The car stopped, and Han Xiao was pushed out with the black bag still over his head. When the car began to speed off, Han Xiao removed the black bag to find himself a few streets away from the workshop.
When he looked up, he could see several glistening moons in the night sky.
"Tsk. Why all the secrecy?" he muttered to himself.
Nevertheless, Han Xiao was feeling quite pleased for having accomplished his goal. He hummed merrily as he made his way back to the workshop. It was only when he reached the entrance that it dawned on him that going missing for 3 days would be hard to explain.
Han Xiao stepped inside the workshop to see an anxious Lu Qian pacing back and forth.
For some reason, she became enraged at the sight of him.
"Why did you only come back now‽ Do you know how worried I've been? You're a foreigner! I thought something might have happened to you!"
Han Xiao put on his 'huh, did something happen?' expression and stared at her blankly.
"What exactly were you doing?"
"Taking a stroll."
"Can you at least try to come up with a better excuse‽"
"I thought… it's quite a good excuse?"
"A gunfight at the junkyard was reported on the news yesterday. I thought you got caught in it or something and…" Lu Qian began nagging.
Being nagged at did not irritate Han Xiao at all; on the contrary, it gave him a warm and fuzzy feeling.
However, Old Man Lu appeared to ruin the moment.
"You came back alive? How disappointing."
"I'll get you a mobile phone over the next few days. The cost will be deducted from your salary," said Lu Qian.
"There's no need. I already have one," replied Han Xiao as he whipped the black mobile phone out.
Although they had told him not to share the number with anyone else, screw Division 13!
When he saw the black phone, Old Man Lu gave a start. He pulled Han Xiao away to a corner.
"This is a Division 13 phone. You joined Division 13?"
"So you know what this is."
"Hmph. Since you've joined Division 13… get the hell out of my workshop!"
"You can leave if you want to; I'm not leaving."
"How dare you talk to me like that‽ Why would you even want to-"
Old Man Lu suddenly paused.
"Are you… trying to woo my granddaughter?" He glowered.
"No!" Han Xiao hastily answered.
Suddenly, however, Old Man Lu's expression grew strange.
"Hey Little Han, now that I think about it… my granddaughter is not that young anymore. What do you think about her?"
Han Xiao immediately stiffened up.
"Old Lu, as the saying goes, a stolen melon is not sweet!"
"But at least you would have a melon! Besides, we need a boy to carry on the family name."
We‽ Don't drag me into your family tree!
"…"
"Heh heh. Strike while the iron is hot! There is only so much I can help you with," he added while patting Han Xiao on the shoulder before heading upstairs, leaving Han Xiao utterly bewildered.
Old people who want descendants are scary!
Han Xiao turned around, and to his horror, Lu Qian had been standing behind him the entire time. She stared at Han Xiao with big, bright eyes that seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"This is a misunderstanding!"
"J-jerk!" Lu Qian covered her blushing face and ran upstairs.
"It's not like that…"
…
For Luo Xuan, the next few days were restless ones. He was afraid that Han Xiao would join the logistics department and steal the limelight from him.
When it finally got to his head, he went to find a director to ask about Han Xiao.
"His information is classified," the big-bellied logistics director, who always wore a smile on his face, said when he asked. "All I can tell you is that he's joined Division 13."
Luo Xuan's heart sank when he heard the news.
"Will he join logistics, or research?"
The director shook his head.
"Neither. He's joined covert-ops. He'll start in a few days."
The news stunned Luo Xuan.
How could some unknown guy who popped out of nowhere be directly recruited into secret ops? I've worked my ass for so many years, yet I'm still in research?
This is unfair!
…
One week after the junkyard incident, the underworld bosses of the six other districts gathered together to discuss an important issue, the disappearance of Raccoon.
Through piecing together bits of the puzzle, they were able to uncover that Division 13 had a hand in it, and this shocked all of them.
What exactly did Raccoon do to incur the wrath of the mighty lion?
"Raccoon must have offended Division 13 somehow. He is probably dead already," declared the boss of District 2, who had initiated the meeting.
All of the bosses present had grave expressions. Although they usually acted high and mighty in front of their subordinates, they all knew that Division 13 could easily wipe any one of them out. They were really just small-time hoodlums.
After all, the Western Capital was the seat of the government, and they were just sewer rats hiding around. In fact, they could not even be compared to the intelligence and firearms brokers in the slums! At least those people had powerful backers.
"Who wants to take over District 7?" asked the District 2 boss.
Everyone remained silent.
"No one?"
Although the bosses usually fought amongst one another for territory, none of them dared to take over District 7 without understanding why Division 13 had taken action.
"Fine, then we will leave it open to new blood."
Now that Raccoon was removed from the picture, there would definitely be ambitious people in his gang rising up to seize power. Of course, it was not that they were willing to let a new rival emerge. Instead, as the situation in District 7 was still unclear, they were just waiting to see what would happen. It would not be too late to get rid of the new boss as soon as everything stabilized.
…
Han Xiao's life in the workshop returned to normal. After a few days, he asked for an advance of his first month's pay to order some materials from Division 13.
At present, he was examining a dark red bullet lying on his palm. It was carved with flame patterns.
_____________________
[High-explosive Bullet]: Causes an explosion in a 3 meter radius upon hitting the target.
——————————————————————
Although it was a very simple description, it was actually extremely powerful.
High-explosive bullets incorporated extremely flammable incendiary gels and gases that could ignite far easier than traditional armor-piercing ammunition. They would explode immediately upon coming into contact with air, and the bullet itself would also be consumed in the explosion, leaving nothing behind.
The method to craft the incendiary agents was described in detail in the blueprint, and although Han Xiao was not able to understand it well, as he had not learnt [Basic Chemistry] yet, he was still able to craft it by following the instructions.
From handgun bullets to sniper bullets, over the next few days, Han Xiao crafted dozens of high-explosive bullets.
He also used some good quality metal to craft a 2.5kg, 65cm Combat Switchblade with 13-19 Damage. It was 12cm long when folded and was entirely black in color with a triangular-tipped edge, and while it was not really ideal for combat, it did have some practical uses.
Han Xiao used the experience he gained from crafting the high-explosives and the switchblade to raise [Machinery Affinity (Novice)] to Lv. 4.
[Machinery Affinity (Novice)] had a level cap of 5, which would take Han Xiao 15,000 experience. His [Basic Shooting] was now Lv. 8, and that would take another 45,000 experience to level up. In all, Han Xiao just needed 60,000 more experience to gain 2 more Potential points.
Each of the Six Nations possessed different types of advanced knowledge that they used to entice powerful people to work for them. On Planet Aquamarine, there was only advanced knowledge for three of the five main classes: Pugilist, Mechanic, and Esper.
While no beginner planet possessed advanced knowledge of all 5 main classes, newcomers were always sent to planets based on their inputted preferences.
While Division 13 possessed advanced Mechanic knowledge, it was only accessible to 'revered' allies.
There was still a long way to go before Han Xiao became revered with Division 13.
Ever since the night that Han Xiao returned to the workshop, Lu Qian had not once looked at him directly in the eye, and would blush and run away from him after just a few sentences, making Han Xiao feel extremely irked. It did not help that Old Man Lu would pop up from time to time to give him knowing looks.
As for Lu Qian herself, she actually had mixed feelings about Han Xiao.
Of course, she did not hate Han Xiao. However, it was not like she liked him either.
Instead, she was more worried that Han Xiao would pack up and leave if she rejected him. After all, where else would she able to find such a good (cheap) employee?
Suddenly, Han Xiao's mobile phone lit up.
The message read: 'The paperwork has been completed. Report today. - Feng Jun.'
"Finally."