When William and I exited the auditorium and moved toward the gates to the military base camp, Bu Fan showed up.
Both of us didn't notice him at first. We were in a buoyant mood, eager to celebrate our latest success after securing a new contract with the military. They were extremely interested in my Titan and wanted to purchase new models of it.
They were confident that my Titan would revolutionize warfare forever. They also wanted me to design more conventional tanks with shield generators, probably because treads had its own tremendous advantages when compared to bipedal walkers.
I had agreed, but I had also come in contact with the navy because I proposed designing shield ships. And then there was the space program…
In any event, before I could get too ahead of myself, Bu Fan showed up.
"Congratulations on your contract," he said. I nodded politely.
"Thank you."
"If it's possible, I would like to strike a deal with you," he said, offering me a hand. I blinked in surprise, but accepted his hand.
"What sort of deal?"
"I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I've only just started a company," Bu Fan admitted. He didn't seem embarrassed at all, but I decided not to say that out loud. "It deals with factories and manufacturing. There's a lot of unused machinery and assembly lines that I'm trying to find use for, and staff who will get laid off if I don't find them jobs soon. I think we could help each other. You need factories and staff to manufacture your goods, don't you?"
"That's right." I nodded. Bu Fan was correct. The one thing we lacked was manpower and assembly lines. I had to build the shield generators and Titan on my own. The shield generators were one thing – they were easy enough to assemble, but the Titan was going to be a problem. Especially now that I need to produce multiple models of my new Titan in addition to the already existing orders of energy shield generators.
Bu Fan's proposal was indeed tempting.
"And you already have a steady supply from Ling Electronics. If you have them send the components to my factories, I will have them assembled. Of course you are most welcome to supervise the process in person. We will be able to begin right away."
"I see. That sounds like a good idea…"
"Wait," William whispered. "I don't know about this. Bu Fan has links to the underworld and big gangs. I heard he unified three secret societies last week and now rules the underworld in this city."
"You heard right. I won't hide it from you." Bu Fan spread his hands. "But don't worry, I have no intention of doing anything criminal with your technology. You will have my word that they won't be used in gang fights or whatever. I simply wish to expand my business and make profits for my company."
Right. I was sure he did.
"And besides, there's an advantage to having underground connections." Bu Fan looked around before dropping his voice into a whisper. "You realize you're being targeted by the likes of Justin Han and Benjamin Bo, right?"
I didn't reply. That much was obvious. There was no use denying it.
"I can help you with that."
"How?" William blurted out skeptically.
"Like I said, there's an advantage to having underground connections." Bu Fan leaned forward. "I can help you eliminate the…assassins and troublemakers. Discretely, at that."
"By assassinating them?" William asked, the disapproval in his tone clear. Bu Fan shrugged.
"Don't be naïve. I know you want to be law-abiding citizens, but your enemies don't care about the law. They have resorted to illegal methods to get rid of you. You might have survived two attempts on your lives so far, but they won't stop. And you already know that you can't get them arrested by the normal legal channels even though you know they are the culprits. They know how to play the game, you see. They have been in business for far longer than you have. You might balk at it, but you'll find out sooner or later that if you want to survive, you'll have to learn to…bend the rules a little. Or at least learn to play by their rules."
"That's…" I swallowed.
"Don't worry. I know how to clean up my tracks. Whatever happens, I promise it won't get traced back to you. You have my word." Bu Fan raised his hand, as if swearing an oath to heaven. "If you agree to partner with me on your project, I will take care of everything. You won't have to know what happened or what I do. All you need to do is trust me."
I glanced at William, who was scowling. However, he didn't object, which didn't bode well. My secretary caught my stare, and after a few seconds, he sighed.
"Mr. Bu is right. We won't get anywhere by being naïve."
I took a deep breath and thought for a few moments before finally coming to a decision. Nodding, I raised my hand.
"You are right. It's a deal then, Mr. Bu. I look forward to cooperating with you in the future."
"Excellent. You won't regret this choice." Bu Fan turned away, fishing his smartphone out of his blazer. "My secretary will contact you shortly, along with the necessary documents. You can make whatever alterations you want before signing them. My secretary will have all the details."
"Thank you."
