The Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe’s core precision parts were the pure titanium parts he had processed in the competition with Sylvia. Its precision required 0.001 microns. So far, it was still impossible to achieve such precision. Only Xia Lei was capable of such a feat in the entire world. This super precise part was currently on a small intelligent lathe which was located on the Gust assault rifle production line. Xia Lei had made it smaller.

Without this super-precision core part, the 500 ton Thunder Dragon lathe would become a pile of useless metal. However, Xia Lei did not just give up. He did some "minor" changes in all of the control programs which he had designed...

Xia Lei came out of the Thunder Dragon workshop half an hour later.

"Sylvia, you’re done already?" asked a guard with a smile.

"It’s actually nothing. It was just a simple job," Xia Lei replied. His voice had turned into a soft and enchanting woman’s voice once again. The electronic device hidden in his mouth was a Chinese-made spy warfare product which could help him change his voice. It was very advance, and quite useful.

"Do we still have a deal?" Another guard smirked. His eyes moved to Xia Lei’s chest. The silica gel-filled area was extraordinarily seductive.

Xia Lei rolled his eyes at the guard. He said nothing, and walked away while swaying his hips.

"What does she mean? She coming with us to drink?"

"Are you dumb? Her eyes just said what she meant. Haha, she’s a whore. Don’t worry, the three of us will have a great night tonight." The other guard had a very wicked smile on his face.

Xia Lei drove Sylvia’s car out of Rheinmetall AG while the two guards were imagining weird things.

The street lights were dim and yellow, and Xia Lei glanced back at Rheinmetall AG through the rearview mirror. It slowly shrank in the mirror.

Rheinmetall AG was Thunder Horse Military Factory’s competitor, but this competitor will be left behind in the near future because the entire Rheinmetall AG had been fitted into his brain!

Xia Lei withdrew his gaze and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth...

Half an hour later, Xia Lei reappeared in Sylvia’s room. Sylvia was still unconscious, and she was unaware that Xia Lei was right in front of her. She had no clue about what had happened. She also didn’t know what sort of change would happen to her life because of this.

Xia Lei looked quietly at Sylvia lying on the bed. His was conflicted. He had used Sylvia’s identity to enter Rheinmetall AG, and destroyed the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe. It was the core existence for the production of the XL2500 sniper rifle and the Gust assault rifle. Destroying the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe would be equivalent to cutting off Rheinmetall AG’s ability to produce the XL2500 sniper rifle and Gust assault rifle. This would be unacceptable to the German government, and she could face serious charges.

"Sorry, I don’t have any other choice. I definitely wouldn’t do this if I had a choice. You said that you wanted to work at my company before, so I promise you right now, that Thunder Horse Military Factory’s doors will always be open to you. You are welcome at anytime. What you’ve lost in Germany, I will make it all up to you," Xia Lei said softly.

There was no reaction from Sylvia. She could not hear Xia Lei’s voice.

Xia Lei lifted the blanket and Sylvia’s body was exposed to his eyes.

Xia Lei stared blankly Sylvia’s slender body for a bit, then took off all of his clothing to swap with Sylvia. Lastly, he put on his own clothing and put a blanket over Sylvia before walking into her study.

Xia Lei looked around the study, then took "The Song of Ice and Fire" from the bookshelf. Sylvia had put a bookmark in it. He took out the bookmark and wrote on it: Sylvia, if you run into trouble, come find me. I will take care of you. You should know how to contact me.

Xia Lei put the bookmark back in the pages of "The Song of Ice and Fire" after writing that note.

He left the study and glanced at Sylvia as he went past her room, then turned to leave.

The door of an old station wagon opened downstairs, under the flat.

Xia Lei climbed into the car. The old station wagon started up immediately and sped away.

"All done?" asked Long Bing, who was driving.

Xia Lei nodded. "All done. This thing..."

"Don’t worry, I won’t report it to the higher ups," said Long Bing.

Tang Yuyan, who was sitting with Xia Lei in the backseat, said, "I won’t report you but you owe me this favor. How do you plan on repaying me?"

Xia Lei was speechless.

