Chapter 7: Scouting the Spot

Chapter 7: Scouting the Location

"Xie Chi: Your Highness, I'll go scout the Night Owl Syndicate's location tonight. Requesting permission to leave camp, and I'll need a small aircraft. I'll be back before noon tomorrow."

Yan Wanqiu had just returned to his residence and was opening the gift box from Xie Chi when he received his message.

Thanks to his providing the mineral map and having taken on the mission to assassinate the Night Owl Syndicate's leader, Xie Chi's house arrest had been nominally lifted—though he still needed separate approval for entering and leaving camp.

Yan Wanqiu: "..."

Starting work at this hour, he really couldn't help suspecting Xie Chi had been spurred on by their timed meeting earlier.

"Yan Wanqiu: Approved."

After sending the message, Yan Wanqiu opened the gift box from Xie Chi.

Inside the box was a neatly folded set of black inner garments, with an envelope resting on top of the garments.

Yan Wanqiu opened the envelope and looked down at the other half of the thermal ore distribution map inside.

It matched perfectly with the half Xie Chi had given him earlier.

Xie Chi had genuinely given his biggest current asset to his trusted "family member," "Ji Chou."

Yan Wanqiu's thoughts were in a turmoil. He put away the half-map and unfolded the thermoregulating garment from the box.

Even without putting it on, Yan Wanqiu could feel warmth on his skin where the fabric touched.

"Night Owl Syndicate..."

Yan Wanqiu muttered to himself.

He hadn't held much hope for Xie Chi's assassination mission against Boss Ye in the first place. After all, the Night Owl Syndicate wasn't just the leading organization in Snowstorm City—it was also entangled in profit disputes with cities like Icefrost City throughout the northern domain star.

The weapons seized last time hadn't even been fully analyzed yet. If the entire Night Owl Syndicate hideout was equipped with weapons like those, then even he couldn't do anything to Boss Ye, let alone Xie Chi going in by himself.

He'd agreed to let Xie Chi go partly because of the mineral map, and partly because Yan Wanqiu wanted to use this opportunity to expose the forces behind Xie Chi. He could potentially use those people to play against the Night Owl Syndicate.

Looking at all the evidence, Yan Wanqiu believed there was more than one faction behind Xie Chi.

Yan Baiyue was very likely just one of them. The other was a larger, more hidden power—one that had provided Xie Chi with technology like the terminal.

But what came next?

How should he deal with Xie Chi? And what about "Ji Chou," this person who didn't exist?

Yan Wanqiu felt an unusual sense of confusion.

"Idiot."

Yan Wanqiu cursed under his breath, setting down the thermoregulating garment. Sleep was now out of the question.

He threw on his coat and walked out while calling Nie Huaiyi.

"Deputy Captain Nie, come to the dungeon. Wake up the Night Owl Syndicate mole we captured in camp a few days ago. I want to interrogate him personally."

.

Meanwhile,

Xie Chi had no idea that Yan Wanqiu was working late because of his actions. He was still in a state of feverish excitement after seeing his wife, his mind focused solely on getting promoted, getting a raise, and providing for his wife.

As long as he took Boss Ye's head, Yan Wanqiu would have to acknowledge his abilities—at the very least, he wouldn't do something so inhumane as rationing their meeting time again.

Every second wasted now was a second stolen from his future moments with his wife!

Xie Chi was fired up. The moment he received Yan Wanqiu's approval to leave camp, he changed into his stealth gear and set off.

He'd been careful, deliberately concealing the connection between the Night Owl Syndicate and Yan Baiyue, intending to use it as leverage in future conversations. He was unaware that this conveniently allowed him to take on what Yan Wanqiu considered a high-difficulty mission.

Though all the weapons in his storage ring were destroyed, he still had his terminal and the Night Owl Syndicate intel from Yan Baiyue, plus the previous owner's weapons—more than enough preparation.

So, contrary to Yan Wanqiu's expectations of an impossible mission, Xie Chi made his way to the vicinity of the Night Owl Syndicate headquarters marked on the map without any trouble.

"Is this the Night Owl Syndicate's headquarters?"

Xie Chi crouched on a tree branch, using his terminal's magnification function to look at the scattered village on the distant slope. He cross-referenced the address on his terminal and muttered in confusion.

Snowstorm City was located in a basin—the central plains formed the bustling heart, with residential areas spreading in rings around the plains. The eastern edge shared a port with Icefrost City, which was black-market territory. The Night Owl Syndicate ran various gray-market operations in the central and western residential districts, while the rest of the city bordered neighboring nations along frozen cliffs and steep slopes.

Yet the headquarters of the Night Owl Syndicate—one of Snowstorm City's two major powers—wasn't in the central plains, nor in the bustling eastern port, but in the cliffs of the northernmost, most desolate wasteland.

That was highly counterintuitive. Xie Chi grew suspicious and zoomed out on the terminal map to survey the surrounding area.

This was the northernmost tip of Snowstorm City. The address Yan Baiyue had given him was a small village called Windcliff Village, near a massive wind gap—one of Snowstorm City's few external passages.

