Chapter 9: What kind of monsters?

Chapter 9: What kind of monsters?

"You're a bit different from the rumors," Fox said, crossing his arms and leaning against the closet.

"Oh?"

This was a difficult question to answer, as any response could give him away. The best course of action was to be vague.

"They say you're cold like a machine, precise like a computer, a strict enforcer," Fox continued. "Even though you haven't awakened any extraordinary abilities, you're an indispensable strategist for the organization."

"Heh." A laugh came from Jonathan's throat.

However, his laughter carried little joy and no hint of smugness.

Fox's pink eyes met his deep black ones for a long moment before he said disinterestedly, "No reaction at all."

"What kind of reaction do you want?" Jonathan asked. "I can provide any reaction suitable for the role I'm currently playing."

"Are all undercovers as devoted to their role as you?"Fox frowned. "Not showing their true face even to their comrades?"

Jonathan quietly looked at Fox until he averted his gaze.

"What's the next instruction?" Fox tossed a droplet of water up and down with his pale fingertips. He said casually, "Don't forget, we have less than half a month."

From his words, it was clear that in this two-man team, Jonathan was the decision-maker, while Fox was the executor. Jonathan's position in Mechanical Dawn was also higher than Fox's, and he had a good reputation among the organization members.

"Investigate the bombing site at the port," Jonathan issued his "instruction".

After careful consideration, he felt that this was the most appropriate command. From the information he had read and gathered, the port was a place riddled with gangs and chaos, and more than one bombing had occurred there. The reason for the bombings could be gang fights, or something else... For example, Mechanical Dawn might choose to destroy the port to prevent the Kraken from landing, making it impossible for the ship to dock.

It was necessary to clarify some basic information before carrying out the port bombing mission, so Jonathan gave this instruction to Fox.

Fox didn't raise any objections to Jonathan's command. He asked in detail, " Personnel movement, on-site investigation of the bombing, or tracking and monitoring of suspicious persons? There's more than one bombing case at the port."

"Everything," Jonathan said.

"You're being overly cautious." Fox muttered, "Alright, I'll go right away. If there are any temporary instructions, contact me via the bracelet."

He fastened the silver mask on his face, pulled down the hood, went to the balcony, opened the window, and his body silently turned into a transparent water stream, blending into the heavy rain outside the window, disappearing into the night.

Jonathan walked over to close the window to prevent rain from splashing into the room. Without Fox, he could think quietly in a peaceful environment.

Jonathan was good at setting plans and managing his time, and now he needed to use his ability to plan his future.

Jonathan went into the bedroom and took out a piece of white paper and a fountain pen with only half a tube of ink left on the table. This was his habit. Writing things on paper could make his thoughts clearer, and the sound of the pen rubbing against the paper could make him more focused.

At present, Jonathan's main crises came from two aspects.

"First, Mechanical Dawn. Second, the Investigation Department." He wrote on the paper. This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

Being undercover in the Investigation Department was dangerous, but Jonathan had the organization's files to back him up. He planned to stay up all night reading through the hundreds of pages of information to fully understand this federal official department. The information related to "Security Officer Jonathan" needed to be memorized carefully, his life, contacts, habits, and every detail had to be known. Faking amnesia was a temporary excuse, definitely not a long-term one.

As an intern security officer, Jonathan hadn't been in the Investigation Department for long, and it was normal for him not to be familiar with his colleagues. He didn't need to act overly familiar with his teammates or team leader, maintaining a reasonable distance was enough.

Compared to the Investigation Department, Mechanical Dawn made Jonathan more uneasy.

He had hundreds of pages detailing the Investigation Department, but what about Mechanical Dawn?

He had nothing. He was extremely unfamiliar with the organization. He didn't know the purpose of the organization's establishment, or who the leader was, and he had to slowly figure out and guess his role in the organization.

Jonathan's teammate was Fox. Fortunately, this person hadn't interacted with the original Jonathan, and judging from his performance, he seemed a bit inexperienced, like a naive young man, which made it easier for Jonathan to fool him.

