Chapter 80: Audacious Beyond Measure

Today was a radiant day. The school’s training continued with unrelenting fervor, the sounds of gunfire and shouting intertwining, filling every corner with a spirit both vigorous and forbidding. Chen Cao carried his pack as he walked quietly along the school’s flagstone path, his calm at odds with the feverish activity of the training grounds.

Watching the cadets and their regimen, Chen Cao mused inwardly, “It’s been a long time since I was part of training like this.” For him, such exercises amounted to little more than a warm-up. Gains always come with losses, he thought—at least future training would no longer be so grueling. At this thought, a subtle smile appeared on his lips.

With his camouflage bag slung over his shoulders, Chen Cao soon spotted a tranquil patch of shade beneath some trees, where a group of future female intelligence officers were busy practicing their transmission operations. Wu Lanqian, now an assistant instructor in the intelligence section, stood nearby. He held a ruler in his hand and watched the rookies with a cold, scrutinizing gaze.

As Chen Cao walked past, the girls’ attention was inevitably drawn to him. One, wearing headphones, whispered, “Look, that’s Chen Cao!”

A round-faced girl, absorbed in her training, was nudged out of her concentration and responded irritably, “Who’s Chen Cao?”

Another girl, pausing her transmissions, glanced at the round-faced one as if she were an alien. “You don’t know Chen Cao? He completed the school’s most advanced special training and led his team safely off the Oderlu battlefield—a true hero. I heard the school will soon award him the highest honor.”

“Really? Oh my, look—he’s coming this way. Those eyes, that nose, his chest muscles... and that look in his eyes—so enchanting...”

As the girls swooned over Chen Cao, a ruler came down on their heads without hesitation. Wu Lanqian glared at her juniors and scolded harshly, “Focus on your training! On the battlefield, a lapse in intelligence can cost lives. Each of you will copy out a hundred transmissions between different code phrases before you sleep tonight!”

“Yes, Instructor!” The three girls rubbed their now-swollen heads and grumbled as they began the day’s arduous lessons—their senior, Wu Lanqian, was never known for mercy.

Even from dozens of meters away, Chen Cao shook his head with a wry smile. Sometimes, having such keen hearing was not a blessing. He felt a twinge of guilt that these juniors were punished because of him, but this was training—he would never interfere. He quickened his steps.

“Trying to escape? Haven’t you broken that habit from a few years ago?” Wu Lanqian folded her arms and called out coldly as Chen Cao hurried past her.

He stopped a few paces away, turned back, and grinned. “Honestly, I had no such intention. But if I lingered, none of you would be able to concentrate.”

“Oh really?” Wu Lanqian snorted disdainfully and brushed her bangs aside.

Casting a glance at the girls “studying” so diligently, Chen Cao flashed a bright smile, tightened the pack on his back, and with a playful gesture, said, “Deep down, you’ve long known how handsome I am—you just can’t face the truth.”

“Wow!” The girls, until then cowed by Wu Lanqian, let out a collective gasp and set down their work, their eyes glued to the unfolding drama.

“Could something have happened between them?”

“Was it in the past? Senior, do you know?”

“How would I know? I’ve only been here a few months. But they do seem close, don’t they?”

“Maybe they knew each other before. It’s so complicated—Instructor Wu is unmatched in intelligence work, and Chen Cao is our school’s idol. They’re such a perfect match.”

“No, if they were out on a mission, they’d be a pair of master thieves!”

A few beads of sweat formed on Wu Lanqian’s brow. Her usually unadorned face flushed and paled in turn, while the ruler in her hand creaked ominously. Yet the girls, oblivious, carried on, even speculating about the future.

“What if the school finds out? Relationships are forbidden between cadets!”

“Yeah, what a dilemma. Could it be a Romeo and Juliet situation? Would the school expel them?”

“That wouldn’t be so bad. For love, any sacrifice is worth it!”

“Do you think they’d have a boy or a girl?”

“Hehe, probably a boy—both of them are adrenaline junkies...”

“Enough! Each of you, copy the cipher a thousand times!” Wu Lanqian’s face twisted in exasperation, her sharp teeth bared as she shouted.

