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

"Fingerprint authentication, voiceprint authentication, and genetic factor authentication have been completed. Automatic registration and circuit detection are complete. Hello, Mr. Lu Mingfei, the thought keyprint - trial account has been entered. Please close your eyes and prepare to log in to the thought disk - entrance examination."

"Oh...okay."

Lu Mingfei thought that this exam was really weird, why did they have to “close your eyes when it gets dark”?

He was suspicious, so he cunningly chose to squint instead of closing his eyes, leaving a gap that was barely visible from the outside...

In the end, it was of no use.

Three seconds later, the scene in front of Lu Mingfei suddenly changed——

The brightly lit and luxuriously decorated hotel interior disappeared, replaced by green grass. At the end of the distant horizon, countless monsters began to rush forward, and only a few of Lu Mingfei's own units, called "Servants", stood by his side.

Lu Mingfei looked at the hooded "Caster" and saw subtitles like "Formation," "High-Speed ​​Divine Words," and "Attack" appearing in the air. Looking at "Assassin," he saw the words "Breath Block," and "Act Alone" appear.

He raised his arm and pointed his finger at the floating subtitles, and a dialog box similar to inputting commands appeared. It seemed that "Servant" was a "hero unit" controlled by voice.

Uh, uh, so this is... a game? A holographic real-time strategy game?

----

After arranging Lu Mingfei's interview, Emiya picked up his phone and sent a text message to a certain "Potato Chip Girl" editor, "The person you want to arrange is already in the interview... Are you sure he can pass?... He doesn't look very good. Is he really suitable for Chaldea?"

Su Enxi replied almost instantly, "I don't know!"

"what?"

"The boss suddenly arranged this. He said it was to ensure some kind of destiny, or in other words, to ensure the closure of space-time causality. Lu Mingfei had to enter Chaldea no matter what, otherwise humanity would have no hope of turning the tables... Anyway, it was just a bunch of riddles that I couldn't understand."

Destiny… Emiya pondered the word. It sounded as if Lu Mingfei was some kind of important tool. If he fell into the hands of the culprit who had incinerated or rendered human nature blank, would there be unpredictable consequences?

"So what kind of work should we assign him? He needs to work hard, right? You can't lock a living person in a safe like a museum piece, right?"

"Boss Emiya, please assign him some work behind the scenes. Since Boss (Lu Mingze) loves him so much, just make sure he doesn't go to the front lines."

"Is that so? Fine..."

After contacting Su Enxi, Emiya checked the "exam room surveillance" and found that Lu Mingfei's "battlefield observation" and "tactical command" in the simulated battle were both good. Perhaps playing esports had adapted him to a similar rhythm...

The only thing was that he performed poorly in "on-the-spot response". When he saw the monster approaching him, he was stunned and did not think of recalling his followers in time to protect himself.

Emiya shook his head. On the front lines, a Master's ability to protect themselves—whether it was staying out of danger or focusing on strengthening themselves—was crucial. If they couldn't even do that, they'd be lacking even the most basic qualities and unfit to be a "Master." Besides, this was just a virtual battle, so the realism was significantly reduced.

Emiya picked up the form, crossed out Lu Mingfei from the "Master Qualifications" on the list of candidates for the inspection team, and then transferred him to the ranks of "rear-line assistance and support work."

Then he looked at Chu Zihang standing beside him and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the selection for the last member of Group A, that is, the seventh position in Group A, will be completed while we are stationed as an inspection team."

"According to the intelligence I've received, students from both the Secret Party and the Clock Tower have already joined Group A. The only remaining candidates are you, representing the Spiral Pavilion, representatives from the Holy Church, and other factions."

When Emiya said this, Chu Zihang's eyes were as sharp as knives, and his golden pupils were burning, as if he was going to chop his competitor into seventeen or eighteen pieces without saying a word as soon as he drew his sword.

Just kidding, Chu Zihang's martial arts and swordsmanship were taught by Professor Emiya, but he is not good enough to become an unreasonable killer.

