Chapter 205: Adam Lee Making A Move!

Chapter 205: Adam Lee Making A Move!

As I stepped onto the 39th floor to head toward my Velvet Tower office, a familiar figure caught my attention. James was leaning over the mahogany secretary desk, dressed in his sharp grey suit. He was casually chatting up the three secretaries on duty.

He was not trying to pick them up, of course. The guy was simply bored out of his mind waiting for me to arrive. He had already texted me earlier to ask about my ETA and let me know he was staking out the lobby.

The moment he saw me, he straightened up and called out. "Boss, I have been here for a while. Why are you so late? Did something happen to you?"

His eyes flicked to Hinata standing right behind me. A knowing smirk played on his lips, assuming I had just come back from an extended, private lunch with my Japanese lover.

He knew me well, but he guessed the wrong woman this time.

I cleared my throat to maintain professional appearances. "Cough. I had a Fire Birds meeting that went on significantly longer than I anticipated. Sorry for keeping you waiting, let's head inside."

I turned my attention to the single blonde secretary who was currently at her station. The other two had clearly just walked back from their own lunch break. "Let Mrs Shen know that I am back and currently in a meeting with Mr Tong. If she is free, I will only be here for a short while."

"Yes, Mr Tang, I will notify her right away," she replied with a crisp nod. "Should I just send her right in like normal once she is ready?"

I nodded in confirmation. With that sorted, Jim and I turned and walked directly into my private office.

Hinata parted ways with us at the elevator bay to head up to the 40th floor. She wanted to call home to check in on Ryu and make sure he was being a good boy for the sitters.

Inside the office, Jim and I walked over to the built-in soda fountain to pour ourselves two cold Dr Peppers. We carried our drinks over and took our seats on the opposing leather couches.

"How are your wives and daughters doing?" I asked, taking a refreshing sip.

Jim let out a long sigh, though a proud grin quickly broke across his face. "Well, Ashley and Jen are completely buried in work with the Hidden Dragons lately. My actual quality time with them has been pretty limited. Akeno, however, is doing fantastic as the head nurse. Since Hana is the Director, Akeno gets away with absolute murder at the clinic."

He chuckled, leaning back into the couch cushions. "A couple of the newly hired doctors have been getting a bit too aggressive trying to woo her lately. Because of that, she has been secretly deploying the Hidden Dragons to settle those issues outside of the hospital grounds. The girls are doing great, though."

I nodded slowly, my mind instantly tracking back to a specific individual on the board of directors. That particular bastard was still harboring some persistent, delusional fantasies about Hana.

Dealing with him had been complete child's play. A dark grin spread across my face as I decided to share the story with Jim. "Hana had a persistent pursuer on the board as well. I had my guys grab him, strip him completely raw, and shave him entirely bald. Then we dropped him off stark naked in the middle of South City to fend for himself."

Jim choked slightly on his soda, his eyes widening.

"The security photos of him sprinting through the South City streets trying to hide his junk were absolutely hilarious. He stopped trying to pursue her real quick after that, but you know how stubborn and stupid some guys can be. A large chunk of the orderlies currently working at Star General are actually my people, and the poor idiot has absolutely no idea. But I made sure he personally heard what happened to Chris Honda, he-he."

"I heard a rumor you were threatening to attend the Hospital Ball on July 1st?" Jim asked, shaking his head. "Yeah, I am forced to go with Akeno. Damn it."When we were halfway through our sodas, Jim's grin widened as he reached into his jacket. He pulled out a small, cheap cardboard notebook and slid it across the table toward me. "I managed to pry some information out of Boss Yang regarding what her daughter actually wants for her birthday. Here is a list of things you can look into buying. If you decide to get her clothing, all of her exact sizes are written right there as well. For a rich girl, she actually has surprisingly simple tastes. I was also officially invited to attend the party as Boss Yang's subordinate, so should we roll up to the venue together, Rick?"

I flipped through the pages of the notebook, genuinely surprised by the modest items written inside. She really was not a greedy or materialistic girl at all. "This is absolutely perfect," I said, looking up at Jim. "Now I won't have to worry about feeling completely out of place at the venue. Who is driving, me or you?"

"Rick, your luck is notoriously terrible. Let's absolutely take your armored sedan! I get incredibly nervous going out in public with you these days, ha-ha."

I opened my mouth to scold him for the jab, but I ultimately just nodded my head in silent resignation. Times were becoming increasingly unstable with the sudden advent of the Lee family forces.

Right then, the heavy office door clicked open. A sexy, red-tinted dark-haired woman stepped into the room, wearing a perfectly tailored navy blue business suit. Lucy grinned down at the two of us.

Jim immediately began wrapping up his things with a knowing smile. "Hi, Mrs Shen. I was just seeing myself out. I will make sure to send you the current data logs from the Harem-Chat servers at around 5 pm today."

Lucy tore her gaze away from me for a split second to address him. "Sure, that will be no problem at all. Now I need to deliver my own official report to the boss, so I will see you later, fufu."

Jim shot me a highly suggestive look that clearly screamed I know exactly what you are about to do. I rolled my eyes hard in response, because I was actually not planning to do anything scandalous like that. At least, not during office hours today.

The moment the door clicked shut behind Jim, Lucy glided over and immediately sank into my lap, making herself completely comfortable. She leaned up to plant a deep kiss on my lips before finally speaking.

"Adam Lee has officially secured the Government's permission to utilize the entire public surveillance network in Star City. This development means I cannot actively launch a cyberattack to boot him out of the infrastructure. Doing so would instantly alert the authorities to my exact signature and identity. He is also currently attempting to breach all of your personal computers and mobile devices. Given enough time and outside assistance, he might actually succeed, so what do you want to do about it?"

My hands wrapped around her soft, curvaceous body as I weighed my available options. Most high-level hackers get incredibly excited when they are faced with a genuine challenge. An evil, scheming smile slowly spread across my face.

Lucy noticed the shift in my expression immediately. She arched a manicured eyebrow in curiosity. "How exactly are you going to stop him from infiltrating the Velvet Group networks and our personal devices?"

"I am going to give that little bastard a very special present, that's what I am going to do. I think a young, curious sixteen-year-old hacker needs to have his digital horizons thoroughly expanded to brand-new things. I am going to completely flood his mainframe with hard, aggressive gay porn. His entire operating system will be stuffed to maximum capacity. The exact millisecond any device he owns tries to touch my networks, his screen will be completely overwhelmed with hardcore asshole sex and male gang bangs."

I chuckled darkly, tightening my grip on her waist. "He will never be able to unsee that psychological trauma for the rest of his life. This specific virus will continuously attack his hardware until he is forced to buy entirely new computers and networks from scratch."

Lucy burst out laughing at the mental image, playfully poking my forehead with her index finger. "Why not just send him close-up dick pics of you shooting directly into the camera lens on a continuous loop? I will happily volunteer to film the footage for you?!"

I squinted my eyes at her, shooting her a highly suspicious look. "Somehow, I highly suspect that specific project would be entirely for your own personal viewing pleasure and not his, so absolutely not. I already did that ridiculous dick sex picture prank with Scott, and I am still thoroughly ashamed of it. Gay porn spam it is for Adam."

The playful amusement completely vanished from Lucy's face as she leaned in closer. Her tone shifted into something far more serious as she began relaying information obtained from my grandfather.

"Father has completely ghosted me and it appears he will no longer be making any direct contact with my channel. However, based on what Mei reported to me roughly a half hour ago, he has officially joined the ranks of the China Empire Shadows. He now reports directly and exclusively to the Emperor himself. And the most alarming part of this development is... your true identity has now been fully leaked to the Emperor."

My eyes snapped wide open as a sudden jolt of panic hit my chest. I forced myself to take a slow breath, consciously calming my racing heart. If Lucy was remaining this perfectly composed, then I had to be relatively safe.

"If the Chinese Empire officially knows exactly who I am, won't Adam's parents find out next? They could easily come to eliminate me and my entire family."

