This was clearly meant for Zuo Ying's ears. Zhang Lei now has some kind of family, and it seems unlikely that Zhang Lei would specifically target Zuo Ying for trouble.
In fact, Deputy Director Qian had no choice. He knew that Zuo Ying might really be thinking about Zhang Lei and had been lingering around Shanghai looking for an opportunity. So when the summons was issued, she was the first one to arrive.
Zhang Lei, Linghu, Liu Yun, and Tian Xiao—none of these four people understand Japanese. Even Liu Yun, the best among them, is probably only able to speak a few basic everyday phrases. Assigning a translator to them would be problematic because the security level is not high enough and they might not be reliable. It would also be a burden to them. Zuo Ying happens to be one of the few people in the department who is proficient in Japanese, so it's impossible to prevent her from going.
"Let's go, we'll talk on the way. It'll save time. Liu Yun, please call the liaison office in Shanghai and have them transport the prepared luggage to the airport!"
Qian Tuzi had no other choice. He had to use every bit of his strength on this trip to Japan, especially the first batch, including Tian Xiao, who had an ability index of less than 1,000 and only a little internal energy. Not to mention Zhang Lei. Otherwise, leaving Zhang Lei behind would have been a good idea.
He had already explained most of what needed to be explained. After giving a few more details, Qian the Bald began making phone calls to make arrangements.
During this time, Zuo Ying acted as a temporary teacher, teaching the four people some simple everyday phrases. Of course, Baka and Ha Yi didn't need to be taught; they could say those after watching the movie.
Although the mission was very time-sensitive, with every second counting, Zhang Lei and his team still had to kill time in the parking lot next to the airport. What could they do? They couldn't just charter a plane. It wasn't for economic reasons; every plane entering the country needed approval from the destination country, and Japan naturally wouldn't approve such a charter flight.
We don't yet have the technology to penetrate defenses undetected in the air, which is one of the reasons why we need Meichuan Neiku.
"Take these ten cards, two for each of you, each containing ten million yen for emergencies. Each person's password is their birthday reversed. Ideally, we could resolve this peacefully, but that's unlikely. Linghu, you're the team leader this time; you decide the specifics based on the situation!"
Deputy Director Qian went out and brought in a few people. He also had a few more cards in his hand, which he distributed to Zhang Lei and the others. Zhang Lei noticed that Linghu was given an extra card, but it didn't look like a bank card.
Episode 3: The Bloody Road to Growth, Chapter 38: Journey A
These people brought luggage for Zhang Lei and his group. It would be unusual for them to travel internationally without much luggage, and to avoid giving the impression of having standard equipment, the bags and suitcases were deliberately made to be very different.
"Hello, we're from Silver Sword. We're on this mission with you, and we hope we can work well together!" A tall, thin man, accompanied by Baldy Qian, approached Linghu and spoke in a low voice. Although his words were polite, there was an unspeakable provocation in his tone. That's how Chinese is; the same words, paired with different tones or expressions, can have different meanings.
"Hello, Linghu Zaichong, the person in charge of this operation!" Linghu Zaichong deliberately omitted a few words, so the person in charge of this operation of the State Bureau of Foreign Affairs became the person in charge of this operation. As he spoke, Linghu extended his right hand.
“Li Zaixing!” The tall, thin man stretched out his hand. From the bulging muscles on his wrist, Zhang Lei realized that this guy wasn’t really thin. He looked tall and thin more because his frame was small. In terms of muscle, he was probably no less than anyone else except for Linghu in front of him.
A handshake is always the beginning of a less-than-friendly contest between men, and these two were definitely not friendly at all. Linghu Zaichong's strength goes without saying, but what's surprising is that although Li Zaixing was having a hard time dealing with it and was sweating profusely, he managed to hold on.
Even if Linghu didn't activate his superpowers, Li Zaixing was definitely not simple. You have to know that Linghu Zaichong's physique was trained under the guidance of self-examination. Even without using internal energy or superpowers, he was not someone that ordinary internal martial arts masters could withstand. Moreover, according to Zhang Lei's observation, he had already used his internal energy.
"You're good, very good!" Linghu Zaichong nodded.
When a superpower is activated, nearby superpowered individuals will also sense it. This doesn't actually need to be taught; after a few times, you'll know what it feels like. In the past, no one had used their superpowers near Zhang Lei. Recently, however, he has been training with Linghu and the others, so Zhang Lei is already very familiar with this feeling.
"Come over here, everyone, let's get to know each other first!"
Just as superhumans look down on ordinary people, the elites in these armies also look down on these superhumans.
In their eyes, these were just lucky people, like rich kids born into wealthy families—simply born with good fortune, incomparable to those of them who had earned their skills through hard work and experience. Moreover, aside from slightly stronger individual combat abilities, these superhumans were utterly useless. When fighting in other countries, the first thing to consider is concealment. Look at these guys; they're not soldiers, yet they seem more like soldiers than they are.
As for other tactical skills and teamwork, needless to say, this time they were going to Japan on a mission, and only one of them could speak Japanese. I have no idea what they were going to do.
These are special forces units in Shanghai. Zhang Lei and his team only know that their unit's code name is Silver Sword; everything else is classified.
