American comic: From Beijing with Love, starting with a mutant.

Just as Stephen Chow was about to grit his teeth and agree to the Smurfs' humiliating "six cups of milk tea unequal treaty," he was about to...

"Ding-dong—"

The phone screen lit up, and Director Wang's image, holding a thermos, looked particularly cold and ruthless.

[Xiao Yi has exceeded her delivery quota today and is temporarily suspended from overseas assignments. You'll be taking the train.]

Zhou Xingxing stared at the words on the screen, then looked at the Smurf across from him holding up a milk tea cup and raising prices, and his vision went black.

Five hours later.

"Peanuts, melon seeds, eight-treasure porridge, beer, soft drinks, mineral water, comrade in front, move your legs a bit!"

The attendant's shrill voice pierced through the carriage.

Stephen Chow sat on a small stool in the aisle of a K-series train, chewing on a ramen noodle dish with a sausage.

He, a dignified section chief of the Overseas Introduction Office of Bureau 749, a top expert who could split a modified human with a single stroke, is now squeezed among a pile of woven bags.

The uncle across the way was snoring loudly, and the shells from the sunflower seeds that the aunt next to him was eating kept flying onto his leather shoes.

He forced himself to take a hard-seat train just because he was worried about the cost of six cups of milk tea. Who can he complain to?

If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have bothered with the Smurfs and would have just agreed to their request!

There was once a direct car service with six cups of milk tea right in front of me, but I didn't cherish it. By the time Fatty Wang spoke up, it was too late.

孽 孽!

You heartless fat man, may all the Ningxia goji berries in your thermos grow mold tonight!

We were tossed around by slow cars, buses, and three-wheeled rickshaws all the way.

Zhou Xingxing arrived at the Zhengzhou section of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, covered in dust.

At underground station K450, the site of the underground river exploration.

As soon as he got off the car, Old Zhou, who was full of anger, was looking for someone to vent his anger on and show off his power as a section-level cadre.

"Make way, you're blocking the way!"

An old man pulling a cement cart brushed past him, splashing mud all over his leg.

Looking at the mud spots on his white trousers, Zhou Xingxing silently cursed Director Wang.

After asking the gatekeeper for directions, Stephen Chow arrived at the exploration site.

The old captain of the water conservancy team slapped his thigh repeatedly, his dark face revealing his anxiety.

"Another one is scrapped!"

"The underwater currents are too unpredictable; the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of underwater sonar detectors were completely useless as soon as they were deployed!"

Several water conservancy experts wearing thick-rimmed glasses scratched their heads at the static on the screen. "If we can't detect the load-bearing reefs at the bottom of the underground river, how are we going to lay the next step of the water diversion pipeline?"

Just when everyone was in a panic, a lean, wiry foreign young man squeezed in.

His words immediately stunned Stephen Chow, who had just approached him.

"Captain, don't rush. That metal lump is just scratching the surface; I'll go down and feel it, okay?"

It looks like it's been marinated in hot and sour soup, hasn't it?

How long has this child been here?

The old captain turned his head, his face lighting up with joy, but then he hesitated: "Xiao Ha, this underwater area is no joke. The current is incredibly strong; you can't even take an oxygen tank down with you. It's too dangerous!"

Harry grinned.

"We've passed the previous drills, so we'll proceed according to plan today. Three lifeguards are watching the water, and the safety ropes are securely fastened. Nothing will go wrong!"

He quickly took off his clothes.

Between the fingers and toes, a translucent, webbed membrane shimmered with a pale blue hue in the sunlight.

Several technicians who were seeing it for the first time widened their eyes.

Harry hunched his shoulders and pulled his hands to his sides.

The old captain slammed his hand on the table.

"What are you looking at? These are our water quality inspectors, a permanent position!"

"Recording team, monitor the tension curve. Rescue team, keep the safety ropes on! Medical team, prepare oxygen and nebulizers!"

As Zhou Xingxing leaned against the canopy pillar, upon hearing the words "formal position," the resentment he felt about the train suddenly dissipated considerably.

Not bad.

These people are very protective of their own.

Harry stood at the water inlet, glanced back at the drawing paper, and jumped into the water.

"Nonsense! They didn't even bring diving equipment? Are they trying to get themselves killed?!"

"Quick! Get the rescue rope ready!"

The captain stopped them, "What's the rush? Our young buddy's a great swimmer! Three lads are holding onto the safety rope!"

The underwater monitoring screen flickered, and a blurry black figure swam rapidly underwater.

The water lost its resistance beside Harry, and with his thin webbed fingers, he darted several meters forward.

Harry dived to the center of the whirlpool where the undercurrents were strongest and closed his eyes.

Five minutes later.

Just as several experts were getting so anxious they were about to call the police.

"Splash!"

The water surface broke open.

Harry wiped the water off his face and climbed ashore using the iron ladder.

"Little Ha! How's it going?" The old captain quickly handed over a dry towel.

Harry wiped away the water droplets. "There's nothing wrong with the water 20 meters deep, except for a lot of silt. I just tasted it, and the trace elements are within acceptable limits; the water is pure. There are strange geological vibrations at the very deep depths."

"Water carries sound; my bones are a natural instrument. The movement of the rock strata is carried by the water, making it clearer than sound."

"Three meters to the left of section K452, there is a group of reefs with a current speed of about 4.5 meters per second, and there is also a small undercurrent below."

Harry flicked the thin webbed fingers: "These webbed threads are used to calculate the current speed. Each tremor is a 0.1-meter difference, no mistake. Counting the distance by the number of strokes, one stroke covers two meters, with an error of no more than half a meter."

The old captain slapped Harry on the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.

A portly chef, carrying a large stainless steel bowl, squeezed through the crowd, shouting, "Hey, it's hot! Drink it while it's hot, fresh out of the pot!"

Harry took the large bowl and took a deep breath.

"Captain, did you add vinegar to my hot and sour soup?"

"I added it! I added two extra spoonfuls!"

Watching this young foreigner squatting on the ground, holding a large bowl, slurping down his spicy soup with gusto.

Stephen Chow couldn't resist and stepped forward.

"Eating now? Those cold canned goods from before can't compare to this hot and spicy soup, can they?"

Harry's gaze swept over Stephen Chow, his eyes lighting up.

"Brother Zhou! How did you get here?"

Stephen Chow took out a follow-up visit record form from his suitcase.

"The bureau chief sent me on a nationwide begging tour... cough, a return visit tour."

"On the surface it's just filling out a form, but actually they'll check if you sleep soundly, if you still have a cough, if your dorm is damp, and if anyone treats you like a rare treat and stares at you."

"I slept well, and no one bullied me."

Harry smiled shyly and took out a work badge from his pocket.

It has three large characters printed on it.

Water quality officer.

"Brother Zhou, I have a code name now!"

He puffed out his chest and raised his voice: "I named myself 'Diving Abyss'! Isn't that cool?"

Zhou Xingxing looked at his face and heard his authentic Henan accent.

"Cool... but the flavor is a bit too strong."

He quickly ticked off the checklist.

Sleep quality?

Judging from how energetic this kid was underwater, he'll probably sleep until dawn.

How well do you integrate into the group?

The hot and sour soup is so dazzling it's almost blurry; this guy is more of a local than the locals themselves!

Stephen Chow added a note on the last line:

This employee has been completely localized and possesses underwater surveying capabilities that surpass those of million-dollar equipment. It is recommended that the Ministry of Water Resources directly award him a Model Worker Medal!