Reversing the Guest's Role

Great.

This steel wire is showing signs of snapping.

Deputy Chief of Staff Gudunmaha's tone was very gentle, his sharp old eyes seeming to see right through the young man before him.

"Number?"

Yang Ming's heart skipped a beat, his thoughts racing. Number could be understood as a serial number on an ID badge. Could he report this? If he did, he'd surely be exposed.

Little Lü might have a trick or two for the Luofeng Empire's information network, but when it came to the New Federation's, it was like an old cow chewing grass and spitting it out—too green.

At this moment, Yang Ming sat with a smile, his expression calm.

Gudunmaha's gaze gradually sharpened, and his left hand rested on the edge of the table.

Although the Deputy Chief of Staff was certain Yang Ming had no weapons on him—Yang Ming had already undergone a body search, full scan, and energy level detection—Gudunmaha wouldn't let his guard down.

Many thoughts flashed through Yang Ming's mind. Suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, he remembered the beautiful female spy he had encountered, who had already turned to ash.

"General," Yang Ming said softly, "revealing one's identity is the most unprofessional thing to do in our line of work."

Gudunmaha leaned back, a hint of coldness hidden in his smile.

"Sir, you're wasting my time," Gudunmaha shook his head. "Perhaps you've obtained some incorrect intelligence from other channels, leading you to believe you can threaten us..."

"General, I'm not threatening you with intelligence."

Yang Ming interrupted Gudunmaha:

"You might have misunderstood. I went to great lengths to use an alias, found a wealthy merchant in the Kashi Federation to act as my cover, and traveled here not for your corruption case.

"I have no interest in where the makeup bag containing those thirty-two chips is."

Gudunmaha's pupils contracted slightly.

Yang Ming said calmly, "You should know the sensitive identity of the woman you just killed."

Saying too much leads to mistakes.

Yang Ming's words were just enough to hint, allowing Gudunmaha to make his own connections.

It was clear that Gudunmaha had already made many connections.

Yang Ming smiled, "The incident on the passenger ship where I stumbled upon your operation wasn't me being nosy; it was an accident. Is the soldier I injured in the waist doing alright?"

Gudunmaha said coldly, "Your Excellency seems quite confident in your own abilities?"

A hint of ferocity flashed in Yang Ming's eyes. "Deputy Chief of Staff, perhaps we should try a different way of talking."

Gudunmaha's eyes showed a hint of confusion.

"I'm in a hurry to pick up my uncle."

Yang Ming said calmly:

"I went to a lot of trouble to get this identity, and I don't want to waste it like this, or my superior will surely scold me to death.

"You don't trust me, and I can't trust you.

"I think we can establish mutual trust through some means, for example..."

Without warning, Yang Ming suddenly struck, throwing a punch towards Gudunmaha's nose!

Gudunmaha's hand, which was resting on the table, immediately pressed a hidden button, and a red energy shield instantly materialized before him.

Crack!

The punch landed squarely on the red energy shield.

In the old General's disbelieving eyes, the energy shield showed spiderweb-like cracks!

What... what kind of power is this!

A hidden secret door beside them was kicked open, and two groups of heavily armed, short mechanical guards rushed out!

Yang Ming pressed his hand on the desk, leaped into the air, dodged several laser blasts, and landed in the center of the mechanical guards.

Ten-odd seconds later.

Yang Ming deliberately panted, standing over a pile of sparking parts.

He aimed his watch at Gudunmaha's door, which automatically locked. He then unbuttoned his shirt, pulled a chair over, and returned to face Gudunmaha, who was pale and almost crushing the emergency call button.

—The button had failed to send any distress signal.

Yang Ming tapped his watch face symbolically. The almost shattered energy shield quietly deactivated.

"General!"

A guard's voice came from outside the door, "We heard some noise inside, are you alright!"

Yang Ming remained silent, staring at Gudunmaha, the threat in his eyes completely undisguised.

Gudunmaha's breathing grew heavy, and he said in a low voice, "I... I'm fine, don't worry! I was chatting with a friend and broke something. Prepare a lavish dinner!"

