular lines. Rather than a sight, it was more like a coordinate system. All shooting angles were encompassed in this exquisite and freehand little coordinate system, seemingly containing nothing yet everything.


 Fu Luo's eyes darkened.


 She didn't have the skill to shoot with the C-file.


 "I'm not a C-file person."


 Fu Luo's mind cooled down as she quietly thought. Ye Wenlin was "C-file", Yang Ning was "C-file", but she wasn't.


 Ye Wenlin had always been the benchmark Fu Luo set for herself. She felt that many people's self-conceit stemmed from not having seen true geniuses, while she considered herself a bit luckier - because Ye Wenlin's existence constantly reminded her that she was just an ordinary "A-file" person.


 Even if her grades seemed a bit higher than others at school, it only showed that she was an ordinary person willing to work a bit harder than others.


 "What can I do?"


 In the dead of night, this young soldier searched her soul.


 Fu Luo wrote down "political sensitivity", "strategic analysis ability", "on-site command ability", "technical level" and "military theory ability" on the paper.


 Then, with a slight pause of her pen, she crossed out each word one by one.


 Compared to Yang Ning, she had no political sensitivity and couldn't even recognize all the members of her country's highest space force command committee.


 On-site... she could only follow orders, and her shallow experience was far from enough to support any "strategic" analysis. Her "technical level" was novice, and her "military theory ability" was all talk. What could she do if she went to the Second Department like this? What role could she play?


 Fu Luo took out her phone again and stared at the conscription information quietly lying in it.


 Three minutes later, she resolutely put down her pen and quickly entered her identity information and enlistment preference - attack ship basic aiming artillery.


 She then saw the submission confirmation and let out a long sigh of relief.


 Looking back on her 23 years of life, this was the second major decision she made.


 Unfortunately, unlike the first time, it wasn't so easy to get through this time. Early the next morning, Wang Yizheng came.


 The ever-annoying Wang Ergou followed behind him.


 Although Wang Yizheng was often unkempt, it was rare for him to be in such a sorry state.


 His chin was covered in fine stubble, his face was laden with heavy dark circles, and his whole being seemed as if he hadn't slept for days, exuding a strong vagrant aura.


 "Fu Luo," Wang Yizheng sat down, his face as black as Bao Longtu presiding over court, and said solemnly, "Come here for a moment."


 Wang Yizheng also knew that he wasn't very qualified as a father to his children, so he was always more indulgent than strict with them and rarely called Fu Luo by her full name.


 Fu Luo's heart tightened.


 Wang Yizheng's expression was very grim. In front of Fu Xiaoxin, he took out his phone: "Some time ago, your mom asked me to install a signal jammer at home. At first, I thought she was being a bit unreasonable, but I still installed it for her. The control terminal is connected to my phone, and I never turned it on until yesterday when I heard your mom talk about the Ground Forces..."


 "So you suddenly had an epiphany and decided to monitor me?" Facing Wang Yizheng, Fu Luo was far from being as careful as when dealing with Xiaoxin, and her tone was even a bit sharp.


 Fu Xiaoxin had already pounced over and snatched Wang Yizheng's phone, flipping through the information records of the control terminal.


 The room was so quiet that the sound of a needle dropping could be heard. Fu Luo was expressionless, woodenly sweeping her gaze over Wang Yizheng, the gleeful Wang Ergou who was obviously enjoying the drama, and the sharply inhaling Fu Xiaoxin.


 "Fu Luo!"


 "I have nothing to say." Fu Luo sat there, her spine as stiff as a coffin plank, her neck rigid as she prepared to lash out like a cornered dog.


 Fu Xiaoxin almost got knocked over by her defiance, her chest heaving rapidly a few times, pointing at Fu Luo and saying "you" for a long time, but she couldn't manage to utter a complete sentence.


 "I will go to the school for the on-site assessment today."


 Fu Xiaoxin screamed, "You dare!"


 Fu Luo looked at her without speaking, but with a determined gaze and an impenetrable expression, she told Fu Xiaoxin that she really dared.


