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

The icy silence that followed Zeng Linglong's astonishing deduction in the villa's living room lasted for nearly a minute.

Finally, Zeng Linglong's voice rang out again, breaking the frozen silence. His voice had regained its usual calm.

"Xiaoya, Tiezhu." He glanced at his two closest comrades-in-arms. "We're probably going to be busy in the days to come."

He presented General Liu's complete plan for establishing a highly classified special forces unit codenamed "Dragon Shadow":

He succinctly informed the two of their strategic positioning, the scale of the selection process, and his own key appointment as chief instructor and future commander.

"Here's the arrangement," Zeng Linglong leaned forward slightly and began to give specific instructions, "tomorrow morning, send Xiao Shiliu to my mother."

She will arrange everything so that her younger sister can start school as soon as possible and adapt to life in the capital.

His gaze shifted to Tiezhu and Xiaoya, his tone leaving no room for argument:

"Then, the two of you will follow me throughout the entire process, and move into the selection base."

"Ye Feng will also be drawn out from his undercover state to serve as a core instructor."

"As for the other team members... the timing of their selection will be decided based on the progress of the selection process and the needs of subsequent missions."

"The selection location is a top-secret military base on the outskirts of Beijing. Distance and transportation are not issues; relocation is very convenient."

"But—" his tone suddenly became more serious, "this must be clearly explained to all the brothers who are hiding out there!"

"Starting tomorrow, I will be making frequent public appearances in Beijing—going home, to the base, and possibly handling some social matters."

"I want my brothers to take turns, divide into areas, and act like true shadows, keeping a close watch on every place I publicly appear!"

The mission wasn't to protect me, but to infiltrate, observe, and track me!

Use your eyes and intuition to spot any target that tries to approach, spy on, or reacts unusually to me, this "variable"!

A cold, defiant smile curled at the corners of his lips.

"Since my return is a 'variable'... let's see when those 'chess players' hiding in the shadows will finally give themselves away and reveal their true colors!"

After setting up the bait plan, Zeng Linglong turned around and precisely aimed his gaze at Xiaoya:

"Xiaoya, I asked you to focus on tracking and monitoring Wu Jun earlier... How's the progress? Have you found anything?"

Mentioning that name, a thin layer of anger immediately surfaced on Xiaoya's pretty face. She bit her lower lip, her speech quickening, carrying the resentment of a professional analyst:

"Boss! This Wu Jun... he's incredibly meticulous in his actions, and his vigilance is abnormally high!"

"The place where he was stationed was so heavily guarded that it was appalling, with visible and hidden sentries interspersed, it was configured like a military fortress."

The most troublesome thing is that the area is covered by high-power, multi-frequency signal shielding and interference devices!

The miniature electronic reconnaissance units I tried to deploy all became ineffective once they entered the outer 500-meter range, rendering them blind and deaf!

She picked up her tactical tablet, quickly pulled up some blurry surrounding surveillance footage and data analysis charts, her expression revealing her inner thoughts:

What's even stranger is his whereabouts!

Based on information transmitted from multiple long-term optical observation points I set up at various high points on the periphery, combined with some fragments of traffic surveillance footage...

This Wu Jun almost never goes out! He eats, lives, and works all within that fortress!

Xiaoya raised her finger, her tone becoming even more serious:

"He has five identical custom-made bulletproof vehicles, even with the same license plates! Each vehicle is equipped with a signal jammer!"

"These five vehicles would leave the fortress at irregular intervals and in different directions every day, heading to various parts of the capital, or even leaving the city."

"However, based on my intuition and experience, I judge that he himself wasn't even sitting in any of the vehicles! These vehicles were more like smokescreens, mobile sources of interference!"

She took a deep breath, a hint of apprehension towards her opponent flashing in her eyes:

"If his actions are 'suspicious,' we can't find any substantial evidence against him—he's just 'keeping a low profile.'"

"If he's 'not suspicious'... then the place he resides in is practically a lawless 'island' isolated from the world, shielding him from all prying eyes."

"Even if he really went out... with those five 'cloned cars' and the strict anti-tracking measures inside, it would be extremely difficult for us to pinpoint his true whereabouts."

"What sends chills down my spine is... he never uses any conventional electronic communication devices to contact other prominent families and business partners in the capital!"

"All external communications were handled through his few equally elusive and well-trained 'shadows'."

I had already been monitoring the communication devices of all his known subordinates, and all I got were trivial daily information.

They must have another satellite communication system with extremely high security that cannot be intercepted by conventional means!

Wu Jun himself left no electronic communication records whatsoever, as clean as a blank sheet of paper!

Finally, Xiaoya raised her head, looked at Zeng Linglong, and spoke with a hint of frustration and eagerness:

"Boss, this Wu Jun... he's so wary, he's not like a 'normal person' at all! What is he guarding against? Or rather... what is he hiding?"

"Should I... have 'Shadow' (Ye Feng's assassin organization) or some other brothers try to infiltrate him? Even if it's just creating some 'accidents' on the periphery, let's see his reaction?"

Zeng Linglong listened quietly to Xiaoya's report, his eyes deep and unfathomable. He pondered for a moment, then slowly and firmly shook his head.

