They've already fought their way through the Holy Grail War, and you still call them dragons?

Chaldea Plan.

A completely politically correct observational institution, devoid of any need for military equipment, solely dedicated to ensuring the prosperity of human history and contributing to the development of civilization. An academic institution where the hybrids were willing to openly integrate alchemy with secular scientists.

The mysterious alchemical technology and magic (which can also be regarded as a new type of alchemy) were easily exposed in the cooperation projects with science and technology, instantly calming the resentment of the secular regime.

Although the mixed-bloods participated in the collective investment and were forced to cooperate with alchemy and secular technology, in fact, the biggest waste of manpower and material resources was borne by the Gattuso family, and the others did not bleed much at all - anyway, they were not the ones who were taken advantage of in this inexplicable "public welfare project", so they had no objection.

As for the Gattuso family, Frost just needed to use the Chaldea project as an excuse to abolish the "Divine Punishment Satellite" plan supported by the family elders and conspire with Pompey to expand his own voice, so he also supported it without hesitation.

In short, this plan, at this moment, unexpectedly allowed people from different worlds to reach a consensus with each other, and was eventually pushed to the United Nations headquarters and gained the support of major powers.

It also brings together a large number of elites from all over the world, including environmentalists, high-energy physicists, cosmologists, quantum physicists, etc., regardless of race or background.

However, this was accompanied by the covert involvement of spies from various countries and undercover agents of mixed-race forces. Britain and America, in particular, had suffered significant losses and were unwilling to miss any opportunity to profit again.

——And all of this is unknown to ordinary people. The most they can see is...

"…Our reporter reports that the Chaldea Institute, established on public Antarctic territory following the unusual weather conditions of 2004, has been operating smoothly for over four years. As a cutting-edge project approved by the United Nations, its purpose is to simulate Earth's environmental models, predict future developments, and provide solutions to potential disasters."

"This project has received investment from various countries and serves all of humanity. Several inspection teams have given it high praise, and numerous international environmental organizations have also lauded it. We believe Chaldea will create a better future for human society..."

Lu Mingfei's uncle Lu Gucheng was eating a fried dough stick with one hand, his eyes fixed on the colors and words scrolling on the TV. The morning news was one of the rare entertainment activities for this middle-aged man who was very concerned about his reputation before going to work.

My uncle is a very particular person, especially when he's out and about. He wears imitation designer clothes, constantly monitors global trends to gather topics for conversation, and when he brags to his colleagues, he's always boasting about things like "the international crude oil market is volatile, ESG carbon neutrality is a key to sustainable development..." His rhetoric is repetitive and incoherent, each one a high-brow, yet incomprehensible statement.

"Alright, alright, eat quickly. The porridge is about to get cold. Both kids eat faster than you."

The aunt was obviously much more vulgar. She was more concerned about the daily necessities of life, and kept nagging about her fat son Lu Mingze, who had been spending money lavishly recently, and whether he was studying hard. Her nephew Lu Mingfei was about to enter college, and wondered if studying abroad to a prestigious international university would be a good idea. ...

"Don't worry about it. Ming Fei is a self-reliant man who wins the WGT championship prize every year. Electronics manufacturers in the CBD are begging him to be their spokesperson. Including advertising fees, he earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. It's up to him to choose which university to attend."

My uncle couldn't help but advise. Although "returnees" are popular these days, and each one is packaged more glamorously than the other, in terms of actual income, not everyone earns a high salary. Some even earn less than local graduates.

It is better to stay in a familiar field than to compete with people from outside. At least from the performance in competitions in recent years, as long as Lu Mingfei's hand speed does not decline, no one can compete with him in playing games.

Just looking at his current income level, he already far surpasses most workers in large factories.

"What do you know! The right thing to do is to study hard and have a stable job. Playing games all day long and not learning any useful skills, how can you last long in the future?" My aunt rolled her eyes.

She has some traditional ideas and holds a negative view on the "unproductive" way of "making money by playing games". In fact, this is also the general view of Chinese people on e-sports during this period - it is a waste of time and an electronic drug.

No one could have imagined that in the next few years, the e-sports market would continue to expand, gain recognition and even government approval.

Therefore, in the current environment where various derivative positions such as game anchor commentators have not yet emerged, my aunt's worries are not unreasonable. Lu Mingfei will eventually retire, and it is still unclear whether he can still make a living from this.

My uncle didn't dare to loudly refute my aunt's "idea of ​​taking the right path". He muttered a few words under his breath and changed the subject, asking, "Where is Mingfei?"

"After breakfast, he said he was going to pick up some package. He should be back by now."

