by A Sick Frog
“Kneading! Haha, were you tricked? Let me tell you secretly, did your kneading unclog my Governor vessels? I feel like I’m a lot more powerful than before, even the training became easier!”
Qin Ke Xuan was speechless. Were Governor vessels so easy to unclog? All she did was to help him straighten out your inner balance and unclog your other vessels. It was the foundations that he did a good job of establishing previously, that’s why the following trainings were smooth-sailing.
“Did you fail you English and Physics for your year-end exams? If you want to be a military doctor, you should read more books instead of thinking of all the nonsense stuff.” Qin Ke Xuan replied him. The results for the year-end examinations were already out. Even though Yin Xu Don tried his best to study, he had left it wilting for too long so he only managed to pass, barely, the majority of his subjects. Her on the other hand attained great results for pretty much all her subjects. It was said that she was the top ten in the level. With regards to this result, MI6 felt that her grades barely made past their requirements so they considered her as having passed academics-wise, but they had her to work harder in the future.
This was two-lines-one-star’s first time being so blatantly ignored. His lips mincing, a gentle smile appeared on his face. “I’m Zhuo Hong Yi. What’s your name?”
Qin Ke Xuan turned and swept him a bland gaze. “Qin Ke Xuan. What type of soldier are you?” His military uniform’s colour was different from theirs.
“Air force.” Zhuo Hong Yi replied: “Why didn’t you go to the female SF if you wanted to be an SF soldier?”
Unfortunately, Qin Ke Xuan once again ignored him. She turned to look out the window at the night view even though there actually wasn’t much for her to see. The car had just left the military base so all that was outside was a pitch dark patch of trees and grasses.
Zhuo Hong Yi became glum. What was this lass’ background? To actually put up such airs with him? It was Wu Lieutenant Colonel who asked him for a favour to send her to the city along with him since he was going, and yet, she was actually ignoring him, and so many times at that. He considered whether he should remind her of his identity. Even though he wasn’t her direct superior, his military rank was there. She should at least give a military salute and show some respect no?
“Have you had a dog before?” Qin Ke Xuan suddenly asked.
“Ah? Oh, I had one before. What’s with the sudden question?” Zhou Hong Yi was surprised.
“Nothing.”
The remaining journey passed in silence. When they reached the city, the car stopped. Qin Ke Xuan gave Zhou Hong Yi a military salute before alighting the car and disappearing into the streaming people.
So you still know how to give a salute. Zhou Hong Yi looked in the direction Qin Ke Xuan left in.
When Qin Ke Xuan reached the MI6 base and walked into Condor A Team’s office, the rest of the team members had already gathered and were discussing their mission this time. At seeing Qin Ke Xuan walking in, Xu Mei Li handed Qin Ke Xuan a copy of the documents.
Qin Ke Xuan sat down, scanned the document once and raised her brows, looking at them. “Grade D?” She had not come into contact with any missions above Grade B to date.
Xu Tian Xian’s expression was grave. “Enh. The mission this time’s a little thorny. Other than Team A, Team B and C and the majority of the teams are going to be deployed as well.”
Qin Ke Xuan thought for a moment before saying: “I want to exchange my job with Mei Li’s.”
Xu Tian Xian frowned. “Reason.”
“I’m more adept than her and will be able to guarantee the General’s safety even in the face of unexpected dangers. Instead of having me aid Xu Mei Li in the event of a crisis, I think having Mei Li bring into play her planning skills and have me protect the General’s a more doable plan.”
Xu Tian Xian looked at Xu Mei Li, asking: “What’s your opinion on this?”
Xu Mei Li shrugged and said, uncaringly: “I’m fine with anything. But protecting the General will be a dangerous job. Le Le’s still small, will this arrangement…”
Qin Ke Xuan immediately rebutted: “This is independent of age. Also, isn’t the priority of our mission to protect the General? Our own safety will always rank after the General’s.”
After much consideration, Xu Tian Xian finally agreed to Qin Ke Xuan’s suggestion and have her exchange her job with Xu Mei Li.
