Chapter 527 - - 471 Waving a tiger’s skin as a big banner_1

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“Brother Lie.”

“Hey, Brother Lie.”

A man in his thirties wearing a floral shirt and with a cigarette hanging from his lips walked through the market.

Stall vendors greeted him from time to time, and he waved back with a natural smile on his face, occasionally pinching the cheeks of children running by, looking for all the world like a native of Green Star.

I am Poseidon, my real name Fan Lie, 34 years old, manager of Hongxing Market, father of a son and a daughter, but divorced three years ago, and to this day, unmarried…

…

Along the way.

Nalan Li gathered all the information related to Fan Lie, his spending habits, communication records, etc., to discern whether any other Alien Warriors have met with him and to analyze what his keywords might actually be.

The emails Fan Lie received were mostly about invitations from army groups, as well as normal communications among the members of the Sea God Gang he founded on the War Net, nothing seemed amiss.

The only anomaly was in Yuxi City, where Fan Lie lived; several police mechas had been damaged, some missing weapon systems, others energy systems, still others radar systems…

To Nalan Li, the bizarre cases felt like Fan Lie wanted to assemble a mecha from the stolen parts of these police mechas.

But that didn’t make sense either; producing mechas required massive industrial equipment, and it was basically impossible for one person to assemble a full set on their own.

If everyone could buy parts and assemble a mecha, they wouldn’t be considered Green Star’s cutting-edge technology.

Manually assembling a mecha was far less simple than simply stealing one.

Previously, when Fan Lie founded the Sea God Gang on the War Net, Duge speculated his keyword might be related to integration or leadership.

Yet, what he was doing in reality didn’t align with those keywords, and now Duge couldn’t figure out what his keyword was.

However, the likelihood was not a mental-type keyword, which was enough.

…

Fan Lie had just walked out of the market.

Nalan Li’s car pulled up in front of him, she rolled down her window and showed her ID to Fan Lie: “Fan Lie, I’d like to talk to you.”

“National Strategic Defense Bureau?” Fan Lie clearly paused, shaking his head, “I knew the War Net wasn’t down. Who’s behind you? Kill One Every Ten Steps?”

“Fan Lie, the nation has already begun a sweep against you gamers. Join the National Strategic Defense Bureau and they’ll give you a chance to survive,” Nalan Li said.

“What if I don’t join?” Fan Lie asked with a smile.

“Death,” Nalan Li said.

Fan Lie looked around him, then his gaze settled back on Nalan Li’s face, asking, “Just the two of you? Isn’t your recruitment a bit hasty?”

“So, you’re refusing the National Defense Bureau’s recruitment?” Nalan Li’s eyebrows rose as she slowly rolled up the window, “Well then, good luck. I hope you can survive the other bureau gamers who will come after you.”

“…” Fan Lie hesitated for a moment, “Wait, are you really being this rash? We haven’t even had more than two sentences and you’re already turning hostile. I didn’t say I wouldn’t join!”

“What’s the keyword?” Nalan Li lowered the car window again, activated her microcomputer, and looked back at Fan Lie, asking.

“…” Fan Lie was stunned.

“Fan Lie, I need to remind you. You’d better make sure all the information you provide is true,” Nalan Li said, “Providing false information and having it discovered later will result in Judgement.”

Fan Lie frowned, looking at Nalan Li with uncertainty on his face.

Clearly, he was not satisfied with the attitude of this native.

“You can attack me, even kill me,” Nalan Li looked at him, her voice calm, “but everything here will be transmitted to the headquarters of the National Defense Bureau. Following that, your War Net account will be banned, your entire credit system will be frozen, and your coordinates will be provided to all gamers. So, I suggest you think carefully before making your decision…”

Is this a threat?

Fan Lie pressed his lips together lightly and asked, “How many have joined you?”

“That’s classified,” Nalan Li replied, “The information between all gamers who join the National Defense Bureau will remain confidential. The bureau will assign you tasks to go and eliminate some rebellious gamers, fostering your growth…”

“You’re moving too fast. Can you give me some time to think it over?” Fan Lie asked.

“No,” Nalan Li said, “We’ve already locked down the location of nearly eight hundred gamers. The National Strategic Defense Bureau has too much to do to waste too much time on one person. We’re aware of the things you’ve done on other planets. Green Star does not welcome you.”

Nalan Li’s assertiveness left Fan Lie unsure of how much information they had on him.

But he had to consider her threats; he had made a high-profile appearance on War Net to buff his stats, thinking the government might contact him, but he never expected it to be in such a manner.

“What benefits are there in joining you?” Fan Lie asked.

“Join us, and you’ll be an official. You can benefit from the conveniences War Net offers to buff your attributes and skills,” Nalan Li said, “But in turn, you must fulfill your obligations to Green Star, like using your abilities to fight on the front lines against the Silven civilization.”

“Since you call us gamers, then do you know the rules of the game?” Fan Lie laughed.

Nalan Li glanced at Fan Lie and said, “I know in the end there will only be three winners. Our preliminary solution, after incorporating you, is to have you determine the winners through combat in an arena in the final stage of the game.”

That was the strategy Duge and Nalan Li had agreed upon on the way over.

