Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Austin began to question Lane through the earpiece, her tone urgent, “Lane, what happened? Why were you fighting with Brooke to a point where you two were trying to kill each other?”

Lane opened his mouth, but the sentences would not come out.

How could he explain his reason for being here and why he and Brooke were trying to kill each other?

Was he supposed to tell her the truth, that his reason for joining the BHB was to kill Brooke?

That the reason he was here in the first place all started from Brooke's phone call which he successfully spied on?

Lane knew that he could not possibly tell them the entire truth since he would also be subject to Blackwatch's punishment. Still, it was extremely difficult for him to provide a reasonable explanation for what had happened.

Lane found himself bathing in sweat.

Just as he was dealing with this internal conflict, he heard a deep voice of another man coming from the earpiece. “Lane, I reported this incident to the higher-ups, the company will dispatch a proper team to clean everything up very soon. Your task now is to hide Brooke's body and ensure n.o.body sees it, do you understand?”

“Manager Liu?”

Lane immediately recognized who this person talking to him was. It was manager Liu, the department head. He rushed to explain himself, “Manager Liu, I wasn't intending to kill him!”

“I know.”

To Lane's surprise, manager Liu began to lay everything out clearly for him. “Brooke secretly colluded with the CIA and was acting as a spy for them to collect intel on Blackwatch. His signal jamming device and other weapons were all provided by the CIA and even the organization you were involved with in the past was connected to the CIA as well. There are many more such small organizations scattered all over the world.

“It may seem like Brooke was behind this ambush you faced, but it was all the work of the intricate planning of the CIA. We've been collecting evidence of Brooke's schemes long before you started doing it, but we didn't expect you to act so soon.”

“What…”`

Cold sweat continued to pour down his neck and his back. Could this mean that everything he had been doing was closely monitored by the company all this time?

His opponent all this time had been the renowned CIA belonging to his very own country?

On one side was his country while on the opposite side was his company. Lane found himself at a loss for which side he was supposed to take…

“But there's no need for you to worry. The higher-ups are pleased with how you've handled this situation. Although you have a previous track record of engaging in organizations against Blackwatch, you've made up for it by exposing their location to us. You have great potential and we're eager to see your continued development.”

Manager Liu suddenly paused to allow Lane to digest the message, then noted. “Lane, don't disappoint the company…”

“I, I won't…”

At this point, the back of Lane's s.h.i.+rt was completely soaked in sweat.

“It's not that we want you to betray your country.”

The manager continued. “The truth is that despite our company and Northern America's public collaborations, there have been many hidden conflicts. On one hand, we have to unite to fight against evil forces. But on the other hand, Northern America is afraid of our continued growth, which leads us to situations such as what happened today… But none of this has anything to do with you or me. It's only the higher-ups in the company that have to be concerned with these developments. All you need to do is keep your head down and do your job. Don't try to be like Brooke and get yourself involved in the giant vortex of the two major forces, do you understand?”

“Yes…”

Lane's voice came out in the form of a dry rattle.

“Alright, the special team will be arriving at the scene shortly, just leave the rest to them, they know how to take care of it.”

With that, manager Liu had effectively laid out everything there was to do and proceeded to hang up.

“Phew…”

With that, Lane let out a deep sigh. He looked at Brooke who was starting to turn stiff, then he proceeded to drag the corpse into the bushes nearby and waited silently.

After around ten minutes, several black Wrangler jeeps appeared out of nowhere and screeched to a stop in front of Lane. Lane was slightly perturbed by this and shot up nervously. He then saw dozens of Blackwatch personnel clad in black robes and tactical helmets swarming out of the vehicles.

They each carried a pulse rifle and wore a combat suit underneath the black robes. They quickly formed a circle around Lane and gave off a slight air of hostility.

Lane quickly put his hands in the air and asked tentatively, “I'm part of the bionic police department, are you guys sent by the company to clean up the mess?”

“Yes, we received the mission to reclaim the company's property.”

Lane glanced behind the crowd and saw a woman who did not wear a helmet hopping out of a Wrangler jeep.

