"This is outrageous!"
Li Yalin looked furious. If Xiao's business went under, her 20% discount would be gone.
Lin Yao sighed helplessly, "This is a top-level decision. We have no say in it."
Lambert wiped his throwing knives and remarked casually, "Why not just take out the R&D director?"
Lin Yao trembled. "Mate, you can't just blurt out things like that."
Li Yalin pondered thoughtfully, "Well, it's not entirely impossible..."
Lin Yao was on the verge of tears. Sis, you two don't want to live, but I am still young.
Though Xiao had only joined a few days ago, after the Black Spider operation, Li Yalin and the others recognised him as their teammate and felt compelled to take action.
"Why don't we ask Xiao what he wants to do?" Lin Yao suggested.
"His address is classified. We don't know where he lives, and his phone's been off lately," Li Yalin said, visibly frustrated.
"Then what should we do? Just stand by and watch the R&D department bully Xiao?"
Lambert stated concisely, "Wait."
Just as they were at a loss, a discordant voice cut through the silence.
"Oh, Linlin, I heard your new recruit's in a bit of trouble~"
A short-haired beauty leaned against the conference room door, arms crossed, watching the trio with schadenfreude. Her skin was porcelain white, lips painted a deep, rich crimson like roses on the verge of wilting. a black studded collar encircling her neck. She wore a purple, form-fitting jumpsuit, and her ear-length crop—which should have been cute and playful—instead lent her a seductive aura. Though not tall, her presence far outshone Li Yalin's. On the street, she'd catch more attention than the more conventionally beautiful Li Yalin.
Li Yalin's expression darkened instantly. Gritting her teeth, she hissed, "You scheming bitch, are you here to provoke me?"
The short-haired beauty Di Susu remained unfazed, grinning cheekily. "This is headquarters. You dare lay a finger on me?"
Di Susu and Li Yalin were notorious rivals. Their feud stretched back over a decade, rooted in childhood. Both had trained at the same martial arts dojo, where Di Susu consistently ranked first in every assessment and sparring match, while Li Yalin's performance was mediocre. At every dojo assessment, the outcome was invariably the same: Di Susu knocked her to the ground, using her as a human backdrop to highlight her own talent.
To this day, Li Yalin could still recall scenes where Di Susu, clearly brimming with pride, would deliberately feign modesty to earn the dojo masters' praise and encouragement. Compared to the lengthy guidance and encouragement Di Susu received from the masters, her own interactions with them could usually be summed up in five sentences:
"Good morning, Master."
"Hello." (Usually, the teacher would pause for a few seconds before replying with an apologetic smile.)
"I have a question I'd like to ask..."
"It's all in the books. If you still don't understand, you can ask Di Susu."
"Ma... Master, goodbye."
Recalling these moments always made Li Yalin seethe with frustration. She felt like a puppy abandoned in a downpour, soaked by the storm, wandering the streets alone, pitifully eyeing the meat bones in the butcher shop window, only to be kicked away by an impatient shopkeeper. She'd continue her lonely stroll through the rain and wind, her heartache and jealousy too profound to share with outsiders.
I don't care!
Later, both were specially recruited by Bureau 13 and assigned to different squads. History repeated itself: Di Susu's squad, with credentials far surpassing Li Yalin's, became one of the ace teams in the covert operations division. What infuriated her most was Di Susu constantly parading in front of her, shamelessly calling her "Little Linlin"!
Damn it, since when did we become that close?!
To Li Yalin, this was Di Susu deliberately putting on a show of magnanimity—a calculated move that infuriated her.
Di Susu chuckled lightly. "Hehe, I heard you recruited a new member and came to check it out. Where is he? Could he be hiding out of shyness?"
Li Yalin's face turned cold. "He's not here. Fu** off."
"Seems I made a wasted trip. But I get it—with that bunch of bureaucrats from R&D breathing down your necks, your new recruit must be overwhelmed already."
Li Yalin's face turned ashen, baring her teeth like a snarling puppy. "Get the hell out of here. I don't want to see you."
"How heartless! We were childhood sweethearts," Di Susu pouted, flashing Lin Yao a coquettish smile before swaying her hips and gliding away.
Childhood sweethearts, my ass! Act like my sworn enemy for once!
Li Yalin was furious, but when she saw Lin Yao staring dreamily at Di Susu's retreating figure, rage surged through her. She grabbed him by the collar and screamed into his ear, "I'm standing right here, a gorgeous woman, and you're staring at that scheming bitch instead?!"
Lin Yao stammered nervously, "Bu-but she smiled at me..."
