The slave market was being rebuilt. Han Xiao showed his identity to the construction team and entered the underground corridor successfully. He came to the cell that Aroshia had once been in, looked around, knocked here and there, and did not find anything unusual.

Floating Dragon had searched the cell long before him, and they did not find anything either.

Aroshia stood outside the door and watched. She suddenly asked, “Why do you want to bring me away?”

Han Xiao paused for a moment. He definitely could not say that it was a mission requirement, so he said, “I’m very curious about you.”

“Curious…” Aroshia mumbled. “What is that?”

“Curiosity is the desire for knowledge. For example, when a normal person loses their memory, they want to know who they were before. This is a type of desire.”

“Desire… I don’t seem to have this sort of thing. Is that special?”

“Er, usually, those without desires are artificial intelligence, and not needing to consume or excrete is a characteristic of energy life forms.” Han Xiao sized Aroshia up and said, “But you’re neither of them. You just don’t have the basic physical needs, you might not have no desire at all. Don’t you have anything you want?”

Aroshia thought carefully and said, “I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure? Since you asked me a question, that’s the curiosity of wanting to know what ‘desire’ is,” Han Xiao said. “Desire is the sign of life, a feeling that makes people realize their existence. It can also be said that it’s the motive for every action a life form takes. Therefore, a life form like you seems very unique.”

Aroshia tilted her head, pondered, and said, “Is the reason for you teaching me how to use the energy inside my body also your own desire?”

“I want you to be stronger and become a help to me,” Han Xiao said honestly. He had figured out a few ways to communicate with Aroshia. There was no need to pretend—he just had to be straightforward and express his motive.

As always, Aroshia still had a carefree attitude. “I won’t die, so what’s the point of becoming stronger. Strong or weak, it’s all meaningless. Or I should say, existence itself is meaningless.”

Han Xiao thought about it and said, “But if you die, your memory will be reset. You’ll forget about this short-term memory. The ‘you’ after reviving might not be who ‘you’ are now. Once you revive, you’ll start from the beginning again, thinking the same things you have been thinking, wasting the same time you have already wasted, only to end up in the same place you are now. Becoming stronger will help you to avoid reviving, preventing yourself to be killed by others or disasters.”

Han Xiao paused and said, “And about meaning… You don’t need food and excretion to maintain your life, so you can’t feel existence. If your mind is blank, a day or even a year will feel like an instant. Hence, why not find something to do and give meaning to your life?”

“I see…” Aroshia mumbled a while, nodded, and said, “Thank you, talking with you is very pleasant. No one had ever said this much to me.”

In the past three years, the others only had two impression of her—A Space Wonder or a slave that did not run away. Never was there someone that communicated with her like she was a normal individual.

“Don’t mention it, it’s just chitchat.”

There was no clue in the prison cell. Han Xiao could only stop and casually chat with Aroshia, waiting for the time limit to arrive and see what would actually happen.

Seconds and minutes passed. As the last minute ended, the change happened.

Aroshia was still standing outside the door—she did not return to the cell. She took a few steps backward, then looked down on her body. Nothing unusual happened. Then she backed off further and further.

_____________

[Visitor From Afar] Completed

You have received 1,800,000 Experience.

_____________

Han Xiao was so surprised her eyebrows almost raised uncontrollably.

He hardly did anything at all, yet a Space Wonder that even the Floating Dragon could not resolve was gone just like that. There was definitely more to it! Han Xiao recalled that this mission had an unknown reward. He looked at the interface and realized that this reward turned out to be a new mission.

_____________

You Have Triggered Grade A Hidden Chain Mission, [Reboot]

Mission Introduction: Aroshia is a unique life form. An enormous secret lies within her. Bring her alongside you, and one day, this secret will find you.

Reminder: This is a Chain Mission. The next mission will only be unlocked once the previous one is completed.

First Round: Teach Aroshia. Help her to awaken her power, control the energy inside her body, and reach Grade B

Reward: 5,200,000 Experience, 1 x Random Reward, +5 Risda Favorability

Failure Condition: Aroshia dead

_____________

Chain Mission type grade A hidden mission! Han Xiao was shocked. This was usually something that only happened in large Main Storyline events.

