Chapter 052: The Miracle Maker

Yang Kai nodded. “A friend of mine is the young owner of ‘Plainclothes Weaponry Workshop.’ With him, borrowing a ‘smelting platform’ will be easy.”

“Plainclothes Weaponry Workshop?” Tang Mubai mused, as if he’d heard of the place before—apparently quite reputable.

“Is your friend trustworthy?” Without dwelling on the matter, Tang Mubai asked, “I mean in terms of security risks. The fewer people who know about these dozens of D-grade giant combat knives, the better!”

“No problem!” Yang Kai assured him. “My friend is honest and earnest, wholly devoted to the art of forging. If it’s not necessary, he barely speaks to anyone. If I didn’t have some talent in designing and modifying equipment, I wouldn’t even have a chance to talk to him, let alone become friends.”

“That’s good.” Tang Mubai nodded and didn’t ask further. He pointed at the two large crates. “Take these weapons and smelt them down, reshape them as needed. By the way, after smelting, will there be enough material to modify the truck?”

“There’s plenty, more than enough.” Yang Kai nodded enthusiastically, clearly invigorated. “Those combat knives are enormous; once smelted, there’ll be enough alloy to completely refit the truck!”

The giant combat knives in the two crates were meant for use after the half-beasts transformed. Each knife was nearly two meters long, and their width was startling. Just two combined could serve as a ‘security door.’ The area covered by a dozen such doors would easily wrap around the entire truck.

After hearing this, Tang Mubai said no more and handed Yang Kai the keys to the truck.

Yang Kai took them reflexively, then realized what he’d been given, stammering, “C-Captain, aren’t you coming with me?”

Dozens of D-grade alloy combat knives—worth millions of federal credits! Tang Mubai handed them over without hesitation, entrusting Yang Kai with the smelting. How big-hearted was that? Was he not concerned Yang Kai might run off with them?

Yang Kai’s heart surged, his hands trembling slightly.

“I won’t go,” Tang Mubai smiled. “Since you know the people there, it’s best you handle it. Besides, it’s not complicated—just keep everything confidential. Most importantly, you’re one of the ‘Miracle’ team, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am! I’m part of ‘Miracle’!” Yang Kai gripped the keys tightly, declaring loudly. He wasn’t someone easily moved, but at this moment, he was truly touched.

Millions in federal currency, handed over just like that, with no fear of embezzlement. Even if Yang Kai didn’t abscond with the knives, he could skim a little off the top—some scraps to sell. D-grade alloy could fetch a hundred thousand federal credits per kilogram!

Tang Mubai, however, showed no hesitation, entrusting him entirely. This level of trust warmed Yang Kai’s heart and shook him beyond words.

Little did he know, Tang Mubai did this deliberately. Yang Kai had only recently joined—if he didn’t feel a sense of belonging to the mercenary group, many things couldn’t be shared with him. This was both a test and a way to strengthen Yang Kai’s loyalty. As for the results, they were easily verified. Opening the system panel and checking the “Retainers” section, Tang Mubai saw Yang Kai’s affinity score had risen from 43% to 48%. Still short of 60%, not enough yet! Tang Mubai knew such things couldn’t be rushed.

Helping Yang Kai move the two crates out of the warehouse and into the truck bed, Tang Mubai watched him leave through the gate, then returned home and fired up his computer.

The modification materials were settled; now the truck’s armament needed upgrading—mainly machine guns, heavy machine guns! The mercenary group could purchase firearms and ammunition on the Martial Net’s store. Tang Mubai selected only heavy machine guns, ignoring shotguns, submachine guns, light machine guns, and so on. He did pick up several landmines, to serve as alarms during overnight stays.

Other outdoor essentials—floodlights, night vision goggles, binoculars, gasoline, entrenching tools—were bought in bulk. The million federal credits Lin Huafeng had given him quickly dwindled. The bulk went to two heavy machine guns and two crates of ammo.

These items used to be stored in the warehouse, but last time, his father’s team had cleared them out before departing. Now it was Tang Mubai’s turn to venture into the wild, and he had to restock.

Once everything was purchased, Tang Mubai logged out of Martial Net and went out to install cameras and listening devices.

His targets: thirty enterprises under the “Red Lake Group.” Tang Mubai placed a camera across from the back door, or in a corner nearby, at each company. As for the listening devices, he avoided surveillance and, when no one was looking, tucked them into the back door frames.

Why the back doors, not the main entrances? It was a calculated guess—if half-beasts moved, the likelihood was they’d use the back door. The front doors were mostly facing the street, making them easy to spot. The back doors were much more convenient.

He set the alarm keywords for the listening devices to “half-beast.”

Yang Kai’s handiwork was impressive—the devices covered a fifty-meter radius. If anyone within that range mentioned “half-beast,” Tang Mubai’s phone would alert him.

Apart from the Red Lake Group’s companies, Tang Mubai also installed cameras and listening devices near the four branch offices and headquarters of the Security Martial Bureau.

Finally, aiming for the most direct source of information, Tang Mubai planned to plant a listening device on a bureau member—specifically, Chen Hai, the captain he’d met at Miracle Restaurant and later received messages from under the “Red Scarf” alias.

…

From a distance, Tang Mubai saw Chen Hai exit a building by the street, unaccompanied. Tang Mubai decisively left the supermarket across the way, holding a listening device. He circled around a street corner, watched Chen Hai’s movements, and timed it so that, as Chen Hai turned, he collided with him head-on—but at the last moment, Tang Mubai dodged to the side, and Chen Hai did the same.

“Sorry, sorry, hope you’re not hurt… Oh, Captain Chen?” Tang Mubai apologized first, then looked at Chen Hai with surprise, as if just recognizing him.

“It’s you.” Chen Hai recognized Tang Mubai, his eyes flickering, smiling. “You’re the waiter from Miracle Restaurant?”

“To be precise, I’m the young owner of Miracle Restaurant, haha…” Tang Mubai grinned. “When the restaurant’s busy, I sometimes fill in as a waiter.”

“That explains it.” Chen Hai nodded, accepting the explanation, unaware this was the story Tang Mubai had deliberately prepared.

Tang Mubai understood well: with Chen Hai’s position, if he was suspicious, Tang Mubai’s identity would quickly be exposed. Rather than hiding, it was better to be upfront!

…

(ps: Begging for recommendation votes! Fellow readers, please cast a recommendation vote!

Honestly, the book’s collection numbers are pretty good—over ten thousand now—but the recommendation votes are way too few. Other books with ten thousand collections have ten, twenty, even thirty or forty thousand votes. Ours barely has five thousand! Because of this, I’ve been accused of faking numbers—people say all these collections are bots, which is unfair to me, o(╥﹏╥)o

Collection is the foundation, but recommendation votes are the signboard. Friends, it’s time to prove ourselves—cast a vote, let outsiders see whether we’re bots!ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ)