Chapter 140

Lemuen tapped her chin with her slender, jade-like finger, pondered for a moment, and said, "I'll probably have to wait until I get back to the Special Operations Center, since I really wasn't prepared."

"Yeah."

Texas responded and subconsciously opened her backpack.

In her bag, the red-soled black stilettos she had inexplicably brought that night lay quietly in the corner.

Before she started carrying it, her reasoning was that she was just carrying it and might not even use it.

But after arriving here, it turned out to be completely useless.

Fight, travel, fight again, eat.

The long journey had almost made Texas forget why she brought it here in the first place.

I thought it would be brought in quietly, just like it came, and then taken away quietly.

But now, Lemuen's words were like a pebble thrown into a still lake of her heart.

The blush on the tips of her ears may fade, and her trembling body may calm down, but the ripples in her heart may not dissipate.

"What's the matter?"

Lemuen was incredibly perceptive; noticing Texas suddenly staring intently at the air in front of her, she immediately realized that Texas was checking her backpack.

This gave her a slight surprise—could she... have been prepared all along?!

Once the thought surfaced, it could no longer be suppressed.

The more she looked, the more convinced she became that Texas probably really had secretly brought "equipment".

I thought everyone would wait to go back to the Special Operations Center, so why are some people sneaking off?

Lemuen's words jolted Texas back to reality. She quickly closed her inventory like a thief, instinctively averting her gaze, and forced a calm reply, "No, it's nothing."

"Oh?"

Lemuen appeared outwardly calm, but her heart sank.

Oh no, they were really prepared.

Why are some people secretly preparing "equipment" to get a head start?

Texas noticed Lemuen's gaze and immediately became restless, hastily making an excuse, "Um... I need to go find Theresa."

Having said that, she practically fled from Lemuen's sight, as if the person standing there wasn't a gentle and kind older sister, but some terrifying monster.

Watching Texas's disappearing figure, Lemuen couldn't help but chuckle softly, "So cute."

The older sister has her own way of being tolerant. Even if Texas really did secretly bring the equipment and get a head start, she would only be surprised at most, and wouldn't really care.

On the contrary, Texas's guilty conscience and flustered escape were a stark contrast to her usual aloof demeanor, which immediately amused Lemuen.

After a soft chuckle, Lemuen wiped her eyes and murmured to herself, "No wonder he likes her so much."

As she spoke, she relaxed, leaned against the wall, looked up at the ceiling of the corridor, and murmured to herself:

"Should I really start preparing some equipment? I can't let her beat me to it every time."

Night fell.

The Babel, which had been bustling all day, fell silent once more.

With Kal'tsit's recruitment, Han Fei's daytime searches went quite smoothly. After all, he now had the identity of a Babel operator, which allowed him to enter and leave many places.

Although there were some minor troubles along the way, they were all overcome without serious incident.

This Tower of Babel is much larger than the Bakshi Tower of Babel that Han Fei often visits.

The Bakshibabel Tower area is actually just a few areas; if you really want to search it, two people can go together and it'll be quick.

But Kazdel's Babel is truly enormous.

So large that Han Fei could clearly see that some areas had been missed and not thoroughly searched.

But Han Fei didn't care about any of that anymore; he planned to shut down the power and run away the next morning.

As for the remaining areas, we'll explore them later.

We can come back and do another search during the Rhodes Island era.

By then, the supplies should have been refreshed, and it will be a brand new Babel.

With their new roles as operatives, Han Fei and his team were also given rooms to rest.

Han Fei was exhausted today. Although his body was already quantified and he could recover to his peak condition by just standing up or lying down, he couldn't overcome the mental fatigue.

He had been walking all day without stopping, and even if he had another bar of energy, he wouldn't want to go out for a stroll.

So, after finishing dinner provided by Babel and having a brief chat with his team, Han Fei went back to his room.

I'm thinking of getting some rest so I can shut down the power and leave early tomorrow.

As a result, around ten o'clock, there was a sudden knock on Han Fei's door.

Who is it?

Han Fei called out, thinking it was one of his own operators, but when he went to open the door, Closure standing outside.

"So you're the one who wants to recruit me?"

Closure one hand on her hip, looked Han Fei up and down, and said, "He looks quite energetic, more energetic than he did on the monitor."

"Come in and talk?"

Han Fei turned to the side, gesturing for Closure to come in.

Whether it works out or not, there's no reason to chat at the door.

Closure remained silent and stepped into Han Fei's room.

Since it was a dormitory in the Babel, there wasn't much to see. She simply moved a chair over and sat in the middle of the room, looking up at Han Fei with her small face, and said, "Why did you think of recruiting me? We probably didn't know each other before, right?"

