As Cheng Jinyang and his companions arrived at Luo Hall, they noticed an unusually large number of people there today.
Jinyiwei officers stood around, staring at the crowd with expressionless faces, causing a sense of unease among the Tian Luo members.
Cheng Jinyang glanced around but did not see his two cousins, Cheng Huaiyan and Xing Junmo. Instead, he spotted another acquaintance.
Ranked seventh on the Tian Luo list, "Viper Hand" Su Zizhong, an otherwise unremarkable middle-aged man, was inconspicuously mingling among the Tian Luo members, quietly observing their noisy commotion.
So Cheng Jinyang quietly squeezed through the crowd and approached Su Zizhong, asking:
"What's going on with these guys?"
Su Zizhong immediately recognized this favored attendant of the princess and replied with a smile:
"The court has sent people to temporarily take over the control of Tian Luo and Ground Network, so everyone is uneasy about the new employer."
The Tian Luo and Ground Network being requisitioned by the court? Cheng Jinyang was momentarily taken aback but quickly understood.
With the intensifying war, requisition and military control were inevitable. Besides, Tian Luo and Ground Network were an important military force in the city; it would be unreasonable not to requisition it.
However, considering it was only a temporary requisition, the court would certainly not treat the Tian Luo assassins as steadily as the Cheng family did. They might drive them to death... This was what everyone was truly worried about.
After a while, accompanied by Cheng Huaiyan and Xing Junmo, a Jinyiwei commander emerged from the inner room and raised his hands to signal for silence.
"The court understands your concerns," the commander said slowly, adopting a bureaucratic tone. "But everyone should know that the rebellious Longxiang Army is just outside. In times of national crisis, everyone should contribute to the court..."
Before he could finish, the Tian Luo members started to clamour again: we are not laborers to be exploited at will by the court; we all have guns. If you bureaucrats don't pay us and expect us to work for free, we might as well go outside and join the Longxiang Army! Selling our lives either way, we should at least choose the highest bidder!
The Jinyiwei commander coughed, unsurprised by the defiant nature of these Tian Luo assassins, and clapped his hands.
An assistant stepped forward and activated a holographic projection device, displaying a long list in the air in front of everyone.
Artificial eyes, prosthetic limbs, AI assistants, automated turrets, sealed advanced hacker toolkits, and various smart firearms and ammunition, all military-grade equipment prohibited from being sold on the market.
"Although the court is temporarily requisitioning Tian Luo, it won't break the rules without reason," the Jinyiwei commander said as the noise died down. "The upcoming tasks assigned by the court will be distributed in the same manner as Tian Luo missions, to be voluntarily accepted without forced assignment."
"All tasks come with corresponding military merit points. Accumulate enough points to exchange for military-grade equipment, available in limited quantities, first come, first served."
So, everyone started arguing again: "You, Jinyiwei, dress up so nicely, but why do you talk so much nonsense in official language? Every rebel and traitor must be eliminated, so shut up and show us the task list!" Under the command of the Jinyiwei, the Tian Luo assassins rushed to the task distribution center and began queuing up to select tasks.
The commander of the Jinyiwei, accompanied by his two cousins, approached Cheng Jinyang and the girls. "Cheng Jinyang, right?" The commander smiled kindly. "Her Highness is not in the city at the moment, but she instructed me before she left."
He then took out a tablet with a list of tasks on it. "Her Highness has specially listed these tasks for you; as for the tasks in the mission center, either they are too difficult or too simple to waste time on. You don't need to consider them."
"Thank you, sir," Cheng Jinyang took the tablet and thanked him promptly.
"You're welcome. Serving Her Highness is our duty," the Jinyiwei commander said pleasantly, then his expression turned serious. "There's one more thing... I have a decree from His Majesty."
"When you can see His Majesty, go to the east gate outside the Taiji Hall, where attendants will escort you into the palace. His Majesty..." His voice paused, expressionless. "...wants to talk to you about Professor Xie."
Professor Xie?
Cheng Jinyang was puzzled for a moment before realizing it referred to the original owner's deceased mother, the late Imperial Honorary Academician Xie Guyan.
As Cheng Jinyang snapped out of his thoughts, the Jinyiwei commander had already left, leaving only the two cousins.
"Since Her Highness has instructed, you should start with the tasks on the list," Xing Junmo said enviously. "Other Tian Luo assassins don't have your luck."
"To be honest, in terms of experience, we can only be considered Tian Luo rookies," Cheng Jinyang immediately interjected tactfully. "If you two cousins have time, could you lead and teach us on missions? We can split the rewards evenly."
Considering these tasks were carefully selected by the princess, Cheng Jinyang's suggestion of "teaching" was actually a way to gain favor with the two cousins.
"No need," the two cousins understood his intention. Cheng Huaiyan refused directly, while Xing Junmo laughed heartily. "These tasks are prepared for you by Her Highness. How can we take your rewards? If you encounter any difficulties, like not understanding the task, you can come and ask us, but let's skip splitting rewards... By the way, is this a new recruit you found? Haven't seen her before?"
His gaze fell on Yang Wangshu behind them, muttering to himself: Is this masked girl not yet an adult, or is she naturally short?
"Ah, yeah," Cheng Jinyang answered vaguely, "just a friend, looking to gain some experience."
Fortunately, the two cousins didn't ask too many questions, exchanged pleasantries, and left. Cheng Jinyang took out his tablet, and together with Xing Yuanzhi and Yang Wangshu, they started looking at it.
When they weren't looking, everything seemed peaceful in Jiankang City. But once they glanced at the task list, it felt like Jiankang City was a powder keg, infiltrated by traitors, spies, gang members, and criminals, ready to erupt into massive unrest at any moment.
"By the way, who is that highness?" Yang Wangshu curiously typed, "To make the commander of the Jinyiwei(Imperial Guards) so respectful, she must be more than just an ordinary prince's daughter, right? Could she be the emperor's daughter?"
"I can't confirm, but if you insist on thinking so, I won't deny it," Cheng Jinyang casually replied.
"Could you please leave with your riddles? Thanks," Yang Wangshu said.
"Hey, there's a mission from Wujiang Town here," Xing Yuanzhi suddenly exclaimed, "Wujiang Industrial Zone?"
"It's about 2 kilometers southwest of our old house," Cheng Jinyang confirmed, "Let's start with this one."
For aristocratic children like them, military prosthetics were useless junk. Earning military merit points aimed to boost prestige within their families (after all, they had no status within the family), and to exchange for corresponding financial rewards.
The family could then use these military merit points as bargaining chips in negotiations with the court.
Of course, this only applied to Cheng Jinyang and Xing Yuanzhi. Most of the aristocratic children in Tianluo Department were from their families, and only these two families could benefit.
Yang Wangshu was purely here as a laborer; all her contributions would be credited to Cheng Jinyang and Xing Yuanzhi. But she didn't mind; after all, being with Sister Ah Zhi, she considered it an experience of the assassin's life.
With their decision made, the three prepared to go to Wujiang Town for the mission when suddenly another call came in.
It was from Miss Qingqing, and as soon as Cheng Jinyang answered, her panicked voice came:
"Something's wrong!"
"I feel like I'm turning into a demon!"