Chapter 1 The Mysterious

Han Xiao felt the car stop. Someone pushed him out, and he stood alone, exposed to the wind for a while. Then he heard the car drive away. Only then did he take off the black mask, look around, and realize he was at an intersection several blocks away from the repair shop.

Several bright moons hung in the sky.

"So mysterious," Han Xiao muttered.

His goal was basically achieved. Han Xiao hummed a little tune and strolled leisurely. Soon, he arrived outside the repair shop and saw the lights were still on. He immediately thought, 'This is bad.' He'd been missing for three days, and Lü Qian was probably very worried.

As soon as he entered, he saw Lü Qian pacing back and forth, a look of worry on her face.

Lü Qian's expression darkened, and she immediately rushed over to scold him. "Why are you only back now?! Do you know how worried I was? You're a foreigner here, and I thought something had happened to you. I was about to call the police!"

Han Xiao knew he was in the wrong, so he simply stared blankly, adopting a 'dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water' attitude.

"What exactly did you go do?"

"Taking a walk."

Lü Qian was furious. "Can't you come up with a more believable excuse?"

"I think it's pretty believable…"

"Yesterday I saw on the news that there was a gunfight at the Kroc junkyard. I thought you had an accident."

So that's why Lü Qian was worried. Han Xiao listened to Lü Qian's nagging, but he wasn't impatient at all. Instead, he felt a warmth in his heart.

It wasn't easy to have someone who cared about him.

But this feeling was instantly shattered by Old Man Lü.

"I thought you wouldn't come back alive. How disappointing."

"Heh."

You old geezer!

Lü Qian vented her frustration after a scolding session. She gritted her teeth and said with a pained expression, "I'll buy you a cell phone in a few days. Don't disappear again… The money for the phone will be deducted from your salary."

"No need, I already have a phone." Han Xiao took out the black phone.

The Thirteenth Bureau said the number of this phone couldn't be given to others?

Didn't hear it, just nonsense.

Old Man Lü's eyes flashed, and he pulled Han Xiao aside, frowning as he asked, "This is the Thirteenth Bureau's encrypted phone. Did you join the Thirteenth Bureau?"

"Oh, you're knowledgeable," Han Xiao said flatteringly.

"Hmph, since you've joined the Thirteenth Bureau, why are you still working in my shop? Get out of here."

"You get out, I'm not leaving anyway."

"Hey, you little brat, how dare you talk to me like that? You're staying in my shop, could it be that you have ulterior motives…"

Old Man Lü was quite angry. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he stared at Han Xiao, saying each word carefully, "You wouldn't have taken a liking to my granddaughter, would you?!"

"You've misunderstood!" Han Xiao suddenly felt something was wrong.

Old Man Lü's expression changed several times, going through hostility, contemplation, relief, excitement, appraisal, satisfaction, comfort, and other states in a second. It was more magical than a Sichuan opera face change. The way he looked at him as if he were looking at his grandson-in-law made Han Xiao's hair stand on end.

Wait, this isn't how the script is supposed to go!

"Little Han, my Xiao Qian isn't young anymore. How about… you?"

Han Xiao's face stiffened. "Old Man Lü, as the saying goes, forced melons are not sweet."

"If you don't force it, you won't even get a melon. My unlucky son, his only contribution was giving me a granddaughter. Our family needs to continue the next generation. You work hard and get me a great-grandson too."

Who are you calling "our family"? Don't cause trouble for me!

"Hehe, young people should have passionate romances, how can you be so slow? I can only help you this far." Old Man Lü patted Han Xiao on the shoulder, looking inscrutable, and strolled away, leaving Han Xiao disheveled in the wind.

Old people who were eager to hold grandchildren were really scary!

Han Xiao turned around and saw Lü Qian standing behind him at some point, her eyes bright and watery as if they would drip at any moment, staring straight at Han Xiao, pursing her lips and saying nothing.

"Would you believe me if I said this was a misunderstanding?"

"B-bad guy." Lü Qian covered her red face and ran upstairs.

Well, it seemed she didn't believe him.

