Chapter 52: Stalemate
Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Stalemate
Since he didn’t have to work, Yang Bo felt quite comfortable. He was earning his salary while doing as he pleased. On top of that, the compensation for the recent incident was expected to be a substantial amount. As part of a vulnerable group, residents received higher payouts than citizens.
"How exactly should I use this Sound Wave Control?" Yang Bo wondered, keeping an eye on his tracker while pondering how to further develop the ability.
Logically speaking, it should be possible to bypass a barrier and destroy a target hidden behind it.
With no other options, Yang Bo could only experiment step by step. He began with solids, placing an object inside a box to test his Sound Wave Control.
The difficulty of this experiment was relatively high. After testing it for half a day, he hadn’t made any progress, though he had managed to destroy several boxes in the process.
"This is giving me a headache!" Yang Bo complained inwardly. He hadn’t logged into the game, either. The game was meant to improve his strength, but right now, he couldn’t even fully utilize his real-world capabilities. In fact, he wasn’t even sure of the true extent of his own abilities. For example, what exactly were the Skill effects of Charge?
Furthermore, he didn’t have an accurate measure of just how much Power he possessed.
For two consecutive days, Yang Bo’s experiments yielded zero progress. He simply didn’t know where to start.
He refrained from searching online, knowing that every Genetic Evolver kept their abilities strictly confidential. The only exceptions were ancient families with inherited records of various abilities.
Rumor had it that the military possessed an extensive database of such information. However, gaining access to it required joining their ranks first.
That was something Yang Bo refused to do. Who would willingly submit to such restrictions? Being a free agent was much better—he could go wherever he wanted. If things went south here, he could flee to one of the other two nations. Whichever side won the war, he would simply defect to them.
"Why hasn’t this woman gone out at all? I’ve been waiting for two days."
"And no one has come to meet her, either. Could I be mistaken?" After surveilling the woman for two straight days, Yang Bo was beginning to doubt himself. Was his intuition off?
Even though he suspected his intuition might be wrong, he still adhered to the principle of "better safe than sorry."
"This Energy Weapon has an Energy-gathering effect. To think that such a minuscule amount of Energy could unleash this kind of power," Yang Bo mused. Holding the Energy Weapon, he channeled a tiny fraction of Energy into it, instantly granting the blade an edge of terrifying sharpness. He sliced through a solid Metal ornament as smoothly as if he were parting water.
Yang Bo felt that his current arsenal was quite formidable. He had an Energy Weapon and a Mecha. If his enemies assumed he was unarmed and planned their attacks accordingly, he would gladly show them what a nasty surprise felt like.
He could already picture the shock on his enemies’ faces when he drew his Energy Weapon. Of course, if the blade wasn’t enough to defeat them, he could always summon his Mecha.
"I need to keep a low profile and let the enemy underestimate me. Plus, I still don’t know who is secretly keeping tabs on me. It’s probably tied to the previous owner of this body." Yang Bo had no idea who was targeting him from the shadows, but this was already the third incident. Four, if he counted the run-in with the Red Earl.
What Yang Bo didn’t know was that while he was waiting for the woman to leave her house, she was waiting for him to do the same.
The two of them were simply locked in a mutual stakeout.
Fortunately, Yang Bo’s efforts weren’t in vain. His attempts to bypass barriers with Sound Wave Attacks had finally yielded some progress. The trick was to snap the fingers of both hands simultaneously, causing the two Sound Waves to converge behind the barrier before striking the target.
The only issue was the abysmal success rate. The technique relied on a myriad of variables: distance, the material of the barrier—be it wood, Metal, rubber, or something else entirely—and the material of the target itself.
Luckily, Yang Bo’s brain processing speed had improved significantly; otherwise, retaining such complex data would have been impossible.
Every different combination required a completely distinct attack method.
"Someone’s there?" After nearly ten days of stakeout from his home, Yang Bo finally noticed another man enter his target’s residence.
The two appeared to be arguing. Although he couldn’t hear their conversation, it was obvious that the conflict between them was quite intense.
"What kind of countermeasure are they using?" Yang Bo was puzzled. Normally, his passive Sound Wave Control allowed him to eavesdrop on conversations, but right now, he couldn’t hear a word. The sound wave feedback was riddled with static, heavily implying the presence of some sort of jamming device.
Inside a building 150 meters away from Yang Bo’s apartment, the woman under his surveillance was in a heated dispute with the man.
"This is a target of the Oversight Department, not your Security Department," the woman spat out in a threatening tone. "Your interference in our operation is highly inappropriate."
The man simply shrugged. "You rookies from Oversight haven’t even managed to handle a mere resident. If our Security Department had stepped in earlier, this little amateur would already be lying on a slab in our lab, and we’d probably have finished the experimental analysis by now!"
"Have you no shame?" she retorted, clearly infuriated. "The only reason this mission was passed down to us is because your department failed it the first time! And now that we’re on the verge of success, you swoop in to steal the credit? Yes, the Security Department’s clearance and authority are high, but don’t forget—this isn’t your turf."
In large corporations, performance was everything. Completing missions meant earning rewards. The fact that someone was trying to hijack her mission just as she was about to complete it was something no one could stomach.
The man pulled out a document. "This is from your department head. Take a look. If your people hadn’t come begging us, the Security Department wouldn’t have bothered to clean up your mess.
"I’m sure you’re well aware of how dangerous it is to enter this planet right now," he continued. "Furthermore, the company’s board of directors has issued a strict ultimatum. If we fail this mission again, we’ll all be held accountable. And I highly doubt you want to be demoted to an Ordinary employee at the very bottom of the corporate ladder."
"Damn it! Those incompetent superiors!" the woman cursed through gritted teeth after unfolding the document and scanning its contents.
"Alright, you have two choices," the man said, plopping down on the sofa and raking his eyes over her figure. "Option one: cooperate with me. Option two: stay as far away as possible and don’t interfere. Either way, I’m going to show you what a true professional looks like."
"Go to hell. Your department has already failed once. I’ll be eagerly waiting for your bad news, you bastard," she spat back. Disgusted by his leering gaze, she turned her back to him and stalked into her bedroom to pack her things, cursing under her breath.
"The weak have nothing but their words," the man retorted with a dismissive shrug. He strolled over to the window and gazed at Yang Bo’s apartment in the distance. Already, dozens of methods to secure the target’s biological sample were formulating in his mind.