Black Spider? Isn’t that a mini-boss? thought Han Xiao to himself.

Black Spider was an Esper who was regarded as one of the ‘Hardest Bosses to Kill in Version 1.0’.

Normally, a mini-boss quest at Han Xiao’s current level would be at least Class-D, and reward way more experience. However, in Galaxy, quests rewards were automatically adjusted according to character level and roles.

Generally, in a party quest, players who contributed the most damage or healing would earn the most experience. It was a system that prevented experience leeching.

I guess it’s still better than nothing,  Han Xiao consoled himself.

From what Han Xiao knew about Black Spider, this mission would be a piece of cake for his team. However, the bonus reward was a different question. Han Xiao knew for sure that the condition for the bonus reward would be to take Black Spider in alive, but it could prove difficult to accomplish as Black Spider was in fact a superhuman, and his abilities made him much harder to catch than to defeat. As of now, only Han Xiao knew about the fact that he was a superhuman. In the game, it would only be revealed later on after launch.

On the other hand, since Han Xiao had a complete understanding of the extent of Black Spider’s abilities, it was still possible to catch him.

“How much will you charge me?” asked Li Ya Lin all of a sudden. She was clearly still hung up on the Lightweight Mecha Arm.

“One Lightweight Mecha Arm will cost 20,000. 10,000 upfront, plus materials, and I’ll make you one in two days.”

Li Ya Lin pouted. Although it was almost a month of her wage, she was still bent on having it.

“Do you have anything else for now?”

Han Xiao pondered for a moment before whipping out what seemed to be a 10 centimeter black knife handle without a blade.

“What’s this for?” asked Li Ya Lin uncertainly.

Han Xiao chuckled and pressed a small switch on the handle. Instantly, a blade shot out from within it, transforming the stick into a 70 centimeter sharp knife.

“This is a retractable knife.”

For Li Ya Lin, it was love at first sight. The reason she favored her baton was due to its portability, and the retractable knife took it one step further. It was as concealable, yet stronger. Just as she was about to grab it out of Han Xiao’s hands, Han Xiao dodged.

“1,000 for one,” he stated with a straight face. In truth, it had only costed him 300 to make.

“You stingy miser! Money-face!” Li Ya Lin scolded as she forked out the money.

As she started to play around with the knife, Lambert suddenly spoke.

“I want ten but shorter. Around 30 cm.”

Han Xiao was overjoyed.

“No problem!”

“I want them ready for tonight.”

“As long as I have the materials.”

“I want one, too!” Lin Yao exclaimed, to Han Xiao’s surprise. For some reason, this beginner weapon was turning out to be quite the hot item.

What Han Xiao did not know was that innovation was stifled in Division 13 – and it probably had something to do with the research department. Furthermore, the type of complex missions that secret-ops typically performed restricted their choice of equipment.

Most agents’ preferred weapon of choice for close combat was the dagger, so Han Xiao’s retractable knife was quite a game changer. Imagine if, during a mission, your enemy whipped out his 10 cm dagger, and you whipped out your meter long knife.

Longer is always more impressive.

…

After acquiring the materials from Lambert and Li Yao, Han Xiao headed over to the private workshop at the logistics department to get the knives crafted.

In one afternoon, Han Xiao earned 11,000 Aquamarine Dollars and even earned quite a bit of experience in the process: 8,000 in total.

“Not bad at all. Looks like Division 13 will be the goldmine that I expected it to be.”

After getting suited up, the trio departed for the city to hunt Black Spider. Han Xiao, though, stayed behind in the HQ to provide support, intel, and instructions.

Li Ya Lin, Lambert, and Li Yao all had cameras and mics attached to them, and their feeds were directly wired to Han Xiao. He could clearly see whatever they were seeing, and in some sense, his job was to act as a director of sorts.

Of course, as Han Xiao was new to the squad, he did not expect them to fully trust his judgement. Furthermore, it was an easy mission that all of them knew the higher-ups meant as a trial. While they did not object to Han Xiao playing captain, whether they would listen to him was another matter. They would still follow their own judgement no matter what, and Han Xiao fully knew this.

Nonetheless, Han Xiao was not only quite experienced as a captain – having led 50 men raids back in Galaxy – he was basically omniscient, and this alone made him the best person for the job.

…

Night had fallen.

Three people arrived at the dirty, wet streets of District 8. As it was night, the streets were empty, and the streetlights flickered ominously.

District 8 was vastly different from the other districts. The buildings here were shabby, and some did not even have proper roofs – instead, metal sheets and cloth could be seen covering the houses. Laundry was hanging up all over the place, and the streets were uncleaned and full of litter. This was a place that could hardly be called safe. Drug dealers and the like all thrived in this district, and it was to no one’s surprise that Black Spider would hide here.

The trio were fully equipped – even Li Yao. Although he was a hacker – and also a coward – he was still able to wield a gun.