255: Pilot's license and "hand-printed" driver's license

The "wings of order" behind Excellence's back had, within just a few days of their successful activation, undoubtedly become the hottest and most talked-about phenomenon within the "Homeland" base. Their popularity even eclipsed the wreckage of the "World Devourer" Lord Ship, which had only recently been salvaged for preliminary research, becoming a perennial topic of conversation during meals, work breaks, and even on internal encrypted communication channels.

Despite the "iron-fisted ban" issued by Instructor Su Mu—based on multiple considerations of safety, discipline, and the protection of public property—and the rigorous advice from Consultant Evelyn regarding energy control and risk management, Excellence was forced to keep those brilliant light wings tucked inside his body most of the time. He was only allowed limited unfolding and adaptation training under strict real-time monitoring within designated, reinforced, and shielded training grounds. However, the core fact that "the Commander grew a pair of glowing, shapeshifting, insanely cool energy wings," along with the countless exaggerated versions of the story that were polished through word of mouth, still spread like a self-replicating nano-swarm. It quickly permeated every corner of the base, from the anonymous sections of internal forums to whispers at cafeteria tables and even casual chats among engineers in the maintenance ducts.

The speed at which the rumors iterated was staggering. The most basic version was just an objective description: "Commander Excellence can sprout silver-white light wings from his back; it looks pretty powerful." It soon upgraded to: "With one flap of those wings, the simulated gravity field in the training ground distorts! The energy readings are off the charts!" Then it evolved into something more vivid: "I heard the light on the wings isn't just simple light; it's living 'Order' code flowing. One look at it can make old equipment run smoothly!" There were even bizarre, life-related spin-offs: "My great-uncle's neighbor's nephew was on duty in the ecological park, and he said he saw Commander Excellence wandering the 'starlight lettuce' cultivation area in the middle of the night. His wings were glowing slightly, and that lettuce started growing like it was on steroids! This must be a secret 'Order Photosynthesis' enhancement experiment!" (To this, Excellence, who happened to glimpse the post on the internal forum, could only remain speechless, screaming internally: I was just out for a walk because of insomnia! And 'starlight lettuce' glows slightly at night anyway!)

The children of the base further integrated this unprecedented "big news" into their wild imaginations. Excellence's image began to appear frequently in corridor graffiti, children's sketchbooks, and crude "figures" cobbled together from scrap parts. Some were drawn quite realistically, capturing the spirit of the flowing light wings; others were completely unrestrained, depicting Excellence as a comical figure with a potato body and glowing chicken wings, or a strange robot with a square head (representing a TV?) and two antenna-like light wings on its back. Occasionally seeing these whimsical yet often severely distorted "works" while on patrol, Excellence couldn't help but twitch his lips, feeling both amused and helpless. He could only comfort himself: at least it showed everyone wasn't afraid of him, which was a good thing... probably.

Su Mu's reasons for strictly prohibiting Excellence from deploying his light wings in public were well-founded and layered, with logic so airtight that Excellence had no room for rebuttal when he tried to bargain: "First, and most fundamentally, your control over this 'new equipment' is far from reaching the passing grade of being 'precise and effortless.' Deploying it in a complex, crowded public area full of unpredictable factors could cause a stampede out of panic with one distraction or emotional fluctuation. Or, you could turn the walls, instruments, or even some poor soul's personal belongings into a pile of indescribable 'Orderly creations'—like a lump of eternal 'jelly' or a pile of 'neatly arranged metal sand.' Second," her finger swiped across the virtual star map, "the energy signature emitted by the 'wings of order' is pure, powerful, and unique, like a lighthouse in the dark. We cannot be certain if the 'World Devourer' or other potential malicious entities interested in 'Order' coordinates possess the ability to remotely detect and lock onto such high-dimensional energy signatures. Exposing them unnecessarily is equivalent to actively sending an invitation saying, 'I am here, come quickly.' Third, and most crucially and practically—" Su Mu's finger finally stopped right in front of Excellence's nose, her gaze sharp as a blade, "until you can one hundred percent guarantee that you won't get distracted while hovering to enjoy the view and knock down a ventilation duct, won't get too cocky while testing new tricks and singe some researcher's precious hair with your wingtips, and won't be driven by pure curiosity to poke things you shouldn't (like the main reactor casing, Uncle Wang's precious tea canister, or my new hairstyle) with those 'multi-functional tool wings' of yours, don't even think about showing off in non-training situations! This is an Order, not a suggestion!"

Excellence tried to argue his case by bringing up his training results: "Class Monitor, I've already made great progress! Look at yesterday's special report; my success rate for low-altitude complex maneuver evasion under Level 3 interference reached 92%! My fixed-point hovering stability error is less than a millimeter! Sister Evelyn's data can prove it!"

