At this moment, in the Gyaca Woods military department, the current top general, General Gordon, was standing with his hands clasped behind his back as he peered through the windows. It was a question whether he was deep in thoughts or daydreaming.
The Gyaca Woods military department was a big, ring-shaped building that was so big that it could fit 100,000 people inside. It was located in the eastern district of the capital Tanville, and it was also the biggest building in this nation that was governed by the military and royal family. Looking out from General Gordon's office, other than a small hill and the meandering public roads, there was nothing exceptionally beautiful.
General Gordon's chief confidential secretary had already been standing by his side quietly for a long period of time. He did not understand why the general liked to look out the windows when there was just a hill with little greenery and public roads that were fundamentally used only by military vehicles. Ever since he moved into this office that had previously belonged to Russell, he acquired this habit. There was once a confidential secretary who disturbed him when he was looking at the scenery and had been berated severely. After that, no one dared to disturb him when he was standing in front of these French windows.
The chief confidential secretary secretly took a look at his watch. He had been accompanying this strange general in standing there for half an hour, and in half an hour, there was a meeting that he still had to prepare the arrangements for, thereby causing him to feel anxious. General Gordon finally came back from his thoughts. Turning back to look at this secretary who was feeling ill at ease, he asked, "Has the news come?"
The confidential secretary respectfully nodded before taking out a document from the file in his hand, placing it on the desk in front of Gordon and said, "Yes, General! Hopkins has failed."
Gordon was stunned in disbelief: "What! He failed?"
The confidential secretary stood there silently and said gravely, "Yes, General!"
After a moment, Gordon took a sip of tea from his cup before picking up the document on the desk. He asked indifferently, "This information should be passed down by him. Ask him to continue to wait and look for more opportunities. No. 2 will coordinate with his operation."
The confidential secretary hesitated, but in the end, he still mumbled out, "General, Hopkins has died. No. 2 has also been captured as a result of the failure of the mission."
"Kuang dang" The antique ceramic tea cup shattered as it dropped onto the ground. He used an unfathomable gaze as he glared at the confidential secretary and exclaimed, "Dead!? You actually said that he is dead?!"
The chief confidential secretary could not look at him in the eyes; he looked down with panic. Sometimes, silence was also an answer.
Gordon rushed forth angrily, slamming the table fiercely and shouting out, "I'm asking you a question! Is Hopkins really dead?!" The confidential secretary was so frightened that his entire body began trembling. He replied immediately, "Yes, General!"
Gordon fell down into his chair, paralyzed. In his mouth, he was muttering out, "How could it that be possible? How could that be possible!? He's the second best sniper in the entire world!"
Suddenly, he asked as if he was jolted awake by anxiety, "How did he die?"
The confidential secretary pointed to the document and answered, "According to No. 1, he died in a sniper deathmatch. The actual method of death isn't clear. As for the person who killed him it's a variable."
"A variable?" Gordon stood up in alarm: "That variable?"
The chief confidential secretary nodded, "Yes, General."
Gordon disappointedly said, "That variable is merely a first lieutenant. He abominable! How many time has it been!? Does the royal family know?"
The confidential secretary replied, "Yes, General. The royal family knows of this matter already!"
Gordon pondered for a moment before answering, "Broadcast the message of Hopkins' death to the internet and also the information regarding his opponent!" He suddenly revealed a grin before continuing, "I'm sure the snipers ranked behind will never let this nameless sprout be ranked in front of them. We'll let them handle this variable!"
The confidential secretary replied in reverence, "Acknowledged, General!"
Clearly, the place which Milan was bringing Fatty to wasn't Restaurant Si Mai; instead, it was a huge warehouse located on a small, desolate street in the western districts of Jialipalan.
The warehouse occupied a few tens of thousands of square meter and was over 30 meters in height, occupying one entire side of this small street. From the external walls, it looked really dilapidated with vines crawling all over it, causing it to seem even more ancient. However, this place was extremely bustling with people coming in and out. Entering the warehouse, Fatty discovered the construction cost for this warehouse was absolutely not any much less than building a skyscraper; the materials used in constructing it was the best. The walls were firm and thick enough that it could possibly block bullets, and as for the rooftop, there were ten poles made of an ultra-alloy that spanned a hundred meters used as its base, which was something ordinary warehouses could never afford.
Fatty was silently tongue-tied. Which idiot was so extravagant that he would build such a huge warehouse? Twisting his head around, he looked upwards at the front wall which split apart the great hall. Written on it were several eye-grabbing words: Unparalleled Machinery Maintenance and Modification Center.
"F*** this. A small motherly cow is taking the airplane [1]!" Fatty felt that the director of this center was an absolute madman who loved boasting. Milan pulled Fatty, who was looking around, towards the inner section. This center, which had the external appearance of a warehouse, was split into upper and lower floors. The passage was really broad and was bustling with activities as all sorts of people were within. There was a young teenager who wasn't old enough and had hair dyed in different colors, there was a strict-looking office worker wearing a western suit, and there was even a rich person with bodyguards in front and behind him protecting him as long as beautiful ladies serving him. In the other passage that was separated by the iron railings, there were many flying cars and private Battle Mechas queueing up to enter the maintenance workshop of the center.
It seemed this center had a certain capability. Fatty followed Milan into the central great hall, and for a moment, he stopped breathing. This 30 meters tall hall that was akin to a huge sports hall was densely filled with all sorts of private Battle Mechas and flying cars. What made Fatty interested the most was that these private Battle Mechas weren't of their original factory model and showed clear signs of having been modified. There were many new materials and new technology used on these Battle Mechas.
Fatty finally understood why Milan brought him here. Towards [Logic]'s modification, the private Battle Mechas over here could be used as references, especially in terms of close combat and explosive agility. These private Battle Mechas had been modified to an extent beyond the military standard Battle Mechas' capabilities. This was also a result of two different paths the Battle Mechas were developing and researching towards, and it was not the issue of lacking in researching capabilities towards military standard Battle Mecha.
Fatty and Milan went on to research the different Battle Mecha structure modifications in this huge exhibition. To Fatty, just simply looking at the shapes of the Battle Mechas would let him be able to analyze its propulsion system, drive engine, Battle Mecha computer, control mode, electronic installations, and many other internal components. Even though he did not know the model numbers of these units, he could still gain inspiration from just looking at the exterior of these Battle Mechas and the technology parameters.
The two of them went in a clockwise direction as they researched every single human-model Battle Mecha and discussed their performance and modification standards. There were many people in the great hall, so Fatty and Milan had not discovered that there was a person following beside them with great interest while acting as if he was engrossed in looking at the Battle Mechas' parameters as he eavesdropped on their discussions/conversations.
Fatty was someone who had a passion towards machinery design and research, and towards any other aspects of machinery, he did not have much interest. As for Milan, she was originally researching this topic, thus it need not be mentioned whether she liked this topic or not. It was more of a cultivation of interest towards the topic she was working on, and as she got more involved with Fatty, the more Fatty liked it, the more she would. The two of them held each other's hand and moved like a couple. Just when they were enjoying themselves, someone suddenly started arguing beside them.
Translator's Thoughts Chaos
[1] Cow in Chinese sayings, have the meaning of 'boasting', or in literal times, Blow Cow == to boast.