Taking the Initiative

Great.

The wire was about to snap.

Deputy Chief of Staff Gudunmaha spoke in a gentle tone. His sharp old eyes seemed capable of seeing straight through the young man before him.

An identification number?

Yang Ming's heart gave a jolt as his thoughts raced. Could it mean the number on his ID badge? Could he give that away? If he did, he'd be exposed for sure.

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

Yang Ming sat there with a smile, giving nothing away.

Gudunmaha's gaze grew sharper, and his left hand came to rest on the edge of the desk.

Although the deputy chief of staff was certain Yang Ming carried no weapons—Yang Ming had already been searched, scanned from head to toe, and checked for his energy level—Gudunmaha wasn't about to let his guard down.

A flurry of thoughts flashed through Yang Ming's mind. Then, as if struck by sudden inspiration, he remembered the beautiful female spy he'd met—the one who had already been reduced to ashes.

"General," Yang Ming said softly, "introducing yourself is the least professional thing anyone in our line of work can do."

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

"Sir, you're wasting my time." Gudunmaha shook his head. "Perhaps you've received some false information from another source, and that's led you to think you can threaten us..."

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

Yang Ming interrupted Gudunmaha.

"You may have misunderstood. I went to great lengths to assume an alias, found a wealthy merchant in the Kashi Federation to act as my cover, and made my way here. I didn't come for your corruption case.

"I don't care 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."

The more he said, the more mistakes he might make.

Yang Ming left it at that, allowing Gudunmaha's imagination to fill in the blanks.

It was obvious that Gudunmaha had already imagined plenty.

Yang Ming smiled. "I didn't expose your operation on the passenger ship because I wanted to meddle. It was an accident. How's the soldier I kicked doing? Is his lower back all right?"

Gudunmaha said coldly, "You seem very confident in your abilities, sir."

A trace of menace flashed through Yang Ming's eyes. "Deputy Chief of Staff, why don't we try a different way of talking?"

Gudunmaha looked a little confused.

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

Yang Ming spoke calmly.

"It took me a lot of effort to get this identity. I don't want to waste it just like that. Otherwise, my superior will chew me out until I'm covered in spit.

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

"I think we could find a way to build mutual trust. For example..."

Without warning, Yang Ming struck, punching Gudunmaha in the bridge of the nose!

Gudunmaha's hand, resting on the edge of the desk, slapped down on a concealed button. A red Energy Shield sprang up in front of him.

Smack!

Yang Ming's fist landed squarely on the red barrier.

Under the old general's disbelieving gaze, spiderweb cracks spread across the Energy Shield!

What... What kind of strength was that?

A concealed door to the side was kicked open, and two squads of fully armed, compact mechanical guards charged out!

Yang Ming planted a hand on the desk and vaulted sideways, dodging several laser blasts before crashing into the middle of the mechanical guards.

A dozen seconds later.

Yang Ming deliberately panted for breath, standing amid a heap of sparking parts.

He pointed his watch at Gudunmaha's office door. It locked automatically. Then he undid the top button of his shirt, dragged over a chair, and sat down in front of Gudunmaha, whose face had gone pale and who had nearly crushed the emergency call button.

The button hadn't managed to send a single distress signal.

Yang Ming tapped the face of his watch for show. The nearly shattered Energy Shield silently shut down.

"General!"

A guard called from outside. "We heard a commotion in there. Is everything all right?"

Yang Ming said nothing. He stared at Gudunmaha, making no effort to conceal the threat in his eyes.

Gudunmaha breathed heavily and said in a low voice, "I...I'm fine. Don't worry! I'm chatting with a friend. We broke something, so I'm arranging a more lavish dinner!"

After saying that, Gudunmaha closed his eyes.

He regretted meeting this Senior Agent alone.

This had to be a Modified human! And a Modified human of this caliber had to be one of the Central Intelligence Agency's secret weapons in the New Federation!

Gudunmaha knew that killing him would be about as difficult as swatting a fly.

Yang Ming smiled. "We've barely started, General. You don't seem to have much of a stomach for this."

Gudunmaha's Adam's apple bobbed.

Without hurry, Yang Ming took out the pen he carried and a banknote. He wrote down several names and addresses, then slid them across to Gudunmaha.

This time, Gudunmaha really did feel as if he couldn't catch his breath.

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

Yang Ming spoke evenly.

"I just want to make one thing clear: let's pretend nothing happened. Those thirty-two chips hold no interest for me.

"No one cares what kind of disagreement you have with your boss. Make all the money you want... Can you trust me now?"

"S-Sir..."

A bead of cold sweat slid from the corner of Gudunmaha's eye.

"I never doubted your identity, sir," Gudunmaha said quickly. "Luofeng is just a puppet state! My position as deputy chief of staff is nothing more than a job to earn a living! I was the one who overstepped. You..."

Bzz, bzz.

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

Yang Ming watched him with an amused smile, several thoughts crossing his mind. "Open it and take a look."

As if he'd had a premonition, Gudunmaha lowered his head and slowly bent down. He pulled the drawer open as far as he could, showing that it contained no weapons, then took out a long, translucent tablet.

A message popped up.

It was from "that" number.

Gudunmaha swallowed and opened the message. The New Federation text inside nearly made him pass out.

[Don't make yourself useless, Maha.]

Gudunmaha tried to reply with trembling hands, but his phone vibrated. A string of garbled characters appeared, then the screen burned out on its own, a wisp of smoke rising from the edge of the device.

Yang Ming watched Gudunmaha closely.

For an instant, he seemed to see a pale purple glow spreading outward from the outer layer of Gudunmaha's brain.