Qin Ke Xuan had her agenda for automatically submitting a request for job switch in the mission–this was her chance to get close to the higher-ups. Ever since she’d joined the military, she had not encountered any information relating to time machines. In order to get to know such classified information, getting close to officers of high ranks was the best way. Even if she would only be able to receive tidbits of information, she would able to trace its tracks and figure things out eventually; at least it would be better than searching headlessly.
Everyone stayed at the base overnight to prepare for their mission the next day. Qin Ke Xuan held the so-called Italian Beretta 92F type handgun and sat in the corner checking it out. As she did so, she wondered how she should ask that General if he knew any information about time machines.
Xu Mei Li walked over the Qin Ke Xuan with the costume in her hand and said excitedly: “Le Le, come try if this waitress costume fits.”
Qin Ke Xuan placed the handgun down and took the costume from her expressionlessly before heading into the toilet to change and coming back into the office.
Xu Mei Li tapped her chin as she walked around Qin Ke Xuan in circles. “Feels like you’re still missing something, oh right, your hair! Hold on, I have a wig here!” She fished out a long-haired wig from a box and hooked it on top of Qin Ke Xuan’s head. “Tsk tsk, maid costumes sure are moe! Guys, come see how it looks!”
The rest of the people that were engaged in knocking out the mission plan raised their head. And then, they were immediately blown away by the moe Qin Ke Xuan in a maid costume. Covering their noses with a hand, they gave a thumbs up with their other hand. Guys, as expected, were maid costume-con!
Chapter 49 - Luring The Snake Out of Its Hole
On the evening of the second day after everyone’s gotten enough rest, they set out from the base.
Qin Ke Xuan and Xu Mei Li were attired as waitresses. The waitresses needed to gather at the location a few hours before. So the two of them stood along with the other waitresses and listened to the person-in-charge rattle off very smoothly and familiarly about the rules and standards and things to note.
The person-in-charge once again reminded everyone to pay attention when working and not to make mistakes, before dissolving the bunch of them to go start checking if the set up at the location was all in place or not. This arrangement was beyond amazing for their mission as well. The two of them swiftly ran through the entire place thoroughly. After not managing to find any suspicious parts did Qin Ke Xuan quickly lower her head and said into the mini-intercom attached to her chest and reported to Xu Tian Xian with Xu Mei Li covering her. “The hall is safe.”
Before the gathering was going to start, the two of them stood at a corner and carefully observed if there were any waiters acting strangely so as to prevent any enemies from mixing into the bunch.
Their mission this time was a very important one. The military had already received intelligence that the national separatists had been very active recently. Not only have they incited turmoil in the northeastern frontier, they had already assassinated a high-ranking military official. There were already quite a few high-ranking officials that had been murdered. Of course, these information were kept secret, so only one or two of them have released news that these officials had passed away due to old age. Only the internal personnel knew what really happened.
One of the officials that had been murdered was their military district’s General’s good friend. And so, this certain General, rumoured to have a quite the terrible temper, dismissed all the persuasions of others and decided to personally go
down and use himself as the bait in the gathering this time so as to lure these separatists out.
When it was time for the gathering, the guests trickled in continuously. Qin Ke Xuan and Xu Mei Li too started becoming busy. Only when all the guests had pretty much reached did a plump old man in military uniform, flanked by some others, enter.
He was the only one in military uniform in the hall so he was very conspicuous, and a gleamingly evident bait.
Qin Ke Xuan saw Xu Mei Li sending her a look. Lightly mincing her lips, she held the tray in her hands and rounded to the kitchen. She placed the tray down, returned to the hall and silently stood herself at a location not far from the old man in military uniform. Following that, she kept a close eye on the happenings in her surrounding while pretending to serve the guests food.
Suddenly, a person walked over from the side and blocked Qin Ke Xuan’s field of vision. And so, Qin Ke Xuan held her plate and decided to relocate herself.
“Hold on, are you… Qin Ke Xuan?”
Qin Ke Xuan raised her gaze and sent him a bland look. Grabbing her name tag hanging on her chest, she said: “I’m sorry, my name is Xu Le Le.”