This time, there were five men and five women, a better ratio than Zhang Lei's group. Apart from some of the girls having slightly thicker arms and legs, they were basically no different from ordinary fashionable girls.
Two of the five men had bleached hair, and the other had long hair. If it hadn't been mentioned beforehand, probably no one would have recognized them as military personnel. Compared to them, these superhumans really looked more like members of an organization.
"Tianxiao, go hook up with Zhang Lei!" Linghu ordered, seeing Liu Yun with one on each side. It was far too conspicuous.
"Why?!" Tianxiao protested. She didn't want to leave Brother Liu Yun to hang out with that brat.
"Your ages are well-matched, and this way you won't attract attention. Why aren't you going?" Linghu Zaichong's eyes widened, and he looked quite fierce.
"Okay!" Tianxiao's little mouth twitched down. Not only could an oil bottle be hung on it, but it could probably even hang a toilet without any problem.
"Alright, alright, listen to me, go and seduce Zhang Lei!" Liu Yun comforted him in a low voice.
After so long, Zhang Lei naturally knew Tian Xiao's real age. He was very indignant that he had been tricked into calling her "sister" so many times. Now that he had a chance to take advantage of her, how could he let it go? Zhang Lei immediately propped up his arms, waiting for her big breasts to come up to him.
"I didn't expect that breasts with a puffy nipple would feel just as good!" Zhang Lei whispered in Tian Xiao's ear.
"What did you say?" Although Zhang Lei's strength surpassed Tian Xiao's on the first day of training, this was the first time he had spoken to her like this, so it was no wonder that Tian Xiao was not used to it.
"It's nothing, haha, let's go!" The plane tickets were distributed to everyone, and it wouldn't be too difficult for the Bureau of Foreign Affairs to get some travel passports.
The two groups pretended not to know each other and entered the departure hall. Their personalities clashed, and forcing them to walk together would only arouse suspicion. It seemed that even in Japan, it would be best to separate unless absolutely necessary.
"Zhang Lei, take good care of Tianxiao, and don't you dare bully her!" Liu Yun turned her head. "Also, although you're young, I think you're the smartest one here. When we get to Japan, you'll have to use your brain a lot. If there's anything we haven't thought of, be sure to remind us!"
"Oh, I understand!" Zhang Lei was usually quite confident in his intelligence, but this time he agreed with a bit of trepidation.
Whether it's internal organs or muscles, the proportion extracted from them by the body is quite small. Continuous replenishment and strengthening have continuously improved their ability to absorb internal energy. If we include the strengthening every now and then, these parts have begun to turn a profit. This means that the weakening effect of the Bitter Yuan Gong on the body has basically ended. It is possible that the training under Linghu's guidance during this period has also played a significant role.
Zhang Lei calculated that if all the internal energy absorbed in a day were used to strengthen the body, excluding the effects of ordinary exercise under self-examination guidance, the overall improvement would be about one-thousandth.
This number isn't immediately apparent, but the proportion remains relatively constant. As Zhang Lei's physical strength increases, the amount of internal energy he can absorb each day also increases. However, Zhang Lei has stopped building new muscle tissue because he discovered that this muscle tissue not only delays nerve responses but also doesn't enhance the absorption of internal energy.
These were all good things, but Zhang Lei wasn't very happy because he discovered that a small vortex of energy had formed at his glabella. This vortex was absorbing the vital energy contained in his brain. Although Zhang Lei had tried his best to compensate, the speed of compensation was clearly not keeping up. This wasn't a matter of how much internal energy there was, but rather that the brain tissue could only withstand that much internal energy each time.
Perhaps it was psychological, but Zhang Lei felt a bit mentally foggy these past few days, and he couldn't remember many things. Fortunately, his logical analysis wasn't affected much, probably because he was far from the cyclone and was less affected.
Episode 3: The Bloody Road to Growth, Chapter 38: Journey B - Man Bites Dog
As soon as they got off the plane, Silver Sword's group hurriedly separated from the five-person team from the National Bureau of Foreign Affairs. It wasn't just that they seemed to be afraid that these people would drag them down.
Just as the National Security Bureau attaches great importance to this mission, the military also attaches great importance to it. Although it appears to be a cooperative effort, it is definitely more competitive in essence. No matter which department is involved, they will be very successful in completing this mission.
The mission that could affect the GDP was something that the National Security Bureau had never received before, not to mention that even the military's special forces had never had such an opportunity. However, this kind of mission was originally within the jurisdiction of the National Security Bureau; otherwise, it would have been impossible for the National Security Bureau to compete with the military for the mission.
Although both sides acted simultaneously this time for reasons of security and balance, and under the guise of cooperation, it is impossible to say that neither side had any ulterior motives.
"Damn, what the hell!" These are all treasures of the Guoyi Branch Bureau. Losing even one of them would be painful enough. Therefore, they rarely send these people out for missions abroad unless necessary. After all, when they don't activate their superpowers, they are just ordinary martial arts masters. It's too easy for them to be lost in away battles.
Therefore, these five people were completely clueless about Japan. They had originally hoped that these silver-sword guys would at least show some kindness and lend a hand, but it seemed that the other party would be more than happy for them to sleep on the streets.