Upon hearing this, Evelyn immediately pulled up a holographic data panel, adjusted her glasses, and provided precise supplementation in her characteristic, calm, and emotionless academic tone: "To be precise, in a composite environment of simulated Level 2 point energy interference and Level 1 random airflow disturbance, during S-shaped circuitous maneuvers and emergency stop tests, the comprehensive evasion success rate was 91.7%. During the continuous low-altitude (five meters above ground) fixed-point hovering test, which lasted nine minutes and forty-seven seconds, the maximum vertical height fluctuation deviation was plus or minus 0.3 millimeters, and the horizontal offset was less than 0.1 millimeters. The energy output curve smoothness was 94.2%, with seventeen identifiable micro-disturbance peaks less than three percent of the baseline value, mainly concentrated during the periods when you attempted 'fine posture adjustments while hovering' and 'counteracting simulated sudden lateral gusts.' These data points indicate that your conscious control precision has indeed significantly improved, but there is still room for optimization in your subconscious energy feedback regulation and multi-threaded processing capabilities. Additionally, regarding the 'hovering stability' you mentioned—during the latter half of the test, you attempted three times to use a high-density energy condensation zone at the very tip of your left light wing to 'lightly touch' the simulated pressure sensor on the neck joint of a training dummy to test 'non-contact precision manipulation.' This action directly caused seventeen micro-sensors inside the dummy's neck joint to burn out due to overload. The report submitted by the maintenance team shows that repair requires custom replacement parts, is expected to take forty-eight standard hours, and the cost is approximately..."

Excellence: "...That was tactical exploration! Testing whether the light wings could be used to silently disarm a single enemy unit or perform precision surgical strikes!"

Su Mu slapped the table (a specially reinforced one): "Tactical exploration requires using your wingtips to tease a dummy's 'neck'?! Do you think that's a cat teaser?! And 'surgical strikes'? That was 'destructive demolition'! You spendthrift!"

Excellence's momentum instantly deflated like a leaking balloon.

However, Excellence was, after all, that "Miracle Boy" who, during the resource-scarce Era of Exile, could rely on his drive and uncanny intuition to hand-craft scrap parts into key equipment. With the direct path blocked by Su Mu's "high wall of prohibition," his never-satisfied heart of exploration began to "creatively" look for breakthroughs at the boundaries of the rules. Soon, a brilliant idea struck him like a spark in the dark, lighting up his thoughts—since he couldn't temporarily soar freely in real three-dimensional space to experience the extreme speed and maneuverability of the light wings, then surely it would be reasonable and beyond reproach to get his "flight fix" within the nearly infinite computing power and deep understanding of the underlying "Order" protocols of "The Weave," in a virtual space that was infinitely close to reality, while performing "safe, pollution-free, zero-cost" high-level tactical simulation training?

"Class Monitor, Sister Evelyn," Excellence found the two of them discussing the energy corrosion characteristics of the "World Devourer" wreckage, holding a formally formatted and well-reasoned project application report with a serious face. "I formally apply for regular use of The Weave's deep immersive tactical simulation training system. Purpose of application: To conduct training for the 'wings of order,' this new high-level energy organ, including but not limited to super-maneuverable flight in extreme environments, adaptability training under complex electromagnetic and gravitational interference, fine energy distribution and tactical maneuver planning in multi-target coordinated combat, and research on the efficient connection and composite application with existing 'Order' authority attack skills (such as 'Order Fists of Collapse' and 'Local Spacetime Control'). The entire training will be conducted in a virtual environment, with theoretically zero physical risk and zero resource consumption. It will also allow for the collection of far more comprehensive and extreme combat simulation data than physical training, which is of inestimable value for enhancing my comprehensive combat capabilities, exploring the potential of the light wings, and even for future space combat scenarios we might face!"

Su Mu and Evelyn took the report and browsed through it carefully. The report was well-organized and its arguments were sound, even quoting a clause from the base's tactical manual about "utilizing all available resources for advanced simulation training to deal with unknown threats." The two exchanged a look. To be fair, the reasoning was indeed solid and hard to refute. Moreover, the advantages of using "The Weave" system for training were obvious: it could simulate extreme cosmic environments, high-intensity combat scenes, and various low-probability accidents that could not be replicated in a real training ground. There would be no physical wear and tear, and no need to worry about Excellence accidentally dismantling expensive equipment again. Training data could be recorded, replayed, and deeply analyzed throughout, making it highly efficient.

"The reasons for the application are sufficient." Evelyn was the first to nod. As the head of research, she was particularly interested in the data collection and analysis parts mentioned. "Simulation training can indeed provide richer test data for extreme scenarios. I can approve access to The Weave's Seventh Tactical Simulation Protocol Stack and customize dedicated training scenarios for you. However," she changed the subject, her gaze behind her lenses carrying unquestionable rigor, "the underlying physical parameters, environmental variable settings, and 'enemy' unit behavioral logic of all training scenarios must be finalized and confirmed by me. I must be present during every training session for real-time data monitoring and emergency handling. Su Mu has the right to conduct irregular, unannounced supervisory checks. The duration and frequency of training, as well as post-training consciousness recovery and physiological regulation, must strictly adhere to the safety protocols I establish."

"No problem! I'll fully comply!" Excellence's eyes lit up instantly, as if he could already see himself soaring freely in the virtual sea of stars.

And so, Excellence's career as a "Virtual Ace Pilot" officially began. In the center of the training room, he lay in a specialized hovering chair equipped with an advanced neural interface and a full-body life support and cushioning system, putting on a streamlined immersive helmet. With the low hum of the system starting up, his consciousness gradually withdrew from reality and sank into a virtual world where sensory feedback was infinitely close to the real thing, constructed by the vast computing power of "The Weave" and his own "Order" source.

