Rebirth in the Dragon Kingdom: The Strongest Blade

On the training ground, one hundred trainees were conducting armed swimming training. The lake water was already quite cold at the end of September, but no one backed down. Everyone gritted their teeth and struggled forward in the icy water.

Lin Zhe stood on the high ground by the lake, a stopwatch in his hand, his eyes focused intently on the trainees in the water. Gao Cheng stood beside him, occasionally recording each person's performance.

"Number 37 is too slow," Lin Zhe said.

Gao Cheng immediately wrote it down in his notebook: "Number 37, Zhao Ming, failed the armed swimming test for the third time."

"Give him extra training. If he still fails next time, we'll consider eliminating him." Lin Zhe's voice was calm, but his tone left no room for argument.

Gao Cheng nodded. He knew Lin Zhe's training standards—strict, but fair. At least half of the participants would be eliminated after the three-month basic training period. This was agreed upon beforehand, and no one complained.

Just then, the black watch on Lin Zhe's wrist suddenly vibrated and emitted a rapid red light.

Lin Zhe's expression changed slightly. This was an emergency communication signal used exclusively by "Hidden Dragon," with the highest priority, and it was only used in the most critical situations.

"You guys continue," Lin Zhe said to Gao Cheng, then quickly walked to the shade of a nearby tree and connected the communication.

The watch screen lit up, displaying a serious face from the dragon head: "Long Yuan, urgent mission. Long Lin has fallen into a trap while on a mission overseas. It's a trap designed by an intelligence agency of a certain country, with the aim of capturing a member of 'Hidden Dragon' alive. Long Lin is currently trapped, but the other side can't take him down for the time being and is gathering more forces. Your mission is to go and rescue him, and bring Long Lin back safely."

Lin Zhe's eyes turned cold: "Coordinates?"

"It's been sent to your terminal. Long Qing will be going with you; she'll be in charge of intelligence support and remote assistance. The helicopter will be at your location in fifteen minutes. Remember—" Dragon Head's voice was heavy, "The loss of any member of 'Hidden Dragon' is a loss the nation cannot afford. We must bring them back."

"clear."

The communication ended. Lin Zhe stood there, taking several deep breaths. He could feel a long-lost killing intent rising from the bottom of his heart—a fighting instinct ingrained in his bones after countless life-and-death battles.

He turned and walked towards the off-road vehicle parked by the training ground. That seemingly ordinary black off-road vehicle had now become, in his eyes, a depot of mission equipment.

Gao Cheng noticed the change in Lin Zhe's expression and quickly walked over: "Colonel Lin, what happened?"

"It's an urgent mission. I'll be away for a few days," Lin Zhe said coldly. "Training will continue as scheduled. You are in full charge. Proceed according to plan. Don't let your guard down just because I'm not here."

Gao Cheng wanted to say something, but seeing Lin Zhe's eyes, he swallowed his words. What kind of eyes were those—calm, yet unfathomable, like the sea before a storm, seemingly calm, but actually turbulent beneath the surface.

Lin Zhe walked to the back of the SUV and entered the password. The trunk lid slowly rose, revealing what appeared to be an ordinary storage space. But Lin Zhe pressed a few buttons in the corner, and the bottom of the storage compartment slid open to the sides, revealing a hidden armory.

Bulletproof vests, helmets, all-terrain camouflage combat uniforms, tactical backpacks, and rows of neatly arranged firearms and equipment—not standard issue equipment, many of which Gao Cheng had never even seen before.

The trainees and members of the Canglang team all stopped what they were doing and looked over. They saw Lin Zhe quickly take off his training uniform and put on the all-black combat suit. The movements were so fast it was dazzling; the whole process took less than a minute.

"What kind of gun is that?" a trainee asked in a low voice.

"Never seen anything like it... The barrel is so thick."

"Look at that combat suit, it looks like it can change color?"

Indeed, the combat uniform Lin Zhe changed into had a peculiar texture under the sunlight, as if it were made of some kind of high-tech material. He put on his tactical helmet, with goggles covering most of his face, revealing only his sharply defined chin.

Next, he began checking his equipment. He cocked his pistol, checked the magazines of his rifle, sheathed his dagger in the scabbard on his leg, and hung grenades, smoke grenades, and flashbangs on his tactical vest. Finally, he took a rectangular metal box from the armory, opened it, and inside was a folding miniature drone and a heavily modified military laptop.

The entire process was seamless, as if it had been rehearsed countless times. Every movement was precise to the millisecond, with nothing superfluous.

The trainees were stunned. They had seen Lin Zhe train before, and they had seen him calmly demonstrate various skills, but they had never seen him fully armed and ready for battle.