Wow. The old man was completely terrified?

That made things easy.

"General, how about we record a video?"

Yang Ming narrowed his eyes with a smile.

"Since I've earned your trust, you should earn mine too. Once I leave here, all you have to do is send a warship after me and aim its main cannon at the little shuttle I'm riding in. Then, with a single bang, I'll become cosmic dust.

"That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

"No, no, no," Gudunmaha hurriedly said. "I'm just a businessman, sir. An honest businessman! I absolutely don't want any trouble. I want to be your friend. Yes, your friend."

Yang Ming activated the camera on his watch and spoke slowly. "Stand up. Take off your shirt."

Gudunmaha frowned deeply. "Sir, there's really no need for this. I'll keep my word..."

Whoosh!

Yang Ming's fist swept past Gudunmaha's ear. The old man's right ear turned red in an instant, and a trickle of blood ran down beside it.

"I'm not asking, General."

The old man got to his feet, trembling, and slowly took off his shirt. His eyes were full of despair.

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

"I'm not trying to humiliate you. Keep your pants on." Yang Ming shook his head in distaste and pointed to a ledger on the holographic projection. "Read it. Those numbers look familiar, don't they?"

Gudunmaha swallowed.

The ledger recorded the business he'd done, and it was almost identical to his secret account book.

Before leaving, Yang Ming took care to add, "I have a dead-man's switch email account. If anything happens to me—or if I decide to release it myself—I can send its contents to designated locations at any time.

"Everyone in our line of work has something like that. I occasionally send my superiors logs of my operations, too.

"I came to Luofeng to do business. Since we're both businessmen, we should cooperate. I don't want anyone to know about our conversation today. Remember: no one.

"From now on, General, you can come talk to me anytime. Just like an old friend."

Gudunmaha nodded mechanically.

His eyes had already lost focus.

When Yang Ming closed the door, he felt a little uneasy himself.

It was his first time doing something like this. Of course he was inexperienced. He had no idea how well he'd pulled it off.

"Lü, keep a close eye on him."

Yang Ming murmured softly, using the pretense of raising a hand to rub his nose.

The guards ahead looked over suspiciously, each tightening their grip on the Laser Gun in their arms.

Inside the office.

Gudunmaha stared at the call device beside him. He sat frozen for a few seconds, then suddenly lunged forward, grabbed it, and snarled, "You worthless bunch! Idiots! You're all just taking up space! How could you...how could you treat my honored guest so carelessly? Take the gentleman to the VIP lounge. I'll get changed and be right there."

Outside, the guards and the dozens of officers under Gudunmaha's direct command could only look at one another in confusion.

Aboard the Transport Ship flying back to the surface of Planet Yilando.

Yang Ming sat in the center seat on the bridge with his legs crossed. Two soldiers stood beside him, holding fruit, and the Major who had arrested him sat in front of him.

The Major made no effort to hide his sycophancy. He'd also been ordered to keep quiet and not reveal anything that had happened that day.

Yang Ming felt far less calm than he appeared.

The Particle Transmitter was on standby at all times.

If any ship's guns locked onto this Transport Ship, Yang Ming would be beamed away immediately.

From now until they reached the surface, if Gudunmaha didn't lash out in desperation, this sudden clash would end with Yang Ming the clear victor.

He'd taken this dead end and, by walking a tightrope, brought it back to life.

Of course, serious risks remained. Once he stepped onto that tightrope, there was no turning back.

If the deputy chief of staff decided to destroy him at any cost, Yang Ming could only abandon all his hopes for the Luofeng Empire and wish Kolev a long life.

He was gambling with his life.

More precisely, he was gambling with his First Mate's life.

The ship sped across the synchronous orbit.

The airspace remained quiet.

A green indicator light blinked in the corner of his watch.

Yang Ming had no interest in watching the television in front of him. He was thinking and weighing his options.

He could almost see the deputy chief of staff, now thin as a stick, pacing anxiously back and forth in his newly cleaned luxury office, growling and cursing again and again.

It wasn't Gudunmaha's fault that he'd let his guard down.

The agile mechanical guards hidden behind the concealed door, the protective Energy Shield that could activate in an instant, and the guards stationed outside had made it unthinkable that an unarmed man could make Gudunmaha feel such a powerful threat to his life.

Gudunmaha had no idea what he'd done to offend the New Federation. That damned, hypocritical New Federation had made so much money off him, yet it had still gotten its hands on his wife and children, along with all the evidence of his crimes!

Despicable. This was beyond despicable!

"Ah!"

Gudunmaha roared in a suppressed voice.

The ship entered the atmosphere.

Yang Ming's lips curled into a faint smile.

The odds of the other side making a move were now close to zero.

The Particle Transmitter remained on standby.

Yang Ming got off the ship at the edge of the city. He turned down the Major and the others' offer to escort him back to the hotel, hailed an automated Hovercar, and drove off alone.

The roads were somewhat congested.

Before Yang Ming had a chance to meet up with Kolev, Lü sent him a short video.

The Transport Ship he'd just been aboard had left the atmosphere again and was traveling through the darkness of space. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared. A violent explosion tore through the ship, and flames billowed outward, swallowing everything.

The Major and both squads of his soldiers were wiped out.

Yang Ming fell silent for a moment. He looked out at the bustling city, shook his head with a wry smile, and pulled himself together.

Though he'd been dragged into some bizarre incident right from the start and put at a severe disadvantage, things had turned out pretty well overall.

Ding, ding!

A message popped up on his watch. It had to be from Lü.

Yang Ming glanced at the robot driving and chose to read the message without projecting it.

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