And so it began.
The cops and lawyers didn't dare touch any of the culprits or true masterminds behind the cruise missile attack. That left us to take revenge…ahem, seek justice on behalf of the victims. Never mind that I didn't care about any of the victims to begin with. As far as I was concerned, the world was better off without Riley Rong or his fangirls.
Okay, I was being overly harsh. They certainly didn't deserve to die, I was sure of that. But they weren't people I would go out of my way to seek justice for or avenge. They were sort of enemies. The most annoying kind, in fact.
"Here are the Locusts," I told Bu Fan and the rest. I didn't really have to inform Bu Fan, though. His Bu Businesses were the one who provided the infrastructure for me to manufacture them in the first place. While I could build a few of them over the last couple of weeks, for large scale production I needed a factory and fulltime staff. And Bu Fan provided that in spades.
The gang leaders (or bosses of the underground organizations, given that "gang leaders" didn't really do their statuses justice) watched the Locusts excitedly, clearly wanting to get their hands on them as soon as possible.
I indulged them by directing the Locusts to scramble toward them, their mechanical wings buzzing as they approached. The various bosses allowed the Locusts to perch atop their palms, studying them in wonder.
"These are amazing," the bald dude remarked, impressed. "I didn't think you would be able to build such miniature robots!"
Well, this story wasn't so much a CEO novel (or a parody of one) as it was a story about me building robots. Of course I would be able to build all kinds of robots. Speaking of which, while staring at the Locusts, I had a new idea…some new robot to build in mind.
But that was for the future. For now, I focused on the present.
"So what do you plan to do now? You want to raid the respective headquarters of those three organizations?"
"Sort of." Bu Fan placed a hand over my shoulders and gently but firmly led me away. "From now on, you can leave everything to us. You don't need to involve yourself in the next stage of operations."
"All right." I didn't argue. I understood that Bu Fan wanted to protect me from the authorities if anything went wrong. I was just a manufacturer, an inventor. I wasn't responsible for how my creations were used after I sold them.
So I left the underground dudes to do their own businesses.
After which, I heard the account from others or pieced them together from various news reports and investigations that were made public.
Bu Fan and the various bosses of the underground organizations camped inside a command center that was secretly built by Bu Businesses. It resembled an underground bunker, equipped with hi-tech satellites, sensors and other advanced facilities. From there, they could control the Locusts via remote, using satellite signals and electromagnetic radiation.
Fortunately, I had developed electromagnetic pulse protection for the Locusts so that they wouldn't fry themselves from their own attacks.
Bu Fan's factories had produced hundreds of Locusts, so we now had more than enough to send them to all the many different buildings of our foes, including the main headquarters and the subsidiaries of Er Enterprises, Hao Holdings and Ye Conglomerates.
Bu Fan and the bosses had planned their attack, launching it not at night but during the day. Simply because the CEOs and board people wouldn't be working at night. We were more likely to catch them during the day, in their offices or holding meetings. That sort of thing.
Somehow he had managed to grab ahold of their schedules and the blueprints for the various buildings. I didn't know how, but I suspected the agents they sent to infiltrate the trio of companies were responsible for most of the intelligence. I couldn't help but be impressed when I learned of this later.
In any event, the Locusts infiltrated through the narrowest channels, squeezing through cracks, ventilation shafts and other areas too small for humans to fit into. They flew about, their mechanical wings buzzing, and infiltrated the buildings, spreading out and seeking out their targets. Under the directions of Bu Fan and other staff handling the remote controls – mostly members of the gangs who were trained to handle such hi-tech stuff – they avoided the security cameras and sensors as best as they could.
Man, they reminded me of the techno-gangs from the scrapyard. It wouldn't surprise me if Bu Fan had actually recruited a good number of people from those techno-gangs. It would explain their affinity with technology, despite my Locusts being new.
"Be careful," Bu Fan reminded them, handling a dozen or so Locusts himself. He had them fly up a shaft and ascend toward the top level of the main headquarters of Er Enterprises. Right now, Edwin Er, the ruthless but handsome and rich CEO of Er Enterprises, was holding a meeting with the board and directing their next business policies.
Or so we thought, but when Bu Fan's Locusts drew nearer, they picked up audible cues from their conversation.
"We have finally destroyed the Rong Group and seized many of their assets…but this is just the beginning! We won't stop at Riley Rong's death! We must kill all of the Rong family!"
"That's right! If they learn that we were behind his assassination, they will surely seek revenge. We must cut the weeds out by the roots! Prevent any future repercussions by leaving a Rong family member behind! We cannot afford to leave even a single Rong family member alive, lest they take revenge on us in the future!"
