Nostradamus.

"I am glad to hear that. But first, we need to see the weapon."

This was it. The most difficult part.

"The weapon will be ready in the next two days. There are still some finishing touches required to perfect the prototype."

Alex put his hands together and said,

"Mr. Tian, I only want to check in on the weapon. Now that we are willing to take you in, we have to be sure about your bargaining chip. I can't just trust you based on your words."

Tian frowned.

"You don't trust me?"

"When it comes to business, I don't care enough to trust anyone. I am not asking you to hand over the designs. I only want to inspect the goods before we complete the deal. The weapon only comes to us when we give you what you want."

Alex calmly elaborated. There was no need to pressurize him. People like this have a knack for relying on a plan B if things go south.

Tian looked at him and asked,

"How did you come to know of the weapon?"

The question that worried Alex the most.

"We don't know much about it, but we do know that it is based on sound. We have an informant inside the Chinese government, and they alerted us to its existence."

"Doesn't explain how you could associate the weapon to me."

Suspicions started to resurface. Alex had to think of something, and quick.

"We made some calls and asked the collective to look for the weapon. While they didn't find the location, they were able to trace a call between you and your informant."

He remained calm.

"The collective? You mean like the organization that the Zhao family works for?"

"Precisely. We have a long-standing relationship with them."

Tian looked at Alex carefully. He didn't seem like he was lying.

"If you suddenly feel suspicious of me, then I would understand. After all, we did violate your privacy to get that information. But you must understand that the Rockstone company doesn't wait. We get what we want, one way or another. We wanted to track you down before you could sell the weapon, and we did what we had to. I won't apologize for our determination."

His short speech was a bunch of crap, but he said it as convincingly as possible. If Tian doesn't break with this, he would have to access his own Plan B.

Luo Tian poured himself another glass of whiskey. He was giving this conversation a serious thought.

"Do you still intend to accept our proposal?"

Alex interjected. He was being a little impatient.

The Luo family heir took a sip from the glass and said,

"I will show you the prototype. But you will have to wait for at least two more days for the perfected designs. After all, the prototype is the first step towards the various phases that would follow."

Luo Tian made his choice.

"Very well. When do we leave?"

Alex felt relieved. The plan worked.

"Now."

----------------------------------------

"3 million. What a deal."

Steven looked at the numbers on his computer and smiled.

Alex had tasked him to contact the Rockstone company. Going through the files related to the Luo family, Alex stumbled upon some files regarding the failed ventures of the company. The most recent one was a Weapons company spearheaded by the fourth son of the Luo family head. After further digging, he realized that the heir had promised the government a collaboration. The government was looking forwards to an international tycoon pairing up with a local company.

The only problem with this was that Luo Tian had presumed that the untapped Chinese market would entice Rockstone. China had been relying on itself for its weapons, and the prospect of a deal with the second-largest military was too good to pass up. Tian didn't realize that Rockstone wouldn't collaborate with another company to set up shop in China. If it wanted to, it could do it by itself. Working with a newly reformed company puts more pressure and adds more risk. Regardless of Tian's ambition, he was never going to get this deal over the line.

He had the prime suspect. Getting his location was easy. But he needed a cover to get inside and manipulate him into giving up the location of the designs. That is where the Grey family came into play. He contacted Steven and got more information. After the Rockstone executives had confirmed the story, he had a surefire lead.

"Looks like he is having fun."

Steven's heart stopped for a moment. He looked back, and his parents were standing at the door.

"Don't sneak in on me like that!"

Lucius looked at him and said,

"You took money from him for simple information. This isn't how I raised you."

"The collective does nothing for free. Why should the assassins be any different?"

Steven made his point.

"But you must know how to make friends. If you keep the matters strictly professional and swindle him out of his money, it won't earn you his trust."

The son sighed and said,

"We don't have to worry about that. I doubt that he considers me to be a friend."

Despite the joint mission, Alex had kept others away from the very beginning. Anybody could see that.

"With time, people change."

Clara patted her son on the shoulder and said.

"Hmmm."

Steven went silent.

"Now, tell us more about that program you have been working on. Clara couldn't shut up about it."

"Really?"

Steven was pleasantly surprised. He was sure that his parents were here to ask about Alex.

"Of course."

He closed the bank website and opened up a file.

"Meet my latest brainchild, Nostradamus."