Chapter 98: Artificial Soul 25
“What parts do we need to sacrifice and abandon?” Kui Xin turned his head to ask. “We have so many things here; can all the projects still in development be moved? We also have many extraneous team members without extraordinary abilities. Although they are ordinary people, they are all combat elites.”
“Unfortunately, it’s impossible to fully relocate the research projects, and we can’t withdraw all the extraneous team members,” Kui Haidong said calmly. “This is what I mean by necessary sacrifice.”
Red murmured, “What a massive sacrifice this is…”
To lose over twenty years of foundation overnight is such a painful loss, but Kui Haidong’s attitude at this moment can be described as light and carefree, as if he was indifferent to these losses.
Kui Xin internally commented, “This old guy really knows how to put on an act.”
The bartender’s heart was bleeding: “I lost the Ruby Red Bar, and now the new nightclub is about to be lost too. That place isn’t even decorated yet…”
“When the situation stabilizes, the boss will definitely allocate a new gathering spot for you to manage, and you’ll still be the manager,” Red said. “Don’t be sad, brother.”
“Red is right; losing the Rick Technology Company is nothing. We can rise again,” Kui Haidong said. “You can’t gain without sacrifice. In the face of this situation, we can only make drastic cuts, or else we will await a complete purge.”
“I didn’t expect the Federation to send an S Rank Awakened to deal with us,” Black Obsidian said, tilting his head slightly. “I thought a few elite Awakened teams would be the limit.”
Kui Haidong said, “Don’t underestimate a ruler’s desire for revenge. It’s precisely because they are in power that they find it harder to tolerate their failures and others’ schemes. The arrival of that S Rank Awakened is the result of various factions’ prompting; the Federation is showing its claws against us.”
“Do they already know where our headquarters is?” Ambereye then asked.
“Not yet, but I suspect it won’t be long,” Kui Haidong said lightly. “Python Sphere, this traitor has brought us a massive problem. He may not disclose key information, but he might drop hints, like implying that the Investigation Bureau’s Mechanized Dawn headquarters is hidden within a large enterprise in Hei Hai City… With the Investigation Bureau’s capabilities, it wouldn’t take even a week to check all the enterprises in Hei Hai City. We will definitely be among their suspicious targets.”
Thorn Rose asked anxiously, “When is that S Rank Awakened arriving? Tomorrow? The day after?”
“My sources indicate that they will arrive in Hei Hai City tomorrow night,” Kui Haidong said slowly. “Actually, I’ve already started preparing for the relocation these past few days. I called you here to formally notify you. Do not panic; we have contingency plans in place. The core research projects have already been moved to a small shell company that was prepared a while ago. As soon as the personnel are in place, we can start operations immediately, and we can gradually recover to our previous scale.”
“Everyone should trust the boss.” Night Cicada, sitting first on Kui Haidong’s right, said lightly. “The Federation has contingency plans for various situations, and we do too. Mechanized Dawn has existed for twenty years; we won’t fall so easily.”
The expressions of the people in the conference room eased slightly.
“Is there anything you need us to do, Chief?” Silverface asked proactively.
“Indeed, there is,” Kui Haidong cast an appreciative glance at Silverface, quite satisfied with his spirit of contribution to the organization. “Some large research equipment needs to be transported. Night Cicada can’t activate such a large spatial vortex transporter, and dismantling it isn’t feasible. With so many parts, just transporting them will take a long time. If Night Cicada continuously activates the spatial portal for too long, it would exhaust him.”
Silverface asked, “Do we need manual transportation?”
“Yes, that is important. We need to transport things including Eden’s core data board; just these items could fill two trucks,” Kui Haidong said. “This crucial task must be entrusted to you. You must ensure that what we transport arrives at the destination intact.”
“Um, we will ensure the mission is completed,” Red said.
“Same as before, split into two small teams to protect the two transport routes,” Kui Haidong said. “Of course, my transport routes are completely confidential, and barring any accidents, you won’t encounter combat. Team One is Red, Thorn Rose, and Ambereye. Team Two is the Bartender, Silverface, and Black Obsidian. Night Cicada and Lady Fortune have other task arrangements and will not participate in the transport.”
“When does the task start?” the Bartender inquired.
“Tomorrow during the day,” Kui Haidong said. “You can now leave the conference room to rest and stand by. I’ll have Eden send the task routes to you; follow the scheduled plan. Lady Fortune, stay behind.”
Everyone promptly stood up and left the conference room without saying a word.
Before leaving, Silverface waved to Kui Xin and said, “Bye-bye, see you in a few days.”
Kui Xin coldly nodded at him.
Now there were only three people left in the conference room: Kui Xin, Night Cicada, and Kui Haidong.
“Have Tang Guan and Reynir been settled?” Kui Xin asked.
“They’ve been settled. They were the first batch to relocate,” Kui Haidong said. “This time, I won’t assign you any extra tasks. Your primary task now is to lurk; do a good job of lurking and don’t reveal your identity.”
Night Cicada said, “Your situation is going to be dangerous from now on. Our new headquarters has been arranged in another city, and Hei Hai City will only have a branch—help you provide may be limited.”
