Chapter 672: Afternoon Break

A few people sat on the sofa; next to them, Yang Yixie was leisurely leaning against the sofa cushion, and Meng Kexin sat alone on the single sofa opposite him, her posture a bit more relaxed.

Come to think of it, Meng Kexin seems to have already had some dealings with Yang Yixie for a long time.

Chen Mo Zhi later found her to ask about the situation; the so‑called "dark line" over at the Dome was actually Ying Duo, and it was also he who sent back the key material for treating Chen Xiaoshuang.

"Help yourself, no need to be formal." The fruit platter held many varieties, and they, having only recently arrived in the modern world, found the fruits rather strange.

Yang Yixie placed the plate in the center of the coffee table, leaned back, and his gaze swept over their faces one by one.

Come to think of it, it's somewhat ironic that when he needed a team, his first thought was these people.

At the start, it was clearly a game squad assembled with a definite purpose, and back then he didn't even know the real situation of the game.

"I want to hire you to go with me to Tianmian City to carry out the mission of tracking down Fang Zhiyan."

When he was Ying Duo, he had drawn far too much hatred in Tianmian City, so if he were to go to Tianmian City to hunt Fang Zhiyan, it would be best to have companions to help.

Meng Kexin paused for a moment, Luo Jinyou immediately looked up at Meng Kexin, Qi Hengyu almost got choked by fruit juice, and then Chen Mo Zhi beside him patted his back.

Shen Zexi leaned his body slightly forward, interlaced his hands on his knees, and instantly shifted out of the relaxed posture he had just been in.

"Going to Tianmian City to chase Fang Zhiyan?" he asked, "How are you sure he'll be in Tianmian City?"

Tianmian City has been recuperating for a while since the war, order has returned to normal, and moreover, the one now stationed in Tianmian City is that Yue Chengzhang…

"Because he'll definitely go there looking for something, but he definitely won't find it."

Yang Yixie was a bit vague; in fact, the other him not only sent him a game notice, warning that if he didn't promptly deal with those Aberrant Species, more Mutation would invade.

After resolving the trouble over there, he received another email, but when he tried to contact the other party, he only got a reply that they were out of signal range.

This was also his certainty that Fang Zhiyan had invaded this world and would definitely go to Tianmian City.

Unfortunately, the thing he was looking for doesn't exist in this world at all.

In fact, he wasn't sure whether these people would accept his commission; although they did share some camaraderie, it was all because that game character had been interacting with them.

He himself cosplayed as an Onion Spirit, stubbornly peeling off one layer after another.

"Of course, I'll also prepare the reward: besides a large amount of money usable in this world, there will be weapon support, and if you need it, I can later provide each of you with a custom‑made piece of equipment, maintenance included."

That could be called quite generous; anyone who has seen Yang Yixie's skill in forging Rune weapons wouldn't doubt it.

【3】 "Kexin's weapon, it's Ying… you made it, right?" Shen Zexi asked.

"Ke Xin's weapon is the fluorescence... you made it, right?" Shen Zexi asked.

"Hmm, as a reward for having asked her for help before, of course, I'll prepare her share separately," Yang Yixie nodded.

"I don't need it," Meng Kexin declined outright.

"I'm not a 'Version Answer' person to begin with, and the company also has a lot of work."

Chen Xiaoshuang is in Tianmian City, she is in Shoudu, this was something they had arranged long ago, and she really can't leave.

Yang Yixie nodded; Meng Kexin is a Divine Oracle of consciousness, so her absence would indeed be a pity. Divine Oracles tend to be somewhat self‑centered, and Meng Kexin simply clarifies her own goals and focuses on her career.

He turned to look at Shen Zexi; without doubt, Shen Zexi is the brain of the entire Mercenary Corps, and many decisions are made by him.

Shen Zexi looked at him for a few seconds and nodded decisively.

"No problem, 'Version Answer' will carry out this commission."

It was even simpler and faster than he had imagined......

Yang Yixie was already prepared for the typical anime scenario where someone gets punched and then asks, "Did you lie to us all along?!", even having set up a shield in advance, though it might never be needed.

"Since that's the case, I have a gift to give later......"

He was about to add something, but Shen Zexi raised a hand first and stopped him.

"No need for the reward," he said, "since you found us, we won't charge the usual mercenary rates."

Yang Yixie frowned slightly; after all, he'd only been here for two months, whereas in the game they'd been through nearly two years of massive upheaval.

Shen Zexi turned his head to glance at the few people beside him, confirming their stance without further discussion, then looked back at Yang Yixie.

"If a price must be paid, then perhaps someone should take a bit of it themselves—that's the self‑awareness of a Mercenary Corps leader. The leader has accepted the mission, so we have no reason to refuse, let alone we and Fang Zhiyan indeed need to get acquainted."

"First, let's make it clear: I will command this mission, you will handle reconnaissance, tracking, and fire support. We'll cooperate with you, but on the condition that you won't abandon us midway to do your own thing, like you did before—"

He paused a moment, "—the things you did before."

"Like suddenly, halfway through, you start doing research, fire at teammates without a word, physically demonstrate Aberrant Arts mechanisms, and fire artillery before the enemy is even spotted, that sort of thing."

It shows that Shen Zexi harbors a lot of grievances against Ying Duo.

But what can be done? Though absurd and utterly unreasonable, this is the leader they themselves chose.

He looked at the Yang Yixie before him; after a moment of stunned silence, Yang Yixie burst into a laugh, propping his head with one hand and looking askew at them.

"Don't worry, he'll definitely follow orders; after all, we communicated with you in a game format before, so there's some communication barrier......"

He actually began to explain.

People have a mouth, that's what it's for, huh.

"... he really will listen, right?" Looking at Yang Yixie's radiant smile, Shen Zexi inexplicably felt an ominous premonition.

"Of course."

"By the way, what perspective were you using to see us before?" Qi Hengyu asked curiously.

"Hmm... probably like a pixelated person under my domain skill? But at that time you were all inside my phone, so the resolution should have been even lower."

"Then, when do we set off?" Chen Mo Zhi tried to steer the conversation back on track.

"We have to wait for the official pass approval first; I probably don't need to disguise myself, the difference from before is quite big."

"That really..." Luo Jinyou couldn't help but make a snarky remark.

"Speaking of which, does what Ying Duo did before count as dropping out of school?" Meng Kexin asked, surprised that the group was actually chatting, a sudden whimsical question.

The scene suddenly fell into an eerie silence, then Qi Hengyu let out an unrestrained laugh.

The green ivy on the windowsill had grown quite long, vines hanging from the edge of the pot swayed gently in the wind with the laughter, bearing witness to the youths' first meeting and reunion.