by <unknown>
“What’s he so angry about?” asked Han Xiao, bewildered.
Feng Jun laughed bitterly.
“He… just ignore him.”
Luo Xuan had never seen Han Xiao’s face before, but he knew for certain that the person beside Feng Jun was him.
…
The covert-ops department had a single floor all to themselves. It was noticeably less crowded than the other departments.
Feng Jun brought Han Xiao to a meeting room before leaving.
Han Xiao stepped through the door to see that there were already three people seated inside. They were none other than Li Ya Lin, Lambert, and Li Yao.
“You’re the logistics guy that the director gave special permission to join our team?”
Li Ya Lin rose up to circle around Han Xiao as she examined him.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. Special permission? Logistics guy? Suddenly, he noticed that the woman who had spoken to him was not only slender and perky, but extremely pretty. In Han Xiao’s books, she was easily up there with Hila. She was wearing a yellow sports-style jacket on top of black tights.
“I am Han Xiao, a mechanic.”
Li Yao abruptly stood up, knocking his chair down in the process.
“Ni-ni-nice to meet you. I am Li Yao, the team’s hacker,” he introduced, stretching out a hand.
“I am the sniper, Lambert,” introduced Lambert plainly without getting up.
Han Xiao shook Li Yao’s hand and casually acknowledged Lambert with a nod. He was obviously the silent type.
“Hey, why are you wearing a mask?” asked Li Ya Lin with big, bright, curious eyes as she reached out to pull Han Xiao’s mask off.
Han Xiao dodged.
“Why are you hiding your face! Don’t you trust us?” Li Ya Lin questioned unhappily.
“My identity is top-secret,” Han Xiao replied.
Although being assigned to this team would have to mean that these people were trustworthy, Han Xiao still felt that not revealing his face would save him some trouble. He could imagine the questions they would have for him after learning of his face…
“Aren’t you that wanted fugitive?”
“Why would Division 13 want you?”
“What did you do to the Germinal Organization?”
Answering all those questions would be a real headache.
Besides, Han Xiao did not plan to stay in Division 13 for too long.
“Your identity is top-secret? Hold on…” Li Ya Lin seemed to recall something, and she jumped in front of Han Xiao, asking, “Were you the one who made the Lightweight Mechanical Arm?”
Han Xiao gave a start.
“How do you know‽”
“Ha ha! So it’s you!” Li Ya Lin jumped about excitedly before slinging an arm over Han Xiao’s shoulder. “Make another one for me!”
Han Xiao’s mouth twitched.
“It won’t be free.”
Li Ya Lin laughed loudly before asking softly, “Can I have a discount?”
“No.”
“You miser!”
“I still don’t know your name.” This overly friendly pretty lady was giving him quite a headache.
“Li Ya Lin, in charge of close combat,” she reluctantly answered.
“So the four of us are a team?”
“No, there’s still our leader.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s not here. He’s recovering from an injury.”
“Even the leader gets injured. Covert-ops must be some dangerous work,” remarked Han Xiao.
The trio exchanged awkward glances.
“The leader is sick from food poisoning,” explained Li Yao.
“…”
Han Xiao was speechless.
Li Yao coughed dryly.
“The covert-ops department takes on special high difficulty missions. Each team contains 4-7 people, and other than completing the missions assigned to us each month, we are basically free to do whatever we want in our free time,” he began to explain.
“Covert-ops personnel are the cream of the crop. Some of us, like Uncle Lambert, are recruited from other organizations. He was recruited in from a special forces squad. Your designation is field support. You will be in charge of equipment, scheduling, and, during operations, gathering and organizing intel. You’ll be our eyes and ears from now on.”
That’s nice and all… thought Han Xiao, but I want to hunt monsters!
Nevertheless, he could understand why Division 13 arranged things like this – they would rather not put a valuable asset like him in the face of danger.
Well, at the end of the day, Han Xiao not only gained their protection, but also a platform to make some money, so he was satisfied.
