Watching

Watching

After a long while, the beautiful woman softly instructed, "Pull up the room's surveillance footage. I want to watch the battle recording again."

The Sunglasses Man finally let out a breath and asked curiously, "It was only a battle at the grandmaster level. You still want to watch it?"

The woman fell silent for a moment before saying, "That poor kid is a little strange. I need another look."

The Sunglasses Man brought up the room footage and played it from the beginning.

"Stop," said the woman.

The Sunglasses Man pressed pause, and the footage immediately froze.

This was the final moment, the instant Gu Qingshan fully poured Spiritual Power into the arrow.

"Look," the woman narrowed her eyes and pointed at the arrow. "Air is the most sensitive. Whenever any kind of power appears in the air, the air reacts."

The Sunglasses Man looked carefully and saw two distorted, transparent ripples faintly appearing around the arrowhead.

He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like this. Could it be some unknown supernatural power?"

"How interesting. This power looks weak, but the feeling it gives me is very unique," the beautiful woman murmured as she stared at the screen. "We need to find a way to make contact with that poor kid."

The long night finally passed.

South of the City, within an upscale residential complex.

"You don't want to avenge your companions?" Gu Qingshan looked at the other man with a half-smile.

Wang Ming shook his head. "We were all drawn together by the bounty mission. We didn't know each other before this."

Wang Ming tossed him a ring of keys. "You spared my life. The only thing I can do for you is provide a hidden place like this to rest. The Nie Family's influence is simply too great."

Gu Qingshan took the keys and gave him a surprised look. "Thank you for your kindness. I'll be going, then."

Wang Ming froze, then hurriedly asked, "Where are you going?"

"To work."

"Work?" Wang Ming did not react for a moment.

"Yeah. I need to work and earn money to eat. Besides, I'll need money everywhere once I start university," said Gu Qingshan.

Other than the nobles of the Nine Prefectures, every Federation citizen was under the surveillance of the Goddess of Justice.

He had been reborn. If his behavior suddenly changed too drastically, it would certainly draw unnecessary attention.

So for the time being, it was best to maintain his original routine and keep everything as it had been.

After all, this was how Gu Qingshan had originally lived in his youth.

Wang Ming wondered whether something was wrong with his ears, whether he had misheard the other man.

This boy before him could take out five assassins in one breath. Even a Martial Arts Grandmaster had been thoroughly played into his hands, falling from the twenty-second floor and smashing into a lump of rotten flesh.

—And someone like that actually needed to earn money through work to make a living?

Wang Ming found it unbelievable, but he did not pry any further.

He was an assassin himself. He knew everyone had their own secrets.

"I'll take the keys," Gu Qingshan said as he put them away. "Let me give you a piece of advice. Leave Changning Prefecture immediately. Head east, all the way until you enter the Fuxi Empire."

"Why?" Wang Ming asked.

"What happened last night must already have been exposed. I have connections with the relevant Su Family departments. Since the Nie Family failed once, they won't make another move against me without certainty. But you're different. You're an assassin who cannot see the light of day. If you don't leave, you could die at any time."

Gu Qingshan continued, "Someone like you is better suited to making friends and doing business. You're not suited for the cold-blooded profession of an assassin. If you stay here, even if the Nie Family doesn't kill you, someone will kill you someday in the future."

He suddenly smiled. "Fortunately, Nie Yun wouldn't dare reveal what happened today. Otherwise, the Goddess of Justice would deal with him first."

Wang Ming silently nodded. "Then I'll be leaving. If fate allows, we'll meet again."

Decisive and clean, without the slightest dragging of feet or muddying of waters—this man had quite the boldness.

Gu Qingshan nodded appreciatively and left the room.

Half an hour later, he arrived at a towering technological building that pierced the clouds.

He skillfully swiped his card and entered the building, then swiped again to enter the underground structure.

After iris and fingerprint verification, he changed into work clothes, collected his employee badge, entered the elevator, and went straight down to the fiftieth underground floor.

The elevator doors opened, and a familiar electronic voice rang out.

"Changning Steel Armor R&D Department welcomes you, Number 41157."

Gu Qingshan strode inside.

Before him stood several five-meter-tall steel mechs. Many people in work clothes were busy around them, discussing matters as they worked.

This was Changning Prefecture's largest mech research center, the core industry of the Changning Su Family. Even Su Family descendants were not permitted to enter without solid ability in this field.

Gu Qingshan looked at those cold combat machines, and a trace of excitement gradually surfaced in his heart.

They were products of Human Civilization, technological crystallizations born from the convergence of countless cutting-edge disciplines. They represented this world's most powerful combat force.

Flying Shuttles and the like were laughably weak before war mechs forged from steel.

These dreamlike, cold machines held a fatal allure for every man.

"Number 41157, applying for project research," said Gu Qingshan.

"Please describe your work content so the intelligent computer may make arrangements," an electronic synthesized voice sounded.

"Power control for the electronic hydraulic drive system of Mech Number Two."

"Number 41157, your application has been approved. The duration is six days. Your accommodation room is 4009. Please remember to eat on time, balance work and rest, and maintain your health."

"Thank you." Gu Qingshan relaxed inwardly.

Just as he had expected, he could remain here continuously for six days. If he completed the project well, he would also receive corresponding rewards.

This place was absolutely safe, unless the Fuxi Empire came to attack the Federation and all of Changning Prefecture fell into enemy hands.

The Nie Family's reach could not extend here.

Six days later would be the college entrance examination.

Once he finished the exam, he could immediately soar away into the distance.

As for now, he could simply settle down and research mechs!

With a faint thrill of anticipation, Gu Qingshan eagerly headed toward a mechanical battle armor.

In his previous life, he had tinkered out many good things. Moreover, the era had later advanced by more than a decade, and he had never given up mech research. What he had learned and researched over the years probably far surpassed the current era.

With conditions this good, he could properly test some of his ideas.

Outside Changning Steel Armor Technology Company, atop another skyscraper.

The Slicked-back Hair Sunglasses Man stood at the highest point, opened his communicator, and helplessly reported matters related to Gu Qingshan.

"So he's actually a proper mech researcher?"

A cool female voice came from the communicator, accompanied by the clattering sound of rapid keyboard typing.

"Yes, Your Highness. Security here is extremely tight. Even if I exposed my abilities and forced my way in, I probably couldn't bring him out. Instead, it would trigger a war."

"Enough. Come back. There's no need to make it so troublesome. We'll use official channels," the female voice said thoughtfully.

"What official channels do you mean?"

The Sunglasses Man asked cautiously.

It was no wonder he was so careful. The last time Her Highness had said that, the official channel she used had been to Declare War. Even now, thinking of what followed made the Sunglasses Man's liver tremble.

"Don't worry. I'm preparing an official visit. That way, there'll be no need to disguise our identities at all," said the female voice.

The Sunglasses Man let out a huge sigh of relief. "Then what about our mission?"

"What mission?"

"To abduct some top talents from the Federation, Your Highness."

"That's exactly what we're doing."

The Sunglasses Man's face was full of disbelief. "Can this kid count as top talent?"

On the other end of the communicator, the woman of incomparable beauty rapidly operated two virtual light screens with both hands. "I've already calculated it. The multiplier by which that unknown ability enhanced the arrow's kinetic energy was astonishing. Also, you really ought to read that paper he published in Federation Technology Magazine, about mechs simulating human behavior."

The woman stared at the information on the light screen, lightly licked her lips, and revealed a trace of excitement. She looked like a cat about to catch a fish.