In an unknown location, the bald supervisor from earlier turned off his communicator. His subordinate asked curiously, "Supervisor, this is an internal matter for our company. Why hire people from the Red Earl? Their stance is a bit problematic, even bordering on anti-human."
"Isn't it because the C-level Genetic Enhancer dispatched by the headquarters' intelligence department last time—someone with extensive mission experience—died for no apparent reason?" the bald supervisor said with a smile. "Headquarters brought the body back but found absolutely nothing. The Biological Chip was filled with garbled code, leading them to suspect it was Anzhijie's doing."
The subordinate finally realized the situation. "No wonder this mission was assigned to us again. Aren't they just making us take the blame?"
"We can't say much about the struggles among the higher-ups, but it's not suitable for us to go against a gray-market giant like Anzhijie. Who knows how many people's secrets these giants hold in their hands? Even though Anzhijie wouldn't dare make them public, it would still be incredibly easy for them to cause trouble for us.
"The Red Earl, on the other hand, is a great choice. It only costs Credit Points, and since when has our company ever lacked Credit Points? They're just a string of numbers. Besides, my intuition tells me that the appearance of the Red Earl's A-level members in Wall City means something big is going down. As the saying goes, it's easier to fish in troubled waters. The more chaotic things get, the more it benefits us. Tell the field ops department to send people to Wall City, and have them stand by for orders."
The bald man stood up and walked to the window. Outside was absolute darkness, indicating they were somewhere out in the starry void.
Hearing this, the subordinate immediately kissed up to him. "You're brilliant, Supervisor. We're prepared for both outcomes. If the Red Earl succeeds, you'll get a share of the credit. And if they end up stirring up trouble, our own people can strike during the chaos with absolute certainty of success."
"Heh, do you know why organizations like the Red Earl have managed to exist for so many years?" the bald supervisor chuckled.
Confused, the subordinate asked, "Supervisor, what do you mean?"
"Let me tell you a story," the supervisor began. "Once upon a time, in a certain city, a group of thieves robbed a bank. The bank manager fully cooperated and handed over the money. When the thieves got home, they realized they had stolen five million. Meanwhile, the media reported that the bank had been robbed of fifty million, and all the thieves had been killed during the arrest."
Hearing this, the subordinate grew thoughtful. "Do you mean the Red Earl is being used to cover up certain things?"
"Heh. What is eternal in this world? It's darkness. Just like the starry sky out there—although there are countless stars, darkness still occupies the vast majority of space. Stars will eventually burn out, but darkness is eternal."
"Those are incredibly philosophical words, Supervisor."
"Get back to work. Tell the operatives tailing the target to prioritize their safety. Anzhijie isn't an enemy to be taken lightly."
"Understood."
Meanwhile, Yang Bo went to work as usual, mainly doing simple cleaning tasks. On Monday, he earned 900 points, plus his base salary of 500 points.
"The money isn't enough," Yang Bo thought after returning to his dorm, caught in a dilemma.
For now, he had no intention of taking any E-level professional exams. Playing the game was great, but the expenses were too high—averaging over a thousand Credit Points per hour.
If he fought monsters and Mutants, his Mecha would suffer even more damage. The game's mechanics were very simple: killing Mutant Animals, Mutants, or enemy Mechas yielded rewards. The rewards were divided into two types. The first was a fixed reward based on the level of the enemy unit. The rest depended on the evaluation of the looted spoils.
"Are those Mutant Creatures used as materials for making Genetic Potions? Are the Mutants among the enemy units just another type of Genetic Evolver? And what exactly are the enemy Mechas?" Yang Bo wondered.
While taking a bath, Yang Bo drained his own Power, still using his usual method of heating the bathwater with his palms. He still didn't know exactly what this Power inside him was. Not only could it convert into Electric Energy, but it could also turn into Light Energy. After completely draining it, he continued to recharge himself. He planned to recharge once more after finishing the game later.
Upon logging into the game, he found his Mecha had finished its maintenance. Yang Bo immediately rushed out of the base. Time was money, after all.
The Mecha moved by walking; under normal circumstances, he wouldn't activate the Rocket Backpack. Fortunately, the roads around the base were well-paved. Yang Bo planned to head into the plains, as his radar indicated that the number of rats and birds near the base had significantly decreased after his devastating rampage yesterday.
The plains were covered in grass that resembled reeds, but much taller—standing at seven or eight meters high. Even inside a Mecha, the visibility in this tall grass was extremely poor.
"Should I start a fire?" Yang Bo thought, looking at the thick layers of dead leaves coating the grassy plains.
He acted on the idea immediately, but he wasn't reckless about it. He first observed the terrain and selected an elevated area. His radar showed a high concentration of both rats and birds there, whereas the lower areas were too wet and damp. Then, operating his Blade Mecha like a giant lawnmower, he used the five-meter Plasma Cutting Saber to carve out a twenty-meter-wide firebreak around this hundred-acre stretch of high ground.
While Yang Bo was busy cutting grass, some busybodies had already started taking screenshots and posting them on the forums.
"Brothers, the Bird Slayer Brother has appeared! He's currently mowing the lawn."
"Holy crap, this guy is a psycho. Customer service, call customer service!"
"Plasma Cutting Saber: 'Bird Brother, where are your manners?'"
"Haha, this bird bro pulls off wild moves every single day."
"Tsk, tsk, the game environment is getting so toxic. Seriously, why are the devs just slacking off and not updating the version?"
Yang Bo, of course, had no idea he was being filmed. These wild grasses had likely been growing for many years, leaving behind a thick layer of dead vegetation from the previous seasons. Using his Energy Shield as a shovel, he scooped all the cut grass into a massive pile in the middle of the field within twenty minutes. Then, he fashioned a giant Torch.
Rocket Backpack ignition!
Many people on the forum were curious about what the Bird Slayer Brother was up to. When they saw him start a fire, they were left utterly dumbfounded.
Within this hundred-acre area, there were thousands of rats alone.
As the dry grass ignited, the billowing thick smoke even bewildered the administrators of Base 16. Fortunately, it didn't pose any real danger to the base. A gust of wind swept by, and the accumulated dead leaves beneath the grass began to burn with a fierce CRACKLE. The scorched earth left behind looked much like a burned sugarcane field back on Earth.
Dynamic Field of View +1!
Flying +1!
Dynamic Field of View +1!
Infrared Vision +1!
Yang Bo felt the stream of notifications popping up in his mind. He looked out over the massive plains and felt a strong urge to set the entire place ablaze, but after a moment's thought, he reconsidered.
It would be bad if the game administrators slapped him with a fine or penalty. This small-scale fire was just a test run. But if the devs didn't intervene... Heh heh!
"But I can use missions as an excuse to cause destruction!" Yang Bo quickly realized.
"What an idiot!"
"Tsk, tsk, this is absolutely insane!" Many people on the forum were cursing in sheer disbelief.
Yang Bo stood off to the side, watching the flames while holding his Plasma Long Saber. He wondered if he should find another spot to burn since the admins still hadn't reacted.
Right at that moment, a massive dark shadow suddenly burst out from the roaring flames, hurtling directly toward Yang Bo's Mecha. Yang Bo had already been keeping a close eye on the fire to prevent any birds from escaping. Upon spotting the shadow, he instinctively flicked his Mecha's wrist, aiming the Plasma Saber straight at the incoming threat.
And then, his screen went black!
"Damn it!" Yang Bo's heart sank. The repair fees for a severely damaged Blade Mecha were astronomical.