Chapter 24 - What Is Weak?

Lu Qian left after tidying up the room.

Han Xiao climbed onto the bed and closed his eyes. Now, he had to wait for Division 13 to approach him.

“I am not strong enough yet.”

Han Xiao understood that he couldn’t just rely on Stardragon to deal with the Germinal Organization. He had to become much stronger in order to be able to take matters into his own hands. In any case, for now, he also had to be strong enough to gain Division 13’s special attention.

Since there were neither quests to do nor monsters to hunt, the only way to get stronger now was through crafting. Han Xiao would need money to make machines, so he planned to find some way to make extra income. The city provided him with many opportunities. His long journey had only just begun.

With only six months left to launch, he had to treasure the remaining time.

After resting for a while, Han Xiao returned downstairs. Lu Qian was working on a household appliance at the workbench. Her denim shorts truly accentuated her perky curves, and Han Xiao couldn’t help but steal glances at those slender, long legs of hers.

“The orders are in the drawer,” she said to Han Xiao as she wiped her sweat with a towel.

The workshop didn’t see much business and most of the orders were advance orders. Han Xiao picked out a few easy ones and began working.

At 7 PM, they closed for the day.

Lu Qian changed into a comfy white dress and let her hair down, giving her the air of a kind, beautiful sister. There were patches sewn onto her dress, implying that they weren’t doing so well financially. Han Xiao wondered if the reason she wore so little during work was if she was saving fabric.

Old Man Lu finally showed his face for dinner.

“Let’s eat.”

Old Man Lu with his long and, messy hair certainly did not seem the type of person to do household chores. Their meals were, indeed, always prepared by Lu Qian.

Han Xiao picked up a piece of char siu ¹ with his chopsticks and placed it in his mouth. It was fatty but not oily, and was extremely tasteful. Han Xiao was visibly delighted.

“Delicious, right?” smiled Lu Qian in glee.

Now this—this is proper food! What the hell have I been eating for the past 6 months?

“There’s still a lot, so eat slowly,” she added, pleased by the sight of his voracious appetite.

As they continued eating, Old Man Lu suddenly asked, “Who exactly are you?”

Han Xiao, stopping his chopsticks in mid-air, replied, “I’m just an ordinary person.”

“Do you think you can deceive me with such a blatant lie, kid? Tell me the truth,” the old man snorted.

Han Xiao’s eye twitched.

“And what if I don’t want to?”

“Don’t want to?”

Suddenly, Old Man Lu tilted his head back as he began to release a domineering aura of strange, wild melancholy that threatened to engulf Han Xiao.

A look of seriousness appeared on Han Xiao’s face. Twisting, he leapt backwards five meters, raising his arms in a cross-shaped guard to defend himself.

Old Man Lu’s eyes narrowed.

“I have a skill that can kill the target’s very soul in an instant. Do you want to test it?” he asked.

“Does such a godly skill really exist?” Han Xiao’s face began to pale.

“The level of strength I have attained cannot be comprehended by the likes of you!” Old Man Lu snorted in reply.

Suddenly, a black, stormy cloud arose from behind Lu Qian. Lightning crackled and thunder roared. Wearing the same usual smile that she always displayed, she tapped the table with her chopsticks and ordered plainly, “Sit down and eat.”

The duo instantly returned to their original positions and continued eating, as though nothing had happened at all.

The Western Capital was vast, comprising of eight districts and three citadels interconnected by military roads.

District 1 was the central district and the Western Capital’s seat of government. Regular citizens were not allowed inside.

Although the Six Nations were united against the Germinal Organization, they still remained competitive with one another. After all, alliances were only temporary. The assassination of important figures occurred frequently amongst the Six Nations, and although they would always blame these incidents on the Germinal Organization or other dangerous individuals, the governments knew that 70% of them were each other’s doing.

The Germinal Organization, the wanderer’s army, intelligence agencies and brokers, illegal arms dealers, individual criminals, mercenary assassins, hackers, and other kinds of shady groups comprised the planet’s underworld.

Dragonhorn Tower was the central building of the government, where the top brass operated from. Its walls were reputed to be strong enough to repel intercontinental missiles.

The headquarters of a secret department was situated below Dragonhorn Tower.

Beneath Dragonhorn Tower, at an undisclosed basement level was the Stardragon Strategic Defense Division.

Dozens of screens hung from the wall, displaying countless data and information. Intelligence agents typed away at their keyboards while even more bustled around. This place was the central network of the government, where information was filtered and channeled.

Division 13 served not only as Stardragon’s ears and eyes, but also as a hidden knife.

“Reporting: ‘Zero’ has been located.”

A gentle-looking bespectacled female secretary hastily knocked open the office door of the department’s director. A stern-faced man was seated behind the desk. Drool could be seen on the corner of his mouth.

“Speak,” he said in a low voice.

“Director, were you secretly taking a nap again?” The bespectacled secretary squinted at him.

“Cut the crap!” The intelligence director glared back. “Talk.”

“Zero is currently hiding in a machinery maintenance shop in district 7.”

The director swiveled away from his secretary and she could hear him sigh in contemplation with his back faced towards her. After a moment, he turned around to face her again and said, “The higher-ups want to adopt a friendly approach.”

“You just turned back to wipe your drool, right?”

“I really regret promoting you…”

The secretary pushed her glasses up and ignored him. “How exactly should we proceed?”

“Since Zero came to the Western Capital alone, he must want to cooperate… Activate protection protocol immediately. We must not let Germinal’s agents learn of his presence here. Have the hackers intercept any news of his trail and prevent leaks. Also, send an undercover agent to check him out; he might just be a spy they sent. Get confirmation before making direct contact.”

“A traitor worth a one million dollar bounty. There are two possibilities: either he possesses important information, or he possesses great power. For now, we are unable to ascertain how dangerous he might be, so proceed with utmost caution. I don’t want a repeat of what happened with Black Spider. Two streets bombed yet we failed to apprehend him. I was scolded for two whole hours by the minister as a result of that.”