The Rise of a Special Forces Soldier Abandoned by a Wealthy Family

As night falls, the lights of Beijing begin to twinkle.

Zeng Long stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of his hotel room, his tall figure appearing somewhat lonely as the light and shadows flowed outside the window.

His gaze swept over the long, winding line of car lights along the street.

The image finally settled on the warm, soft lights twinkling in the distant apartment buildings.

Behind each of those lights is probably a home, with steaming hot meals, the chatter and laughter of family members, and the most ordinary warmth of everyday life.

Zeng Long stared, somewhat lost in thought. Deep within his frozen heart, a faint yet incredibly persistent longing quietly began to sprout—

He longed so much that among all those lights in the homes, there was one that belonged to him.

He longed to push open a door, to find his family waiting for him, and to hear a simple greeting: "You're back? Wash your hands and have some food."

Just as this longing was making his mind waver slightly, the shrill ring of his cell phone abruptly pulled him back to reality.

He glanced at the caller ID—[Old Killer Baroque].

Zeng Long raised an eyebrow slightly. A call at this hour?

He pressed the answer button, but before he could even speak, the receiver erupted with Baroque's signature, yet now raucous, desperate voice:

"Hey you little bastard! You heartless little scoundrel! Why don't you run back to the Dragon Kingdom and enjoy a peaceful life, where everything is fine?"

"Do you know that I'm about to break down?"

"If you don't save me now, the next time you come back, you won't find me alive!"

"It's a box of ashes and a black-and-white portrait of his mother!"

"It has to be a wide grin, so that I can leave this world peacefully."

Zeng Long: "???"

He was completely bewildered, utterly confused by the sudden outburst of yelling. Instinctively, he straightened his back, his eyes instantly sharpening.

"You old bastard! Calm down! Explain yourself! What major incident happened at the base? Which enemies have teamed up to attack us?"

"Coordinates! Number of players! Firepower configuration! I'll call for reinforcements immediately and get there as fast as possible!"

His tone instantly switched to "Zero" mode—calm, efficient, and exuding an aura of ruthlessness.

"Support my ass! Support my ass!" Baroque's voice was choked with sobs, almost a roar.

"The enemy? The biggest enemy is right here in the base! It's my bank account!"

"It's that little brat! Hurry up! Immediately! Get that little sparrow away from me! Take it to the Dragon Kingdom!"

"Tie her to your belt! I'm begging you! I'll kowtow to you, okay?"

Zeng Long was even more bewildered:

"Little sparrow? What does this have to do with the little sparrow? What happened to her?"

He simply couldn't connect the base crisis with that quirky girl with incredible computer skills.

"What else?!" Baroque's voice was filled with despair.

"That little devil doesn't dare to tell you directly, so she comes to bother me every day! She keeps chanting that she wants to go to the Dragon Kingdom to find you."

"I told her, 'Go if you want to, go find your boss!' Guess what she said? She said she didn't dare."

"She said if she goes back to China, she still wants to go to the same school as you, but you definitely won't agree."

"Then she dumped this mess on me! And told me to handle it."

"I'm a rough guy who carries a gun and fights battles, how would I know how to deal with the thoughts of a little girl? So I just ignored it."

Baroque's voice carried genuine grief and indignation:

"And the result? We've really messed up! Now the entire base, from top to bottom, from me to the guard dogs at the gate, is practically fighting with the rats in the sewers for breadcrumbs! We're about to run out of food, you know that?!"

Zeng Long was completely bewildered and tried to understand the confusing information:

"No...you old bastard, slow down. Running out of food? Your cash flow dried up? What does that have to do with Little Sparrow needing to go to school?"

"It's a huge deal!!"

Baroque's voice suddenly rose, filled with despair.

"That little sparrow! She! She wiped out all the zeros at the end of the numbers in my bank account!"

Zeng Long paused for a moment, then subconsciously replied:

"The zeros at the end are gone? Isn't that a good thing? It means your wealth has shrunk... Wait, no..."

He suddenly realized, "You mean...she transferred your money? A large amount?"

