Extraordinary Realm from Persuasion System

”Right now we can basically confirm that this missile theft and launch incident is Zhang Beixing’s doing.”

”...”

After his subordinate finished the report, he closed the file and stood to the side, waiting for orders.

”Zhang Beixing!”

He ground out the name between his teeth and slammed a heavy fist onto the console.

”Lock onto Zhang Beixing’s position for me immediately!”

”Once you’ve got a lock, prep a Hell-class Missile and wait for my order to launch!”

With that, he turned and left.

Launching a missile—unless they were actually at war—wasn’t something he had the authority to do directly. He had to apply to his superiors to get launch permission.

On the way back to his office, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Son of a bitch.

If only the Russians would attack right now.

Then he wouldn’t even need to file any damned application. He could just prep the launch, hit that red launch button, and blast that bastard Zhang Beixing straight into the sky!

...

...

...

It was about time to sleep.

Because in the Capital of Wu Country, out here in the suburbs, the electricity and water supply were terrible, once night fell it was basically a blackout and dry taps.

Around eight o’clock, the whole building lost power.

The motley crew Zhang Beixing had brought with him had already gone to sleep.

Leng Bing and Harley Yous, however, were still awake. The two of them were chatting on the rooftop, and Harley Yous was very interested in what it felt like after he became a Great Grandmaster.

Meanwhile, Zhang Beixing was in Makely’s room.

Harley Yous had already told Zhang Beixing what he wanted, but Zhang Beixing hadn’t agreed right away.

Back when Makely agreed to come to Wu Country, she hadn’t told him how many doses of the potion she still had.

On this, Zhang Beixing had never asked, and she had never said. It was like the two of them had some unspoken tacit understanding. In a way, you could say they treated each other with courteous distance.

The room was pitch-black right now. By the light of the moon, Makely could only just barely make out Zhang Beixing’s face.

With his sharp, defined features, even though Europe and my Asia had completely different standards of beauty, Makely could still feel how handsome Zhang Beixing was.

Zhang Beixing, on the other hand, wasn’t limited by the darkness at all.

He could see every tiny change in Makely’s expression clearly.

The silence between the two didn’t last long; the one who broke it first was actually Makely.

”Minister Zhang, what business do you have, visiting my room so late?”

Zhang Beixing gave a slight smile, not embarrassed in the least. ”Here’s the thing: that local snake Harley Yous came to me and said he wants to ’improve’ a bit too.”

”Improve” a bit?

Makely quickly understood what he meant.

”I don’t have any extra potion on me.”

”You saw it yourself—I didn’t even bring a bag. That previous dose was the only one I had left.”

As expected.

Zhang Beixing didn’t exactly feel disappointed; he’d already more or less predicted this.

”It’s fine. I haven’t fully agreed to his request anyway.”

”Mm. But once you take me to Great Xia, as long as the preparations are done, I can manufacture a batch of potion in a very short time—half a month at most, assuming all the equipment and instruments are in place.”

Makely said this, then asked Zhang Beixing, ”Any news about my daughter and my parents lately? I’m really worried whether they’re getting used to living in Great Xia.”

Zhang Beixing shook his head lightly. He really had dropped the ball on that.

After arranging for Xu Feng and the others to return to Great Xia and go on leave, and after setting up a place for her daughter and parents to live along with all their daily necessities, Zhang Beixing had shown Makely a few photos and videos. After that, he hadn’t had people from The Ninth Bureau keep collecting photos, just told them to keep a casual eye on things.

Not much time had passed—only two days—and Zhang Beixing had been busy dealing with all sorts of crap, so it simply hadn’t crossed his mind.

If Makely had waited another day or two to ask, he might actually have had something to show her.

Seeing that there was no obvious disappointment on Makely’s face, Zhang Beixing finally let out a small sigh of relief.

”Since you don’t have any potion, I’ll head out first. Get some rest.”

Zhang Beixing was about to get up and leave.

After all, a man and a woman alone in a room in the middle of the night really wasn’t all that appropriate.

He had just reached the door when Makely called him back.

”Could you stay with me?”

?

What?

For a second, Zhang Beixing wondered if there was something wrong with his ears.

He even turned around to double-check.

He found her staring straight at him.

Her gaze was like a searchlight.

She shouldn’t even be able to see me, he thought.

It was so dark, and he’d already moved away from the window to the door.

”Are you scared?”

Makely actually nodded. ”Yes. Ever since I was little, I’ve never slept alone. And now there isn’t even a single light here.”

”You’re the one who brought me here. Shouldn’t you keep me company?”

Zhang Beixing was momentarily speechless at that line.

Silently, he took his hand off the doorknob.

”Keep you company doing what?”

He sat back down where he’d been sitting earlier and looked at Makely.

To be fair, Makely really was pretty.

She didn’t have that aggressive look a lot of other European girls had.

Maybe because her grandmother was from Asia, her features looked much softer. Her nose wasn’t that sharply high; it was a little round-tipped.

Her jawline wasn’t razor sharp either; it was a bit rounded.

Her irises weren’t some stunning, flashy color; they were brown.

Looking at Zhang Beixing like this, she had a gentle, graceful sort of beauty.

”Me.”

”The hell???”

Zhang Beixing was floored by that answer.

He stared at her in shock, but her follow-up, half a beat later, doused most of the fire that had just flared up in him.

”I want to hear you tell me some stories. Otherwise I really can’t fall asleep.”

Nice. Wonderful.

Next time, could you not pause so damn long mid-sentence?

It’s really hard to keep a straight face like that.

Inwardly rolling his eyes at Makely, Zhang Beixing thought for a moment.

”Have you read the Four Classics of Great Xia?”

”Those are Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West and the others, right?”

”Yeah.”

After thinking for a bit, Makely said, ”I know a little about Journey to the West. I’ve picked up bits and pieces from some movies.”

Zhang Beixing understood. Made sense—Journey to the West and Three Kingdoms were way more famous than the other two.

Journey to the West fit Europe’s tastes better, so it spread more over here, while Three Kingdoms was more famous in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

After mulling it over, Zhang Beixing decided what story to tell tonight.

”Then I’ll tell you Water Margin!”

”Okay!”

Makely didn’t care what he told; as long as someone was talking so she could sleep in peace, that was enough.

She stopped sitting up, lay obediently down on the bed, and pulled the blanket over herself.

She put her hands outside the blanket to hold it down so no draft would get in, then closed her eyes and listened to Zhang Beixing’s story.

Zhang Beixing cleared his throat slightly, then began slowly.

”Now then, back in the Northern Song, there was a dwarf, about five feet tall, who often carried a shoulder pole and walked through all the alleys, hawking his pancakes...”

”This man’s surname was Wu, given name Dalang...”

”Though he was ugly and short, he had an extremely beautiful wife...”

”...”

After talking for about a minute and change, just getting the story started—

He realized that at some point, Makely had opened her eyes and was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

”I’ve never read Water Margin, but I heard it’s about a group of bandits, right? Why are you starting with some pancake seller?”

”...”

The corner of Zhang Beixing’s mouth twitched.

So you do know something after all, huh.

”Well, uh, this is a Water Margin side story. The original Water Margin is way too long; it would take forever to tell. The side stories are shorter and I can finish them quickly.”