Chapter 56: Schemes and Conspiracies

"What?! Are you sure?!"

Justin Han slammed his fist against the table, causing his aide to flinch. His secretary gulped and nodded, even though he was afraid of his employer's nasty temper.

"Yes, sir. Trevor Shen is returning to G City."

"That tenacious fucker didn't die in the forests of Province Y?!" Justin Han growled before swearing under his breath. "He really is protected by fate, isn't he? He's not even a soldier! How did he not get shot or killed?"

"Actually, sir, he served in the military before…"

"I know that! But that was over ten years ago!" Justin Han ran his hands through his usually neat and gelled hair. "This is bad! His stupid shield generator and Titan-class war walkers are already dominating the military market, and now he comes up with this ridiculous Hunter-class war walker?! Worse, it actually works?!"

He slammed his palms against the table, the force knocking a few of his paper documents from the desk and onto the ground. Grounding his teeth so hard it was actually audible, he cursed.

"And then those dumb Hunters actually outperformed my exosuits! I don't fucking believe it! How did those huge, clumsy machines defeat an entire army of exosuits?! This isn't possible!"

Even though he had covered his tracks as much as possible, Justin Han was aware that the secessionists in Province Y were making use of his Astral series exosuits. Somehow, many of his Astral series exosuits ended up in the black market, through which profiteers used to supply the rebels. Not because they truly wished to aid the rebellion, but because they just wanted to make money.

Military products, particularly exosuits, generated a ton of profit – especially on the black market. There was no general who wouldn't dosh out the cash required to buy such a technological advantage for their armies. Not unless they were prepared to lose or unless they couldn't afford it and have no choice but to fight against an overwhelming disadvantage.

Originally, Justin Han had wanted to make use of this opportunity to push his newer Astral Crystal Mark III Exosuits toward the military as a way to counteract the rebels' use of their own exosuits. He planned to sell to both sides, earning a profit by selling obsolete exosuits to the insurrectionists while reserving the newer, more expensive ones for the richer national army.

However, that fool had bumbled in with his new Hunter war walker and the military decided to place their bets on that damned bipedal armored machine instead.

To be honest, Justin Han had his doubts at first. The Hunter was lighter than the Titan, the bigger war walker having been impeded by the forest terrain and thus it wasn't practical to field them against the guerilla insurgents. Even so, Justin Han was confident in the superiority of the exosuits, particularly in such dense terrain. There was no way those big, clumsy machines would be able to best exosuits in such confined spaces. They would be wiped out and the military would cancel future orders for the Hunters and return to buying exosuits from him instead.

To everyone's surprise – particularly that of Justin Han – the Hunters outperformed and exceeded expectations, turning the war into a one-sided slaughter and wiping out the guerillas within a couple of months…while suffering absolutely zero casualties.

Worse, to Justin Han's shame, the exosuits were utterly destroyed in combat, with the Hunters utterly overwhelming them in terms of speed, power and technical aspects. Upon hearing about the Hunters' success, the military placed more orders for the Hunters, grabbing them as soon as they were constructed and rolled off the assembly line of Bu Business's factories.

Right now, production of the war walkers and energy shield generators were very limited, conducted only by Shen Industries and their affiliated companies – such as Bu Businesses. With so small a number of war walkers constructed, they couldn't spare any for the black market. The military kept a tight leash on their production facilities, grabbing every model that they had only just finished building and checking. Shen Industries placed emphasis on quality checks, after all, with their CEO determined that they do everything possible to ensure the machines didn't fail in the middle of a fight because of a technical flaw or defects.

As such, the enemies couldn't acquire a war walker of their own. Not that Justin Han wanted them to. He originally planned to make use of the rebellion to showcase how much more superior his exosuits were when compared to the ugly, unsubtle and ungainly bipedal war walkers of Shen Industries. He was expecting his rival to, frankly, get his ass kicked and return home humiliated.

No, Justin Han was hoping for his death. For the bastard to be killed in action, slain during combat or whatever excuse that would happen in the dangerous forests of Province Y. after all, there was nothing more stupid than an amateur foolishly walking around in a warzone, trying to be smart.

As it turned out, Trevor Shen was not an amateur.

Now, instead of returning home in a coffin (preferably an empty coffin, Justin thought) or returning in disgrace, the fucker was returning as a hero. They were even going to give him a medal, if the rumors he had heard were true. Preposterous! That idiot, getting a medal for his inventions and contribution to the military?

Impossible! This couldn't be happening!

Yet the reality was unfolding before his eyes right now. No matter how he wanted to deny it, he couldn't.

Not only that, he received intelligence from contacts within the military that they planned to entrust a top secret project involving the navy to Trevor Shen. Honestly, Justin Han didn't care about the navy. His exosuits could, theoretically, be used in naval warfare, but he had never thought of them that way. Usually, he wouldn't care if his rival left the army to work for the navy. That would be his greatest joy.

However, Justin Han had gone too far. He had sent assassins after Trevor Shen not once, not twice but several times. Each of them failed, and this left a bitter taste in his mouth. That, and fear. Fear and anxiety borne out of guilt. Justin Han had developed some sort of paranoia where he half-expected his rival to trace the assassinations back to him.

Knowing his enemy, Justin Han was sure Trevor Shen wouldn't simply sit back and laugh it off. He would definitely want revenge. Perhaps he might pull the same trick, send assassins after Justin Han. That wasn't impossible. The CEO of Han Industries had heard the rumors, after all. Trevor Shen had allied himself with Bu Fan, who was said to be the king of the underworld.

