Chapter Thirteen: Striking a Deal

Han Xiaoxiao crossed her long, pale legs, her phoenix-like eyes narrowing slightly. "That foxy seductress ordered a custom mystery-side transformation package ten years ago."
"As for the exact way to disgust her, I don't know."
"But I do know one of her talent traits—a mysterious secret art called 'Veil of Time.'"
After thinking for a moment, Han Xiaoxiao continued, "This talent has several characteristics, but I only know one: it can rewind and examine a portion of the past within a designated area."
"That's it?"
Ye Han's face stiffened, taking on a sullen hue.
Who knew how many traits Gu Xiaoying's talent actually contained?
What if, like the Death Wish, she had three different abilities?
If those three covered the past, present, and future respectively, what was even the point of playing this game?
"That's all I have."
Han Xiaoxiao lifted her delicate chin, her gaze flickering with a touch of unease.
She knew well enough that this scant information was hardly playing fair, and it put Ye Han in a tough spot.
Ye Han rubbed his throbbing temples, a look of utter despair on his face. "You said she has level-two clearance—what's her other talent?"
"It should fall under the curse branch of the mystery side," Han Xiaoxiao replied.
"Are you sure?" Ye Han sounded skeptical.
Han Xiaoxiao rose to her feet with a grim expression, pointing at her own chest and gritting her teeth. "I used to be an A cup. Half a year after that seductress reached level two, I suddenly got this big!"
Following Han Xiaoxiao's gesture, Ye Han couldn't help but swallow.
They really were impressive—probably not even two hands would suffice…
Damn, what am I thinking!
Ye Han mentally slapped himself and forcibly looked away.
Never covet a friend's girl!
Xu Fatty had been pursuing her for years, even if he hadn't succeeded.
He couldn't just let himself go wild.
"I can vouch for this!"
Seeing Han Xiaoxiao bring it up, Xu Fatty stepped forward at just the right moment, holding his hands apart to illustrate. "She used to be about this size!"
He opened his hand, then hesitated and pulled it in halfway.
"Get lost, you pig!"
Seeing Xu Fatty solemnly gesturing, Han Xiaoxiao couldn't take it anymore—she raised her foot and kicked him right in the rear.
Xu Fatty's whole body quivered, his fat shaking wildly.
Ye Han's eye twitched, and he turned away, pretending not to see.
A thick layer of fat did have its advantages—it helped absorb fat-soluble vitamins, promoted metabolism, and could even protect against the cold or blunt force.
"Fine, now that I know it's a curse type, I've got a handle on it!"
Ye Han, following his principle of "the rich lady is always right," nodded despite his conscience.
Still, he couldn't help but think—if only that curse could be moved somewhere else.
His gaze drifted downward, fleeting and subtle.
He was eighteen down there, just like his age.
But… such is the greed of men!
"I really ought to have a good chat with Gu Xiaoying, see if she'd curse me too!"
Outwardly, Ye Han appeared calm, but inwardly he drew a mental circle around Gu Xiaoying’s name.
"Put away those filthy thoughts!"
Han Xiaoxiao spat fiercely. Though Ye Han had concealed his intentions well, they didn't escape her notice.
Confronted with her bluntness, Ye Han felt his composure slipping and tried to defend himself. "What could I possibly be thinking? I'm just strategizing, that's all!"
"Yeah, right. All guys are the same."
Han Xiaoxiao gave him a scornful glance, her eyes rolling as she continued. "Still, if you really could win her over, that would mess up her plans better than anything else!"
There was simply no way to respond to that.

Ye Han sat back down on the sofa.
The Ninth Sequence, the Liyang Star Domain, was all about technology, yet Gu Xiaoying had switched to the mysterious side a decade ago.
Ye Han was not naïve enough to believe she was using the same basic package as he was.
Earlier, Han Xiaoxiao had mentioned her package was custom.
A custom-level planetary transformation package was far more nuanced than the basic type, subtly influencing the bond planet over a much longer cycle.
It wasn't like the crude, straightforward basic package that finished transforming a planet in just ten months.
"But the price—that’s not something just anyone can afford!"
Ye Han pursed his lips, quickly calculating the pros and cons.
Anyone able to afford a custom package probably had an extraordinary background.
He already had Luan Shuangyu to deal with—adding another would be hard to handle.
Yet this Xuanling package was simply too important for Earth.
If he gave it up, he'd have to wait over a decade; given the time difference between the two worlds, that would mean more than a hundred years on Earth.
"I can't wait. I don't have the patience for that!"
Self-interest came first—Ye Han found it hard to abandon such a tempting prize.
After all, it wasn't murder or robbery—just a matter of annoying the other side. Offending them would have to be a risk he took.
Having made up his mind, Ye Han didn't hesitate. "If I take the job, when do I get paid?"
Hearing Ye Han’s decision, Han Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up and she confirmed, "You’re sure? All you need to do is keep a close watch on that seductress, sabotage her actions whenever possible, and if you can ruin her reputation, I’ll even throw in a bonus!"
"Deal," Ye Han agreed with a nod.
"Good!"
Seeing his decisiveness, Han Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but break into a delighted laugh. "Three hundred billion as a down payment—the rest comes later."
Han Xiaoxiao swiftly opened her wristwatch, filled in the figures on a prepared contract, and sent it to Ye Han’s terminal.
Ye Han read through it carefully and, finding no hidden clauses, promptly signed.
The contract stipulated that during the college entrance exams, Ye Han must survive for at least five hundred days, and within half a year of the exam’s start, locate Gu Xiaoying. Afterward, he was to report her actions every ten days, and in that period, disgust her at least three times.
If he could capture a photo or video of Gu Xiaoying being disgusted, there’d be a bonus.
If Gu Xiaoying was eliminated, the mission would end automatically.
Regardless of success, the three hundred billion down payment was non-refundable.
The college entrance exam lasted a month, which equated to nine hundred days on Xiyuan Star.
Ye Han had plenty of time to maneuver.
The five hundred day survival clause was to prevent him from dying too soon and missing out on useful intel.
"Anything else?" Ye Han glanced at Han Xiaoxiao.
She was now lounging on the sofa he’d just vacated, long legs crossed atop the coffee table, her toes playfully flicking the air, clearly in high spirits.
"Nothing else. Good luck with the exam tomorrow!" Han Xiaoxiao waved him off.
Tripping up Gu Xiaoying was, at the moment, the thing that made Han Xiaoxiao happiest.
"Alright then, I’ll head back."
Ye Han nodded to her, walked over to Xu Fatty, patted his shoulder, then pushed open the door and left.