He had no information about this storyline in his previous life, which meant that no one had triggered it. This was an unknown event. He was more assured that Aroshia was not ordinary. The mission name was [Reboot]—what did that mean? Also, who was this person called Risda?

“Apparently, I’m able to leave.” Aroshia was confused. “What did you do to me?”

“I have no idea…” Han Xiao said. “Anyways, this is a good thing.”

…

Two days later, the superiors of the three large mercenary group arrived late at Floating Dragon. Jenny had a meeting with them. After she accepted their apologies, she finally released Goa, Porter, and Cerleni’s teams who had been locked up for many days.

Right after these people got out, they surrounded Han Xiao and expressed their gratitude and praise.

The superiors of the three armies came to contact Han Xiao with very friendly attitudes. Every mercenary could feel how their superiors took Han Xiao seriously. Han Xiao had showcased his abilities in this mission, and now that he had the backing of Floating Dragon, even the three large armies could not take him lightly.

After they were free, they immediately prepared to leave Floating Dragon and go back to complete the mission, returning the Silvers to the long-awaited employer. The reason Han Xiao had waited till now was to travel together with them.

On the day of their departure, Jenny, Wilsander, and Haier all came to send him off.

The entire dock was stunned. People from everywhere sized Han Xiao up with shock as he chatted with the three of them. Black Star Mercenary Group’s position there was definitely high, given the fact that three of them were sending him off.

The people who knew what had happened were even more surprised. It had only been a short half a month since Han Xiao joined Floating Dragon, and he had been able to work his way up so high in such a short period. The three of them had come to send him off, which meant that they gave him a lot of face. Even the superiors of the three armies were only able to see Jenny.

“Her Excellency Dragon Emperor has allowed you to be a Field Team. You’re now a field commander. Your power is Floating Dragon’s external military power, so we hope you can grow stronger quickly,” Jenny said in a very formal tone. She took out a specially made communicator and passed to Han Xiao. “This communicator can be used to contact Ames directly. However, as a reminder, if there’s no absolute need, it’s best not to disturb her.”

Able to contact Ames directly? This small thing is equal to a nuclear launcher! Han Xiao stowed it carefully.

Haier crawled over and said regretfully, “You’re quite a good Mechanic. After you’re gone, my workload will go up again. This gift is for you.”

Looking down, Haier’s pedipalp passed an alloy box over. Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled as he opened to look at it.

Inside was a mini portable nuclear reactor. Stable nuclear reactors were something that could only be built with advanced energy knowledge. Energy knowledge was more difficult to obtain than compression technology, so he could not build it currently. Now that he had the reactor, he could add materials and use it to generate power, then use it at the power core of a mechanical suit. The output of the mechanical suit would reach new heights.

“Thank you.” Han Xiao nodded with joy on his face.

After Haier walked away, Wilsander came closer and said, “Haier is a little ugly. I felt he was hard to look at initially but got used to it after some time. His personality is quite good.”

Han Xiao glanced at him and said, “Ames probably feel this way about you.”

Wilsander’s expression collapsed immediately.

“Don’t change the topic, did you bring a gift?”

“No.”

“Bye.” Han Xiao turned around and entered the ship.

“Come on, why is the treatment difference this huge!” Wilsander said resentfully on the dock.

Hu!

The ship took off.

Floating Dragon Island gradually became smaller in his eyes. He left with four more people than he entered with—three Volga brothers sleeping on the side and Aroshia, who was gazing out of the porthole.

There were both pros and cons to joining the Dragon Emperor’s faction. At the moment, the pros largely outweighed the cons. Not only did he receive new blueprints and materials, his talent evolved as well. The most priceless thing that he got during this mission should be the Secret Message Bead. The higher the risk it brought, the higher the value it would bring.

…

As Floating Dragon Island had already drifted to the Fawn Galaxy, less than one day after they left, they had already returned to the desolate planet that the employer was waiting for them on.

As soon as they landed, the Silvers could not wait to return, filled with the joy of escaping death.

After the employer calmed down, he paid the reward as promised.

Finally, I have the last two knowledges of Compression Technology. Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. For these two knowledges, he had taken on an unfamiliar mission, and it had been exhausting. But at long last, it was time to reap the rewards.