Chapter 228: The Exchange
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
A secret meeting was being held in the headquarters of Division 13, and many important members of the Hesla military intelligence department were present—Gu Hui had welcomed them himself.
The expedition was drawing near, so the Six Nations contacted each other frequently to discuss and adjust some final details.
In the meeting room, both parties were calmly discussing the expedition.
Buzz!
The entire place turned silent upon the sound of phone vibration. Everyone looked over with dissatisfaction in their eyes.
This is a very serious occasion. Who’s so disrespectful?
Seeing that the sound came from the deputy director-general of the Division 13, Gu Hui, their expressions became complicated. The expressions on Hesla people’s faces looked like they were saying— Is this your leader? So unprofessional.
Gu Hui frowned. He had many phones, and most of them were turned off during meetings except for the one for emergency matters. Only very important calls would go to this phone.
However, once he took out the phone and saw the number, his pupils constricted. “Pause the meeting. I have to take this call.”
Without paying attention to the reactions of the others, Gu Hui left with his phone hurriedly after he finished the sentence.
The people of Hesla were shocked. Whose call could make the deputy director-general of the Division 13 leave an important meeting in front of everyone?
Who was so important? Was it the superiors at the highest ranking? Then why did they not call the internal line?
Coming to the quiet and isolated room next door, Gu Hui picked up the phone and said in a serious tone, “How come you’re calling?
“Surprised?” Han Xiao’s mocking voice came out of the phone.
Han Xiao used the number and identity of ‘Zero’ to call Gu Hui. Since the intelligence he provided last time, he had become a very important focus target of Stardragon.
Ever since the battle in Dark Crow Valley, Han Xiao had disappeared without a trace. Even Stardragon’s intelligence organizations could not find him. In the face of such a valuable communication opportunity, Gu Hui could not give it up no matter what, even if it meant he had to leave the important meeting.
“What do you want this time?” Through precious contact with Han Xiao, Gu Hui had a rough idea of his personality. Han Xiao was goal-orientated and would not call for nothing. Thus, he went straight to the point.
“I want a person.”
“Who?”
“She’s called... wait, let me go through the wanted list. Her code is Emerald Grass; she’s a pharmacist.”
Gu Hui was stunned for a moment. He told his secretary to check on this person, and very soon, the results came back.
Emerald Grass—her superhuman ability was controlling plants, and she was a top-notch Pharmacist. Once, she had spread an infectious lethal disease with a drug that was not experimented on and caused a large number of deaths, which lead to her wanted status. She had been captured a few years ago and was currently tightly imprisoned on Bell of Death Island.
Bell of Death Island was a prison of the Six Nations for the highly-dangerous criminals. It was an isolated island in the sea with mysterious coordinates and tight security.
“What do you want her for?” Gu Hui questioned.
“Something.” Han Xiao gave a vague answer.
Gu Hui contemplated and said, “Even I can’t bail people out of Bell of Death Island casually. It’s against the rules.”
This was a roundabout rejection.
Han Xiao laughed. He suddenly changed the subject and said, “I heard the expedition is going to start very soon. Tsk tsk, Six Nations coming together for a battle, attacking the land of Andrea from more than a dozen directions, with planes, aircraft carriers, and all sorts. Tell me, will the Germinal Organization accept their fate without resistance?”
Gu Hui’s hand tightened on the phone.
“What intelligence do you have?”
“Plenty. Base locations, military power, missile layout, and the Germinal Organization’s various Inhuman plans,” Han Xiao said in a very tempting tone.
Gu Hui was angry, but he had to fall for the trap. “Emerald Grass is yours.”
“Done.” Han Xiao agreed without hesitation. He had already planned on giving every piece of intelligence he had on the Germinal Organization before the war to give more advantages to the Six Nations anyway, and now, he could even use that to exchange for a very important person.
In version 2.0 of his previous life, Emerald Grass had been a very important character in Planet Aquamarine. As a top-notch Pharmacist, she researched on the mutation virus, created drugs that suppressed the virus effectively, and made a very strong impact.
In his previous life, Bell of Death Island had been a mysterious place. No player could find its coordinates, but they did have some information on it in version 2.0—the mutation virus had spread to Bell of Death Island, causing a very dangerous change, but the criminals imprisoned by the Six Nations in the Bell of Death Island resolved the disaster. They had fought their way out of the island and escaped. Emerald Grass had also escaped during this.
