Chapter 87: More Drama

"What? You need me to visit the set tomorrow?"

I couldn't help but be irritated when William Wang called me for a request. A few meters away, there was a roar as machinery churned and accelerated particles in an attempt to produce more antimatter. The project was still a long way from achieving our goal of manufacturing any substantial amount of antimatter, but we were determined.

However, William had called me and requested my presence at the studio where our entertainment subsidiary was filming a movie the next day. I scowled but bit down on my annoyance. I had much better things to do in the laboratory than hanging out in a movie set. Filming wasn't my kind of thing.

"Yeah, you're the CEO. We need your personal approval of certain projects and sponsorships. And your signature."

"And a digital signature won't suffice?"

"No, it wouldn't look good if you don't personally speak to the directors and producers. They want a show of confidence from you."

"Ugh." I took off my glasses with one hand and then rubbed the bridge of my nose. How troublesome. "All right, I'll go then. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Make sure you come!" William said, not exactly sternly but I could hear the urgency in his tone. The people wanting to see me tomorrow must be big shots or something. Then again, they had to be, otherwise William wouldn't have given in to their demands to meet me.

A CEO wasn't someone anyone could simply meet at their leisure. I mean, if you wanted to meet me outside my job, as a friend or family or something, then by all means, call me and I would be more than happy to arrange an appointment or a visit. But in a professional capacity? Nah…

Hanging up, I checked my smartphone for any emails. It wouldn't be surprising for William to send me more details in an email rather than over the phone. Having such information in black and white was more beneficial because it was less likely that I would forget when I could read it.

The next day, I showed up at the studio as promised, but I noticed something odd. One of the odd staff, who was responsible for carrying equipment, had his head down. Normally, I wouldn't notice, but the sensors on my glasses picked up something on his person.

"Hmm? What's this?"

Tapping my glasses, I scanned him. The sensory array that I had installed on my glasses displayed an x-ray vision on my lenses, revealing metallic equipment and wires in his jacket. I frowned and magnified the image on my lenses, studying the device.

A…bomb? Some kind of an explosive? Why would the guy be carrying something like that with him?

Perhaps it was equipment for filming. I was aware that several directors used real explosives to create as realistic an effect as possible when filming the stunts or action scenes. So it wasn't strange to see some sort of explosive device.

On the other hand, I couldn't explain the gun that he had holstered under his jacket, at his waist. A real gun, judging from the sensors on my glasses. Why would an odd staff be carrying a gun?

"Hey! You!" I called out to him, but he was already hurrying away. I followed him to the set, or tried to, but William called out to me.

"Trevor! You're finally here! Hurry! They're waiting for you!"

"Give me a second. And call security." I turned to William, looking apologetic. "I just spotted someone suspicious."

"Huh? Someone suspicious? All right, I'll call security."

"Oh, and get some guards to escort the VIPs who came for a visit." Another thought had occurred to me. "I don't know if he's here for them."

I mean, that sort of made sense, right? Why else would a gun-wielding dude be here? I couldn't think of any reason other than him targeting some big, juicy VIPs. It was possible that I was his target, but the fact that he didn't spare a glance my way and completely avoided me had already ruled that out.

No, wait…

"He went into the filming studio." I roughly described the guy. "Wearing a white cap and a brown jacket over a red shirt and sunglasses. Like, who the hell wears sunglasses indoors? Be careful, he's carrying a bomb and a gun."

"Are you sure those aren't props for the movie?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first…but who the hell uses a real gun for a movie prop? Wouldn't you at least use a fake gun? With blanks instead of live ammunition?"

"How do you know it's a real gun with live ammunition?" William asked skeptically. I removed my glasses, tapped a button along the frame and projected a holographic image. The x-ray image was displayed in front of him as clearly as day.

"For some reason, my glasses detected something suspicious on that guy." I had installed a sophisticated artificial intelligence, courtesy of Arthur Qi, which was able to filter out all the usual metallic equipment from everything else and distinguish the real dangers from false alarms. "So I scanned him and did a search, and that's what I found."

