The Sweeper caused a massive uproar in the Villepinte International Military Weapon Exhibition, attracting mass media attention. It filled the headlines and was the talk of the town. Xia Lei, Thunder Horse Organization, Sweeper, Hellbound One-soldier Cannon along with the XL2500 sniper rifle and the Hurricane assault rifle became top searches on the net overnight. The number of “Xia Lei” searches were beating many mainstream celebrities in the process. He was now insanely popular!
That was good news but Xia Lei found it hard to feel glee. There was no call from Dark Mona. Amanda’s satellite phone was out of service and there was no progress on the ransom for Amanda and Park Taeyong’s safety. Their lives were at stake with every passing second! How could he be happy with the problems flooding his life?
“Still no news about it?” Xia Lei asked Yelena. They were the only ones in his office.
Yelena replied, “Don’t worry too much, father is devising a way around this.”
“But what can he do?”
“You must have forgotten that father has five fighters in his hand. I believe that they are already mobilized,” she reminded him.
Five fighters...
“Do you know who those five are?”
Yelena wagged her finger. “Trust me, I’m not trying to keep you in the dark. I really don’t know much about them.”
“Impossible.”
“Nah, it’s not that complex of a situation. I only know a tad bit about the former pig, Yevgeniya. I’m sure you’re aware that Liang Siyao killed her. Her position was replaced but I wasn’t told by whom.”
“What about the other four? The snake, rat, monkey and rabbit?”
She explained, “Well, they hardly move with us but I do know that father assigns them the harder missions.”
“Can you tell me everything you know?” Xia Lei was hopeful.
“Alright.” Yelena sighed before she went on. “The rat is Japanese and an expert in stealth, assassination, and poison. An extremely dangerous assassin.”
“Is he a ninja?”
“I guess you could say so. Her name is Tsukino Kyoko.”
“It’s a she?”
“Are you surprised? Perhaps she might be a beauty,” said Yelena.
“...”
“The monkey is an Indian man named Anjum Khan. He’s a sharpshooter. The rabbit is Iraqi and his name is Sa’im al-Majid al-Tikriti but you could just refer to him as Sa’im. He’s an intelligence expert, essentially father’s eyes and ears. A lot of the information I provided you before was from him. The snake…” Yelena paused. “Sorry, I don’t know anything about him. He’s the most mysterious member of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team. I’ve never heard of his name nor seen him before.”
Those were all Xia Lei needed to piece an impression of the remaining four members.
Each of them had attributes that aligned with the characteristics of their respective animal.
India’s Anjum Khan, the monkey, was agile and a remarkable sharpshooter.
The rabbit, Sa’im, could be considered the backbone of the team due to his duty as the intelligence expert. Rabbit senses were especially sensitive, which made sense for him to be coined the position.
Tsukino Kyoko, the rat, was stealthy and excellent in things that could be considered “shady business”.
The identity of the pig remains unknown.
The snake remained the most mysterious member of the team as not even Yelena had encountered him before.
“Don’t tell father I told you these. He mentioned that he wasn’t planning on revealing much to you yet,” warned Yelena.
Xia Lei smiled, “Alright. Honestly, I don’t see how it’ll affect anything but since you told me so, I won’t utter a single word about this.”
“If Amanda and Taeyong knew you were paying fifty million USD for their ransom, they would be beyond moved.” Yelena looked at Xia Lei with a straight face. “If I happen to fall into their hands someday, would you come to my rescue with that amount too?”
“Of course, but I don’t wish for anyone to get captured by the FA Organization again,” replied Xia Lei.
Yelena sighed and mumbled, “The death of Marcus and Bagu had us short of two members. While there is a replacement for the pig, who would come fill in their absence?”
Inexplicably, the images of Qin Xiang and Lu Sheng appeared in Xia Lei’s mind. Qin Xiang was a very skilled thief with great agility. Perhaps she would be a great fit for the goat’s position. On the other hand, Lu Sheng was a martial artist, seemingly the most suitable person to take over Marcus’s spot. The man also had attributes that aligned with the ox. Sadly, this thought shall remain a thought, Xia Lei couldn’t bear to see them lead such dangerous lives.
Footsteps were heard approaching the door and soon enough, Liang Siyao had appeared at the entrance.
Yelena announced, “Director Xia, I’ll excuse myself now.”
“Alright,” Xia Lei replied.
The two women walked in opposite directions, one was heading to the exit while the other was venturing deeper into the office. As their shoulders brushed against each other, they gave the other a look through the corner of their eyes but not a single word was uttered. Yelena’s glance was filled with malice.
“I don’t think she likes me very much,” commented Liang Siyao as soon as the other female was out of sight.
It was only natural for Yelena to despise Liang Siyao. She was the one who killed Yevgeniya after all. The knowledge was something Xia Lei had to keep hush from her. “Don’t mind her, she doesn’t have the best temper. Come, take a seat, what would you like to drink?”
Liang Siyao gave a small smile and replied, “Tomato spare ribs soup.”
Xia Lei laughed, “Sorry, I only have tea, wine, and coffee here. If you really wanted to have soup, why didn’t you make it at home? There’s no soup in my office.”
Her gaze had a hint of resentment. “Do you remember how you would cook for me back then? I loved the tomato spare ribs soup you made. You were so nice to me. What happened?”
