The group arrived at the lounge, where the warden gave them a few instructions and left, leaving only Han Xiao and his companions in the room.
"The mission is complete; now it's time to deal with her."
Han Xiao tossed Sylvia onto a chair, staring at the unconscious girl with a thoughtful expression.
"I let Sylvia know about my father's deeds. Based on her experiences in her previous life, she should change... but it's hard to say. First, Sylvia only learned the truth after many years of fighting. At that age, she was more mature and adaptable. Now she's still a child, so she might still hate me, or rebel and run away for a while. Second, Langley died long ago in her previous life, but he's still alive now. It's hard to say what the impact will be on her, but it will most likely be beneficial."
After thinking it over, Han Xiao decided to observe Sylvia's reaction before making a decision.
In his view, keeping Sylvia would naturally create greater value. There was no reason to let go of an NPC resource that was delivered to his door. He even considered reviewing her employment history again after a while to see if there were any more opportunities to wait for her to come to him.
Han Xiao was about to reach out and slap Sylvia awake when he suddenly remembered Meat Bun was nearby. He didn't do it, took two steps back, and turned to Aroshia, saying, "Wake her up."
Aroshia stepped forward and slapped Sylvia across the face repeatedly until she slowly regained consciousness.
"Ugh... my face feels so numb."
Sylvia opened her eyes, feeling a numbness and some pain in her face.
She glanced around blankly and saw Han Xiao. Her first instinct was to be angry, but then she suddenly remembered what had happened before she fainted. Her anger vanished, and she immediately became depressed. She lowered her head and stared at her toes, looking utterly dejected.
She thought her father was great, but the truth is that Langley was a traitor and a separatist. Even without Black Star, her father would have been defeated by other mercenaries sooner or later. It was only because Han Xiao held back that her father was able to survive. Naturally, her hostility towards Han Xiao disappeared.
If the object of her Revenge were a traitor, even her own father, Sylvia would feel that her actions were wrong, that Langley's fate was self-inflicted, and that there was no justice that could be served for him.
The Glory image of her father in her heart collapsed, Sylvia's feelings towards Langley became complicated and contradictory. She believed that her father's love for her was real, but what he did was beyond her acceptable range. Her father had been deceiving her all along, so it was impossible not to resent him.
As for whether Han Xiao coerced her father into saying those words, this doubt only flashed by, because Han Xiao's actions were too obvious, confident, and undisguised. A little thought revealed that it was impossible—she was just a little girl who had failed in her assassination attempt. Why would a mercenary leader renowned throughout the star system go to such lengths to deceive her? Han Xiao had personally captured Langley. If he didn't know the true nature of her father, why would he suddenly bring her here to personally question him? Moreover, her father had told her in great detail that the charges of treason, espionage, wiretapping, and leading separatist activities were all true.
Perhaps during the previous investigation, she still held onto hope, thinking that those suspicious points were all fabricated charges against her father. But the perpetrator's own confession shattered all her illusions.
Sylvia looked at Han Xiao with complicated emotions. Although the mercenary leader had been trying to scare her along the way, his actions were genuinely helping her. After her father was arrested, she had experienced a lot of coldness and warmth in human relationships. This kindness from a stranger caught her off guard and made her feel very guilty.
Only when the burning anger that had consumed her reason subsided did she utter these words from the bottom of her heart:
"Thank you, you're a good person... And I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry..."
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
Wow, it seems the mind-reform project was quite successful. It turns out the one who tied the knot must untie it.
"Our team leader is known as the chivalrous and gentle Korean technician, what do you think?" Meat Bun, hands on his hips, laughing heartily.
Han Xiao pretended not to hear and looked at Sylvia at this moment.
The girl was no longer irritable; she appeared rather quiet and pretty. Having been captured for many days, she looked somewhat disheveled, but the dust on her face couldn't hide the beauty of her features. As a popular figure in the doujinshi world in her previous life, it was clear that Sylvia was a beauty in the making.
"I don't care about anything else for now. Tell me, which organization helped you track my whereabouts?" Han Xiao asked in a deep voice.
Sylvia stopped hiding it and told the whole story.
"It was an intelligence-selling organization called ' Mital.' I used some of my savings to have them keep an eye on your movements and bought this intelligence. The disguise expert I hired was a freelance assassin. He and I devised the assassination plan together. The poison gas and venom were all his, but he's already been killed by you..."
Sylvia paused, then suddenly realized that Han Xiao someone else but spared her.
Is it because I know her?
At this point, she finally asked the question that had been lingering in her mind, "Why do you know me? Did my father tell you?"
"Just a coincidence."
Han Xiao brushed it off and began to think about the intelligence organization called Mital.