Beyond that lay Icefrost City, Snowstorm City's neighbor.

It was only when he saw the overview map that Xie Chi was surprised to realize that three-quarters of Snowstorm City's borders touched Icefrost City. Icefrost City was like a snake with its mouth open, holding Snowstorm City like a round ball in its mouth.

According to Yan Baiyue, the Night Owl Syndicate clearly had deep connections with the main star. Choosing a location bordering Icefrost City for their headquarters was likely also the main star's decision.

So the Night Owl Syndicate's headquarters being here meant they wanted to control Snowstorm City's external transport routes, to coordinate with Icefrost City in a pincer move?

Xie Chi didn't know much about the political situation of the northern domain star three thousand years ago, and politics wasn't something an assassin needed to study. No matter how much he speculated, he could only get a surface-level understanding.

"Forget it." Xie Chi shook his head, giving up on deeper analysis.

Politics and such had nothing to do with him. He was just a cold-blooded killer—chopping off Boss Ye's head to earn money and provide for his wife was the top priority.

He noiselessly dropped from the branch and moved toward the village on the cliff.

.

Windcliff Village.

"Orders from above—the mole in Yan Wanqiu's ranks will come to make contact with us in the next few days. With this batch of new weapons, once the Third Prince arrives in Snowstorm City, we'll launch a pincer attack to kill that Yan Wanqiu!"

In a dim stone room, a middle-aged burly man slammed a gun onto the table authoritatively.

"The Night Owl Syndicate isn't to be trifled with! Yan Wanqiu smashed our gambling dens, stole our weapons, killed our people—we must avenge our fallen brothers!"

The crowd around him shouted fervently: "The boss is right! Kill Yan Wanqiu! Avenge Second Brother and Third Brother!"

"A banished prince, and he dares to bully us like this—shutting down our black market gambling dens so openly. I think he's got a death wish!"

The middle-aged burly man was Boss Ye himself.

He looked at the agitated crowd, his face showing anger, but inside he felt excitement and elation.

As a small border city, Snowstorm City had always been Icefrost City's vassal. Even he, the local big shot, had to pay regular tribute to Icefrost City and kowtow to its lord.

But now, thanks to Yan Wanqiu's arrival, Snowstorm City had not only discovered thermal ore but had also gained the imperial family's attention—they were even getting advanced weapons.

Although the one contacting them was just a low-level operative planted by Yan Baiyue, who didn't know that Yan Baiyue and the up-and-coming Yan Huishi were in the same camp?

Getting in with Yan Baiyue was like hopping on the fast track to the future Crown Prince.

As for Yan Wanqiu—

Boss Ye thought disdainfully. He was nothing but a madman scorned by everyone.

A prince on the skids is lower than a dog. Yan Wanqiu wanted to rely on the Personal Guard he brought along to claw his way back up in Blizzard City, but he should think about whether the two big shots back on the main planet would give him such a chance.

After all, those two were capable of getting their hands on era-defying weapons like the electromagnetic gun. For Yan Wanqiu to fight them was like a bug trying to stop a truck.

With that thought, Boss Ye remembered the newly delivered weapons and beckoned to the rail-thin man beside him.

The man approached with a fawning grin: "Boss, what do you need?"

Boss Ye lowered his voice: "A good chunk of the weapons sent by the Third Prince are defective. Shouhou, is the mechanic you found sure he can fix them?"

Shouhou looked troubled: "The mechanic said he could fix them, but he's never seen an electromagnetic gun. He asked us to provide him with a fully intact one to disassemble, and he said the energy-storage lithium battery packs and pulse capacitor packs inside can't be produced on this planet. To repair them, he'd need to cannibalize parts. At most, he can salvage five out of those ten duds."

Boss Ye winced at that, then handed the quantum gun off the table to the rail-thin man: "Take this to him. Tell him, if he dares to lie, I'll flay him alive!"

Shouhou flinched: "Yes, Boss!"

The Night Owl Syndicate's pep rally was brief. After it ended, Shouhou wrapped himself in a thick down jacket, carefully stashed the electromagnetic gun, and headed toward an inconspicuous house on the bluff overlooking Wind Cliff Village.

He ran his fingers over the cold gun barrel, staring at the electromagnetic gun gleaming in the snow glare, and swallowed hard.

After his two older brothers got killed, he'd become the second-in-command of the Night Owl Syndicate. As someone who went on pickup runs with Boss Ye, Shouhou had seen the power of this electromagnetic gun up close and personal.

Its power and range were several times greater than the guns they were packing, and it fired blue-white arcs of electricity at blinding speed, capable of breaching most defenses with today's tech. Once fully charged, it was undoubtedly a nightmare on the battlefield.

The catch was the staggering energy consumption. Fully charging one electromagnetic gun required the energy of three hundred power crystals, and fully juiced, it only lasted five or six shots.

The entire Night Owl Syndicate had been issued twenty-five electromagnetic guns, ten of which were defective. One got taken in the fight with Yan Wanqiu, leaving only fourteen usable ones, all in the hands of the syndicate's inner circle.