Just at this moment, Lu Mingfei hurried into the house with a package in his arm.

"Ming Fei, someone sent you something again?"

My aunt glanced at it and asked casually, without showing much interest in her tone, mainly because she was a little used to it.

Lu Mingfei is now known in China as the "King of Esports." He's also a well-known influencer online, with tens of thousands of followers. He's constantly showered with gifts, from a variety of sources, including but not limited to clubs, teammates, endorsement companies, and fans. The mix is ​​complex... This is probably the price of fame.

"Yes, auntie, but the person who sent the package is a stranger, but he doesn't look like a fan..." Lu Mingfei walked into his bedroom with a puzzled look on his face.

The little fat boy Lu Mingze also came into the house at this time. When he saw the package in his cousin Lu Mingfei's hand, his eyes lit up and he walked over with curiosity - but was stopped by his aunt.

"Ming Ze, how much homework have you done? The teacher said your grades have dropped this semester. It's not a good idea to keep going like this. How about signing up for a holiday cram school or something..."

The uncle also came over and naggled a little, "Mingze, you must listen carefully in class. The teacher said that you are actually very smart and have a lot of room for improvement, but your attitude is not right enough. You'd better put more energy into studying..."

The little fat boy felt overwhelmed, aggrieved, and wanted to cry, thinking to himself, why are you nagging only me? My cousin Lu Mingfei's grades are not that good either!

Seeing the fat son's unconvinced expression, his uncle and aunt felt anxious and helpless. You don't have Lu Mingfei's incredible e-sports skills. All you do is brag about your cousin's e-sports achievements at school every day. You are unwilling to study hard. What future do you have?

----

Lu Mingfei opened the package, and out fell a cell phone and an invitation. Upon closer inspection, it read, "Helix Hall Admission Interview Invitation." No, these days, schools are giving away cell phones just for admitting students? He hadn't even applied to this strange school, had he?

He decided to study the letter in his hand more carefully, and then he saw that it stated that the school was a newly built national engineering investment project. It was a key university located in Xiangyang, Hubei Province. It had academic exchange channels with many top universities in the world and was the only high-tech college in China that had a cooperative relationship with the Chaldea Organization... Finally, the time and place of the admissions interview were attached.

Huh? Chaldea seemed to have been reported on international news. I heard it was a major project approved by the United Nations. Many top Nobel Prize winners are gathered in the research institutes there?

Oh wow, if that’s true, that would be pretty cool… But the thing is, I haven’t even applied for it, so what do they like about me? It can’t be that I’m “good at playing games”, right?

Lu Mingfei turned on his laptop and saw a flashing message in the class group chat. He planned to ask if anyone else had received a similar strange package. This was so bizarre that he worried it might be a scam or a human trafficking scam...

As soon as Lu Mingfei showed up, two people immediately responded with, "Wow, Brother Lu actually showed up! Has Brother Lu decided on his university yet?"

He took a look at the profile picture and recognized that it was the famous fat twins in the class, Xu Yanyan and Xu Miaomiao. They were as fat as oversized basketballs. Even their cousin Lu Mingze, who was 160 kg tall and weighed 160 kg, was slightly inferior to them.

These two have been in awe of his legendary e-sports experience since they were in junior high school. They have become his cheap apprentices and want to learn a few tricks from him... They can't help but admit it. Just by playing games, they can make a lot of money, be happy and not worry about their life, and just go to school casually. In the eyes of Xu Yanyan and his two brothers, it is simply a fairy life.

Lu Mingfei was too embarrassed to refuse outright and said hahaha, not everyone is made for this, buddy was born to be an e-sports legend... uh uh, that's a bit too pretentious.

So in reality, they just joked around and skipped over the topic every time, letting these two funny guys firmly believe that "sincerity can move mountains and open up new horizons", and Lu Mingfei was like "my heart is as strong as iron and indestructible".

"The university in Xiangyang? ...Isn't that where Chu Zihang transferred to?"

After a few meaningless conversations, someone finally provided useful information.

Several pieces of information flashed through Lu Mingfei's mind. He had met Chu Zihang back in school. He was a legend at Shilan Middle School, always achieving top marks in academics and an indispensable starter for the school basketball team. His perpetually cool and pretentious demeanor had captured the hearts of countless girls at Shilan Middle School. He had even been ranked number one on the "This Beast Should Be Killed" list.

Well, now he is the first on the list of “those who should be killed”.

