Chapter 36: The Sleepless Ones
No matter how hard it was to get used to him, Li Lin had to admit that Xu Jiali was indeed the most outstanding deep diver he’d ever met. Having such a capable person come to support him showed that the Bureau was taking good care of him as a newcomer.
Of course, that was only if he could tolerate this big guy’s loud mouth and bragging nature—especially after each mission he returned from.
“I tell you, this mission was something else,” the burly man on the sofa said casually, grabbing a bottle of water from the coffee table and unscrewing it. “I caught that Angel Cultist who infiltrated Amine. Finally cornered him in the wasteland, and just as we were fighting, I looked up—you’ll never guess what I saw.”
Li Lin rolled his eyes. “Big mouth, is this something you can talk about outside?”
“Sure can. I’ve reported it to the Bureau, and this part is cleared for you,” Xu Jiali waved dismissively, continuing regardless of whether Li Lin wanted to hear. “So I looked up, and bam! Someone was standing right there! Know what he looked like? Just a shirt and trousers, standing in the toxic hot winds of Amine-IX. Oh, and there was a doorframe beside him. I was shocked—I could’ve finished off that Angel Cultist in the next second, but I was startled and let him catch his breath. But luckily, I was superior in the end…”
“Alright, alright, every story ends with you being superior,” Li Lin said impatiently, walking over to the monitoring equipment by the window. “Can’t you come up with a more original twist?”
“But I really was superior,” Xu Jiali protested, glaring at Li Lin. “Wait, aren’t you surprised? I saw someone in the toxic hot winds of Amine-IX! Not even wearing power armor! Even the Captain isn’t that tough!”
“The last time, you saw someone appear in the acid rain of Tata-V without protective gear—it was a professor from the Academy doing fieldwork,” Li Lin replied without turning around. “There are plenty of weird folks out there. Plus, after deep diving so much, you might hallucinate. I’ve heard similar horror stories from you hundreds of times; I don’t believe a single word now. If someday you see someone standing outside your shuttle window as you take off from the spaceport, then tell me. At least that would be a fresh story.”