Chapter 356: Extreme Agent?

“Can’t hold on anymore!” Xiao Yu’s words came out slurred with the Yushen blade clamped between his teeth. “Hey, can ya moof or not?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Wu Hanran, expression complicated, looked at his young comrade. “Let go.”

Although the chair was broken, he still couldn’t move.

“Ihh-dee-ot, ah! Ya bahstahd, even breathin’ hursh!” Xiao Yu, chest burning with pain, rolled his eyes and mumbled around the Yushen blade, “Hurry ‘p… yer dauter’s safe!”

Even though Xiao Yu’s words sounded like gibberish, Wu Hanran understood.

“You found her?” Wu Hanran’s face lit up with joy, tears brimming in his eyes. “Then I can rest assured. Don’t worry about me. This way, I can leave in peace…”

“Shut up!” 

Xiao Yu took a deep breath, mustered his strength, and flung Wu Hanran into the building. Then, with another burst of strength, he leaped inside himself, landing amid a pile of broken glass. Spitting out the Yushen Blade he had been biting on, he lay there gasping for air.

“No need for all this.” Lying nearby, Wu Hanran gave a bitter laugh. “I’ve already betrayed the country—”

“Just shut up, will you,” Xiao Yu cut him off. “Who said you betrayed the country? Did we admit that? No?”

Wu Hanran, “…”

‘Wait, can’t we be a bit reasonable? I’ve already confessed, so that’s not enough?’

Indeed, it was not enough. As long as Xiao Yu and the others didn’t acknowledge it, and given what Wu Hanran had done, it was not a case of ‘you say you’re a traitor, so you must be one.’

There was a saying: Body not under one’s own control. 

Life was like that. If you wanted to tread a certain path, it wouldn’t be easy; if you wanted to remain true to yourself, that was not easy either. Some things really weren’t up to you.

Wu Hanran was a prime example. If his daughter hadn’t been born, would he have done what he did?

“My wife once told me something.” Xiao Yu turned his head to look at Wu Hanran. “Your feet are on your own body. Whether to walk, where to walk, and how you walk. That’s all your decision. Whether to be a person or what kind of person to be is also up to you. Sometimes you can’t be too selfish because sometimes you’re not living for yourself alone. Parents, relatives, partners, children, friends… You’re so set on dying; have you considered how they’d feel? Isn’t that selfish?”

Wu Hanran fell silent. He kept thinking only of how he had betrayed the country, the National Security Bureau, loyalty, and the people… What was the point of living? Yet, as Xiao Yu said, a person wasn’t living solely for themselves.

“What should I do?” Wu Hanran asked, confusion on his face.

“I’m here to give you options, not to choose for you.” Xiao Yu grinned. “If you want to die, jump out the window by yourself. If you want to live, then live well. My suggestion, though, is that after guarding your homeland for over twenty years, you probably owe your wife and kid plenty, right? Don’t you plan on paying them back before you die?”

“Haha!” Wu Hanran laughed too. “Sounds about right!”

‘Right, my ass,’ Xiao Yu griped silently. ‘Your daughter’s already old enough to get married—how will you make it up to her? You’re middle-aged—how do you make it up to your wife? Even if you want to, can your back take it?’

Of course, Xiao Yu wouldn’t say these things out loud. He possessed a level of handsomeness and wit unbefitting his age.

“You okay?”

Zhou Lie showed up at last, leading his men to Xiao Yu’s side.

“Do I look okay?” Xiao Yu bared his teeth. “Do I seem like I’m fine?”

“Haha!”

Seeing that Xiao Yu could still banter, Zhou Lie relaxed a bit. Then his gaze shifted to Wu Hanran, and his face hardened.

“Group Leader!”

Wu Hanran lowered his head in shame. As a National Security “old hand,” how could he not recognize Zhou Lie?

“The boss asked me to pass on a message.” Zhou Lie’s tone was stern.

Xiao Yu pricked up his ears to see what the big boss had said. Wu Hanran’s expression shifted.

“He said…” Zhou Lie spoke, “This time you really did let the country down, but…you did well.”

Xiao Yu and Wu Hanran both froze.

“Did well…?”

Xiao Yu thought about it and understood. If you could disregard your own family for the sake of the country, that may be utter loyalty—but what about basic human nature? Would you throw it away like it was nothing? Then who would dare associate with you? The boss’s perspective was broader indeed.

‘But can someone see to me, please? I’m hurt here.’

***

S City, hospital, ward.

“Usually, we’re all joking around as equals. Now we find out you can take on ten of us?” Looking at Xiao Yu lying in bed, Wang Dong was curious. “How did you have the guts to jump off that building?”

“I didn’t jump off a building, thanks.” Xiao Yu was too lazy to deal with him. “Don’t bother me. I’m thinking about something important.”

It was indeed important. Why hadn’t the system indicated task completion?

Of the total time limit, only eight days had passed. The mission deadline for this system case was thirty days.

‘Something’s off.’

Xiao Yu’s face kept changing.

He had discovered all ten hidden sites. He had also gotten the Yushen blade back. Wu Hanran’s daughter had been found. The external intel agents had been either killed or captured.

It didn’t make sense. What had he missed? Where had something gone wrong?

Unable to figure it out, Xiao Yu shook his head. He had a bad feeling that something worse was coming, yet he couldn’t guess what.

Just then—Bang.

The door opened, and Zhou Lie and Shen Mei walked in.

Noticing their grim expressions, Xiao Yu’s heart gave a lurch.

Wang Dong also sensed something amiss. “What is it?” he asked.

“There’s a problem.” Shen Mei forced a bitter smile as she looked at Xiao Yu. “They weren’t only after the Yushen Blade, there was another objective.”

“What objective?” Xiao Yu’s heart pounded.

“A gas shell.” Zhou Lie’s face was grim. “They planned to take the Yushen Blade, then set it off.”

Xiao Yu: (￣□￣)

‘A gas shell? Seriously, a gas shell? Could it get more cliché?’

“Also, all the people we’ve caught were just expendable.” Shen Mei shook her head. “The ones actually in charge are still in the country.”

Xiao Yu’s mind raced. No wonder capturing them had been so easy, like slicing melons—no challenge at all. They were just pawns.

Suddenly, he recalled the system mission… Investigate ‘Extreme Agent?’

He remembered joking about it the first time he heard the name: What is this, a movie?

And now… Xiao Yu’s expression turned strange.

Extreme Agent?