But the reason was a little different. Rumor has it that after Lu Mingfei became a hot commodity at the Media Asia Group Investment Club, the headmaster, in a moment of joy, donated a large sum to Shilan. Consequently, the principal personally arranged for Lu Mingfei to be transferred to a special talent student, freeing him from having to focus too much on basic subject grades.

Of course, the credibility of these rumors is unclear, but it is true that the teacher turned a blind eye to Lu Mingfei, which resulted in him not really experiencing school life properly. He would disappear without a trace every day, and group activities like the literature club and basketball club were completely isolated from Lu Mingfei...

What's a club? Is it as fun as playing games?

This made a bunch of boys who were tortured by the hell of school every day envious: "Damn, how come you're enjoying life so early? This bastard should be killed! This bastard should be killed!"

"Is this Helix Hall really that credible? Chu Zihang was ranked number one in the school to get in, and it seems he went to a school in Xiangyang. It's said to be a state-secret project that's difficult for ordinary people to get into. It's so high-end, isn't it related to aerospace?"

"Don't you know? The most high-end project right now is Chaldea in Antarctica! The United Nations personally took charge! A quick search will reveal that the Spiral Pavilion was founded in the same year as Chaldea, and it's also a classified project. Think about it, think about it carefully!"

“…hiss! Senior Brother Chu is awesome!”

"Now it's time to say Brother Lu is awesome! Let me tell you, Zhao Menghua was secretly mocking Cricket at school last time, saying Brother Lu was just a plaything of capital. If Brother Lu becomes rich this time, he'll be given a good beating! It's worth it for all of us being brothers!"

"If you become rich, don't forget us! After the interview, remember to treat everyone to a meal!"

"what?"

Lu Mingfei closed the group chat, sorted his thoughts, rolled his eyes at the envelope at hand and was secretly shocked. Nani, Masaka... the information was actually true?

After thinking it over again and again, he decided to give it a try. Maybe he was needed for a state secret project because of his top-notch hand speed and nerve reaction ability that came with playing e-sports?

So on the day of the interview, Lu Mingfei arrived at the Regent Hotel, dressed in a 007-esque Brioni suit. The luxury hotel didn't excite Lu Mingfei; Media Asia had arranged countless high-end accommodations for him during his competitions over the years, and his perspective had long since changed.

Following the waiter's guidance, he entered the executive floor, where the interview took place. After Lu Mingfei entered the room, he immediately noticed a boy with a paralyzed expression who was talking to a red-haired young man.

woc, Chu Zihang?

Chapter 299: Senior Go's move is too cruel

(fgo is also go!)

Lu Mingfei never expected that during the interview, a former senior would actually show up in person. This move was really too cruel.

In other words, his sexual orientation is normal. If it was a little girl from Shilan Middle School, my god, I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to resist and would just give herself to him for free?

Who was that dark red-haired man? He looked older than Senior Brother Chu. He looked like an interviewer from the Spiral Hall.

Lu Mingfei's eyes rolled around and he took a quick look before looking away. He walked up to the red-haired interviewer and greeted him politely.

He wondered if Chu Zihang had come here because he was optimistic about his junior and wanted to take care of him. But when they were in school, they had hardly spoken to each other.

"Please take a seat."

"Okay, okay."

Lu Mingfei followed the instructions and sat on the only white chair in the room, while Chu Zihang and the red-haired interviewer sat on the other side of the long table, their gazes casting a very oppressive feeling over them.

Then a pamphlet was handed to him.

Lu Mingfei flipped through it and found an introduction to the Chaldea organization's organizational structure, funding sources, representative talents, vision, and so on. It seemed fine, but the look on his face became increasingly strange.

Ok?

So this is Chaldea's instruction manual, but wasn't he here for an interview at the Spiral Pavilion? How did he get directly into such a top-notch and prestigious place?

Guigui, this is terrible. Lu Mingfei started to back off in his heart. Is someone like him qualified to go to such a place?

"You can call me Emiya," the interviewer began. "Just to be clear, this is a regular open recruitment for members of the 'Chaldea Exploration Team,' but I'm sure you're a little confused, since your envelope says it's for the Spiral Hall."

"That's not entirely wrong. The members of the Chaldea expedition are institutionally affiliated with Chaldea, but administratively they belong to various national institutions, and Chaldea cannot directly govern them. If you pass the interview, you will join the expedition as a student of the Spiral Hall and become one of us."

"As for the rest, the work of the Chaldea Investigation Team will be discussed in detail after you pass the interview. Until then, just know that the duties of the Investigation Team are similar to those of ordinary Chaldea staff, except that they have the added authority to independently monitor records."

This inspection team system mainly comes from the checks and balances and surveillance methods of various forces on Chaldea.