"Don't worry. After the authorities arrested the first group of mercenaries off the coast, I have hired a second group. They will be making their way here in a second warship. Now that the navy has pulled back their patrols, this is the best chance! We'll have them fire the cruise missiles at the Rong villa and decimate them!"
"Great job, President!" There was applause. Yeah, people were actually applauding Edwin Er's plans of murder. These guys were sick in the head. I honestly didn't understand how their brains worked. "But what about the branch families and those exiled? The ones who don't live in a villa?"
"Oh, I've discussed with the CEOs of Ye Conglomerate and Hao Holdings. We have decided to hire assassins to take them out. Arrange accidents. For example, Richard Rong, who lives in his own mansion…a tanker with natural gases will 'accidentally' crash into his office building and blow up. I don't think anyone will survive!"
These guys were insane. They had no qualms massacring innocent staff members and clients as long as they murdered their targets.
"It shouldn't take long now. We have the…uh, 'accident' scheduled for today afternoon. Tune in and listen to the good news. The Rong family will be finished!"
"What about the warship?"
"They'll arrive off the coast around next week. We're still waiting for the navy to pull back their patrols fully. They are still on somewhat high alert after the last wave. We can't be too impatient."
While they discussed their plans of assassination, Bu Fan quickly contacted me.
"Hey, Trevor, bad news." I could hear the quiver in his voice. "Can you dispatch a sizable force to Rong's Tower at Central Boulevard?"
"The office building where Richard Rong works in?" I asked, recalling that little bit of information the last time I investigated Riley Rong because he was harassing Lily Ling.
"That's right. It gets worse. We just found out that the three corporations plan to kill Richard Rong as well. In fact, they plan to do it this afternoon. They plan to ram a tanker filled with natural gas and blow the whole building up, killing everybody in it."
"Are these guys insane?" I tried not to roll my eyes at how absurd this sounded. Only in a CEO novel would you find such ridiculous scenarios. I doubted I had actually heard of anyone attempting such blatant massacres in reality.
"Yeah. But that's not the point. We have to stop them. Or many innocent people will die."
"I didn't take you for an ally of justice." I couldn't help but chuckle. Despite Bu Fan acting like an edgy teenager, commanding the underworld and killing thugs mercilessly, he seemed heroic at times. "All right, I'll see what I can do."
"Watch out for any tankers. Stop them at all costs."
"Understood. I'll move out immediately."
"Huh? You're moving out…?"
"Yeah, I'll be handling this matter personally." I was already recalling one of my war walkers from the military. "We're going to needy heavy armor to deal with an attack of such magnitude. If an explosion does happen, only a war walker with its energy shields will be able to handle it."
"You…" Bu Fan trailed off, and then he chuckled. "All right then. I'll leave it to you. Just make sure you don't die."
"You too."
While I went to make the proper preparations, Bu Fan continued with his subterfuge. Under his instructions, the many operators moved their Locusts into position. As it turned out, it wasn't just Edwin Er. The CEOs and boards of both Hao Holdings and Ye Conglomerates had also planned the same thing. They were all coordinating the assassination attempts, whether it was the second cruise missile or the tankers. In fact, there were at least three tankers doing the same thing, to ensure that they didn't miss.
Having backups in case something went wrong was always a good strategy.
"Bastards," Bu Fan hissed under his breath. "They are all insane."
"What should we do, boss?" One of his subordinates asked. The man known as Hades smiled grimly and gave the order.
"Hit them."
At those words, the Locusts activated their electromagnetic pulses, knocking out every electronic equipment in the buildings. Lights went out, computers shut down, even the security systems and cameras went offline, their circuits fried by the powerful and combined pulses.
"W…what's going on?!" One of the board members shouted in panic.
"A blackout!" Edwin Er hissed. "Those idiotic technicians! What am I paying them for? They never do their jobs properly. I'm going to fire them…"
He never had a chance to.
The Locusts swarmed out of ventilation shafts and other crevices, webs of lethal lightning arcing from their metallic bodies. The electricity lashed out, ensnaring the screaming CEOs and board members and electrocuting them. Flesh cooked, nervous systems were fried and their bodies went into rigid spasms, their heads and limbs smacking against the floor and furniture.
In a single stroke, Bu Fan and his underground organizations decapitated the leadership of the three conglomerates, assassinating three CEOs and all of their board members.
This would become great news over the next few weeks, as netizens and citizens discussed various conspiracy theories and speculated what could have really happened, the truth completely hidden from them. As for me, however, at that moment, I had more important matters to focus on.
I had to save Richard Rong and his staff.