It was Sa’im.
“Sa’im, it’s me. Speak,” said Xia Lei.
“Boss, I finally found something worth reporting.” Sa’im’s voice rang through the device. “The six faceless warrior statues have been sent into Area 51. The American government had launched a new study. Project Shepherd. The man in charge is Eric, who so happens to be the head researcher in the AE research facility. Other than that, I also received some non-rectifiable news. It seems that the AE Research Centre is planning to dissolve the statues to extract some sort of material.”
The information he brought was vital!
The main reason why Xia Lei had sent Sa’im and Qian Jun to America was to investigate what the country was planning to do with the six faceless warrior statues. Zhu Xuanyue’s whereabouts were supposed to be somewhat of a side-gig. It seemed that Sa’im had managed to reel in something big.
Xia Lei forcefully suppressed his bubbling emotions. “Do you know what the extraction is for?”
Sa’im answered, “Project Shepherd is currently a top-secret agenda. This is as much as I can find out about it.”
Xia Lei slipped into an abyss of thoughts.
He just found out that Zhu Xuanyue was trying to devise a method to breach Area 51. Now Sa’im had reached out with news that the Americans were trying to extract something from the six faceless warrior statues. While he had no clue what they were after, he could confirm that Zhu Xuanyue wished to enter Area 51 and was after the six faceless warrior statues.
It was something even Zhu Xuanyue desired. What exactly could be hidden inside?
Xia Lei was perplexed. “How’re things in Area 51?”
Sa’im huffed exasperatedly. “Boss, it’s Area 51 we’re talking about. That place is America’s black box. There are even rumours that they study aliens in that facility. They have the world’s best security. Even our human face masks won’t do the trick.”
Xia Lei entertained the thought. “Where are you and Qian Jun at currently?”
“Las Vegas, Nevada.” Sa’im went on, “Qian Jun just came over from Mexico. He has been laying low there for a while now. Do you wish to speak to him?”
“It’s alright. No need.”
“So uh… Boss, the woman you asked us to investigate…” Regret was laced in his tone. “I couldn’t find anything about her.”
Xia Lei reassured him. “It’s alright. Giovanna and the girls have managed to find something.”
“Eh? Wow! They’re good!” Sa’im chuckled. “I heard from Qian Jun that the Relief Society under the female knights’ leadership was the main reason behind his successful assassination. The Relief Society is a real asset.”
But to Xia Lei, while it was undeniable that the Relief Society was highly functional, it had its own limits. Searching for someone and spying for lower classified information was their forte. However, Sa’im’s intelligence network was a more viable option when it came to higher classified information. After all, the Relief Society was formed by members of the lower level of society. The environment and characters that they come in contact with were vastly different from Sa’im’s informants. All in all, they both had their own advantages that could compensate for each other.
Xia Lei uttered, “Remember, the Relief Society is on our side. If you should require any assistance, please feel free to contact them.”
“Got it, boss. So do we return to China or continue spying around in Las Vegas?” Sa’im asked.
“Stay there for the time being. I might come over to take a look myself,” answered Xia Lei.
“You’re coming over? Hehe! I knew you wouldn’t lay dormant for too long. I’ll make relevant preparations for your arrival.”
“Alright, that’s all. I’ll be in touch soon.” Xia Lei ended the call.
Giovanna stared at him. “Boss, are you sure you’re going to Las Vegas?”
Xia Lei returned the gaze. “I need to think this through.”
Giovanna hummed. “If you decide to head there, we can move to Mexico first and enter America from their borders. We’ve got a church and siblings in Mexico too. This is really something very convenient, there’s no need for Sa’im to do any preparation.”
Something clicked in Xia Lei’s mind. “Is the Relief Society’s channel safe?”
“Yes, it is,” answered Theresa firmly.
“What about the members? After all, you haven’t met most of the members.” Xia Lei had his own concerns.
Theresa said, “Those who have faith are different from those who don’t. Boss, I assure you that all of our brothers and sisters can be trusted. Just trust them like how you trust us.”
Xia Lei flashed her a smile. “But I’m an atheist, I don’t practise any religion.”
Theresa rebuked, “You’re the son of God.”
Xia Lei let out a chuckle. “Jeez, you’re so good with words that I have nothing left to say. You all should head back first. I’ll tell you once I made my decision.”
Moments later, the Haval H9 off-road vehicle left the gates of the Army Hospital. Xia Lei entered its pristine premise and began to ponder his choices.
From his perspective, he had the violent urge to find out more about what the Americans were after from the six faceless warrior statues. The man also had a strong wish to meet Zhu Xuanyue so he could explain that he wasn’t involved with the black-robed man. He didn’t want another enemy of that calibre.
The two points alone had made his journey to Las Vegas almost inevitable.
However, there were also two issues that would threaten him. The first problem was the Americans. Their government was in such desperation to kill him that if his tracks were exposed, he’d be faced with a nationwide hunt! The second problem was Zhu Xuanyue. She had misunderstood that he and the black-robed man had teamed up to harm her. If she attacked him as soon as they were reunited, his life would be in danger!