Of course, he remembered those days but the thought of it had his heart clenched. If it wasn’t for her betrayal, their child would probably be crawling about now. What was she trying to achieve by bringing that up? It was a lost cause with no chance for redemption.
“I… I was joking, I’m not thirsty.” Liang Siyao switched the topic. “I’m here to talk about it.”
Xia Lei immediately knew what she was referring to. “What did you find out?”
The female turned around to check for any unwanted presence and then her gaze settled on his relaxation room. “Let’s go in there to talk about this.”
“Well, my office…” Xia Lei wanted to keep the conversation in his office but Liang Siyao had already left her seat and started walking to his relaxation room. Seeing this, he could only muster up a wobbly smile before following suit.
A faint fragrance floated about the relaxation room. It wasn’t perfume yet it wasn’t the air freshener. It was akin to olive oil. The interior was a total mess too, the sheets on the bed were crumpled. A stray slipper here and there, scattered magazines on a messy table, the whole place was really untidy.
“It looks like a pigsty.” Liang Siyao sniffed the air, confused by the smell. “What is this smell?”
It was Fan Fan’s antidote.
There’s no way Xia Lei would reveal it. “I had some cold noodles here last night, that must be what you’re smelling.”
“Ugh, I can’t stand it. I’m just going to clean this for you.” She started to pick up stray objects.
“No need, I’ll just have the cleaner take care of it later,” mumbled Xia Lei awkwardly.
That, however, didn’t stop Liang Siyao at all. She arranged the magazines on the table into a neat stack before reuniting the slippers and placing it underneath the bed. Lastly, she grabbed the edges of the blanket and fluffed it out before a pair of lacey panties flew into the air.
The unassuming garment was launched into the air before it lightly touches the ground. The two had their eyes glued to it, one was nervous while the other was less so.
“Whose panties are those?” Liang Siyao averted her gaze from the underwear to Xia Lei.
Xia Lei shook his head with an unreadable expression. “I don’t know.”
“This is your bed. How could you not know who left their underwear here? “
Xia Lei was most aware of its owner. Fan Fan was the last woman who slept here… but he didn’t expect her to leave her underwear in his sheets! He screamed internally, cursing the damn woman. How could she not know what she was lacking when she left?
“Nevermind.” Liang Siyao said gloomily while giving him a wobbly smile. “Who am I to you? I have no right to judge your private life.”
Xia Lei didn’t know what to say.
“It’s fine if you don’t know whose it was. I’ll just toss it away for you,” said Liang Siyao as she bent down.
A thought intruded Xia Lei’s mind. He quickly strode forward to snatch the underwear then he proceeded to aim it out of the window.
If Liang Siyao had her hands on it, there was a good seventy percent chance that she would run a DNA test on it. All chaos would ensue if she ever found out that it belonged to Fan Fan.
“You…” she glared directly into Xia Lei’s eyes.
Xia Lei shrugged. “See, everything’s settled. Didn’t you want to tell me something? Let’s dive right into it!”
Suddenly, a loud, piercing scream could be heard from beneath. “Hey! Who the fuck threw this filthy piece of shit on my head?! You better own up or I’ll beat the shit out of you!”
It was Qin Xiang’s voice.
“...”
Liang Siyao wanted to laugh but she could only feel bitterness. There was a silent pause before she uttered, “I found some crucial clues.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I don’t think it was the Tang Family who betrayed you and Tang Yuyan. Friends or family are also very unlikely. Your deaths will not be beneficial to them. The Tang Family is eager for you to marry Tang Yuyan, so your death would only counter that. Other than that, I don’t even need to suspect the people around you, harming you would do no good for them. Therefore, the more someone could benefit from your death, the more likely they are to be the culprit.”
Who would benefit the most from his death?
Xia Lei didn’t even need to think much for an answer.
“You got it?”
Xia Lei returned a nod. “Is there any evidence to support this?”
“Sadly, no.” Liang Siyao continued, “But I watched the CCTV footage on the day of your return. I saw Yu Shanhe standing still at the door for two whole minutes before he left.”
“Two whole minutes?”
“Yeah, he was reading the agreement and that was the clue. He would definitely know its contents and there were no physical amendments to it, you didn’t sign it. So there’s only one possibility. He was eavesdropping your conversation with Boss Shi. Try to recall, did Boss Shi talk to you about your mission in the West province?”
Memories of that day flashed through his mind, he then nodded.
“Even if he had gotten something out of your conversation, Yu Shanhe is not the type of person who would leak such valuable intel out carelessly. That’s why I ran a deeper search on his underlings and I found someone suspicious.”
“Who?”
“Song Baicheng,” she answered.
“On the day you left with Tang Yuyan, he visited a Japanese restaurant. Weirdly, I couldn’t get my hands on the premise’s CCTV footage.”
Xia Lei pondered. “I think it’s best to not involve yourself further in this matter. Song Baicheng would be easy to handle but Ling Han and Yu Shanhe’s possible involvement would make the whole situation messier. I’ll manage from this point onwards.”
“Could it be that you’re… worried about me?” Liang Siyao’s gaze was hopeful.
Did the black lace panties affect her? She was not a tad bit bothered.
Xia Lei was speechless.
He could design the world’s most advanced infantry fighting vehicle but he couldn’t create an ideal love life for himself.