Translator: Strivon

  "Chu chu! Chu chu!"

  Xie Junping puckered his lips. His tongue sprung back and forth, as he produced an alluring sound. What a pity. He had made a great blunder. He had forgotten to use a microphone. The actions of his mouth were bound to be useless.

  Luckily, the night vision camera in front was quite awesome. Colored light post-processed the dark green image. By the time it was transmitted to his eyes, the technology had nearly reconstructed the image perfectly. It was close to the real situation.

  He could see a little plump brown critter in the dim corner of the tree hole. It stood on its hind legs, as Its front paws shook. Sharp teeth ground against each other within its flat and round mouth. The creature looked nervous and alert.

  "That’s right. Be a good boy and come to papa……"

  Xie Junping’s lips split into a grin, as he subtly moved his joystick. Then, he pressed a button. A spider-like bionic robotics platform finished locking onto the target. It shot out with a paralyzing needle.

  The brown critter visibly trembled for an instant before its upright body fell forward.

  "Bingo!"

  Xie Junping loudly yelled and pulled hard on his joystick to command the robotic spider. The spider dashed down the flight of stairs, and its forward limbs reached out. Its sharp tips caused visible blue-white sparks. "Brown-haired mouse! Let your papa love you properly!"

  The stab was perfect!

  The stab had struck the target dead on before his eyes, but he had never expected the following to happen. The mouse’s tail, which made up two-thirds of the length of its entire body, whipped out. It knocked the electrically charged forelimbs of the spider askew without taking a hair of damage itself.

  Then, its plump body shot straight up and it clung to the wall of the tree house. It turned horizontally and traversed the wall with five or six steps like an acrobat. After that, it dropped to the ground and repeated a few vertical jumps, dodging the metal net the robotic spider shot. It went down the flight of stairs and disappeared past a corner in the blink of an eye. It caused a faint splashing sound, as it jumped into the water.

  "F***K YOU!"

  Xie Junping temporary neglected his facade of a respectful person in his anger. He nearly smashed his controller to the ground, and he smacked his head hard a few times, which caused his immersion helmet to ring out with muffled vibrations.

  There was not the time to be overly vexed. He yelled out, "Underwater view!" Soon, the scene switched to an underwater area that was dark, cloudy, and murky.

  The automatically calibrated visual mode showed a relatively well-rendered scene thanks to the high-end underwater camera. The bloody-glow of the setting sun pierced through the jungle to diffuse across the surface of the shallow waters. The gleam of the reflective waves occasionally brushed across, as large black fish swam by. The water was full of life and everything felt within reach. It was as if Xie Junping had personally entered the water.

  However, Xie Junping did not have the leisure to enjoy this underwater scene. He pushed his joystick forward and a motor silently started up. This was an expensive purchase, a small military unmanned underwater vehicle. It moved like a fish as it slipped quickly around.

  He had lost his best opportunity with his meaningless emotional venting from earlier. The brown-haired mouse had dove out from below the sandbar and slipped past the UUV ahead and below. The brown-haired mouse had an unexpectedly great speed underwater.

  Xie Junping had already stopped talking. He grit his teeth, as he activated the firing system. However, the target did something unexpected with its long tail. It knocked its tail into the thick layer of silt below the water and stirred up a great quantity of black mud to act as a screen. This action allowed it to escape from the firing system’s lock-on.

  At this time, the robotic spider entered an autonomous mode and crashed into the water. This was an amphibious robot. Though it couldn’t float on the surface, it could tread on the bottom of the water and chase slowly ahead.

  "This looks to be more effective……"

  Xie Junping rushed to switch the control modes, but could he do so in time? In the end, he simply said through gritted teeth, "Telepathic control mode!"

  He immediately went to control the simpler machine, the small UUV. He combined the telepathic controls with the automatic cruising function, which let the UUV travel back and forth in the rubble. Then, Xie Junping endured the dizziness and strain from using his mind to do two things at once, as he controlled the robotic spider to pursue the critter.

  Muddy waters sprang up all around him within the small lake of this wetland. His movements startled the fish and prawn within, and the birds and critters above the water. It was all quite chaotic.

  Xie Junping roared five minutes later, and he threw the joystick hard.

  "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD."

  A dark shadow came straight at Hu Huaying’s face right when the freight elevator opened up. Luckily, Hu Huaying’s reactions were quick. He dodged to the side and the unidentified flying object swept past his ear. Then, it smashed into the elevator’s inner wall behind him.