"Big?! It's more than just big!"

Baroque was screaming with all his might:

"The damn thing isn't the zero at the end! It's the preceding digit! The very first digit! She turned that into a zero too!"

"The front is zero! The back is also zero! Got it?"

"My account balance is a fucking 0.00! Completely empty! You can see your reflection in it! I'm penniless! I'm dirt poor."

"Our base account is almost empty too! We're practically starving!"

"So you'd better get her out of here quickly! Only when she gets to China will my account have any chance of looking decent again."

"What terrible thing I did! How could I have been so foolish as to let her study computers?!"

Zeng Long: "..."

He imagined Baroque looking like he was about to cry and fly into a rage at the string of "0"s on the screen, and his lips twitched violently; he almost burst out laughing.

He forced a straight face and tried to keep his voice serious:

"No... you old hag, she's causing such a ruckus, where is everyone else in the base? Doesn't anyone do anything about her? Xue Yan? Silent One? Are they just going to watch?"

"Manage?! Who dares to manage this?!"

Baroque's voice was filled with grief and fear:

"The two most terrifying people in the entire base! Number one is this little devil! Who dares to mess with her?"

"If you're not careful and she sets her sights on you, with a single snort, all the money you've worked so hard to save can be wiped out in a matter of minutes."

"Those mercenaries risk their lives for money, who isn't afraid of that?"

"And what about second?" Zeng Long asked subconsciously.

"Secondly, there's Cold Thorn, that expressionless, living devil!"

Baroque's voice lowered, tinged with lingering fear.

"He suddenly appeared at the base last night without anyone knowing."

"None of the sentries noticed, and then suddenly there was this guy at breakfast the next morning."

"Nobody in the base dares to sleep at night now! Why? Because they're afraid they'll fall asleep and suddenly feel someone next to their bed."

"The moment you open your eyes, Cold Thorn's deadpan face is right in front of you. He doesn't say a word, just hands you a dagger...and sings you a lullaby!"

"Damn! This is scarier than a direct stab! This is psychological attack!"

Zeng Long: "..."

He finally understands completely now.

It wasn't an invasion by foreign enemies at all; it was an internal "rebellion"!

Moreover, it was a "financial crisis" and "psychological terror" created by two of his most troublesome teammates working together.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling utterly overwhelmed.

Little Sparrow can return to Dragon Kingdom without any problem; he can even arrange it perfectly.

But if we let her come to study at Tsinghua University...

Zeng Long seemed to have already seen his long-awaited peaceful college life crumble like fragile glass.

It shattered completely with a "crash." The risk level was probably not much lower than leading a team to take down a terrorist hideout.

But listening to Baroque's almost-crying wails on the other end of the phone, and imagining the dire situation where the base might really be running out of food (although it was probably an exaggeration).

Zeng Long sighed and resigned himself to his fate:

"Alright, alright, you old bastard, stop howling. I promise you, I'll find a way to get Little Sparrow over, okay?"

"Really?! Oh my little darling, you've agreed!"

Baroque's voice suddenly cleared up, filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

"Hurry! Immediately! Call her right now! Tell her to get lost... no, tell her to leave! My wallet can't wait!"

After hanging up with Baroque, Zeng Long stared at his phone, mentally preparing himself for a long time before reluctantly dialing Little Sparrow's number.

The call was answered almost instantly. A clear, lively, and slightly mischievous girl's voice came from the other end, accompanied by the clattering of keyboards in the background.

"Hey! My dear, great, handsome Zero!"

"So, you've finally remembered your poor, helpless, and destitute team member who was stranded overseas?"

"How's it going? Aren't the girls from China pretty? Is your romance progressing well? Have you found us a sister-in-law yet?"

Zeng Long's lips twitched again. He tried his best to straighten his face and said in the most serious tone:

"Seriously! Let's get down to business! Answer my question! Why did you set that old bastard's account to zero? Are you trying to rebel?"

Sure enough, the keyboard clicks on the other end of the phone stopped instantly upon hearing Zeng Long's serious tone.