Zhuo Hong Yi* looked at her name tag, then looked at Qin Ke Xuan. “My apologies, I must have mistaken you for someone else.” After that, he turned and left, but suddenly, he turned around again, and pointed at the plate in her hand. “Did a guest give you this plate?”
* Zhuo Hong Yi is the two-lines-one-star Major from chapter 48 (previous chapter)
“No.”
“Then give it to me then, thank you.” At that, Zhou Hong Yi took the plate from her and left.
Qin Ke Xuan was still wondering why he was here, then she saw him handing the plate of food to the old man in military uniform. “Ye ye*, you haven’t had breakfast yet. Here, eat some food, or else you’ll get gastric again.”
* 爷爷 = ye ye; paternal grandfather
The old man in military uniform glared at him, saying grumpily: “Why are you even naggier than your nai nai*?!”
* 奶奶 = nai nai; paternal grandmother
The others at seeing that laughed. “Zhou Commander-In-Chief, think for your health. You should eat some to fill your stomach.”
The old man in military uniform took over the plate in Zhou Hong Yi’s hand. “Cough, I’ll eat some then. There’s nothing much here so you can go back already. Go spend some time with your nai nai.”
“Ye ye!” Zhou Hong Yi was unwilling.
“Go home!” The old man in military emphasised.
Zhou Hong Yi couldn’t not give in. “Yes.” And then he left the hall.
Qin Ke Xuan continued surveying the surrounding. At seeing the old man in military uniform stopping after eating a few bites, she saw that it was a good opportunity for her so she grabbed a cup of clean water and went over to hand it to him.
The old man in military uniform at seeing the identification ring she was wearing on her pinky finger slightly paused before taking the cup of water Qin Ke Xuan was handing over. He then handed her his plate as he squinted at Qin Ke Xuan. “Thank you.”
“No need. This is my responsibility.”
And so, Qin Ke Xuan very naturally and inconspicuously followed her mission target around by his side.
“Le Le, you need to smile more like the other waitresses. If you’re going to have a cold expression on your face all the time, the enemy will notice you.” Xu Mei Li’s voice sounded from the earpiece beneath her wig.
Qin Ke Xuan swept a look at the surrounding waiters; they all had a standard smile pasted on their faces. She lifted the sides of her lips and showcased a little of her pearly whites.
“…Le Le, you know what, forget it. You don’t need to force yourself. You’ll definitely attract the enemy’s attention more with that kind of smile on.”
“…”
The old man in military uniform took a few gulps of the water and handed the cup back to Qin Ke Xuan. Just as Qin Ke Xuan was about to take the cup and turn to place it down, something suddenly felt off. She immediately threw the cup in her hand out, gripped the back of the old man’s military uniform and flung herself and the old man down on the ground.
Bang bang bang.
Gunshots sounded. Following which was the terrified female shrieks.
Qin Ke Xuan kicked the table over. Very quickly, she stripped off the old man’s military uniform jacket. Borrowing the chaos, she dragged the old man, now without his military uniform jacket, and they rolled on the ground into under a table.
“Let me go out! I will not be a coward!” The old man felt very ashamed of such cowardly actions, and protested agitatedly.
“If you want to be shot through until you’re a hornet’s nest then go ahead!” Qin Ke Xuan fiercely threatened.
The old man was enraged. “Do you know who I am?! You dare talk to the Commander-In-Chief this way?!”
“Listen! I will rush out there and attract their attention. You take the chance to sneak out by that little door there. We have our people stationed there to follow up.”
Qin Ke Xuan fished out her handgun, grabbed the military jacket she’d pulled off of him and wore it, then slammed a chair out with a kick, and the chair was shot several times. Qin Ke Xuan located them by listening to the sound of the gunshots before leaping out from under the table from the sides. As she leapt up into the air, she aimed at the armed people who were aiming this way and shot them down one by one.
She shot a total of three times and the three fell with a thump respectively. She too, fell on the ground. A hand supporting the floor, she bounced off and flipped forward. The location where she had almost landed on was immediately shot till there were little pits.
The people from Team B and Team C mixed in the guests were protecting the masses as they made their departure from the hall. The separatist did not want to make an effort to chase after them to kill them. Instead, they gathered their forces and attacked where Qin Ke Xuan was to kill of Zhuo Commander-In-Chief.
