Chapter 207: The Boss’s Intentions

“Boss, why is this?” Yang Bo didn’t want to ask, but seeing the Fat Boss’s expression, it seemed he wanted Yang Bo to ask.

In fact, the Fat Boss wanted Yang Bo to ask these questions. Hearing them, he said, “Let’s head back to the lab. I’ll explain it in detail.”

Once they reached the lab, the Fat Boss had Yang Bo sit down and then began, “An Zhijie Corporation is actually owned by my family.”

“You may have noticed our company deals in some gray areas. There are many violations in the custom orders we handle, some of which might even be considered criminal.”

“Of course, you needn’t worry. We serve the powerful, and the law itself serves them too.”

“The same crime committed by a commoner and a noble has different outcomes. Even if sentenced, there are ways to remain free outside.”

“The wealthy can afford the best lawyers, turning serious crimes into minor offenses—or even no crime. A simple example is claiming to be mentally ill; not only do you avoid prison, but you also get to live better than most in a psychiatric hospital.”

“You might’ve heard a saying—those in the Alliance never part with their lawyers in life. That’s because the complicated legal texts aren’t designed for ordinary people. There are many loopholes.”

“There are also plenty of exemptions. For instance, if you’re a man and break the law, you can claim that while you appear male, you believe yourself female in your heart and soul. Such cases are treated as cognitive mental disorders, and short of major crimes, sentences are much lighter.”

Hearing this, Yang Bo looked at the Fat Boss in amazement. Why did this sound so familiar?

“Of course, you’ll need enough money to bribe the certification agencies. If one attempt fails, try another. Also, hire a prominent lawyer—one who might have shared a professor with the judge.” The Fat Boss continued.

“So while our company’s work skirts the law, it has no real impact. We let others handle any unforeseen accidents.” The Fat Boss said again.

“My family runs the company, and internal strife is unavoidable. Sometimes it’s even deadly. Though they don’t dare target me directly, they might set up my employees by assigning them problematic tasks, practically ensuring they’re sent to jail.”

“From now on, only accept tasks from me. Ignore anything from headquarters.”

“Lately, I’ve been close to you. People may start noticing soon. While no one in the family is targeting you yet, eventually they will.” The Fat Boss added.

Yang Bo understood now. It was the Fat Boss’s family fighting among themselves—classic infighting where they first eliminate others’ allies.

And if something went wrong, the employees would take the fall. A company this large surely had ways of getting employees imprisoned.

“Boss, I’ll listen to you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” Yang Bo immediately said while patting his chest.

However, Yang Bo thought that if the family’s infighting got too intense, he’d just leave. After all, it was just a cooperation agreement, which only mattered to the weak—not to the strong.

“Also, from now on, never voice opinions about any individuals or groups. Feel free to criticize the government; otherwise, you’ll invite unnecessary trouble.” The Fat Boss warned again.

Yang Bo understood. That’s how things worked on Earth with the Americans—you could criticize the government, but not individuals.

“Next year, I’ll return to the family for a while. I’ll take you with me then. Our library has many things you can browse freely. You might find something that could guide your superpower development.” The Fat Boss was determined to groom Yang Bo, mainly because of his extraordinary aptitude. Had it not been for the risk of the C-grade Gene Serum’s failure, the Fat Boss would’ve already bought the materials.

Yang Bo nodded. “Thank you, Boss!”

“The Fat family’s collection must be vast. I’ll study it carefully.” Yang Bo also planned this.

Despite this being a super interconnected world, knowledge was even more restricted than on Earth. Yang Bo had heard a lot about ancient martial arts, but there was no way to access any concrete information.

Not that Yang Bo wanted to learn it. With his superpowers, why bother? This was merely an example.

Yang Bo grabbed the materials the Fat Boss provided, several boxes in total.

As he watched Yang Bo leave, the Fat Boss let out a sigh of relief. At least he’d revealed his background. Yang Bo, with his simple mind, wouldn’t likely go solo anytime soon. Even if he wanted to, he’d be wary of the background.

The reason the Fat Boss told Yang Bo all this was out of fear that Yang Bo might go independent in the future.

Meanwhile, back at the dormitory, behind the window, a woman watched as Yang Bo’s flying car left the parking garage, surprised. “This Yang Bo stayed with the Fat Boss for so long; there must be some secret between them!”

When Yang Bo returned home, he moved the materials into his underground bunker and checked on his little pets.

The Invisible Mouse was no longer afraid of Yang Bo at all. Every time it saw him, it ran over to observe him.

The captured gerbils were no longer as timid as when he first got them. Now, whenever Yang Bo came, they hid in the shadows, their small eyes tracking his every move.

The mutated leech was as usual. Its special mouth allowed it to easily penetrate Iron Bull’s skin.

The weird thing Yang Bo picked up by the coast remained the same, sealed in a special room.

Yang Bo then went to the underground space and released the mecha, resuming his training.

“Impressive.” This time, Yang Bo operated the mecha entirely using Optical Ability.

In the 800-meter-diameter underground bunker training space, the mecha ran back and forth at a speed of Mach 4 for fifteen minutes straight.

An 800-meter space at Mach 4 demand lightning-fast nerve reflexes. Fortunately, Yang Bo had dynamic vision, enhancing his reflex speed.

His Electro-Optic power simulated control signals faster than manual input.

“My hand speed should be at a master level now.” Yang Bo, drenched in sweat, contemplated while cooking after taking a shower.

The mecha moved at Mach 4 while still performing various combat actions like wielding mecha weapons.

“It must be because of my experience transporting Shockwave Bombs in the mecha game over the past half month,” Yang Bo guessed.