As the saying goes, there are always crouching tigers and hidden dragons.
The prisoners poured into the outside world and became new characters of version 2.0 like dragons flying over a river, causing a storm in the world on top of the disaster.
“The intelligence will be sent to you. I will decide the location to retrieve Emerald Grass,” Han Xiao said then hung up the call.
Gu Hui’s expression changed several times—only Han Xiao dared to hang up on him casually, and he could not do anything about it.
A prisoner in exchange for key intelligence, this deal was a definite win.
Furthermore, Gu Hui realized another benefit.
“He has been lost for so long. This meetup is a chance to follow up on his whereabouts!”
Han Xiao still had a position in the field agent files. Whether he went where, did what, or if he joined any organizations during his disappearance, this was all unknown to Stardragon despite their interest. It was just the right chance to investigate.
...
In the workshop in Sanctuary Three, Han Xiao waited thirty seconds after hanging up the call, only then did he send the first set of intelligence to Division 13 and held onto the rest temporarily. He knew full well that he should not give out all the intelligence at once.
If I can get Emerald Grass this time, not only can she help to research on drugs, I can even make Sanctuary Three be the first place that suppresses the mutation virus in version 2.0. The Sanctuary has my name in it. The safer it is, the more influential I become.
However, Stardragon will know they exchanged Emerald Grass with me. They won’t give up this investigation chance, and if they find out that Emerald Grass works here, they might guess I’m Black Phantom, and my identity will be exposed.
While evaluating the risks and benefits, Han Xiao suddenly realized something. He had kept his identity hidden at the start because he had been too weak, but now, with Dark Net backing him up and his strength being at the top of the planet, there was no need to hide from the enemy anymore. At the same time, the Germinal Organization was facing its destruction and could not even take care of themselves. Hiding his identity did not matter anymore.
He suddenly felt delighted.
Without him noticing it, his arch enemy was not gigantic in his eyes anymore. He had grown to be able to face the strongest organization on the planet.
From another perspective, exposing his identity could combine the influence of Zero and Black Phantom and cause a chemical reaction, and he was eighty percent sure that he would get legendary points. The players’ impression of him would also increase to another level.
With the things he had done, the players might even mistake him to be the main character of Planet Aquamarine instead of Bennett.
I should take things steadily instead. I will think about my identity after the war starts.
Although Han Xiao saw some benefits, he still decided to act on what would happen.
The Energy Block Extraction Device was still operating, so Han Xiao locked the door and left, surveying the construction progress of the various areas with his hands behind his back.
As he passed by the wall construction area, he suddenly heard a commotion. He stopped in place then walked over.
The engineering team surrounded a large crane helplessly. Seeing that Han Xiao approached, they greeted with respect.
“What’s happening?” Han Xiao asked.
“The crane malfunctioned and cannot be turned on. We can’t find the cause,” someone said helplessly.
Han Xiao heard this and thought, Wasn’t fixing vehicles what I started with?
He rolled up his sleeves and said with excitement, “Bring the tools over.”
The engineering team only remembered now that their boss was a Mechanic. They hastily brought the parts and the tools over. Han Xiao climbed up the crane to check for the malfunction, and he found it not long after. He took out the tools and started fixing. His hands moved around so incredibly fast that they even created shadows behind them.
The players on the side doing construction work were shocked upon seeing this.
This hand speed matched the power of being single for at least fifty years!
“Turns out single people have an advantage in the Mechanic class,” a player yelled. “I’m the man who will become the Mechanic King 1 !”
“Sad but true.”
As he repaired, the Great Mechanic Han was in the zone, so he also gave it some enhancements.
He tightened the last screw.
Done!
Han Xiao clapped his hands and told the engineering team to turn it on. The enhanced crane was like it was on steroids and moved so quick that the engineering could not even catch up to its speed. They dodged hastily and jumped around.
At this time, the players welding rebars on the wall suddenly looked at the wilderness and shouted, “There are some people here!”
Han Xiao quickly climbed the scaffolding of the wall to a higher place and looked out.
A group of people wearing ragged clothes appeared in the wilderness, walking slowly toward the sanctuary.
The wanderers had arrived.