Han Fei thought to himself, "How could I not recognize you? Every time I open the store, it's the first thing I see."

But he couldn't say it aloud, so he could only nod and say, "I really don't know him."

"Then why did you think of recruiting me?"

Closure's scrutinizing gaze remained, now tinged with curiosity.

"Hmm, is it acceptable to say that I need an engineer who can also serve as a logistics manager?"

Han Fei also moved a chair over and sat opposite her, saying, "You've already met Her Theresa, haven't you?"

"Um."

Closure looked at Han Fei with an expression that said, "What nonsense are you spouting?" Her expression was quite understandable—"I've never met Theresa, so why would I be here?"

"Since Your Highness is willing to join my team, you can rest assured about your safety," Han Fei said frankly. "I don't need you to go to the battlefield; you just need to be in charge of logistics and be my logistics supervisor."

"But I want to go to the front lines!"

Volume 1: Chapter 174 Where are my black stockings?!

Han Fei was not surprised by this small request from Closure.

In the original Arknights storyline, Closure always longed to go to the front lines, but most of the time, her suggestions were rejected outright by Kal'tsit.

It wasn't until the later main story chapters that she finally went to the front lines— Han Fei couldn't remember which chapter it was exactly.

However, Han Fei didn't care about this.

Given the low intensity of the battle and the relatively ordinary nature of the mission, bringing Closure wasn't a bad idea, so he readily agreed.

"If there's a chance, I can definitely take you to see it."

After all, although Closure was rated as "low threat" by a certain "Laterano humanoid computer," she was still a legitimate Bloodfiends.

In Terra, the physical differences between people are sometimes greater than those between people and dogs—and these differences are often reflected in race.

Some races are naturally superior in terms of combat power.

Although Closure is not a full-time combatant, her racial identity as a "Bloodfiends" provides her with a certain foundation of combat power.

"You agreed so readily?"

Closure somewhat surprised, "Aren't you afraid I'll hold you back?"

"What kind of talk is that?"

Han Fei waved his hand dismissively, "Since I dared to agree, I'm naturally not worried that you'll hold me back."

"Ah, okay."

Closure nodded slightly. She felt somewhat pleased by the trust Han Fei had shown in his words. She then asked, "If I join you, what will be my first mission?"

"The first task..."

Han Fei stroked his chin thoughtfully. It was expected that Closure would become his logistics manager, but he hadn't fully decided on the specifics of her role yet.

After hesitating for a moment, he recalled his previous idea and said:

"It's probably... developing a mechanical combat vehicle."

"Mechanical combat vehicle?"

Closure became interested. "What kind of war machine? Tell me more."

"About this tall, and this big."

Han Fei gestured with his hand—basically describing the specifications of "Lao Tai's Tank" from his memory.

"It needs to possess a certain level of intelligence, be able to autonomously locate enemies, and be equipped with weapon systems capable of firing on its own."

Han Fei thought this shouldn't be too difficult, since Rhodes Island already had quite a few robot operators. Although their star rating wasn't high, they were very useful in certain situations.

One of Closure's jobs at Rhodes Island is to maintain these robot operators.

--We already have medical carts and guard carts, so it's not unreasonable for me to build a "prison tank" too, right?

Closure nodded as if she understood. "It sounds easy, but whether it can be done or not, we'll have to wait until the research and development begins to know."

"So, how many people are involved in this project with me?"

Han Fei was very frank. "Right now, there's no one else, just you."

"Ha?!"

Closure was startled and instinctively pointed to herself, "Am I all alone?!"

"Yes,"

Han Fei nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Didn't Theresa tell you? Our team is currently quite short-staffed."

"She really didn't mention it..."

Closure her forehead, looking exhausted. "So why did Your Highness join you? I don't really get the feeling that you guys are reliable?"

"I disagree with that,"

Han put his hands on his hips, speaking with righteous indignation, "We may not be many people, but everyone here is reliable!"

Closure rolled her eyes at him and waved her hand, saying, "Forget it, there's no point in talking about this now. I've already promised His Highness anyway."

She stood up from her chair, walked over to Han Fei, and extended her hand:

"In short, I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration in the future."

Han Fei shook her hand, somewhat surprised. "So you've already agreed?"

"Otherwise what?"

Closure rolled her eyes again. "Why didn't you agree to come?"

She paused, then explained, "I Babel because of Her Highness. Now that she's inviting me to come with you, I don't see any reason to refuse."

"That's great!"

Han Fei's face lit up with joy. With Closure joining the team, he estimated that it wouldn't be long before his pink-haired "Lao Tai" would be able to drive her own personal battle vehicle.

Then, let Lemuen add some high-energy rock background music to the tank, and it'll be just right!

"I never expected people like you to understand Laterano!"

Powerful, my friend!