"Study hard and be useful."
Seeing Yun Qingshang unmoved, Gao Xuan tried his best, talking a blue streak to brainwash Yun Qingshang.
"You've been through so much hardship, struggling between life and death, only to acquire these skills. How can you abandon what you've learned? You'd be letting yourself down..."
Yun Qingshang said seriously, "I don't like killing."
"I don't like killing either. I also enjoy leisure, playing games, flirting with girls, enjoying gourmet food, savoring all things beautiful."
Gao Xuan said with complete seriousness, "The cosmos is a gigantic dark jungle. Life that only knows how to eat, drink, and be merry can only become prey. I don't want to be prey; I want to be a hunter."
He sighed and added, "Though the cosmos is vast, there's not a shred of pure land. No pure land can be contained. The strong plunder everything, control everything. The weak can only submit, only accept. A world without any struggle is merely the most beautiful fantasy."
Yun Qingshang was silent and speechless, feeling that Gao Xuan was exaggerating a bit.
Though modern society has rigid hierarchies, basic welfare for life can still be guaranteed.
With the skills the two of them have, mingling into the middle class isn't difficult.
Becoming an assassin to kill people is quite risky. Besides, Gao Xuan seems to be doing it out of personal taste.
This chatterbox is more ruthless than anyone!
Gao Xuan saw Yun Qingshang's doubt and said unhappily, "Hey, hey, do you think I'm deceiving you? You're actually doubting your class brother, your comrade in arms, you make me so sad..."
"I am a bit doubtful."
Yun Qingshang admitted frankly; she's determined to guard Gao Xuan forever, but that doesn't mean she has to listen to everything he says.
For instance, she really doesn't want to support such unreliable ideas from Gao Xuan.
"You actually admitted it!"
Gao Xuan looked hurt, "Out of respect for our friendship, just take back what you said."
Yun Qingshang stood there quietly, not uttering a word, no matter what Gao Xuan said.
"This is silent resistance."
Gao Xuan sighed, "Okay, I'll be honest. First, the Blood God Association has many branches on Pegasus Star. This group is all aligned with Zhou Lang, they need to be dealt with, right?
And, we've got a lot of Spirit Race infiltrators among us; the Spirit Race has to be killed, right?"
Gao Xuan said, "Since there's going to be killing anyway, why not make a little money in the process..."
"Spirit Race?"
Yun Qingshang was completely unaware of this, and hearing the term left her a bit puzzled.
Gao Xuan then explained the situation with the Spirit Race, "In fact, many other races are embedded in our human society. Including the Insect Race, the Shadow Race, all sorts of bizarre lives..."
In the cosmos, there are all kinds of strange life forms. When humans entered the Star River, dealing with these types of life was unavoidable.
It's just that the human population is vast, and overall power extremely strong. Most small races either stay far away from humans or embed themselves among humanity.
"The Human Alliance has expanded too quickly, already infringing on the interests of some powerful races in the Galaxy. A great war in the Milky Way is about to erupt soon..."
Gao Xuan recounted the situation before his rebirth, though he spoke in a speculative tone.
"Does this have anything to do with us?"
Yun Qingshang felt this was too far-fetched, on too high a level, even if the world were really coming to an end, they couldn't do anything.
"Don't underestimate yourself, perhaps we can save humanity."
Gao Xuan said, "At the very least, we must survive and preserve the human bloodline."
"So?"
"So we start with the little things around us. Killing is both eliminating enemies and honing oneself, and in the end, it can still make money. It's killing three birds with one stone, achieving excellence in three areas, accomplishing three things in one stroke..."
Yun Qingshang looked a bit puzzled at Gao Xuan; she always felt like Gao Xuan was up to something.
"Let's first get a fake identity, then register a name with the Assassin Association on the Dark Web. Then we can take orders."
Gao Xuan said enthusiastically, "What do you want to be called?"
"Hmm?" Yun Qingshang was a bit confused.
"It's the assassin code name."
Seeing Yun Qingshang's bewildered look, Gao Xuan knew he couldn't count on her.
He thought for a moment and said, "How about calling it Sunshine Boy, positive and full of energy. Leaves a lasting impression..."
"Judging by your expression, you don't seem to agree; how about Handsome Brother? Fatal Little Cutie?"
Gao Xuan, very driven, took Yun Qingshang to Zone East 11 on the Ninth Ring Line after dinner.
In Mingjing City, housing prices are divided by ring line, with the central area being the most expensive, and the further out you go, the cheaper it gets.
Through economic means, Mingjing naturally segregates different social layers.
The Ninth and Tenth Ring Lines are where the lowest strata of society live; most of these people don't have jobs, relying on Alliance welfare to live.
The Ninth and Tenth Ring Lines are also the most chaotic and dangerous areas. At night, even the Alliance's enforcement teams don't easily enter this area.
In many places here, the Celestial Net signal gets artificially blocked.
Especially in Zone East of the Ninth Ring Line, it's known as the fallen district.
The subway network linking Mingjing is controlled by artificial intelligence, running nonstop 24 hours a day. It's the first choice for ordinary people's travel.