"No, I should be the one thanking you." Bu Fan then glanced at the screen of his smartphone and his smile widened. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have some business to tend to."
He glanced back at us, a mischievous glint in his dark eyes.
"I need to get a few deals done first, otherwise I wouldn't be able to provide you the infrastructure you need to build those war walkers of yours."
"Is everything all right?" I asked, concerned. Bu Fan nodded.
"The usual…since my company is new and all that, you always have people trying to kick us out of the factory, to buy our properties and all that." He made a face. "They can't even use the machinery and assembly lines, so I don't know what they want them for."
Then he sighed.
"Actually, I think I know what they want to do with the machinery. They'll probably dump them at the scrapyard and then demolish the factory to build an amusement park."
"An amusement park?" I repeated incredulously.
"Yeah. Some bloke named Yves Yang wishes to buy out my factory so that he can build an amusement park. What an idiot."
"Yves Yang?" William blurted out. "Are you talking about that Yves Yang, the tycoon who owns the Universe Studios chain of amusement parks?"
"Is there any other Mr. Yang who can afford to build an amusement park?" Bu Fan replied dryly. He then rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. I'll deal with Yang. Once I'm done, I'll let you know and you can move your manufacturing there. I've all the manpower and stuff…once we've adjusted the machines and checked through them…do the proper maintenance and repairs, we should be good to go."
"Your secretary will send the contract before or after…?"
"After," Bu Fan assured William. He smirked. "Don't worry, I might have links to the underworld, but I'm not some unscrupulous fella trying to cheat you or anything. You have the military's backing anyway, so I wouldn't dare to do that."
Checking his smartphone, Bu Fan appeared to run several calculations before he finally nodded in satisfaction.
"Give me a week. My secretary will give you the contract by next week."
"All right. We'll be waiting. I'll work on some other projects first." I nodded in agreement. Bu Fan smiled, then he turned and stalked off before giving us one last wave.
"I'll be seeing you then."
"Yeah, I'll be seeing you." I nodded and shook my head, not sure I could believe what had just happened.
*
"Great news! I've got some great news!"
William rushed into the office a few days later, waving his smartphone. I glanced up at him, half exasperated and half curious.
"What news?"
I was busily designing new tanks and a ship at the moment. Holographic blueprints were hovering all around me, with text boxes and A.I. analyses floating next to cross-sectional diagrams of the half-built vehicles (digitally, anyway). I swiped away a text box and tapped on another to compare the difference in two fusion reactors for a tank. One seemed too volatile, but the other didn't seem to provide enough power for both the weapons and energy shield.
As I had promised Bu Fan, I would work on other projects first while waiting for his secretary to send over the contract. That had yet to happen, but I wasn't worried. I was confident that Bu Fan would be a man of his word. It was just a matter of time.
Plus, he had to deal with that Yves Yang. That guy wasn't an easy opponent. The Universe Studios chain was pretty famous and made billions of dollars from tourism alone. The guy had a global empire of amusement parks to his name.
Speaking of which…
"So Bu Fan sent us the contract already? He managed to deal with Yves Yang?"
"Uh…" William looked guilty. "Actually…it's not work-related. Sorry."
"No need to apologize," I told him, waving my hand casually. "You know how informal I am. I'm not that stuck up on rules and work regulations. If you have great news, share it. Don't worry about it not being work-related. We are friends, aren't we?"
"Yeah, but one day you've got to learn to distinguish between friends and colleagues. We're in the workplace right now…"
"I don't want to hear that from someone running into my garage, screaming about receiving great news. Now either you tell me about it or you go back to work."
For a moment, William hesitated. He looked embarrassed, scratching his head and blushing.
"She said yes."
"Huh?" William's sudden confession caught me off guard. "Who is she? And said yes to what?"
"Ah…Maya Mo." My best friend was grinning, despite his face flushed crimson. "She agreed to be my girlfriend."
"That's great news!" I couldn't help but feel happy for my friend. "Congratulations!"
"Well…there's more." William looked at me guiltily. "We're considering buying a new house and living together. So…"
I understood what he meant even without him saying it out loud.
My roommate was moving out of our house. And I would have to look for a new home myself.