Chapter Twenty-Nine: Return to Yuwang Valley

The middle-aged man walked into the small courtyard with a casual air. He placed the breakfast on the stone table, reached out to pull a cigarette from his pack, tapped it against his knuckles, and lit it. He pulled up a chair, sat down, and said with a beaming smile:

"Xiao He, you know, when the whole island was being evacuated that day, I specifically came to look for you. Who would have thought you’d already set sail? In that kind of weather, even an old sailor wouldn't dare guarantee he’d return in one piece. You’ve got luck on your side, kid. You’re blessed."

Jiang He sat down across from him, untied the plastic bag containing the breakfast, picked up a steamed bun, and shoved it into his mouth. He mumbled, "Uncle Han, feel free to speak plainly."

Uncle Han looked troubled. "Fishermen fear natural disasters above all else. This storm wiped out more than half of the company's long-range fleet. As the project manager, I’ve been on pins and needles lately. The general manager has given the order to rebuild the fleet within two months. I’m in a desperate spot, forced to go door-to-door asking for help. Luckily, I still have a bit of pull—if we count your boat, that makes four."

Jiang He secretly activated a hypnotic suggestion and asked, "Two months is a tight deadline. It won't be easy to scrape together dozens of ships. If the general manager is this anxious, I assume the company has something major in the works."

Uncle Han seemed to open the floodgates. He sighed, "It’s that shipment from the Southern Viet Kingdom. It’s all top-quality raw jadeite. To be honest, I’ve been around for a long time, and this is the first time I’ve seen such a massive quantity of raw stones. You don't have to guess to know that some big shot in Southern Viet is backing this. They’re demanding payment exclusively in gold, as if war is about to break out. If we can’t deliver it to Mexico within six months, they’ll likely switch partners."

Jiang He took a sip of soy milk. Given the urgency of the order, building new ships in time was impossible. As for buying them up, other large coastal corporations wouldn't sit idly by. Beset by internal and external pressures, the fact that Anping Navigation had resorted to buying boats from independent fishermen meant the value of this order was immeasurable.

"Gold in troubled times," Jiang He mused. The new order of the *Origin* game overlapped with the old order of nations, destined to breed chaos and change. The big shots in Southern Viet might not be players, but they had clearly received some sort of intelligence.

Uncle Han tapped his head, annoyed at having veered off track. He spoke bluntly, "Xiao He, your boat is an antique; it can’t carry much cargo. The company will have to retrofit it. The general manager has been spooked by the storm and keeps rambling about needing a good omen. Tell you what, I’ll offer you 226,000. That’s well above the estimated value."

Jiang He acted as if he were giving it careful thought, then used his hypnotic suggestion: "Uncle Han, why can’t I just become a company employee? Age isn’t an issue for those of us on the frontier. Besides, if the general manager is looking for a good omen, making an exception shouldn't be a problem. I’ll lease the boat to the company; in a sense, the saved costs can be considered my salary."

Old Hei, listening from the side, perked up his ears. Anping Group’s long-range crew didn’t need to clock in at the office; they just had to be present for the voyages. If the boat was leased, the owner didn't even have to accompany it, as employees would be assigned to pilot it. In truth, there was no necessary link between leasing a boat and becoming an employee, but it seemed the active skill known as "hypnosis" had already taken effect.

Uncle Han frowned, pondering. "It seems this boat holds great significance for you. I’ll be honest—I’m determined to get it, and paying a certain price is only natural. If you’ve made up your mind, let’s sign the contract as soon as possible. I’m the project manager, so I’ll be your boss from now on."

Jiang He agreed with a nod. He was busy delving into the supernatural and didn't intend to invest too much time or energy into real-world affairs. Otherwise, according to the logical progression he had deduced, he would have had to go through a series of events: beating up Uncle Han, defeating his thugs, confronting the general manager, and provoking the chairman—all without receiving a single mission reward.

***

Uncle Han called over the company’s legal department. The process of leasing and hiring was completed in a single morning, keeping everything simple.

Once the contracts were signed, Uncle Han instructed him before leaving, "Xiao He, the fleet will be retrofitted in a month. You’ll need to show your face then. Other than that, there’s nothing else. The salary of 8,500 will be deposited into your account on time each month."

Jiang He saw him out and returned to finish his breakfast.

Old Hei laughed, "That Han fellow is quite easy to talk to."

Jiang He swallowed the bun calmly. "He’s just pressed for time. Once he delivers this shipment in six months, he’ll likely find some excuse about me being a minor to fire me and seize the boat as compensation for a breach of contract. The difference between the purchase budget and a few months of salary is over a hundred thousand—enough for him to turn his back on me."

Old Hei was stunned. "Then what will you do?"

"It’s just a possibility," Jiang He replied indifferently. "If he really pushes it too far, I’ll just kill him. Keeping it covert after six months should be easy enough. Of course, I’d prefer to keep things amicable. Regardless, at least for the next while, there’s nothing to worry about."

Old Hei knew the boy had been twisted for a long time and didn't mind. "Let's go. Time to hunt in the mountains."

***

In the afternoon, the man and the dog returned to Yuwang Valley.

Jiang He stuffed two purchased gas canisters into his item pouch and detonated them, then fed them into his chaotic explosion engineering device. The shockwave and thermal radiation converged instantly; the black gemstone on his ring fell off, and a new one immediately crystallized in its place.

[Name: Chaos Bomb]
[Category: Consumable]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect: 1. Causes a powerful explosion within a 30-meter radius. 2. Deals 20% extra damage to biological flesh and spirits. 3. When stacked, each additional bomb causes 10 points of true damage.]
[Note: Low cost, high impact!]

"Pity, it’s too risky to buy more gas canisters."

Jiang He stepped into Yuwang Valley. He needed a stable and massive source of explosives. The "dark forest" mode of the players hung over his head like a mountain. During the *Origin* game's closed beta, there were certainly many who, upon learning the truth, would attempt to obtain player qualifications.

Crossing the Yuwang Stele, which divided the yin from the yang, a lush, gloomy primeval forest appeared before him. Since their last exploration was only yesterday in reality, a few dozen leaf monkeys were still nearby. Sensing their arrival, they transformed into leaves to hide.

Old Hei walked over and inspected the leaves covered in bite marks. "These monkeys seem to live off leaves."

Jiang He walked to the center of the grove, summoned the Long-Regret Spear, and swung it violently at a nearby tree. With the force of a hundred *jun*, he easily snapped the thick trunk.

Three leaf monkeys shrieked and tumbled down.

Jiang He’s eyes were cold. To him, the prey appeared to move in slow motion, looking extraordinarily sluggish; his human-limit agility had greatly enhanced his reaction speed.

With three stabs, the eye sockets of the leaf monkeys burst open.

This was like poking a hornet's nest. Dozens of leaf monkeys abandoned their camouflage, revealed their true forms, and scrambled toward the depths of the jungle.

Jiang He fired his spear incessantly, each strike triggering a blood-red firework.

Old Hei arched his back, shooting out hair as sharp as steel needles from his back and tail, intercepting six or seven more.

Jiang He took out a kitchen knife and began skinning the beasts. In the derivative mission, he had purchased twenty yellow paper talismans from Cangshan Fuxue, with one talisman costing the equivalent of two and a half complete beast skins. In other words, he needed to hunt at least fifty animals on this trip.