At 9:00 AM sharp on March 4th, 2089, Lin Qi stepped out of a public rail transit vehicle. Not far ahead of him were the Twin Towers of Si Pharmaceutical.

The Liu’s Heavy Industry Branch in Greenfield City was located beside Tower B, in an utterly unremarkable square high-rise.

To get to the Liu’s Heavy Industry Branch, Lin Qi had to cross the Twin Towers plaza and pass by the side of Tower B.

The route perfectly matched Guang Ling’s recommendation.

’This means Guang Ling definitely knows my identity. It even knows my damn work schedule.’

Lin Qi was helpless against this seemingly invincible entity in the cyber network.

Fortunately, it was currently an ally.

If he had an enemy like this, Lin Qi estimated he’d have absolutely no chance of survival.

In a way, it seemed the "Highest Level" designation wasn’t just an empty title.

As he slowly walked toward the Twin Towers, the A-Class Implanter bodyguard followed far behind him.

The distance was strictly maintained at one hundred meters. This was close enough to intervene at a moment’s notice, but it also placed the bodyguard squarely within Lin Qi’s Spiritual Vision.

Lin Qi’s gaze was locked on the square high-rise next to Tower B, as if his only thought was to get to his destination.

The model only marked the areas with surveillance, but Lin Qi didn’t know the exact locations of all the cameras.

Deception was second nature to Lin Qi.

He followed the route suggested by Guang Ling the entire way.

He walked out of the monitored zone, passed through a green area, and located the box.

’Optical camouflage? As expected of high-end tech.’

The optically camouflaged box couldn’t fool Lin Qi’s Spiritual Vision.

Lin Qi acted as if he were just casually passing by, and his motion of grabbing the box was as natural as swinging his arm while walking.

He took the bracelet from inside the box, opened the weapon compartment of his arm Exoskeleton, and placed the bracelet next to his Short-Handled Tang Blade.

He continued forward, following the route’s directions.

Before re-entering the monitored zone, he passed a cleaning robot.

He tossed the box into its waste compartment in one smooth motion.

Everything had been arranged by Guang Ling.

Lin Qi re-entered the monitored zone.

If one were to scrutinize this route, there was a flaw: the path through the green area deviated slightly from the direct route to the company building.

However, only the bodyguard who had been tailing Lin Qi the whole way could have possibly noticed this discrepancy.

As for the surveillance devices in Greenfield City?

Guang Ling had already tampered with them. The footage would show Lin Qi leaving the monitored zone for less than six seconds, his gaze unwavering the entire time as he stared toward his company, looking like someone eager to get to work.

He was the very picture of a model cyber-era employee.

The surveillance system tracked him without a single gap until he entered the Liu’s Heavy Industry Branch.

...

At 9:32 AM on March 4th, 2089, a young man with a wild, explosive mop of blond hair arrived at the green area.

Comparing the model in his pupils, the young man with the wild hair arrived at the designated spot.

He fumbled around.

"Where’s my gear? Where is it?"

"The Legion is turning into such a shoddy outfit. The equipment department is so unreliable. What happened to our T0-class standards?"

"Fuck, with the information blockade in Greenfield City, I can’t even contact the Legion. How am I supposed to do this mission without any backup?"

...

Lin Qi had just entered the branch office when he saw a familiar figure on the first floor.

"What a coincidence."

’The sisters Liu Xuan and Liu Li are at the branch office too?’

"It is quite a coincidence," Lin Qi replied, already used to such encounters.

"You actually didn’t clock in at the last second today?"

Beside Liu Xuan, Liu Li eyed him with suspicion, as if doubting his very identity.

Lin Qi smiled. "New job, new me. Got to make a good impression on the branch office."

If one were to scrutinize it, this was another flaw in the cover for him retrieving the Holy Relic Legion’s equipment.

But that would require the Holy Relic Legion to proactively study Liu’s Heavy Industries’ attendance records and pinpoint Lin Qi’s habit of clocking in at the last possible second.

Liu Li still looked at him strangely, but before she could say anything else, Liu Xuan dragged her away.

Just as always, Liu Xuan and Lin Qi acted as if it were a chance meeting, not even exchanging a second sentence.

Lin Qi tore his gaze from their departing figures and walked over to a large screen.

The large screen was connected to the company’s management system.

[A-level Researcher Lin Qi, your department is located on the thirteenth floor. Please report to 1301, the Pharmaceutical Department Management Office, before 10:00 AM today.]

Potion research was something Lin Qi had never been involved with before.

But since it was the company’s arrangement, Lin Qi had no room to object and could only comply.

Following the internal directions, Lin Qi took an elevator to the thirteenth floor and entered the management office.

The head of the Pharmaceutical Department, Liu Weicai, seemed to have been waiting for him.

The fact that this manager, a member of the Liu Clan, had been assigned to this sort of administrative role showed that his status within the clan wasn’t high.

"You were originally an L-Class researcher in the Prosthetic Body category. Your A-level rank is a temporary promotion, which means you’re not suited for A-Class Potion research."

Liu Weicai was blunt, stopping just short of calling Lin Qi someone who’d gotten the job through connections and didn’t deserve to be on this floor at all.

"But the company gave you A-level Researcher clearance, so I have to assign you a lab."

Liu Weicai’s expression darkened as he spoke, but his attitude remained civil.

It was precisely because he was a member of the Liu Clan that he had access to more information.

He seemingly couldn’t afford to offend Lin Qi.

"Your lab is 1339. It’s A-Class scale, but there’s no personnel assigned to you for now. You can propose your own projects and research freely. Off you go."

Liu Weicai quickly arranged everything and then began shooing him out.

Lin Qi was happy with this arrangement; it meant enough freedom in his work.

In Red Fruit City, Lin Qi’s work had been quite free as well.

As a talent the company was heavily investing in, Lin Qi didn’t need to assist High Level researchers with their projects; he could independently propose research at his own Level.

The work model was identical to what Liu Weicai had just assigned, so Lin Qi was quite familiar with the procedure.

He walked out of the management office and into Lab 1339. Starting today, this place was temporarily his own turf.

After a quick look at the clearance manual, Lin Qi found himself in a bit of a bind.

’I’m an A-level Researcher now, so I can propose A-Class research projects. But because of my clearance classification, I can only propose projects in the Potion category.’

’Most of the projects at the Greenfield City branch are Potion-related. Researching Prosthetic Bodies here would be twice the effort for half the result.’

’But when it comes to Potion research... forget being an expert, I’m completely clueless.’

According to Liu Weicai’s plan, Lin Qi was just supposed to kill time in the lab every day; he had no expectation that Lin Qi would actually conduct any research.

But Lin Qi wasn’t that kind of person. Since he was here at the company, with the company’s resources at his disposal, he had to do something.

After a moment, an idea came to him.

’It’s just Potion research. Back then, my Prosthetic Body research also started from scratch.’

’Besides, compared to Prosthetic Bodies and machinery, Potions can also help my development in the Doomsday World.’

’It’s just a matter of learning from scratch. That’s not hard for me.’

With his mind made up, Lin Qi directly used his A-level Researcher clearance.

He applied for...

...an M-Class Body Enhancement Potion project. While he was at it, he also used the maximum configuration his clearance allowed to request a full ten M-Class researchers as his assistants.

’I call this... not being too proud to learn from my subordinates.’

The moment he completed the application, a communication request from Liu Weicai appeared on the lab’s screen.