Chapter 1 Black Spider

Black Spider? That's a minor boss-level character.

Logically, a mission like this should be graded D, with a normal reward of at least 30,000 experience points.

Galaxy's mission system is very detailed. Even if a team of players accepts the same mission, each person's mission requirements have subtle differences, and different rewards are given depending on the player's level and role.

Some commercial players don't like fighting monsters and specialize in manufacturing and logistics. If they join a team to accept missions, the difficulty and rewards are reduced. For example, in monster-fighting missions, the combat players who charge ahead and have the greatest responsibility receive the highest mission rewards, followed by healing and support players. Logistics players who freeload on the team receive the least mission rewards, reducing the situation where rich players pay studios to carry them through experience farming.

In his previous life, Han Xiao deeply hated this mechanism, which made his power-leveling business very bleak. Instead, the most popular business was helping people seek revenge, which honed his PK skills to perfection.

Han Xiao was facing this situation. The reason for the reward reduction was obviously because he was acting as support in this operation and didn't have to personally engage Black Spider. The mission rewards were directly linked to the difficulty.

"Sigh, although it's less, it's at least better than no experience."

Han Xiao had to comfort himself this way. At least it provided another source of experience.

Based on his understanding of Black Spider, this mission was basically giving away 5,000 experience points. Li Ya Lin's Secret Intelligence team could defeat Black Spider with their eyes closed. What he cared about was the special reward.

Without needing much thought, Han Xiao knew very well what the hidden requirement was: to capture Black Spider, as Lin Yao had said.

Black Spider's Esper ability was very troublesome, making capturing him ten times harder than defeating him. And right now, no one knew that Black Spider was an Esper. His Esper ability wasn't revealed until after the public beta. However, Han Xiao knew Black Spider's Esper ability's weakness very well.

The system was an inanimate object and would only judge the gap between the two sides based on their stats, assessing that his chances of completing the hidden requirement were small.

If the team listened to his command, he was eighty percent confident that he could capture Black Spider.

"Feels like I can give it a try," Han Xiao thought to himself.

Li Ya Lin was still thinking about the Light Mechanical Arm and asked, "How much does it cost to order one, and how long will it take to get it?"

"A Light Mechanical Arm costs 20,000 Enas, 10,000 in advance. If you provide the materials, I'll make it for you. You can pick it up in two days."

Li Ya Lin's face fell. That was almost her monthly salary. But she decided to buy it anyway. The operation was tonight, so there wasn't enough time. She asked, unwilling to give up, "Do you have any other mechs, ready-made?"

Han Xiao thought for a moment. He didn't want to reveal the High-Explosive Ammo yet, so he took out the Folding Blade, a ten-centimeter black metal hilt, which caught the attention of the three.

"What's this for?" Li Ya Lin asked, puzzled.

Han Xiao smiled slightly, pressed the miniature mechanism on the hilt, and with a flick, sections of the blade shot out of the hilt like a whip, instantly turning into a black alloy blade nearly seventy centimeters long, sharp and menacing.

"This thing is called a Folding Blade."

Li Ya Lin's eyes lit up. She had chosen a baton as her weapon because she valued its portability, but the Folding Blade was even better. Not only was it more discreet, but its attack power was also stronger. She reached out to touch the Folding Blade, but Han Xiao avoided her.

"One thousand Enas each."

Han Xiao chuckled. The cost price of the Folding Blade was only around three hundred, he was being reasonable by not asking for two thousand.

"You cheapskate! So greedy!" Li Ya Lin pouted, took out her wallet, and gave him a thousand Enas. Only then did Han Xiao give her the Folding Blade, explaining in detail how to use it. Li Ya Lin immediately started playing with it, unable to put it down.

Lambert suddenly said, "I want to order ten of them. I wonder if they can be shrunk to about thirty centimeters."

Business was coming to him! Han Xiao was delighted and nodded, "No problem."

"I hope to have them before the operation tonight."

"Sure, as long as the materials are in place."

The initial shaping and grinding of the Folding Blade could be done in batches using a punch press, which was very efficient.

Lin Yao hesitated and said, "I'd like to buy one for self-defense too."

Han Xiao was a little surprised. The Folding Blade was beginner's equipment, yet it was so popular among the special agents?

What he didn't know was that because the R&D department had been slacking off for years, the Thirteenth Bureau's special agents were desperately hungry for new equipment. Although the Folding Blade was simple in technology, for the special agents, only portable and discreet equipment could adapt to complex missions.

The special agents' melee weapons were usually daggers. Just imagine, if you encountered special agents from other organizations, and the enemy pulled out a dagger more than ten centimeters long, while you pulled out a long blade nearly a meter long, much longer than theirs, you would win in terms of momentum.

...

The materials were provided by Lambert and Lin Yao. Han Xiao borrowed the logistics department's private workshop. The equipment was very advanced, greatly reducing the manufacturing time of the Folding Blades. Before the operation that night, Han Xiao mass-produced eleven customized Folding Blades, successfully rushing them out.

Eleven thousand Enas in hand. All he had put in was the technical cost, and he had also gained a lot of manufacturing experience, about 8,000 experience points. He had made a small profit.

This made him even more certain that the Thirteenth Bureau's special agents' personal orders were a potentially huge market.

Li Ya Lin and the other two took their equipment and set off to hunt down Black Spider. Han Xiao stayed at the Secret Operations Division, responsible for logistics and command, organizing the mission details sent by the Intelligence Department.

The pinhole cameras and miniature earpieces of the three teammates were linked to the three computer screens in front of Han Xiao. The images and sounds were synchronized. Han Xiao could see what Li Ya Lin and the others were experiencing. His job was to pay attention to changes in the situation at all times and make suggestions and instructions, acting as the commander.

Of course, as a newcomer, even if Li Ya Lin and the others didn't say it, they naturally wouldn't completely trust his judgment. Because this mission wasn't difficult, it was just to get the team working together, so they let Han Xiao act as the commander, but it was impossible to get them to completely obey orders. The three of them were experienced special agents with their own judgment. Han Xiao's instructions were at most a reference for them.

Han Xiao was very calm. Not to mention his experience commanding fifty-man raids in his past life, he could handle this job with his intelligence advantage.

Black Spider, a supernatural Esper, was very troublesome and was ranked on the "1.0 Aquamarine Star Most Difficult Boss to Kill" list by the players.

...

Night, stars twinkling.

The Slums were located in the Eighth District. Unlike the prosperity of the other districts, this place seemed very dilapidated. The houses had no roofs, only canopies made of scrap iron and canvas, tightly packed together, making the streets and alleys narrow and cramped. Various patched-up wet clothes hung on the balconies. The streets were littered with garbage that no one cleaned up. A large number of drug dealers, prostitutes, thugs, and homeless people lived here, a breeding ground for filth. The security was very poor. The Intelligence Department indicated that Black Spider was hiding here.

Li Ya Lin and the others were fully armed. Although Lin Yao was a hacker, she had also received firearms training and had some combat capabilities.

The three walked silently through the streets and alleys filled with sewage. The voltage of the streetlights was unstable, flickering constantly, the atmosphere eerie, the streets deserted.