“Xu Le Le, hold on! We’ll be coming over to provide support!” Xu Tian Xian’s voice sounded amidst the waves of gunshots in Qin Ke Xuan’s ear.
Qin Ke Xuan had originally thought that once her mission target ran off, she would be able to get it on without having to look out for him and then massacre these separatist one by one. However, friggin’ hell, she saw the old man under the table across her not running away like what she’d told him. Instead, he fished out a handgun, all ready to join the intense fight. Had he lived long enough and wanted to die?!
Qin Ke Xuan immediately regretted not knocking him out then throwing him out. She took off her wig and placed it on the side of the table to create an illusion, then got some ceramic plates from the tabletop and swiped it at where the separatists were hiding. When they were shooting down the plates, she seized the opportunity to return to Zhuo Commander-In-Chief.
“Can you stop adding to the chaos? Hurry go!”
Zhuo Commander-In-Chief set his face as he said, his voice firm: “As a General, how can I abandon my soldiers and escape?!”
Qin Ke Xuan really wanted to give him a chop and have him faint, but when she thought about how she might need to borrow his power and influence in the future, she held the impulse in. “You can stay but you need to ensure your safety.”
Zhuo Commander-In-Chief was the General that commanded the military district one. It had always been him giving out orders, but now, there was a little lass giving him orders, and what was ridiculous was that she had to listen to her! He nodded. “Fine! I definitely will not drag you down!”
Suddenly, the little door opened and a man barged in. “Ye ye!”
He pounced towards Qin Ke Xuan and Zhuo Commander-In-Chief. If it hadn’t been the “ye ye” he shouted, Qin Ke Xuan would have very impolitely fed him a bullet.
Zhuo Hong Yi anxiously checked if Zhuo Commander-In-Chief was hurt or not. “Ye ye, are you hurt?”
“‘Course not! You brat! Didn’t I tell you to go home?!” Zhuo Co
mmander-In-Chief waved his hand and gave Zhuo Hong Yi a slap on his head in anger.
“How can I leave knowing ye ye you’re in danger?”
Qin Ke Xuan cut off their “exchange of greetings”. “Now’s not the time for this. You, watch Zhuo Commander-In-Chief and leave under my protection.”
Zhuo Hong Yi stared at Qin Ke Xuan’s face and her hair that “became short”, saying in shock: “I knew you’re Qin Ke Xuan!” She’d still lied about her being Xu Le Le or something.
Zhuo Commander-In-Chief said anxiously: “What about the rest of the people? I can’t abandon them like this.”
“The enemy’s target is you so the others will not be in danger. Since we’re luring the snake out of its hole, then what’s left is capturing the snake. Please trust our ability to capture the snake.”
Zhuo Commander-In-Chief met Qin Ke Xuan’s eyes and was influenced by the confidence in her gaze. Hence, he nodded. “Fine, we’ll retreat!” He knew that if they had a proper layout in place, him staying behind would only be a burden for them.
Under the protection of Qin Ke Xuan, Zhuo Hong Yi and Zhuo Commander-In-Chief left by the small door that went to the backyard of the place. The guards Zhuo Commander-In-Chief left behind and the bunch of MI6 people waiting there already. She could tell from the mess that they’ve already cleared the enemy that were guarding behind.
At seeing Zhuo Commander-In-Chief exiting, the guards immediately carried their assault rifles and went up. They guarded the Commander-In-Chief alertly and headed in the direction of their car.
Qin Ke Xuan took off the military uniform jacket and returned it to Zhuo Hong Yi. Zhuo Hong Yi took it and then wore it. He still had to be mindful of the remaining separatists. He needed to ensure Zhuo Commander-In-Chief’s safety. In the end, that earned him another slap from Zhuo Commander-In-Chief. Under Zhuo Commander-In-Chief’s threatening glare, he took it off obediently, but he didn’t let Zhuo Commander-In-Chief wear it no matter what.
Qin Ke Xuan walked over to a side and said into the intercom: “I’ve already brought Zhuo Commander-In-Chief out.”