Chapter 22: Assassination at Night

Now that we had finally gotten some money, I managed to buy a car. It made it much easier for us to travel from home to the army base camp, which was located quite some distance away from the train station. There was a bus stop near the outside of the camp, but it was time-consuming to change from train to bus, and then bus to train during the return journey.

Not to mention, there were times when William and I worked late into the night, past midnight and after the departure of the last bus. It was expensive and impractical to call a taxi or hire an Uber every time that happened.

So in the end, I gave in and bought a car.

It wasn't a very expensive car. I was a loyal customer of Toyota, so I bought a cheap Toyota electric car. It also doubled as a multi-purpose vehicle, with the extended trunk being able to transform into extra seats in case we had more passengers than usual or into a storage space for more items – a godsend when considering our line of work and the electronic components I had to buy.

By the end of the twenty-first century, people stopped relying on fossil fuels, so all cars were powered by mini plasma generators now. The poor planet had run out of fossil fuels, and global warming had reached such a high point that coastal cities were flooded because of melting polar caps. Famines occurred because of droughts and demise of crops.

Turned out that global warming wasn't a hoax as some people claimed it was. By the time the governments and big corporations took decisive action, it was too late, and millions had perished from adverse weather effects. Stopping the use of fossil fuels was just one of the many measures that governments all over the world implemented.

What could I say? The same people who thought global warming was a hoax were usually the same dudes who claimed that pandemics were a hoax to force them to stay at home and deprive their freedom, even as thousands around them died from the diseases. The world was filled with stupid people, unfortunately.

So William and I drove my Toyota to the patent office to file for one, and then we went home after that. On the way home, we picked up some takeout from a Szechuan restaurant. Hungry and looking forward to a good meal of spicily cooked tofu and rice.

Originally, both William and I wanted to move out of our small apartment and get a bigger house. Actually, we both wanted to buy a house each – something we could easily afford now that we were raking in quite a lot of profits. No longer needing to share the rent, we could easily afford a small house in a comfortable neighborhood, perhaps one that was near the army camp we currently worked in.

However, we were so busy with constructing shield generators and dealing with the paperwork that resulted from all the deals in the past three months that we didn't have time to look for a new house and move out. So we ended up continuing the rent, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't last too much longer. William mentioned the other day that he had found a place of his own, and he was clearly intending to move out soon.

Not because he didn't like me, but now that we could afford it, we would prefer our own personal space and privacy. Also, William was probably considering getting a girlfriend and it would be far better for him to invite her over to a home where there wasn't a third party (me) around.

As for me, I would probably continue to occupy this apartment until I got off my lazy ass, forced myself to take some time away from my projects, and started looking for houses to purchase.

"That house on Zhen Street looks good," William said as he looked at his smartphone while we were eating. "It has a nice garden. Good for raising a family."

"When are you getting married?" I asked. William made a face.

"I've to find a girlfriend first." He then grinned as he looked up. "Should be able to do that after I move out."

"Sorry for being a third wheel!"

"Not at all. You're welcome to visit whenever you want. Speaking of which, you should move out of this apartment and find a better place."

"When I have the time, I'll look for a house."

"You say that, but you spend most of your time working." William chuckled. "No wonder you managed to build that Titan of yours."

"Well, building my Titan was way more interesting than searching for a house," I replied with a shrug. "And besides, I spend most of the time in the garage instead of at home, anyway."

"You need to solve that habit of yours." William wagged his chopsticks at me. "Your girlfriend wouldn't be happy about that. And I'm sure she would appreciate it if you actually buy a house of your own."

"Huh? Girlfriend?" I stared at William blankly before I suddenly remembered what he was talking about. "Oh, right."

"Oi! You seriously didn't forget about Ms. Lily Ling already, did you?!" William buried his face in his palm. "You're going to get dumped at this rate!"

Honestly, I wouldn't mind if that happened. Ever since the events of high school, I had lost any enthusiasm of getting into a romantic relationship. I would much rather spend my time on my hobbies and interests than dealing with the whims of a woman.

