185: New Training Grounds and the Practice of "Energy Grammar"

As the basic training for "Energy Linguistics" progressed steadily, and as external threats became increasingly hidden and complex, Evelyn clearly realized that limiting Excellence's ability cultivation to a well-equipped, controlled laboratory environment was no different from teaching a swimmer to handle an ocean storm in a swimming pool. Excellence needed a more realistic, varied, and unpredictable environment to hone the adaptability, concealment, and stability of his abilities under pressure. After careful preparation and risk assessment, she formally submitted a detailed application report to Wang Jianguo, recommending the activation of a comprehensive advanced training area located in a Sector Zone on the edge of the base, which had just completed post-war repairs and a full upgrade, codenamed the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena."

After carefully reviewing the report and personally inspecting the safety measures of the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena," Wang Jianguo approved this forward-looking and exploratory training plan. He knew well that a Greenhouse could not raise a towering tree; a true warrior must be tempered in an environment close to actual combat. Despite the risks, for the long-term development of Excellence and the future security of "Homeland," this step had to be taken.

The "Hall of Myriad Phenomena," true to its name, was a comprehensive training platform simulating extremely complex environments that "Homeland" had poured massive resources into creating. It was situated within a massive, specially reinforced and shielded dome space. Through the most advanced projection technology, physical sets, programmable matter, and precise environmental control systems, it could realistically simulate various typical natural and artificial environments on Earth: dense tropical rainforests (filled with humidity, intricate vegetation, and buzzing insects), turbulent mountain streams and deep pools, scorching dry deserts with rolling dunes, and even a small area simulating modern urban streetscapes (including rough concrete walls, simulated glass storefronts, abandoned vehicles, tangled wires, and constantly changing traffic lights). Even more amazing was that the venue was equipped with a precisely adjustable weather simulation system, capable of creating strong winds, heavy rain, thick fog, and even minor dust storms at any time. Throughout the interior space, thousands of miniature sensors hidden in various corners formed an invisible, all-weather Perception network monitoring temperature, humidity, sound, vibration, electromagnetic waves, and even specific energy fluctuations, capable of recording and analyzing every subtle reaction and energy interaction of the trainee in real-time.

Entering the Treasure Trove: Excited Exploration and a Frustrating Start

When Excellence first stepped through the heavy airtight door of the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena" accompanied by Evelyn and Su Mu, he felt as if he had instantly traveled to another world. One moment he was in the familiar metal corridors and uniform lighting of the base, and the next, his vision opened up, his ears were filled with realistic environmental sound effects, his nose was flooded with the complex scent of soil, plants, and humid air, and his body could clearly feel the warmth of simulated sunlight or the coolness of the forest.

“Wow—!” Excellence’s eyes widened, his small mouth forming an 'O' shape as he let out a gasp of surprise and disbelief. He was like a young deer suddenly released into a vast forest, both excited and carrying a hint of shy curiosity. One moment he ran to the "forest" area, cautiously touching a huge, almost lifelike simulated banana leaf, listening to the crisp birdsong and rustling insects coming from speakers hidden under the leaves; the next moment he squatted by the "stream," watching the crystal-clear "river water" (actually a circulating water system) flow by, unable to resist reaching out to touch the cold "current." He also took a deep interest in the mottled walls and flickering neon signs of the "urban" area. Everything before him was full of irresistible novelty and a desire for exploration for a child who had lived in a closed base for a long time. He completely forgot his nervousness and immersed himself in the wonderful world created by the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena," looking like a happy, overwhelmed little mouse that had fallen into a giant rice jar.

Looking at Excellence's excited expression, a gratified smile couldn't help but appear at the corners of Evelyn's mouth. However, she did not let Excellence indulge in simple play. Soon, systematic and more difficult advanced training in "Energy Linguistics" began on this new and challenging stage.

Special "Hearing" Training Under Environmental Noise: Evelyn activated the weather simulation system. The originally sunny "forest" was instantly covered in dark clouds, the wind howled, and pea-sized raindrops pelted the simulated leaves and the ground with thunder rumbling. Under this extremely noisy background interference of sound, light, electricity, and magnetism, Evelyn released several benchmark energy signals with different characteristics but extremely low energy levels representing different "commands" (such as simplified Energy Codes for "Assemble," "Hide," and "Danger") through hidden transmitters. She required Excellence to close his eyes and rely entirely on energy Perception to accurately identify and distinguish these weak "signals" from the violent environmental "noise." Initially, Excellence was made dizzy by the wind, rain, and energy turbulence; he felt as if his head was stuffed with a tangled mess and couldn't capture any useful information at all, stomping his feet in frustration.

