The slave market was being demolished and rebuilt. Han Xiao showed the construction team his identity as a member of the logistics department and successfully entered the underground corridor. He arrived at the cell where Aroshia had been imprisoned, looked around, and Warning on things, but found nothing unusual.
Before him, the Dragon Calm forces had already searched the prison, but found nothing.
Aroshia stood outside the door watching, then suddenly asked, "Why do you want to take me away?"
Han Xiao was speechless. He couldn't very well say it was a mission requirement, so he could only say, "I'm very curious about you."
"Curious..." Aroshia murmured, "What does that feel like?"
Han Xiao said, "Curiosity is the desire for knowledge and books. For example, if an ordinary person loses their memory, they want to know who they were before; this is a kind of desire."
"Desire... I don't think I have that. Is that unusual?" Aroshia shook her head.
"Well, generally speaking, those without desires are mostly artificial intelligence, and the lack of need to eat or excrete is a characteristic of energy-based life forms." Han Xiao looked Aroshia up and down. "But you're neither. You just lack the most basic material needs, not necessarily all desires. Don't you have anything you want?"
Aroshia thought about it carefully, "It seems not."
"Are you sure? Since you asked me, it's because you're curious about what 'desire' is." Han Xiao said, "Without desire, there is no life. Desire is the sense that experiences existence; it can be said to be all the motivations that drive life. That's why your life form seems quite peculiar."
Aroshia tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "You want to teach me how to unleash the energy within me, also out of your own desires?"
Han Xiao said honestly, "I want you to become stronger and become part of my fighting force." He had figured out some ways to deal with Aroshia, and he didn't need to hide anything; he just stated his intentions directly.
Aroshia remained indifferent. "I won't die, so why should I become stronger? Strength or weakness is meaningless... Well, I should say, existence itself is meaningless."
Han Xiao thought for a moment and said, "But if you die, your memories will be reset again. You will forget this short-term memory, and the reborn you may not be the same 'you' you are now. Once reborn, you will have to start all over again, repeating this process of thinking and wasting the same amount of time to achieve the current result. Becoming stronger can help you avoid rebirth and prevent you from being killed by others or disasters."
After a pause, Han Xiao said, "As for the so-called meaning... you don't need food or excretion to survive, so you can't experience life. For an being like you, if you just sit around daydreaming, a day or a year will pass in the blink of an eye. Since that's the case, why not actively find something to do and give your life meaning?"
"Is that so..." Aroshia murmured to herself for a moment, then nodded and said, "Thank you, it was a pleasure chatting with you. No one has ever talked to me this much before." For the past three years, outsiders had only two impressions of her: one was Cosmic Wonder, and the other was a slave who couldn't run away. No one had ever treated her as a normal individual.
"You're welcome, it was just a casual chat."
Finding no clues in the cell, Han Xiao stopped and chatted casually with Aroshia while waiting for the deadline to arrive and see what would happen.
Time ticked by, and as the last minute passed, change occurred silently.
Aroshia remained standing outside the door, not returning to her cell. She took a few steps back, then looked down at her body, finding nothing amiss, before retreating further and further away.
[[Visitor from Afar] is complete]
[You have gained 1.8 million experience points]
Han Xiao was startled, his eyebrows almost flying off his feet.
He had done almost nothing, yet this Cosmic Wonder, which even Dragon Calm couldn't decipher, had simply vanished. It couldn't be that simple! Han Xiao remembered that this mission had an unknown reward. Looking at the panel, he discovered that the reward was actually giving him another new mission.
[You have triggered Grade A hidden chain quest [Restart]]
[Mission Brief: Aroshia is a special life form, containing a great secret. Keep her by your side, and one day, this secret will come to you.]
[Note: This is a series of quests; the next stage will only be unlocked after completing the previous one.]
[First mission: Teach Aroshia, assist her in awakening her special abilities, controlling the energy within her body, and reaching Rank Grade B]
[Rewards: 5.2 million experience points, 1 random reward, +5 favorability with Resta]
[Failure condition: Aroshia dies]
"Grade A hidden quest of the 'running the loop' type!" Han Xiao was shocked. This was usually the configuration for a major main storyline event.
There was no information about this plot in his previous life, meaning no one triggered Aroshia's storyline. This was an unknown event, which made him increasingly convinced that Aroshia was no ordinary person. The quest was called "Restart"—did it have any meaning? Also, who was this person named Resta?