Lucy patted my chest gently, her voice soothing and confident. "No, they won't. Grandfather successfully secured absolute loyalty from the Emperor by revealing that you currently possess the allegiance of the Mu Clan, two China Empire lovers, and one Japan Empire lover. He spun a brilliant narrative that your ultimate loyalties are actively leaning entirely away from the Central Government. Although the China Empire maintains a strict Li elimination policy as a public ruse, that mandate does not extend to the Yellow Emperor himself. Consequently, the Emperor has personally commanded all of his Shadows to serve and protect you at all costs."

She ran a hand up to my shoulder, clarifying the internal politics. "The individual Shadows were never told the underlying reason for the directive. With General Lee standing directly at the Emperor's side, the agents simply assumed this was a highly classified, internal family dispute. This is the exact reason why Ling Ling originally approached you in the first place, though she clearly possessed her own ulterior motives for doing so."

I leaned my head back against the couch, deeply processing the revelation. My grandfather must have had an incredibly solid strategic reason to pull a stunt like this and alter my identity on the global stage. But what possible motive did the Emperor have to actively protect my life? Was I not an existential threat to his absolute rule? Would this massive development somehow jeopardize my long-term Star Wars blueprint?

"Lucy, I honestly do not understand the China Emperor's underlying angle in this situation. Am I not a massive, permanent roadblock to his ongoing regime?"

Her expression turned deeply analytical as she offered her best calculated deduction. "Knowing Father's deeply manipulative nature, this is almost certainly a forced cooperation play. The Emperor likely wants to use you to impregnate his royal daughters, effectively flooding the elite Li bloodline directly into his own family crest. He desperately needs to keep you alive because your genetic blood is far more potent than any other living Li. By doing this, the statistical odds of his future bloodline capturing your next literal reincarnation would be significantly higher. Furthermore, if historical records show that he actively aided you in this lifetime, your next immediate incarnation might naturally be loyal to China all over again. But keep in mind, that is merely my best guess."

A sudden, teasing grin flashed across her lips as she pouted slightly, waiting for me to ask the obvious question. When I remained silent, she let out a musical laugh. "The Emperor currently has well over one hundred royal daughters, fufu. In fact, he might even force you to impregnate his entire personal roster of concubines as well, ha-ha!"

"Okay, I am absolutely going to have to assassinate that guy then," I muttered, my jaw tightening. "There is no way in hell I am ever doing that..."

Lucy felt noticeably better after getting a rise out of me. After spending a few more minutes teasing me and enjoying my exasperated reaction, her playful demeanor shifted back into a serious, professional focus.

"Tomorrow night, Father is scheduled to go on international television to announce his defection to all nations," she revealed, leaning in close. "The exact moment the world learns about this, an immense amount of unfavorable scrutiny is going to be pointed directly at you and your family. I have absolutely no idea what Father plans to say during the broadcast, but I am certain it will violently shake the global dynamics of Eurasia and its closest allies. Even America might completely turn its back on Eurasia as a result."

"I will let the rest of the wives know immediately," I replied, my mind already racing with the logistical fallout. "That way, everyone can be fully prepared for the backlash."

Before we could discuss the strategy any further, my phone violently buzzed on the desk. Ring Ring Ring! The caller ID flashed with Linda's name, prompting me to immediately hit the button and place her on speakerphone.

[Rick, dear, someone is actively following our limousine. What do you want me to do?]

Without needing a single word of instruction from me, Lucy instantly flipped open her custom laptop. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up the tracking interface of the Cat and Mouse App to locate Linda's vehicle and access her real-time data telemetry.

"Linda, honey, just calm down for a second and tell me what you see," I said, leaning toward the microphone. "Is it a plain white BMW?"

[No, Rick, it is a white delivery van. But no matter what route we take or how many turns we make, they stay exactly one block behind us. I am terrified to drive all the way back to the house because they will follow us right to the gates.]

"Okay, sweetheart, I have your exact location right here on my screen," I assured her, watching the GPS pin pulse against the digital map. "Keep heading toward the house and make a clean turn down Silver Street. I am sending an intercept team right now to cut the van off and let you pull away cleanly. If there are any other scout vehicles trailing you, I will deal with them personally. They are most likely just private investigators hired by Lee or Greg, so you aren't in any immediate physical danger, okay?"

Lucy had already blasted out the coordinates and the description of the target van to the God Squad operatives who were currently tailing Linda's route and patrolling the immediate area. The tactical directive was to intercept the stalkers directly on the specific street Linda was approaching. We needed to observe if the enemies had secondary backup units deployed, and gauge exactly how they would react to an aggressive roadblock.

After a few tense, silent minutes of monitoring the tracker, Linda's voice crackled through the speaker once more.

[A white BMW just aggressively cut right in front of the van and completely stopped the flow of traffic. Wait... the van is driving straight into oncoming traffic to bypass the block and follow me again!]

"Okay, honey, we completely anticipated they might try an erratic move like that," I countered smoothly, tracking the rapid movement on the monitor. "Turn left at the upcoming traffic light. Luke is already positioned right around that corner, and we are texting him the exact path now. The Fire Birds are fully on top of the situation. Just focus on driving straight home and don't look back, okay?"

[Yes, Rick, I will do exactly what you said.] A sharp click echoed through the line, followed by the rhythmic drone of the disconnect tone. [do do do...]

I focused my attention entirely on Lucy's laptop screen, watching the tactical simulation unfold in real time as a dark smile spread across my face.

The Fire Birds deployed with lethal efficiency, throwing heavy spiked strips completely across the asphalt to shred the tires of the approaching vehicles. The delivery van hit the trap dead-on, its tires flattening instantly along with the rest of the surrounding traffic. The operatives pulled the spiked strips back into the shadows just as quickly as they had laid them down. Working the crowd with practiced ease, the Fire Birds began distributing heavy handfuls of cash to every single delayed driver to compensate them for the inconvenience—deliberately skipping the crippled delivery van.

I watched the video feed as Luke casually strolled up to the driver's side of the stalled van. He ripped the door open with a violent tug and delivered a brutal, grounding punch straight to the driver's jaw. Grabbing the dazed man by the collar, Luke dragged him onto the pavement and immediately began rifling through his pockets to retrieve his wallet.

My phone rang again, the screen lighting up with Luke's direct line. I snatched it up instantly. "I am watching the live feed right now, Luke. What is the status on the ground?"

[This bastard is exactly what you predicted, Boss. He's a registered private investigator. Let me pry some fast answers out of him, hold on one second...]

Lucy and I watched the screen as Luke delivered a vicious, unceremonious kick directly into the man's groin. He barked a series of rapid questions at the groveling investigator, who initially tried to keep his mouth shut. The moment Luke drew his sidearm and pressed the cold steel against the man's temple, the investigator completely broke down. The bird began to sing at a frantic pace.

[It was a total setup designed to trap you, Boss,] Luke reported, his voice dropping an octave over the line. [I can already hear the police sirens echoing in the distance, and they are responding vastly faster than they ever should for a standard traffic dispute. This idiot was definitely hired by Greg and Lee, but he had absolutely no clue he was being used as sacrificial bait. The plan was for him to be killed in an altercation so the authorities could instantly arrest you for the murder. What do you want me to do with him before the cops arrive?]

"Keep him secured. I am calling Nadia right now so she can head straight to the precinct, since the responding officers are definitely going to book you guys," I instructed, mapping out the legal counter-strategy. "Tell that bastard that if he utters a single lie to the detectives, his entire circle of friends and family will be personally exported to join the African Army to feed the local Dire Beasts and mosquitoes. That is his only warning."

[No problem at all, Boss. It's actually been a hot minute since I spent a night in the slammer, ha-ha! This is going to be an absolute blast.] Another sharp click severed the connection, followed by the familiar electronic drone. [do do do...]

On the video feed, the private investigator was openly weeping on the asphalt, utterly terrified after Luke delivered a final, heavy punch to his ribs to seal the warning.

A wide grin spread across my face as I pulled up my contacts to dial my lovely defense attorney. It was time to unleash Nadia, the absolute scumbag lawyer.