After speaking, Gudunmaha closed his eyes.

He felt a pang of regret, wondering why he'd agreed to meet this high-ranking agent alone.

This was definitely a cyborg! And a cyborg of this caliber would undoubtedly be considered a secret weapon within the New Federation's Central Intelligence Agency!

Gudunmaha knew that killing him would be no more difficult for the other party than swatting a fly.

Yang Ming chuckled, "We're just getting started, General. Your psychological resilience seems a bit lacking."

Gudunmaha's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

Yang Ming calmly took out a pen and a banknote he carried, wrote down a few names and addresses, and pushed them towards Gudunmaha.

This time, Gudunmaha genuinely struggled to catch his breath.

"I have no intention of threatening you, General. Your sons are adorable, and that lady is very gentle."

Yang Ming said calmly:

"I just want to emphasize one point: pretend none of this ever happened. Those thirty-two chips don't interest me in the slightest.

"No one will care about any conflict between you and your master. Make money however you please... Now, can you trust me?"

"First, sir..."

A drop of cold sweat trickled down from the corner of Gudunmaha's eye.

"I have never doubted your identity," Gudunmaha said rapidly. "Luofeng is just a puppet state! My position as Deputy Chief of Staff is merely an official post to earn a living! It was I who was presumptuous, you..."

Buzzz, buzzz.

The sudden vibration made Gudunmaha instinctively glance at the third drawer to his right.

Yang Ming simply watched him with a smile, a few thoughts flashing through his mind. He chuckled, "Take a look."

Gudunmaha seemed to have a premonition. He lowered his head, slowly crouched, and pulled the drawer open as much as possible to show it contained no weapons, then took out the long, semi-transparent tablet.

A message popped up.

It was from 'that' number.

Gudunmaha swallowed and tapped the envelope. The message in New Federation language almost made him faint.

[Don't let yourself lose your value, Maha.]

Gudunmaha trembled, wanting to reply, but the phone vibrated gently. A string of garbled code appeared inside, and the screen spontaneously burned out, a wisp of white smoke rising from the edge of the device.

Yang Ming observed Gudunmaha closely.

For a moment, Yang Ming seemed to see a faint purple light spreading outward from the outer layer of Gudunmaha's brain.

Wow, this old guy is completely terrified?

That makes things easier.

"General, how about we record a video?"

Yang Ming narrowed his eyes and smiled:

"Since I've gained your trust, you should also gain mine. If I leave here, all you need to do is mobilize a warship, aim its main cannon at the small airship I'm traveling in, and with a bang, I'll turn into cosmic dust.

"You're thinking that, aren't you?"

"No, no, no," Gudunmaha said hastily. "I'm just a businessman, sir, an honest businessman! I absolutely don't want trouble. I want to be your friend, yes, a friend."

Yang Ming activated the camera function on his watch and said slowly, "Stand up and take off your shirt."

Gudunmaha frowned tightly. "Sir, this is completely unnecessary. I will keep my word..."

Buzzz!

Yang Ming's fist zipped past Gudunmaha's ear. Gudunmaha's right ear instantly turned red, and a trickle of blood flowed from its side.

"I'm not negotiating with you, General."

The old man tremblingly stood up and slowly removed his shirt, despair in his eyes.

When he started to take off his pants, Yang Ming stopped him.

"I'm not trying to humiliate you. You don't need to take off your pants," Yang Ming said, shaking his head with a hint of disgust, and pointed at the ledger displayed in the holographic projection. "Read it. These numbers look familiar, don't they?"

Gudunmaha swallowed.

These accounts detailed the businesses he had conducted, exactly matching his secret ledger.

Before leaving, Yang Ming specifically added:

"I have a 'life-mail' system. If I encounter any accidents or wish to send it proactively, I can send the contents of the mailbox to a designated location at any time.

"We have these things in our line of work. I occasionally record action logs for my superiors.

"My purpose for coming to Luofeng is to conduct a business deal. Since we are both businessmen, we should cooperate well. I don't want anyone to know about our conversation today. Remember, anyone at all.

