Han Xiao saw that the Hesla troops were in a mess through his scope. Some of the troops were furious. They boarded their vehicles and moved rapidly toward the source of the fire.
He calmly stowed the dissembled sniper into his backpack. He had handpicked the position for an easy escape after the assassination.
After turning around, he jumped off the cliff, and a feeling of freefall hit him immediately. He smacked the button on his back, and two fine, foldable metal wings expanded. He was then gliding in the air toward the forest beneath the cliff.
Sky Swallow Gliders!
When the Hesla troops arrived at the cliff, all they could see was a nimble shadow rapidly disappearing before their eyes.
…..
Division 13 agents were still dumbfounded. They could not believe that Han Xiao had the guts to kill a commanding officer from Hesla.
It was a definitely a good way to vent one’s anger, but there would be dire consequences. Nothing was worse than killing a Hesla high-ranking military officer right on their land! It seemed that Han Xiao had the balls of steel!
Qi Bai Jia was greatly anxious, but when he saw that the Hesla troops had not caught anyone, he was relieved.
Thank goodness he got away. In this case, they cannot prove that he is guilty. We can still argue our case.
Wait! If Han Xiao disappears, are we going to take his place in the trials‽
Everyone’s eyes were wide open. They felt it was something that Han Xiao would definitely do.
How can he just push all the troubles to us! He is such a master at shirking responsibility!
The surrounding Hesla troops raised their rifles in anger and pointed them at the Division 13 agents. They were arrested, locked up in the cars, and escorted back to the border camp. As soon as deputy officer reported the incident, Hesla’s government was furious.
Hesla’s agents had to interrogate Division 13 as they were the prime suspect.
However, they soon became frustrated. Division 13 insisted that they did not know anything about the incident. Winna felt a sense of defeat.
Everyone knew that Han Xiao had done it, but no one had any evidence to proof that it was him. They could not even find the cartridge, which meant the only thing they could do was interrogate Division 13 over and over again. Since they could not use torturous methods to extort information because they were up against the Stardragon agents, their efforts were in vain. Moreover, the condemnation from the higher-ups of Hesla was met with empty excuses from Division 13.
The head of Intelligence in Division 13 took a private jet to quickly arrive at the Hesla border in order to rescue his agents. Without any concrete evidence, Hesla had to release the Division 13 agents.
The head of Intelligence brought everyone out of the interrogation room and back to the jet. He ordered Qi Bai Jia to report on the details of the incident after he was certain that there was no Hesla personnel around.
“He is such a trouble-maker. Fortunately, he did not leave any trace. Otherwise, Hesla would not have rested until they found him,” he said.
Qi Bai Jia was feeling embarrassed and dared not reply. Ultimately, he had to take the full responsibility as the Stardragon leader of this mission.
The head of Intelligence looked at him without saying a word. He reflected on the reaction of the higher ups in Division 13 upon hearing this news. They believed that Carl’s orders were authorized by the high-ranking officials in Hesla. It was the only reasonable conclusion to explain why Hesla purposefully sent a radical officer to helm this mission. They were displeased with Hesla’s insidious acts. It was actually quite a good ending. After all, Hesla failed in causing any harm to Stardragon agents, and yet, they lost a high-ranking officer. They even had to swallow the loss without catching the culprit.
“This fellow did an excellent job.” The Head of Intelligence nodded quietly. This time, even the hawks in the department had nothing critical to say about this incident. In fact, they loved what Han Xiao did. If one had the audacity to plot against Stardragon, the retaliation would be swift and deadly.
Despite the appreciation, the heads of the Department unanimously agreed in the previous internal meeting that they had to impose greater control on Han Xiao and not let him escape their surveillance. As their source of valuable intel, Han Xiao was far too important to warrant any accidents or mishaps.
Because of Han Xiao’s cooperative attitude, they had been too lenient with his actions, but since the incident from the joint mission, they became deeply alarmed. They came to the consensus to reject any of Han Xiao’s future mission requests.
This motion was passed without any objection, even from the conservatives in the Division 13. The department was still willing to cooperate with Han Xiao, but before divulging all the intel he had, he would not leave the headquarters’ surveillance.
The Head of Intelligence finished contemplating and looked at the team of agents. He then looked at his watch and said in a puzzled tone, “Why is Han Xiao still not back?”
“I have no idea.” Qi Bai Jia shook his head.
“Han Xiao just contacted me.” Lin Yao suddenly pressed his headphone as he became overly-excited. But the next second, his expression changed drastically.
“What did he say?” The Head of Intelligence had a bad hunch.
“Brother Xiao said… he is going to lie low until the dust settles,” Lin Yao stammered.
“Lie low until the dust settles? This means….” The Head of Intelligence was slow to process the meaning of this message. Then, he quickly realized what it meant. “He is not coming back‽”
His expression turned ghastly.
