Sound-Based Weapon.
Tai looked at Alex and frowned. Straight away, he had two problems.
Number 1, He was a Foreigner. Any outsider shouldn't get access to classified state information.
Number 2, He was a Kid. That needed no explanation. This mission needed an experienced professional.
"Don't want him?"
Lei looked at the General, who was unimpressed.
"I need someone to track down and retrieve state secrets for me. I don't have time to be a babysitter."
Lei smiled.
"Give him a chance."
Alex arrived in front of them and asked,
"Who is the old guy?"
"A very influential person in the military."
"Mei told me that you had my mission."
Lei handed a paper to him and said,
"This."
Alex took the paper and said,
"Tell him that his soldiers are unconscious by the entrance."
Zhong looked at Lei and asked,
"What is he saying?"
"He took out two of your soldiers. They wouldn't let him pass."
"What?"
He looked at the boy. He couldn't be older than 15.
"So, sound-based weapons. I'll try to talk to him. Correct me if I am wrong."
His mandarin was rusty, so he preferred not to use it. But in situations like these, it was better to talk to the client beforehand.
"Mr.Tai Zhong?"
"Yes?"
"Designs for a sound-based machine?"
"Yes?"
"No data on the criminals?"
The general looked at Lei and said,
"This is ridiculous. All of this is already in the document."
"Just answer me."
Alex interrupted him.
"How long does it take to build this?"
"5 months."
"That long?"
Alex furrowed his brows.
"Then why are you here?"
"What?"
"Why are you here?"
"To give the Zhao family a mission."
"If the blueprints were stolen recently, then you coming here doesn't make sense."
If he had 5 months, then why is he coming to the Zhao family so early?
"Because we have some intel on who might have taken the Blueprints."
"And you can't arrest them because..."
Alex was interrogating the Special forces General. Lei was smiling the entire time.
"Because..."
Zhong looked at Lei and said,
"If they built it traditionally, it would take 5 months. Our intel says that the stolen blueprints may be used to improve a weapon, rather than create it."
"What do you mean by that?"
"At first, we thought that we could retrieve the stolen blueprints and prevent them from building it in the first place. But our spies in Phillippines brought us intel that the Philippines had been working on their own, similar weapon. A few months ago, reports suggested that someone had broken into the military base and stolen the prototype design of a similar weapon."
"So you suspect that whoever stole the blueprints had been aiming to iron out any imperfections in their model. By using your designs, they could compare and use some of your ideas into their weapon."
"Exactly."
Tai Zhong was sweating.
"Fine. I will take the mission. I have to bring back the blueprints and take out the terrorists, right?"
"Yes. If you find a weapon, we want that too."
"Sure."
He folded the paper and put it into his pocket.
"Lead the way. First, to your Intelligence department. Call and ask the lead researcher on this project to be there."
"Don't you need to pack stuff?"
"I have the Chinese government's support. Don't I?"
"You-"
"Lei, I will see you in a few days."
Lei stood there with his arms behind his back.
"Don't become too overconfident."
------------------------------------------------------
Mission Briefing.
Chinese government Project 'Shengyin'.
Completion deadline, 3 weeks.
Assigned to the Zhao family.
A mysterious group stole the blueprints of A long-range sonic weapon. It had been decommissioned a few years back due to its lack of feasibility and the money required to pull off the project. The mission is to retrieve the blueprints, preserve the progress, and kill all enemies.
Should you fail the mission, the client has the last say on your reward. Depending on your progress before the failure, the client can decide to pay you a part of the fee or pay you nothing.
The discussions over the rewards are to be taken place between the client and the family head. Zhao family rules dictate that any mission taken under their name is to be used in the development of the family. The assassin taking up the mission can only claim the money if the head allows it.
"So much for a mission."
While on the plane, Alex had gone through the report one last time.
"If it was a large-scale weapon, its size had to be pretty large. And there was a myriad of possibilities that we have to go through."
---------------------------------------------------
"Activate."
'ZING'
A sound wave was aimed at a man strapped to the chair. He was unconscious, so he probably didn't feel what happened next.
The sound wave reached his body. The skin around his chest vibrated, and it exploded from the inside. Blood splattered all around the room.
"It is a success."
"Great. How long will it take to replicate this into the model?"
"1 week at most."
"Then put everything into it. We don't want to miss the opportunity."
A good looking man in his twenties looked at destroyed corpse of the man. His vision was close to being complete.