Chapter 329: Africa
Qin Hao’s greatest fear slowly disappeared.
Because she didn’t leave.
. . .
North Africa.
The following morning.
Shen Tian woke inside the secured compound.
Not because of an attack.
Not because of Xu Ning.
Because someone knocked.
Three times.
Shen Tian opened his eyes.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Rose entered.
Two cups of coffee.
She stopped.
Shen Tian was shirtless.
Silence.
Rose’s eyes immediately moved.
Chest.
Shoulders.
Abs.
Then...
She froze.
Her entire face turned red.
Shen Tian looked at her.
"Morning."
Rose stared.
Then...
Turned around.
Immediately.
"Put a shirt on."
Shen Tian raised an eyebrow.
"You came into my room."
"I knocked."
"And I said come in."
"I assumed you were dressed."
"Why?"
Rose stared at the wall.
"Because normal people wear clothes."
"While sleeping?"
"Some."
"Do you?"
Silence.
Her ears turned red.
Shen Tian smiled.
Rose heard it.
"Don’t."
"What?"
"That smile."
"You can’t see me."
"I can hear it."
Shen Tian laughed.
Then...
He put on a shirt.
"Done."
Rose turned.
Slowly.
Then...
Looked at him.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You did that intentionally."
"I was asleep."
"Suspicious."
She handed him the coffee.
Their fingers touched.
Rose’s cheeks warmed again.
Shen Tian noticed.
"So..."
She immediately stepped back.
"No."
He smiled.
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were going to."
"Maybe."
Rose sighed.
Then...
Her expression became serious.
"We found something."
Shen Tian took a sip.
"What?"
"Argent Shield."
That got his attention.
Rose placed a tablet on the table.
Satellite images.
Convoy routes.
Financial transfers.
Weapon manifests.
She continued.
"They aren’t just working in the region."
"They’re building something."
"Where?"
"Southwest."
She enlarged the map.
An abandoned military installation.
Old underground bunker system.
Approximately two hundred kilometers away.
Ghost entered behind her.
"Intercepted traffic mentions Project Fenrir."
Shen Tian’s expression changed slightly.
"Wolf."
Rose nodded.
"Exactly."
Xu Ning appeared.
[Lu Chen route.]
A system panel opened.
Residual Fate Thread Detected
Project Fenrir
Original connection: Lu Chen
Route type: Mercenary King Return Asset
Original purpose: Lu Chen discovers experimental combat augmentation
program, destroys project, rescues surviving test subjects, gains elite
loyal followers.
Shen Tian stared.
There it was.
Another abandoned protagonist route.
Xu Ning continued.
[This was supposed to happen after Lu Chen returned overseas a second
time.]
"Fate value?"
The panel calculated.
Potential total: 49,000
Shen Tian smiled.
Rose noticed.
"What?"
"Found what they’re hiding."
She stared.
"You haven’t even looked through the files."
"Good instincts."
Rose narrowed her eyes.
"You’re impossible."
Then...
The door opened again.
Bear stepped inside.
"Got company."
Shen Tian looked toward him.
"Who?"
Bear smiled.
"Your new friend."
Shen Tian raised an eyebrow.
"Qin Hao is here?"
Bear stared.
"No."
Shen Tian smiled.
"Then not my friend."
Bear sighed.
"Adrian Vale."
Rose immediately became attentive.
Shen Tian set the coffee down.
"Bring him."
. . .
Minutes later...
Adrian entered.
Alone.
No Elena.
No armed escort.
Smart.
He looked around the command room.
Rose.
Ghost.
Bear.
Shen Tian.
Then...
He smiled.
"Morning."
Shen Tian stared.
"What do you want?"
Adrian placed a folder on the table.
"Argent Shield."
Rose’s expression changed.
Ghost stepped closer.
Adrian continued.
"I know where Viper is."
Silence.
Rose’s eyes sharpened.
Shen Tian’s expression didn’t change.
"Where?"
Adrian opened the folder.
Photograph.
A man.
Older.
Scar across his chin.
Standing beside a black armored vehicle.
Viper.
Alive.
Rose became completely still.
Ghost’s jaw tightened.
Bear stopped smiling.
Adrian noticed all three reactions.
Then...
He looked toward Shen Tian.
"Argent Shield brought him into Project Fenrir."
Shen Tian stared at the photo.
Xu Ning opened another panel.
Target identified: Viper
Status: Alive
Current Fate attachment: 8,000
Narrative role: Residual antagonist
Adrian continued.
"He knows I’m alive."
"He also knows Lu Chen is dead."
"Apparently..."
His eyes moved toward Rose.
"...he’s been trying to locate former Black Wolf people."
Rose’s face became cold.
"Why?"
"Recruitment."
Ghost answered before Adrian.
"No."
Adrian nodded.
"That’s what I assumed."
Bear cracked his knuckles.
"Good."
Adrian looked toward Shen Tian.
"I want Project Fenrir."
Shen Tian smiled.
"No."
Adrian sighed.
"Can we negotiate before you say no?"
"No."
Rose’s lips twitched.
Adrian stared.
"You’re genuinely difficult."
"Yes."
Adrian continued anyway.
"Project Fenrir contains combat subjects."
"Modified soldiers."
"Some volunteered."
"Most didn’t."
Rose’s expression became colder.
Adrian continued.
"My system..."
He stopped.
Everyone stared.
Adrian sighed.
"Right."
"Some of you know enough."
He looked toward Shen Tian.
"My information says if I take control of the facility, I can inherit
part of Lu Chen’s military Fate route."
Shen Tian raised an eyebrow.
Adrian continued.
"You want Fate."
"I want resources."
"So..."
He spread his hands.
"We divide."
Shen Tian smiled.
"No."
Adrian closed his eyes.
Rose covered her mouth.
Bear looked amused.
Ghost remained expressionless.
Adrian opened his eyes.
"Why?"
"Because it’s all mine."
Silence.
Adrian stared.
Then...
He laughed.
"At least you’re consistent."
Shen Tian leaned back.
"But..."
Adrian froze.
Shen Tian continued.
"You can come."
His eyebrow rose.
"Why?"
"Because I want to see what you do."
Adrian stared.
Then...
Realized.
Shen Tian was testing him again.
Not alliance.
Not cooperation.
He was allowing Adrian onto the board.
Letting him make moves.
Letting him potentially gain Fate.
Then...
Taking whatever he could afterward.
Adrian smiled slowly.
"You’re farming me."
Rose looked toward Shen Tian.
Bear looked too.
Shen Tian didn’t deny it.
Adrian laughed.
"Wow."
Then...
His expression hardened.
"Fine."
Shen Tian’s eyebrow rose.
Adrian continued.
"If I know the rules..."
"I can still play."
Xu Ning smiled.
[He really is adapting.]
Shen Tian looked toward Adrian.
"Good."
Adrian sighed.
"There it is again."
. . .
Project Fenrir.
That night.
Rain fell over the desert.
Rare.
Cold.
Heavy.
The abandoned military installation sat beneath a rocky ridge.
Most of the visible structures were ruins.
The actual facility...
Underground.
Shen Tian stood overlooking it from a hill.
Rose beside him.
Ghost.
Bear.
Twenty Shen International operators.
Farther east...
Adrian’s team.
Elena among them.
No combined command.
No shared squad.
No alliance.
They had simply agreed not to shoot each other.
That was it.
--------
(Author’s Note: IMPORTANT!)
SEND POWESTONES!!!
ALL SUPER GIFTS (Magic Castle, Space Ship, Golden Gachapon) = MORE ChapterS!