Chapter 40: Opportunity

Xingyu’s attention was pulled back to reality. "Mm."

"How did you end up choosing such a... obscure... codename?"

Xingyu thought for a moment and replied, "I'm bad at naming things, so I just picked one at random. It’s been so foggy these past few days, and I didn't want anything too straightforward."

Hill nodded. Although she completely missed the logical connection in Xingyu’s words, her gaze held a mixed expression of sympathy and pity.

In her eyes, this codename "Mist" was probably just as bizarre as Xingyu reading something like "Hate Heaven Nameless Earth Doorless."

In this world, the "English" in Xingyu's memory felt more like a mysterious symbolic system than a complete language.

These symbols were often used as auxiliary elements for the common tongue, appearing on various signages.

When using the common tongue, Xingyu felt it came naturally, as if she were born with it.

Yet, whenever she encountered these English-like symbols, a subtle sense of dissonance would arise within her, as if she were touching upon forgotten memories.

However, complete English words were rare in this world.

When people used these symbols, they relied more on their shapes and combinations rather than phonetic symbols or semantics.

This made Xingyu experience a peculiar blend of familiarity and strangeness whenever she saw them.

"Never mind, as long as you like it," Hill said, weighing her words carefully. "Quinn contacted me saying there's an opportunity next week for a trainee to be promoted to a full-fledged operative. Do you want to give it a try?"

Xingyu turned back and looked at her in confusion.

She felt that Hill's hesitant manner was somewhat unusual.

"I don't think I'm ready to become a regular yet, am I?"

Hill nodded. "Mm, that's true. But Quinn said that since you're an Awakened, she specifically fought for this opportunity... I thought it was a bit of a long shot at first, but now... I think you can give it a try."

"Though I have a feeling that woman probably doesn't mean well. Just like that assessment last time."

Xingyu became even more perplexed.

Although she had vaguely sensed that the relationship between Hill and Quinn was somewhat delicate...

She certainly hadn't expected to hear Hill so bluntly express distrust at this very moment.

"Quinn... I don't really like her. She's too fake. We've known each other for so many years, and I only found out a few days ago that she even has a last name."

This evaluation didn't quite match her own impression of Quinn.

She cautiously pursued the matter: "But I thought your relationship with her was, well, alright?"

Hill let out a laugh, but there was not a trace of warmth in it.

"I suppose it's alright," her voice carried a rare chill. "After all, I do work under her. I just don't like her style."

"She preaches that Awakened ones are of the utmost importance, yet she shows no mercy to those outside their control. If I were ever to disobey the Council, that woman would kill me without a second thought."

"The Council... is it really like that?"

"Hard to say. The Council oversees the Bureau of Affairs, and the Bureau manages us. Their own internal relationships are complicated enough; I don't care about that. I just focus on doing my job."

"Xingyu, here's some advice—no matter what Quinn says to you, don't get too close to her, and don't trust what she says."

"Mm," Xingyu nodded, though she remained somewhat unconvinced.

She keenly sensed that beneath Hill's words lay reasons far more complex than what appeared on the surface.

However, she wasn't sure if she should press further.

Seeing her hesitation, Hill paused before continuing, as if finally making up her mind. "Although all of us operatives are like this... capable of easily taking someone else's life for any reason. But Quinn is different."

"That woman became a direct operative of the Council simply because she enjoys the thrill of slaughter... Killing any registered Awakened invites the Council's pursuit, and that's the only way she gets to do whatever she pleases."

"It's impossible to tell what's going on in her head."

"Do not work with her, and certainly never become her enemy."

...

In the afternoon, today's mission was to operate alongside Tianwu.

To be honest, facing a boy younger than herself...

Even though operatives were generally young—up to this point, Xingyu had barely seen anyone over forty—Tianwu was definitely on the younger side among them.

According to Hill's description, the operatives of the Raindrop agency were all combat specialists—

Jingcheng excelled at charging ahead, Bianyin generally controlled the overall situation and provided ranged support, while Tianwu was elusive, skilled at maneuvering between enemies and seizing opportunities for sudden strikes.

However, such a distribution inevitably led to an imbalance in missions. Although tasks related to intelligence gathering were few, they were almost entirely dumped onto Bianyin, and distributed evenly among the others only when she had no bandwidth left. It was safe to say that when Hill wasn't around, Bianyin served as the de facto backbone.

Although the current task delivery performance across various missions for the Raindrop agency seemed balanced, they occasionally felt they lacked the manpower to match their ambitions.

Even so, contrary to the Council's evaluation of Xingyu—which recommended her to become a dedicated research operative—

Hill hoped Xingyu would become more versatile and well-rounded, rather than specializing solely in information gathering or combat.

"Yo," Tianwu waved at her with a serious expression. "Are you ready to head out?"

"Mm," Xingyu nodded, then asked, "What's our mission today?"

She hadn't seen any mission description on her terminal.

When she asked Falan, he only told her to follow Tianwu's lead.

"Today isn't a mission; it's something I want to do myself. There's no pay, though." Tianwu picked up a slightly slender dagger, expertly spinning it in a flourish before gesturing for Xingyu to follow him.

"Don't worry, I'm your senior too, I'll keep you safe!"

...Do you people all love adding seniority to yourselves?

Xingyu swallowed those words. She felt there was no real need to argue with a kid younger than her.

Following Tianwu forward, they walked through the streets under the jurisdiction of the Raindrop agency, while Tianwu explained along the way.

"That 7th Street right next to ours has always been lawless, with gangs coming and going. I heard a new gang over there is plotting against the Big Sis."

"Hill can handle them, can't she?"

Tianwu's voice carried a hint of eagerness. "Of course! She's the Big Sis, after all. There's nothing she can't handle."

"However, there's already so little we can do for her. We can't keep holding her back, so I want to clear away some trouble for her in advance."

"I heard," Tianwu looked around and leaned close to Xingyu's ear, lowering his voice to share a vital secret, "some people have even figured out what the Big Sis's ability is... Before those people actually pull anything, we need to teach them a lesson!"

Xingyu vaguely guessed what Tianwu meant. Still, she pursued: "So, what's your plan?"

Tianwu straightened his small posture and looked back toward the direction they were heading. "We'll just patrol around the neighborhood. You just need to help me spot suspicious people. If there are any gang members..."

"Don't leave a single one. Kill them all."