"I think I can leave now." Aroshia asked, puzzled, "What did you do to me?"
"... I don't know either." Han Xiao said helplessly, "Anyway, it's a good thing."
Two days later.
The high-ranking officers of the three major mercenary groups arrived late to Dragon Calm. Jenny met with them, accepted their apologies, and finally released the Goya, Porter, and Fasereni teams that had been imprisoned for many days.
As soon as they were freed, the group surrounded Han Xiao, showering him with praise.
The high-ranking officers of the three legions approached Han Xiao with a very friendly attitude. All the mercenaries could sense the importance the high-ranking officers placed on Han Xiao. In this operation, Han Xiao demonstrated the team's capabilities and had the backing of Dragon Calm, so even the three legions dared not underestimate him.
After everyone was freed, they immediately prepared to leave Dragon Calm, return to hand in their mission, and return the Silver Spirit People to its impatient employer. Han Xiao had been waiting until now just to hitch a ride on their boat.
On the day of his departure, Jenny, Wilsander, Haier all came to see him off.
The entire dock was in an uproar. The thugs from all over were filled with suspicion and uncertainty as they sized up Han Xiao, who was exchanging pleasantries with the three men. They secretly inquired about the Black Star Mercenary Group's reputation, noting that the fact that the Dragon Calm's Three Divisions had come to see them off indicated that their status here was definitely not low.
The mercenaries in the know were even more surprised. Han Xiao had only been in Dragon Calm for about half a month, yet he had already gained a foothold in Dragon Calm so quickly. The three managers personally saw him off, which showed how much face he had received. The high-ranking officials of the three legions had only met Jenny.
"His Majesty the Dragon Emperor has granted you permission to join the Field Operations Department. You are now the field operations commander, and your forces constitute our Dragon Calm's armed forces abroad. We hope you can rapidly expand your power."
Jenny spoke formally, taking out a special communicator and handing it to Han Xiao, "This communicator can be used to contact Ames directly, but I advise you, unless absolutely necessary, it's best not to disturb her."
It can directly contact Ames? This little gadget is practically a nuclear launcher!
Han Xiao carefully kept it close to his body.
Haier crawled over and said regretfully, "You're a great mechanic. Now that you're gone, my workload has increased. This gift is for you."
Looking down, Han Xiao saw that Haier's arthropod was handing him an alloy box. He opened it and his eyes lit up immediately.
Inside is a portable miniature nuclear reactor that uses controlled nuclear fission technology. A stable nuclear reactor is something that can only be created with advanced energy knowledge. Energy knowledge is even more tightly controlled than Compression Technology, so he cannot build it for the time being. Now that he has the reactor, he can automatically produce energy by adding materials. It can be used as the energy core of the mecha, and the mecha's power will be raised to a new level.
"Thanks." Han Xiao nodded his thanks with a happy expression.
After Haier walked away, Wilsander leaned closer and chuckled, "Haier is a bit ugly. I initially thought he was unattractive, but you get used to him after a while. He has a really nice personality."
Han Xiao glanced at him. "Ames probably thinks the same way about you: if you're not good-looking, you make up for it with your personality."
Wilsander's face immediately fell.
"Don't change the subject, did you bring a gift?"
"No."
"Farewell." Han Xiao cupped his hands in farewell, turned around, and boarded the spaceship.
"Hey, is the difference in treatment really that big?!" Wilsander said indignantly on the dock.
call--
The airflow is ejected, and the spaceship takes off.
The Floating Dragon Island receded from view. There were four more people on the way out than on the way there: the Volga Three Brothers, who were fast asleep on one side, and Aroshia was staring blankly at the universe outside the porthole.
Joining the Dragon Emperor faction has both advantages and disadvantages, but for the time being, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Not only will you gain new blueprints and materials, but your own expertise will also evolve. The most invaluable gain from this operation should be the Whispering Bead; the greater the risk, the greater the value it contains.
Because Dragon Calm had drifted to the Feven Star System, the group returned to the desolate planet where their employer was docked in less than a day.
Upon landing, the Silver Spirit People couldn't wait to rejoin the main force, extremely excited to have escaped death.
After the employer calmed down, the promise was kept, and the wages were paid.
"Finally got it! The last two pieces of knowledge on Compression Technology." Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. He had gone through this unfamiliar mission for these two pieces of knowledge, which almost killed him. Finally, the time for reaping the rewards had arrived.