Chapter 1 A Secret Meeting

A secret meeting was taking place at Star-Long Thirteen Bureau headquarters. Several high-ranking officials from the Haixia Intelligence Agency were visiting, and Gu Hui was personally receiving them in a secret rendezvous.

With the expedition imminent, the Six Nations were frequently in contact, discussing and adjusting the final details.

Inside the conference room, the two sides were talking in low voices.

Buzz, buzz…

The sudden ringing of a mobile phone silenced the room, and everyone looked over, their eyes filled with displeasure.

Who was being so frivolous at such a solemn occasion?

The source of the sound was none other than Gu Hui, the director of the Thirteenth Bureau. The gazes of the others immediately became complex, and the expressions of the Haixia people seemed to say, "Is even the director of Star-Long so unprofessional?"

Gu Hui frowned. He had several mobile phones, and he usually turned them all off during meetings, except for the emergency phone. Only extremely important calls would come through to this phone.

He took out his phone and glanced at the caller ID. Gu Hui's pupils suddenly contracted, and he said in a deep voice, "Suspend the meeting, I need to take this call."

After saying this, Gu Hui ignored the reactions of the others and left in a hurry with his phone.

The Haixia people looked surprised. The director of the Thirteenth Bureau publicly abandoning an important meeting to answer a phone call...whose call could it be?

Who had such a big reputation? Could it be a top leader? Then why not use an internal line?

Arriving at a quiet room next door, Gu Hui answered the phone, his expression solemn. "Why are you calling?"

"Surprised?" A teasing voice came from the phone. It was Han Xiao.

The number Han Xiao used to call Gu Hui was naturally the identity of "Zero." Ever since he leaked a large amount of intelligence last time, he had become an important object of attention for Star-Long.

Since the battle of Dark Crow Valley, Han Xiao had disappeared without a trace. Star-Long's intelligence agencies could not find any trace of him. This time, discovering a valuable opportunity to communicate, Gu Hui would never miss it. In order to answer Han Xiao's call, he didn't mind pushing aside an important meeting.

"What's the matter this time?" After their previous contacts, Gu Hui roughly understood Han Xiao's personality. He was purposeful in his actions and would not call specifically to exchange greetings and waste words, so he directly got straight to the point.

"I want someone."

"Who?"

"His name is... wait, let me flip through the bounty list, oh, codename Yi Ye Qing. She's a pharmacist."

Gu Hui was stunned and asked his secretary to check this person. Soon, they had results.

Yi Ye Qing, her superpower was controlling plants, a top pharmacist who had once used untested potions to spread infectious and virulent diseases, causing major casualties. As a result, she was wanted by various countries. She had been captured a few years ago and was currently being held in strict confinement on Death Knell Island.

Death Knell Island was a prison where the Six Nations imprisoned major criminals, isolated overseas, with mysterious coordinates and heavily guarded.

"What do you want her for?" Gu Hui asked in confusion.

"Something." Han Xiao said vaguely.

Gu Hui pondered. "Even I can't just take someone from Death Knell Island at will. It's against regulations."

This was a euphemistic refusal.

Han Xiao laughed and suddenly changed the topic. "I heard you're about to start an expedition. Tsk, tsk, the Six Nations are working together, attacking the Andrea Continent from more than a dozen directions, with aircraft carriers, planes, and everything. What a big show! Do you think Germination will just sit back and wait to die?"

Gu Hui's grip on the phone tightened.

"What intelligence do you have?"

"Heh, I have plenty of intelligence: the location of the base, military strength, missile deployments, and all kinds of inhumane plans from Germination..."

Han Xiao's tone was coaxing, which annoyed Gu Hui, but he had no choice but to step into the trap. He said in a deep voice, "Yi Ye Qing is yours..."

"Deal." Han Xiao agreed readily. He had originally planned to throw all the remaining information about Germination to the Six Nations before the war, increasing the advantage of the Six Nations. Now, it was just right to exchange it for a needed person.

In version 2.0, Yi Ye Qing was an important character on Aquamarine Star. As a top pharmacist, she researched the Hetero Virus and created drugs to curb the virus, playing a significant role.

In his previous life, Death Knell Island was a mysterious place that no players could find the coordinates of. However, in version 2.0, players were able to learn a piece of information. The Hetero Virus spread and affected Death Knell Island, causing a dangerous and drastic change. The various criminals imprisoned in the prison by the Six Nations solved the disaster, broke out of their siege, and escaped from Death Knell Island. Yi Ye Qing was one of those who escaped in this cataclysm.