In the subway car, Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang sat facing each other. Both wore black hooded coats, with large masks. Gao Xuan also wore wraparound sunglasses.
This outfit is a bit sneaky, but in this super metropolis, no one minds their business.
The rest of the people in the subway carriage were dressed in a variety of colorful and eccentric clothing. Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang's outfits were actually quite unremarkable among them.
As they exited the station, they encountered law enforcement robots, which turned a blind eye to the two of them.
Law enforcement robots can only intervene when they explicitly identify someone committing a crime.
Block 11 was very lively, with colorful neon lights forming huge billboards, and various virtual images dancing crazily between the buildings.
On the streets, there were scantily clad, gaudily dressed women, thuggish men with brutish faces, or scrawny, vulgar street vendors.
The reveling customers were mostly reeking of alcohol, stumbling, and babbling nonsense.
To ordinary people, this place was bizarre and filled with a sense of indulgence and decadence.
Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang walked through, encountering several women approaching them on the street.
"Wanna have some fun? Fifty credit points will take you to the heavens..."
"Come on, master—I'm proficient in the Thirty-six Techniques, skilled in all kinds of role-playing. You can play however you like..."
There were also sneaky vendors, whispering to Gao Xuan, "Super Cool Bliss Electronic Card, load it up and enjoy bliss. Only two hundred points."
Gao Xuan didn't stop once; he and Yun Qingshang exuded an air of cold detachment, so no one dared to stop them forcefully.
"This is the place..."
Gao Xuan pointed at the Iron Fist Bar ahead and said, "It's a branch of the Blood God Association in Mingjing. Though a bit rundown, it packs quite a punch."
The four crimson characters of Iron Fist Bar stood out among the garish lights.
Gao Xuan pushed open the bar door, and inside, the tumultuous music surged like a tidal wave, engulfing him and Yun Qingshang.
In the dim bar, colorful spotlights flashed erratically. Two voluptuous women, scarcely clothed, twisted wildly on the small stage at the bar's center.
The surrounding patrons, nodding to the beat, occasionally tossed out some virtual gold coins.
These coins were actually credit points, but when thrown, they appeared with a gold effect.
The coins showered on the stage glimmered brightly, quite dazzling.
The passing waitresses were also dressed exceptionally scantily. Drunken patrons would occasionally stretch out a hand to grab or pat them.
Yun Qingshang frowned slightly; the sight of this chaotic revelry made her uncomfortable.
Fortunately, she was disguised as a cold-faced man, so no one bothered her.
Gao Xuan, however, took great interest in the gaudy performance and paused to watch for a while before bringing Yun Qingshang to a private room inside the bar.
At the end of the corridor, two burly men in black short sleeves stood at the private room door.
Their arms were adorned with metal prosthetics, and even their chests bore metal plates protruding from the short sleeves.
Nowadays, metal prosthetic technology is very advanced, offering more flexibility and power than human limbs, and resisting all sorts of damage.
In the underworld, thugs often modify part of their bodies. It enhances their combat ability and makes them more intimidating.
Although simple, these modifications are not cheap. Moreover, after modification, one loses the natural feeling of the limbs.
Most importantly, the human body is highly compatible with Source Power. Modified metal limbs cannot integrate with Source Power.
A true expert would never recklessly alter their body.
Anyone showing off their metal limbs is almost certainly part of the underworld.
The two thugs sized up Gao Xuan and one of them, with electronic prosthetic eyes glowing red, clearly scanned between Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang.
Gao Xuan didn't mind; such low-level electronic eyes were just metal detectors, revealing nothing else.
"What do you want?" One thug, after confirming through the scan that Gao Xuan carried no dangerous weapons, finally asked.
"I'm here to make a deal with Old Dog."
Gao Xuan was quite familiar, having dealt with such people frequently in his past life.
Hearing this, the expressions of the two thugs relaxed a bit.
One thug communicated inside using a device and then opened the door, gesturing for Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang to enter.
The private room wasn't large; several fierce-looking men lounged on the sofa, the table laden with various drinks and snacks.
Seeing Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang enter, a sluggishly seated man asked, "Which path are you from?"
This man's eyebrows were so short they looked like two black moles on his brow. He was also balding. His chin jutted forward, making him resemble a four-eyed mutt. He was the bar owner, Old Dog.
"Businessman."
Gao Xuan said, "I just want to buy a batch of smartwatches with ID numbers."
The Celestial Net is everywhere, and to conduct assassin business, you need to disguise your identity. Old Dog was an expert in this area.
Old Dog glanced at the tightly covered Gao Xuan and said, "Being sneaky in front of me—don't you know the rules?"
"Didn't you hear what the boss said, damn it? Take off your face mask."
"What the hell are you hiding?"
A group of bodyguards saw Gao Xuan remaining silent, cursed, and stood up, with two taking out guns and aiming at Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang.
Gao Xuan tilted his head and said to Yun Qingshang, "What are you waiting for? Protect me."
"Oh." Yun Qingshang responded dully.