In the initial stages, the training content was entirely within the "righteous path" framework set by Evelyn, proceeding step-by-step:

Module One: Basic Flight and Spatial Awareness. The simulated environment was set as a vast, gravity-stable, near-perfect void. Excellence needed to start from the most basic mental drive of the wings of order to generate lift, learning to control takeoff angles and initial speed; practicing constant speed translation and acceleration/deceleration in six dimensions: front, back, left, right, up, and down; mastering stable steering and radius control at different speeds; and finally achieving "perfect hovering" at specified coordinates. For Excellence, who already had a foundation in physical training and whose conscious connection with the wings of order was almost instinctive, the challenge was not great. The only "minor accident" occurred in the early stages when he thought "flap hard," causing the virtual character to shoot out like a stone from a giant slingshot; or when trying to hover, he subconsciously made leg movements like treading water or kicking off the ground, causing the virtual body to make various comical, unnecessary jumping movements in the air. However, with the system's precise feedback and Evelyn's real-time corrections, these issues were quickly overcome, and the basic flight subjects were passed with excellent marks.

Module Two: Complex Environment Adaptability Training. The difficulty of the simulated environment increased sharply. Evelyn introduced randomly generated "cosmic storms" of varying intensities (including turbulent ion flows, high-energy radiation, and spatial micro-folds); "gravity anomaly zones" (local gravity direction and magnitude changing randomly); "dense asteroid belts" or "space debris zones"; and even simulated "wide-area energy interference fields" and "directional gravity traps" released by the enemy. Excellence needed to maintain flight stability and avoid obstacles in these extremely unfavorable environments while completing designated flight paths or target search missions. In this stage, Excellence began to show amazing adaptability and creativity. He was no longer satisfied with simple "dodging" but tried to use the environment itself: using his wings of order to swirl specific ion flows to form temporary deflection shields in front of him to block some high-energy radiation; achieving efficient maneuvers like "gravity surfing" in gravity anomaly zones through extremely fine wing angle adjustments and energy output pulsations; in dense obstacle areas, his flight path became ghostly, often grazing huge meteorites by a hair's breadth, his movements so smooth it was as if he naturally belonged to this dangerous starry sky. Watching from the side, Evelyn couldn't help but nod secretly as she saw the fluid evasion data and continuously optimized energy utilization curves on the screen.

Module Three: Tactical Maneuvers and Combat Integration Training. The scene upgraded to simulated encounters or assault battles. Virtual "enemy" units appeared, ranging from flexible small reconnaissance drones to medium attack ships equipped with energy weapons, and even simulated small nodes of the World Devourer with heavy armor and powerful firepower. Excellence needed to flexibly use the mobility of the wings of order for dodging, flanking, and assaulting; integrate flight with the charging and release of the Order Fists of Collapse to achieve heavy strikes under high-speed impact; while dodging the enemy's fire net, try to use the local control ability of Lawful Speech to interfere with enemy trajectories or create temporary barriers; he even needed to practice using the edges of the wings of order for high-precision, low-consumption cutting attacks during high-speed dogfights. In this stage, Excellence completely "let loose." He no longer stuck to preset tactical movements and began to improvise various "fancy operations": for example, "Light Wing Warp"—extremely compressing the energy of the wings of order in a very short time and then bursting it in a specific direction to achieve short-distance, near-instantaneous displacement for evading locks or launching surprise attacks; "Order Storm"—vibrating both wings at a specific high frequency to kick up a turbulent energy flow with a strong Order purification effect, interfering with enemy sensors and energy systems; "Skyfall Strike"—diving from a high point in the simulated battlefield, highly concentrating his entire body's Order energy at the wingtips or fists to form a penetrating destructive strike... He treated the virtual battlefield as his playground, routing the virtual enemy planes, performing various tactical movements with ease, and connecting many high-difficulty maneuvers seamlessly, as if those wings of order were the most direct extension of his thoughts and combat instincts. The data feedback recorded by Evelyn showed that the neural-energy synchronization rate between Excellence's consciousness and the wings of order even approached the theoretical perfect value during certain extreme maneuvers, which made her both excited and secretly alarmed.

However, as the saying goes, "it is easier to change rivers and mountains than one's nature." Once all the "regular" training subjects were conquered with high scores and his basic control of virtual flight was proficient, the "King of Hand-crafting's" never-failing "desire to create" and "spirit of making things happen" in Excellence's bones began to quietly sprout like vines in spring and quickly spread.

"Sister Evelyn," during a training break, Excellence controlled his character in the virtual space (his virtual image was consistent with his real body, silver armor and wings of order, exceptionally handsome) to "fly" next to Evelyn, who appeared as the system administrator's virtual image. He rubbed his hands together, a smile that was "pure yet a bit cunning" on his face—the kind that would make Su Mu immediately alert and give Evelyn a headache. "Look, my report cards for 'required courses' like basic flight, complex environments, and tactical integration all look pretty good, right? Don't you think... we could consider adding some 'elective' or 'extended' content? For example, exploring the theoretical limit performance of these wings? Trying some composite maneuvers based on existing physical rules but with more 'artistic' and 'creative' flair? I saw data archives of 'stunt flying performances' from the ancient Earth era in The Weave's open database, as well as academic research on the flight postures and aerodynamics—or energy dynamics—of birds, insects, and even some fantasy creatures. I found them very inspiring..."