Destroying Rheinmetall AG’s Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe, and making it so that Rheinmetall AG’s XL2500 sniper rifle and Gust assault rifle’s production lines were unable to produce anything protected Thunder Horse Group’s interests, it wasn’t completely in the nature of retaliation. But this situation was just too serious, and there would inevitably be voices of disagreement if the higher ups were to know, even if Xia Lei did everything perfectly.

"What about Annina?" Long Bing suddenly thought of her.

Xia Lei was silent for a moment. "She’s already made her decision. She wants to stay in Germany. What happened these last few days have nothing to do with her. She has worked at the Thunder Horse Military Factory for a long time, so the Germans will ask for her help. I don’t think she will have any troubles."

Long Bing said, "It’s great if there are no problems. We are heading to the sea now to leave by boat. Boss Shi has arranged everything.”

In the backseat, Tang Yuyan bumped Xia Lei’s thigh with her knee. She whispered, "Xia Lei, I have a question for you."

"What question?"

"You pointed a gun at your own head in Mark Armin’s house, to threaten that director of the CIA. You gave him 30 seconds. Would you have shot yourself and committed suicide if he didn’t release me and Long Bing?" Tang Yuyan looked at Xia Lei, her eyes full of anticipation and some feelings which even she was unsure of.

Xia Lei smiled wryly. "Why do you ask? Did you think I wanted to point a gun at my own head? I didn’t have a choice."

Tang Yuyan bumped Xia Lei’s waist with her elbow. "Just say if you would have done it or not."

Xia Lei thought for a bit and said, "Probably not. We’re not that close with each other, so why would I use blow off my own head with a gun for you?"

"You!" Tang Yuyan suddenly smacked Xia Lei’s knee with a fist and said angrily, "Then if I wasn’t there and only Long Bing was there, would you shoot?"

"Don’t get me involved!" said Long Bing in discontent, before Xia Lei could answer.

"I was only asking. What are you so nervous about?" Tang Yuyan retorted. She nudged Xia Lei in the waist again. "Come on, say it."

Xia Lei stammered, "I... this..."

Would he have fired? Even he hadn’t thought of this question before, so how could he give an answer?

"Then let me ask in a different way. If a head of the CIA told you to choose between me and Long Bing, and he would release whoever you choose, would you choose me or Long Bing?"

Xia Lei was speechless.

This question was even more difficult to answer.

It would be wrong no matter who he chose, and payback for this mistake would take effect immediately. Tang Yuyan was sitting right beside him, and she would definitely punch him if he were to truthfully say that he’d choose Long Bing.

Long Bing said, "Yuyan, we are all comrades. Do you think it’s fitting for you to ask Xia Lei such a question? If that director of the CIA really did tell Xia Lei to choose, I would let Xia Lei choose you. Are you happy now?"

Long Bing was good at understanding others.

Tang Yuyan pouted. "I knew he would choose you, yep, because you guys have a deep friendship between comrades. Don’t think I do not know about it! Hmph!"

Both Long Bing and Xia Lei said nothing.

"Okay, when I go back, I’ll find a time to ask Shentu Tianyin out for tea. We can have a good talk," Tang Yuyan said.

Xia Lei asked nervously, "What... are you going to talk about?"

"None of your business."

Xia Lei was speechless.

The old station wagon gradually drove further and further away in the midst of this idle chatter...

Dawn came and darkness faded.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Mornings in Europe were not as romantic as one would have imagined. The people who should go to work still needed to climb out of bed to go to work, and the morning sun was still the same size, no bigger, no brighter.

Syliva climbed out of the bed and rubbed her eyes. She stared blankly for a while before she spoke hazily, "How did I fall asleep? I remember... Was I taken advantage of?"

She checked her body in a hurry once this thought popped up in her head. There was nothing wrong with the clothes on her body, and nothing was out of place.

"What in the world happened?" Sylvia tried very hard to remember but she couldn’t remember anything. She felt like she had suddenly lost her memories of a certain time period.

Sylvia arrived at Rheinmetall AG an hour later.

The familiar workshop, the familiar people, but in her heart, she felt that something was missing somehow.

’Mr Xia, I will finish the work you left behind. Believe in me, I won’t disappoint you,’ Sylvia thought to herself. She walked towards the Thunder Dragon workshop...

A new day had begun once again. Everyone’s life must go on, no matter what.