Han Xiao's face ached, and he slapped his forehead.

This matter today was too strange.

…

Luo Xuan had been feeling restless these past few days, worried that Han Xiao would join the logistics department and affect his position.

Finally, Luo Xuan couldn't help it and asked the department head about Han Xiao's background.

"His specific information is classified." The logistics department head was a chubby, always smiling, festive fat man. He looked around and, seeing that no one was around, whispered, "I can only tell you that he has already joined the Thirteenth Bureau."

Luo Xuan felt his heart skip a beat and asked nervously, "Will he join the logistics department or the research and development department?"

If he joined the logistics department, he could suppress him. If he joined the research and development department, he would be beyond his reach.

The logistics department head shook his head. "Neither. He was specially recruited into the secret operations department and will report in a few days."

Luo Xuan was caught off guard and stunned by this news.

The guy wasn't coming to the logistics department to play with him at all. How could he suppress him now!

He had worked diligently for several years and didn't even qualify to join the secret operations department. Yet the mysterious colleague who had made him lose face was specially recruited on his first day. The secret operations department spot he had been pursuing had been snatched away by someone else without a sound. Luo Xuan was almost bursting with anger.

This was unfair!

…

A week after the gunfight at the Kroc junkyard, the bosses of the other six districts of West Capital gathered together to discuss a major event that had recently occurred—the Seventh District's territory had lost its controller, and the Tanuki had vanished into thin air.

The other bosses learned bits and pieces through various channels. The Tanuki's disappearance was actually related to the most powerful Thirteenth Bureau, shocking all the bosses.

What exactly did the Tanuki do to provoke this behemoth?

The boss of the Second District was vaguely the leader of the group and the initiator of this meeting. He spoke solemnly, "The Tanuki has disappeared. He offended someone he shouldn't have offended. I guess we'll never see him again."

The bosses present felt a sense of shared tragedy. Although they all looked impressive on the outside, in fact, everyone knew that the Thirteenth Bureau could make anyone present disappear from the world at any time. Their underground forces couldn't even make a ripple.

West Capital was, after all, the capital of a country. They looked glamorous, but in reality, they were just rats eating leftovers in dark corners, not even as good as those arms dealers and intelligence dealers who did business in the slums. Those people had backers and supporters, while they, the bosses, were just tools in the hands of some Star-Dragon officials. If they weren't used well one day, a single sentence could kill them.

"Who will take over the Seventh District's territory?"

The bosses looked at each other, and no one spoke.

Originally, taking over the territory should have been a new round of eager profit distribution. However, no one spoke, not because they didn't covet the Tanuki's territory, but because the situation was unclear. The Seventh District had become a dragon's den and tiger's lair in their eyes. Who knew if they would get into trouble like the Tanuki.

The Second District's boss looked around and said solemnly, "No one wants to take over?"

Everyone was silent.

"Okay, then let's wait for a newcomer to take the position." The Second District boss said expressionlessly.

The loss of control in the Seventh District's gray area would inevitably lead to a bloody storm. Some "smart people" who had been suppressed by the Tanuki would see an opportunity to move forward.

But the bosses weren't willing to give the newcomer a chance. Instead, they watched coldly, wanting to wait for an "ambitious" cannon fodder to explore the way for them and figure out the situation in the Seventh District. When that time came, the bosses present would take action, use their deeply rooted forces, kill the rising newcomer, and then internally distribute the Seventh District's territory.

It was naturally a good thing if there was one less person to share the existing pie of benefits. They wouldn't allow a new boss to emerge who was equal to them.

…

Han Xiao stayed in the repair shop for a few days, pestered and wheedled his way into getting an advance on his first month's salary, and ordered a batch of materials from the Thirteenth Bureau.

A dark red bullet lay quietly in Han Xiao's palm, the warhead engraved with flame-like patterns.

[High-Explosive Incendiary Ammunition: Upon hitting the target, causes a three-meter radius to begin burning, dealing continuous burning damage.]

The description was simple, but Han Xiao knew the actual effect was much stronger than the description.

