Electronic Nezha

Chapter 169 Owl

The woman's laughter was so infectious and hearty that I didn't even consider whether there was any sarcasm in it.

Ma Chaoran hesitated, then pinched a small steamed bun through the plastic bag and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?" I asked.

"I'm wondering if I should report this to Sixth Master."

"You're already a seasoned agent. You need to learn to make your own decisions. Besides, I'm the safest person to be with you."

"Alright, do whatever I say, but don't act on your own."

My heart immediately surged with excitement. What does "Don't act rashly" mean? It means you're already taking action! Tell me, isn't that top-notch understanding?
Ma Chaoran told Xiao Wu the name of a hotel, then focused on eating her steamed buns. She glanced at me, then held a steamed bun through the plastic bag and brought it to my mouth.

I was tempted to reach for it, but I hadn't washed my hands after running all day.

"You eat first," I said.

"Hurry up, they'll be gone soon." She stuffed a steamed bun into my hand, chewing as she said, "This place is really good. Remember the location, you can go again next time."

We set off early, and it was only a little past seven when we finished our run. It was still a smooth time with no traffic jams. By the time we got to the hotel parking lot, it was already a degree brighter. We had already finished the steamed buns on the way.

I was somewhat annoyed. If I had known there would be an operation today, I should have taken it easy and run more slowly. Now it feels like there are two steel rods stuck in my legs, which will inevitably affect my performance when we start fighting. What if we are dealing with foreign spies? In retrospect, there was a Chinese agent who was limping the whole time, and the reason was that he ran three kilometers in the morning. What a disgrace to the country!

"What exactly are we going to do?" I asked Ma Chaoran.

Ma Chaoran pointed to a black sedan in the parking lot and said, "That's the target's car. We'll follow him in a bit."

The word "goal" immediately excited me.

"Capture them alive or—"

"You're overthinking it. We're only responsible for tracking."

"Oh." It's barely acceptable. Tracking is part of the human hunting instinct. The enemy is in the open while you are in the dark. You have to keep a secret at all times. Once you are discovered, the mission is over. It's quite exciting.

Fifteen minutes later, my eyelids started to droop.

I got up early, did some strenuous exercise, and ate a basket of steamed buns. These are all beneficial buffs for taking a nap. Now I can sleep as much as I want until 1 p.m.!
I don't know what Ma Chaoran was saying to me, and when I didn't hear back, she turned her head and saw me sliding under my seat. She said to me, "Should I take you back to the Sixth Division?"

I snapped to attention: "That won't do. Finishing what I start is my motto!" To refresh myself, I asked, "What's the background of the goal?"

"It wasn't mentioned in the intelligence report."

"It's clear the other side is not simple!" I said. "Don't you need to check their guns and ammunition?"

"What?"

"What if they just pull out a submachine gun and start firing at us?"

"will not."

"how do you know?"

"Because it wasn't mentioned in the intelligence report."

"Oh."

Ma Chaoran said, "Why don't you just go to sleep? I'll wake you up when the target is found."

I laughed and said, "What kind of talk is that? It's as if I can't even endure this little bit of hardship."

Fifteen minutes later, my eyelids started to want to close up again, just like before.

To avoid being laughed at by Ma Chaoran, I openly closed one eye while keeping the other open, thinking to myself: sleeping is like charging, so closing one eye to sleep is like using an incompatible charger; although it's slow, it will still charge a little.

Ma Chaoran has been a secret agent for so many years, but this is probably the first time she's seen me use such a variety of tricks.

"What's going on with this now?"

"This is something you didn't know, it's called 'single-hemispheric slow-wave sleep,' that's how owls sleep." Even after watching too many short videos, you can still remember some strange facts...

"But you're human." "Have you forgotten I also have a super AI brain?"

Ma Chaoran exclaimed sincerely, "Awesome!"

No one spoke in the car, and the heating was on just the right setting. After Ma Chaoran threw out the theory of "single hemisphere slow wave sleep," she had nothing more to say. However, her two eyes started to "compete for credit"—the open eye was indignant: Why can't I be the closed one?
So I started frequently opening and closing my eyes, and in my drowsy state, I felt a hand shadow moving in front of me. I looked closely and saw that it was Ma Chaoran's hand.

"What do you mean by single-hemispheric sleep? You're just sleeping with one eye open!"

"I didn't, don't talk nonsense."

Ma Chaoran said speechlessly, "You should just go to sleep."

"Then I'll take a nap."

Not long after I said that, I felt Ma Chaoran pulling at me forcefully.

"Didn't you tell me to sleep here?"

"The target has appeared!"

I snapped back to reality. It was already daylight outside. A middle-aged man opened the door of the black sedan and got in. I glanced at the time; more than an hour had passed.

Ma Chaoran glanced at me and said, "Good morning, owl."

I chuckled and said, "Leave the rest to me—Xiao Wu, follow him."

Ma Chaoran asked me, "How do you feel? Do you still think you're suited for this line of work?"

Xiao Wu said, "My brother is carefree and sleeps well; those two qualities alone make him remarkable."

Ma Chaoran snorted and said, "I can see that you're still closer to your brother."

"Don't say that, sis. Next time there's a mission like this, just let me keep an eye on it, and you can get some sleep."

I said, dissatisfied, "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Xiao Wu said aggrievedly, "I just didn't want to spoil your fun because you were having such a good time."

I asked Ma Chaoran, "What's our next plan?"

Ma Chaoran tossed out two words: "Follow."

"How long will you follow me?"

"You'll know in a minute."

The black sedan in front of us navigated through the main streets and alleys, seemingly using GPS navigation and not being very familiar with the area.

He's not familiar with it, but I am. This seems to be the route to the Sixth Bureau!

When the other car stopped in front of the cotton mill gate, I excitedly tugged at Ma Chaoran: "Enemy spies have infiltrated our headquarters! Quick, give me a gun—you have a spare, right?"

Ma Chaoran calmly brushed me off, took out her phone and sent a voice message: "Sixth Master, the guests have arrived. No one is following us."

"What? Nobody's following us? Then what are we?"

Ma Chaoran said, "Our task is to follow him and see if he has been targeted by others. This is a typical 'mopping-up' operation."

"Who is that person?"

"Guests invited by the Sixth Bureau."

I said, utterly disappointed, "That's it?"

"You think secret agents draw their guns every time they're on duty? This is just the norm."

I slumped back in my seat and said, "Thank you for the trial class, but I've decided to check out other extracurricular classes."

Ma Chaoran chuckled again. I realized then that she couldn't have brought me along on this task if there was even the slightest risk involved…

(End of this chapter)