It was only a matter of time before Justin Han found himself being marked for death. He couldn't let that happen, no matter what.

In order to save himself, he must first eliminate Trevor Shen.

"But how…?" He muttered to himself. All three or four assassination attempts had failed so far. Justin Han hated to admit it, but his target had proven to be uncannily resourceful. Using his tools and weapons in his garage to fight off exosuit-equipped mercenaries…and now he even had the protection of the military. The task was only going to be more difficult. The military was increasingly valuing Trevor Shen as their most vital asset.

With the threat of Country A sending their navy to the coast of Hua Xia, that protection would be doubled further. They couldn't afford to risk losing him. And Justin Han was sure that whatever mercenaries he hired, they would fail yet again. Worse, the more he tried, the more traces he would inevitably leave. Eventually they would track the transactions and mercenaries back to him. Then the full wrath of the military would fall upon Justin Han, and he would be eliminated.

Justin Han was under no illusion that they would put him on a fair trial. The military was known for their ruthless methods, particularly toward traitors. He could ill afford to have them discover that he was behind the assassinations.

"Sir?"

Justin Han shook himself out of his thoughts when his aide called out to him. He scowled and rubbed his face.

"Nothing. Call the driver. I'm going home."

"Right away, sir."

The drive to the Han manor didn't take too long – Justin Han had deliberately chosen an estate that was close to his workplace. He got off his limousine, passed his jacket and briefcase to a waiting retinue of servants before dismissing them. Rubbing at his eyes, he grumbled to himself as he returned to his room.

"Hmm?"

For some reason, the door appeared to be open. Did one of the servants forget to close it after cleaning his room? Justin Han scowled and made a mental note to find out who was on the last shift, so that he could reprimand her. Perhaps fire her for her carelessness.

Justin Han hated anything that didn't fall perfectly into his natural order.

However, when he stepped into the room and the automatic lights came on, he realized something was amiss. There was a single person sitting on the couch opposite his bed, sipping from a glass of wine.

"You…!" Justin Han spluttered, raising his hand to call for security. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Ah. I apologize for startling you." the middle-aged man tipped his glass wine to salute his unwilling host. Justin Han saw that he was a Caucasian in his mid-forties, perhaps late forties, with a neatly trimmed beard and dark hair. He sported bright, blue eyes, and was dressed in a gray suit with a light blue tie.

The CEO of Han Industries didn't care who this person was. He pressed the intercom and growled urgently. "Security! There's an intruder! Gt your asses over here right now!"

"Hang on, I wouldn't do that if I were you." the Caucasian raised his other hand. "Relax and listen for a moment. I'm Michael Miller, Central Intelligence. I'm an ally."

"Central Intelligence? You…you are from Country A?" Justin Han blurted out. He stiffened. Wasn't there supposed to be tension between Hua Xia and Country A? The latter was sending their navy to blockade their coast, if he remembered correctly.

"Oh, so you know about us." Miller grinned and nodded. "That's right."

"What do you want from me?" Justin Han craned his neck and listened desperately, but he couldn't hear anything. Not the footsteps of his approaching security team. He pressed the intercom, but nothing. No response. Was he being jammed?

"Relax. We have a mutual enemy, you and I."

"What? You're the enemy!"

"No, of course not." Miller leaned forward, putting his glass on the table. "Trevor Shen. You have a grudge against him, don't you? After all, you've been hiring mercenaries to try and assassinate him?"

For a moment, Justin Han froze. This person…he knew. He knew about the illegal hires and supplies that Justin Han had arranged.

"You…"

"Like I said, you should relax." Miller clasped his hands. "I'm a friend."

"Like hell I'll believe you."

"You had better start believing," Miller responded. The smile was still on his face and his tone remained cheerful, but his eyes glittered coldly. Justin Han reflexively took a step backward. "I would prefer to cooperate with you on friendly terms."

"Friendly terms? You call breaking into my house friendly?"

"Oh, sorry about that. It was the only way I can talk to you without being overheard. But trust me. I am a friend." Miller spread his hands. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And since we have a mutual enemy, shouldn't we work together to vanquish him first? That should be our priority."

"And your enemy is also Trevor Shen?" Justin Han asked skeptically. Miller nodded.

"That's right. His inventions are beyond frightening. At this rate, Hua Xia will zoom ahead in the arms race…the balance of power in the world will collapse. We can't afford to let him monopolize the dominant military technology."

Justin Han hesitated for a moment before he nodded. "Agreed."

Even though he knew this was treason, even though he knew this was against the interests of his own country, Justin Han didn't care. He was too blinded by hatred and jealousy. All he wanted was for Trevor Shen to die. If Hua Xia ended up as a casualty or lost its chance to dominate as the new military hegemony, what did he care? Besides, he would eventually invent the same thing that Trevor Shen was producing right now. He was just delaying their military hegemony slightly.

And to be honest, he would rather no one get it if he couldn't.

"What do you need help with?"

"Now we're talking." Miller grinned and clapped his hands. "The both of us are currently facing problems. The local mercenaries you're hiring just won't get the job done. Whereas I have real assassins – actual, professional ones who shouldn't have any problem dealing with an engineer…but because of the restrictions on travel and uh, tensions between our countries at the moment, it's difficult to set them up. Now, I was thinking that I provide the assassins from my side, and you help accommodate them. Establish a safe house or base where they can stay and operate in, away from the eyes and surveillance of your government and military."

For a few moments, Justin Han considered Miller's proposal. Then he nodded, a grin spreading across his face.

"I can do that."

"Excellent." Miller's grin grew. "Then it's a deal. I look forward to working with you, Mr. Han."