What's more, what Emiya hasn't said is that whether it is Chu Zihang from the Spiral Hall or Su Xiaoqiang from the Holy Church, they are all on Emiya's side. It will be beneficial to him if either of them wins the election.

When Emiya arrived as the leader of the expedition, Chaldea's hidden enemies would be wary of him, but not necessarily of others. This is a huge advantage of "the enemy is in the open, we are in the dark."

"...That man's whereabouts are related to Chaldeas, right?"

Chu Zihang's voice suddenly sounded faintly, and he was talking about his biological father Chu Tianjiao.

When Chu Zihang found Emiya, he once asked Emiya about this matter. Emiya replied that if something called Chaldeas appeared, then your father was very likely absorbed into it.

"Yes, if your father were still alive."

Because the alien planet Chaldeas is also a planet with humans living on it. If Chaldeas operates normally, Chu Tianjiao will be active in that world as part of the alien planet's surface humans.

But Emiya wasn't entirely sure. In this strange, yet inexplicably strange worldline, the little "plot advantage" he possessed might not be of much use. It could be used as a reference, but not relied upon.

Intelligence gained through personal investigation is more reliable.

Chu Zihang tightly grasped the hilt of the "Imperial Divine Sword Murasame" in his hand, remaining silent. He had heard that this Murasame was an alchemical weapon that Chu Tianjiao had borrowed from his acquaintance, Finger, and there were two of them.

The other one was taken by Chu Tianjiao when he boarded the YAMAL to carry out a mission, but who knew that this man never came back.

He held the lonely Murasame for a while, then said coldly, "I will be in Group A."

"Only Group A is qualified to have access to confidential projects first, and has the right to meet with the director of Chaldea."

"During this investigation, I will make clear all the truths that Chaldea has concealed."

Chapter 300: Long-term rescue leads to

Pfft!

The dragon-tooth soldier monster created to simulate the battle was holding a bone shield and a bone knife. Its dense and sharp edges, as cold as ice, broke through the defensive line built by the servants at a certain moment and pierced into the muscles and bones of Lu Mingfei, who was slow to react, causing hot blood to spurt out.

Although Lu Mingfei could not feel the pain during the simulated battle, his muscles still subconsciously contracted, his heart beat wildly, and his breathing became rapid.

So far, he had completed five questions in this simulated combat system, each of which was a "combat mission" in a different scenario. Some required the examinee to capture ancient fortresses, others to hold the line against the enemy, and still others to protect supplies or hostages during a forced march...

Although it is strange why these scenes are a mixture of different historical periods, from the ancient Roman period to the Middle Ages to the modern times, and what is even more difficult to understand is why entering Chaldea requires advanced holographic technology or virtual stealth technology to conduct this kind of virtual combat test.

But Lu Mingfei still experienced the huge cognitive error that existed before - the world may be a makeshift team, but it is definitely not an electronic game that can be controlled as easily as playing StarCraft.

Even if the combat in the simulated scene lacks some realism, it is definitely not comparable to games that can be operated efficiently with simple mouse and keyboard operations.

Time suddenly stopped. A line of subtitles floated across the sky.

【End of this exam】

Then the world fell into endless darkness, and returned to normal after a second or two. The magnificent hotel room returned to his sight again. On the other side of the long table, Emiya and Chu Zihang ended their brief conversation, glanced at Lu Mingfei, and filled out something on a document.

He secretly cried out inwardly, "It's over!" His performance was truly terrible. All five "interview questions" were like a rookie's game full of mistakes. Even the relatively simple battle, Lu Mingfei failed because he was unlucky enough to be hit by a stray arrow...

Could it be that the interviewer on the other side has already written a big “unqualified” on the interview result?

"Your interview results are out."

Under Lu Mingfei's intense gaze, every word that came out of Emiya's mouth seemed to weigh as heavy as a thousand pounds.

"Your final evaluation is... C-level, assigned to the rear support task force."

“Huh?” Lu Mingfei was stunned, so what it meant was... he actually passed?

----

Antarctica.

Bright, pure white lights shone into the corridors of the simply decorated Chaldea Institution. The walls reflected a silver glow, and the monotonous yet flawless white stretched infinitely from the floor and ceiling along the chaotically interconnected passages.