Mechanics were really too weak early on compared to pugilists or espers, so crafting was much more efficient for them to earn experience.
“Does our team have a name?” asked Han Xiao.
“Team name? What use would that have?” replied a still displeased Li Ya Lin.
“That’s true…” muttered Han Xiao.
Suddenly, Li Yao interrupted, “We were just issued a mission to take in Black Spider. Apparently, he’s still hiding here in the Western Capital.”
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. The timing of the mission was too sudden. It was probably deliberately assigned by the higher-ups.
“Black Spider?” Li Ya Lin wondered aloud. “I know him. He’s infamous for being a solo bounty hunter. The last time those field agents tried to bring him in he blew up two whole streets. Why would he still hide here in the capital?”
“When will we depart?” Lambert asked.
“There’s no rush. Since they’ve already confirmed his location, let’s just act at night.”
“Since this is your first mission, just familiarize yourself with the logistics preparation.”
Although it was their first meeting, the trio did not inquire too much about Han Xiao’s identity. To be assigned to covert-ops already meant that the higher-ups trusted him, and that was enough.
_____________
[You have triggered the Class-E mission, [Black Spider]. Accept/Decline]
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Accept.
_____________
Mission Hint: Black Spider is a notorious murderer and bounty hunter. This is your first mission with the covert-ops department. Your responsibility is to help the team succeed.
Mission Requirement: Defeat Black Spider
Reward: 5,000 experience
Bonus Reward: 40,000 experience or Mind Stabilizer
Chapter 39. First Operation (part 1) |
Black Spider? Isn’t that a mini-boss? thought Han Xiao to himself.
Black Spider was an Esper who was regarded as one of the ‘Hardest Bosses to Kill in Version 1.0’.
Normally, a mini-boss quest at Han Xiao’s current level would be at least Class-D, and reward way more experience. However, in Galaxy, quests rewards were automatically adjusted according to character level and roles.
Generally, in a party quest, players who contributed the most damage or healing would earn the most experience. It was a system that prevented experience leeching.
I guess it’s still better than nothing, Han Xiao consoled himself.
From what Han Xiao knew about Black Spider, this mission would be a piece of cake for his team. However, the bonus reward was a different question. Han Xiao knew for sure that the condition for the bonus reward would be to take Black Spider in alive, but it could prove difficult to accomplish as Black Spider was in fact a superhuman, and his abilities made him much harder to catch than to defeat. As of now, only Han Xiao knew about the fact that he was a superhuman. In the game, it would only be revealed later on after launch.
On the other hand, since Han Xiao had a complete understanding of the extent of Black Spider’s abilities, it was still possible to catch him.
“How much will you charge me?” asked Li
Ya Lin all of a sudden. She was clearly still hung up on the Lightweight Mecha Arm.
“One Lightweight Mecha Arm will cost 20,000. 10,000 upfront, plus materials, and I’ll make you one in two days.”
Li Ya Lin pouted. Although it was almost a month of her wage, she was still bent on having it.
“Do you have anything else for now?”
Han Xiao pondered for a moment before whipping out what seemed to be a 10 centimeter black knife handle without a blade.
“What’s this for?” asked Li Ya Lin uncertainly.
Han Xiao chuckled and pressed a small switch on the handle. Instantly, a blade shot out from within it, transforming the stick into a 70 centimeter sharp knife.
“This is a retractable knife.”
For Li Ya Lin, it was love at first sight. The reason she favored her baton was due to its portability, and the retractable knife took it one step further. It was as concealable, yet stronger. Just as she was about to grab it out of Han Xiao’s hands, Han Xiao dodged.
“1,000 for one,” he stated with a straight face. In truth, it had only costed him 300 to make.
“You stingy miser! Money-face!” Li Ya Lin scolded as she forked out the money.
As she started to play around with the knife, Lambert suddenly spoke.