Multi-Target "Energy Dialogue" Challenge: In the relatively quiet "urban" district, Evelyn activated several simulated targets. For example, a street lamp that needed to be "soothed" to stabilize its brightness without flickering (its energy field simulated "anxiety"), a small windmill that needed to be "injected with vitality" to turn (simulating a "fatigued" state), and a mimosa model that needed "encouragement" to unfold its leaves (simulating a "closed" emotion). Excellence was required to simultaneously engage in simple energy "communication" with these three targets, sending them the different, weak "Energy Phrases" they each needed, without "crossing the lines" and causing signal interference. As expected, Excellence was in a scramble, his consciousness unable to focus on multiple lines at once. He tried to soothe the street lamp but ended up mistakenly injecting "calm" energy into the windmill, causing it to go "dull" and stop turning; he turned to "encourage" the mimosa, but the overflowing energy interfered with the street lamp, making it flash wildly like a disco bulb. The scene was once very comical and chaotic.

Introduction to Energy "Camouflage": This was the most difficult training and the greatest test of fine control. Evelyn required Excellence to learn to mimic the fluctuation characteristics of common energy sources in the surrounding environment to "hide" his own energy field, achieving a "stealth" effect. For instance, in the "urban" area, he had to mimic the stable, low-frequency energy radiation of an ordinary LED street lamp; in the "forest" area, he had to mimic the messy but natural background ionization energy field pervasive in humid air. This training required extremely high precision in controlling his own energy output. Excellence's initial attempts were a disaster: he tried to mimic the street lamp, but his energy output was strong one moment and weak the next, flickering like a bulb with a bad connection that was about to go out. Not only did he fail to hide, but his abnormal fluctuations triggered the venue monitoring system's fault diagnosis program, drawing a virtual "maintenance prompt" alarm and leaving him deeply embarrassed. He tried to blend into the forest's background energy field but, due to unstable control, he stood out even more, like a drop of ink in clear water.

Companionship and Growth: Progress Amidst Laughter

Throughout the process filled with setbacks and humor, Su Mu played a crucial role. She was not only the legal guardian and safety officer, following Excellence closely at all times to monitor his physiological indicators and mental state to prevent overtraining or accidents, but she was also Excellence's "Chief Cheerleader" and "Atmosphere Adjustment Master."

When Excellence squatted on the ground drawing circles in frustration because he couldn't identify signals in the wind and rain, Su Mu would walk over—not to comfort him, but to exaggeratedly mimic his comical appearance of being blown about by the wind with messy hair, making him break into a smile through his tears. When Excellence made a mess of the multi-target dialogue and looked at the "dancing" simulated equipment with a face full of annoyance, Su Mu would point at the wildly flashing street lamp and laugh: "Oh my! Our Excellence has given the street lamp some techno-style energy! It's almost ready to start jumping!" Her lighthearted laughter instantly dissolved the child's sense of failure. She also prepared various "Energy Supplements"—puddings of different flavors and energy bars—and set up fun "milestone rewards": successfully identifying signals under three types of interference earned a reward of watching an episode of his favorite adventure animation together; completing a successful multi-target communication earned a reward of an extra fried chicken leg he loved for dinner. She turned the arduous training into a game of levels full of challenges and surprises, allowing Excellence to reignite his fighting spirit amidst laughter and anticipation.

Under Evelyn's scientific guidance and Su Mu's loving encouragement, Excellence adapted and grew at an astonishing speed. He gradually mastered the techniques of "calming the mind" and "focusing" in noisy environments, learning how to "tune" his Perception like tuning a radio, filtering out useless background noise to precisely lock onto target signals. He began to grasp the "sense of rhythm" in multi-line operations, like a little conductor, learning how to allocate attention and send clear, non-interfering "energy commands" to different targets in an orderly and spaced manner. His control over his own energy output also became increasingly fine; from the initial "flickering bulb," he gradually became able to simulate a relatively stable "energy background" close to the environment, forming the initial prototype of "stealth."

Assessment: "Linguistics" Practical in the Energy World

To test the training results, Evelyn designed a high-difficulty comprehensive assessment. The scene was set in a simulated urban streetscape at night, with torrential rain in the background. Neon lights reflected blurred light and shadows on the wet streets, while simulated sirens and the noise of crowds drifted from afar, making the electromagnetic environment extremely complex. The assessment task: within a limited time, find and "unlock" a hidden, functional but deeply dormant old-fashioned information terminal from this "noisy ocean" of energy. The unlocking method: the terminal was set with an "Energy Password Lock"—only by sending a correct, complex energy sequence representing "safe, friendly, request connection" (equivalent to a complete "Energy Sentence") to a hidden sensor around the terminal in a specific order and rhythm would the terminal be activated.

Excellence took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He closed his eyes, excluding visual and auditory interference, and concentrated all his attention on energy Perception. At this moment, he didn't look like a warrior, but more like a linguist immersed in an ancient scroll, a spy listening for secret whispers in a noisy marketplace. His "Holographic Sensing" expanded fully, and what appeared in his mind was no longer concrete scenery, but an abstract and grand "energy map" composed of countless flowing, flickering, and fluctuating energy lines and color blocks. The energy of the wind and rain was a chaotic gray turbulence, the energy of the neon lights was piercing, jumping colored spots, and the energy of various electronic devices was a dense and regular background spectrum... He patiently and carefully "scrutinized" this map, looking for any trace of disharmonious, "man-made" abnormal fluctuations.

Time passed minute by minute. Suddenly, near the corner of an abandoned newsstand, he captured a wisp of an extremely weak but unusually stable "energy ripple" with obvious regular repetition, which was out of place with the surrounding environmental noise! That was it! He felt a surge of joy but immediately forced himself to stay calm. He approached cautiously and began to carefully "listen to" and "parse" the structure of this "Energy Sentence." The first "syllable" was... a short calm pulse... followed by two quick tremors representing an "inquiry"... then... a longer, steady segment representing "waiting"... He rapidly recalled the "Energy Grammar" Evelyn had taught him, comparing and verifying it one by one with the captured signal.

After confirming it was correct, Excellence adjusted his breathing and began to cautiously, as if threading a needle in the dark, use his will to guide his energy, attempting to "repeat" this complex sentence. He had to ensure the intensity, duration, and interval of every "syllable" were perfect. On the first try, the duration of the last "syllable" was slightly too long, and the terminal did not react. On the second try, the frequency of one of the tremors in the middle was slightly off, and it still failed. Excellence did not lose heart; he closed his eyes and felt the precise rhythm of that "password" again, as if to carve it into his heart. The third time, he concentrated all his spirit, held his breath, and precisely controlled the energy output: pulse... tremor, tremor... steady... hold... end!

“Beep—” A crisp electronic sound rang out! The screen of that seemingly rusty and lifeless old terminal suddenly lit up, displaying the words "Access Authorization Granted"! A small hatch on the side of the terminal popped open with a "clack," and inside sat a beautifully packaged box printed with space adventure patterns—a limited edition strawberry pudding!

“I did it! I did it!” Excellence froze for a second, then erupted into a sky-shaking cheer! He grabbed the box of pudding, holding it like an Olympic gold medal, jumping up and down in place with excitement, his small face flushed red with agitation and pride! This immense sense of achievement gained from solving a complex problem through his own effort and wisdom was far more intoxicating than the sweetness of the pudding itself. He felt that he was no longer a "special sample" being studied and protected, but a true "explorer" and "decoder" who could use unique skills to explore and solve problems!

New Horizons and a Solid Foundation

The training in the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena" opened a brand-new window for the development of Excellence's abilities. He no longer viewed "Energy Linguistics" merely as a "lesson" to be mastered, but began to truly appreciate its potential as a powerful "tool" for interacting with the world and solving problems. He saw the vast possibilities of applying this ability in complex, real-world environments and personally felt the necessity and challenge of translating abstract training into practical skills.

Although the road ahead was still long and there were many, many difficulties to learn and overcome, every success and failure in the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena" laid a more solid and realistic foundation for his future growth. This increasingly robust "seed" was sinking its roots deep into a more complex and diverse "soil," accumulating the strength to face any future storms.