His demeanor was completely different—if Lin Zhe during training was like a sword sheathed, then now he was a fully drawn, gleaming blade.

Gao Cheng and the Canglang team members were even more alarmed. They recognized a lot of equipment—for example, the gun, which was probably still in the experimental stage and not issued to ordinary troops; the combat uniform, which was probably the prototype of the legendary optical camouflage; and the laptop, which had no markings on its casing, but was clearly a top-level military-grade encrypted device.

"Colonel Lin... what unit is he from?" a member of the Canglang team murmured.

No one answered. But everyone understood one fact—Lin Zhe's unit was on a completely different level from theirs.

Just then, the roar of helicopter rotors filled the sky. A helicopter rapidly approached from a distance, circled once above the training ground, and then slowly landed on the open ground next to it.

The cabin door opened, and a fully armed figure appeared in the doorway. Although her face was obscured by a tactical helmet and goggles, her figure clearly indicated that she was a woman.

She didn't get off the plane, but stood at the cabin door and made a gesture in Lin Zhe's direction—making a circle with her thumb and forefinger, and extending the other three fingers.

Lin Zhe nodded in response, slung his heavy tactical backpack over his shoulder, picked up his weapons case, and strode toward the helicopter.

As he passed Gao Cheng, he stopped and patted Gao Cheng on the shoulder: "Training can't stop. When I come back, I want to see their progress."

"Yes, sir!" Takashiro stood at attention.

Lin Zhe glanced at the trainees on the training field again. In those young eyes, there was shock, curiosity, and worry.

He didn't say anything, turned around and boarded the helicopter.

The cabin door closed, the helicopter quickly took off, flew southwest, and soon disappeared into the sky.

The training ground was completely silent.

After a long silence, Zhao Ming whispered, "Just now...did you see that female soldier?"

"I saw it." Li Wei swallowed. "Although I couldn't see the face clearly, it felt... incredibly strong."

"Nonsense, anyone who can go on a mission with Colonel Lin, how could they not be strong?"

"What unit is Colonel Lin from? His equipment, his helicopters... Even our military region commander doesn't have this kind of entourage when he travels!"

Gao Cheng listened to the trainees' discussions, his heart churning with emotion. He knew more than them—Lin Zhe came from "Hidden Dragon," the country's most mysterious and powerful special forces unit. But what he saw today still exceeded his expectations.

That set of equipment, that helicopter that came to pick them up, and that female soldier who, though she didn't get off the plane, had an aura so powerful it was suffocating...

All of this told him that the strength of "Hidden Dragon" might be even more terrifying than he had imagined.

"Stop talking!" Gao Cheng took a deep breath and shouted, "Continue training! Armed swim, the last three will do an extra five kilometers!"

The trainees then came to their senses and jumped back into the icy lake. But in each of their hearts, a seed had been planted—about Lin Zhe, about that mysterious unit, and about the heights they might reach in the future.

Meanwhile, on the helicopter.

Lin Zhe sat in the cockpit, checking the mission information received on his wristwatch. Long Qing sat opposite him, having removed her helmet, revealing a delicate but cold face. She was twenty-eight years old, an intelligence expert and electronic warfare specialist for "Hidden Dragon."

"The situation is worse than expected." Long Qing handed over a tablet. "Long Lin was discovered during an infiltration mission. The other side was clearly prepared, deploying at least two hundred troops, along with helicopter support. Long Lin is currently trapped in an abandoned factory. Although he is safe for now, he won't last long."

Lin Zhe quickly scanned the intelligence: "Who is the other party?"

"Country C's intelligence department has technical support from Country M," Long Qing said. "They know that Long Lin is a member of 'Hidden Dragon,' so they want to capture him alive."

"They can't do it." Lin Zhe closed his tablet, his eyes cold.

Long Qing looked at him: "Chief Long said that this mission is extremely risky. The enemy may have already set a trap and is just waiting for us to rescue them."

"Then smash the trap." Lin Zhe checked the rifle in his hand. "Not a single member of 'Hidden Dragon' can be lost."

The helicopter flew at high speed through the clouds. Inside the cabin, the two men fell silent, each making their final preparations.

Lin Zhe closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. The Hunyuan Gong circulated within his body, gradually stabilizing his heartbeat and allowing him to concentrate fully.

Overseas missions involve facing real enemies and life-or-death struggles.

But he felt no fear, only calm.

Because he is a "hidden dragon," the sharpest blade in the nation.

The existence of the sword is to cut through all obstacles and protect those who deserve protection.