"Speaking of which, I guess you plan on moving in with Ms. Ling and living in her family's mansion? So that's why you don't feel a need to search for a new one? That makes sense. The Ling estate is like a palace."

"Uh, that has never occurred to me," I admitted. William rolled his eyes and took another piece of tofu. I then scooped the last remnants of the tofu and finished it off. "All right, I'll do the dishes."

"Oh, thanks. I owe you."

After washing up, the both of us retired to our rooms to rest for the night. Before I went to bed, I wondered if I should spend some time searching for a new house. I just needed to rely on Google, after all.

"Hmm?"

I had hardly switched on the computer and surfed through the Internet when I noticed something. One of the gadgets on my messy desk was beeping, sending out a proximity alert. Not only that, the motion tracker function in my glasses was going crazy, indicating something rapidly approaching my position from outside the apartment.

Not from the corridor outside the door, mind you, but literally from outside. The direction of my window.

"Damn. Not this bullshit again."

I immediately yanked open my drawer and grabbed the stuff that was inside it. Then I noticed something at the corner of my eye and I instinctively dove to the side, using my bed as cover.

Not a moment too soon.

Someone smashed through the window to my room, sending broken glass raining down on the floor. An armored figure stumbled into my room, rolling as it hit the ground, and then rose up to point his wrist-mounted laser cannon at me.

Even with the bed between me and the intruder, I knew that it wouldn't be able to withstand a single laser beam. The laser weapon would cut through the bed as easily as hot knife through butter and also cleave me in half while at it.

The trespasser knew that and I could see the flare of ruby at the barrel as he prepared to unleash the superheated beam.

Unfortunately, for him, I had been a soldier once. A lifetime ago, perhaps, but my reflexes never truly left me. Hefting thee object I had grabbed from my drawer, I squeezed the trigger and the lenses of my glasses darkened to protect my eyes from the blinding flash of plasma that erupted from the barrel.

It was a plasma pistol. One that I had constructed myself in my office at the military base, shortly after the attack on the warehouse William and I used to rent. After that night, I had realized that there were people after my life and I took steps to ensure my security.

And now it paid off. The blob of plasma incinerated the top half of the assailant and he fell, the laser beam dying before it left the cannon. His disembodied arm clattered onto the ground, bouncing about in grisly fashion.

"Huff…"

I exhaled in relief, lowering my plasma pistol and scanning the space outside the broken window for any signs of additional enemies. I glanced at my fallen foe and tapped my glasses, rewinding the scene that my recording lenses had captured earlier.

Astral Light Exosuit. The assailant had been dressed in Han Industries' Astral Light Exosuit. Just like the mercenaries from three months ago, they were armed with weapons and equipment manufactured by Justin Han's company.

I wasn't surprised, but once again I was cautious enough not to jump into conclusions. Han Industries could be behind this, or the people who were after me just happened to buy armaments from Han Industries. Lily Ling and the military had conducted their own investigations and found no conclusive evidence, so I couldn't throw about accusations just yet.

But if that bastard Justin Han was truly behind this, then I was going to kill him. Not literally, of course (unless I had no choice or I had an opportunity to do it as "self-defense"). I would bring him down and see him rot in prison for this while dismantling the company he so painstakingly built up.

That was assuming he was behind this, of course. It was entirely possible that we had a mutual enemy who decided to buy Han Industries' weapons so as to direct my suspicion toward them. A very smart trick.

But I doubted that. As Lily said, a lot of the weapons used by the mercenaries were secret, private products that weren't available for public sale. The Astral Light Exosuit, though, was another matter. Justin Han had already sold it to the military and possibly other paramilitary organizations. Even so, I doubted that it was a coincidence.

"William!" I shouted, hoping that he could hear me from the next room. "Are you all right?"

There was no answer, which caused me to worry. I rose from behind my bed and got ready to rush over. However, a beep from the motion tracker installed in the lenses of my glasses caused me to pause momentarily.

Glancing up and magnifying my vision, I caught sight of several sleek, armored silhouettes streaking toward my position.

More assassins…and they were all dressed in the Astral Light Exosuits.