When Chen Tiedan opened his eyes, he saw a blackboard. The blackboard read, "98 days until the college entrance exam," the chalk writing crooked and uneven. His gaze moved down to a math textbook lying in front of him, its pages yellowed and edges curled like the crispy crust of a fried dough stick. His brain froze for a full three seconds. As a top-tier special forces soldier codenamed "Lone Wolf," Chen Tiedan had carried out countless high-risk missions—from drug cartel hideouts in the rainforest to the icy borderlands. He remembered his last mission: a failed bomb disposal attempt, the blast wave sending him flying.