Evelyn was so intelligent and understood Excellence to his core that she immediately smelled the scent of "danger" and "trouble," her alertness instantly peaking: "What do you want to do? Stunt flying? Aerial acrobatics? Excellence, I must remind you that although the simulation system can highly restore physical effects, the simulated load on consciousness also exists. Some unconventional, counter-intuitive high-difficulty movements will not only consume your spirit greatly but also easily form incorrect neuromuscular—or neuro-energy—memories. Once mapped to real-world control, it could lead to catastrophic consequences. Moreover, many 'stunts' are meaningless in actual combat and are purely for showing off."

"No, no! Sister Evelyn, you misunderstand!" Excellence immediately put on a serious expression of "I'm doing this for science and tactical progress." "I'm definitely not doing it to show off! Think about it, the real battlefield is ever-changing, and anything can happen! My trying more control possibilities in extreme states and exploring more unconventional maneuver modes now is building a reserve for future 'uncertainties'! What if one day I need to perform ultra-low-altitude ground-hugging flight under strong electromagnetic interference to evade tracking, or need to maneuver and dodge in an extremely narrow starship internal corridor to execute a rescue mission? Today's 'stunts' might be life-saving 'god-tier skills' then! I promise all attempts will be conducted within an absolutely safe consciousness load threshold, and I'll perform theoretical simulations and feasibility analyses first!"

Evelyn was somewhat swayed by his high-sounding reason of "being responsible for the future." Indeed, from the perspective of expanding tactical possibilities and dealing with extremely complex scenarios, appropriate and controlled "boundary exploration" was not entirely without value. She hesitated for a moment and set several extremely strict tightening spells: "...I can open a 'Free Exploration Test Zone.' But this zone will be completely isolated from the main training scene. The system will monitor your consciousness fluctuation intensity, virtual vital sign stability, and energy simulation output curves in real-time with the highest priority. If any indicator approaches the preset yellow warning line, the system will issue a warning; if it touches the red safety line, it will immediately start the forced consciousness stabilization program and disconnect the deep connection. Furthermore, any 'non-standard maneuver' or 'morphological change experiment' you intend to try must have a detailed mental process description and expected energy model submitted in advance, and can only be executed after I review it and it's verified by The Weave's rapid simulation."

"Understood! I promise to strictly follow the process! Thank you, Sister Evelyn!" Excellence cheered excitedly, his wings of order behind him flapping suddenly, and his virtual character shot toward the newly unlocked, wide-bordered Free Exploration Test Zone like an arrow from a bow.

In the initial stage, he was relatively restrained. Following the submitted plan, he tried some classic high-difficulty maneuvers of ancient Earth fighter jets, such as "Pugachev's Cobra" (instantaneous high-angle-of-attack deceleration and pitch-up), "Frolov's Chakra" (rotation around the nose in the vertical plane), and "Herbst Wall" (extreme small-radius high-speed turn). Relying on the vector thrust and instantaneous response capability provided by the wings of order far exceeding conventional aircraft, as well as his own strong spatial Perception and balance control, these movements, which were life-and-death tests for human pilots, were soon mastered by him. He could even perform more exaggerated variations on this basis, such as rolling at the peak of the "Cobra" maneuver or performing the "Chakra" movement continuously in the horizontal plane, forming dazzling aerial spirals.

Then, his vigorous "desire to create" was like a runaway horse, no longer able to be restrained.

"The essence of the wings of order is a highly ordered energy condensate that can be materialized to bear force or remain in an energy state to penetrate certain obstacles... So, is its 'form' not fixed?" Looking at his shimmering, slightly fluttering wings, a bold idea popped into his head.

He first tried "energy separation and recombination." Concentrating his mind, he controlled about one-tenth of the front part of the right wing, letting the energy structure there temporarily "loosen" and detach from the main body, forming an independent, slowly rotating silver-white Order Light Wheel about half a meter in diameter in the air. It worked! The light wheel floated on its own, with subtle law runes flowing along its edges, emitting gentle purification ripples.

"Interesting! Like a frisbee... no, more like some kind of energy dharma treasure?" Excellence's playfulness was piqued. He began to try simultaneously "separating" light wheels of different sizes and rotation speeds from different parts of both wings. Soon, dozens of such light wheels were floating and circling around him, making him look like some deity in mythology who presided over light, or a... human-shaped, self-propelled, fully automatic Order purification and interference unit?

"Hmm... looks impressive, but the offensiveness seems average?" Excellence tried to use his mind to control several light wheels to fly toward a distant simulated target. As a result, the light wheels, detached from the continuous energy supply of the main body, had a limited flight distance. Beyond fifty meters, they began to become unstable and their light dimmed; accuracy was also quite an issue, as they often veered off-target in weird spirals, and one even circled back and almost hit him. "Energy maintenance and long-range precision control are major problems that need to be solved... Maybe I can try cluster control? Like a swarm of bees or a drone formation?"

He began to challenge higher difficulty multi-target simultaneous fine control. Although it was taxing for his increasingly powerful mind, it wasn't impossible. After some clumsy attempts—during which many minor accidents occurred, such as light wheels colliding, dissipating, or flying out of control—he gradually mastered the knack. He could simultaneously maintain about twenty light wheels in simple formation flight, arranging them into the shapes of the characters "One" and "Person," and even trying to spell out the letters "SOS."

"SOS is too unlucky, change it!" Excellence changed the command with great interest. Soon, the light wheel formation crookedly spelled out the letters "NB" in the virtual sky and circled while maintaining the formation.

