Su Chen stared at the massive steel door embedded in the mountainside and blinked in astonishment.

The door alone was a full eight meters high and six meters wide. Standing before it, Su Chen felt incredibly small.

While Su Chen was still lost in his shock, Xiao Chen strode forward and keyed something into a device that looked like an access panel.

A mechanical "CLANK-CLANK" echoed as the iron door slowly slid open to the sides.

The iron door opened wide, revealing a pitch-black entrance that looked like the gaping maw of a giant beast...

Aided by the Light, one could barely make out the first two or three meters inside the entrance. It seemed to be a tunnel, its walls entirely reinforced with concrete.

Su Chen squinted, staring for a long time, but couldn’t make out any details.

"Pretty curious about what this place is, aren’t you?" Jiangyang sidled up to Su Chen, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Su Chen took a deep breath. He was actually familiar with places like this; most were military facilities built decades ago.

"I’ve seen a place like this before... it was probably much larger than this one."

"Hmm?"

At his words, not only Jiangyang, but Chen Yao also drew closer, his curiosity piqued.

’Logically, this kind of place isn’t something an ordinary person should know about. We know a little about Su Chen’s background, and it’s impossible he would’ve had access to something this secret...’

’No, wait. It’s probably not a secret anymore. There are similar sites all over, and many have been declassified over the past few years.’

"There’s a similar bunker complex back in my hometown, also built into a mountain. The internal floor area is over one hundred thousand square meters, with eighteen large chambers. The main chamber is eighty meters high!"

"I was lucky enough to tour it once. Just the ride on the sightseeing cart from the entrance to the main exhibit area took nearly ten minutes. Even after all these years, the memory of that sight is still stunning!"

"Sigh... a shame, really. Most of the facilities inside were dismantled. Even the nuclear missile was just a model," Su Chen lamented with a long sigh.

Jiangyang and Chen Yao were left speechless. ’If they’d left a real nuclear missile there, would you even be allowed to visit?’

"What are you guys standing around for? Get in here!" Xiao Chen yelled from the entrance.

Su Chen and the others hurried over, and Xiao Chen flipped on the lights inside the tunnel.

A tunnel constructed from concrete appeared before them.

The tunnel was about thirty meters long and opened up into a massive cavern, easily the size of a soccer field!

"Is... is that..."

When Su Chen saw the behemoth parked inside the cavern, his jaw dropped so low you could have fit a fist in it.

"WHAP!" Jiangyang slapped a hand on Su Chen’s shoulder.

"Surprising, isn’t it! Exciting, isn’t it!"

"Holy shit, a tank?! What’s this doing here? Is it real or fake?" Su Chen ran excitedly toward it.

One look at the enormous cannon and thick armor plating told him it was the real deal.

Su Chen rapped his knuckles against it twice, producing a solid "DONG DONG" sound.

After circling it once, Su Chen noticed something seemed a little off. The tank looked a bit old.

"Brother Cheen, this thing looks like it’s been around a while. Can it still run?" Thinking of the terrain outside, Su Chen had a pretty good idea of the answer.

Xiao Chen chuckled and nodded. "Of course it can. It’s a 1:1 scale model I had custom-built. Besides being drivable, it has no other functions. To put it bluntly, it’s just a large off-road vehicle in a tank’s shell."

"If it’s just a model, why keep it in the cavern? Why not park it outside?" Su Chen was curious. If it was just a model, there was nothing to worry about.

Xiao Chen shook his head slightly. "It wouldn’t look good."

Su Chen didn’t press the issue, understanding what he meant.

While Su Chen was still talking, Jiangyang and Chen Yao had already clambered onto the tank model.

"Old Yang, how about you let me drive this time? I’ll treat you to the club tonight!"

"You? You want to drive? Who was it that drove straight into a tree last time? If I hadn’t been quick enough to slam on the brakes, we would’ve spent a few days in the hospital!"

"Bullshit! If you hadn’t been distracting me, it never would’ve happened!"

Listening to them bicker, Xiao Chen roared in exasperation, "Alright, alright! You two, stop fighting! Let Su Chen have a turn!"

The two arguers fell silent instantly. Glancing at the eager Su Chen, they quickly scrambled down from the tank model.

"Go on up. I’ll show you how to drive it!"

With a hop and a step, Su Chen was on the tank model. He popped the hatch and slipped inside, with Xiao Chen following nimbly behind him.

"Driving this thing is actually simple, just like a car!" he said, and began instructing Su Chen.

Soon, as Jiangyang and Chen Yao watched, the model drove out of the cavern.

"Sigh. If I’d known this was going to happen, I would’ve just stayed back at the villa. Why did I even bother coming?" Chen Yao said wistfully, watching the tank model grow smaller in the distance.

He knew that once they got going, they wouldn’t be back for at least an hour or two. After all, he and Jiangyang had been the exact same way their first time.

Jiangyang, standing beside him, nodded in agreement.