The little sparrow's imposing manner visibly diminished, and its voice became docile (pretending):

"Boss... don't be angry... I... I didn't touch his money..."

"Nothing's been done? That old bastard is crying and screaming that he's bankrupt?"

"I just... I just hacked into his phone and temporarily... temporarily transferred the money from his main account to another, less frequently used secret account..."

The little sparrow's voice carried a hint of grievance.

"The account and the money are still his! Not a penny is missing! I just... I just blocked the transfer notifications and account balance inquiries... so he couldn't see them... It's his fault for ignoring me and not helping me find a way to go to school with you..."

Zeng Long: "..."

He knew it! This girl's methods are always so...unique and effective.

"Boss..." Little Sparrow began to launch her charm and emotional offensive:

"I really want to go to university and experience normal campus life."

"I didn't get to enjoy my time at Harvard at all; I was just playing around with those stupid systems and firewalls... It was so boring."

"And my parents keep calling, saying they miss me and want me to come back and see them..."

"So I plan to go back to China, spend time with my parents, go back to school, and... well, I mean, learn something! Cultivate my character! Is that not okay?"

She spoke with such sincerity that she almost believed it herself.

As Zeng Long listened to her words, his mouth twitched involuntarily again.

This reason is truly... irrefutable yet full of traps.

He's already brought up his parents; he can't exactly stop them from fulfilling their filial duties, can he?

He sighed, utterly surrendering.

"Alright, alright, I promise you. You can come to Jingqing to study. I'll arrange it for you."

"Now, immediately, right now, restore that old bastard's account to normal!"

"Such a large base would really run into trouble if it didn't have enough cash flow."

"Yay! Long live the boss! I love you the most!"

The little sparrow's excited cheers came from the other end of the phone.

"Don't worry, boss! I'll unblock his account right away! I guarantee there will be extra zeros at the end of his number, and the numbers before it will be back to normal!"

Zeng Long breathed a sigh of relief, just about to remind her of some things to be careful about, such as keeping a low profile and not causing trouble…

The little sparrow seemed to have guessed what he was thinking and cheerfully added:

"Boss, don't worry about my safety! Don't let Baroque arrange for someone to take me! Iron-Hard and Cold Thorn will be with me this time when I return to Dragon Kingdom! With them there, everything will be perfectly safe!"

"Wh...what?!"

Zeng Long felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his body charred and frozen in place, holding his phone, his eyes wide open!

"They... Ironclad and Coldthorn...returned to Dragon Kingdom together?!"

Zeng Long's voice changed, filled with extreme shock and... a hint of ominous premonition.

"Yes, yes!" the little sparrow's voice remained cheerful.

"Iron-Hanhan told Cold Thorn that he'll come back with me this time, firstly as my protector."

"Secondly, they also want to go back to the Dragon Kingdom to try and find some clues about their origins."

"These three..."

The little sparrow chuckled.

"They said they haven't seen you in a long time, boss, and they miss you! They want to go back and keep things in order for you."

"We know all about the mess you made in China."

"How dare you bully our leader, Zero? Do you think our 'Zero Squad' doesn't exist?"

Zeng Long: "..."

Listening to the little sparrow's cheerful chirping, Zeng Long's feelings were extremely complicated.

Are you excited? Of course I am! Those are his brothers who risked their lives for him. Being able to reunite with them is better than anything else.

Nervous? Extremely nervous! Iron Drum—that humanoid tyrannosaurus, Cold Thorn—that midnight nightmare.

Add to that a little sparrow—this internet nuclear bomb… These three killers have gathered in China, and this troublemaker is even showing up at Peking University?!

He could already foresee how "exciting" and "chaotic" his "ordinary" college life would be in the future!

My head hurts, it hurts so much! But beneath this headache, an indescribable warmth and anticipation are quietly stirring within me.

In his dream of countless homes illuminated by lights, it seems... several "family members" with vastly different styles, yet absolutely inseparable, are about to squeeze in. His days are unlikely to be peaceful anymore.