"No." His voice was soft, but carried an undeniable determination. "Knowing he's 'suspicious,' and suspicious to this extent... is enough."

He walked to the window, gazing at the deep night outside, as if he could pierce through the darkness and see that mysterious fortress:

Since he's so vigilant, almost like having an "absolute territory"...

So even if we go to great lengths to infiltrate, it will be difficult to obtain anything of real value without alerting him.

"He certainly has deeper warning and countermeasures that we haven't yet detected. Alerting him would be counterproductive."

He turned around, a cold, hunter-like patience on his face:

"Maintain the status quo for now, keep an eye on the outside, and continue to track them."

"Once I'm done with setting up 'Dragon Shadow,' I'll first find out who the 'mastermind' was who switched my job back then..."

"Let's have some fun with this mysterious young master Wu..."

At that moment, he had no idea that the "suspicious target" he had just let go—Wu Jun—was one of the most crucial and deadly masterminds behind the nightmare that had haunted him for eighteen years.

The gears of fate, in silence, missed a crucial point of engagement.

The following morning. Beijing Capital International Airport.

Zeng Wen, dressed in neat casual clothes and carrying a light military backpack, stood in the designated VIP waiting area.

His face showed both undisguised excitement and anticipation, as well as a hint of nervousness about the unknown.

All he knew was that his cousin Zeng Linglong had arranged a "special training" opportunity for him at an "overseas cooperative training base," where the instructors were "top international experts."

He imagined it would be a more rigorous and internationally-oriented training process than that of domestic special forces, a breakthrough opportunity he had been dreaming of.

Little did he know that what awaited him was not ordinary "international training," but a "ticket" to the core base of the Hellfire Mercenary Group.

He will not be facing "experts," but rather Baroque, Silence, and Xue Yan—three human weapons who crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood and regarded war and killing as art.

What he is about to experience is by no means "rigorous training," but rather an inhumane and hellish ultimate test and reshaping of his psychological limits, physical pain thresholds, and even the resilience of his soul.

That is the survival and combat philosophy belonging to the "Zero" lineage, which can only be born in truly desperate situations.

The plane's engines roared, carrying the unsuspecting Zeng Wen, soaring into the sky and flying towards that... infernal fire.

Meanwhile, in a top-secret base on the outskirts of Beijing, surrounded by multiple mountain ranges and military restricted areas.

The atmosphere here is completely different from the "calm" of the airport; it is intense, chilling, and filled with the scorching aura of clashing steel and burning will!

On the huge training ground, 14,999 elite soldiers stood in a dense, dark mass!

They are like a silent forest forged from steel and will, their military posture as upright as javelins, their eyes as sharp as wild beasts.

Each of them exuded the smell of gunpowder from countless battles, the unique pride of a king of soldiers, and an almost frozen focus as they faced the ultimate challenge.

They come from the top special operations brigades, reconnaissance elite companies, and absolute elites selected through rigorous screening by various branches of the armed forces in the Dragon Kingdom's major military regions.

Among them were elite soldiers who had repeatedly distinguished themselves in battle.

Some of them are ace-aces in the special forces.

There are highly skilled technical experts.

There are also sons of military families with powerful backgrounds who have carved out their own path through sheer ability.

But here, all past glory, rank, and illustrious background are reduced to nothing!

They share only one identity—candidates for the "mysterious special forces" selection!

They had only one common goal—to defeat all their competitors and secure one of the final three thousand basic spots!

Today marks the end of the first stage of the brutal elimination rounds.

A comprehensive selection process involving several weeks of high intensity, high workload, and an extremely high attrition rate—

Extreme physical fitness, precision shooting, survival in complex environments, tactical coordination, psychological resilience, intelligence analysis...

The original 15,000 people (14,999 people remained after Zeng Wen was "kicked out" by Zeng Linglong) have already undergone a hellish baptism.

Sweat soaked through their camouflage uniforms, bloodstains dotted their wounds, and everyone's eyes were filled with exhaustion, but also burning with an indomitable flame.

They not only represent the highest pursuit of their military career, but also bear the earnest expectations and supreme honor of their military region, unit, and even comrades-in-arms!

They must prove that they are the best of the best!

He is worthy of being a member of that extremely mysterious force, yet destined to carry the nation's sharpest edge—a member of the future!

The "three thousand spots" are merely tickets to participate in the next stage, the more brutal and elimination-prone "ultimate forging."

Ultimately, no more than one hundred people will be able to stay and become members of that mysterious unit.

On the high platform of the training ground, several senior instructors in charge of the preliminary selection surveyed the "steel forest" below with cold expressions.

On the sidelines, a huge electronic screen scrolled through real-time data and rankings, and every change affected the tense hearts of nearly 15,000 people below.

The air was thick with the smells of sweat, dust, and a palpable sense of intense competition and fierce fighting spirit!

The selection process has entered its final and most intense phase.

The true "chief instructor" and "soul figure"—Zeng Linglong—is about to officially arrive in this training ground with his core team.

Spies and conspiracies are brewing in the shadows.

The open training and selection process has reached its climax.

Two battlefronts were launched simultaneously.