Wasn't This Supposed to Be Delta Force? How Did It Turn into Arknights? Chapter 32

This also meant that this badge could not be exchanged for Haf Coins.

To Han Fei, this thing was worth less than Lappland's shoes!

Giuseppe had no idea that Han Fei felt nothing for the badge and explained on his own, "This is a medal established by the family to honor those who have rendered meritorious service. Only those who have made outstanding contributions to the family are qualified to wear it.

"Wearing it means you are a pillar of the family. Every member of the Texas Family will treat you with respect.

"And with this badge, you can ask the family to do one thing for you. Whether it's murder or wealth, all you need to do is ask."

"I get it."

Han Fei reached out and picked up the badge.

Though this thing could not be traded for Haf Coins, he could not exactly embarrass Giuseppe. Refusing it would have been inappropriate.

Han Fei's action pleased Giuseppe greatly. He nodded and continued, "There is one more thing."

"Please, go on," Han Fei said.

"Cellinia wants you to be her bodyguard." Giuseppe stared into Han Fei's eyes. "What do you think?"

"Me?"

Han Fei was somewhat baffled. Why ask me? You're the one running this family.

Considering that father and daughter had just had an argument, Han Fei felt it would be best not to act too rashly. He answered, "I'll follow your arrangements."

Volume One: Generous Spending

Giuseppe stared at Han Fei expressionlessly.

Han Fei was getting confused by the stare when Giuseppe suddenly burst into laughter. "Very good. I have seen everything you've done for the family. The family will never mistreat anyone loyal to it.

"I'll have a room arranged for you in the main residence. During this time, you will serve as Cellinia's bodyguard. Make sure you protect her."

"I will protect her."

Han Fei nodded heavily. "As long as I'm still standing, no one will hurt her."

"Mm."

Giuseppe nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Go now. Return to her side and do what you should do."

Only then did Han Fei rise and leave the study.

Outside the door, Texas leaned in the shadows of the corridor, her gray-blue wolf ears drooping slightly. A Pocky stick rested between her fingers, and she unconsciously nibbled at it near her lips.

Sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows, scattering fractured patches of light at her feet, yet none of it reached her lowered lashes.

Only when Han Fei's footsteps broke the silence did the girl raise her head as though startled awake. The Pocky between her teeth trembled slightly, crumbs fluttering down onto her black uniform.

"Finished talking?"

She spat out the biscuit stick. Her voice was softer than usual, its final note nearly dissolving into the breeze passing through the corridor.

"Mm."

Han Fei responded casually, tossing the wolf-head badge Giuseppe had given him into the air. The metal badge traced a cold arc beneath the sunlight before landing steadily back in his palm.

The badge Giuseppe had described as immensely valuable looked like nothing more than a worthless little trinket in Han Fei's hand.

—This thing really was worthless.

"He gave you that?"

Texas's gaze sharpened. Her voice remained calm, though its final note rose slightly.

"Yeah."

Han Fei casually stuffed the badge into his pocket, the metal brushing softly against the fabric. "Said it could be exchanged for one request."

"Heh."

A brief, cold laugh escaped Texas's throat. She suddenly straightened, the folds of her black uniform spreading layer upon layer like raven feathers.

"Come with me."

Without suspecting anything, Han Fei followed the slender figure ahead of him.

The two passed through the corridors of the family's old residence. Light filtered through the stained-glass windows and danced over Texas's shoulders, turning the fur at the tips of her ears into translucent gold leaf.

Their shadows were pinned to the marble floor by the slanting sunlight. The girl's shadow was sharp as a blade, while Han Fei's outline appeared especially bulky because of his tactical gear.

Only after turning two corners did Texas suddenly speak, her voice softer than the wind passing through the hall.

"If you trust me, you'd better throw that thing away."

Han Fei slipped a hand into his pocket, his fingers brushing over the angular wolf head. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone who wears it dies in the end," Texas said softly. "Lady Sicilian's reckoning has already arrived. If you wear it, you'll only sink deeper and deeper."

Han Fei blinked. The badge was worthless to him anyway; tossing it away would not hurt in the slightest.

As for Giuseppe's promise, Han Fei had only listened to it casually. He had never taken it seriously.

—That old bastard can barely save himself. Believing the empty promises he's selling would be a little too naive, wouldn't it?

Perhaps Han Fei's silence caused Texas to misunderstand. She remembered him saying that he desperately needed money. If he was reluctant to throw away the badge, then he was reluctant to give up Giuseppe's promise—and the potentially generous reward behind it.

With that in mind, Texas said, "I don't know what he promised you, but give it up. I'll compensate you. What do you want? Columbian Credits?"

Columbian Credits were Columbia's official currency.

They were money in Columbia, but to Han Fei, they were worthless.

Not as good as Haf Coins.

"I don't want that," Han Fei said. "Compared to currency, I'd rather have something valuable. Antiques, high-tech products, even fine wine would do."

Texas pondered for a moment, then said, "Come with me."

Han Fei followed Texas as she wound through the old residence. After passing through who knew how many corridors, a heavy oak door appeared before them.

Texas pushed the door open and walked straight in. Han Fei followed close behind.

The moment the door opened, the glow from crystal chandeliers poured out like a tide. Han Fei narrowed his eyes and saw countless glass display cases arranged in neat ranks like soldiers, each bathed in its own spotlight.

Amber-aged liquor gleamed with gilded radiance inside custom crystal bottles. In another set of display cases, golden distilled spirits shone beneath the lights like liquid sunlight, while hand-rolled cigars lay neatly lined up in cedar boxes, their surfaces glinting dark gold.