Evelyn, watching the monitor, saw Excellence slacking off by using his Light Rings to "doodle" in the sky (which later included a rather abstract emoticon smiley face and a pattern resembling a roasted potato). Her mouth and the corners of her eyes couldn't help but twitch in unison. This... what kind of tactical training was this?! This was clearly a child messing around with a new toy!

However, Excellence's "Wing Exploration Project" was far from over. Having grown bored of the Light Rings, he turned his attention to the "plasticity" of the wings' form.

"Since energy can be shaped, it should be theoretically possible to temporarily change the overall or partial form of the wings to suit different needs, right?" he mused. "For example, when absolute defense is needed, could I fold the wings forward and transform them into two large, curved energy shields? Or, when a high-intensity assault is required, could I extremely compress and sharpen the wings' energy to form two indestructible 'Order Lightswords'?"

To think was to act. He focused his mind, imagining the wings folding forward and the energy structure shifting from 'wing surfaces' that provided lift and thrust to 'shield surfaces' focused on blocking impact.

Hum! In the virtual space, the pair of shimmering light wings moved according to his will! The silver-white light flowed, extended, and reshaped like mercury, quickly constructing two massive, exquisitely structured translucent energy shields in front of him! The shield surfaces no longer had a feather texture but were composed of layered, constantly shifting solid geometric structures and defensive runes, emitting a steady aura of 'absolute inviolability.'

"Whoa! It actually works!" Excellence was overjoyed. He controlled the two light shields to move up, down, left, and right, then tried separating them from the middle, turning them into two flexible, independently controlled small arm shields. "Defense form unlocked! What about the attack form?"

He attempted more aggressive energy compression and shape-shifting, intending to mold the wings into slender lightswords. This time, he encountered significant difficulty. The energy essence and internal structure of the light wings seemed more inclined toward forming 'fields' and 'surfaces,' excelling at area-of-effect influence and macro-level power transmission. Forcing them to compress into extremely solid 'lines' or 'points' not only caused energy conversion efficiency to plummet and consumption to skyrocket, but the form was also highly unstable. He tried several times, but at most, he could only condense two short light blades at the wingtips, less than a meter long, with flickering light that looked like they could collapse or explode at any moment. Their power and practicality were far inferior to a straightforward 'Order Fists of Collapse.'

"It seems the 'Agile Assassin' or 'Dual-Sword Ranger' path isn't for me." Excellence decisively abandoned the idea of turning his wings into lightswords and restored them to their original elegant form. "The 'Heavy Air Cavalry' style, with its broad movements and overwhelming momentum, suits me better."

But this didn't stop his exploration. Over the following period, he conducted all sorts of imaginative and even nonsensical experiments in this virtual free-test zone:

'Wing Mimicry · Visual Invisibility': He tried to achieve visual 'stealth' by precisely controlling the energy field on the wings' surface to synchronize with the electromagnetic wave characteristics of the surrounding background. The effect was limited; while it significantly reduced the probability of being detected by optical observation when stationary or moving slowly, it still left obvious 'light and shadow distortion' traces during high-speed movement or intense energy fluctuations.

'Wing Body Guard · Absolute Defense': He retracted the wings' energy completely inward, wrapping his entire body in layers to form an airtight 'Cocoon of Light' or 'Egg-Shaped Shield.' The defensive power was staggering, but the cost was a complete loss of mobility and high internal energy consumption, making it only a life-saving measure for critical moments.

'Wing Propulsion · Overload Acceleration': He reversed the energy flow direction of the wings, concentrating all energy into a rearward blast to attempt extreme linear acceleration. During one attempt, because the output power was instantaneously too high, the virtual character was 'launched' straight ahead like a projectile fired from an electromagnetic railgun at a terrifying speed. He almost crashed head-first into the virtual barrier at the edge of the test zone; fortunately, the system urgently activated a forced deceleration field to avoid a 'virtual crash.'

'Order Resonance · Soothing Field': During one attempt, he unintentionally made the light wings vibrate softly at a frequency close to the base frequency of 'The Weave.' He discovered that the 'anxiety levels' and 'error rates' in the behavioral logic of some simple AI models representing 'friendly units' or 'neutral creatures' in the virtual environment dropped significantly. Evelyn later analyzed the data and concluded that this might be a widespread, gentle 'Order Soothing Field' that could stabilize the energy environment and the emotions of low-level consciousnesses within its range. (Evelyn's note: The principle of this effect is similar to the soothing effect of 'serene cucumber' on humans; it could be called an enhanced version of the 'Aerial Cucumber Field.')

'Sharpness Field · Invisible Cutting': During high-speed flight tests, he tried to extremely sharpen and stabilize the energy structure at the leading edge of the light wings, forming a layer of nearly invisible 'Order Cutting Field.' Tests showed that this field could silently slice through simulated high-strength alloy targets during high-speed passes, leaving cuts as smooth as a mirror, and it even had a certain penetration effect against energy shields.

From initially facepalming and sighing, thinking Excellence was 'slacking off and wasting simulation resources,' Evelyn gradually became attracted to the unexpected data highlights that occasionally burst from these seemingly 'playful' attempts. She began to realize that Excellence's training method—almost instinctive and characterized by strong exploration and 'play'—though lacking systematicity and clear purpose, often managed to jump out of inherent tactical frameworks. In a way akin to 'wild growth,' it touched upon some potential and even 'strange' application boundaries of the 'wings of order' that hadn't been fully covered by theoretical models. Many ideas seemed ridiculous and useless, but if systematically standardized, optimized, and tactically integrated, they might very well transform into unique combat techniques.

"Perhaps... in addition to highly standardized training, retaining a certain percentage of monitored 'free exploration' time is a necessary supplement for fully tapping into the potential of this high-Order energy organ, which is highly symbiotic with the Host and possesses extreme plasticity." Evelyn reflected on her training plan and began making revisions, officially adding an 'Autonomous Creative Experiment' segment with time limits and scenario constraints to Excellence's virtual training schedule, while also setting more thorough and strict physiological and consciousness safety protection protocols.

However, just as Excellence was becoming addicted to developing the 'one hundred and eight miraculous uses of wings' in the virtual world and enjoying himself immensely, an unforeseen 'accidental coupling between the simulation system and real-time information flow' caused a thrilling and costly intersection between his virtual training and the real world.

That day, Excellence was conducting a highly challenging personal project he had set for himself: in a simulated 'Extreme Cosmic Storm' core area filled with violent random gravitational turbulence, high-intensity electromagnetic pulse interference, and background energy noise, he completely retracted the 'wings of order' on his back. Relying solely on his deep understanding of the 'Order' authority, his exquisite control over his own energy circulation, and his powerful spatial Perception, he attempted 'Wingless Flight'—moving, hovering, and maneuvering purely by manipulating the interaction between his own Order field and the external environment, without depending on any external propulsion organs or traditional anti-gravity devices. This was similar to the legendary 'walking on air' or 'stepping through the void.' The difficulty was extremely high, requiring the trainee to maintain peak focus at all times, finely perceiving and countering the chaotic environmental fields while using his stable Order field to construct temporary 'footholds' beneath his feet and precisely outputting micro-thrust to move.

Excellence was fully concentrated, his consciousness highly focused. In the simulated storm core where light and shadow were distorted and energy raged, he carefully controlled every step. At times, he moved as if treading on thin ice across invisible 'Order floating boards,' and at others, he had to suddenly exert force to counter a sudden pull of disordered gravity. His mind was constantly in a state of high-tension stress response.

Just as he completed a harrowing maneuver, weaving through the gaps of three intersecting turbulent flows, and his mind relaxed slightly—a sudden change occurred!

At this very moment, the deep monitoring network of 'The Weave' happened to receive a high-priority alert information fragment from a distant frontier star system that had only recently restored Order from the shadow of 'Void Devourer' activity! The information showed that at the edge of that star system, a derelict deep-space monitoring station had captured an extremely faint anomalous signal whose spectral characteristics were highly similar to the previous residual energy fluctuations of the 'World Devourer'! The signal flashed and vanished, making it impossible to pinpoint, but it triggered the 'Potential Threat Recurrence' warning protocol.

This alert information should have been processed asynchronously by the backend security system of 'The Weave,' generating a report and being forwarded to the relevant monitoring and defense departments according to the workflow. However, because Excellence's consciousness was currently connected deep within the tactical simulation protocol stack of 'The Weave' with extremely high privileges, and he himself was in a state of 'extreme training' with high mental concentration, acute Perception, and fully activated subconscious defense mechanisms, this low-intensity real-time information fragment, which should have been filtered out, was unexpectedly 'captured' by his subconscious and erroneously 'injected' into the currently running simulation environment data stream!

Thus, in Excellence's perceived world, deep within that 'cosmic storm' which was originally just generated by algorithms, a small 'Shadow' with blurred edges but emitting a bone-chilling coldness and a malice full of devouring and Chaos 'surfaced' without warning and with extreme abruptness! The aura of that 'Shadow,' that soul-shuddering evil fluctuation, was exactly the same as the one emitted by the 'Void Devourer Lord Ship' in his memory! It was like a poisonous jellyfish lurking in the storm, silently 'drifting' toward him with clear hostile intent!

"Enemy attack?! Why is there..." Excellence's mind was filled with immense shock and confusion within a ten-thousandth of a second, but the combat instincts formed through long-term training instantly overrode rational thought. Facing this 'sudden' and terrifyingly-auraed 'threat,' he made the most direct and intense reaction almost without thinking—defensive counterattack!

Reality, training room.

Excellence, lying in the hover chair with his eyes tightly closed, suddenly gave a violent shudder! His eyeballs began to move rapidly and irregularly under his eyelids! Veins bulged slightly on his forehead, and his breathing suddenly became rapid!

"Warning! Trainee consciousness fluctuation intensity is climbing sharply! Safety Threshold A has been breached! Neural simulation load overload! Virtual connection stability is dropping!" The cold synthesized system voice immediately rang out in the monitoring room, and piercing red warning signs filled the main screen in front of Evelyn.

"Excellence! Terminate training immediately! System, prepare the forced stabilization program! Activate emergency discon—" Evelyn's face changed drastically as her fingers flew across the console, issuing commands.

However, before her commands could be fully executed, an even more shocking scene occurred!

Buzz—!!!

An unprecedented, silver-white light so condensed it made one's heart palpitate—like a volcano that had been suppressed for ages suddenly erupting—violently burst forth from the two faint light marks on the shoulder blades of Excellence's back! The light was so intense that it instantly vaporized the back portion of the specially made training suit, which had a certain energy-insulating effect, into wisps of blue smoke!

