I created the Bureau of Anomaly Control

As Maen pushed open the back door, preparing to step back into the preparation room, the scene that met his eyes was quite different from when he had left. Only Tang Xueluan and a few core members of the negotiation team remained in the room.

"Sorry," Maen said, looking at them with a contrite expression. "I couldn't persuade Shenxiao..."

But just as he thought he would face an attack from Shen Zongdao, this neo-liberal member, Shen Zongdao gave him a warm and polite smile:

"It's okay, it's okay. After all, you were facing Shenxiao. If it were me, I probably wouldn't even be able to say a word in front of her."

This reaction surprised Maen. He immediately turned to look at Tang Xueluan, whose face also showed a hint of realization. When she noticed Maen looking at her, she gave him a reassuring look.

Tang Xueluan said with a hint of triumph in her voice:

"You weren't saying that before you went in."

Shen Zongdao could only offer a smile of apology to her words:

"I hadn't personally witnessed the conversation between Your Excellency Maen and Shenxiao yet, but after seeing it, I dispelled my doubts. After all, it didn't look like there was any room for manipulation."

As he said this, he couldn't help but subtly satirize Maen. Shen Zongdao originally thought that now was the best opportunity to suppress these two neo-liberal members. He hadn't even planned to really do anything to them, but he didn't expect the subsequent developments to become increasingly outrageous, which made him feel even more resentful towards Maen, this lucky ability user.

However, Shen Zongdao's tone and expression were quite sincere. Even though everyone could hear that he was saying Maen had just performed very embarrassingly, the expression was so sincere that it gave them the illusion that Shen Zongdao was genuinely wishing him well.

Moreover, facing their strange words and actions at this moment, the others did not express anything, which made Maen even feel that what he had just experienced and what they had seen were two different scenes, as if they really thought he had performed very well.

Zhao Guanwu didn't show anything, just nodded slightly to him:

"This result was actually within my expectations. Many people are misled by Shenxiao's kindness and mistakenly believe that she will be soft-hearted, but in reality, she had a cold heart even when she was a little girl, able to watch evil deeds happen before her eyes.

"This is also related to her unique perspective on the world. She doesn't focus solely on the rights and wrongs of the present moment like we do."

Still feeling puzzled, Maen looked at Shadow.

He also opened his mouth with an encouraging tone:

"Although you didn't succeed just now, that's normal. We always lose more than we win in matters related to Shenxiao. Strictly speaking, we have only won once, and she has only lost once.

"Now you have just joined the Federation, and there will be plenty of opportunities to show your skills in the future."

This was completely different from what Maen had expected. He had obviously deliberately acted so embarrassed just now, and the purpose of doing so was to expose his seemingly contradictory psychological situation, and to make the Federation think that they had figured out his thoughts and lowered their guard against him.

This way, he could smoothly and quietly follow up on this mission, and return to Atlantis at the right time to steal the Sea-Covering Scepter.

But what's going on now, it's as if he just successfully completed some arduous task?

Tang Xueluan seemed to also realize that the atmosphere was a bit wrong, and began to backtrack:

"Maen, in fact, your performance just now was indeed not very good, this mission also failed, and we really can't give you what you wanted according to the original agreement. To be honest, I actually had higher expectations for you.

"But now your performance is also reasonable, and don't we still have some unexpected surprises this time?"

As she said this, Xiaoyao was standing not far behind them, but this time they didn't hide it from him, and just now when they were discussing this matter, Shadow had deliberately isolated the information transmission.

This gave Maen another bad feeling.

The meeting with Shenxiao just now was quite short, and in order not to arouse the suspicion of the Federation, he did not try to obtain any information at all. The words Shenxiao said to him seemed to vaguely contain some meaning, but under the surveillance of the Federation, she couldn't possibly say enough clearly.

Now Maen recalled what Shenxiao had said just now, and it didn't seem to match up with the current situation.

"What exactly is going on?" Maen asked directly. "I cooperated with you for the sake of the anti-mind metal, and in my opinion, this is just a transaction between me and you, but now that I haven't been able to successfully complete the mission, then you don't need to give me any reward.

"But now your performance seems a bit strange."

Zhao Guanwu opened his mouth and said:

"That's right, anti-mind metal is a very expensive thing, and it's also a Tier V anomalous object. As a member of a loose department like the Consultant Department, it's almost impossible for you to get it. Only Shenxiao's matter would make the Federation pay such a high price.

"So after this, I'm afraid you won't have any chance to get it. If you have the ability to get it, I guess you probably won't need this thing anymore."

This statement was actually inaccurate, because Maen's true identity within the Federation was not a member of the Consultant Department, but a "genius" ability user who had accepted investment from the Shu family and cooperated with them, and what they needed was his future.

But at this moment, Tang Xueluan also said with a somewhat strange expression:

"That's right, this is also the reason why I feel sorry for you. I'm afraid we won't have any chance to obtain anti-mind metal after this."

These words should not have been said in a public setting, and at this time, Shen Zongdao also showed Maen a seemingly very gentle smile, but Maen always felt that his smile was somewhat malicious.

And combining their words, it seemed to imply that the Federation did not intend to give him the anti-mind metal, at least not in the way he had originally expected, because they wanted to use this thing to control him.

In fact, Maen had also deliberately shown an excessive desire for anti-mind metal—because this could cover up his other purposes and prevent the Federation from suspecting that he had accepted this mission in order to talk to Shenxiao.

This was also the best choice for him, and with the help of the Shu family, this kind of "weakness" should have made the Federation more at ease with him, after all, his thoughts could be predicted and posed no threat to them.

But is there some unexpected situation now?

Shadow looked into Maen's eyes and said:

"But now there is actually a perfect opportunity for you. The Federation is willing to give you anti-mind metal as a reward, and all you need to do is stop what you are doing and become Xiaoyao's disciple.

"As long as you are willing to become his disciple and study under him for a period of time that satisfies him, we can give you the anti-mind metal."

Today is a little shorter. Starting tomorrow until next month, I will update 8k daily to try to make an impact. I would like to ask everyone to support the subscriptions for this month in advance. If the data is good, I will continue to update more next month.