It wasn’t necessary to cover everything, just to temporarily give them hope.

…

A ring?

Fan Lie’s eyebrows raised slightly, and he suddenly understood the purpose of this so-called National Defense Bureau—using alien warriors to fight against alien warriors while concurrently aiding them in their struggle against the Xel civilization…

They truly played a good hand!

But over a thousand alien warriors, over a thousand Supermen, more than two thousand skills—is that so easy to control?

Too naive!

But now, he genuinely couldn’t find a suitable reason to refuse.

Because he couldn’t guarantee that others wouldn’t agree to join the Strategic Defense Bureau. In a world where technology is highly developed, having the help of a nation and not having one are completely two different concepts.

Not to mention, just by cutting off his battle network account, it would be enough to deal a great blow to him.

“Fan Lie, since you have come to this planet, you must abide by the laws and regulations of this planet. Having a formal position is only beneficial to you with no downsides,” Nalan Li reminded him, “the sooner you join, the sooner you’ll enjoy the benefits.”

“Fine, I’ll join,” Fan Lie took a deep breath and said. He couldn’t find a reason to refuse and with his current strength; he couldn’t go against a nation.

“Keyword.” Nalan Li’s attitude was all business.

“Fusion,” Fan Lie said.

Nalan Li glanced at Fan Lie and made a record in his minicomputer, then continued to ask, “Skill?”

“Perfect Integration,” replied Fan Lie.

“Skill effect.” Nalan Li asked.

“I can fuse two different objects together to form a whole new object,” said Fan Lie.

After recording the skill effect, Nalan Li turned and asked, “Can you elaborate?”

Fan Lie looked at Nalan Li, smiled faintly, and then suddenly extended his hand. Right under Nalan Li’s eyelids, his arm transformed into a police cannon, the dark muzzle pointed directly at Nalan Li’s forehead.

Without changing his facial expression, Nalan Li said, “Take the muzzle away.”

Fan Lie chuckled, and in an instant, the cannon transformed back into an arm.

Duge glanced at him, a humanoid Gundam indeed. Without the presence of other alien warriors, this skill was incredibly powerful. Now, with just this kind of fusion, he was undoubtedly locking his own potential.

While watching Nalan Li preparing to continue the interrogation, Duge suddenly interjected, “Can it be used on others?”

Fan Lie looked at Duge, who was in the driver’s seat, not sensing any aura of a powerful being from him, and thus took him for a staff member of the National Defense Bureau, shaking his head and saying, “No.”

Duge looked at him and said to Nalan Li, “The skill can be used on others.”

“…” Fan Lie’s corner of the eye twitched a few times, “Brother, what I said was it can’t.”

“Fan Lie, I’m doing this for your own good,” Duge said, “Otherwise, if you later reveal that you can use your abilities on others, you’ll be placed on the untrustworthy list.”

Fan Lie was stunned for a moment, then gave an embarrassed smile and did not argue.

“What about the second skill?” Nalan Li asked after giving him a look.

“It hasn’t awakened yet,” Fan Lie shrugged and said, “I’m serious this time.”

“What about your home planet?” Nalan Li continued to ask.

“Is that really necessary to mention?” Fan Lie frowned.

“It’s very necessary,” Nalan Li said, “in the future when carrying out missions, we’ll try to separate people from the same planet as much as possible. Also, you wouldn’t want to fight a life-or-death battle in the ring with someone from your own planet, would you?”

Having said so much, he didn’t care about revealing one more planet; Fan Lie said, “Midday Star.”

“Alright, get in the car,” Nalan Li recorded his origin and tossed his head toward him, saying, “Fan Lie, when your second skill awakens, report it to me promptly.”

“That’s it?” Fan Lie was somewhat surprised.

“What else?” Nalan Li gave him a glance and said, “Do you outsiders need to say goodbye to your families? The organization will take care of your food and lodging issues. Get in the car; we’re going to carry out the next mission.”

Fan Lie couldn’t help but smile wryly, opened the car door, and sat in the back seat, asking, “What’s the next mission?”

“To recruit ‘Falling Leaves Know Flowers.’” Nalan Li said, “If he resists, you’re responsible for taking him down.”

“…” Fan Lie was taken aback and asked in disbelief, “Didn’t you just say that gamer information is confidential?”

“Your information is confidential to those who join later and to other departments,” Nalan Li looked at Fan Lie through the rearview mirror inside the car and said, “Remember, you’re joining the Shadow Department of the National Strategic Defense Bureau, which is separate from the public-facing National Defense Bureau. Our information doesn’t cross over.”

“Damn!” Fan Lie couldn’t help but curse, suddenly realizing the situation and asked, “I’m not the first person the Shadow Department recruited, am I?”

“That’s right,” Nalan Li gave him another look and said.

“Damn.” Fan Lie cursed again and laughed helplessly, “I’m speechless.”

“You just made the most correct decision,” Nalan Li said, “Fan Lie, if you have any questions, you can ask on the way. If you have any good suggestions, you can also bring them up, and I might give you credit for them.”

“I just want to know one thing, who gave you this information, Duge?” Fan Lie asked.

“No,” Nalan Li didn’t turn his head and said, “all my information comes from higher up. I’m not quite clear where the specifics come from.”

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