A pair of 'wings of order,' larger, more solid, and more complex and brilliant in structure than ever before, unfolded with a roar in the real world while Excellence was in an unconscious state! The majestic and vast pressure of Order, like a literal tsunami, swept through the entire training room in an instant. The air seemed frozen, all lightweight objects were pushed away by an invisible force, and instrument screens flickered wildly and went white!

Half of Excellence's consciousness was still deeply mired in that horrific scene where virtual information and real threat warnings were erroneously intertwined. He 'saw' the 'sneak attack' of the World Devourer and felt the bone-chilling malice and fatal threat pressing in on him.

"Get lost—!!!"

In reality, Excellence's eyes were tightly shut as a low, thunderous roar—a mixture of shock, fury, and resolve—erupted from the depths of his throat!

Simultaneously, his radiant light wings, fully unfurled in reality, followed his subconscious battle intent. They flapped with all his vigilance, rage, and reflexive power toward the front—at the training room wall, which was several meters thick, composed of multi-layered high-strength alloy and energy buffer matrices, and capable of withstanding direct fire from a medium-sized naval gun!

They didn't touch any physical entity, but a highly condensed, structurally complex invisible storm—one that contained Order's instinctive rejection and purification of Chaos—exploded from the trajectory of the wings' flap! It wasn't a simple energy blast; it was more like a materialized rule-based command of 'stasis,' 'disintegration,' and 'rejection,' forcibly imbued with devastating kinetic energy!

Rumble—!!!!

A terrifying explosion, loud enough to tear eardrums, suddenly went off! The entire training room—no, the entire sector—shook violently! That proud, reinforced wall, as if struck head-on by the invisible hammer of a god from a mythical era, let out a soul-shuddering groan of twisting and cracking metal! The surface of the wall instantly buckled inward and warped, forming a terrifying hemispherical crater over five meters in diameter and nearly two meters deep, with edges showing signs of melting and crystallization! All the monitoring probes, energy buffer generators, lighting circuits, and structural stress sensors embedded inside the wall didn't even have time to explode; they were directly annihilated and vaporized! Blinding electrical sparks leaped and hissed like dying snakes between the twisted metal fractures! A thick, pungent smoke, a mixture of ozone, molten metal, and energy overload odors, billowed up!

The terrifying shockwave even penetrated the wall's multiple buffer layers, making the entire base feel like it was experiencing a minor earthquake. Alarms in all areas were triggered, and shrill buzzers echoed in all directions!

After delivering this earth-shattering blow, Excellence's consciousness seemed to be 'pulled' back by the loud noise in reality and the feedback from his body, and he woke up with a start. He snapped his eyes open, a silver light flashing through them before disappearing, leaving behind a look of confusion and the shock of sudden clarity.

The first thing he saw were his fully unfurled, still slightly trembling, and brilliantly shining wings of order. Then, his gaze shifted forward—to that completely ruined training room wall, which looked as if it had been gnawed on by some celestial beast. Finally, his stiff neck slowly turned toward the doorway. There, Su Mu, Evelyn, and several fully armed security personnel—drawn by the world-shaking commotion—were staring intently at him and the 'masterpiece' behind him with eyes full of extreme shock, horror, confusion, and a sense of 'what kind of ridiculous situation is this now?'

Excellence: "..."

Su Mu / Evelyn / Security Personnel: "..."

A near-vacuum, deathly silence fell over the training room. Only the occasional 'creak' of the wall's overburdened internal structure and the 'crackle' of stray energy leaks sounded exceptionally piercing in the dead silence.

Excellence moved stiffly, bit by bit, retracting those trouble-making wings. The brilliant light receded into his body like a ebbing tide, leaving only two silver-white light marks on his back that were more prominent than before. He looked down at the remains of his training uniform, which had almost vanished from his upper body, then looked up to meet Su Mu's gaze, where a storm was already brewing. He forced a twisted, pale smile onto his face—a mix of extreme guilt, innocence, regret, and 'I don't know how this happened either'—and his voice was as dry as sandpaper:

"Cl-Class Monitor... about that... if I said the simulation training system... maybe, probably, perhaps... had a tiny, unexpected BUG... that caused a little... tiny, unconscious reflexive reaction... would you... believe me?"

Su Mu's gaze slowly moved from Excellence's face, which was written with 'I was wrong but it really wasn't all my fault,' to that expensive wall that was now in a wretched state and whose repair difficulty was comparable to a complete rebuild, and then to the remains of the precision instruments on the ground that had been turned to dust. Her chest began to heave violently, and her face changed like a palette—from the pale of shock to the flush of anger, then from the flush to a suppressed ashen gray, finally settling on a deep black that felt like the suffocation before a storm.

In the next second, it was as if a sonic bomb had been detonated in the training room. Su Mu's roar, like thunder from the highest heavens, exploded with a volume enough to shatter glass and a towering 'killing intent':

"Excellence—!!! You super-invincible spendthrift!!! You total bastard!!! Do you know how expensive the 'Star Steel' coating and 'Phase Buffer Matrix' used for this wall are?! And those custom monitoring units directly connected to The Weave! Even if we tied you, me, and Wang Jianguo together and sold us, we couldn't afford to pay it back!!! From today! Right now! Immediately! Your virtual training permissions are permanently revoked!!! Don't even think about touching a simulation pod again!!! Also! A fine! All your stipends and welfare points for the next fifty years are docked!!! Write a self-reflection! A deep self-examination! Ten thousand words?! No! Five hundred thousand words!!! Hand-written!!! On paper!!! If you're missing a single word, I'll stuff you and your wings into the resource recycling compressor and turn you into a commemorative block!!!"

