Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 144 Ye Xiaoman's misunderstanding deepens

The provincial department's initial training base is located in an area on the outskirts of the city that is not marked on any map.

High walls, electric fences, hidden sentry posts, and the pervasive atmosphere of silence all indicate that this place is special and highly confidential.

Wu Zhiyuan and more than thirty other newcomers who were recruited and selected began their training here, which lasted for more than a month.

To become a qualified "invisible warrior," one must pass four tests.

The first hurdle is the ideological one. Immersive teaching is conducted through numerous shocking real-life cases.

There are the painful lessons of traitors, the silent sacrifices of heroes, and the current complex and acute enemy situation reports.

The instructors warned in the most blunt way: Here, one act of infidelity will lead to eternal damnation.

Loyalty is not a slogan, but a gene etched into our bones, an unshakable cornerstone of faith in the face of any temptation, pressure, or even the threat of death.

Repeated loyalty tests under extreme pressure, such as simulated interrogations and defection scenarios, constantly challenge and strengthen everyone's psychological defenses.

The second hurdle is discipline. "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, and don't say what you shouldn't say" is the entry-level principle.

The need for secrecy has been repeatedly reinforced in various ways, even to the point of being demanding.

For example, someone might be severely criticized for inadvertently mentioning a place name outside of a designated area. The aim is to make secrecy as instinctive as breathing.

The third hurdle is the practical aspect. This includes both theoretical courses, such as international relations, intelligence research, basic cryptography, reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance techniques, communication technology, disguise, psychology, and accelerated training in specific domain-specific knowledge.

There is also practical skills training, including combat, shooting, stunt driving, tracking and counter-tracking, wilderness survival, and crisis simulation response in scenarios such as being tracked, questioned, and having one's identity exposed.

The fourth challenge is the psychological one. Students will learn to quickly construct and integrate a cover identity, and undergo tests by accepting various roles played by instructors.

Training includes prolonged solitary confinement and maintaining focus in noisy or completely silent environments to combat distractions and stress.

As the closed training program drew to a close, a final assessment was held.

The assessment includes not only shooting, but also facial recognition, tracking, and counter-tracking tests.

Face recognition requires viewing a photo of a target person within a very short time (a few seconds) and identifying the target in a busy crowd within a limited time.

Once you find them, do not point them out immediately. Instead, observe them closely and confirm their subtle features, such as the shape of their ears, the location of their moles, and their eye habits, without alerting them. Also, memorize their current attire and the items they are carrying. Finally, give an accurate description to the examiner.

What impressed Wu Zhiyuan the most was the tracking and counter-tracking assessment.

The target is played by an experienced national security investigator. Wu Zhiyuan needs to follow the target from a distance without being detected and record key information such as the target's route, stops, and contacts.

The target will use various counter-tracking techniques, such as suddenly turning back, entering crowded places, using shop window reflections to observe what's behind them, getting on or off a vehicle suddenly, entering a dead end and then quickly turning around.

Wu Zhiyuan knew that the core of tracking was to blend into the environment and remain invisible.

He changed into ordinary clothes, using the terrain and crowds as cover, sometimes walking quickly, sometimes stopping to browse the shop windows, always maintaining a safe distance and natural posture from his target.

When the target suddenly entered a bustling shopping mall, Wu Zhiyuan did not rush to follow. Instead, he quickly determined the location of the entrance and chose a favorable position to observe multiple exits and wait.

When the target used the subway station to test the waters, Wu Zhiyuan judged that it might be a feint and did not follow him to the next station. Instead, he hid and observed near the station entrance. Sure enough, the target soon returned from another exit.

Throughout the process, Wu Zhiyuan demonstrated patience, caution, and accurate judgment, successfully recording the target's key movement trajectory.

At the end of the assessment, the detective playing the target walked up to him, giving him an approving smile: "Well done, you followed me well, like a veteran. You almost made me lose you."

As the closed training drew to a close, the final and most important comprehensive assessment—practical tracking and monitoring—began.

The assessment target is Chang Long, deputy director of the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office.

The department had some vague clues and had long suspected that this person might have been recruited by foreign forces. However, this person was extremely cunning, had a strong sense of counter-surveillance, lived a simple and regular life, rarely went out, and was difficult to break through with conventional investigations, and lacked direct evidence.

This assessment was not only the ultimate test of the new trainees' abilities, but also an in-depth assessment of Chang Long's daily behavior.

Wu Zhiyuan and female trainee Li Xiaoyu were paired up to play a couple in love and were responsible for conducting fixed-point surveillance and mobile tracking of Chang Long for several days.

The task was tedious and stressful.

Chang Long has an extremely regular schedule. He goes to get off work and leaves work on time every day, almost never attends social events, goes straight home after get off work and stays indoors, does not interact with his neighbors, and even his wife is responsible for buying groceries.

Several days passed without any abnormalities.

"This guy is too clean, almost too clean," Li Xiaoyu whispered to Wu Zhiyuan. The two were sitting on a park bench not far from Chang Long's house, seemingly being affectionate, but actually monitoring the entrance of the target building.

Wu Zhiyuan analyzed, "The more he acts like this, the more it shows that he has something to hide, or that he has noticed that we are investigating him."

He's using this extreme self-discipline to cut off all possible channels of surveillance. He's testing his patience with us.

One evening, Chang Long unusually left work early and went home.

Wu Zhiyuan and Li Xiaoyu immediately became vigilant and followed at a distance.

In order not to arouse suspicion, they must blend into the environment.

As they passed a busy intersection, to cope with the sudden change of traffic lights and the dense crowd, Wu Zhiyuan instinctively reached out and put his arm around Li Xiaoyu's shoulder, protecting her to his side like a couple, in order to avoid losing sight of their target or revealing their identities.

At that very moment, a familiar figure walked across the pedestrian crossing—Ye Xiaoman.

She happened to see Wu Zhiyuan intimately embracing another strange girl; the two were very affectionate, like a couple deeply in love.

Ye Xiaoman was stunned.

Wu Zhiyuan also saw Ye Xiaoman.

The world is both big and small. How did she end up in Jiangzhou, and how did we end up meeting on the street?

He saw Ye Xiaoman's disappointment.

He wanted to explain, but reason told him that the mission was underway, the target was just ahead, and he could not expose himself, much less let personal feelings interfere with the operation.

He could only pretend not to see it and continue to focus on his surveillance mission, but a bitter feeling welled up inside him.

This is the cruel side of national security work; often, one must sacrifice personal life and emotions, and endure too many misunderstandings.

Ye Xiaoman looked at Wu Zhiyuan with a complicated expression. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing and turned to leave quickly.