Although Chaldea was hidden in Antarctica and isolated from the outside world, its location was kept secret, but as the first project to openly collaborate with the mysterious side of science and technology, it was still necessary to have monitoring measures to prevent accidents. Thus, the system of expeditions came into being.

The list of candidates for the Chaldea expedition team comes from major forces around the world, mainly concentrated in large forces such as the Secret Party, the Spiral Hall, the Clock Tower, and the Holy Church. They are dispatched once a year for rotation.

During their stay in Chaldea, the research team will join the daily work of Chaldea staff and conduct inspections and assessments of various projects to prevent any inappropriate research. Any developments that deviate from the original intentions of the Chaldea Project must be strictly investigated, controlled, and reported...

Of course, this is just a superficial statement, just listen to it.

A little analysis will reveal that it is essentially a plan of "legitimate and reasonable plunder" launched by various major forces who covet the research and technological achievements of Chaldea.

...Lu Mingfei nodded rapidly as he listened to Emiya's explanation. It seemed that he could not figure out the deeper meaning of this.

He just recalled in his mind that the international news seemed to report on the Chaldea expedition every year, and it was actually true, not just simple verbal propaganda.

"It's almost time. Get ready and start the interview immediately."

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Mingfei's confused mind was suddenly awakened by Emiya's reminder again.

The interview is finally here!

What kind of topic will it be?

A model of the large-scale spatial structure of the universe? A comprehensive discussion of sustainable maintenance of Earth's ecological environment? Or perhaps a discussion of solutions to Hilbert's 23 questions or the Millennium Problem?

Lu Mingfei was full of confidence, fearless, calm, and composed, because...

He can't do it anyway! Unless you test him with e-sports questions!

However, Emiya did not ask extremely difficult interview questions as he had imagined, but instead asked him to take out the mobile phone that came with the package he received.

"Our interview is different from the usual format and will be completed in a more efficient manner," he continued after letting Lu Mingfei turn on the camera.

"Normally, you wouldn't even need to come here specifically for an on-site interview. However, the situation is special now, and you don't have some common sense, so we're giving you additional explanations offline."

Lu Mingfei blinked in confusion. "What do you mean... I don't quite understand? You're not the interviewer, you're just explaining things to me? Interviews are usually conducted online..."

“You could also say it’s online.”

Emiya raised his hand and pointed at Lu Mingfei's phone:

"If you confirm your interest in the position of 'Member of the Spiral Hall and the United Nations Annual Exploration Team in Chaldea,' just say 'Start Exam' to your phone."

Lu Mingfei pursed his lips and complained in his heart how this position was similar to the "Grand Priest Wang Lama of the Shaolin Temple's Vatican Office", full of a strange sense of stitching.

Back to topic.

Lu Mingfei's eyes returned to the lit screen of his phone.

It was as if the next second he decided to say those few words would lead to a major change in his ordinary fate, so he had to wonder if this was the only chance in his life.

Think back to the years of his undefeated StarCraft career, which was his most proud e-sports belief. However, the vivid memory of his aunt's advice made Lu Mingfei's tears flow inexplicably in his heart.

The door to a brand new career and life in Chaldea slowly opened before him. If he gave up this opportunity, the door to Chaldea would slam shut on him, forcing his timid self to forever wander the realm of the "King of Esports," never taking a single step forward, enjoying the narrow bliss of his comfort zone until he retired years later, ending his glorious life.

Hey hey...

Although it still felt like a very distant thing, Lu Mingfei inexplicably sensed the tragedy of the ending. The glory of the king of e-sports was gone, the passion of galloping across the stars dissipated, and he was content with being ordinary and degenerated into mediocrity, just like the most ferocious lion gave up biting its prey with its fangs and degenerated into a self-abandoned dog.

When Lu Mingfei was daydreaming, he seemed to have an illusion of a real tragic life scene in the future, and then he regained consciousness in a short moment.

I heard an inexplicable boy's sneer in my ears. The sound was very soft, but it pierced my soul.

Lu Mingfei tilted his head and looked around. There was no one else in the house except himself, Chu Zihang, Wei Gong and the other two.

"Have you decided?" Emiya urged again.

"...Alright," Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth. He was a little furious at the hallucination he had just imagined. Holding the phone, he spoke in an exaggerated and distorted voice, "I'm ready! 'Begin the exam!'"

As soon as the words fell, the pattern on the screen instantly changed to a spiral shape that Lu Mingfei had never seen before, like a yin and yang Tai Chi pattern quietly rotating and interlocking with each other. A strange voice rang out from it: