With an arm across her full bosoms, Hattori Mei’s thighs were tightly clamped shut. Her head was lowered, looking utterly bashful and innocent. Tears beaded within the rim of her eyes, threatening to fall at any time.

Who in the right mind would have the heart to hurt such a woman?

Well, unless he was stone cold and cruel.

Xia Lei stepped forward towards her, sparing a brief glance to his multifunctional wristwatch in the process. He had five more minutes to spare until his planned retreat time. He was now in front of Hattori Mei. Calmly, he questioned her, “Why are you doing this?”

Hattori Mei threw herself against his chest and sobbed. “I know you won’t believe me but I still have feelings for you. My love for you is stronger than all the women by your side. You bedded me in France but abandoned me soon after. It was then that I started to resent you. Hatred is like a slow-acting virus. Soon enough, my resentment towards you had swallowed me whole. That’s why I tried to pull some outrageous things on you. But please, believe me when I say this. As long as you’re willing to give me a shot at making things right, I’ll really change for the better and become an obedient woman. I’m willing to give you everything I have.”

“Then tell me what the American firearms dealer alliance is up to,” urged Xia Lei. Not forgetting to entertain her advance with a palm on her slim waist. Lightly, he grazed his palm downwards.

A motion to express his interest and acceptance.

“Lockheed Martin initially had plans to have Thompson take over Folsom’s place as the CEO but that thought didn’t come into fruition. After a voting session among the board of directors, someone named Kestin had become the new CEO.” As she spoke, Hattori Mei reached an arm around sneakily to pull a plastic wrapper open and reached her fingers inside. Her movements were soft and trained.

Xia Lei’s brows were scrunched slightly. “Thompson… I remember him, he was Jack’s superior. He was the one behind the Predator B drone and the one who handed it to the FA.”

“I can’t believe the Area 51 brigadier general Thompson is working for you too. Your capabilities never fail to amaze me. Only a man like you could dominate my heart,” said Hattori Mei. Not only was she skilled at pleasing the man in front of her, but her little cherry lips were also skilled at buttering things up.

Area 51’s Thompson and Lockheed Martin’s Thompson had never crossed paths. They were two different people.

“How is Kestin like as a person?” Xia Lei was not the least bit interested in Thompson who failed to ascend the CEO position.

Hattori Mei answered languidly, “The new CEO is one mysterious person. He was not part of Lockheed Martin in the past. Even I have no clue where he is from. However, due to my association with the Land Defence Force, I’m still the administrative assistant to the CEO. Believe in me, I can help you find out more about him and return to you with good news.”

“Is that all you know? You’re the CEO’s administrative assistant though.” Xia Lei tossed her a questioning gaze.

“I know what you’re thinking about. The five arms dealer alliance are also involved with Project Shepherd. The project’s fund and equipment are heavily sponsored by the alliance.”

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting them to be involved too. What else do you know?” This was important information to Xia Lei.

Instead, Hattori Mei began to slide down gracefully, head still against his chest.

Xia Lei seized her shoulders. “Answer me.”

Hattori Mei cast him puppy eyes that looked ridiculously pitiful. “Fuck me and I’ll answer your questions. I need my body and feelings to dissolve the hatred I bear for you inside. You’re allowed to hit me. You can go rough with me.”

Hattori Mei resumed nuzzling his body.

She was stripped clean and she was downright flirtatious. It was obvious what she was trying to pull here. If this was any other occasion, this coquettish display would’ve been considered normal. But this was not normal at all given her predicament.

Xia Lei could taste danger at the tip of his tongue. His eyes twitched and the X-ray vision mode was activated. He could see everything inside Hattori Mei’s jaw clearly. There was one tooth that was obviously whiter than the others. Its shape was weirdly perfect too without a hint of frictional damage.

She was a woman in her late-twenties. There was no way that the tooth was unscathed without signs of usage.

Xia Lei’s gaze locked onto that particular tooth and penetrated through its tough structure. A three-dimensional image of the tooth was immediately projected in his mind. Turns out, the tooth was hollow in its centre. It held a liquid capsule but was not any ordinary capsule. It had a sharp tip on its edge that could easily permeate the human body and inject its content into the muscles!

Hattori Mei’s lips were nearing his flesh.

Xia Lei grabbed her shoulder and pushed forward, effectively halting Hattori Mei’s advancement.

“Project Shepherd had to do with the six faceless warrior statues from Israel, right? What does that have to do with the alliance? You need to tell me what you know. After that, you’re free to do whatever you want with me.” Xia Lei’s tone was tender and his eyes were gentle. He looked smitten, like a man who was completely taken by her allure.

“Didn’t I say you’ll get what you want after you touch me?” Hattori Mei began to shed tears. She seemed so dejected.

“Look, I already made the assassin spare your mother. Do you not trust me? You’re very important to me. I swear I’ll never hurt you ever again,” Xia Lei feigned affection.

“Don’t lie to me.” Tears were gushing out of Hattori Mei’s duct now.

Xia Lei comforted her lovingly, “I swear I’ll never hurt you ever again. Believe in me.”

She hesitated for a moment. “I… Back when I was still in the office, I came across the Kestin on the phone once. His tone and body language were courteous. But it seemed more submissive than anything. In the exchange, he mentioned Area 51 and Project Shepherd… I suspect that he’s working for someone.”

“Working for someone? Who do you think it is?”

“There’s nothing to base my assumption on. The new Lockheed Martin CEO is a man with many secrets. I tried to use HyperTech’s intelligence network to collect information on him but we failed to fetch anything. There’s nothing about his birthplace, his education history and work experience. The man has no record in the system.”

“Then do you know what Project Shepherd is?”

“The only thing I know is that they’re studying the odd energy field emitted off Alloy X and the statues. I know nothing else about it. But you can rest assured that with me around, I will definitely help you understand the whole situation. I’m willing to become your hidden weapon that lurks between America and Japan. Please, my lover… Take me…” Hattori Mei’s agape lips began to inch into Xia Lei’s space.

Xia Lei held the sides of her face, pretending to reciprocate her enthusiasm. Just as their lips were about to touch, his arms abruptly snapped her skull backwards.

Crack…

A loud crisp sound rang out.

Hattori Mei’s head was now hanging onto her neck limply. As her brain began to lose control over her muscles, she crumbled softly to the ground. From her agape cherry lips, the odd tooth that carried the venomous capsule already had its sharp tip exposed.

A snake would always be a snake.

Since the beginning, Xia Lei had no plans to let her walk away alive. Hattori Mei, on the other hand, had already cooked up a plan to kill Xia Lei off since the start. She willingly sacrificed her dignity and Xia Lei’s interest in intel to completely distract him. She had everything planned out meticulously and even had the luxury of watching Xia Lei sink deeper into her honeytrap bit by bit. However, the outcome was completely out of her expectation.

Xia Lei adjusted his clothes then bent over to close her mouth and eyes up. Then, he gave her a final bit of modesty by covering her body up with her the garments she discarded.

Unfortunately, Hattori Mei could no longer feel that kindness.

“How can I let someone like you walk free? At this point, all you could think about was not to plead and beg for mercy but how to destroy me. If I let you go, the first thing you’d do would probably be informing the American intelligence department of my current location. Here’s another thing, I did not spare your mother. She’s most probably dead by now. To birth such a daughter and be able to lead the Hattori clan in your stead, she’s not someone I want coming for my head. Forgive me but I had to cut off this evil by its roots. Let me and my family finally rest easy,” said Xia Lei and he drew a cross. The man was clueless about how he was drawing a cross with his left hand. The right hand should be the appropriate hand for this.

As the ‘Son of God’ of the Relief Society, his display was undoubtedly unprofessional.

Xia Lei checked his wristwatch again. He had ten seconds to spare before the planned retreat time. The situation was still under his complete control without slight deviation.

Approaching footsteps were heard coming from the forest.

Qian Jun, Tsukino Kyoko, Anjum Khan and Sa’im came into sight after emerging out of a line of red oak trees. The four of them were in different states of dishevelled, Tsukino Kyoko was particularly messed up. There was a hole in her chest that exposed a small span of the silver Alloy X bra beneath.

The four of them came to Xia Lei, finally noticing the motionless Hattori Mei on the ground.

“Is she dead?” Tsukino Kyoko asked.

Xia Lei nodded. “Yeah.”

“Let me check. This woman is so cunning that she might’ve feigned her death.” Anjum Khan reached out and pulled the covers away.

Xia Lei made no move to stop him. Hattori Mei was not his woman but Anjum Khan was like a brother to him.

“Okay, she’s dead.” Anjum Khan confirmed with a mirth smirk across his lips. “Damn, she’s got one hell of a rack. Her skin is so supple and pale too.”

Tsukino Kyoko scowled. “I’ll be sure to let Yelena know. Let’s see how she reacts to what you’ve done.”

“Kyoko, you… Okay, how does this sound? After we leave this damned place, I’ll treat you to a round of booze, yes? No price cap,” suggested Anjum Khan.

Tsukino Kyoko hummed. “That’s more like it.”

“We’re done here. Let’s leave,” said Xia Lei.

The four Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members began to go deeper into the forest under Xia Lei’s lead. To leave through the road they came with was an absurd decision. According to their plan, they’d need to trek fifty kilometres through the woods to reach a small town where the Relief Society members were prepared for their arrival.

While crossing the single-plank bridge, Xia Lei turned around and spared Hattori Mei one last glance.

Hattori Mei was dead, asleep amidst the lush patch of grass. It was only at this moment that she bore no threat. A woman like her was pretty only when dead.

“Boss, what do we do next?” inquired Sa’im.

Xia Lei answered, “We enter Area 51.”

“Huh?” Sa’im jolted slightly. “Are you serious? That’s insane! That place has been a no-go for spies. Till this day, no one has actually managed to slip in.”

“Then I better bid my dear Yelena farewell and leave her with a child of mine,” said Anjum Khan thoughtfully.

Tsukino Kyoko was silent, her eyes never once leaving Xia Lei’s back. The way she looked at him was endearingly sweet. Forget about Area 51, even if Xia Lei wanted to barge into the deepest level of hell, Tsukino Kyoko would be by his side there and back.

However, Xia Lei discouraged them. “This has nothing to do with you. I’m going to infiltrate it alone. You’ll be working on something new. To find more about this guy named Kestin. He’s Lockheed Martin’s new CEO. He’s someone that Hattori Mei can’t even acquire jackshit about. A real man of mystery.”

“Boss, getting to the bottom of that Kestin guy is not an issue. But how are you going to infiltrate Area 51 alone? It’s too dangerous!” Qian Jun exclaimed.

Xia Lei offered them a smile. “Not to worry, I have my own way around it. Alright, enough talk about this. We need to run, we only have two hours left to finish up the remaining distance.”

Tsukino Kyoko abruptly picked up her pace and sprinted.

As her legs shifted powerfully, her full bottom swayed side to side. Her wonderful muscle rippled with every step taken.

Blessed by the sweet sight, the four men began to sprint after her.