Jonathan returned to his room and sat in his chair thinking. He turned on his encrypted network connection and searched for information about the "Kraken" online.

"Kraken, a giant bulk carrier, was built in 2086. This is the first year of the Kraken's service. The Kraken has a maximum load of 800,000 tons, making it the largest bulk carrier in the world."

Bulk carriers generally transport goods that cannot be loaded into containers, such as sand, oil, and coal.

What could be transported on the Kraken?

Jonathan made several searches, but there was too little information about this freighter. He couldn't find any useful intelligence, so he opened the mission chip given to him by the organization, which still had some unread content.

He clicked through the info from beginning to end. Also nothing.

Frustrating dead ends.

Jonathan had a thought, and the game system popped up a light curtain.

He blinked, surprised to find that the progress of the port bombing investigation had somehow increased.

"Mission progress 5%."

The proceed increase in mission progress at least proved that his direction of the investigation was correct, and he should continue along this clue.

Jonathan took a long breath. Seeing the mission progress brought a sense of accomplishment, like solving a difficult math problem... no, it was even more satisfying than solving a math problem. This sense of achievement was second only to earning money from working.

He leaned back on the not-so-soft bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He didn't sleep, but switched the display content of his bracelet, checking the information of "Jonathan" and the intelligence of the Investigation Department given by the organization.

He watched from night until dawn, while the heavy rain outside the window never stopped.

At nine in the morning, the balcony window rattled open.

Fox climbed in through the window in a sorry state. He was soaked to the skin, with a cut on his cheek, blood trailing from his cheek, and visibly injured.

Fox looked at Jonathan who came out of the bedroom and opened his mouth to say, "Hey! You..."

"I'm not 'hey', you'd better call me by my code name." Jonathan looked at his wet footprints. "You've dirtied the floor."

"R, richguy... you..." Fox's expression twisted as he called out the codename, then quickly shut his mouth, saying self-deprecatingly, "Whatever I call, it's all the same, I'm injured, do you have a first aid kit here?"

Jonathan went back to the bedroom and fetched the first aid kit from the bedside.

Fox casually took off his mask. His pure white hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, and his already colorless lips seemed even paler. Fox casually took off his coat and threw it on the floor. There were actually three huge scratches on his chest. The wounds were deep, but there he was, alive and mobile.

Jonathan glanced at the floor. The water traces he left when he came over from the balcony were clear, with no blood mixed in. The burst clothes on his chest also had only a small blood stain.

"The number of monsters wandering in the dark has increased." Fox gritted his teeth and took off his shirt, opened the first aid kit and proficiently poured out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide for disinfection, and then applied medicine and wrapped the bandage by himself.

Jonathan echoed with interest, "More than before?"

"Yes, more than before, I encountered three last night." Fox gasped for a while after finishing the bandage, and said solemnly, "They took advantage of the heavy rain to land and wandered on the dock full of containers, looking for hosts..."

Monsters? What kind of monsters?

Jonathan anxiously wanted to bite his lip.

The second world had too many things beyond his comprehension. Just last night he'd studied how to use face payment correctly, how to enter and exit public places, how to shop online, and how to use portable devices... even cramming the history of this world, from the establishment to the glorious technological revolution and humans attempting to establish colonies on extraterrestrial planets, as well as the names and general course of some major historical events.

The appearance of the player Daniel reminded Jonathan that he should be more careful. He couldn't make the same low-level mistakes as Daniel.

He was already hard and careful, but the "monsters" mentioned by Fox once again exceeded his comprehension.

In order to conceal his anxiety and unease, Jonathan said to Fox, "You brought in too much water. Clean up the balcony and living room."

Fox "..."

Fox scowled. "If it weren't for my ability to control liquids, I would have died from excessive blood loss long ago. You don't help me bandage, but blame me for dirtying the floor." He angrily formed the water traces on the ground into a water ball and threw it into the kitchen sink.