Typical Grandmaster faction thinking

"Your home?"

Upon hearing Xiao Nian's words, Ren Gu looked around at his surroundings again with some surprise.

The Xiao Nian walked confidently to the cabinet on one side of the living room, opened the cabinet door, took out an alchemical device that looked like a combination of an old-fashioned typewriter and a radio, and calmly said...

"Yes, it's my home."

"It's really impressive, better than many mansions I've seen," Ren Gu exclaimed. "I heard you were doing well in the Barren Realm, but I didn't expect you to be doing this well."

Xiao Nian smiled a little embarrassedly.

"You flatter me, Brother Renzi. It was given to me by the Solence Family after I made contact with them during the previous [Instance]."

"Make yourselves at home, that's fine—we'll probably be staying here for a day."

Yin Lan, sitting in the living room, asked with some confusion, "Why are you staying for a whole day?"

"Because this house is in the Great Wilderness, and if we want to investigate the Supreme Evolution, we definitely have to start from the City That City That Never Sleeps," Lin Yu said, looking at the sky outside. "It's already afternoon, and if we set off from here to the City That Never Sleeps, it will be nighttime anyway... and the application and procedures for entering the city at night are not so easy to obtain."

Xiao Nian looked at Lin Yu in surprise.

"That's right, you're quite knowledgeable..."

As he spoke, Xiao Nian placed the Alchemical Equipment on the table, then tapped it a few times. The Alchemical Equipment emitted a rapid sound and sent out some kind of signal.

"The Universal Chamber of Commerce will pick us up tomorrow morning, and we should arrive inside the City That Never Sleeps around the afternoon... Let's rest here for a bit today and discuss our action plan."

"The mission orders were issued rather urgently this time, and you've just returned from Shenzhen. Plus, we don't know much about 'Supreme Evolution,' and the mission itself is a 'first exploration mission,' so the organization hasn't given us any specific plans or strategies... But I think we still need a basic framework."

As Xiao Nian spoke, Ren Gu nodded.

"I agree with what Xiao Nian said. Among us, you are the most familiar with the Barren Realm and have a wide network of connections... So Xiao Nian, you can share your thoughts first, and then we can add to them—what do you all think?"

Ren Gu looked at Lin Yu, Good Night, and Yin Lan.

After Xiao Nian said he would make this his home, Good Night had already smoothly collapsed onto the sofa and sank into its embrace.

Although he didn't have the same connections as Xiao Nian, Good Night was clearly quite familiar with the Barren Realm, so he easily found the hidden button on the side of the sofa, took out a bottle of orange-packaged juice from the built-in refrigerator below, and started drinking it while playing on his phone.

He raised his head and spoke in a noticeably languid voice, "Xi Ba, I'll obey the organization's arrangements."

Lin Yu and Yin Lan sighed in unison.

"You son of a bitch... Ugh, never mind him, Comrade Xiao Nian, you go first, ignore him."

Yin Lan spoke, Lin Yu nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I also think it's better to let Comrade Xiao Nian speak first."

Xiao Nian nodded. "I do have a basic idea—based on the more publicly available information, after the Company War that broke out about thirty years ago ended, 'Supreme Evolution' Company officially announced its 'deregistration' and became an 'illegal company'—because this part was deliberately obscured by the Three Great Corporations, the specific timeline is not so accurate."

"But according to the organization's current intelligence, the cooperation and contact between the 'Secretary' and Supreme Evolution likely occurred in the Previous Version, around forty-five years ago... At that time, Supreme Evolution was still in its early stages of development and had only been established for a short time."

"Therefore, there is a high possibility that some data records remain in the 'sealed' laboratories, production lines, and even Headquarters of Supreme Evolution Company. This is an important direction for our investigation—because the Three Great Corporations themselves are committed to erasing the existence of 'Supreme Evolution.' Those laboratories and production lines that were not destroyed or were preserved under such circumstances must involve the most core, highest-level technologies that even the Three Great Corporations are reluctant to destroy."

"The locations that have been 'sealed off' are mostly Highest Level classified matters of the Three Great Corporations. Under normal circumstances, ordinary citizens and even ordinary Noble don't even have the right to know about them, let alone enter them... Therefore, we will focus on 'infiltration investigation' as much as possible for this part."

"After all, it's precisely because the 'secrecy' was so effective, and because so many years have passed, that security has inevitably become somewhat lax. It shouldn't be difficult for us to infiltrate."

"Besides the fact that these 'locations' might contain the data we want... the Three Great Corporations themselves have also collected and divided up a lot of the 'Supreme Evolution' technology, and have continued to research it for many years."

"While this part may not involve 'Authority,' since research into this technology requires support from Royal Nobles... in the City That Never Sleeps, most secondary and general technologies have higher-level counterparts. If we can take these research results out and use reverse engineering and cross-verification, those of us who participated in the 'God Creation Project' technology testing may also gain some insights and inspiration."

