Miss, You're Too Curious About Him

The new ground-penetrating radar brought by Xiang Qian filled the joint command center with a relaxed atmosphere, much like students who had just realized their exam was open-book. The commanders from various nations approved the plan without much discussion, and orders were quickly disseminated.

Everything proceeded exactly as Weather Witch had anticipated. They tightened the perimeter, trapping all the desperate militants deep within the caves, and left it to the bunker-buster bombs to end the battle. This was not just the style of the rugged Russian-style military; any army in the world with absolute technological and firepower superiority would fight this way once the shackles were removed.

If firepower could solve the problem, why waste human lives?

In contrast to the relaxed atmosphere of the command center, the mood within the Spear Bureau Special Task Force grew quietly tense. Xiang Qian's conjecture lacked any evidence and sounded like an irresponsible joke, but even Saber, who had never gotten along with him, did not take it as such. Although no one had ever seen the Memory Planet deep within Xiang Qian's soul, everyone who had worked with him knew of his superhuman memory and powerful information-processing capabilities.

Same surname, same hometown, insubordination, and loopholes on the battlefield—this wasn't a courtroom, so with so many coincidences piling up, what more evidence did they need?

The Spear Bureau Special Task Force quietly began adjusting their deployment, their unusual movements drawing no attention. Because they were operating abroad, the Spear Bureau hadn't sent many combat personnel for this joint operation, serving primarily in intelligence and technical equipment support. However, while the task force led by Weather Witch was small, every member was a true elite. If the Mandarin organization hadn't been at the top of the Spear Bureau's watch list for years, this ace team would never have been deployed.

The matter of troop deployment was not for Xiang Qian to interfere with. Once Weather Witch hurried away, Xiang Qian settled down completely, finding a corner to sit in while tapping away at his tablet.

Saber had been left behind, full of resentment. As soon as Weather Witch left, he marched out of the tent, clearly preferring to stand outside in the wind and sun rather than look at Xiang Qian's face. Vector, who had also been left behind, quietly sat down not far from Xiang Qian, stealing glances at him from time to time—she was simply too curious.

The Spear Bureau was a secretive agency with almost no intersection with the general public. Regardless of the weight of their responsibilities or the magnitude of their achievements, its members remained anonymous. But Xiang Qian was different; he was a household name, a celebrity figure. Whether it was obscure, niche scientific journals or the popular entertainment sections and gossip rags, his name was everywhere. Sometimes, people would be cheering for his latest scientific innovation and praising him for bringing glory to the country, only to be happily devouring gossip about his past and present girlfriends tearing each other apart in the entertainment media the very next moment.

A scientist leading future technology, a scandal-prone rising star in the business world, and the little-known, classified title of technical consultant for the Spear Bureau—all of this draped Xiang Qian in a mysterious aura. When he casually helped the coalition solve their problems in the command center and then discerned hidden dangers in the operation through mere clues in the briefing, Vector realized with a start that the man before her had quietly seized control of the joint operation—all within half an hour of entering the command center.

On the front lines, Xiang Qian shed his celebrity persona, lacking the radiance he displayed in the entertainment columns, yet he could still inadvertently become the master of every situation. Facing such a man, even a mature and rational agent like Vector could hardly help but be drawn in; then, her supposedly hidden gaze was discovered.

"You've been staring at me for over five minutes," Xiang Qian said, looking up to meet Vector's gaze before she could look away. "Comrade... Vector—apologies, I assume your real name is classified outside the task force, so I'll just call you that?"

Vector felt awkward—looking away now would only make it worse—so she stammered, "It's fine, everyone in the team calls me by my codename."

"So, is there a problem with me?"

"Huh?"

Xiang Qian smiled gently. "You've been staring at me for so long; is there something wrong?"

"No... no..." Vector stuttered for a long time, scratching her head until she finally came up with an excuse. "I... I just wanted to ask about your ground-penetrating... drone... radar."

"What about it?"

Vector took a deep, subtle breath, finally able to speak fluently. "Before this operation, the Captain asked me to compile a list of technical equipment, noting everything that might be useful. Why didn't I see any information on this ground-penetrating radar? If it had been available, I wouldn't have missed it."

"Oh, I see." Xiang Qian pretended not to notice her embarrassment. "That's because this new type of ground-penetrating radar was built less than ten hours ago. Aside from the test flight during the development process, this should be its second trial."

Vector finally felt a sense of relief from her awkward situation and said, feigning ease, "I see. If the operation had been delayed a few more days until the drone test flight was finished, that would have been better."

"A few more days wouldn't have helped." Xiang Qian shook his head dismissively. "This new radar project was only officially initiated 24 hours ago, right when you requested support from headquarters."

"Huh?" Vector was so shocked she nearly lost her breath. "You... you're joking, right?"

"I never joke about technical matters," Xiang Qian said very seriously.

Vector began to stutter again; the facts Xiang Qian described were too contrary to her understanding. "You... this radar... ten-plus hours... you can complete the research and development of a new radar and build a physical prototype in just over ten hours?"

Xiang Qian looked at the stuttering Vector with a blank expression. The matter-of-fact look in his eyes made Vector wonder if her surprise and questions made her seem too ignorant; she couldn't help but fall into deep self-doubt.

"Of course... not." Xiang Qian suddenly revealed a mischievous smirk. "The ground-penetrating radar project actually existed for a long time, but it wasn't originally intended for military use. The militarization modification only began after you requested support."

"Hmph..." Vector rolled her eyes at Xiang Qian, expressing her deep disdain for his prank, but couldn't help but ask, "Then what was the original radar designed for?"

"The original design was, of course, also a ground-penetrating radar." Xiang Qian paused for effect. "It was jointly developed by the Five Elements Laboratory and several major domestic mining groups for mineral exploration. It was only finalized a few days ago, and you just happened to catch it."

Vector realized: that made sense. Modifying a radar with similar functions in ten hours was a completely different matter from developing a new one from scratch in ten hours.

"Do you feel relieved?" Xiang Qian said with a half-smile. "I advise you not to be too happy yet. To modify the radar, your Director had to pull quite a few favors to get the rights to use the prototype, and he paid me a large overtime fee to rush the work. Given his stingy nature, he'll probably deduct this overtime fee from your salaries."

"Why?" Vector's eyes widened.

Xiang Qian shrugged. "Why else? Modifying the radar was to clean up the mess caused by your poor performance. The ground-penetrating radar is the toilet paper, so naturally, you have to pay for the toilet paper!"

Vector was left speechless.