Zhang Wei looked shell-shocked. Li Ya Lin was wide-eyed. Lambert was in disbelief.
Everyone was utterly shocked.
It looked as if he was really going solo!
There was really nothing he was afraid to do!
…
Twenty minutes later in Division 13’s headquarters, Gu Hui called for an emergency meeting. The directors who were not stationed at the headquarters joined the video conference. Everyone had a solemn look.
“Han Xiao ran away,” Gu Hui said in a sobering tone.
Everyone gasped.
“Is he defecting?”
“Unclear. Before this, he sniped a Heslean military officer. It is possible that he is afraid of the consequences, so he escaped. But this possibility is not high,” the Head of Intelligence replied.
The other heads were irritated. That reason was highly improbable, unless Han Xiao believed that Stardragon was incapable of protecting him, which also meant that Han Xiao looked down at their abilities.
“What about the GPS tracker that we planted in his phone?”
“The tracker has not moved in the last twenty-four hours. Han Xiao discovered and removed it.”
“He is going to defect. He must be still near us and heading toward the wilderness. We have to bring him back!” the Head of Internal Affairs thundered.
“We cannot be certain that he is defecting.” Gu Hui waved his hands disapprovingly.
All the heads simmered silently. They had been planning to restrict him in the West Capital the moment he was back, but his sudden escape had ruined all their plans.
Was it a pre-meditated move, or was it just a spur of the moment decision?
Was it defection, or was it something else?
Standard protocol indicated that when an agent broke contact, and when the exact cause behind the disappearance was inconclusive, the first thing they needed to do was send people to track the agent down. Then, they would contact the agent to make a judgement based on their reaction for the subsequent course of actions.
If the agent resisted the capture or continued to run, they would have no choice but to hunt the agent down globally.
If the agent had a good reason, the protocol ensured that a misunderstanding and manslaughter were avoided.
“This is just in. The Germinal Organization has increased the reward
for capturing or killing Han Xiao by five times to five million on the dark net,” the Head of Intelligence said all of a sudden.
Everyone was utterly surprised. This mission had been announced as a joint exercise between the two countries. How did the Germinal Organization know that Han Xiao was the main catalyst? Was there a mole within them?
The increase in reward implied that the Germinal Organization was determined to kill Han Xiao more than ever. Furthermore, the organization had already located Han Xiao to be in the West Capital. Could that have been the reason for Han Xiao’s departure?
Was he not afraid of being located by the organization in the wilderness and slaughtered? The Germinal Organization was way more unhinged in the wilderness. They could very well fire missiles to bombard the whole area.
“He came to Stardragon to seek protection in the first place. How did he suddenly have the guts to leave?”
This question lingered in everyone’s mind.
Gu Hui knocked on table and concluded the meeting. “We will continue to keep his identity as our agent and file him under missing personnel. The Intelligence Department will collect the surveillance tapes, migration records, and transport records from everywhere to try and contact him. We will also send out search teams to find him. We must get hold of him first before any subsequent action!”
“Seconded.”
“Seconded.”
“Seconded.”
…
On the private jet back, the Division 13 agents constantly peeked at the corner, where Zhang Wei’s team was. It was like the center of a high-pressure vortex.
Zhang Wei pinched the bridge of his nose with a look of seriousness. The veins on his forehead were showing clearly.
Lambert was wiping his knife in silence.
Li Ya Lin was constantly shaking her legs with a look of indignation and anxiousness. Her tight black body suit outlined her beautiful and seductive long legs.
Lin Yao was sitting at the side, frightened.
He wanted to get away from his raging teammates but was afraid of doing so. He trembled in fear.
“This is too much! He just left without saying anything to us. He clearly does not treat us as his teammates!” Li Ya Lin slammed hard on the table. The thundery sound spooked all the other agents that were eavesdropping in the surrounding.
Zhang Wei’s hands held onto half of his face, and he looked as if he had nothing to live for.
“He modified my armored suit… and no one else knows how to repair it,” he mumbled.
“…”
It was such a tragedy. The other agents did not know how to console Zhang Wei.
“He asked me to take business orders for him, and he already collected the deposit for a few dozen orders. What do I do now‽” Li Ya Lin clenched her teeth in rage.
The other agents were startled. They realized that they had also made some orders…
Crap!
Our deposits!
“I used my reputation to guarantee to his business. He totally ruined my reputation!” Li Ya Lin now sounded like a grudging wife who was being cheated on. She pinched Lin Yao’s arm in an attempt to release her anger.
Lin Yao felt an immense pain. He immediately jumped far away and said hastily, “Calm down… Calm down…”
“Do you know his real identity?” Lambert suddenly commented.
The three of them were startled.
They were unaware of his real identity even after being on the same team for so long. Han Xiao had always been rather mysterious, and he had never divulged any information related to his real identity. Even the higher ups had refused to tell the team.
At this moment, everyone was dispirited.
