A Cold Shot From Behind

In December, the weather was turning cooler than ever. It had been two months since Old Man Chen passed away. Chen Xiao had no children, and after he was buried, no one else came to see him except for Fang Tianlong who had secretly come here to pay his respects before he left the country.

On the same day, a middle-aged man with half of his face burnt came to Chen Xiao's grave with a pot of sorghum wine and a pack of cigarettes. Only some of the village natives know that that is the nephew of Master Chen.

Guan Peng is not good at talking, he lit a cigarette and put it in front of the grave of old man Chen, and smoked it himself. For many years, he was haunted by the old man's defeat to Chris, and only after hearing about Li Rulong did he realize that the truth was so dirty.

Hudson's statement became the last straw that broke the camel's back. After his mission in Mei, he left the team and met Hudson. When he fought, he did not use the usual killing techniques of the MTF team, but just used those moves taught to him by Old Man Chen and defeated Hudson.

He wanted to prove to the world that Chinese martial arts was not so bad. Although the final result was just as he thought it would be, the Foundation's punishment came as expected.

To avenge his personal vendetta and leave the team without permission, Guan Peng was punished by the Foundation. He was demoted from MTF captain to an ordinary team member, and had to stay at home for a month without pay. Guan Peng needs some time to rest alone.

After a cigarette was burned, Guan Peng lit up another one. Chen Xiao lived in straitened circumstances. Cigarettes is not something he would enjoy every day. A pack of cigarette is enough for several days. Guan Peng finished smoking, and poured the wine in front of Chen Xiao's grave.

In the distance, a figure suddenly appeared again. He fixed his eyes and found that it was Advisor Zhang Jue. He smiled at him and placed the things in his hand one by one in front of Chen Xiao's grave, and only then did the two of them begin to talk one after another.

"Captain Guan, you've defeated Hudson. Chen Xiao must be very relieved when he knows about it." Zhang Jue said.

Unexpectedly, Guan Peng shook his head, "If he were still alive, he would definitely say what's the point of being able to win, not being able live to its potential, and then told me to go away."

Zhang Jue laughed, this was indeed Chen Xiao's style of parenting. Both of them were not pretentious people. After a few short talk, they came to the business.

"I heard that your matter was handled by Lei Shan." Zhang Jue glanced at Guan Peng, "He probably wanted to protect you when he did that."

"I know." Guan Peng nodded his head, he spent dedicating himself in the Foundation for many years. Although, most of the times he rely on his own strength. There was internal disputes between the Foundation and he heard something. Where there are people, there will be rivers and lakes. The same for any organization, even the Foundation.

The O5 Council as a whole represents the highest level of the Foundation, but there is no shortage of open and dark rivalries between them. Those who have the ability will naturally be pulled in.

Out of dozens of MTF squads in the Chinese region, Guan Peng is the one who speaks up. Usually, he does not like this kind of rivalry, so there is not much to put his hand on the matter. But he has violated the Foundation's regulations. Lei Shan is giving him the easiest way out for both sides, so he has to accept it.

Although Guan Peng was demoted from his MTF squad, as long as he didn't leave Red Ying, he was still the captain. The difference was that from then on, he had to start getting involved in these matters.

Zhang Jue seemed to see his worries and said, "Captain Guan doesn't have to worry too much. As far as I know about Lei Shan, he shouldn't let you do anything out of the ordinary. At most, you should not stand against him." Guan Peng nodded his head.

He looked back at Zhang Jue, "Advisor Zhang, the purpose of the Foundation is to serve mankind. None of the 13 O5s is a normal person. What happened just then was a deep and dark matter, I advise you not to get involved too deeply."

Because of the relationship between Chen Xiao, Guan Peng and Zhang Jue were considered to be their own people. So, they spoke relatively frankly to each other.

Zhang Jue stretched out his hands, "I can't help it."

Guan Peng said, "I see that you are enjoying yourself."

When Guan Peng broke the news, Zhang Jue laughed and did not think anything of it, "Fighting against the sky, the earth, and the people. It's a lot of fun."

Zhang Jue is a human being, when it comes to fighting and killing people, Guan Peng is just a schoolboy compared to him. Seeing that he has relieved from it, Guan Peng has no more anything to say. However, he suddenly remembered one thing, and his expression became serious.

"I heard that you are going to the headquarters?" Guan Peng asked.

Zhang Jue gave a hint, "Just a quick visit to Site-19. You know, it's actually just a bigger site there."

Guan Peng pondered for a moment and seemed to have made up his mind of some sort, "Since you're determined to get involved in those things. There's one thing that I have to tell you."

"Oh? What is it?" Looking at Guan Peng's expression, Zhang Jue knew that it must be something very important. Otherwise, with Guan Peng's character, he would not have said such things.

Guan Peng said, "Remember the incident when you just arrived here, when SCP-682 broke through the containment?" Zhang Jue nodded, of course he remembered this incident.

At that time, Dr. Li wanted to use SCP-409 (Contagious Crystal) to kill SCP-682, which eventually made SCP-682 broke through the containment. If Zhang Jue did not know that Shirley could suppress SCP-682's berserk, Site-14 would have become an piece of junk.

Seeing Zhang Jue nod, Guan Peng continued, "At that time, Red Ying squad was ordered to guard the area of Site-14. In order to quickly recontain SCP-682 once the execution failed."

"But why did you guys never show up?" Zhang Jue asked.

"Because we were temporarily transferred." Guan Peng said, "An order from the O5."

Zhang Jue raised an eyebrow, "Is it convenient to reveal what you guys were transferred to?"

This was already something that violated the regulations, but since Guan Peng had nothing to lose. He didn't care about it.

He shook his head and said, "Nothing. We were just taken for a ride by the headquarters helicopter, only to return to Site-14 a few hours later and be informed that the mission was cancelled, and by that time, SCP-682 had already been contained by you. According to the Foundation's usual practice, even if we had been transferred, another team would have been needed to take over. But according to my subsequent investigation, the Foundation did not do so."

Guan Peng looked Zhang Jue in the eyes, "If you want to go to the headquarters, I won't stop you. But you have to be careful, the hardest thing to guard against is always the cold shot from behind."

So that was it. Zhang Jue gave a laugh. Originally, he had found it very strange. For an organization as rigorous as the Foundation, it was surprising that there was no backup plan for the execution of SCP-682.

Thus, it seemed that both Yang Xue and Dr. Li had been set up. Someone wanted to use SCP-682 to go on a killing spree at Site-14. He thought about it and felt that it was not right.

If someone really wanted to use SCP-682 to kill people, then the most likely target would be himself. Who had just crossed over to this world. Probably he had been targeted from the first day he had arrived here.

Zhang Jue suddenly laughed.

Foundation, Foundation. You're always full of surprises.