Chapter 13 Internal Meeting

Inside the Thirteenth Bureau's conference room, the director, deputy director, and thirteen department heads—fifteen people in all—gathered to discuss a single topic: how to deal with Han Xiao.

"Han Xiao possesses a wealth of classified intelligence. With his help, we can precisely target Germination's bases. Furthermore, he's a mechanic with some combat ability, roughly equivalent to a trained elite agent, though not yet up to the standard of a superpower user. He seems sincere about cooperating…" After delivering a detailed report, the intelligence chief gave his opinion, "I believe we can tentatively trust Han Xiao and cooperate with him."

The others exchanged glances, and after a few seconds of silence, the head of internal affairs was the first to object. "No, what if Han Xiao is giving us false information?"

Here it comes!

Every department head perked up. The Thirteenth Bureau was divided into two factions: the hardliners, led by the internal affairs chief, and the conservatives, led by the intelligence chief. Their seats were clearly separated, like the Chu River and Han border, facing each other in a state of tense readiness.

The intelligence chief defended, "The chances of that are slim. He's a fugitive from Germination. His only hope for survival lies in our protection. There's no reason to doubt his sincerity."

"He could also be a spy sent by Germination to stage a tragedy!" The head of internal affairs insisted, his voice grave. "I suggest we take Han Xiao into custody and secretly imprison him, prying every piece of information from his mouth. The Thirteenth Bureau doesn't need to negotiate with anyone!"

"That's ridiculous! There's no need for that at all. Heavy-handed tactics will only cause unforeseen problems. Han Xiao is sincere. We can't push away help that should be ours and create an enemy for no reason!"

"That's cowardly compromise!"

"And that's reckless idiocy!"

Led by the two chiefs, the two factions began to bicker, faces flushed and necks red. Although both sought Han Xiao's information, their conflicting views stemmed from the hardliners' desire to imprison Han Xiao and the conservatives' desire for friendly cooperation. They argued fiercely, almost ready to roll up their sleeves and engage in a brawl.

The director and deputy director remained calm and composed. The Thirteenth Bureau had two directors: the director, who was the actual head of the Thirteenth Bureau, and the deputy director, who was sent by the leadership to oversee things, also known as the administrative director.

Logically, such an organizational structure should lead to sharp power struggles, but this deputy director was very low-key, hardly interfering in anything. At this moment, he was completely lost in thought and didn't say a word, probably already contemplating what to eat after work. Considering that the previous ambitious deputy director who wanted to seize power was inexplicably framed and imprisoned, his low profile was understandable.

The director was an imposing man, heroic and forceful. He mused, "If we want to cooperate but also control him, isn't the solution simple? Just recruit him into the bureau."

The entire room instantly went from noisy to silent. The hardliners looked dumbfounded.

Are you trying to stir things up, Director!

The hardliners immediately exploded.

"Absolutely not!"

"What if Han Xiao is a spy planted by the enemy?"

"That violates the confidentiality regulations!"

The director retorted firmly, "According to the rules, let's take a vote!"

The conservatives chuckled inwardly and supported the director. Excluding a neutral department head, the two factions had exactly six members each. With the director's vote, the result was no surprise. The proposal passed smoothly.

The hardliners immediately deflated, inwardly roaring, You're conspiring together!

Now that recruiting Han Xiao into the Thirteenth Bureau was a foregone conclusion, the discussion turned to which department he should join.

The head of internal affairs said, "I think the logistics department is suitable for him. He'll be staying at headquarters, where we can monitor him at all times, and he can use his skills as a mechanic."

This time, the conservatives agreed. The logistics department was indeed the most suitable for Han Xiao. He wouldn't be allowed to go out, staying under their watchful eyes, unable to stir up trouble.

The director suddenly said, "When in doubt, trust your men. Since Han Xiao has combat ability, why not transfer him to the secret operations division? He might surprise us."

The atmosphere instantly became awkward. All the department heads silently looked at the neutral party dozing off, who was none other than the head of the secret operations division.

"Huh? What does this have to do with me?" The secret operations chief was clueless.

"Then it's settled. Actions can deceive, words can deceive, but purpose cannot deceive. As long as we confirm that the intelligence Han Xiao gave us about Germination's branch bases is accurate, he'll join the secret operations division."