By now, Chen Cao had already walked far away. He had never been one to shoulder the consequences of his own mischief. He knew what Wu Lanqian wanted to say, but he didn’t want to hear it. Chen Diwen was dead—once the person he hated most, yet in the end, his best friend. But that could only continue in the next life. Yu Hongxiu, once the little sister he cherished most, had turned out to be a traitor, using his feelings for her own ends. Where was she now? He had to find her.

Wu Lanqian would only want to talk about these things. But what was the use? All of it had been swept away by the smoke of war. Perhaps they’d meet again on a mission, perhaps never again. The meaning of hatred is sometimes not a matter of letting go—if you do, it becomes memory; if not, it festers as hate.

Drawing a long breath, Chen Cao finally reached the instructors’ building, where he was to report. It was a simple three-story structure painted military green, quiet compared to the bustling training grounds. There wasn’t even a guard at the entrance—only an empty sentry post, thick with dust. In contrast, the building itself was spotless.

Seeing this, Chen Cao smiled. It was a bold declaration: there was likely no one in the world capable of infiltrating 0611 for espionage or assassination. Even without mentioning the hundreds of elite cadets, the dozen or so instructors here were all masters in their own right.

At that moment, Cao Yehu watched Chen Cao through the one-way glass of his office window. “What do you think he’s thinking right now?” he asked.

In the dark corner of the office, Qiu Yu paused only briefly before answering coolly, “He’s thinking about how to break into this office and take you hostage.”

“Is that so? Interesting. The kid’s always had an inexplicably wild imagination and a kind of blood-boiling audacity,” Cao Yehu chuckled, letting the curtain fall as he sat down at his desk, folding his hands before him. He looked at Qiu Yu: “Weren’t you still brooding over yesterday’s incident? This is your chance—don’t waste it.”

“Yes, Headmaster. I’ll make the most of this opportunity to teach him a lesson,” Qiu Yu replied, then melted into the darkness. The office door didn’t so much as move; it was as if Qiu Yu had never been there at all.

The surveillance monitor flickered, and only Chen Cao’s pack remained on the screen. The sergeant in charge of the cameras rubbed his eyes—he’d never seen anyone move so fast.

“Reporting in, Chen Cao has disappeared!” the sergeant announced.

That guy still loves his tricks, Guo Qianshuang thought as she watched the footage. “Switch all surveillance to auto-patrol and start data analysis to locate the target. Set the corner patrol guns to active fire mode.”

“Ma’am, is that...?” The sergeant hesitated, knowing this was a first-degree combat alert. Was all this really necessary for just one student?

“Do it. I’ll take full responsibility for the consequences,” Guo Qianshuang replied, adding silently, “I want to see just how capable this ever-unpredictable guy really is.”

Qiu Yu strolled openly down the corridor. Guo Qianshuang had already informed him that surveillance had identified Chen Cao as the main suspect. Qiu Yu himself was in the clear—his conspicuous walk down the hall was meant to draw Chen Cao out.

“Once you’re in, you won’t be getting out,” Qiu Yu thought coldly, hands clasped behind his back as he paced up and down outside the headmaster’s office.

Seconds and minutes ticked by, but Chen Cao did not appear. Guo Qianshuang stared at the monitor, rubbing her eyes, dry from not blinking. Still, no sign of Chen Cao.

“All right, looks like he’s willing to wait it out. I can wait a month if I have to. Does he really think he can just walk out of here? That’s nearly impossible—unless he wants to get riddled with holes and carried out on a stretcher,” Guo Qianshuang muttered, fingers poised on the control stick, ready to halt the guns at a moment’s notice. Yet she had no true wish to harm Chen Cao.

Time passed. Qiu Yu lit a cigarette, his mind busy—where was Chen Cao? He couldn’t simply be hiding; the building’s surveillance system was flawless, every camera personally installed and monitored by Qiu Yu himself. Not a single blind spot within kilometers—if he wished, not even a fly could get out unnoticed. It was impossible for Chen Cao to hide so well, especially since he’d cleared all staff out just moments ago.

As Qiu Yu’s thoughts tangled, an ill-timed voice sounded out.

Flame King 80_Flame King Full Text Free Reading_Chapter 80: Audacious to the Extreme—Update Complete!