Chapter 47: Their Respective Preparations

Hu Feifu had sent a message to the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps.

His objective, of course, was to have them tie down the members of the Sky-Rending Mercenary Corps.

Otherwise, any random mercenary from that group would be more than capable of ruining his plans. After all, under normal circumstances, only genetically optimized individuals were qualified to become mercenaries.

Soon enough, Hu Feifu received a reply. The upper echelons of the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps explicitly stated that they would help stall the Sky-Rending Mercenary Corps, signaling him to proceed boldly and without worry.

"Alright, let us go over the mission details once more. We likely have only this single opportunity, and we cannot afford any mistakes," Hu Feifu said in a deep voice.

That Liu Miaomiao and the other young women had unexpectedly become official employees of the municipal administration hall was something he had never anticipated.

Therefore, the original deception plan now had to be changed into a forcible kidnapping. The risk coefficient was much higher, and the level of difficulty had also skyrocketed.

The vast majority of the members present nodded in agreement upon hearing Hu Feifu's words.

However, Steel Bear, the leader of the Four Great Vajras, asked after a brief hesitation, "Boss, is it really going to be fine if we directly kidnap employees of the municipal administration hall?"

He was no fool; the situation now was completely different from what it had been in the morning.

In the morning, at most it would have involved a single mercenary, while Liu Miaomiao and the others still held the status of ordinary residents.

Down in the lower district, where several residents died of exhaustion or starvation every single day, the disappearance of a few people simply did not amount to anything.

Yet now, they had undergone a sudden transformation, becoming official employees of the municipal administration hall, which meant the nature of the situation had completely changed.

With such status, moving against them was even more troublesome than moving against a mercenary.

Thus, it was hardly surprising that Steel Bear harbored such doubts.

When Hu Feifu heard this, the expression on his face immediately sank, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at Steel Bear. "What possible problem could there be? I have already arranged your exit route. No matter how thoroughly they investigate, they will never trace it back to you. Besides, even if something does go wrong, do we not have the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps backing us from behind?"

Pinned under Hu Feifu's gaze, Steel Bear instantly felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to utter another word.

Should he truly anger the master before him, then regardless of whether the mission succeeded or failed, his own end would be extremely miserable.

Seeing that no one else raised any objections, Hu Feifu also breathed a silent sigh of relief.

He knew very well that if the incident were truly exposed, the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps would hardly serve as a backing; instead, it was quite likely they would turn into his executioners.

After all, what he was doing right now amounted to betraying his own faction, and it was something that simply could not withstand investigation.

Regardless of whether the operation succeeded or failed, he would ultimately offend the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps.

Yet none of that mattered to him, because the great figure he had made contact with was none other than the person in charge of the Morgan Consortium at the Star Shield Refuge!

The influence of such a multinational mega-consortium within the Star Shield Refuge was no less than that of any high-ranking official. As long as he could keep that person pleased, his future prospects would truly be smooth sailing.

***

On the other side, the personnel dispatched by the Mercenary Guild had already finished tallying the harvest of the Sky-Rending Mercenary Corps and had entered the settlement phase.

Meanwhile, those security officers were registering the firearms held in the hands of each member.

Within the refuge, with the exception of military personnel, no one else was permitted to carry firearms, and mercenaries were no exception to this rule.

Consequently, the firearms in their possession, along with the electromagnetic railguns and mechas, would all be placed into the warehouse exclusively belonging to the Sky-Rending Mercenary Corps. Everything from the maintenance of firearms to the repair of mechas could only be carried out inside that warehouse.

Lin Xinghai's Destroyer rifle was also registered and handed over.

Without his firearm, his combat effectiveness was slashed by more than half, and his sense of safety naturally plummeted accordingly.

Coupled with his anxiety that the Axe Gang might stir up some kind of trouble, he finally could not help but say to Roger, who stood beside him, "Brother Jie..."

"Stop! Do not call me Brother Jie, you had better call me Old Luo!" Roger immediately interrupted.

Whenever this fellow called him Brother Jie, nothing good ever came of it.

"Ahem! Well, didn't you mention before that the Axe Gang has the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps as their backing? I'm just worried that the Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps might send people to deal with me! How about you go and put some pressure on them?" Lin Xinghai said with a polite smile.

"They are a dignified Tier 2 mercenary corps, and you want me, a squad leader of a Tier 1 mercenary corps, to go put pressure on them? Do you want me to get beaten up by someone!"

"Furthermore, given your strength, if they really sent mercenaries, they wouldn't be able to defeat you anyway. Even if they could, with your ability, could they possibly trap you?" Roger glanced sideways at Lin Xinghai and said.

Roger was well aware that while Lin Xinghai losing his Destroyer rifle meant his combat power was greatly reduced, the other mercenaries had also lost a ranged attack method without their firearms.

Under such circumstances, a speed-type esper like Lin Xinghai could strike whenever he pleased and leave whenever he wanted.

As for Lin Xinghai's attack power being weak—it was true that it was somewhat weak, but he had weapons!

Would you believe that even a three-year-old child holding a vibration dagger could stab a mercenary to death?

Fairly speaking, even Roger himself did not have the absolute confidence to win in a matchup against Lin Xinghai, unless the latter chose not to use his ability.

"Ahem! Well, you're talking about ordinary mercenaries, but what if they send experts at the squad leader level or above? What should I do then?" Lin Xinghai gave a light cough and asked.

"Do you really take us for blind? With us keeping an eye on things, it'll be considered quite something if they manage to send a few nameless underlings down," Roger replied.

What Lin Xinghai wanted was precisely these words from Roger. "In that case, I can rest easy about halfway. As for the other half, I'm just worried they might resort to some underhanded tricks, because one really has to guard against that kind of thing."

"Alright, if there is something you actually want me to do, just spit it out! Stop beating around the bush," Roger said, looking exasperated.

"I'll be direct then. You guys live in the middle district, while I'm in the lower district. If I run into any troublesome matters, I won't be able to consult with you right away. So, I'd like a communication tool, something like..." As he spoke, Lin Xinghai pointed at Roger's wrist-mounted computer.

Roger's face instantly turned green. "You really know how to calculate, don't you? You even have your eyes on my wrist-mounted computer."

Lin Xinghai did not take the bait, merely looking at him with a smile.

"Fine, fine. Let's make this clear, though: I am only lending it to you." In the end, Roger helplessly unbound the personal link of his wrist-mounted computer and handed it over to Lin Xinghai.

Delighted, Lin Xinghai took it and strapped it onto his wrist. "Um... do you happen to have a manual for this thing? Could you give me a copy?"

Roger: "Huh?"

"Due to my hibernation, I might be suffering from temporary amnesia and don't really know how to use it," Lin Xinghai trotted out that excuse once again.

Roger: "..."

Following Roger's brief explanation, Lin Xinghai could be considered to have mastered most of the functions of the wrist-mounted computer.

Actually, this thing could be regarded as a smartphone or computer equipped with holographic projection capabilities.

Of course, Lin Xinghai could not figure out the various software applications just yet, but as long as he knew how to perform basic functional operations, the rest could be explored slowly.

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Xinghai parted ways with the group, and the members of the Sky-Rending Mercenary Corps returned to the middle district to rest.

As for Lin Xinghai, he naturally headed to the municipal administration hall to wait for Liu Miaomiao and the others to finish work so they could return together.