"What trouble did that precious son of yours get into now?" the woman glanced over dismissively, then leaned back, propping one long leg high up.
"That old fox Qin Tianxiong actually hid Shen Ning'Er's identity! Now he's telling me that Shen Ning'Er is some Major, and he's saying my son assaulted her? He says they have an eyewitness and physical evidence, and they're going to take my son to the City of Hope for processing! Shit... Does he really think I'm a pushover?" Tang De was furious.
"A Major? It seems... your Human Alliance's purpose for coming to the Forgotten Land this time isn't so simple. You didn't happen to expose that 'thing,' did you?" The woman chuckled softly.
"Impossible!" Tang De denied it outright. Then, his eyes darted, and his expression gradually softened. "I don't know much about the intel on that thing. If it really was exposed, it must be a problem on Wang Ju's end. The Human Alliance's intelligence network is no joke... Are you sure there are no problems on Wang Ju's side?"
"Besides being impotent... what other problems could that old man have?" The woman covered her mouth with her hand and giggled, then stubbed out her cigar. "I still prefer you... Come on, let's continue our artistic creation..."
"Art requires inspiration. If there's no inspiration, what the hell is there to create? You head back to Wang Ju's factory first. I have to go to the Golden Grand Hotel!" Tang De waved his hand.
"I just love artsy men like you. Even your rejections are so domineering. Fine... I'll head back then. But you can't say no to me next time, okay? Hehe!" After speaking, the woman didn't wait for Tang De's reply, walked straight to the window, and with a SWISH, leaped out.
Tang De watched the spot where the woman had disappeared, his expression gradually turning grim. Gritting his teeth, he picked up his phone again and dialed Qin Tianxiong's number.
"What is it now?" Qin Tianxiong's voice sounded again.
"Qin Tianxiong, I know where to find the thing you're looking for. But on one condition: you must find a scapegoat for my son. No matter what, you have to save his life!"
"That's difficult."
"If you can't do it, the deal's off!"
"I'll try."
...
「Golden Grand Hotel.」
Qin Tianxiong hung up the phone and pushed open the door to the conference room.
Inside the conference room sat all the board members of the Golden Grand Hotel, the general manager, the lobby manager, and the on-duty servers. However, all their faces were a bit pale.
Qin Tianxiong didn't speak. He just picked up the guest registry from the table and flipped through it. Soon, his eyes landed on one particular entry.
'A temporary hourly room? Room 707, check-in time: 8:59 PM. Guest's name: Gao Neng.'
"Who checked in the guest for the hourly room, 707?" Qin Tianxiong looked up, his gaze sweeping over the people below.
"It... it was me. I checked them in..." A female server stood up, trembling.
"Who is this Gao Neng? How old is he?"
"Seventeen or... or eighteen, I think. He looked like a third-year student from the Third Senior High School. He wasn't here to ask about Shen Ning'Er. He said... he said he was here to see you... Don't you know him?"
'Here to see me? A student from the Third Senior High School?' Qin Tianxiong's eyes narrowed. He then turned to the soldier behind him and said, "Contact Li Qingping. Ask about this Gao Neng's situation."
"Yes, sir!" The soldier nodded and left the conference room.
...
「Early morning.」
Gao Neng had been doing calisthenics in his room all night, but he wasn't the least bit tired. In fact, he felt refreshed and full of energy. His stomach, however, was starting to feel a little empty.
He glanced at his Attribute Panel.
His Max HP had increased by 1 point, becoming 202/202, but his Energy hadn't changed.
'Only 1 point?' Gao Neng was a little dissatisfied. But after thinking about it, he decided it wasn't too bad. One point a day was 365 points a year. Ten years would be 3,650, a hundred years would be 36,500, a thousand years...
*Cough, cough.*
'Maybe it's not that great after all?'
'Still, once I complete this mission, maybe I can speed things up. What if I manage to grind out a 1000% speed boost? By that calculation, the progress isn't slow at all.'
Gao Neng left his room to find that Xu Zilan had already gone out for the day.
Gao Neng wasn't surprised by this. He knew that Xu Zilan worked five part-time jobs and basically only came home at night.
A warm breakfast was laid out on the table: a bowl of sweet tofu pudding and two pancakes made from flour and wild vegetables.
After washing up, Gao Neng finished the entire breakfast, washed the bowl, and then rummaged through the toolbox, pulling out a hammer, a wrench, an iron shovel...
'If I'm going to rob them, should I also bring a hemp rope?' Gao Neng wondered. He found a hemp rope, then dug out a worn-out leather belt. Finally, his gaze fell on the kitchen cleaver. 'Should I bring the cleaver too, just in case?'
Gao Neng hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided against it.
'I'm just going to rob someone, not murder them. Why would I bring a cleaver?'
Before heading out, he left a note on the table.
"Going to a classmate's house to study tonight."
With everything prepared, Gao Neng slung the large bag over his shoulder, putting the hemp rope and leather belt inside first. As for the metal tools—the hammer, wrench, and shovel—he planned to put them in the bag when he reached the school gate to avoid tearing the backpack.
CREAK! Gao Neng pushed open the worn-out wooden door. Then, he noticed a familiar figure walking toward him from outside.
'My homeroom teacher, Zhang Dafan?'
'I don't think he lives here. He lives at the school, right?'
Gao Neng was a little confused.
Zhang Dafan was also taken aback for a moment. It wasn't because he was surprised to see Gao Neng—after all, finding Gao Neng was the entire reason he was here.
'But what's with this getup?'
Zhang Dafan stared at Gao Neng, who was holding a hammer in his left hand, clutching a wrench in his right, and had a large shovel slung over his shoulder. For a moment, he couldn't quite process the scene.
"Gao Neng, what are you... doing?"
"Good morning, Teacher Zhang! I was just heading to school," Gao Neng said with the expression of a perfectly behaved child.
"Going to school with a hammer?" Zhang Dafan's mouth twitched.
"Uh... I saw a rock on the road that looked like a safety hazard. So, I was thinking I'd use the hammer to flatten it so no one trips. Doesn't our teacher always say, 'To get rich, you must first build a road'?" Gao Neng quickly came up with an excuse.
"Flatten a rock?" Zhang Dafan's expression was strange. "Then what's the wrench for?"
"In case I can't flatten the rock with the hammer, I was going to try and pry it with the wrench," Gao Neng answered without missing a beat.
"Oh, so the shovel is for digging up dirt to fill the road, right?" Zhang Dafan nodded thoughtfully.
"Exactly! Teacher Zhang, you're amazing! You saw right through my plan. This shovel is indeed for digging dirt to fill the road," Gao Neng said, seizing the opportunity to suck up.
"..." Zhang Dafan's mouth twitched even more violently. He glanced behind him subconsciously and finally let out a sigh. "Gao Neng, let's put road maintenance on hold for now. You need to come with me."
Just as Zhang Dafan finished speaking, two soldiers in black military uniforms appeared to Gao Neng's left and right. Furthermore, on a nearby rooftop, a black figure lay prone.
The three soldiers stared at Gao Neng, their expressions solemn.
Gao Neng's expression changed slightly.
'They came for me this early in the morning? This is a little faster than I expected.'
He had a pretty good idea of what this was all about.
'The burden of being a top student...'
'...is that you're just a little too smart.'