The principle of high-explosive incendiary bullets was to fill the warhead with a highly flammable, adhesive gas as a burning agent. The combustion conditions were simpler than armor-piercing incendiary bullets, and it could self-ignite without combustibles. It was a special bullet specifically for burning. This gas needed to be collected through a chemical reaction and mixed with another inert gas in proportion to prevent burning. Using gas as a burning agent was more difficult to extract than liquid or particulate burning agents. Once the warhead was opened, even in a vacuum environment, the flammable gas could briefly burn itself out, naturally ensuring confidentiality.

The drawing had strict experimental steps for the extraction method of the gas. He hadn't learned the [Basic Biochemistry] of the energy branch yet, so he didn't understand the principle. He just had to follow the instructions.

Ammunition could be made in various calibers, from pistol bullets to sniper bullets, and it was easy to manufacture and very practical, with a wider sales channel. These days, he had taken the time to manufacture dozens of high-explosive incendiary bullets.

Han Xiao also used better steel to create a folding battle knife, 5.3 pounds, 0.65 meters, with a 0.12-meter handle after folding. The close-range attack power was 13~19. The whole body was black and shiny, with folding lines divided into sections on the blade. The tip of the knife was a right angle, like a fine brush knife. This kind of melee weapon for beginners was not very useful to him, but making it was better than nothing.

He used the experience of manufacturing high-explosive incendiary bullets and folding battle knives to improve [Basic Mechanical Affinity], raising it to level four.

The maximum level of [Basic Mechanical Affinity] was level five, and he still needed 15,000 experience points. [Basic Shooting] was currently level eight. It needed 45,000 experience points to reach the maximum level. As long as he spent another 60,000 experience points, he could get two more potential points.

Each country had different advanced knowledge, which was confidential. One use of it was to attract powerful independent superhumans. Planet Aquamarine only had career knowledge for three main classes: Esper Ability, Martial Arts, and Mechanics.

No beginner planet had complete knowledge of all five main classes. The player's initial career tendency questionnaire determined which type of beginner planet the system would assign them to.

For example, in a beginner planet with an ancient background, how could you create machinery?

Hey, don't say that, it's actually possible.

But you had to manually forge, smelt, and so on. Without the aid of lathes and equipment, you had to do everything by hand, and you couldn't make many things. The raw materials were also incomplete, and the efficiency was ridiculously low.

The advanced knowledge possessed by the Thirteenth Bureau happened to be the advanced knowledge of the mechanics class's armed branch, which was only open to high-authority personnel. You had to reach a [Respected] relationship at least to browse it, which would take too long.

Han Xiao thought to himself that if he wanted to obtain advanced knowledge in a short period of time, he had to seize the opportunity, take a risk, and rely on the Thirteenth Bureau. His advanced mission depended on them.

There was no opportunity at the moment, so he could only wait.

Han Xiao didn't forget the repair shop's orders either. They were nothing more than work for him, very easy.

These days, Lü Qian had been hiding from him, not daring to look Han Xiao in the eye. She would blush and run away after saying a few words, which made Han Xiao very helpless.

It was all Old Man Lü's fault!

The old bald guy was still laughing next to him. Come over here, and I'll show you a big treasure.

Lü Qian's feelings for Han Xiao were complicated. She had asked herself more than once, do I hate Han Xiao? The answer was no.

But do I like Han Xiao? It was also no. It was definitely not the kind of love between a man and a woman. The accurate description should be "admiration."

But if she clearly rejected Han Xiao, would Han Xiao get angry and quit? Lü Qian couldn't bear to lose such a good (cheap) assistant.

So Lü Qian had been very conflicted, hiding from Han Xiao, worried that Han Xiao would ask her to answer directly, tossing a coin in her heart: if he confesses, what should I do?

Regardless of Lü Qian's own confusion, Han Xiao's phone rang.

Feng Jun sent a message, "Your documents have been approved. Report today."

"It's finally here."

Han Xiao's eyes flashed.

(3600 words, in order to end the chapter, it will not be separated~)