The director made a decision with a wave of his hand.

All the department heads covered their faces. Well, you're the boss, whatever makes you happy.

The deputy director yawned.

"Is it time to get off work yet? What's on the menu in the cafeteria today?"

…

After the meeting, the intelligence chief and the logistics chief went to the logistics department together, instructing the personnel to study the captured Light Mechanical Arm.

They wanted to see what was so special about the machinery Han Xiao made. If possible, they would reverse engineer the blueprints and gain more information about Han Xiao.

The person in charge of studying the Light Mechanical Arm was Luo Xuan, the logistics department's star, a top student in the mechanical engineering department of West Capital Academy. After graduating, he was directly recruited into the Thirteenth Bureau's logistics department, where he had consistently performed well. The higher-ups seemed to be grooming him, with plans to have Luo Xuan join the secret operations division.

Other than being a little too arrogant, he had no other flaws.

Luo Xuan, wearing rubber gloves, had a calm expression. He had disassembled machinery many times and was very familiar with the process.

"Let's begin."

Luo Xuan started disassembling, then suddenly paused, surprised. "There are security measures inside."

Security measures prevented the machinery from being disassembled and the blueprints from being deduced. They were interconnected with the overall structure. Han Xiao's [Basic Assembly] knowledge included methods of security measures, coupled with his max-level [Simple Enhancement Modification]. Unless one officially reached the E-rank mechanic standard, it was impossible to crack. He valued the Light Mechanical Arm, anticipating that it might fall into the hands of the Thirteenth Bureau, so he had set up security measures early on.

The First Generation Wanderer also had security measures, but it had already self-destructed, so it could be ignored.

"Can you crack it?" the intelligence chief asked.

"No problem." Luo Xuan was very confident. Disarming security measures was an indirect duel between the manufacturer and the disarmer. Luo Xuan was very confident. What level could an unknown mechanic have? He was a mechanical engineering graduate from West Capital Academy.

However, twenty minutes later, Luo Xuan had made no progress, was covered in sweat, and said in disbelief, "Four layers of security?! Is the guy who made this machine crazy?"

Four layers of security was extremely complicated, and moving one part affected the whole. If the disassembly was done incorrectly, the entire internal structure of the machine would automatically disintegrate. Luo Xuan was not confident.

The intelligence chief frowned. "Are you going to do it or not? Don't waste my time."

Luo Xuan lost face. He didn't dare to get angry at the superior, so he could only swallow his anger and say, "This security measure is too complex. I… I need time."

"Enough. I don't have that much free time. Tell me your opinion."

Luo Xuan sensed the intelligence chief's distrust, and his face became very ugly. He vented his anger. "There are no technical highlights at all. Only the security is done well. It makes me feel like the manufacturer is a country bumpkin who treats garbage as treasure."

The intelligence chief raised his eyebrows. He didn't say anything and had people take the mechanical arm out of the logistics department.

Since Han Xiao had killed a battle-hardened mercenary with one punch using the mechanical arm, he thought that letting the agents use it in actual combat would be the best way to test it. It just so happened that the bureau was sending people to destroy the three Germination bases that Han Xiao had told them about, which was a good opportunity.

It was a pity that the robot had already exploded into a pile of charred parts that couldn't be recognized. He was more interested in the First Generation Wanderer.

Although the Thirteenth Bureau was powerful, no one would complain about having more new equipment.

The bunch of idiots in the research and development department had been doing nothing for the past few years, taking the most funding, and only making some inexplicable things, such as double-sided adhesive bombs, curved machine guns that couldn't be aimed at all, and condoms that isolated metal detection to hide poison needles, and they even had men's and women's versions.

After two agents wore the equipment the wrong way and ended up in the hospital after being poisoned by their own needles, the research and development department was blacklisted by the active agents.

…

The director held his phone and spoke to Old Gao:

"I have recommended Han Xiao to join the secret operations division."

"Thank you for your trouble."

The director asked suspiciously, "Old Man, is he worth you valuing him so much?"

Old Gao said, "Hehe, his value is not just information. I have a feeling that he will be an important bargaining chip for us in our confrontation with the Germination Organization."