 Wang Yizheng lightly coughed, breaking the tension between mother and daughter, and slightly softened his expression in an attempt to negotiate with Fu Luo.


 He said softly, "For such a major life decision, you shouldn't make up your mind so quickly. At least listen to..."


 Fu Luo rudely interrupted him, "I don't need middle school behavior coaching anymore."


 Wang Yacheng leaned on the sofa, uncouthly shaking his leg. "Let her go," he said. "Let her court death."


 Fu Luo's dark gaze turned to him, instantly shutting up the cowardly Wang Yacheng.


 "Control your son," Fu Luo said expressionlessly, "Don't force me to discipline him in front of you."


 Wang Yizheng: "..."


 Fu Xiaoxin was like a lit firecracker: "How dare you! How dare you, I absolutely won't allow it!"


 Fu Luo suddenly seemed possessed by Yang Ning, dryly declaring: "I don't need anyone's permission for what I decide."


 "Alright, alright, let's talk nicely." Wang Yizheng pulled Fu Xiaoxin back, then turned to Fu Luo to smooth things over, "We can discuss this further. Dad understands your yearning for space, because I was the same when I was young. But there are many ways to engage with space, for example..."


 Fu Luo: "Don't you see I've already chosen my position?"


 Fu Xiaoxin exploded beside them: "Look at her! Look at how stubborn she is!"


 Wang Yacheng: "Haha, who said I'm no good, I think she's even worse than me."


 On one side was his raging ex-wife, on the other his obstinate daughter, and beside them a son gleefully fanning the flames. Wang Yizheng felt like his head was splitting in two.


 For the first time, this missile expert, usually detached from worldly affairs, felt just how difficult it was for a man to manage his own family.


 "Enough!" Wang Yizheng finally roared, unable to bear it any longer.


 Unfortunately, he lacked the presence to control the situation.


 Fu Xiaoxin raged: "How dare you yell at me?!"


 Wang Yacheng sneered coldly: "What did I do to offend you?"


 Fu Luo silently looked at him with disdain.


 Wang Yizheng: "..."


 This life was truly unbearable.


 Fed up with being in a tight spot, the man abruptly stood up, deciding to show them.


 He walked straight to the wall, tearing off a whole sheet of wallpaper, immediately revealing a huge home security system control panel.


 Iris confirmation, the house's security system activated.


 A mechanical voice announced: "Security system designer permissions enabled."


 Fu Xiaoxin was stunned - she had nearly forgotten that the security system of this residence was personally made by Wang Yizheng. In all these years, she had never thought to update or replace it.


 Wang Yacheng let out a contemptuous sneer: "To still have designer permissions for his ex-wife's home security system, if there's no funny business, who would..."


 The second half of his sentence caught in his throat as Fu Luo swept a murderous glare at him.


 With a few loud bangs, security shutters descended over the windows, doors, and every other possible point of entry and exit. In the blink of an eye, the entire home had become a prison, followed by the blocking of all network signals.


 Forget about civilian signals routed through proxies, even military signals couldn't get through now.


 Fu Luo crossed her arms, the unruliness suppressed for over twenty years fully erupting, making her seem even more of a scoundrel than Wang Ergou: "You think locking me up will work?"


 Wang Yizheng looked at the hostile Fu Luo helplessly.


 "Locking you up is to make you reflect, to clear your head and see what kind of nonsense has filled it!" Fu Xiaoxin said sternly.


 Fu Luo ignored her. Sweeping her gaze lightly, she said: "Residential security system regulations state that the first priority of home security systems is the safety of life and property. If there's a fire inside and the system detects lifeforms, it will automatically unlock, right?"


 Fu Xiaoxin was utterly shocked. She felt she barely recognized Fu Luo anymore. This girl calmly, expressionlessly sitting on the sofa, claiming she would set fire to her own home, had simply gone mad!


 For the sake of that absurd goal of hers, she would let nothing and no one stand in her way.

The Age of the Heroes

The Age of the Heroes

Chapter 24 - Chapter 23

Sleepy