"Xuanling Path: Basic Inheritance Stele!"
Arriving at the store, Ye Han eyed the three hundred billion he’d just received and resisted the urge to splurge on a higher-level inheritance stele.
That three hundred billion was reserved for the planetary package.
He only had about 430 million of his own resources he could actually spend.
The basic inheritance stele contained thousands of elementary martial arts and hundreds of cultivation methods.
But these techniques were quite mediocre—at best, they could only support advancement to the second tier.
In Earth terms, they were street vendor goods, the most common of the common.
Mastering the techniques in the basic stele would get you to the second tier at most—on par with the patrolling soldiers of Xiyuan Star.
For higher levels later on, a more advanced inheritance stele would be necessary.
Of course, developing original techniques or plundering from other worlds was also an option.
"Three hundred million, gone just like that!"
Watching his resource panel shrink by three hundred million, Ye Han instantly felt like a pauper.
"I’ll get an elementary spellbook for magic too."
Hailan Star was now under the magic package, and there was no money to change that for the time being.
An elementary spellbook only cost fifty million resources and included more than twenty commonly used spells and a basic meditation method.
Bringing this package to Hailan Star would save Yan Qiluo and the others from groping in the dark.
With the basic inheritance stele and the spellbook in hand, Ye Han opened a spatial gate and returned home.

"I wonder how things are going on Earth and Hailan now!"
Lying in his sleep capsule, Ye Han's consciousness immediately left his body and descended upon Hailan Star.
He'd spent just over three hours in the Liyang Star Domain, but fifteen hours had passed on Hailan, and thirty hours on Earth.
"Hmm, the progress isn’t bad at all!"
Ye Han’s mind swept over the Yan Clan’s territory.
The virtual helmet manufacturing plant was now in full swing, and the gene blood pool had amassed more than thirty thousand clones.
With Yan Qiluo’s authorization, the locals of Hailan Star were now operating the clones, actively searching for survivors.
As the group of survivors grew, more clones joined the rescue teams.
Over on Earth, the players were mostly gathered around the virtual helmet production line, poking and prodding, seemingly studying something.
Thanks to Yan Qiluo’s platform update, the players could now log in and out freely.
"As expected!"
Ye Han switched his planetary view to Earth, a smile tugging at his lips.
It was just as he’d predicted.
Hailan Online hadn’t escaped the notice of the authorities.
The virtual helmet production line was being rapidly set up—a knockoff version would appear soon.
Of the initial batch of players, more than seventy had already been recruited.
Each of them was now surrounded by dozens of experts, all brainstorming and strategizing.
Information collection, research planning, their schedules were packed to the brim.
Ye Han even noticed over a dozen elderly researchers, gray-haired and dignified, putting on the helmets themselves and, using activation codes earned from the second quest, personally entering Hailan to observe and record firsthand.
"Since that’s the case, let’s add more fuel to the fire!"
By now, Hailan Star had stockpiled over twenty thousand virtual helmets.
Seeing everything progressing rapidly, Ye Han simply opened a spatial channel and transported all the helmets to Earth.
He spent the entire night, delivering helmets to the bedroom doors of those who went to bed early.
As for the night owls, Ye Han decided to skip them—if he happened to run into someone during a teleport, things could get awkward.
"Done!"
After delivering the last helmet, Ye Han wiped the sweat from his brow.
His body was still lacking, after all.
Those twenty thousand helmets didn’t really require much physical strength, but the constant bending over for each delivery had done his back in.
"Must be all the bending," Ye Han muttered, rubbing his aching lower back.