Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Mr. He, do you need a tool?” Little A craned his neck to peer over from behind He Zhichu’s back. He could tell that He Zhichu wanted to assemble something. Maybe it was a gun? Or maybe it was a computer?
He Zhichu didn’t answer him as his clean, slender fingers picked up all sorts of parts with familiarity and quickly assembled them. He didn’t use any tools, nor did he need to reference any blueprints. It was like this thing was already imprinted in his head, and the familiar movements flowed from his fingertips. All the parts to this object also fit together perfectly. Just like the furniture that didn’t require nails from the oldest Hua Xia Imperial legends, the structure itself was self-contained so all the parts were designed to go together using the best principles of mechanics. In less than one minute, there was a quiet click, and He Zhichu’s left thumb pressed upwards as a somewhat strange-looking gun appeared. It looked like an anti-material rifle that had been cut in half, yet the diameter of the barrel and scope was larger than a usual anti-material rifle.
Little A was a weapons fanatic, so his eyes bulged as soon as he glimpsed this strange-looking gun. Blood flooded to his face instantly, and his breathing quickened so much he could even hear the sound of blood pounding against his eardrums. This was the salivating look of a glutton seeing the most delicious food in the world, or a playboy seeing the most beautiful woman in the world. He Zhichu turned to glance at him and threw the newly assembled gun with one hand to Little A. “Look at it yourself.”
Little A’s hands trembled as he cradled the gun He Zhichu had thrown at him. He hugged it and flipped it over and over again to study. As he measured it with his hand, he muttered, “The length is 60 centimeters, and it weighs about five kilograms. The caliber is 40 millimeters. The scope on top…” As Little A spoke, he couldn’t help lifting the gun up and propping it on his arm so he could squint his left eye close to the scope that was the size of a magazine. “Wtf! This is a scope?! This is clearly a small smart computer?!” Little A raised the gun with excitement and ran around the room. “This is a scope combining a laser rangefinder and a smart computer! This is an XM-40 grenade gun?! Where’d you get this from? The US military’s weapons laboratory has only begun testing XM-25 grenade guns, so how’d you get a XM-40 grenade gun?! I think I can go to heaven now!” Raising the gun, he really began to run around the room and laughed loudly like a child. He didn’t look like the leader of the Whitewater Security Company’s action team that had the most kills of all.
He Zhichu put a hand in his pants pocket as his gaze followed the gun closely. He replied icily, “This is the XM-40-CDTE system, and we call it the ‘single soldier semi-automatic magnetic storm system’–which is also called the XM-40 magnetic storm grenade gun. Give it to me.” He Zhichu spread his palms at Little A. “Let me demonstrate for you.”
Little A hugged the gun tightly and retreated a step with an insistent shake of his head. “No! You can’t demonstrate it here!”
“I’m only showing you, not actually shooting it. What are you afraid of?” He Zhichu snickered as he walked beside Little A to push and pull him with one hand. Somehow, the gun moved from Little A’s hands to He Zhichu’s. Little A saw that he was now empty handed, then glanced at the gun He Zhichu was holding, so he fearfully moved back towards the door.
He Zhichu didn’t even look at him as he held the gun with one hand and stuffed a box of bullets inside with the other. He raised the gun up to aim in the direction of the door. Little A could feel the hairs rise at the back of his neck like he was being targeted by some unnamed beast, so he shuddered uncontrollably.
He Zhichu raised the gun and looked at the position of Little’s A heart through the scope. His hand swiped the cursor on the scope, and the crosshairs began to search for the target with vital signs according to the principles of thermal synthesis. Gradually, the complete hologram of Little A’s body appeared in the cross-shaped field of view in the scope. He could see the shape of Little A’s heart as well as all the blood and bones in his body. Everything was in complete view of his scope. “This gun not only has lethality that could rival a small laser cannon, but it can also disable all electromagnetic and short-wave radio communication within ten miles. It also has the special ability of blocking counterfactual quantum communication with one bullet.” He Zhichu’s voice was cold and harsh, and the icy expression in his shimmery, sultry eyes was very cold-blooded.
Little A was completely at a loss when he heard that. Though he called himself the weapon expert in the Whitewater Security Company, he had never seen or even heard of He Zhichu’s gun! One bullet could disable all electromagnetic and short-wave radio communication within ten miles, which meant that it could interfere with all network signals. Simply stated, one bullet could disable the internet and electricity!!! Also, what the hell was “counterfactual quantum communication?!” This was clearly something that still needed to be theoretically demonstrated in the laboratory, so even the prototype hadn’t been created yet. How could He Zhichu possess a weapon that could block it?! Little A’s eyes couldn’t help but flicker with a look of greed.
He Zhichu turned to look at him and snapped coldly, “Don’t even think about it. This is not something you can covet.”
Little A wiped his face and lunged over shamelessly. He pulled at He Zhichu’s arm and half knelt on the ground to beg. “Mr. He, I won’t covet your gun, but you must give me a low-spec version of this gun!” Little A understood that he couldn’t handle or dare to accept such a high-spec type, and if He Zhichu actually gave him one, he would either have to surrender it to the company or be on the run for the rest of his life… So he only wanted a low-spec version of the XM system to satiate his cravings.
He Zhichu saw that he was being wise, so he nodded and took out a dusting cloth from his pocket to carefully wipe the barrel and scope. He said expressionlessly, “As long as you can help me complete the request this time, I will give you two low-spec versions. XM-25-CDTE systems and 100 magnetic storm bullets.”
