"You haven't settled the score with me for pulling my ear in the Yingudusi Devil's Pit!" Dora puffed up angrily, "Just wait, I will get my revenge sooner or later. I, the big gold-toothed cowboy rabbit, am known in the professional mercenary field for returning every slight and keeping my word!"

"HMPH—"

Chen Gu knew that the girl was upset because she'd been recruited and was taking out her frustration on him. Such a child's temper, he thought, and with an unconcerned smile, he dangled the bait. "I know a place where they cook spicy rabbit exceptionally well..."

Dora ground her teeth, "Chen Gu!"

"...And right next to it, there's an even better place that serves Jianghu cuisine. How about it? I'll give you a chance to make me treat you to a feast."

Dora put on a sullen face, but Chen Gu could clearly see her cheeks puff out a couple of times.

"Anyway, I heard from people in the Bureau that you're rich. Eating out with you won't bankrupt you, so I'll be eating with a clear conscience," she said.

Chen Gu smiled gently, "It's a deal."

「...」

After coming out, Chen Gu ran into Mei Lixue. The director told him, "The Bureau has decided to establish a special task force rapid response team. This team can provide immediate support to any special task force on a mission. The team only has three people for now: Boluo, Dora, and Silver Eagle. We'll continue to expand it..."

Chen Gu interrupted her, "Silver Eagle? Charles Silver Eagle?"

"That's right. Your team originally had one extra person, so we've reassigned Silver Eagle as the team leader to guide those two."

Probably surveillance, Chen Gu thought to himself.

Chen Gu had just left Mei Lixue when he received a phone call from his adult son's secretary, "The Director asks for you to come over."

Chen Gu found the secretary's voice quite pleasant, though somewhat cold. As a Bureau Director's secretary, there really was no need for her to feign warmth towards a special agent like himself.

Chen Gu knew his adult son had recently changed secretaries, but he hadn't met the new one yet.

Upon arriving outside Chen Jixian's office, he glanced in and immediately felt that he, as the father, needed to step in. This secretary... looks like she could cause a national calamity!

Comrade Chen Jixian, at your age, you can't afford to slip up on issues of personal conduct!

The secretary had long, golden, wavy hair and fiery red lips, with skin as white as snow. When she saw Chen Gu arrive, she notified Chen Jixian inside but didn't wait for a response before Chen Gu pushed the door open and entered.

The secretary was surprised. This little special agent is somewhat arrogant. Is it because he has been continuously distinguished lately?

The secretary hurriedly followed him in. Just as she reached the door, she saw Chen Jixian not even batting an eyelid as he waved her off, "It's fine."

Confused, the secretary went out and closed the door behind them.

Chen Jixian remained cluelessly enveloped in a state of contradiction.

He grew up without a father. Although his grandfather was very kind to him, it could never replace a father's presence.

Back then, he even envied classmates who were punished by their fathers. Thus, even though he kept saying he wanted to draw a clear line between himself and Chen Gu, his biological father, their interactions felt strangely 'comfortable' whenever they touched on the topic of 'other people's fathers.'

The issue with this mentality is hard to clearly analyze. However, the scene at hand was exactly like a script depicting 'other people's fathers' not respecting their sons' privacy and barging into their sons' bedrooms uninvited.

Chen Jixian didn't mind in the slightest; he even welcomed several more such visits.

So he sent the secretary away.

Chen Gu took a seat across from him as if he were quite at home, crossed his legs, dangled one foot, then pointed outside and said, "The secretary is quite pretty."

Chen Jixian showed no reaction and, with half-closed eyelids, said, "I called you over because there's something I think you should be informed about, to prepare yourself in advance."

"Yesterday, a minister from the Main Bureau defected, stealing a crucial item from the Bureau's vault and fleeing."

"At the moment, it's not clear whether he has been turned by another Star Nation or contaminated by a Mutant. The Main Bureau is pursuing him with full force, but there are no leads yet—it was a very meticulous plan. The traitor has some powerful allies covering his tracks."

Chen Gu was shocked. This was the Main Bureau, and yet such a high-profile betrayal had occurred?!

Chen Jixian said indifferently, "Don't be so surprised. This kind of thing... happens quite often in various countries."

"Hmm?" Chen Gu detected an implication in those words. "Are you saying that we frequently turn high-ranking officials from other Star Nations as well?"

Chen Jixian didn't answer that question but continued, "Because of this incident, the Main Bureau has decided to conduct a comprehensive self-inspection, starting from the Main Bureau itself. However, it won't be long before people from the Constitutional Tasks Force will come down to the branches."

Chen Jixian stopped there and said, "Alright, you can go back if there's nothing else."

Chen Gu left his adult son's office feeling quite pleased with himself. Chen Jixian knew he had secrets. Therefore, he had given him a heads-up about this matter so that Chen Gu wouldn't be caught off guard when the Constitutional Tasks Force arrived.

He does have some filial piety, Chen Gu thought with a touch of haughty delight.

As he pondered potential slips in his recent operations and how to rectify them, he walked back to the office of Special Service Team Five at a leisurely pace. Just as he sat down at his desk, the head of the Cleanup Team came to him, brimming with excitement, "Little Chen, great news, fantastic news!"

"Spill it."

"Do you remember that egg?"

Chen Gu certainly remembered. "What about it?"

"We've confirmed through analysis that it is an egg of a Sovereign Beast Myriad. It has undergone some mutations after being exposed to certain radiation inside the body of an avian mechanical species. Once hatched, it will be stronger than an ordinary Sovereign Beast Myriad!"

Chen Gu still didn't get the team head's excitement. "It's a very powerful dangerous species, but how is that good news?"

The team head looked at him incredulously, "Don't you see? The Sovereign Beast Myriad is ranked among the top thirty-six most dangerous species in the Monster Battles League. This one is even more powerful than an ordinary Sovereign Beast Myriad. This means that those companies running the Monster Battles League will pay top dollar for it."

"It can participate in battles and also be bred. This guy is a cash cow!"

That's when Chen Gu understood.

The Monster Battles League was the most popular competition of the era. It was based on brain domain quantum link technology, allowing players to connect their thoughts with those of monsters and control them in battle.

As human physical fitness continued to improve, especially with the emergence of various enhancement drugs, previously popular sports like major ball games had become uninteresting. Consider football or basketball, for instance. Imagine someone charging with the ball at lightning speed, and a defender rushing up just as fast to block. The game had become less a competition of skill and more about physical fitness and drug enhancement.

So these ancient athletic competitions still had a large market but were no longer the premier league.

The premier league was the Monster Battles League.