Zhang Heng hated dealing with troublesome issues.
He was not the kind of person who liked to deal with inconveniences and whenever he ran into any of them, he would resort to the most direct and effective means of solving the problem instead of beating around the bush.
In his perspective, such an unhesitant, decisive way of dealing with the problem at hand was the most ideal way of going about things, as he was able to get rid of the problem at the root.
All that trouble he was dealing with would disappear so long as he made sure that the boss of the Aioukai and the handful of people who knew about the plan, would no longer live to execute that plan.
Zhang Heng toured around town for a bit after making his way out of the hotel, confirming that there was no one on his tail before he threw his outerwear into a river from a bridge and picked up new men's outerwear from the compound of some civilian residence he happened to walk past.
He was done with everything at about 8 P.M. He took a cab and headed straight for the Kansai International Airport.
Zhang Heng looked at the night scenery of the town called Arima Onsen outside the window with a dazed expression.
That was the first time in his life he killed someone. While he had been killing countless people in the virtual space set up by Corona, it felt rather uncomfortable when it happened in real life due to the morals that he had been brought up with for the past two decades or so.
He realized that he came to obtain powers that regular people could only dream of without realizing it before. That power referred to more than his physical prowess, but in all sense of the word. As the number of technology that he would create grow larger, so would his power.
However, he had to ensure that he himself didn't end up dead by doing so.
Zhang Heng's eyes felt rather dazed suddenly. He began to wonder why he was going so far to do all of this.
"Am I doing this for riches that no other man could ever achieve? Or am I out to obtain power above that of mortals? Or rather, am I seeking authority that would make the entire world submit to me? … No, none of that." Zhang Heng thought to himself, pondering the question.
He shook his head. When one's wealth had grown to a certain extent, any amount higher would be little more than a string of numbers. Power, in terms of authority, was not what he sought after either.
What he truly yearned for was the freedom that would allow him to live above all rules.
Regardless of how far he would make it, be it becoming a messiah that would save humanity or a devil that would destroy the world, all would be only a matter of choice. A life that had endless choices, the power that would enable him to ignore rules was what he truly sought after.
Zhang Heng smirked as he slowly spread his fingers before him, looking at the scenery of the night through his fingers as if he was about to grab the entire world in his own hands.
His plain, dazed eyes belied a fiery ambition welling from deep within his being at the same time.
Endless choices, boundless freedom. This is what I'm truly going after.
…
Zhang Heng got off the plane at midnight the following day. He had returned to Haizhou without any trouble.
No regular people would have believed that someone could travel between two countries over tens of thousands of kilometers in a single night, just to get rid of three yakuza members and the boss of a gang.
If it hadn't been for Corona's help, the procedures involved in getting the visa alone would have set him back by one whole week. Worse still, he would have had to deal with investigations from the country his targets were in, as well as retaliation from the yakuza.
Things were completely different after securing aid from Corona. She hacked into the system again after Zhang Heng got off the plane and erased all flight records regarding him. She even went on to alter the surveillance footage, burying the truth in the sands of time as if he was never there.
Zhang Heng returned to the hotel he was staying in two hours later. He let out a sigh before giving his order. "Corona, the three Japanese men, Pan Bo, and Liu Jianmin, shut them up for good."
"Understood, Commander," Corona's voice was heard in Zhang Heng's mind. "What about the man named Liang Chao? While I have yet to read Pan Bo's memories, I could analyze from yours. The chances of it all being ordered from Liang Chao are very high. Would you need me to take care of him as well?"
Zhang Heng frowned and thought about it for a moment before sighing from both exasperation and regret, "No need for that at the moment."
"Having five people dead at once is a huge case. Most importantly, all five of them are connected to me one way or another. Once the investigation begins, the plan of theirs to set me up would be exposed. I would be listed as a suspect one way or another. Of course, the true prime suspect would probably be Liang Chao, the son of the city's vice chief. He is the one who has both the motive and the power to do away with all five of them without kicking up a fuss. Even if the son of the vice chief dies with them, the chances of me being made the prime suspect and put under surveillance would be significantly raised, even if they are unable to find any evidence to tie me to it."