"General, from now on, you can talk to me anytime, like old friends."

Gudunmaha nodded blankly.

His eyes had lost their focus.

As Yang Ming closed the door, he felt a little apprehensive himself.

I'm still getting used to this, so I'm not sure how well I'm doing.

"Lü, keep an eye on him."

Yang Ming whispered this as he raised his hand to rub his nose.

The guards ahead looked over suspiciously, each gripping the Laser Gun in their arms.

Inside the room.

Gudunmaha stared at the pager beside him. He froze for a few seconds before lunging forward, grabbing the pager and roaring:

"You bunch of scoundrels! Idiots! Useless fools! How could you be so negligent with my esteemed guest! Take this gentleman to the VIP lounge, I'll tidy up and be right there."

The guards outside, dozens of officers directly under Gudunmaha's command, could only exchange bewildered glances.

On the transport ship flying back to the surface of Planet Yilando.

Yang Ming sat in the central seat of the Bridge, legs crossed. Beside him were two soldiers holding fruit, and in front of him was the Major who had apprehended Yang Ming.

The Major made no attempt to hide his fawning. He had also been ordered to remain silent, forbidden from revealing anything that happened today to outsiders.

Yang Ming's heart was far from as calm as it appeared.

The particle transporter was on standby.

If any ship's cannons were to target this transport ship, Yang Ming would be immediately transported away.

From this moment until they reached the surface, if Gudunmaha didn't make a desperate move, this sudden gamble would end with Yang Ming's complete victory.

Yang Ming had walked a tightrope to turn this dead end into a living situation.

Of course, there were still immense hidden dangers. Once he stepped onto this tightrope, there was no turning back.

If that Deputy Chief of Staff decided to destroy him no matter the cost, Yang Ming would have to abandon all hope regarding the Luofeng Empire and wish Kolev a long life.

He was gambling with his life.

—Gambling with his First Mate's life.

The spaceship sped through the synchronous orbit.

The airspace was quiet.

In the corner of his watch face, a green breathing light flickered.

Yang Ming had no mood to watch the TV program in front of him; he was thinking, and he was probing.

He could almost see, in that luxurious office that had just been tidied up, the Deputy Chief of Staff, thin as a rail, pacing anxiously back and forth, letting out bursts of low growls and curses.

This couldn't be blamed on his carelessness.

With several agile mechanical guards hidden behind secret doors, energy shields that could be triggered instantly, and guards standing watch outside the door, Gudunmaha had never imagined he would feel such a strong sense of mortal danger from a man who came empty-handed.

Even less did Gudunmaha know how he had offended the New Federation. This damned, hypocritical New Federation, which had profited so much from him, had actually captured his wife and children, and all his crimes!

Despicable, this was utterly despicable!

"Ah!"

Gudunmaha roared in a suppressed voice.

The spaceship entered the atmosphere.

A faint smile touched Yang Ming's lips.

The possibility of the other party making a move had approached zero.

The particle transporter remained on standby.

Yang Ming disembarked the ship at the edge of the city. He refused the Major's and his soldiers' requests to escort him back to the hotel, hailing an automatically operated hovercar and driving away.

The road was a bit congested.

Before Yang Ming could even meet up with Kolev, Lü sent him a short video.

The transport ship he had just been on had once again left the atmosphere and was traveling in the dark expanse of space when a flash of light suddenly appeared. A violent explosion occurred inside the transport ship, and the expanding flames engulfed everything.

The Major and his two squads of soldiers had all perished.

Yang Ming fell silent for a moment, looking at the bustling city outside the window. He shook his head, chuckled lightly, and cheered himself up.

Although he had been drawn into strange events at the start, putting him in a very passive position, the overall outcome seemed pretty good now.

Ding ding!

A text message popped up on his watch. Without a doubt, it was from Lü.

Yang Ming glanced at the robot driver and chose to read it without projection.

Oh, he guessed wrong. It was from his dear Uncle Haton.