The cavern wasn’t just for parking the tank model; it was also a large warehouse. A lot of the training camp’s equipment was stored here, since the cavern stayed warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

The two rummaged around for a bit and found a few folding army cots. They set them up, lay down, and even remembered to pull blankets over themselves.

Meanwhile, Su Chen was having the time of his life. He spent half an hour getting used to the controls before gradually picking up speed. He even took it through some water hazards and over some off-road hills—it was an incredible thrill.

It wasn’t until the sun began to set that Su Chen reluctantly drove the tank model back into the cavern.

The roar of the engine woke the two soundly sleeping men.

"You two look like you had a comfortable nap!" Xiao Chen said, looking at them with a teasing grin.

Jiangyang and Chen Yao sighed in resignation. "It’s not that we wanted to sleep. Hey, Brother Cheen, how about you get two more of these models?"

Just as Xiao Chen was about to reply, he heard a cry for help from Su Chen behind him...

"Ow! Brother Cheen, give me a hand! I feel like my whole body’s about to fall apart!"

Su Chen was sitting atop the tank model, his arms and legs still trembling.

The three of them hurried to help Su Chen down from the model and lay him on one of the army cots.

"Ah, I forgot to tell you! Your whole body gets sore after the excitement wears off!" Xiao Chen smacked his forehead, just now remembering this was Su Chen’s first time.

Even though it was a model, it was still physically demanding to operate. After driving it off-road for a couple of hours, Su Chen’s body had been shaken numb. He’d been running on pure adrenaline, which had masked the fatigue. Once that rush faded, he’d find out just how uniquely sore his body could get.

Xiao Chen and the others spent the next half an hour rubbing his legs, massaging his shoulders, and kneading his hands until Su Chen finally started to recover.

"Old Su, no offense, but you’re really out of shape. You need to work out more!"

While massaging his leg, Xiao Chen noticed that Su Chen’s muscles weren’t very firm, even feeling a bit soft.

"Mmm... I’ll start working out tomorrow!"

Su Chen had been planning to for a while. The comfortable life was great—sleeping in every day, waking up to delicious food, and having a butler handle any problems that arose.

But in just a month or two, he’d noticed his abs had all but disappeared, and he could pinch a soft layer of fat on his stomach.

’If this keeps up,’ Su Chen thought, ’I’m going to get fat.’

"You should have Chen Fei draw up a workout plan for you. Or you could just go for a run or a bike ride every morning!"

Su Chen nodded, understanding his point.

It was already dark by the time they got back to the villa, just as the training camp was having dinner.

They all agreed to just eat there. The drive back to the city was over an hour, and they were all starving.

They didn’t order anything special, just asking the kitchen to serve them the standard meal.

After dinner, Su Chen announced he was leaving...

Su Chen had ridden in Xiao Chen’s jeep on the way there, so Xiao Chen offered to let him drive it back. After a moment’s thought, Su Chen politely declined...

After all, Xiao Chen’s car was too flashy; it wouldn’t be right for him to drive it back.

In the end, Chen Yao offered up his own ride, a G-Wagon.

........

Su Chen watched Chen Fei drive and Xiao Peng sit ramrod straight in the passenger seat. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Ah Fei, where are you two from originally?"

Hearing Su Chen’s question, Chen Fei glanced at him in the rearview mirror, then shot a look at Xiao Peng beside him. "Mr. Su, I’m from a small village in Longnan, Gansu."

"I’m from the mountains in Qian Province," Xiao Peng replied, a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

"How long has it been since you’ve been back?"

Su Chen had learned from Xiao Chen that they spent most of the year abroad. When they returned, they stayed at the training camp, with very little time off all year.

’Making money is never easy,’ he thought. ’In this day and age, if you can’t rely on your parents, you have to rely on yourself. If you don’t work hard and push yourself, how can you expect to make any real money?’

The two were silent for a long moment before answering...

"Four years."

"Three years."

Su Chen nodded slightly. "You officially start tomorrow. But first, I’m giving you two weeks of paid leave. Go home and see your parents. I’ll also advance each of you half a year’s salary so you can get your family affairs settled."

Chen Fei, who was driving, almost slammed on the brakes in excitement. Only his years of experience kept his foot steady.

Even Xiao Peng in the passenger seat was gripping his own thighs, struggling to remain calm.

"Mr. Su, we haven’t even started working yet, and you’re already giving us two weeks of paid leave..."

Su Chen cut him off before he could finish. "I know what you’re going to say. Just go home and see your families. Don’t worry about it. We can talk about everything else when you get back."

Chen Fei and Xiao Peng exchanged a glance, then said in unison, "Thank you, Mr. Su!"

Su Chen gave a casual wave. He understood their feelings perfectly. ’Before I got the System, I hadn’t been home in over four years either...’

’Sometimes, it’s not that you don’t want to go back, it’s that you feel too ashamed to.’

’Giving them half a year’s salary in advance was to let them get their family affairs in order. That way, they can work for me without any distractions or worries about things back home.’

’It’s a small price to pay to win their loyalty,’ he mused.