"Mr. Rong, is it true that you tried to sue the victim because you somehow think she enticed your son into harassing and stalking her?"
Mrs. Rong, why did you lie to the press and try to slander Ms. Lily Ling? We get that you dislike her, but don't you think you were going too far? What were you trying to achieve?"
"Is it because you think you can get away with anything just because you have money?"
"No comments. Please, out of the way!"
While the journalists and press pressed Ricardo Rong and Rafaela Rou for details pertaining to their case, their staff tried to form a protective circle and keep them away. They shoved away the microphones and attempted to cordon them off, but the journalists were pretty insistent. They continued to shove their microphones and recording devices into the faces of the elderly couple.
As much as I disliked the two of them for trying to twist facts and turn wrong into right and blaming the victim, I felt a little sorry for them. I hated the tabloid journalists a lot, so it felt like a mutual enemy. Most of them just wanted to exploit us to create a story. They claimed to be reporting the truth and exposing lies, but in reality they weren't interested in the truth and they made up lies of their own. These tabloid journalists and paparazzi were only interested in creating drama so that they could write a good story to sell their magazines and newspapers. If they had to make things up, accuse people wrongly and lie, they would do so, just to gain readership.
It mattered not to them that they ended up ruining the lives of the people they "exposed." Many of them got sued for libel or slander, many tabloid magazines got shut down, but it didn't deter them. People only wanted to write or read what they wanted to write or read. They didn't care about the truth. They just wanted to jump into the bandwagon and hypocritically condemn others, reveling in the feeling of playing judge, jury and executioner, without knowing the truth or realizing that some of their targets were actually innocent.
In this case, though, the elderly Rong couple deserved it. Not to the point where they were harassed by the press and the public (that was what happened to Lily, and I condemned Riley Rong for doing it so I couldn't possibly condone such actions unless I was a hypocrite).
Well, it was fine, though. I switched off the television, unable to suppress a chuckle. Fine, I was a hypocrite. Whatever. I was going to laugh at the elderly Rong couple for being exposed by the press. Unfortunately for them, the worst had yet to come. I hadn't actually begun my counterattack yet, but they would realize how truly screwed they were when I brought back evidence that the mastermind was someone else.
Oh, they were going to be sued to the point of bankruptcy. After the death of Riley Rong, the Rong Group had fallen part and the company shares had been acquired by many of their enemies, exploiting the momentary weakness of the company to swoop in and tear their carcass apart like vultures. I didn't bother joining in. I wasn't interested in money or company shares, and I didn't want to get involved in these financial politics.
Owning shares of the Rong Group would just paint a huge target on my back. I didn't want to unnecessarily make enemies when there was no need to. Greed was the cause of so many downfalls. You know, just like a gambler who thought he could win it big so he continued to place huge bets…only to lose it all when his luck ran out. Or when it turned out the casino was allowing him to win at first on purpose so that they could recoup everything and even make a profit when he crashed into a downslide.
For now, I comforted myself with the knowledge that the worst had yet to come for the Rong family. They would pay for their nonsensical accusations and attempt to sue me and Lily Ling. I would use their greed against them and take everything away.
"Huff…"
Of course, my priority was to complete my latest model of the war walker. As I told Bu Fan, it took me another couple of weeks. Fortunately, legal processes took a long time. Court proceedings occurred over months, not days. So taking a few weeks to complete my latest war walker first wasn't a problem. What, you think everything moved at light speed like in CEO novels, where if they say they wanted to sue, the court session took place immediately? Nah, the authors just didn't do their research and wanted to skip straight to the drama.
After a couple of weeks, I completed the war walker. Right on schedule, as I promised Bu Fan. However, for testing, I couldn't simply test in the lab. I needed a huge body of water. So I brought the newly completed war walker in a huge truck to the naval shipyard where my company was constructing battleships. The naval sentries posted at the gate did a double take when they saw me, and they hurriedly saluted me. I shook my head and waved them down.
"Dudes, you do know I'm not an officer, right? I'm not even part of the navy. No need to salute me."
Even when I was serving mandatory military service back in Country S before I went overseas for my studies and career, I was only a grunt. I couldn't even make sergeant. Let's just say I was a terrible soldier and leave it at that.
"It's been quite a while, sir," one of the sentries said. I nodded and smiled sheepishly. It had indeed been a long time since I had been to the naval shipyard. I had delegated my tasks to the naval branch of my company and left to focus on producing antimatter.
"Yeah, my attention was occupied by the space travel project." I chuckled. "Soon you navy people will be fighting wars in space instead of on the sea."
"Looking forward to that," the other sentry said with a grin.
After they confirmed my identity and got permission, they allowed me to drive the truck through the main gates. I proceeded to the jetty and parked the truck there. A few of my staff had gathered, but I informed them that everything was okay and that they could return to their work.
