Chapter 23: Assassinating the Assassins

The three of them opened up immediately, the ruby laser beams searing from their arm-mounted cannons and vaporizing chunks of concrete. Fortunately, the wall absorbed the majority of the impact, the laser beams dissipating before they could punch through the thick material.

I didn't hesitate, snapping off a shot. The plasma struck one of the approaching assassins, immolating him (or her), and the figure dropped like a rock.

The other two continued to fire upon my position and I was forced to dodge. Cursing, I threw myself to the side and watched as whole portions of my room blew up from the immense fire of lasers and micro-missiles. My desk vanished, replaced by splinters and burning debris. Coughing on the smoke, I tracked the movements of my assailants through the lenses of my glasses and took aim.

My glasses had a targeting function and I was able to aim with the help of the basic A.I. installed in my lenses. Once the reticle turned from white to green, I squeezed the trigger and watched in satisfaction as half of one of the approaching assailants' torso was erased by the superheated blast.

The last assassin smashed through the crumbling wall, pelting me with rubble. He punched aside the remains of my bed and took aim with his laser cannon, trying to slice me in half.

I let loose a second shot, but because I was so busily evading, I wasn't able to aim properly. My shot went wide and melted part of the ceiling and the top portion of the wall. There were screams upstairs, but I couldn't pay any attention to them right now.

Not when I had an armored killer bearing down upon me.

The armored figure continued barreling through my room, smashing apart furniture with his fists. The servos whined and augmented the wearer's physical strength, allowing him to punch a hole through the wall. I grimaced as the building shook from the impact, rolling away before he slammed his gauntlet through the wall again, ripping apart a second hole.

The assassin continued pummeling me while I did my best to dodge, wreaking untold destruction in my room. I dove through the ashes and remains of my desk and found a tool that had miraculously survived the missile explosions.

Snatching it up, I activated it and conjured a whirring laser blade. Swinging the hi-tech sword with one hand, I amputated the Astral Light Exosuit wearer's arm at the elbow, ruining his laser cannon and causing him to stumble back with a howl of agony. Raising my plasma pistol with my other hand, I obliterated his head with a single shot.

"Huff…"

I watched as his headless body toppled over, crashing onto the ground and causing several tremors. For a few seconds, I lay sprawled on the ground, panting from the exertion. Shock was setting in, and I forced myself to snap out of my stupor.

"William!"

I rushed out of my room and barged into my roommate's room. As expected, it was mostly destroyed, with another two armored warriors smashing the place up and attacking William.

Fortunately, I had armed my secretary with a plasma pistol too and he was discouraging his assailants with several superheated blasts while dodging their fire as best as he could. Blood streamed down a wound on his head and his clothes were scorched and ripped.

I didn't wait for the enemies to react to my presence, already opening fire the moment I saw them. The first one barely turned around before the superheated blast took him full in the chest, burning a charred hole through his torso. With his heart utterly destroyed, he crashed backward.

The other responded quickly, diving to the side and firing lasers in my direction. I hit the ground, flinching as the ruby beams lanced above my head. Rolling away, I fired another shot, but the dude was good. He was already conducting evasive maneuvers, his jet thrusters flaring and scorching William's room as he tried to get away.

Then William disintegrated the backpack of the Astral Light Exosuit, sending the guy crashing down. He tried to get back up, despite the immense agony he must feel after getting his back burned, but I was already on him.

Activating my laser blade, I cut off his arms before he could bring them up to fire upon us. The laser cannon and missile launcher clanged uselessly on the ground, sheared untidily in half. He tried to kick me, but I reversed the grip on my laser sword and swung it downward, cutting off his leg. He howled and crashed down, but no bloody streamed out of his stumps. Not because his exosuit sealed the bleeding, but because the superheated lasers had cauterized his wounds.

"Bastards," William growled as he proceeded over, leveling his plasma pistol at the foe. However, I shook my head and raised a hand to stop him.

"We'll keep him alive." I glared at the downed soldier, my expression grim. "I want to interrogate him. We'll find out who sent him."

"Isn't it obvious?" William snapped. "The Han Industries sent them. They're going too far!"