William turned pale, already dialing security on his smartphone and shouting orders. While he did so, I rushed toward the studio. He raised his head, his jaw dropping.

"What are you doing?"

"Keeping an eye on him, to make sure he doesn't try anything funny."

Of course he would, which was the whole reason why I had to keep an eye on him in the first place. My hand went to the plasma pistol holstered inside my jacket. Like the guy, I carried a weapon with me. But that was because I had to protect myself from assassins.

I had already been targeted for several assassinations over the last few months, largely thanks to Justin Han. I wasn't going to move around unarmed and vulnerable.

"Hey!" I shouted to the staff, drawing several stares. But the guy in question didn't bother with me. Instead, he proceeded straight toward the actors and actresses.

At my voice, the actors and actresses glanced at me. The director glared at me, annoyed at the interruption. Apparently they were in the middle of filming a scene. He opened his mouth to chide me, but one of the actresses beat him to it.

"Trevor? What are you doing here?"

"Lily?" I had the same question in mind, but I didn't have time to ask it. "No time to explain. Someone suspicious has just entered the premise. I need all of you to evacuate!"

"Someone suspicious?" The director demanded, puzzled. "What do you mean by suspicious?"

"He has a gun and a bomb."

There was a moment of silence, and then everyone screamed and began running in panic. Staff, actors, actresses, producers, directors, props managers, it didn't matter. They began rushing for the exit, looking around in fright.

"Tch."

The suspicious dude clicked his tongue and drew his gun. I saw him approaching Lily, who was one of the few who remained calm and allowed everyone else to evacuate first. He leveled the barrel at her and began to squeeze the trigger.

The bloody bastard! So his target was Lily all along!

Fortunately, I had my eye on him all this time and I was able to draw my plasma pistol and annihilate him in a single shot. The targeting reticule on my glasses locked onto him and I squeezed the trigger. The azure blob of superheated matter vaporized the top half of his body, including his gun, before he could fire a shot.

His legs and waist continued standing for a few moments, as if not realizing that their owner was dead, and then they toppled over, the top part cauterized by the sheer heat.

More screams and shrieks filled the studio. Several of the actors and actresses stared at me in horror.

"Murder!"

"Someone just shot someone!"

"Get me out of here!"

Lowering my plasma pistol, I waited for it to cool down before sliding it back into the holster. Striding over to a stunned Lily, I nodded in her direction.

"Are you all right?"

"Y…yeah. You saved me." Lily must have caught sight of the guy pointing his gun at her before I obliterated him with plasma. She frowned. "Who was that guy? Why was he trying to kill me?"

"I don't know. We'll find out." I glanced up and caught sight of security rushing into the studio, their weapons drawn.

"Calm down! Don't panic!"

The head of security was calling out to the terrified mob, trying to calm them down and get them to leave the studio in an orderly manner. The press of bodies was shoving the poor security staff back as they jostled through the panicking crowd to get to the place.

"Over here." I gestured toward the corpse. Alan Shou and Brad Biao showed up, supposedly shadowing me. Even after the demise of Justin Han, they had remained as my guards. I guess the military couldn't relax unless they know for sure that I was being protected.

"What happened, sir?"

"That bastard tried to murder Lily with a gun." I beamed a holographic recording from my glasses for them to watch. "Find out who this guy is, and why he's after her life."

"Understood." Brad Biao saluted, and he immediately got to work, making phone calls. Alan Shou knelt by the charred remains and checked him for more clues."

"He was carrying a bomb," he remarked, pulling out the traces of the explosives, most of which had been destroyed by plasma. He raised an eyebrow at me. "You're lucky you didn't set it off."

"Yeah, well…plasma." I shrugged. "It'll disintegrate the explosives before they can ignite. This isn't a movie, after all."

"I guess. But next time, please leave this to us instead of rushing in by yourself. Taking care of threats is our job."

"Uh, not that I'm looking down on you, but it was an urgent matter. If I had been a few seconds slower, the bastard would have shot Lily." I gave the half-corpse one last glare, and then turned back to Lily. "We'll find out who he is and who is behind him. And we'll pay back this debt. This, I promise you."