"I'm just here to test out my new product," I explained to the Shen Industries staff who had gathered around my truck to see if they could help me with anything. "Don't worry, it's a war walker, and it only needs one person to pilot. I'm just testing to see if it works underwater and collecting data. You guys should go back to work. Don't worry about me."
Running to the back of my truck, I scanned my fingers across the digital detectors, which recognized my biometric signals and automatically unlocked. The ramp thudded down and I climbed inside. The moment I stepped inside, the lights in the container came on, illuminating the interior.
A single, sleek war walker stood there, its legs bent almost at 30 degrees. It wasn't humanoid, but rather resembled a torpedo with mechanical hands and legs, the streamlined shape allowing for it to traverse aquatic environments very easily and swiftly. You know, like fish. Even the engine boosters at the back appeared to be shaped like a fish's tail, complete with "fins."
The Steel Shark.
It was a war walker that I had designed specifically for underwater missions. Of course, I had ensured that it was amphibious, so it should be able to operate on land as well as on water. Well, not as well as the Titan or Hunter, but it retained durability, mobility and firepower of both even on land, including the energy shields that were the signature tech of my war walkers.
I had modified the arms to be claws so that they could tear ships apart or latch onto their hills. The missile racks of the Titan had been modified for this particular chassis, to house torpedoes instead. I included a few ranged laser weapons for land combat, but the fact of the matter was that the seawater was going to absorb a lot of the heat and power of the weapons. Hence the claws for close combat once they ran out of torpedoes.
I had also included hyper alloy electron fangs along the front fuselage of the Steel Shark so that they could bite the ships and cut them apart. Even if the claws and electron fangs couldn't blow the ship up in one volley, unlike the Triton anti-ship torpedoes that I had armed them with, they would cause massive rents that would eventually lead to the drowning of the ship.
Not only that, I had designed them for ship boarding actions. Hence the claws to latch themselves onto the ship. They could grapple onto the hull of the ship and swiftly climb, boarding the ship and raiding the bridge or other strategic locations. In fact, those fangs and claws could allow them to tear their way toward the ship's engine room or generators if necessary. Their bulk did make it difficult for them to traverse the narrow and confined corridors of the ship but it didn't matter – their claws and electron fangs would tear a path through them.
However, that was in theory. I needed to field test them. For all I knew, the Steel Shark wasn't watertight despite my efforts. I needed to see how much stress it could handle – immense water pressure at huge depths might crush it like a can, despite the energy shield (which only repelled projectiles traveling at high velocities, and not water).
"All right, let's see how you will fare underwater."
I switched on the Steel Shark and opened a hatch so that I could climb into the cockpit. First, I had to get dressed in a suit, complete with helmet. The air supply was limited, but if there was a breach in the cockpit, it would save me. I also had to ensure that the pilot wouldn't suffer from the bends or other conditions when slowly ascending, though that could be a condition unique only to divers.
The lights came on and the Steel Shark moved. Despite still being on land, it was nimble. Not as agile as the Hunter, though. In order to ensure it could withstand immense pressures underwater, I had designed it to be heavily armored. Fortunately, it was not as heavy or massive as the Titan, so it moved slightly faster than the Titan.
Moving at a lope, I had the Steel Shark run off the pier and dive into the water. There was a huge splash and the Steel Shark sank.
This was where it excelled in. Kicking up the turbos at the back, I had the Steel Shark speed across the water, leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake. Deeper and deeper I went, more to test the endurance of my latest machine than because I actually liked diving. I did like the sea, though, but at this day and age, most of the aquatic life had died out because of pollution. The global warming of the past century had turned to seas unlivable for many of its inhabitants, encouraging the growth of harmful bacteria and plankton while clouding the sea and preventing photosynthesis for many underwater plants. The pollution also increased the acidity of the ocean, which was another blow to marine life.
Unlike the colorful and vibrant pages and photos of the oceans that I had seen in the past when I was a kid, the modern sea was pretty empty and lifeless. I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease while looking through the armored glass of my cockpit. Despite the powerful spotlights attached to the Steel Shark illuminating the way in front of me, it continued to be murky.
Well, at least I had confirmed that my Steel Shark could operate underwater.
I continued to run a few tests, taking note of the areas that could use adjustments, but by and large they weren't major issues. The water wasn't leaking in and the armor held up well. I doubted the Steel Shark could descend to the depths of one or two hundred kilometers underwater, but unless the navy had reason to be engaging in warfare at such depths, it shouldn't be a problem.
"Good." I grinned. Once I made the adjustments and confirmed that everything was in working order, I could contact Bu Fan and get more of these Steel Sharks manufactured.
Then it would be time to strike back.