The staff members coming and going are in a hurry, seemingly no different from the workers outside, but in fact, except for miscellaneous jobs such as warehouse management, almost all of them are elites carefully selected by forces such as the United Nations.

The pink-haired girl was holding a stack of documents. Underneath her soft, snow-white uniform, like everyone else's, were a pair of slender legs wrapped in black silk. As she passed near the dome of Chaldea, she occasionally caught sight of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows that separated her from the outside world.

Facing the windy and snowy Antarctic world, she revealed a curious look that was different from that of ordinary people. It was as if the outside world she saw was not a cold and ruthless world of ice and snow, but a colorful and magnificent world that had never been explored.

"Kyrielet, what are you doing in the corridor?" asked the blond man who was walking towards them.

"Ah, ah, sorry, Deputy Director!" The girl known as Kirilet adjusted her glasses and quietly moved aside to avoid blocking others' path. "Maybe I've been assigned too much work recently, and I couldn't help but get distracted..."

"Well, it's okay to take some time off from work. And I've been quite busy lately. After a year, the expedition team is coming again - and we're clearly carrying out a cause that will leave a great legacy in human history -"

"No, that's not right. Whether it's the ancients' academic pursuits, the flourishing of religions, the Age of Exploration and the discovery of the New World, or the information technology revolution and deep space exploration, our achievements are far greater than any of these!"

The blond man spoke with intonation and passion, as if he was not chatting with anyone but delivering a great speech to the confused audience, expressing that the Chaldea Organization was undertaking an elegant adventure far beyond the mundane on the snow-capped peaks of Antarctica, which were over 6,000 meters above sea level.

It seemed as if the extraordinary significance of this adventure surpassed all human creations in history, and he himself was deeply immersed in it and could not extricate himself. Only this kind of cause was worthy of his life.

...Although in Kirilet's eyes, the deputy director's appearance seemed very similar to a situation she had recently learned about called "Chuunibyou".

"It's a shame that great achievements are often misinterpreted and criticized by the vulgar world. As a result, our work to safeguard Chaldea's civilization has been subjected to arbitrary obstruction by the scoundrels of the inspection team, and we are helpless... If the situation remains the same as last year, then much of our work will now be subject to oversight. This is undoubtedly a shameful lack of trust and a waste of efficiency."

This is also the reason why Chaldea is busy during this period.

If we do not speed up the process and wait until the inspection team arrives, the added work handover, coordination and supervision procedures will cause the progress of many projects to be delayed again and again.

Caesar Gattuso, this is the name of the deputy director of Chaldea.

He is the director's son, but it is said that the relationship between the two is not good. To be more precise, the word "terrible" should be used to describe it.

Of course, the director's performance was quite poor and didn't leave a good impression. His actions included, but were not limited to, his rumored chaotic private life, his frequent disappearances, and his rare visits to Chaldea. He even angered his brother Frost, who was far away in Italy.

However, Chaldea cannot do without a top management like the director. Frost was managing Gattuso's family and had no time to come over, which resulted in Chaldea being in a state of disarray in the early days of its establishment, and most projects progressing slowly.

The one who changed all this was Caesar, the director's son, who came last year after hearing the news.

The first words he said when he entered the door were:

“I’m very disappointed!”

"—Because I heard that Chaldea is full of elites who can save the world and protect human civilization, but there are too many people here!"

"The true savior elite will never be the majority!"

These words were meant to express dissatisfaction with the chaotic situation in Chaldea, but they also directly offended a large number of people in Chaldea.

It's as if Caesar himself or any of them has ever held such an important position as saving the world for a long time!

In other words, Caesar is the director's son, and this place is at least one of Gattuso's territories, otherwise the workers from various forces around the world would not tolerate this young nobleman.

Thanks to the halo of "the director's son" and his own skills in imperial arts, Caesar was able to command this group of people within the Chaldean system.

"I heard that the United Nations also has investments in Chaldea, and the inspection team's supervisory authority is recognized by all investors."

In response to Caesar's complaints, Kyrielight whispered.

