I have a long-lived pawn shop.

Team 13 arrived at Yorktown very early, and only soldiers were walking on the quiet streets. The heavy rain hit every corner of this ancient town, and the stone pavement might have been trodden by the saints.

The wind announcing the change of seasons came from deeper in the continent. The rain fell earlier in York than in Yale, and the drop in temperature earlier in the day had already cast a layer of autumn colors around the house, withered yellow mixed into the grass and trees.

Sif Raphael glanced at the end of the square. Four mechanical soldiers were roaming around the headquarters as guards, and the steam they brought was as thick as a curtain. She pulled the corners of her mouth, pushed the wet hair away from her cheeks, and looked back at the small lounge in the headquarters.

The oak table in the lounge was piled high with plates. The fried eggs were juicy with chopped basil sprinkled on the surface, accompanied by crispy toasted sausages, and even fruit and vegetable juice and jam. Compared with the previous rest period, the treatment this time was upgraded by several stars.

Falcon squatted by the window, smoking and admiring the continuous autumn rain, but most of the time he kept his eyes on the patrolling mechanical soldiers, with an unexpectedly simple meaning, just like a little boy admiring the most expensive toy in the window. The brothers Raven and Tit were staring at the breakfast on the table, ready to eat, but the captain hadn't come back, and they didn't dare to eat first even if they had three hundred guts, so they could only pass the time by talking to Sif about meaningless things.

"Have you checked the news about Yorktown? I heard that it is a hot spring town with a long history and large tracts of grape terraces. The townspeople have made a living by selling wine for generations." Raven said as he wiped his dagger. He was tall and strong, with a short haircut, and looked like an underground gangster.

"I don't know how many days we can relax this time. It's not bad to relax in the hot springs in Yorktown. Anyway, this place has been taken over by the military. We don't have to worry about a shell dropping from the sky and blowing us to pieces while we're taking a bath." Shantiao took the dagger that his brother had wiped clean and applied a thin layer of tung oil on it. "Snowy Owl, I think it's a good idea to take a hot spring bath. The captain might take off her mask in the sulfur pool of natural stone and reveal her true face. Then you can apply essential oil to her bare back and take advantage of the massage to take advantage of the captain..."

Before she finished her words, Sif Raphael - the Snowy Owl said coldly: "You might as well expect me to apply essential oil on your naked back, then break your spine and soak you in hot sulfur-smelling water." She knew the character of this colleague too well. Chickadee played similar jokes every day, of course, always when the captain was not around.

"What you said makes me suspect that you have a crush on me." Shantiao leaned back in the chair.

Snow Owl stopped talking about this topic and tilted her head to the outside, "Don't you think there's something wrong with this headquarters?"

Falcon turned around and said, "The defense is too tight, and you can even say that there are too many troops. I felt at least three psychic teams monitoring everything along the way. There are more guys hiding in the shadows. Their aura is creepy."

After entering the headquarters, the captain was quickly picked up by someone, which obviously meant that there was some important work waiting for her to complete. The soldiers were only required to wait in the lounge, and the order given to her by No. 13 was also to be silent and wait, with no other instructions or explanations.

As the captain's deputy, Snow Owl is very clear about her rules. She must do what the captain asks her to do and must not do what she forbids. If the captain asks them to wait, then they'd better not step out of the room.

She spent the most time with the captain, and Snowy Owl could detect some peculiarities about the captain's identity: for example, her real name was not engraved on her soldier's dog tag, but was simply referred to as Number 13; for example, the magnanimity revealed in her behavior, and that sometimes she did not respect her superiors, but her nominal superiors always let her do as she pleased; for example, she never revealed her true face, only her eyes and a little bit of her chin were visible from under the iron mask; her eyes were always as empty as a silent and vast ice lake, with the light of the sky and the shadows of the clouds gathered in the boundless lake, and it seemed that nothing would matter to her.

Plain yet insightful, tolerant yet sharp.

Number Thirteen is full of mysteries. Sif feels that she is caught in a huge shadow. She instinctively knows to stay away from the shadow itself, but it is precisely between life and death that her emotions grow wildly like seeds encountering rain, dew and sunshine.

In fact, the way she and Thirteen get along is very normal. One gives orders, the other obeys them. But when Sif is in a bad mood, Thirteen will bring back something to comfort her, sometimes a beautiful red leaf, sometimes a beautiful stone, or a diamond brooch. The old silver is gently cold in her palm, as if a flower made of ice is blooming. But she will not take special care of Sif when assigning tasks.

Thirteen is such a person, she is always measuring her relationship with the people around her, neither getting close nor staying away. You can't try to get close to her to observe her, otherwise you will get hurt.

But this is enough for Sif.

Just then, the door of the lounge opened slightly.

A bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the gloomy room. The door opened, and the lion-faced girl walked out amid thunder.

The titmouse and the falcon were secretly surprised. In the past, No. 13's performance was always calm and quiet, but today, for some reason, the depths of her black eyes were turbid, as if there was a kind of cold fanaticism, burning a blazing and grand fire in the depths of her eyes, showing an indifference that was difficult to disobey and should not be disobeyed.

It was like fragmented paint smeared on a carefully drawn oil painting, so eye-catching, so distorted, and so out of place. Fortunately, the pressure brought by Thirteen was only for a moment, and soon she lowered her eyelashes and turned back into the captain who was familiar to Sif and had everything under control.

"Are you okay?" Sif asked softly.

Wei Xi shook her head. She took off her military jacket and put it on the back of a chair, intending to put on the disarmed weapons again. She said, "Eat. After eating, someone will send you back to the rear base of the killing team. The vacation time is four days. After four days, gather at the base at seven in the morning. There will be new tasks assigned."

