Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 116: Welcome to the Madhouse

The Lamborghini’s tires halted to a stop on a gravel path of pure white stone at the front of a large parking lot, covered with metal straps.

Leon raised his eyes slowly and looked up through the window he sat beside. Before him was a massive triangular building that seemed to drink the fading evening light.

At the center of the building, big white letters remained etched on it like a vow: CODX.

Hei Yung tapped his lap, then exited. Hei Luo and Lu Wang followed, exiting in a synchronized motion.

Lu Wang stopped by the door, opened Leon’s door, and held it as if a king was about to exit the car.

"Out," he said in a flat voice.

Leon hesitated, then stepped onto the gravel, the stones shifting under his boots. Strong, chilled air brushed against him, prickling through his hair.

He exhaled sharply, then followed the three men toward the building’s thick black stone door.

As Hei Yung approached, a vertical seam of light appeared in the stone, then widened without a sound.

The thick six-inch door revealed a corridor lit by a cool, recessed white light.

"Stay close," Hei Luo instructed without looking back.

The first hallway carried a harsh pressure, but as they entered the second hallway, Leon’s breath hitched.

The wall on the left was transparent glass that swallowed half of the hallway. Behind it were weapons and technological equipment arranged with absolute precision.

From sleek rifles without triggers, to armored suits that seemed to merge with the shadowy part of the room, to drones that hummed like bees.

Leon’s steps slowed as he scanned the equipment one after another.

"Keep moving," Lu Wang said from the front.

Leon jerked forward and quickened his pace. After a while, they stopped before a deep blue alloy door.

Hei Yung stretched his arms forward and placed them on a panel beside the door. A soft chime echoed as the door slid sideways, entering the wall.

Inside the opened room, two bunk beds remained bolted to opposite walls. Four people were inside, crouched at the front of a central table, playing cards.

Leon swallowed as he shifted his gaze. The two young men and two young women, all wearing grey outfits, raised their heads in unison.

"Good evening, Lieutenant Yung, Lieutenant Luo, Lieutenant Wang," they greeted, rising to their feet in an abrupt but perfect stance.

Hei Yung gave a short nod and stepped aside, then pushed Leon lightly into the room. "This is your new colleague."

As Leon moved a step from the doorframe, a silent chime vibrated in his skull. The panel flickered to life in his vision.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Presence Detected.

Scanning...

Name: An Lang

Rank: D

Hostility: Negative

Name: Liu Yan

Rank: E

Hostility: Negative

Name: Bao Xiong

Rank: C

Hostility: Negative

Name: Wu Ze

Rank: C

Hostility: Negative

The panel vanished just as a girl with sharp eyes and blue hair stepped forward, her boobs dangling as she broke from the line.

Liu Yan stopped in front of Leon and looked at him with a clinical stare, scanning his posture, his face, and his black clothes.

A faint smile spread across her face. "You will be my friend," she said, then turned and looked at the curious faces of her colleagues.

’She seems nice,’ Leon said in his thoughts. But before he could react physically, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, then pulled back.

She brushed her fingers over his shoulders as she gently pushed him forward, closer to the others. "I’m Liu Yan. Welcome to the madhouse."

’Madhouse?!’ Leon’s mind blazed, but he managed a faint smile. "Leon."

The others introduced themselves one after another, all ending by greeting him and brushing their palms through his jet-black hair, laughing.

An Lang, the D-rank, a lanky boy, moved to the bed on the right side and watched, his smile fading.

Bao Xiong, the C-rank, who looked like a mechanically built human, went and sat by the table, carrying deep tension on his face.

Wu Ze, the other C-rank lady, smiled, then went and sat closer to Bao Xiong.

For two hours, they talked, explaining the routine: dawn drills, tactical simulations in the afternoon, endurance runs across the jagged ground behind the CODX, and a group combat exercise that determined the best among the best.

"We are a squad," Liu Yan said, gesturing at the remaining three members. "We move together, train together, bathe together."

’Bathe together?’ Leon frowned slightly, staring at Liu Yan with a disgusted expression.

"Lastly," Liu Yan stated, brushing her palm across her face, "we succeed or fail together."

Leon nodded, then walked toward the appointed bed Liu Yan stretched her arm toward.

Two days passed quickly, moving from routine to sleep, and back to routine.

A heavy exhaustion fell on Leon as he followed the private teachings Liu Yan was giving him.

"Run here," she instructed when the two of them exited on the night of the second evening.

Leon ran a hundred meters down the large hallway filled with cameras.

"Good," she stated, turning her gaze toward the transparent wall engulfing a large space filled with small black drones.

"Follow me." She walked toward the door, opened it, then waited for Leon to enter.

Leon marveled at the scene: the patterned wall arrangement, the basketball resting at one side, and the large field, like a football field, at the center of the room.

Liu Yan gestured at the drones. "Fight this drone."

Leon did as she instructed and fought three drones that came after him one after another.

’Has she forgotten I’m human?’ Leon’s mind screamed as he climbed the wall she ordered him to climb, moments after the third drone blasted and ignited into flames when two punches landed on its head.

On the evening of the third day, all five of them trudged back from the training grounds, their clothes dusted with grit from the artificial animals.

The blazing double suns of the Northern Region sank low, casting long, distorted shadows from the strange structure of the triangular building.

Leon’s muscles sang in pain as he walked sluggishly behind his group. ’I’m tired,’ he said quietly in his head, but Liu Yan turned and smiled, as if she could hear his thoughts.

’Can she hear my thoughts?’ Leon whispered internally, then waited for a reaction from Yan once more.

He brushed it off as they moved into a new building painted red. His blood turned to ice the moment he lifted his head and scanned the path ahead of them.

About fifty yards away, a figure stood against the edge of the wall, nodding. The face, the blue eye, and the smile made Leon swallow hard.

’Tiger?!’ Leon’s mind screamed the name as the person locked eyes with him and smiled coldly.