“I want ten but shorter. Around 30 cm.”
Han Xiao was overjoyed.
“No problem!”
“I want them ready for tonight.”
“As long as I have the materials.”
“I want one, too!” Lin Yao exclaimed, to Han Xiao’s surprise. For some reason, this beginner weapon was turning out to be quite the hot item.
What Han Xiao did not know was that innovation was stifled in Division 13 – and it probably had something to do with the research department. Furthermore, the type of complex missions that secret-ops typically performed restricted their choice of equipment.
Most agents’ preferred weapon of choice for close combat was the dagger, so Han Xiao’s retractable knife was quite a game changer. Imagine if, during a mission, your enemy whipped out his 10 cm dagger, and you whipped out your meter long knife.
Longer is always more impressive.
…
After acquiring the materials from Lambert and Li Yao, Han Xiao headed over to the private workshop at the logistics department to get the knives crafted.
In one afternoon, Han Xiao earned 11,000 Aquamarine Dollars and even earned quite a bit of experience in the process: 8,000 in total.
“Not bad at all. Looks like Division 13 will be the goldmine that I expected it to be.”
After getting suited up, the trio departed for the city to hunt Black Spider. Han Xiao, though, stayed behind in the HQ to provide support, intel, and instructions.
Li Ya Lin, Lambert, and Li Yao all had cameras and mics attached to them, and their feeds were directly wired to Han Xiao. He could clearly see whatever they were seeing, and in some sense, his job was to act as a director of sorts.
Of course, as Han Xiao was new to the squad, he did not expect them to fully trust his judgement. Furthermore, it was an easy mission that all of them knew the higher-ups meant as a trial. While they did not object to Han Xiao playing captain, whether they would listen to him was another matter. They would still follow their own judgement no matter what, and Han Xiao fully knew this.
Nonetheless, Han Xiao was not only quite experienced as a captain – having led 50 men raids back in Galaxy – he was basically omniscient, and this alone made him the best person for the job.
…
Night had fallen.
Three people arrived at the dirty, wet streets of District 8. As it was night, the streets were empty, and the streetlights flickered ominously.
District 8 was vastly different from the other districts. The buildings here were shabby, and some did not even have proper roofs – instead, metal sheets and cloth could be seen covering the houses. Laundry was hanging up all over the place, and the streets were uncleaned and full of litter. This was a place that could hardly be called safe. Drug dealers and the like all thrived in this district, and it was to no one’s surprise that Black Spider would hide here.
The trio were fully equipped – even Li Yao. Although he was a hacker – and also a coward – he was still able to wield a gun.
Chapter 40. First Operation (part 2) |
“That apartment building ahead is Black Spider’s hiding spot. He should be on the third floor. We need to approach silently,” said Li Ya Lin to Lambert and Li Yan.
“There’s no point in acting stealthy,” interrupted Han Xiao through the intercom. “Black Spider has already discovered you all.”
“How do you know?” Li Ya Lin frowned.
Suddenly, gunfire pierced the silence of the night as a storm of bullets rained upon the trio. They immediately jumped into the nearest alley to seek cover.
The trio exchanged serious looks as they leaned against the wall.
Since when did he notice us‽
While a simple ambush like that would never have been enough to do them in, they would not have been able to react so fast without Han Xiao’s warning. Li Ya Lin put her game face on and clamped her earpiece tighter.
There was a man standing on top of the tall building from where the shots had come from smiling frenziedly upon the trio’s location with an assault rifle in his hands. On the left side of his face was a tattoo of a black spider. With a wave of his hand, ten masked men armed with guns suddenly jumped out of their hiding spots in the nearby streets and alleys to converge on the alley that the trio was in.
“Our intel was wrong! Wasn’t he alone‽” Lin Yao’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
Li Ya Lin’s heart sunk.
Black Spider began to laugh coldly.
“Did you think that I would continue staying here if I was not prepared? You guys got me good the other time, but now that you have all kindly offered yourselves up, I shall have my revenge!”
