NEC Chapter 37: Difficult? That Means It’s Possible!

The room was elegantly arranged, with faint tendrils of delicate incense rising from a gilded burner, curling under the soft glow of crystal lamps.

Deputy Director Vincent, appearing just over thirty, had an unremarkable face and wore a well-tailored dark gray uniform. The balding patch on his head, gleaming slightly under the bright crystal light, betrayed signs of strain unusual for his age.

At first glance, Vincent seemed even friendlier than Captain Segg. His face bore a perfectly measured smile as he listened to Zhao’s colorful, atmosphere-livening jokes, occasionally chiming in with polite remarks, attending to everyone present with impeccable care.

Chen Mo sat opposite, posture relaxed, arms casually crossed, his gaze occasionally drifting to the peculiar watch on his left wrist.

“Is that… some kind of special accessory?” Vincent, sensing Chen Mo might feel neglected, seized the moment to engage. “It doesn’t seem to emit any mana fluctuations?”

Chen Mo openly displayed the watch. “A little trinket made by a craftsman, used to keep time. A gift from my mother.”

His voice was low, tinged with a barely noticeable melancholy. “Sadly, we’re now worlds apart, and I don’t know when we’ll meet again. Alone out here, I can’t help but glance at it.”

The young man’s wistful expression carried a hint of longing. Vincent gave it a discreet glance before looking away.

The trinket looked finely crafted but lacked mana fluctuations, likely just a mundane item, so the deputy director politely shifted his attention.

Chen Mo, however, sat up slightly, continuing to stare absently at the watch’s screen, occasionally pressing its buttons.

He was cheating!

Pinned to his chest was an unassuming badge engraved with a crescent moon longsword and a straight-handled hammer, custom-made by a market craftsman.

Tucked beneath the badge’s edge, a miniature high-definition camera silently operated, employing East Xia’s cutting-edge facial recognition and motion capture technology. It quietly recorded Vincent’s subtlest muscle twitches, pupil dilations, gaze trajectories, and body postures, converting them into a continuous data stream.

This data was fed into a high-speed microprocessor hidden in a compartment at his waist, cross-referenced with a database for analysis.

This was a collaborative project by East Xia’s Northern Microelectronics Engineering Institute, Psychology Research Center, Jiangnan Prefecture Motion Capture Studio, Zhongdu University Microexpression Analysis Lab, and the Criminal Investigation Interrogation Special Team, dubbed the “Humanoid Microexpression Analyzer.”

After multiple rounds of rigorous testing and calibration, its judgment accuracy was exceptionally high, though it often provided two or three possible interpretations, requiring the observer to contextualize the results.

The final analysis appeared in East Xia’s script on the screen of Chen Mo’s Beidou tactical watch.

If Vincent had clairvoyance, he’d likely exclaim, “Damn, he’s reading my mind!”

“That’s cheating!”

At that moment, text scrolled across Chen Mo’s watch.

[Posture Analysis: Target’s torso slightly tilted back, chin raised 15°, gaze slightly above conversational eye level, focus blurred. Status: Cautious, defensive posture; Emotion: Suspicious, distant.]

[Note: Zygomaticus major contraction below 30% of standard, orbicularis oculi shows no significant amplitude. Assessment: Professional fake smile, social mask, no genuine pleasure.]

Chen Mo exhaled softly, addressing Vincent directly for the first time.

“Mr. Director, I know you’re not thrilled to be at this tedious gathering. Honestly, neither am I.”

“So why don’t we skip the pointless pleasantries and talk about whether we can make a deal?”

Vincent’s smile grew warmer, his gaze lingering on Chen Mo before flicking to Little John, who stood awkwardly nearby. A faint ripple seemed to pass through his misty eyes.

[Gaze Tracking: Target’s gaze rapidly scans, lingering <1.5 seconds. Microexpression Capture: Slight eyebrow raise. Assessment: Curious about subject, speculative, doubtful.]

“Mr. Vincent!” Chen Mo tapped his finger on the smooth marble tabletop, the sharp sound cutting through Captain Segg’s ongoing “stand-up” performance. “I think addressing any concerns directly could save us both time.”

“Time is life, isn’t it?”

“I sense you’re curious about my attendant. Let me be clear: he’s just a guide I hired in Whitestone City. Half a month ago, I didn’t even know him. So, you can treat me as a mage apprentice without any entourage. There’s no need to infer anything about me from this mercenary.”

“That could lead to misjudgments!”

“If you have questions, ask me directly. Frank conversation might reduce the barriers between us.”

Vincent’s eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze locking onto Chen Mo’s face for the first time, his formulaic smile seeming to freeze.

[Microexpression Capture: Target’s gaze fixates on subject’s face >3 seconds, pupils slightly contracted. Assessment: Alert, cautious, self-doubting!]

Chen Mo met his stare head-on.

Vincent’s frozen smile thawed, as if the earlier sharpness was an illusion. “Haha, my apologies. We’ve chatted this long, and I haven’t asked—who is your esteemed father?”

Chen Mo responded firmly, “Mr. Vincent, my family isn’t in Crescent Moon, and for certain reasons, I’ve left them. They won’t contribute anything to our discussion today. Which family I’m from is irrelevant to this conversation.”

“Unless someone in Qingze City means me harm, my family won’t have the slightest connection to this place! A family that offers no value is less useful than the gold coins in my pocket, don’t you think?”

Vincent’s expression finally turned completely serious.

The words were blunt but logically sound.

For most wandering family members, their family might not bring benefits, but if something happened to them, the family would likely investigate for the sake of reputation.

In other words, helping him might not yield rewards, but crossing him would certainly bring trouble.

Chen Mo’s message was clear: don’t scheme against me, don’t bother with my family, just deal with me directly!

Under [Curious, Probing] emotions, Vincent furrowed his brows and asked the question Chen Mo had been waiting for.

“Forgive my bluntness, but your foundation is still quite weak. Why go to such lengths and costs just to enroll a bit earlier?”

Chen Mo straightened slightly, his thirty-silver-coin tailored suit accentuating his youthful, handsome frame. His gaze met Vincent’s unwaveringly.

With his cheat device analyzing Vincent’s thoughts, a seasoned player like Vincent could likely tell if Chen Mo was bluffing.

So let him see clearly.

Enunciating each word, Chen Mo said, “If I can advance even one day earlier, the resources I gain will be ten, a hundred times what I have now. Tell me, shouldn’t I be in a hurry?”

Vincent was stunned for a few seconds before a smile crept back onto his face. “Truly the boldness of a noble heir. Your approach is quite unique!”

He took a leisurely sip of tea, his tone languid. “But enrolling outside the designated period to study at a mage tower… that’s no ordinary challenge, you know!”

He said it was difficult, not impossible.

Chen Mo glanced at his watch, offering a polite smile.

“Tell me more!”

>>> NEXT CHAPTER