Chapter 86 Aftermath

Two hours later, the battle ended. This was Star-Long's most successful operation against the Germination Organization. They had destroyed the base and collected a large amount of data, thanks to Han Xiao's intelligence. The upper echelons of the Thirteenth Bureau were very satisfied.

However, Lin Yao had not found the two most important pieces of information: the communications records of [DarkStar], and the meaning of Han Xiao's code name "Zero" within the Germination Organization.

The former was nonexistent, of course, and the latter concerned the Germination Organization's experiment subject program and was heavily encrypted, making it impossible to leak.

The Secret Ops trio returned to headquarters without stopping. Li Ya Lin reluctantly returned the mechanical arm. Her superior asked, "Was the Lightweight Power Arm useful?"

So that's what it was called, the Lightweight Power Arm. Such a violent device was very much to Li Ya Lin's liking. She nodded and said, "This mission was successful thanks to this equipment. Who made it?"

"That's classified."

"Will the department supply more Lightweight Power Arms in the future?" Li Ya Lin asked expectantly.

"That depends on the higher-ups' decision."

Undeterred, Li Ya Lin's eyes darted around, and she stopped bothering her superior. She went to the Logistics Department to find Luo Xuan, who was most likely the manufacturer.

The emblem on her chest was the symbol of the Secret Ops Department, and she had no trouble getting through. She attracted the attention of the Logistics Department's slackers. Her delicate and beautiful appearance made this group of logistics personnel, who spent all year round with machine oil and stinky sweat, drool.

Although the thirteen departments were nominally equal, their powers were different. In everyone's mind, they had high and low status. The Secret Ops Department, with its strong (and beautiful) members and elite gatherings (and excellent treatment), had always been admired.

Li Ya Lin looked around and asked loudly, "I'm looking for Luo Xuan."

Everyone looked at Luo Xuan with envy.

Not bad, worthy of being the Logistics Department's ace. He had hooked up with a beauty from the Secret Ops Department without a sound, and she had come to find him. Maybe he could join the Secret Ops Department in the future and rise through the ranks.

Many people were thinking about whether to congratulate Luo Xuan in advance and suck up to him.

Luo Xuan didn't recognize Li Ya Lin and was confused. Was the Secret Ops Department planning to recruit him?

His heart skipped a beat. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He suppressed his excitement and pretended to be calm. "I'm Luo Xuan. May I ask your name?"

"Li Ya Lin."

"How can I help you?" Luo Xuan felt that his demeanor was very gentlemanly.

"Did you invent that mechanical power arm?"

Mechanical arm? Luo Xuan immediately thought of the Lightweight Power Arm that had made him lose face in front of the minister. He thought that there was some kind of malfunction and she had come to question him. He secretly gloated and asked solemnly, "Is there a problem?"

"No, I think it's very useful. I want to order one for myself."

This was very awkward. The logistics staff looked strange. They remembered Luo Xuan's disdain for the mechanical arm and stared at Luo Xuan. The looks made Luo Xuan want to find a hole to hide in.

Luo Xuan's expression was ugly. The machine he had called garbage was actually sought after by a Secret Ops agent, and the user had even come to order one. This misunderstanding made him feel like he had swallowed a fly, and he couldn't get angry. He could only force a smile. "I didn't invent that thing."

Li Ya Lin was confused and said unhappily, "Then you should have said so earlier. You're wasting my time."

Luo Xuan's face darkened. Seeing his colleagues walking away with suppressed laughter, he felt depressed.

Feng Jun walked over and said officially, "The identity of the manufacturer is classified. Please do not discuss or speculate."

Li Ya Lin was surprised. Classified?

Luo Xuan felt a sense of crisis. He felt that the bureau was paying too much attention to this mysterious mechanic, and he was worried that it would threaten his position. There was competition between colleagues.

"If he joins the Logistics Department, I must suppress him."

Luo Xuan made a secret decision.

...

A certain base of the Germination Organization.

"Leader, Base Forty-Five has been destroyed."

"Who did it?"

"Star-Long people."

"Where did they get the information?"

"Not sure."

The leader felt baffled. The Germination Organization's bases were all over the world, and some secret bases were hidden within the borders of the six countries. They were the trump card for a future large-scale war and had been in a "cryogenic dormancy" state without any activity, so there was no possibility of exposure. How could they have been discovered?!

Could it be that an internal person had leaked the information, that there was a spy in the organization?

Only the higher-ups knew the location of the secret bases. If a higher-up defected, it would be a big blow to the organization.

He secretly decided to purge the organization.

The leader didn't suspect Han Xiao at all. A lowly experiment subject who had never come into contact with the organization's secrets couldn't possibly be him. He could be ruled out as the first suspect.

The leader felt annoyed when he thought of Zero. The dark web bounty had been out for so long, but there was no movement at all.

"The little bug runs fast enough. He dares to declare war so brazenly. I'll crush him sooner or later. With your strength alone, don't even dream of shaking the organization!"

The leader smiled coldly.

...

"Han Xiao has been missing for three days. Where did he go?"

Lu Qian paced anxiously, feeling guilty. She muttered, "Could he be lost? It's all my fault. I didn't buy him a cell phone, so I can't contact him now. He's a foreigner in a strange place in Xi Du. What should I do?"

Old Man Lu comforted, "Be optimistic. Maybe he's just dead?"

"..."

Lu Qian was speechless. "Grandpa, why do you have such a big prejudice against him?"

Old Man Lu picked his nose and didn't answer.

Lu Qian's eyes suddenly lit up, and she moved closer to Old Man Lu. "Grandpa, please ask someone to help find him."

"Dream on," Old Man Lu grunted.

"Just help your granddaughter with a favor."

"Ha, when you stole my collection of books, why didn't you consider that I was your grandfather?"

"Those are all small things. Just forgive me."

"You can forget about it."

"Are you really not going to help?"

"No help!"

Lu Qian smiled with a hint of darkness. "I'll sell those fine wines you hid under the floor in your room."

Old Man Lu shuddered. "Look at you, how could your grandpa be such a stingy person? It's just finding someone, leave it to me."

"Thank you, Grandpa." Lu Qian smiled sweetly.

Old Man Lu sighed and called Old Man Gao on the side. "Old man, did you take Han Xiao away?"

"...You guessed it?"

"What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything wrong. We just need to cooperate with him."

"It's good that he didn't do anything wrong. Hurry up and send him back, or my granddaughter will ruin all my treasured wine."

"This doesn't comply with the regulations. It's very difficult for me."

"Don't talk nonsense. You made the regulations. You cheated me once last time and haven't paid me back yet. I don't care, you have to bring Han Xiao back."

Old Man Gao said helplessly, "Okay, I understand."

After hanging up the phone, Old Man Lu was indignant. He was clearly looking forward to Han Xiao getting lost, but he had to find him back. Hmph, sure enough, all women are biased, especially the one who gave him a son back then. She was really unfaithful. She was clearly someone else's wife, but she was so easily hooked up by me. Alas, my charm in my youth is gone forever.

Old Man Lu stroked his bald head and sighed.

(This chapter's subtitle: The protagonist living in the OP...)