Caesar said in a flat tone, almost dismissive. "...Yes, and the official name of that group is the 'United Nations Monitoring Mission,' but basically the members are all from various factions. They're just using this as an excuse to interfere in Chaldea's affairs and profit from it."

"Let's not talk about that. There's one more issue before the expedition returns. 'That bastard' must come back. Otherwise, if the expedition uses him as evidence and seizes power, it'll be troublesome."

The current director Pompey Gattuso is also one of the people who was called a bastard by Caesar.

Because Caesar was just a "nominal" commander who temporarily commanded Chaldea with the help of the director's son, "deputy director" was just a title and was not written into the institutional charter.

When the inspection team arrives, they will not care about you because they are not afraid of Gattuso's power.

So no matter how much you hate the stud dad, you must notify him to come back at this time.

Gilead nodded. "The satellite communication was sent out two days ago. The director's reply was that we would return today, and he gave the order to 'restart Project Beta' in advance."

"Beta Project?"

Caesar frowned. Since he took over the daily management of Chaldea, he had never heard of a project with such a code name. It was said that Pompey had led several projects when he first established Chaldea, but they were all kept secret and there was no public record.

He knew that Kirielight was special because this girl had been an employee of Chaldea since its inception. Chaldea hadn't been around long, but it had experienced a lot of staff turnover. By the time Caesar arrived at Chaldea last year, very few of the old employees were left. It was unknown whether they had been murdered or had sought other opportunities and disappeared.

Judging from Kirilet's expression, the other party seems to be familiar with the "β Project" and should be a related personnel.

Caesar continued to ask, "Project restart? Is there a specific time and place?"

"It should be today. Project Beta is being carried out in the sealed summoning lab."

Thirty minutes later, Caesar finally saw Pompey in the so-called summoning room, a place whose function he had never known and he had thought was an abandoned house.

Caesar barely suppressed the urge in his heart and did not publicly scold this stud father. Why did he continue to act like a hands-off boss and do whatever he wanted after proposing the complicated and creative Chaldea plan, making himself, who was very interested in saving the world, seem like the second-in-command who was forced to clean up the mess for the stud scum.

"Hey, son! You're finally here. Our great cause is one step closer to a wonderful future!"

The man named Pompey rarely appeared, but every time he did, he had a pretentious charm - he usually used this template to charm those ignorant and brainless women, but Caesar...

He didn't buy it, he just felt disgusted.

"hehe."

Caesar forced a cold smile onto his face, a smile that was a bit chilling. "Our great cause is indeed progressing steadily, thanks to the hard work of many people, but you are definitely not one of them!"

As Caesar spoke, he looked at the facilities in the room. It seemed empty and nothing special, except for the exquisite arcs and patterns formed by the shining lines on the ground.

Pompey reached out and turned on the power of the small console next to him, snapped his fingers, and the patterns on the ground began to glow brightly.

"Son, you seem to be immersed in the great mission of saving the world. While the world-saving mini-game is indeed fascinating, Chaldea is ultimately the inherent property of the Gattuso family. I heard that you've been too demanding this past year, laying off or punishing quite a few undisciplined family members..."

"Really? So you, like that uncle at home, want to run saving the world like a family business?"

Caesar's tone was harsh. He had always been dismissive of the Gattuso family, from which he came. "Okay, very good! But if this business goes bankrupt due to poor management, will that mean the end of the world?"

"Son, you've learned to joke like that!" Pompey was overcome by a wave of emotion, but he wasn't angry. "Don't panic. If Chaldea is gone, there are still heroes who can truly save the world. That hero is the savior who defeated the Black Supreme!"

Caesar paused and stopped talking. Of course he knew who it was. Who else could it be but Emiya?

There were few people in this world he could truly respect, but Emiya was one of them. In Caesar's opinion, if Emiya were to take the position of "savior," he would definitely be able to hold on to it and do his job well. If you ask why, it's because Emiya truly had a long-term savior.

Caesar's active involvement in the work of the Chaldean organization may have been due to his desire to emulate the other party's "great cause."

"...Hey, son, I know you have something against me, but I can't help it!"