"Obtaining this information might require us Xingyi negotiate and make deals with the relevant senior executives of the Three Great Corporations —although there is a ban, I might be able to use my connections to make a deal possible."

"After all, the City That Never Sleeps has never lacked speculators willing to take risks for profit... let alone someone who has already climbed to the top of the Three Great Corporations."

As Xiao Nian spoke, Ren Gu nodded and summarized.

"I understand, Comrade Xiao Nian. So our main objective is to infiltrate those sealed-off 'Supreme Evolution' related facilities to investigate, while simultaneously trying to make contact with the top management of the Three Great Corporations to find a breakthrough, right?"

"That's exactly right... Does anyone have anything to add or any thoughts?"

Xiao Nian asked.

Loquat Candy shook her head. "I have no objection."

Yin Lan and Good Night also waved their hands.

Paper Kite pondered for a moment, then asked, "I heard that 'Supreme Evolution' left behind not only equipment and technology... but also 'people,' right?"

Xiao Nian nodded. "Yes, there are... quite a few Remnants are indeed active outside, but those guys are extreme and fanatical, and many... well, how should I put it, they're not actually the original employees of 'Supreme Evolution' anymore."

The Paper Kite asked curiously, "What does this mean?"

Loquat Candy explained, "Although Supreme Evolution has officially had its trademark revoked as a company, it hasn't been destroyed as an 'organization.' It's just changed from a legal company to an illegal Association... So the core members who survived may be the original Supreme Evolution employees, but they are still recruiting new members."

"Many of the people who are now operating under the name of 'Supreme Evolution' may not have actually worked in Supreme Evolution during the 'company era'."

Paper Kite suddenly realized. "I understand... It means that even if the people we capture outside are indeed members of 'Supreme Evolution' or even important members now, most of them are junior members and won't be of much help to our investigation, right?"

Xiao Nian nodded in agreement. "Yes, after all, we need to investigate the traces and evidence of their cooperation with the 'Secretary,' as well as the Core Technology that can be used for the 'God Creation Project.'"

Lin Yu interjected, "But... shouldn't some of the core employees from the very beginning of the Supreme Evolution still be alive?"

Xiao Nian looked at Lin Yu again and shook his head. "There are some, some have even been taken in and imprisoned by the Three Great Corporations... but they are all too difficult to find and contact."

"Whether they continue their activities and operate Association outside, or have been arrested by the Three Great Corporations, making contact with them is infinitely more difficult than directly infiltrating sealed facilities for investigation or purchasing relevant technical data."

"Moreover... I actually encountered one case—those guys were completely impossible to negotiate with. They were the most paranoid and fanatical diehards. Back then, the technology of 'Supreme Evolution' was an inaccessible forbidden zone for them. It was almost impossible to coexist peacefully with them, and it was impossible to obtain any intelligence through negotiation or even torture."

"Even the Three Great Corporations didn't acquire technology from them through coercion or torture, but through brainwashing, Hallucination manipulation, Memory extraction, and other methods—and even then, the useful technology they obtained was quite limited."

As Xiao Nian spoke, Ren Gu frowned.

"I see... Then it seems that seeking out these Supreme Evolution members is indeed a high-risk, low-reward endeavor, and there's really no need to carry it out."

Lin Yu shook his head. "I don't think it's necessary."

Xiao Nian looked at Lin Yu with great interest, his pupils reflecting Lin Yu's image.

"Really?" Director Xiao Nian asked, somewhat surprised, her tone light. "What are your thoughts?"

Lin Yu looked at Xiao Nian.

"You asked me before why I chose to have 'Schreiber' join us... This is 'necessity'."

"The brainwashing, Hallucination manipulation, and Memory extraction techniques you mentioned... he can do those too."

Lin Yu said softly.

"As long as we acquire a core member of the 'Supreme Evolution,' he can naturally help us obtain the 'information' we want to know—without 'negotiation' or 'conversation,' but directly extract what the other person knows from their soul and mind."

Xiao Nian laughed, "So that's how it is... I had a vague idea, maybe that was what you were planning, but I didn't expect it to actually be true."

Ren Gu raised an eyebrow. "Isn't this a bit inhumane? It sounds like it's even more against organizational Discipline."

Good Night Xi Ba a sip of his drink and said with a contented tone, "Damn it, Brother Ren Gu, what the Director just said was all just his speculation, wasn't it... Who knows what 'Schreiber's' Xi Ba are? Maybe they're humane! We don't know!"

Xiao Nian wholeheartedly agreed, "Anyway, they don't really have any human rights, and 'Supreme Evolution' isn't exactly a good group either... Plus, the one who did it was 'Schreiber,' so we might as well turn a blind eye."

Paper Kite looked at Xiao Nian and couldn't help but complain to Lin Yu, "See that? This is typical 'Grandmaster' mentality."