  Hu Huaying’s scalp went numb when he heard the volume of noise the joystick made. He opened his mouth and wanted to curse at Xie Junping, but saw that Xie Junping was wearing a helmet. He saw Xie Junping try to pull off his helmet in a flustered and exasperated manner. This fellow nearly broke his own neck due to his heated mood.

  Hu Huaying rolled his eyes. He did not scold Xie Junping, but he did not go help. He just crossed his arms over his chest and watched Xie Junping struggle.

  Hu Huaying waited until Xie Junping took off his helmet and his other peripherals before mocking him. "Brother Ping, you’re becoming more and more stingy now! Why don’t you go to Frost River Reality. They have a full set of gear there. What’s the point of using a joystick."

  "I’m not playing games. I don’t need a full set of gear!"

  "If you’re not playing games, what are you playing?"

  "…… You won’t understand."

  Xie Junping wanted to say something, but he hesitated. In the end, he just waved his hand with a helpless look. But there was a flame that burned within his eyes, which showed a will that had not weakened at all.

  He breathed a few times and calmed himself down. "How goes the work with the societies?"

  Hu Huaying shrugged and replied, "It seems that the Mystic Arts Research Society is really going to withdraw. They’re going to transition to the next leadership ahead of time. Old Du wants to resign. I believe that we can take advantage of this situation. I heard that there has been a problem with their major financial backer; their financial backer may be removing funds."

  Xie Junping frowned, as he put down his helmet. He waved toward Hu Huaying and indicated that they should not continue chatting in the central control room. They should go into the elevator and return to the surface.

  As they entered the elevator, Xie Junping sent the deformed multi-function joystick flying with a kick. This action showed that his mood had yet to completely calm down.

  "The Rainbow Fund backing the Construction Society is certainly much more stable."

  "And why does that matter?"

  Hu Huaying spread his hands in a shrug. "I don’t really see a difference. The main thing is the fact that our Junior Nan has enemies everywhere. Li Xuecheng of the Construction Society is a pain and Hu Huaying of the Mystic Arts Research Society has yet to come out from the hospital. The kids of the Mystic Research Society are eager to start some action. They’re getting ready for their revenge. From my perspective, it doesn’t matter which of these societies Junior Nan joins; they’re pretty much the same…… What are Junior Nan’s thoughts about this?"

  Xie Junping did not immediately respond.

  The elevator door opened and the two arrived at the tea room on the underground third floor of Gear. Xie Junping just chose a random recliner and threw himself on it. He just laid there without moving. He took a few breaths, as he faced the sky.

  The sun had almost finished setting, as it released the last of its warmth for the day. In a timely manner, the AI Service Terminal delivered a cup of black tea at the perfect temperature. Xie Junping reached out to grab it, but he was lazy. He used his finger to hook onto the handle of the cup and his eyeballs swiveled to look all around the room. The layout was the same, and had not been frequented all this time. However, there were some subtle differences with this society building compared to two weeks ago.

  A dozen or days had passed and he was the one who single-handedly managed things. This was the result.

  A good amount of time passed before Xie Junping sighed. "I don’t want to give this place up to anyone!"

  "Huh?"

  "Anyway, I don’t want to give this place up to anyone." Xie Junping closed his eyes, as he lay on the recliner.

  An evening wind blew through the jungle and entered through the window. It merged with the afterglow of the setting sun, which eliminated its chilliness. The wind spiraled lithely within the fifteen story atrium, and it seemed to carry with it a rhythmic whistle. The sound was detailed and exquisite.

  His mood, which had been agitated all throughout the day, could be unconsciously cleansed and cleared in this place. All that was left was a wonderful tranquility…… Well, all right. There was still that challenge with the brown-haired mouse.

  Xie Junping’s thoughts churned and his vision seemed to extend all the way to the withered tree of the sandbar. His vision combined as one with the robotic spider underwater and the small underwater unmanned vehicle.

  The black mud stirred up during the underwater chase had already settled now. What would the next chase be like?

  Thinking about these things brought quite the thrill. A light challenge is quite a wonderful thing…… Ah, what?

  Xie Junping suddenly went into a daze. How did the scene is his mind suddenly become this clear and realistic? It was just like the video sent from the underwater cameras.

  He sat upright in an instant, but before he could consider this matter thoroughly, Hu Huaying started spewing the words of a drunkard. "My brother Ping! Right now we’re talking about the situation with Junior Nan!"

  "We can’t change the situation no matter how much we think," replied Xie Junping without any thought. The bloody red glow outside the window drowned half of the jungle and the glow also wiped all traces of the bizarre thoughts he had just now.