“When I find him, I will definitely beat the crap out of him,” Li Ya Lin said in an infuriated voice as she cracked her knuckles loudly.
Chapter 89 - Three Months to Open Beta
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Two days later in Hesla’s Morning Wind City…
A coastal city near the border, Morning Wind City had a massive seaport that handled a massive volume of transcontinental ships. The city was a metropolis with many high-rise buildings.
Hesla had the strongest maritime force among the Six Nations—it focused on developing its navy to protect its numerous coastal cities. There were four continents on Aquamarine. They were separated from one another by the massive oceans.
There was an old saying—he who controls the sea controls everything.
There were tons of resources beneath the seafloor, including petroleum and natural gasses. Extraction of fossil fuels from the sea was the main pillar of Hesla’s economy.
Han Xiao remembered that Hesla had a secret military strategy called ‘The Forth Contingency Plan Against Great Crisis’. The plan was to produce many thousand-meter-long motherships in preparation for the scenario that the country suffered from massive calamities, such as nuclear world war. They could transition into a drifting nation on the sea and preserve their population.
Although this strategy eventually paved way for others, their spirit of preparing for the worst in times of peace was worth emulating. As the saying went, one who prospers in worries and hardships perishes in ease and comfort. It meant that if one did not create some sort of trouble, one might as well not live.
Wait. That does not sound right… Well, it’s not important.
Now, Han Xiao, with a new face, was waiting at the branch of Fabian Company in the city. He had used the black gold card from Matthews to receive VIP treatment at the place. It was his temporary rest stop.
There were three months to open beta, and moving around on his own would yield him the greatest amount of benefits. He could use Fabian Company’s channels to purchase mechanical parts with the huge amount of cash that he had accumulated to make more machinery. He could then earn a lot of EXP from this and even sell his products for more cash.
Old Man Lu’s secret quest would only be triggered after the open beta. He had established a good relationship with him, so he was in no rush to continue this mission.
Han Xiao wrote down the key points for personal development for this last period of time before the open beta.
– Trigger all the high-reward quests, and subsequently obtain rare skills and abilities to improve my power.
– Obtain stable supply channels for mechanical parts so as to allow myself to make machinery during the course of my quests and earn more EXP.
– Continue to cause destruction for the Germinal Organization.
– Increase my personal mission issuance’s reward limit in preparation for the open beta
These are roughly the points of focus.
Han Xiao put down his pen and began thinking carefully. The first point was easy since he remembered many large-scale quests. Also, supply channels could simply be obtained from the Fabian Company with the help of the black gold VIP card.
Destroying the Germinal Organization was his A-class quest. He had some initial thoughts on how he could maximize his large reservoir of intel—he could utilize the help from all the powers that were hostile toward the organization.
As for his personal mission reward limit, Han Xiao’s goal was to increase his Universal Reputation. Because there were two types of reward limits—daily limit and individual quest limit—he could increase both by improving his Universal Reputation. This was the most cost-effective method.
His Universal Reputation was now zero, but that was okay. Han Xiao would definitely increase it in due time.
There were three ways to obtain Universal Reputation. The first method was by achieving high contribution ratings in advanced and rare quests. Normally, only a planet’s main quest line would reward Universal Reputation—his A-class quest [Fall of the Germinal] was one of them.
Every planet, not only limited to novice planets, had at least one or more major storylines that linked to the respective main quests. For example, in Planet Aquamarine Version 1.0, there were two mai
n storylines and one hidden storyline. The conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization was one of the main storylines; the others would only appear in the open beta. On the other hand, the hidden storyline could only be discovered by luck.
That method of obtaining Universal Reputation was highly difficult and time-consuming—he could not achieve it in a short timeframe.
The second method was rather random. It involved doing things related to one’s reputation with a camp that could potentially become well-known; the things could be very varied and circumstantial. Nobody had a clear idea of how to do it, and it was quite unreliable.
Han Xiao was keen on applying the third method—getting on top of some ranking lists—the easiest way to obtain Universal Reputation.
Some factions had created publicly-recognized rankings. By climbing to the top of rankings, he could easily obtain Universal Reputation. However, if some new guys were to push him down the ranking, his Universal Reputation would decrease, making this method unreliable. That was the method employed by most ‘real’ players. Universal Reputation quickly helped one accumulated camp reputation, which in turn, gave players discounts on NPC items and provided opportunities to trigger rare quests.
Han Xiao’s fingers on one hand tapped the table surface as he continued to contemplate on this, and with his other hand, he picked his nose.
Well, before I make a move, let me get rid all the burdens (EXP) I have now.
He looked at his Character Interface, which showed a grand total of 720,000 EXP. He directly channeled all the EXP into levelling his character to thirty. His stats consequently increased.
Mechanic (Novice) reached the maximum level. The last level-up always gave players the greatest stats increase. This time he received a ninety-point increase in his energy between levels nine and ten.
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