"Answer me properly—am I prettier, or is Susu prettier?" Li Yalin's eyes flashed dangerously.
Lin Yao hesitated for a long moment before admitting guiltily, "I think... Susu is gentler than you..."
"Heh, little Yao, looks like your aesthetic sense needs some violent correction. Take that—avalanche bridge break backflip throw!"
Lambert steadied the trembling water glass and calmly dialled the medical department. "Send a doctor over. Orthopaedics."...
Xiao's refusal to hand over the blueprints was entirely expected by the R&D director, who promptly released a high-value acquisition notice for the folding combat knife.
For a mechanic, handing over blueprints meant surrendering control over their lifeline and losing technological advantage. Once major factions obtained the blueprints for mass production, the original owner would be left out in the cold.
Xiao's orders remained niche, catering only to covert operations personnel with limited production capacity.
Once the R&D Department obtained the blueprints, they would hand them over to military factories for mass production. The equipment would then be distributed free of charge, benefiting the Secret Operations Department, Field Operations Department, Police Department, and the military alike. This was the R&D Department's confidence—they could secure massive support.
Though the R&D Department hadn't produced anything new in a long time, they possessed keen professional insight. In their view, the folding combat knife showed promise to replace military bayonets, daggers, and knuckle dusters as the next-generation standard close-quarters weapon in tactical gear.
Xiao's interests, however, fell outside the R&D Department's considerations. Regardless of the department's own interests versus those of the nation, the hawks disliked him and cared little for his opinions. Collaborating with an intelligence informant was seen as too soft; in their view, he should be controlled and interrogated to extract all information.
The conservatives held a starkly different view. They were unwilling to risk straining relations with Xiao over a mere melee weapon blueprint. They firmly believed Xiao Han was someone worth cultivating, while dismissing the hawks' approach with disdain.
Control him? What if he clams up and reveals nothing?
Torture him? What if he wasn't afraid?
Tough love yields results? True, but that depended on the person. They'd captured countless Sprout members before, yet only one in ten had spoken truthfully. It nearly led Bureau 13 into traps multiple times.
After brief contact, Xiao didn't seem like someone who'd bend easily.
You're robbing people of hope and expecting cooperation? This reckless approach risks alienating allies who should be on our side!
The conservatives were furious. Cooperation was going smoothly, yet the hawks insisted on their outdated methods. What a bunch of fossils—do they think this is the past? The era where superiors held absolute power over subordinates is long gone. Countless exiled elites now operate openly abroad. All six nations recruit talent with promises of generous compensation and relaxed requirements—practically indistinguishable from corporate hiring. To the conservatives, the hawks' actions were pure self-sabotage.
Besides, the bureau isn't short on other mechanics. This kind of poaching creates a terrible impression.
The problem lies in the fact that those mechanics were all state-trained. They were more than willing to hand over blueprints, and the bureau would compensate them accordingly. However, Xiao refused to surrender his designs. Certain high-ranking officials interpreted this as a complete lack of loyalty, and the hawks' resentment only intensified.
But what era is this? Emphasizing loyalty only scares off those talents floating outside the country. They weren't born here to begin with. Talking patriotism and loyalty with them? If they don't turn their guns on you first, consider yourself lucky. Don't forget—the Six Nations were the masterminds behind the downfall of other countries. That stain can never be washed away.
Yet within Bureau 13, authority was clearly delineated. Barring direct intervention from higher-ups, no one could interfere with the R&D Department's operations. The higher-ups' stance remained ambiguous, as if they were watching and waiting.
Anyone with eyes could see that surrendering the folding combat blades meant antagonizing Xiao. Secret agents who had purchased them began weighing whether it was worth it. Moreover, the R&D Department's attempt to steal their achievements left many secretly disgusted.
Their tactics were getting a bit too brazen.
Unaware of Xiao's special status, these agents felt pressuring an ordinary mechanic like this was excessive.
Some contract agents, however, cared little about offending anyone—profit came first.
Kratt, an agent who had purchased the folding combat knife, was the first to offer it to the R&D Department. He demanded 30,000 credits—a thirtyfold markup—and they eventually agreed.
Kratt's reasoning was simple: this easy money was too good to pass up. He sneered at his hesitant colleagues.
He was just a mechanic. Once R&D mass-produced the blades, what use would he be? Kick him to the curb—no need to worry about offending him. He'd be useless anyway....
R&D Department, the Director's Secretary and Luo Xuan examined the folding combat knife before them.
"Luo Xuan, are you confident you can back engineer the blueprints?"