Five hours later, in Matamoros City, Mexico, the Landrover Defender was parked on the roadside while Xia Lei enjoyed his breakfast. He was busy checking up on his accounts on the stock market.
His accounts had suffered some loss in the stock market. As of yesterday’s closing, the four accounts had suffered a total loss of four hundred thousand dollars. The numerical loss seemed hefty but in terms of their forty million dollar principal, the loss was only one per cent. It was no big deal.
“I’ll have them grow at a terrifying rate as soon as I get back.” Xia Lei folded his laptop, letting a smirk loose on the edge of his lips.
If he wanted money, he was going to get it. His brain worked like a computer, able to analyse and compute things with great efficacy. Any share market that he targeted, he would know its future direction within a minute or two. However, this was not his only advantage. Xia Lei’s other unsurpassable advantage was his super hacking skills. He could obtain insider news through hacking, especially into those companies that stored this information on their servers. This would allow him to access business secrets.
Combining all three advantages, he would become the Buffett and Soros of the East! As long as he wanted it, he’d get it. The man was bound to surpass beyond the top two stock gods in the world!
Stowing his laptop away, Xia Lei checked the time. It was past the agreed five-hour interval but the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team had yet to contact him. But as he prepared to dial for Sa’im, a petite yet voluptuous Asian woman walked towards his direction through the walkway. At a glance, she was a stranger but her body felt familiar to his eyes.
Xia Lei’s left eye twitched slightly and the X-ray vision was activated. From that, he saw her real face. The recognition brought a smile to his face, it was Tsukino Kyoko!
Xia Lei could tell it was her through her human face mask but Tsukino Kyoko did not share his ability. She overshot the stationary Land Rover, only sparing a glance at its driver briefly in the process.
But as the man tried to call out to her, she made an abrupt reverse and rapped on the glass window lightly.
Xia Lei rolled down his window and saw the device in her grip. The screen had shown a blinking red signal and he immediately knew she had tracked him here. Though Tsukino did not see his face, his location could be pinpointed upon activation of his satellite phone. No matter what face he donned and where he was, as long as his satellite phone was turnedon, the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members would be able to locate him.
Tsukino Kyoko stared at Xia Lei carefully. Silently, she pulled the door open and entered his car. It was clear that she had confidently identified him.
“Where are they now?” Xia Lei initiated the conversation.
She replied, “They’re waiting at a dock along the Gulf of Mexico. Drive, this place is not safe. We need to leave as soon as possible.”
Xia Lei ignited its engine and began to drive towards the Gulf of Mexico.
“In your absence, a few things had happened,” said Tsukino Kyoko.
“What happened?”
“Hattori Mei had returned to Japan and an American named Thompson had taken over Lockheed Martin as the new CEO. Though he was announced to be a temporary replacement, he would be given the official position should his performance be up to par. “
Thompon… What a familiar name. Xia Lei could remember that the man held a relatively high position in Lockheed Martin and was in charge of some kind of team that Jack had tried his darndest to enter. The poor man had made it to its doorstep but died shortly after. Thompson was someone Xia Lei had not met before, so he wasn’t too sure about him.
Tsukino Kyoko continued, “Other than that, we received word that your father has appeared in Jerusalem.”
“My father?” Xia Lei was shocked. “What is he doing in Jerusalem?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He had only appeared once and gone off the radar.”
Xia Lei spiralled into deep thought. “Father left China to avoid interrogation about the AE capsules. Under normal circumstances, he should go into hiding. Why is he in Jerusalem? That place is not safe for him at all.”
Xia Lei just couldn’t wrap his head around it.
“There’s also a new intel. A drone attack had taken place in the desert fifty kilometres north of Tuscan City, Jalisco. Apparently, a drone from the American army had destroyed a village into rubles.” Tsukino Kyoko turned to look at Xia Lei. “Boss, did you do that?”
Xia Lei answered, “That was not a village. I bombed the FA headquarters. That drone, Predator B, was made specially as a collaborative effort between four of America’s top arms dealers. The original plan for the drone was to assassinate me and destroy Thunder Horse’s Jingdu headquarter. I didn’t want that to happen so I stole the drone and blasted the FA.”
Though his words were uttered with nonchalance, Tsukino Kyoko couldn’t help but gape in shock.
“And Lockheed Martin’s ex-CEO, Folsom… I was the one who killed her,” admitted Xia Lei.
To be honest, Folsom was killed by Zhu Xuanyue. But that woman was not supposed to have existed. Who else could take up the mantle as her scapegoat?
Tsukino Kyoko heaved a long sigh. “When we heard of her death, we guessed that you were behind it. But we didn’t dare to enter America without your orders, fearing that it may interfere with your plans.”
“You were right to not come.” Xia Lei said nothing else.
Truthfully, it wasn’t for that little devil, Xia Lei wouldn’t have the courage to travel to America. After Folsom’s unplanned death and Zhu Xuanyue’s disappearance, Xia Lei could only push on alone to complete everything else.
A palm landed on Xia Lei’s shoulder and a pat was given. “You’re the strongest person that I’ve ever encountered.”
But her pats had made Xia Lei crack his lips open, prompting him to inhale sharply with a wince.
“You’re injured?” Tsukino Kyoko was concerned.
Xia Lei replied, “It’s nothing. I haven't got the time to tend to it, I’ll dress it when we reach the dock.”
Tsukino Kyoko forced his collar down and immediately found a wooden splinter stabbed into his shoulder blade. The sight made her scowl. “Here, let me help you with it.”
“Uh…”The thought of taking care of his wounds now had never crossed his mind.
Before Xia Lei could even sound his consent, Tsukino clamped down on the wooden splinter and pulled it upwards. The foreign object left his flesh, eliciting a loud groan from Xia Lei.
“I just praised you for being the strongest man in the world and yet you’re already groaning over such a teensy injury?” Tsukino’s eyes were filled with doubt.
That earned a sheepish smile from him. “Alright, you can help me dress it if you please. The embedded wooden shards in my flesh are really uncomfortable.”
At this moment, Tsukino Kyoko’s head closed in abruptly to latch her lips onto his shoulder blade. Her lips covered the span of the wound and Tsukino began to suck it.
“You…” Xia Lei was inexplicably nervous.
“There are contaminants in your wound, the blood must be let out. Yeah, saliva is an antiseptic to a certain extent.” Tsukino explained with a straight face. Following that, she used an arm to lift the hem of his jacket and grabbed onto another wooden splinter.
Half an hour later, Tsukino was finally done with all of Xia Lei’s wounds. Vivid red kiss marks were littered across his body but it had resulted from her lipstick, his blood had dyed her cherry lips red.
The car soon arrived at the dock.
Xia Lei found a yacht ahead and five standing figures on its deck. They were Sa’im, Anjum Khan, E’er Demutu, Yelena and Alessio. They were all wearing human face masks but Xia Lei was able to identify them with his X-ray vision.
The five members on deck along with the woman beside him was the entirety of his current deployable members. The pig was Liang Siyao, so there was no way he would assign her with a dangerous mission. Currently, her most important task was to birth his child safely. The four female knights, on the other hand, were still busy with building their church and the expansion of their team. As long as he gave them more time, the knights would surely become strong assistants to him.
“Let’s go home,” said Xia Lei.
And a few minutes later, the yacht was seen leaving the dock towards the east.