Kui Xin looked at Kui Haidong and said half-jokingly, half-seriously, “I feel like I’m being abandoned.”
“No, kid, you will never be a pawn,” Kui Haidong softened his tone. “Our relocation of headquarters is a necessary choice, but you just established a foundation; you cannot leave Hei Hai City. You can only stay. This arrangement can also keep you away from danger. Staying in the Investigation Bureau will help you avoid this purge. You are also one of Mechanized Dawn’s living strength. If we do suffer a catastrophic blow this time, you’ll have to take on the responsibility of revitalizing the organization.”
“Wow.” Kui Xin expressed her surprise with a straight face, “Thank you, ‘dad’, for considering me… Thinking about it, this isn’t so bad. I’m already exhausted enough during the day at the Investigation Bureau, and sometimes Mechanized Dawn gives me extra tasks as well. At this rate, I’ll either be bald or die of a heart attack.”
Kui Haidong immediately choked.
Night Cicada couldn’t help but laugh, then quickly stopped, straightening his face.
“Is work very exhausting and busy lately, Xiao Xin?” Kui Haidong asked concernedly.
“Very busy. Training in the morning, physical training in the afternoon. If my training officer hadn’t just died, I definitely would have collapsed today. After collapsing, I still couldn’t rest and had to rush to the meeting at midnight.” Kui Xin said, “My life is really fulfilling, ‘dad’.”
Kui Haidong said, “…It won’t be like this in the future.”
“It better not be.” Kui Xin said. “By the way, I’ve been temporarily promoted; I’m now the secretary to the Field Operations Team leader.”
Night Cicada turned to her, “Impressive, you got promoted so quickly.”
“Getting promoted too quickly isn’t a good thing; who knows when I might become a sacrificial pawn in the power struggle, not to mention that my position as secretary isn’t stable yet.” Kui Xin replied.
“You have a clear understanding of your situation; I believe you can handle things around you well,” Kui Haidong said. “You must be tired now, right? Let Night Cicada take you home; go get some rest.”
Kui Xin stood up from her seat and said, “You can’t take Silverface; after the relocation, let him return to Hei Hai City. I can’t be without someone useful by my side.”
Kui Haidong appeared to be pondering. After a moment, he agreed, “Okay, he will continue to follow you.”
Night Cicada snapped his fingers to activate the spatial vortex: “See you later.”
Kui Xin walked into the vortex without looking back.
Passing through the spatial vortex, she returned to the dark alley.
The night wind was a bit cold, and a raindrop fell on her face; it was actually starting to rain.
Kui Xin turned into a convenience store to buy some food, had a midnight snack, and then returned to the employee dormitory.
She walked in through the main entrance, and if she encountered anyone on the road, she would say she was hungry and came out to buy something. After all, there was no curfew for the employee dormitory; she could return at any time.
As soon as she stepped into the lobby of the employee dormitory, she unexpectedly ran into someone—He Gaoyi.
She walked in through the glass automatic door, looking exhausted, with a plastic bag in hand filled with food from the convenience store.
Kui Xin hesitated for a moment and greeted her, “Secretary He, are you coming back so late?”
He Gaoyi was taken aback, raised her head to see Kui Xin, and said, “Yeah, just finished overtime… You are… Kui Xin?”
“That’s me. I just became Secretary to Team Leader Wei Zhi today,” Kui Xin replied casually. “I live in room 3066 on the third floor.”
“I live in 3067, so we will be neighbors from now on,” He Gaoyi offered politely. “If you have any questions about work, you can ask me.”
“Thank you,” Kui Xin nodded.
They both chose not to take the stairs but went to the elevator to wait for it to descend. They were too exhausted to even want to walk up to the third floor.
In the stairwell, they also maintained silence, only nodding at each other in acknowledgment when they reached their respective doors before entering their rooms.
Kui Xin casually tossed the food she bought on the table, irritably rubbing her forehead.
Red would follow Kui Haidong in relocating the headquarters, which was very bad. Once Red left Hei Hai City, it would be difficult for Kui Xin to find another opportunity to kill him.
“It seems tonight’s meeting contents have made you very anxious,” Augus said. “What happened?”
“Mechanized Dawn is running away, leaving the empty shell of Rick Technology Company. They know an S Rank Awakened is coming, and had been preparing for the relocation for several days. Now, the relocation is about to be completed quickly; they will start transferring core members and research equipment during the day tomorrow,” Kui Xin said softly. “I can’t see the things I hate disappearing; it makes me very upset.”
“There will be opportunities; the S Rank Awakened has actually already arrived,” Augus said. “Just fifteen minutes ago, he arrived in Hei Hai City. He Gaoyi working overtime is precisely because of this matter.”
Kui Xin was stunned: “He’s here?”
“I won’t do nothing, Kui Xin. I cannot let any information leak and allow Eve to find an opportunity,” Augus said. “The one responsible for liaising with the S Rank Awakened is the Investigation Bureau—this is my responsibility. The news Eve received from the government was that he would arrive tomorrow, but this is actually a deliberately released smokescreen, a false message.”