That half month was intense—running non-stop in the game’s underground world. Anytime he could use a flight pack, he would, not caring about space constraints.

Each energy bomb was worth a considerable amount of money. No one else knew about the game’s bug only he had figured it out, and he exploited it relentlessly.

The sense of excitement was through the roof.

“I need to study my powers more.” Yang Bo felt there was still room to improve his superpower.

He then went to bed. The game bug was patched, so entering the game held little interest for him. He’d wait for the storm season to practice mecha control again.

“When the time comes, I’ll find a powerful mutant beast for a direct fight and test my abilities.” Yang Bo felt confident that his mecha control could now take on some mutated beasts head on.

Every day, it was the same routine—going to work, coming home to feed the wild mice, and then extreme mecha training.

“Yang Bo?” On the fourth afternoon, Yang Bo had just completed a task when Zhang Xin called out to him at the front desk.

Zhang Xin was about 1.72 meters tall, with fair skin and a beautiful face. Her figure was quite good, dressed in a sea-green dress. She had small braids tied with colorful hair clips, scattering tiny pink, green, and white flowers in her hair.

“What’s up?” Looking at the near-perfect 95-point beauty in front of him, Yang Bo felt a bit uneasy.

Yang Bo thought flawless beauties like her felt a bit unnatural. Even though he knew about beauty injections and gene enhancement, it still seemed strange. If she wanted paler skin, she could take a whitening injection. Didn’t like single eyelids? There’s a double eyelid injection for that too.

“Are you free tonight? Want to grab dinner?” Zhang Xin asked Yang Bo straightforwardly.

Yang Bo shook his head. “Sorry, I have a bit of social anxiety.”

In truth, Yang Bo now felt that many beauties looked ready to pull out something far bigger than him from their sleeves. The thought alone gave him chills.

While unlikely, who could know for sure?

So, Yang Bo quickly walked away. There’s no such thing as free kindness.

In this world, even interacting with girls required caution. Some girls were out to scam you. They’d invite you over, hint at intimacy, and if you made a move, suddenly you’d find yourself in the police station, charged with multiple accusations and forced to pay hefty settlements to resolve it all.

You could say men were the most vulnerable in this world. If a household had a woman, a child, an elder, and even a pet—the man ranked at the bottom.

For example, Yang Bo once owned a goldfish. Had he killed it, every association imaginable would’ve come rushing to investigate him.

Seeing Yang Bo leave without even a glance back, Zhang Xin was slightly startled.

In a distant office, the Fat Boss saw this exchange and thought, “Looks like Yang Bo’s been scared off by women too. But that’s not a bad thing. When the time comes, I’ll introduce someone from the family.”

Yang Bo didn’t dwell on Zhang Xin’s dinner invitation. He wouldn’t dare accept, even if it had been an Earth beauty.

One of Yang Bo’s coworkers had once told him about a dinner date with a beautiful woman that cost him an entire year’s salary.

One word: coward!

The storm season had returned, just as expected. The weather report forecasted about ten days of heavy winds, primarily due to the unusual orbit of the three moons causing massive tidal shifts.

“Let’s check the game. After this storm, I’ll be able to take time off to track down Robert’s contact during the next storm season. That’ll be the perfect opportunity.” Yang Bo decided to log into the game, noting it had been almost a week.

Everything in the game was back to normal, except for the many players holding loads of Shockwave Bombs.

Yang Bo logged into the game. Because of the storm, the Fat Boss had no tasks for him, so he logged in too.

“What a bunch of shameless players!” The Fat Boss gazed at his warehouse full of over 400 Shockwave Bombs.

When the bug in the game was discovered, the Fat Boss decided to gamble on it. Either the bombs would rise in price or be banned.

But now, nothing had happened. The bombs weren’t banned, and their price hadn’t gone up, but mutants no longer traded. If you carried a Shockwave Bomb, the system warned that you were harassing neutral races.

“This garbage game officially makes me sick!” The Fat Boss muttered, staring at the 400 bombs. All of them were money!

Piloting his Ninth-Generation Mech outside the base, the Fat Boss saw that almost every other mecha had a few Shockwave Bombs strapped on.

This sight made the Fat Boss feel a little better. Then, a message came through in a channel: “Everyone gather up. Anyone online—meet up. We’re hunting a B-class monster today.”

“Send your location.” Upon hearing this, the Fat Boss immediately responded. His group belonged to his family, led by a mecha master. The Fat Boss entered the game mainly to train with mechs.

After leaving the base, Yang Bo also noticed that most mechas carried a couple of Shockwave Bombs.

“There’s no point in carrying them.” Yang Bo understood that even with Shockwave Bombs, they were useless. When used, the game would just play a visual effect and charge you game credits for it. Virtual special effects? Was it worth the money?

“Let’s check out the third underground layer.” Yang Bo piloted his mecha toward it.

“Why are there so many more players in the game now?” Yang Bo noticed as he ventured deeper into the underground world.

Previously, Yang Bo hadn’t played the game like others did. While other players fought in the underground world, Yang Bo used to hunt small animals on the surface.

“Looks like I’ll need to head to the fourth layer.” After exploring the third layer, Yang Bo noticed some players guarding entrances to prevent others from advancing further. But he didn’t engage with them.

Because it was real-time remote control, attacking them wouldn’t have been worth it. Even if he scared those players away, the mutant beasts would’ve long fled too—it wasn’t like the game where they respawn in a fixed location.

“Something’s up?” Just as Yang Bo entered the underground’s fourth layer, he immediately heard the sounds of Shockwave Bombs detonating in the distance. The bombings were frequent.