The last room was located at the end of the corridor, with its door facing directly toward the hallway. From the entrance, one could see the door clearly, which was currently closed.
Long Zhan and the point man pressed themselves against the walls on either side of the corridor and quickly approached the sides of the door.
The point man on the right reached for the door handle, only to find that it was locked from the inside and wouldn't budge. He gestured tactically to Long Zhan, relaying the information.
To prevent alerting those inside to their methods, verbal communication near the door was strictly forbidden.
"The mission target is definitely inside. The door is locked, so we can't use a flashbang. Without knowing the situation inside, kicking the door down and charging in is too risky. Looks like we'll have to use the old method."
Long Zhan quickly processed all the available intel and formulated an action plan in his mind.
The decision was made to execute a controlled breach.
Using plastic explosives, a method Long Zhan was very familiar with, he affixed two strips on either side of the door from top to bottom, aiming to blow the entire door off its frame.
Of course, the plastic explosives were a "training version," with their power reduced to a fraction of their real-world counterparts. The explosives were applied in thin layers on the door.
Furthermore, perhaps to reduce training costs or increase the difficulty, the detonators provided for this assessment were not the wireless remote-controlled type used in actual operations. Instead, they required a physical wire to be drawn from the blasting cap—a wired detonator.
This added complexity but didn't pose a significant issue. For Long Zhan, who was just as skilled in his secondary specialties, handling explosives was something he approached with confidence. He quickly finished setting up the breach charges.
Pulling the wire to a safe position beside the door, Long Zhan gave a loud tactical command: "Ready?"
This signaled that he was about to detonate the charges and asked whether his team members had found cover from the blast and were prepared to storm the room immediately after.
"Ready!"
"Ready!"
"Ready!"
The three team members stationed on either side of the door responded in unison, indicating their readiness.
"Breaching!"
The moment Long Zhan heard their responses, he shouted the command to initiate the operation and pressed the detonator.
"Pop!"
The explosion was not particularly loud—more like the sound of a wooden plank being slammed on the ground.
On both sides of the doorframe, narrow, seven-centimeter-wide vertical breaches extended from top to bottom. In an actual operation, these charges would have blown the door clean into the room.
The resulting shockwave and sound from the blast in a confined space would have caused significant, non-lethal injuries to anyone inside—especially to targets directly facing the door.
However, since this was a training scenario, the reduced-power charges merely demonstrated the process. Still, the door's lock and latch were blown apart, removing the primary points of resistance.
In the very next second, the point man kicked the weakened door open and charged into the room with his weapon drawn.
Inside was the mission's objective—a target to be captured alive. Handling this alone would be difficult, so Long Zhan and another team member, foregoing their usual external cover positions, also entered the room with weapons at the ready.
Long Zhan had expected the room to be heavily guarded, with numerous hostiles protecting the High-Value Target (HVT).
Instead, to his surprise, there was only one hostile, who had already been subdued and pinned to the ground by the point man who entered first.
What remained was a figure dressed in a Middle Eastern robe and wearing a veil—clearly portraying the HVT as part of the training exercise.
The target was unarmed and showed no signs of wearing an improvised explosive device, significantly reducing the difficulty of the capture.
Like the other trainees who had come before, Long Zhan felt a moment of relief upon seeing this.
But this was precisely the cunning trap set by Instructor Adam!
As Long Zhan let his guard down slightly, preparing to secure the target, an unexpected development occurred as he approached within two meters.
"Thud... clang, clang, clang..."
From under the HVT's loose Middle Eastern robe, a small, round, blue object rolled out.
This was a training device designed to simulate a defensive fragmentation grenade.
The moment Long Zhan saw the "grenade," his body instinctively tensed, and he instantly realized the true test.
This was the final trump card meticulously planned by Instructor Adam—a test of life-and-death decision-making.
In truth, the mission to capture the HVT was more of a distraction.
All the previous tasks combined accounted for only half of the test's total score. The remaining half hinged entirely on the next two seconds.
The real objective was to assess how trainees would react in the face of an immediate life-threatening crisis.
Command is the essence of leadership, and as a team leader, failure to respond promptly could doom the entire team.
In such a sudden emergency, Long Zhan knew that his first responsibility as team leader was to alert his team and issue the correct tactical orders.
"Grenade! Take cover!"
These two concise commands were shouted by Long Zhan without hesitation.
Hearing the order, the two team members did not irrationally run toward the door—they knew there wasn't enough time to escape. Instead, they sought nearby furniture for cover, or, lacking cover, dropped flat to the ground, folding their arms to shield their heads and minimizing their exposure.
This was the textbook response to such a scenario.
But there was still the HVT to consider. To achieve an A+ in this assessment, the team leader had to protect the target as well—pulling the HVT down and shielding them while ensuring their own safety.
Long Zhan had already completed the first step, warning his team. With his quick reflexes and robust physique, he had enough time to complete the remaining actions.
From the elevated catwalk, Instructor Adam and the other trainers watched with absolute confidence in Long Zhan, even preparing to award him full marks in advance.
But just as the two team members followed orders and dropped to the ground, all eyes turned to Long Zhan.
What he did next shocked everyone to their core.