Black Spider was widely known to be an independent bounty hunter, and his modus operandi was to set up traps before the battle even broke out. The trio were akin to prey stepping into a spider’s web.
Li Ya Lin suddenly turned to face the wall and, as her leg began to glow yellow, smashed it down with a powerful kick to obstruct the enemy’s vision.
Low level pugilists relied mainly on their abnormally huge power. Li Ya Lin was a Lv. 25 E-class superhuman with over 300 ona.
Black Spider and his agents suppressed the trio with overwhelming gunfire as they converged onto the alleyway.
Li Ya Lin and Lambert dragged Lin Yao with them as they made use of their surroundings to evade the gunfire. While they were able to dodge all the bullets, they soon found themselves cornered in a dead end; Black Spider and his men had sealed off the alley.
Black Spider closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“My insects, you must be trembling with fear now,” he said frenziedly.
“Do you think you’ve won?” replied Li Ya Lin tauntingly as she shot a glance at Lambert.
Black Spider turned around to face his men as he opened up his arms.
“I just need to say give the order and you will become minced meat in an instant. I do think I’ve won, don’t you?”
“Then what are you waiting for?” glowered Li Ya Lin.
Black Spider waved a finger.
“Killing you all will do me no good. I’ll ransom you for a tidy sum!” he proudly declared, knowing full well that Division 13 could hear him through the trio’s intercom.
“But only one of you is enough!” he suddenly broke out in maniacal laughter.
Just as he was about to give the order to fire, Li Ya Lin jumped onto the wall, and, as her legs began to glow yellow, she sprung forward, soaring in the air like a graceful swallow to close in on Black Spider and his men.
“Kill her!” Black Spider frantically ordered. His men began to fire at Li Ya Lin, and while a few bullets managed to find their mark despite her
being fast to the point of becoming a blur, they simply flattened into metal pancakes upon hitting her clothes.
Not only was the fabric of Li Ya Lin’s bodysuit weaved with bulletproof ceramic fiber, her own body itself was tough enough to deflect bullets. From the start, the trio had only been fleeing to bait in Black Spider and all of his men.
As Li Ya Lin distracted them, Lambert whipped out two knives with each hand and threw them out, killing four men instantly.
Li Ya Lin drew the sheathed retractable knife from her waist and slashed at the nearest agent. The agent threw his head back slightly, thinking that it would be enough to dodge, but, suddenly, a 10 cm blade extended out to rip his throat open.
“Excellent weapon!” remarked Li Ya Lin with shining eyes.
What happens when a gunman comes into the range of a pugilist goes without saying. Thirty seconds later, there was blood splattered everywhere, and only Black Spider, with both hands chopped off, remained.
Li Ya Lin exhaled as she sheathed the retractable knife. She clearly looked pleased with it.
“Well done,” praised Han Xiao. He had chosen to remain silent during the fight so as not to bother them.
“Thank— thank you,” Li Yao stammered.
“Not you.”
Li Yao lowered his head in depression. He had truly not contributed anything at all during the fight.
The heavily wounded Black Spider began to laugh hoarsely as he glared at Li Ya Lin without a single trace of fear in his eyes.
“Little brat, you guys can’t kill me,” he taunted.
Suddenly, Lambert whipped out his gun to shoot Black Spider in the head. Blood splattered across the floor as Black Spider’s body collapsed to the ground.
Li Ya Lin and Li Yao turned to look at him speechlessly.
“Can’t know until you try,” he stated plainly.
“Ay… whatever. They didn’t tell us to take him in alive anyway,” said Li Ya Lin as she lazily stretched her back. “Ah! I want to go back to take a shower! All of this blood is so smelly.”
Suddenly, however, Han Xiao spoke.
“Don’t let your guard down. He’s not dead yet.”
Li Ya Lin almost stumbled backwards in her stretch.