These were things that could not be solved. How would he dare to depart to Las Vegas without hesitation?
“Lei Zi, are you in trouble again?” Qin Xiang asked him in the hospital corridor.
Xia Lei replied coolly, “No, nothing’s bothering me. Keep your nose out of my hair.”
Qin Xiang scoffed, “Oh, come on. I can tell with a glance that you’re burdened with something. But I can’t help much with the things you’re up to now. If there is anything that I can help you with, please reach out to me. I’m willing to go to hell and back for you!”
“You’re such a bro.” Xia Lei patted Qin Xiang’s shoulder. “Could you be a darling and bring me my laptop? It’s in the Peace Mansion and I don’t think I’m in any state to leave.”
Xia Lei rolled his eyes at Qin Xiang. “Look at you. You made a loud promise but you’re not willing to do a simple task?”
“Fuck you.” Qin Xiang glared at him and turned around.
Xia Lei sighed as his thoughts echoed in his heart, “I’m not trying to keep you out of this but I’m dealing with matters of life and death. You still have a mother to look after. How could I bear to endanger your life? Simple jobs like this would have to suffice.”
Returning to the ward, the four women immediately wanted to learn more about the situation. He merely told them about how the four female knights were building churches all across the globe and helping those in need. He did not mention a single word about anything else. He didn’t want to burden them with worry. The four women too did not press the issue further, opting to play with their newborns and chat about mundane things. For a moment, things felt alright.
A smile plastered to his face, Xia Lei’s heart was secretly plagued by unease and melancholy. His wives had no idea he was left with less than two years to live. Seeing how well things were going for his happy little family had only filled him with more sadness every day. He could not bear to imagine how Fan Fan, Liang Siyao, Long Bing and Jiang Ruyi would feel after they lost him.
One hour later, Qin Xiang was back with his laptop.
Xia Lei immediately went to work on the ward’s sofa after waving Qin Xiang off. Balancing the sturdy laptop on his lap, his ten fingers began to a fiery dance atop the keyboard.
On the bed, Fan Fan pointed to Xia Lei and talked to Xia Fan. “Darling, look at your papa. What is he doing? He’s using the computer. Look at how cool your papa is! He’s the quickest typer mama has ever seen.”
Surprisingly, Xia Fan's eyes did follow the direction of her finger. “Yaya… ya… pa… pa.”
“Huh?” Fan Fan squealed out of the blue. “Hubby, our daughter said ‘papa’!”
Xia Lei did not spare them his attention. Gaze still trained on the screen, he mumbled back, “Are you sure you’re not imagining things? She is only a few hours old, how is that possible?”
“Papa… papa…” Xia Fan called again.
Fan Fan pouted. “Your daughter is really calling you. You can’t expect a baby’s pronunciation to be spot on. Are you not going to praise her or encourage her? What are you doing anyway?”
“Yeah. Hubby, what are you up to?” Liang Siyao joined in. “Even I could hear Xia Fan saying it.”
“I’m attacking the White House,” replied Xia Lei nonchalantly.
“Pfft!” Caught by shock in the middle of gulping down water, Long Bing unceremoniously spat it all out.
Xia Lei still hadn’t lifted his head. His eyes were still glued to the laptop. The entire room was filled with the pitter-patter of the keyboard that sounded a lot like a heavy storm.
“Cough cough.” Long Bing cleared her throat. “Hubby, why are you attacking the White House for no reason? This isn’t something to joke about!”
Xia Lei smiled. “I’m trying to create some issues for the current owner.”
Liang Siyao rolled her eyes at him. “Since you’re so bored, how about you come over and help me pump out some milk? There’s too much in my boobs, it’s so swollen.”
Xia Lei was silent.
A few seconds later, his fingers came to an abrupt halt.
He had entered the White House’s system and found out something. They had incorporated the Tenshin system!
He bit down his gasps. “The CIA headquarters have the Tenshin system and the White House also has the Tenshin system. I wonder if Area 51 has it too. If they’re using the AI system, then Tenshin would be America’s largest AI system. As long as I can find its weakness, I’m bound to find out more about Project Shepherd!”
Noticing Xia Lei’s furrowed brow, Liang Siyao stopped her teasing. His other wives too left him alone. He had his worries and they had theirs.
As tranquillity reclaimed the room, an idea manifested in Xia Lei’s mind. He quickly opened the stock market application and checked the statuses of his four accounts.
At yesterday’s closing, the total in his accounts had reached over 30.11 billion USD. The one billion he gave the female knights had already been made back. Vientiane Group’s shares had also recovered to its original form with his assistance. The American stock market claimed to be the world’s most complete share market. But in the eyes of a hacker like him, it was merely an ATM machine.
“30 billion USD is not enough to shake the market. The most I can do with that amount will be attacking a few American corporations. But the CIA would be alerted if I try to give the sum away, right?” Suddenly, a cold smirk appeared on Xia Lei’s lips.