"These are all my grandfather's collections."

Texas's fingers brushed across the nearest display case, and blue ripples of fingerprint authentication immediately appeared across the bulletproof glass.

She reached in and took out a crystal bottle. "But now, he has no use for them."

Han Fei looked around. He could not recognize the brands of these cigarettes and liquors, but judging from how carefully they had been preserved, it was not difficult to guess that they were worth a fortune.

Unfortunately, not every valuable item could be exchanged for Haf Coins.

Just like not every piece of clothing could be searched.

If every piece of clothing could be searched, why would Han Fei even play loot-and-extract? He could just head into a wholesale clothing market. With the roughly two-percent drop rate for red keycards in Zero Dam, searching a hundred garments would surely turn up one or two cards.

Texas held out the crystal bottle to Han Fei. "This is a famous wine from Ursus. That winery once supplied the royal family exclusively. My grandfather spent a great deal of money on this bottle when he bought it. Several decades have passed since then, so it should be worth even more now. Take it. Rather than rotting in a display case, it would be better drunk... or smashed."

Han Fei lowered his eyes and looked. The bottle in Texas's hand was not highlighted, which meant it was utterly worthless to him—not even as useful as that "fashionable little junk."

So he shook his head. "No, I don't want this."

Then he added, "Is it really okay for you to give me this wine?"

"He won't say anything." Texas spoke as though it were nothing. "Don't forget who I am."

"That's true."

Han Fei shrugged. Cellinia was the family's young lady, after all. Her authority was right there.

Texas put the wine back into the display case and said to Han Fei, "Then take a look. You can choose anything you want from the collections in this room."

"You really are generous."

Han Fei clicked his tongue in amazement. As expected of the family's young lady. This lavishness is exactly like Lappland's.

Texas pressed her lips together. She knew very well that if these things remained here, their final fate would be to become trophies for the Siracusans.

Texas had no interest in these things. Though they were valuable, if she could use them to pull Han Fei out of the family's mire, that would be for the best.

Volume One: Is This Still Zero Dam?

With Texas's promise, Han Fei began looking around.

There were plenty of valuable things in this room, but truly few that could be exchanged for Haf Coins.

He wandered around for quite a while before finally finding a bottle of wine that was highlighted.

Even through the glass display case, Han Fei could tell that the highlighted outline of the bottle looked very familiar.

—Isn't that champagne, the thing I know best?!

Hohoho, there really was champagne here.

Excited, Han Fei said, "I want this one."

Texas was very straightforward. Without another word, she opened the glass case and handed him the champagne. "Take it. It's yours now."

"Thanks."

Han Fei happily stuffed the champagne into his bag, unable to hide the smile on his face.

Man, who would understand this? A million-profit run in Zero Dam!

The young lady was right.

Han Fei did not dare imagine how much fashionable little junk he would have needed to cram into his bag to scrape together this million-profit run if he were still wandering aimlessly around Columbia like a headless fly.

Following a rich young lady really was different. Just like that, easy million-profit run.

What was even more ridiculous was that Han Fei's bag was not even full yet!

To carry more loot, he had specifically bought a twenty-five-slot purple backpack before coming here. Yet it was only two-thirds full: a pair of longswords, a pair of shoes, and the fashionable little junk he had picked up.

As for the champagne, his secure container had exactly two slots left—just enough to fit one bottle of champagne.

Han Fei had barely finished sorting his things when Texas said, "Give me that badge, then leave this place. Leave Columbia. Go as far away as you can."

Hearing that, Han Fei closed his inventory interface and looked up at Texas. "Why are you in such a hurry to send me away?"

Han Fei could understand Texas giving him champagne. She wanted to satisfy his desire for wealth so that he would stop thinking about the reward the family had promised him.

But Han Fei had never believed Giuseppe could give him anything good in the first place.

Besides, his bag was not even full yet!

If he wanted to extract now, he really could. Zero Dam did not have all those complicated rules. There was no need to pull any switches; he only had to head straight to the extraction point.

But Han Fei still felt dissatisfied. Who knew where his next deployment would send him?

If he ended up somewhere as barren and desolate as the Tundra again, would he not have to haul another backpack full of little junk back to the Special Operations Center?

Han Fei's mindset right now was like encountering a huge red-loot match in Zero Dam, except all the opponents were bots!

In a situation like this, could anyone really resist scraping the map clean, refuse to open the keycard rooms, and just extract?

Han Fei certainly could not.

This Texas Family estate was packed with good stuff!

"You don't need to worry about me," Texas said seriously. "I have my own methods. You only need to take care of yourself."

Seeing how serious the girl was, Han Fei hesitated for a moment before saying, "Actually, that's what I should be saying. To be honest, I'll leave this place within five days at the latest and go somewhere the Siracusans will never be able to find me."

"Somewhere they'll never find you?"

A trace of suspicion appeared in Texas's bright eyes.

"Yeah. I can guarantee it. The Siracusans will never find that place." Han Fei looked completely serious.

Let alone the Siracusans, even Han Fei himself had no idea where the Special Operations Center actually was. How were those Siracusans supposed to find him?

Before Texas could speak, Han Fei added, "All right, stop trying to chase me away. I still need to make money!"

If I extract from such a massive red-loot match now, who's going to make up for all the Haf Coins I'm missing?

Texas could not help shaking her head. "You really are greedy."

"Making money isn't shameful."

Han Fei did not care much. He was so poor that he was running Zero Dam—what else was there to say? Just take everything.