Evelyn was nearby, rubbing her aching temples forcefully, but her professional training allowed her to suppress her churning emotions. She immediately stepped forward to check Excellence's physical condition with a portable device while quickly analyzing the heart-palpitating energy residue spectrum lingering at the scene. "Excellence, your vital signs are basically stable, but your energy core shows signs of short-term overload; you need to rest and be observed. As for this 'accident'..." She pulled up the system logs and The Weave's backend alarm records, her expression instantly becoming incredibly serious as she turned to the still-furious Su Mu. "Su Mu, I'm afraid this really can't be blamed entirely on Excellence. System logs show that 0.3 seconds before the accident, a fragment of a real World Devourer energy signal alarm from the K-7743 Frontier Sector abnormally invaded his simulation training data stream. It created a dangerous coupling with his high-load conscious state at the time, leading to his instinctive, excessive defensive counterattack. This wall... in a sense, can be considered 'pre-rehearsal loss' or 'intelligence acquisition cost' in the fight against potential external threats."

Su Mu's fury was slightly curbed by Evelyn's professional and calm analysis, but looking at the tragic state of the wall, her heartache and anger were still hard to quell. She gave Excellence a fierce glare. "Even if there was external interference! It's still a manifestation of his lack of control and safety awareness! The wall can be reported as 'special combat readiness loss'! But the fright fee! Mental damages! And his violation of fully unfurling his wings and causing serious damage in a non-designated area and uncontrolled state (even if it was an accident)! He must be severely punished! The self-reflection is doubled! A one-million-word self-reflection! Now, immediately, get over there! Use your 'Power of Order' to personally restore this place to its original state! Every grain of metal dust must be returned to its place! Every bit of energy residue must be purified! You aren't allowed to eat or sleep until you're finished!"

Excellence nodded like a chicken pecking at grain, as if he had just heard a pardon. "Yes, yes, yes! I'll clean it up! I guarantee it'll be restored to how it was! I'll write the self-reflection! I'll definitely write it with heartbreaking soul-searching!"

With a bitter face, he channeled his newly calmed Power of Order and began a 'restoration project' that tested patience and precision more than any battle: 'smoothing' and 'repositioning' the twisted metal molecules; 'reshaping' and 'cooling' the molten parts; 'reconstructing' and 'activating' the annihilated buffer matrix nodes based on backup data... This extremely tedious work was undoubtedly another severe test for his energy control abilities, which had just undergone an overload, but it was also a unique and excellent form of adaptive training (in Su Mu's words: waste utilization, reforming thoughts through labor).

The massive uproar finally subsided temporarily with Excellence's 'virtual pilot's license' being permanently revoked, him being saddled with an astronomical 'debt' and a million-word self-reflection task that would make his hand cramp, and him earning the laughable new nickname of 'Humanoid Strategic-Grade Demolition Unit' within the entire base.

However, beyond Su Mu's anger and Excellence's regret, a deeper shadow quietly cast itself over Evelyn and Su Mu's hearts. That 'real threat signal fragment' that had accidentally intruded into the training and caused this accident... what did it mean? Had the remnants of the World Devourer, or perhaps other malicious entities interested in the 'Order Coordinates,' already extended their feelers to the frontier sectors monitored by The Weave? And could their signal characteristics interfere with a deep connection in such a bizarre way? Was it a random accident, or an ominous omen?

While Excellence was sweating profusely as he used his mind to 'sculpt' the wretched wall, trying to restore it to its original state, he was also repeatedly chewing over the feeling of that brief glimpse earlier. That cold, evil aura filled with the desire to devour—though it was just a fleeting fragment—had given him a 'sense of reality' and 'sense of threat' that was incredibly clear and unforgettable.

"It seems that just being able to fly and do tricks is far from enough." He thought to himself, his restoration movements unconsciously quickening a bit more, his gaze becoming more focused and sharp. "The scent of trouble... is getting closer. I have to truly and completely master this body and these wings as soon as possible. Virtual is virtual after all; the next time I 'perceive' them, it will likely be in the real starry sky."

His movements in repairing the wall quietly took on a sense of urgency that was different from his previous 'completing a task' attitude.

In a higher dimension invisible to anyone, The Weave's vast and complex monitoring and early-warning network had already automatically raised the monitoring level of the relevant area to the highest based on this accidental event and the abnormal signal from the K-7743 sector. It began to project more and more secretive 'perceptual feelers' toward the surrounding broader sectors. Some ancient and hidden observation stations deep within the 'Lost Star Cluster' seemed to have also captured this unusual, faint ripple triggered by the reflexive reaction of the 'Order Coordinates.' More 'gazes' of unknown meaning began to flicker toward the sector where 'Homeland' was located and toward the youth who had just revealed his astonishing wings.

An accidental information coupling during virtual training was like a pebble unintentionally thrown into a calm lake; the ripples it stirred were quietly spreading toward an unpredictable distance.

Before a storm arrives, even the breeze carries a bone-chilling cold. And wings capable of soaring above the storm can only temper the strength to support the firmament within the true thunder.