"Hello! Hmm? It's you! Why are you here?"

The door was opened by a young man who immediately recognized the visitor.

"Come in! Would you like something to drink?" The young man invited Jiang Ling into the house and then politely asked what she wanted.

The guesthouse was just as Jiang Ling had imagined: spotlessly clean, with tables, chairs, cabinets, and beds, all available, just like it had been in the last century. She saw a middle-aged man sitting on a wooden sofa, typing on a terminal. This middle-aged man was one of the Countermeasures Bureau personnel who had come to her house that day, and the other one was probably the young man who opened the door.

"Tea, anything is fine!" Jiang Ling answered casually.

"Okay, please sit down!" The young man pointed to the other side of the sofa and gestured to Jiang Ling.

"Are you okay?" The middle-aged man stopped what he was doing and looked at Jiang Ling.

"Yeah, it's okay."

"You must have something to ask us, right? Do you want to join our Countermeasures Bureau?"

"No, no, no, you misunderstood!" Jiang Ling immediately shook her head. She didn't want to join any Countermeasures Bureau. If possible, she would rather have never seen the Countermeasures Bureau.

"So you want us to help you?"

"Well, I guess so!"

The middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction after hearing this, and then said, "Speak, we will grant your request!"

"Uh~" This made Jiang Ling feel at a loss. She thought they would want to drive her away with an impatient look on their faces.

The young man walked over and placed a cup of steaming tea in front of Jiang Ling. He said, "Tell me, we're still trying to figure out how to compensate your family! You're the hero of this incident and saved so many people."

"Well, alright then!" Jiang Ling was about to get straight to the point: "Ahem, then I'm going to ask for a lot. I want the blueprints for the exoskeleton!"

The two men were stunned when they heard this, then they started laughing. The strong man smiled and replied, "Okay, okay, okay, then it's a deal!"

"I am...ah?" Jiang Ling thought they would bargain, but unexpectedly they agreed immediately.

"I'm sorry, comrade! Your authority is A-level, so you can definitely see the drawing. Their control over the drawings is not as strict as you think, and we are ready for you to ask for a higher price!" The young man explained shyly.

"The problem with the blueprint isn't so great. The problem is that we can't manufacture it. The materials are very scarce right now. Even the best cook can't cook without rice!"

"I see. But didn't they say there was no shortage of high-tech materials?"

"Yes, there's no shortage of those. But exoskeletons aren't some high-tech gadget. They were impressive a few decades ago, but now they're consumables and modular."

"Xiao Liu, give her what she wants."

A few minutes later, Jiang Ling's terminal beeped, indicating an email had arrived. Undeterred, Jiang Ling took it out and began to read the information inside, even though she couldn't understand anything.

"Are you really not going to join us? This opportunity is not easy to come by. After all, we are a military organization."

"No, thank you for your kindness, but everyone has their own destiny. I can't do that kind of life-threatening work!"

"Okay then. But if you ever change your mind, don't go running to another instructor!"

Jiang Ling waved goodbye to the man who had tried to lure her into the Countermeasures Bureau. Being overly enthusiastic could easily lead to suspicion. She had just experienced that state of doubt and didn't want to experience it again.

The exoskeleton blueprints were just as she'd imagined; they weren't hiding them very well. As for the difficulty in production, Jiang Ling supposed they were referring to mass production. All she needed was a damaged exoskeleton repaired, and a few materials were more than enough. If all else failed, she could even risk searching the surface.

Jiang Ling retraced her steps, wandering from the second floor to Area 1. She took the elevator directly from the second floor to the first floor, and finally the shipping elevator to the familiar distribution center. She hurried to the repairman's shop, but Master Sun didn't seem to be there. So, she followed her memory to the secret space behind the shop. Before she could even enter, she heard a quarrel inside.

"No, this exoskeleton is not mine. I have no right to sell it to you!"

"Whether you have the right or not, we must recycle it!"

"Go away! Don't come over here! Step over me if you can!"

"Sun Hao! Don't think I won't touch you just because you've retired, old man!"

"You dare to lecture me, young man? When I was scrubbing steel plates in the factory, you were still in your mother's womb, drinking milk!"

"Cough cough!" Jiang Ling coughed through the obstruction.

"Ah, you're here! They're trying to force you to buy your stuff!" Master Sun explained, his clothes already ripped in several places. He was now using his body to block the erected exoskeleton, staring fiercely at the young man in front of him.

"Who are you?" the person standing in the other corner asked Jiang Ling.

"Who are you?" Jiang Ling didn't know what they were arguing about, but since they didn't give her face, she would show no mercy either.

"Heh~ Let me tell you who we are. You're suspected of stealing and selling military supplies! We've caught you, and you're still trying to deny it!"

"Do you have any evidence?" Jiang Ling went straight to the point.

"Do you need any more evidence?" He pointed to the exoskeleton in the distance.

Jiang Ling took a look at the exoskeleton and replied with a mixture of anger and amusement, "What evidence do you have to say that it's not mine?"

The atmosphere suddenly quieted down, and then the man burst into laughter, causing the young man who was trying to restrain Master Sun to laugh as well. "You? Hahaha, those who can be equipped with exoskeletons are all top elites! You little girl may look pretty, but your brain is not very useful at all!"

"Are you done laughing?" Jiang Ling said angrily. Although she couldn't prove the exoskeleton was hers, she didn't think it was. She had always set her sights on repairing the exoskeleton, and she just wanted to experience the feeling of wearing it.

"What? Are you not convinced?" The young man tried to stir up trouble as soon as he opened his mouth.

Jiang Ling didn't intend to waste any time arguing with these two guys. Street fights usually ended up being just that, boring. So she decided to put the new knowledge she'd learned from fighting the mutant a few days ago to the test: "Go back to where you came from, both of you. Don't embarrass yourself."

The two men's expressions froze, and then they stretched out one foot twitchingly, passed by Jiang Ling with a strange pace, and then passed through the low barriers and the garbage dump that was hidden from view, and left here like zombies.

Jiang Ling helped them clear their memories of today.