As the saying goes, prisons are always full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. The prisoners who had been imprisoned for many years poured into the outside world. A group of devils danced wildly, becoming new characters in 2.0. Like fierce dragons crossing the river, they subverted the original structure at the time when the disaster spread.

"The intelligence will be sent to you gradually. I'll decide the handover location for Yi Ye Qing." After saying that, Han Xiao hung up the phone.

The phone beeped, and Gu Hui's expression changed several times. Only Han Xiao dared to hang up on him so casually, and he couldn't do anything about it.

A prisoner in exchange for key intelligence, this transaction was a sure profit.

Moreover, Gu Hui also discovered a benefit.

"He's been missing for so long, this handover is a good opportunity to find out his whereabouts!"

Han Xiao was still on the list of wanted foreign agents. Where he had gone during this period of disappearance, what he had done, whether he had defected to a force, all of these were mysteries that Star-Long was curious about. It was just right to take the opportunity to investigate.

…

In the Third Sanctuary's workshop, after hanging up the phone, Han Xiao waited for thirty seconds and sent the first piece of intelligence to the Thirteenth Bureau. He kept the rest for now. He knew that he couldn't hand over all the intelligence in one go.

"If I can exchange for Yi Ye Qing this time, not only can I have her help research medicines, but I can also make the Third Sanctuary the first place to curb the Hetero Virus in 2.0. The sanctuary has my name on it, the safer it is, the higher my influence will be…"

"But Star-Long knows that Yi Ye Qing was exchanged by me, they will not give up this opportunity to investigate. If they find Yi Ye Qing working here, they will guess that Black Phantom is me, and my identity may be exposed as a result..."

Thinking about the pros and cons, Han Xiao suddenly realized something. He had hidden his identity in the first place because he was weak, but now, with the support of the Dark Net and his personal strength standing at the top of the planet, he no longer needed to avoid enemies. At the same time, Germination was facing destruction and was unable to help, so whether to hide his identity was no longer important.

His mood suddenly brightened.

Unconsciously, the original nemesis was no longer a behemoth in his eyes, and he had grown to the point where he could face the most powerful organization on the planet.

Considering it from a different perspective, exposing his identity could combine the influence of Zero and Black Phantom into one, causing a chemical reaction. He was eighty percent sure that he would get legend points as a result, and the players' impression of him would also be sublimated.

With his deeds, maybe he could make the players mistakenly believe that he was the protagonist of Aquamarine Star and steal Bennett's limelight.

"It's better to be safe for now. I'll talk about the identity thing after the war starts." Although he saw the benefits, Han Xiao decided to wait and see for the time being. He felt that he never acted recklessly.

The energy block refining machine was still clanging and operating. Han Xiao locked the door and left, patrolling the construction site with his hands behind his back.

Passing by the wall construction area, he suddenly heard a commotion. He paused and walked over.

The construction team was at a loss in front of a large crane. When they saw Han Xiao approaching, they respectfully greeted him.

"What's wrong?" Han Xiao asked.

"The crane has broken down and can't be started. We can't find the reason," one person said helplessly.

When Han Xiao heard this, he thought, ho, isn't repairing cars his old profession? He rolled up his sleeves and eagerly said, "Bring all the tools over."

The construction team then remembered that their immediate boss was a mechanic and hurriedly moved the parts and tools over. Han Xiao climbed onto the crane to check the fault and quickly found the root cause. He picked up the tools to repair it, his hands moving up and down like phantoms, moving at an alarming speed.

The players working nearby cast sidelong glances at him.

This hand speed must be from fifty years of being single!

"So, single dogs have an advantage playing mechanic," one player said heroically. "I'm going to become the Mechanic King!"

"Sticking the heart of iron."

While repairing, Chief Technician Han had a whim and strengthened it in passing.

He tightened the last screw.

Done!

Han Xiao clapped his hands and asked the construction team to try to start it. They saw the strengthened crane twitching up and down like it had taken Viagra, smashing the ground with a booming sound. The construction team couldn't keep up with the rhythm and hurriedly dodged, creating a chaotic scene.

At this moment, a player welding steel bars on the city wall suddenly looked at the wilderness and shouted down, "Someone's coming."

Han Xiao took three steps in two steps and followed the scaffolding of the city wall to a high place, looking into the distance.

He saw ragged people appearing in the wilderness, slowly heading towards the sanctuary.

The Wanderers were coming.