There was a twitch from the guy wearing the exosuit, but impressively enough he remained silent. He had also stopped groaning, stifling any sounds of pain, and was staring at us defiantly. At least that was what I thought because I couldn't see his expression or eyes behind the visor.

Sirens wailed in the background. The police was coming. Good timing. I was going to hand this guy over to them. Perhaps the authorities could find out who was behind this. I would want to question the guy myself, but I wasn't trained in interrogative techniques. I didn't have the knowledge or skills to pry the truth out of a captured enemy.

What? The readers were calling me weak, stupid and useless? If they thought anybody could conduct an interrogation, they were deluded. They were probably expecting godlike Mary Sue male leads who could do everything under the sun, but unfortunately for them, I was a normal, regular human being. There were a lot of things I wasn't capable of doing. They had been spoiled by their perfect, idealistic and unrealistically skilled CEOs.

Hell, the only reason why I was able to fight back was because I had received military training before, and not because I was some hidden martial artist or secret Special Forces soldier king as depicted in all those stupid CEO stories. I was very lucky that the enemy hadn't sent elite combatants after me or I would have perished long ago.

I managed to survive against trained soldiers even though I hadn't been in the military for over 10 years! What more did the readers want? For me to shoot rainbows out of my ass? Jesus Christ, talk about unrealistic and absurd expectations.

"You okay, Trevor?" William asked. To him, I must have looked as if I had gone into combat shock. I quickly nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry. Just spacing out."

"Yeah, it's understandable. I'm still in disbelief myself." he was looking at his smartphone and raising an eyebrow. "What's with all these reader comments insulting us and calling us weak, stupid and useless? Just because our company isn't as rich and powerful as the usual male lead's in those ridiculous CEO stories? Why are they making such comparisons?"

"Because they want their romantic fantasies, and they can't stand a realistic and regular male lead, I suppose. They only want rich, handsome and powerful ones."

"Oh, they can fuck off." William tossed his smartphone away, similarly frustrated. "I would like to see them handle the assassinations then! See if they will be able to survive!"

I shook my head and sighed. "Let's just wait for the cavalry to arrive."

Pushing my glasses up, I groaned inwardly when I heard the knocking on the door and the yelling from outside. I recognized the familiar voice as belonging to that of the landlord. We were in deep trouble. Turning to William, I shrugged.

"Looks like we'll be forced to move out and into a new house sooner rather than later."

*

"I'm sorry. We did our best, but the prisoner refuses to speak. He won't admit that he is hired by Han Industries."

Colonel Carl Chan looked at us apologetically.

"If the culprit is indeed Han Industries," I added with a sigh. Colonel Chan nodded reluctantly.

"As of yet, we still have not found any conclusive evidence linking Han Industries to the attempts on your lives. It's mostly all circumstantial. If they really are the culprits, then they are covering their tracks very well."

"As expected of a multi-billionaire company." I didn't think they would be stupid enough to leave clear evidence of their wrongdoing. It would ruin them completely and see the owners – the Han family – jailed. Even their wealth couldn't protect them from the law.

This wasn't just a simple run-of-the-mill crime. They were mobilizing military assets to assassinate William and me. That was already considered treason on some level.

"But we can't just sit around and wait for them to try and kill us again!" William protested.

"I understand. Which is why I'm posting several platoons of soldiers to guard the both of you." Colonel Chan sighed and scratched his graying head. "We also have surveillance drones keeping an eye on you two, to watch out for any suspicious activity nearby. If anything happens, the platoons assigned to you will respond immediately."

"What I don't understand is why they are so determined to kill us." I rubbed my forehead. "What's their motive?"

"Simple. They are insecure and feel threatened by you." Colonel Chan leaned back in his chair. "Your energy shield generator has revolutionized military technology…and until now, you've the sole monopoly on it, having patented it. You're the only one able to build it so far, and everyone wants a piece of it. It will cut into the profits of other companies vying for contracts in the military industrial complex, and in time you'll dominate the military market."

"They are giving me way too much credit," I complained.

"I think you underestimate the significance of your invention." Colonel Chan looked at me sternly. "Your energy shield generator has single-handedly rendered all conventional weapons obsolete. And that's exactly why all these other companies that manufacture military armaments are so afraid of you."