Boss Ye didn't dare own up to losing one to Yan Wanqiu, which was why he was breathing down the mechanic's neck to fix the duds.

"Where the hell did the Third Prince get such a strange thing from? Even the mechanic said he'd never seen this kind of tech. No way the rumors are true, that the Third Prince is actually..." Shouhou muttered under his breath.

He stopped at the house on the cliff's edge and trailed off.

Shouhou rapped on the door: "Mr. Shi, are you asleep? Boss Ye sent me to deliver an electromagnetic gun so you can fix the broken ones."

"Come in." A young man's voice came from inside.

Shouhou opened the door and entered, only to see a young man sitting on the edge of the bed with his hair a mess, his back to him, looking like he'd just been yanked out of bed.

"Just put it on the table. I'll look at it later."

The young man's voice was tight.

"Sure, sure."

Shouhou was well aware of the importance of the only tech guy they had. This mechanic, whom the Night Owl Syndicate had scoured all of Blizzard City to find, was a genius with machines, but a total coward. On the day he was taken, he'd fainted several times from sheer terror, and afterward refused to leave the room, holed up working nonstop.

Shouhou didn't linger, afraid of scaring the jumpy mechanic again. He set down the gun and left.

"Click."

The door closed, plunging the room back into darkness. The young man remained stiffly seated on the bed, not daring to move.

Only after the sound of Shouhou's footsteps faded did a white light blink on beside the young man.

Xie Chi turned on the flashlight of his wrist console, slowly stood up from his spot next to the guy, and looked at the pale, trembling man with a smile: "Thanks for playing along."

He said that, but he made no move to budge the knife from the guy's kidney.

Shi Peijue had never imagined someone could climb the cliff barehanded to kill him.

Although Xie Chi was smiling, the killing intent radiating from him was unmistakable—the kind of ruthlessness that came from having countless lives on one's hands. Shi Peijue was so terrified he didn't dare move a muscle.

He said tearfully: "Brother, do you want the electromagnetic gun? Just take it then. The rest of the duds are in my wardrobe too. I-I-I'm just someone forced to work here. I don't know anything. Please don't kill me."

Xie Chi tilted his head.

To avoid the guards in Wind Cliff Village, he'd climbed straight up the cliff. Taking the owner of this house hostage was just a convenient move. He hadn't expected that right after subduing the man for interrogation, there'd be a knock at the door.

Xie Chi initially thought the man had secretly called for help and was about to kill him and flee, but then he heard the words "electromagnetic gun" and "repair," so he let the man let the visitor in.

Unexpectedly, this man was a mechanic.

Although the electromagnetic gun—with its high energy consumption, loud noise, weak power, strong recoil, safety hazards, and lack of portability—seemed full of flaws to Xie Chi, it was already advanced enough for three thousand years ago.

This mechanic was from the ABO clan and could actually repair weapons from the Mechanical Civilization across eras, which piqued Xie Chi's interest.

"I don't need such a low-level gun." Xie Chi stared intently at the young man before him. "Can you repair electromagnetic guns?"

Shi Peijue nodded tremblingly.

The next moment, he saw the strikingly handsome killer before him break into a genuine smile, with even two dimples appearing on his cheeks.

"Why didn't you say so earlier." Xie Chi cheerfully put away his gun and pulled out a gun Shi Peijue had never seen before from somewhere, pressing it into his hands. "See if you can fix this one?"

Shi Peijue held the unfamiliar gun in bewilderment, examining it up and down but failing to spot anything wrong.

He spoke cautiously: "May I ask what this is? And what's wrong with it?"

Xie Chi: "It's a quantum gun with built-in networked AI functionality. But since the current star network is too primitive, the gun can't connect, so it's locked and unusable. I need you to help me directly remove the networked AI and unlock the gun."

Shi Peijue: ?

Having studied mechanics for over a decade, he couldn't understand a word the other was saying.

The sudden appearance of a cross-era weapon like the electromagnetic gun was already baffling enough, but what did "quantum gun networking" even mean? When had the world secretly upgraded itself without telling him?!

Seeing the young man's blank expression, Xie Chi frowned and silently reached for the dagger at his waist.

So, the mechanic he'd randomly found couldn't fix it after all...

Then he'd have to silence him.

Xie Chi rubbed the dagger's handle, thinking about where would be a good place to dump the body, while asking with a smile: "By the way, I never asked—what's your name? Mechanics are pretty rare in Blizzard City. Do you have a teacher or colleagues?"

Shi Peijue, who had just relaxed, felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine. Like a rabbit caught by a wolf's jaws, he trembled and confessed honestly while clutching the quantum gun: "My name is Shi Peijue. I have no colleagues, and I don't know my mentor's name either. He was a master mechanic from the main planet exiled to Blizzard City, and he died five years ago. B-B-Brother, I really don't know anything. I was only captured a few days ago. I'm not close to the Night Owl Syndicate at all!"

Xie Chi's hand, rubbing the dagger, paused.

Shi Peijue?