“Deal!” Little A was totally convinced by He Zhichu now. In order to achieve his goal, He Zhichu clearly understood what it meant to “suit one’s fancy.” For someone like Little A, money alone wasn’t enough to make him fully willing to risk his life. When He Zhichu put the gun away, Little A’s attitude was much more proper than before. Not only did he proactively analyze the terrain, but he also provided many countermeasures and took the initiative to immediately complete the deployment that day.
He Zhichu sat down and draped one hand on the XM-40 as he said leisurely, “You only have one night’s time as well. Tomorrow morning, this place is sure to be under martial law.”
“You can rest assured, I will certainly place all the weapons in position before martial law begins tomorrow!” Although Little A spoke to He Zhichu, his eyes never left the gun in He Zhichu’s hand.
“Go. Go, then. I’ll await your good news.” He Zhichu raised a brow and lifted the gun up to encourage Little A.
Little A felt many emotions at that moment: excitement, envy, jealousy, and hatred!
…
Early the next morning, He Zhichu had breakfast and dismantled the gun to place into his briefcase. The gun was made from a very special metal, so its internal structure was close to plastic, even though it wasn’t actually plastic. The current existing metal detectors in the United States could not detect its existence, so He Zhichu could take it with him everywhere, including the courthouse. Security was very stringent in American courthouses, so people entering not only needed to go through inspection by the metal detector, but even their cell phones needed to be stored in cabinets outside the courtroom and could not be brought inside. Early in the morning, He Zhichu took Smith and Ye Xuan, as well as four bodyguards from the Whitewater Security Company wearing sunglasses, to the Supreme Court.
Today the judge from the Utah State Supreme Court was there to hear the case of Ye Xuan allegedly committing arson and murdering the entire Vanderbilt family. The sheriff who had personally arrested Ye Xuan would be appearing as a witness of the prosecutor to testify in court. He actually didn’t want to come because the municipal government had assigned another security duty to him. But the judge requested that he must be present and also warned him that if he wasn’t present that the prosecution would be missing a key witness. This could result in Ye Xuan being directly acquitted and released. The sheriff was very unhappy to learn of this. He had to go! So early that morning, he wore a new police officer’s uniform and energetically appeared in the witness stand inside the courtroom.
The case was being heard by the judge from the Supreme Court, and because the situation was an emergency, He Zhichu agreed to the law courts using a computer to randomly select a jury without protest. If they had enough time, the jurors were typically selected by the defendant’s lawyer. But because they didn’t have much time now, and He Zhichu also didn’t care about who was in the jury, he took emergency measures. Sitting down in the courtroom, He Zhichu saw that there were six people sitting in the jury—three curious looking women and three solemn looking men. He turned to look at him and raised his head slightly out of respect. His alluring, sultry eyes sparkled with amusement to instantly make others feel good.
Afterwards, Ye Xuan sat down in the defendant’s stand wearing a custom-made black Armani suit. He appeared handsome and tall in the suit, and was nearly as tall as He Zhichu. The two men stood together like they had splendid prospects.This instantly contrasted with the prosecution’s side, which consisted of the short and fat prosecutor, and the even fatter sheriff who was a witness. The female jurors who enjoyed looking at faces instantly leaned towards the defendant’s side. The dismissive male jurors instantly wrote a big “X” next to Ye Xuan’s name in their heads. The judge had long been accustomed to the lurking forces between the jurors. Banging his gavel, he signaled that court was in session.
First, the prosecutor began questioning the witness. The witnesses he summoned were the Vanderbilt family’s housekeeper, cook, and a neighbor from the Vanderbilt’s neighborhood. Lastly, the final witness was the sheriff.
“Mr. Housekeeper, do you know the person who committed arson that day?” The prosecutor cut to the chase and didn’t hide his intentions at all.
He Zhichu immediately raised his hand. “Objection. The prosecutor is using directional statements to cause negative influence on my client.”
“Objection sustained.” The judge was solemn as he looked at the nearly-retired prosecutor. “Please pay attention to your words and actions.”
The prosecutor didn’t back down at at all but said to the judge loudly, “This is the testimony from the witness. I was merely repeating the witness’s testimony.”
“Prosecutor, you are a prosecutor and not a phonograph. If repeating the witness’s testimony can result in the verdict, then why do we need a judge? Why do we need a jury? Also, what does your brain even do?” He Zhichu didn’t hesitate to ridicule him.
“Objection! The defendant’s lawyer is making personal insults!” The nearly-retired prosecutor grew even more agitated. Almost no one in the judicial department of Little Rock Canyon wanted to act as the prosecutor of this case because they knew that He Zhichu was Ye Xuan’s defense lawyer, so they all thought they couldn’t afford to mess with him and that winning against him would be basically impossible. Finally, this case had been foisted upon a nearly-retired prosecutor. He was about to retire anyway, so it didn’t matter if he offended He Zhichu or lost the case. His government pension wouldn’t be affected by this, and his professional career was about to end, so there would be no real impact on him.
“I was merely stating the facts, and if you don’t accept it, then I won’t retract it, either.” He Zhichu’s stance was very firm. “I ask the prosecutor to not get entangled in the minor details. Your personal dignity is not as important as this case, because the spirits of the entire Vanderbilt family are in heaven and still waiting for you to find the true killer and bring them justice.”