Snow Owl handed her her long knife. Wei Xi stroked the bluish blade, fixed the sharkskin scabbard behind her, inserted the two long knives into it, and put the remaining wallets, holsters, and magazines back in place. In a short period of time, Wei Xi turned himself into a small arsenal...

She gave the signal for dinner, and the raven stuffed his mouth full of sausage and fried eggs like a hungry tiger. Although the titmouse was his brother, his behavior was much more elegant. He raised his fork and poked the plate, making a small hole in the half-cooked fried egg, and the sticky and warm egg liquid overflowed. He tasted the egg liquid, and a happy smile that touched his heart appeared on his face.

After several months, they finally had fried eggs for breakfast, which were cooked to perfection and exuded the aroma of hot pepper and rosemary, instead of those damn canned and military fast food products. With the delicious food in front of them, even the Snowy Owl's icy face couldn't help but soften its expression.

Falcon drank a glass of apple juice before slowly cutting the toast. His movements were more orderly than those of the two tit brothers. He looked like a young man from a middle-class family. Wei Xi had a calm expression. She held the knife and fork, replenishing energy in her body quickly and elegantly. Although her appearance could not tell, the calories required for her muscles and bone density were a huge consumption, so her appetite was about twice that of the tit.

After she put down her knife and fork, everyone else had already eaten and drunk their fill. The door knocked three times gently, and the wooden doors of the lounge opened inwards. Several maids came in one after another. They skillfully removed the tablecloth, replaced the plates and forks, and wiped everyone's fingertips with soft white silk. The whole process took place in an instant, without even making a sound.

The tit and the raven, who had always been eating and drinking casually, suddenly became restless. They looked around at the maids, and finally had to stare at No. 13's hands.

The hands were just wiped with white silk, beautiful like works of art, and the two brothers suddenly realized the huge class gap between the captain and them... Those who still retain such a well-trained team of servants are all famous nobles in the imperial capital, or even royal families, because ordinary people can't even afford a month's salary for maids, and Abigail seems to be used to it.

In fact, these maids are not just servants. Their main function is to protect Emperor Odin. During wartime, it is impossible for the emperor to bring out a team of servants with no combat power for his own enjoyment, but people outside the circle of power have no way of knowing these things.

"For your future growth, I will personally invest in you." Wei Xi took out four envelopes from his inner pocket and placed them on the clean table. "Take a look. I hope you will be satisfied."

After a period of adjustment, Wei Xi no longer had a playful attitude towards her team members, such as "teaming up to complete the mission". Perhaps her nominal superior received a hint that the quality of the personnel in Team 13 were very good. Not only were there no drags, but each of them also had one or more outstanding abilities.

Snowy Owl - Sif Raphael, her awakened psychic power is "Eagle Eye". On a battlefield full of artillery fire, she can use Eagle Eye to lock onto enemies thousands of meters away. In addition, she also has a strong sense of space. Many times, just a few glances are enough for her to clearly construct the surrounding terrain environment.

As the captain's deputy, her command level was not bad. When Wei Xi assassinated Adams of Cantero, it was Snow Owl who commanded the rest of the people to complete the operation on the train and evacuate safely.

Hunting Falcon - Merrick Johnson, whose psychic power is also "Eagle Eye", is the sniper of the team and a killer of officers on the battlefield. His ability of precise killing is even better than that of Snowy Owl. Wherever his sniper scope scans an area, the senior officers in that area will go to hell immediately.

As a rare special-grade independent sniper, Falcon never closes his second eye, because he needs to compare with reference objects at the same time to avoid the influence of surrounding scenery on the arc and trajectory of the bullet.

The military specially commissioned the Silver Moon Church to "produce" psychics of a very monotonous type, but powerful enough. Most of their psychic abilities are concentrated around "eagle eyes, strength enhancement, agility enhancement, shadow blur" and other aspects, and are specially made for war and killing.

Other psychics, especially natural psychics, have all kinds of abilities. They can control water, wind, fire... and even have psychic powers that turn limbs into wood, which is useless. On the battlefield, most natural psychics don't have as much advantage as the military, because the level of psychic power has dropped, and those who play with fire can't beat those who play with guns. But just like Wei Xi's second combat instructor, Sylvia, there are also natural psychics who are suitable for fighting.

Raven and Tit are a pair of rare brothers who are born with psychic powers - Guy Jonas and Ivli Jonas. Guy's psychic power can block the surrounding sounds for a short period of time, while Ivli can simulate a gecko climbing on the surface of a building, both of which are extremely suitable for assassination.

A group of good seedlings, especially the Snow Owl, can be trained to become commanders. Even if Wei Xi came to the Killing Corps just as a springboard and her final destination was the Black Cross Corps, she would not hesitate to provide some help to the unpolished jade.

Connections, money, letters of introduction, precision weapons, ritual knowledge... these material and non-material gifts successfully made the four members of the citizen class look at each other in bewilderment. Even Falcon, who came from a middle-class family, had never thought that one day he would be able to attend the Perpetual Motion Institute (not the headquarters, but the one near the Silver Moon Church) and have the opportunity to come into contact with the most advanced steam soldiers (not the Black Cross Legion version).

The two brothers, Raven and Tit, felt as if they were struck by thunder on the head. Their hearts seemed to stop beating for a moment, and their ears were buzzing. They joined the army very realistically because of the money. The salary of the killing corps was enough for a family of five to live a relatively comfortable life, and the checks that the squad leader casually gave them were astonishing wealth that they had never received before.

Snow Owl carefully put the letter of introduction away. She took a deep breath and asked seriously in silence, "Why did you choose us? I mean, the bigwigs in Yalai usually don't choose soldiers for investment, because that would likely make them lose everything. Captain, what you gave us is too valuable, and I'm not sure I can pay it back in the future."