Corona stayed silent for quite a bit before commenting in a rather astonished manner. "Is this the extent of human intelligence? While the thought patterns are nowhere near as precise as mine, but there is no doubt that the complexity in it far exceeds mine."
Zhang Heng nodded and said, "Never underestimate the power of the government. Let Liang Chao live for the time being."
Just when Zhang Heng gave the order, Corona's body, which was buried 50 meters underground in the construction site of the Stellar Biotech building about one kilometer away, suddenly burst with an intense crimson glow.
If anyone was able to see it, they would discover that the pitch-black body of Corona actually turned blood-red. Pulses from the mental interference field that were undetectable by current human technology, shrouding every corner of Haizhou in an instant.
Corona was currently activating its Level Three capabilities.
…
At the same time, in one of the office buildings somewhere in Haizhou, Takegawa Mahiro, Miyamoto Tahara, and Endo Shino were having a meeting in a secret meeting room. One would be able to tell from the shocked expressions on the faces of the three of them that they just learned of the assassination of their boss back in Kobe, Japan.
Before any of the three were able to reach a consensus in the meeting, Endo Shino seemed to have witnessed something extremely terrifying and suddenly shouted before he drew his gun and fired at both Takegawa Mahiro and Miyamoto Tahara without hesitation.
The two of them were completely caught off-guard and were rendered defenseless suddenly in a barrage of deafening gunshots and the thick stench of spilled blood filled the room.
Endo Shino began to weep after he was done, while still being in a devastating state. He thumped at his chest while shouting in Japanese, before raising his gun and pointing it at his temple with shivering hands, and pulled the trigger in complete despair.
At the same time, a car was speeding somewhere in the streets not far away. A monkey-faced man looked very pleased with himself in that car. That man was none other than Pan Bo, who was among Zhang Heng's classmates who attended the party back then.
There was another young man who looked devious in the driver's seat.
That devious young man was looking at Pan Bo with an expression of trying to curry favors. "Brother Bo, how did you find the girls in that club? I've told you before that all of the girls back in that club had nice voices and huge chests, didn't I? And boy, they were definitely very steamy in bed."
"Hahahaha, kid, you're still on that thing, right? Relax, just leave it all to me!" Pan Bo chuckled and continued, "By the way, Jianmin, I assume that you've taken care of that thing I told you to do, right? That's something Mr. Liang asked of me, and whatever you do, don't screw up."
"Oh, relax. I, Liu Jianmin, am probably a good-for-nothing, but if there is one thing I'm good at, it's knowing a lot of friends. Those people from the Yamaguchi-Gumi right? I contacted them a while ago." The man called Liu Jianmin beat his chest and said in a very assured manner.
However, when the car was about to reach the junction, Liu Jianmin's eyes became dazed suddenly and he pressed on the accelerator pedal without a care in the world. The car accelerated right away and ran through the red lights at very high speeds, heading straight for a heavy truck at the side of the road.
"What the hell are you doing?" Pan Bo was stunned and his expression changed drastically at the very next second, causing him to grab the wheel that Liu Jianmin had his hands on.
A sudden deafening screech of the tires was heard and the entire car drifted away before crashing into the back of the truck.
"Crack! Boom!"
The truck stopped immediately after being hit.
"Huff, huff, huff…" Pan Bo panted hard after doing that. If it hadn't been for his quick reflexes, the car would have rammed straight into the truck head-on instead of gently. There was no telling what would have happened if the crash was to happen at such high speeds.
Pan Bo felt lucky for a moment, which quickly turned into intense rage. He glowered at Liu Jianmin, who was still sitting at the driver's seat, and yelled, "What the f**k were you doing? Were you trying to kill us?"
However, before Pan Bo was done scolding the other man, the rumbling of metal rubbing against metal was heard from the truck suddenly. He looked up with a confused look on his face and found that the back of the truck was loaded with steel beams as thick as a grown man's arm. All of the thick steel beams were shifted from the impact of that crash, and tens of them snapped the ropes binding them together and went jutting down at the car below.
In the last moment's of Pan Bo's life, he felt as if enough swords to block away the sky rained down onto him.