Intelligence agencies are generally neutral. If a client requests information about someone or something they cannot afford to offend, they will refuse to sell it. Not provoking powerful entities is an unwritten rule for intelligence agencies.
However, he was clearly not qualified enough in the eyes of the intelligence forces; his superior, Ames, was the one he truly couldn't afford to offend.
To be honest, Han Xiao disliked the feeling of being spied on, but for the time being, there was nothing he could do; it was an unavoidable situation. The only way to solve this problem was to strengthen himself, whether it was in terms of power, influence, or reputation. Only when intelligence agencies felt that he was someone they couldn't afford to offend would they stop them from selling information about him.
'We still need to keep trying.'
Han Xiao kept this in mind, narrowed his eyes, and continued to ask, "What are your plans?"
Sylvia shook her head, looking confused.
Suddenly losing her goal, she didn't know where to go. The Galaxy was so vast, yet she had no direction to move forward.
"My father... although he wasn't a good person, he told me the whole truth. Maybe he didn't want to be a burden to me, didn't want me to waste my time because of him, and wanted me to have my own life..."
As she calmed down, Sylvia understood her father's actions somewhat. It was to save her; otherwise, why would he want to deliberately ruin his image in his daughter's eyes? Although she still felt resentful, she had no choice but to accept reality. She whispered, "The universe is so vast; I should probably go and see different places... I hope to find other things I can persevere in..."
"Want to leave?"
Han Xiao remained expressionless. "Did I give you permission to leave?"
Sylvia was taken aback.
"Mercenary code number one—all work is paid for. My help is for a fee. And do you think you can just let the assassination attempt on me go like this? I may be in a good mood and not want to kill you, but that doesn't mean you won't pay the price. You will have to compensate me for all my losses." Han Xiao crossed his arms and sneered.
"I... I don't have any money right now..."
Sylvia looked embarrassed and shifted uncomfortably. She had used all her savings to organize this assassination attempt, which was the money Langley had left her, and it was almost all gone.
"No money?" Han Xiao said expressionlessly. "Then repay with your body."
Sylvia's eyes widened suddenly, her face flushed red, and she stammered, "You, you... I'm still a child... I can't..."
The players were all shocked and looked at Han Xiao in disbelief.
Holy crap, so this is what you're like, Hey Zero!
We are kindred spirits!
Meat Bun hurriedly recorded it, completely satisfied. This was damn exciting!
Aroshia tilted her head and muttered to herself, "This must be the behavior of humans sending mating signals."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao almost lost his composure. He squinted and said irritably, "What are you thinking about all day? I'm not interested in your body; what I want is your freedom."
Sylvia immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Han Xiao nervously, "Freedom? What do you mean?"
"You must work for me for ten years."
"Ten years is too long, can you shorten it a bit?" Sylvia gestured "a little bit," her face showing a pleading expression.
"... twelve years."
"No, no, no, ten years is just fine," Sylvia hurriedly waved her hand.
"For the past ten years, you have been my subordinate. If you try to escape or betray me, I will not give you a second chance. Perhaps you can escape, but your father has nowhere to run."
Han Xiao's tone was indifferent.
Hearing the threat, Sylvia's expression turned serious. She felt a surge of anger, yet also a sense of powerlessness. Her emotions were complex. She lowered her head and whispered, "I won't run away from my mistakes. Ten years is just ten years. I'm still young. I can afford it... Anyway, I have nowhere else to go right now."
Having the guts to kill doesn't necessarily mean having the guts to spare someone. Since he chose to spare Sylvia's life, Han Xiao naturally wanted to maximize her value and create more benefits than killing her. In her previous life, Sylvia was at least an Grade A superhuman at her peak, a... cough, a promising talent. Bringing her under his command would add a quality cadre to his team. Moreover, her talent was Mechanic Class, which perfectly matched his abilities, making her a suitable assistant. Although she needed time to develop, it was worth the investment.
Han Xiao also wanted to become a fully-fledged Grade A expert, but it was too difficult to deceive a master across levels. There weren't many people as easy to fool as Melos, and even then, it required the help of favorable timing, location, and people.
Judging from Sylvia's personality in her previous life, although she was sometimes extreme, she was still a normal person after giving up Revenge. Now that she has completed this process many years ahead of schedule, she can only be better than in her previous life.
Moreover, Sylvia is a popular character, which can indirectly increase players' support for their faction and boost the faction's "popularity" in various ways.
However, once she joins his ranks, the space pirate life that players rave about will no longer occur. But she has a solid foundation, and with some training, her skills will certainly be just as impressive as in her previous life...
As for the possibility of raising a tiger that will turn out to be a threat, it's not that Master Han is arrogant. Even the players' growth rate can't keep up with him. If he didn't even have this much confidence, why would he be wandering around in the universe? He might as well go back to Planet Aquamarine and raise pigs.