She had minimal makeup on and an icy att.i.tude around her. Even the combat uniform could not conceal her full and robust hourgla.s.s figure. With a quick signal from her, the group surrounding him lay down their weapons and began inspecting the surroundings.

“Pedro Lane?”

The woman asked, but not before eying Lane up and down as she walked in a circle around him.

“That's me…”

Although Lane knew what the suit of armor he wore was capable of, he was still filled with agitation when confronted by this otherworldly woman. It seemed that this person in front of him was not an ordinary human being, but a black leopard in disguise. She could very well tear him into pieces at any given moment.

It was apparent to Lane that she could hardly be bothered by what Lane thought of her. She suddenly produced a gun-shaped detector from her pocket and aimed it at him. The indicator on the detector immediately flashed green light and announced, “Ident.i.ty confirmation: Pedro Leon, member of Bionic Police Project Department. Code number 113304.”

“Alright.”

Seeing this, the woman put the detector back into her pocket and remarked without much regard, “The higher-ups have given specific instructions for us to handle everything from here on, you may leave now. Let me remind you that as per the company's agreement, you're prohibited from telling anyone who is unauthorized, especially outsiders, about everything that has happened today. Otherwise, the company will be sure to deal with you accordingly, understand?”

“Alright, understood…”

Lane took a deep gulp and left without so much as sparing another glance.

While he was on the way out, he did manage to take note of the department printed across the chest section of the woman's uniform. It read 'B.S.S.'.

“It's the B.S.S. Department…”

The B.S.S. Department was short for Black Security Service Department. However, Lane knew that this name was merely a facade for the true nature of the department. It should instead be named as Blackwatch Quick Reaction Security Force!

Just like the Bionic Police Department, the Black Security Service Department was also affiliated with Blacklight Biotechnology. To the outside world, the B.S.S. was seen as an equivalent of the Bionic Police Department, but the truth was this department had far more administrative authority. Instead of being labeled as a special force department, it would be more apt to label it as the company's private armed forces!

The very purpose for the existence of this department was to oversee the safety of Blackwatch's property and to annihilate whatever evidence that may prove to be unfavorable to the reputation of the company.

This piece of information was only known to a handful of selected individuals. The only reason Lane was informed of this was that he was once a member of the Blackwatch Resistance Organization. Otherwise, it was nigh impossible for him to be told of such matters based on his current rank in the company.

Lane walked alone in the dark. When he pa.s.sed by the Bartlett Bar, he saw that the section of the neighborhood was illuminated by a radiant column of flame where the Bartlett Bar once stood! The fire was spreading to the nearby buildings as well. People were running in a fit of mania and panic, the flames were visible from a great distance away!

It seemed like Blackwatch had a lot of business to take care of tonight…

Lane felt a great chill that seeped into the deepest crevice of his heart. All along, he knew that Blackwatch was far from your average company, but now, he had fully realized the full extent of what this company was capable of. The mere thought of it was thoroughly disturbing.

Dozens of lives lost in the span of a single night and yet the Northern American Continent would simply brush off this matter. This was a testament to the ridiculous influence of this company…

Lane returned to his bike he parked in a secluded corner and drove back to the bionic police base. His mind was overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions.

Lane had a feeling that he would have trouble falling asleep tonight…

The sun gradually rose along the horizon to welcome the dawn of the next day in Northern America. A young man named York who had just recently graduated from university and was now working in a small media company called PUB yawned lazily at his desk. Fortunately, he had just got to the office five minutes from his appointed working hours.

“Sigh, another boring, ordinary day.”

York mumbled to himself as he lazily turned on the computer. Suddenly, the display immediately showed a high-resolution poster of the BHB Combative Police Force on his desktop. It was evident enough that he was a superfan of Blackwatch's BHB Combative Police Force.

“York, York!”

Before York even had time to settle into his seat and get his mood ready for today's work, he heard what sounded like the agonizing yelp of a dying chicken coming from somewhere behind him. This voice immediately evoked a sense of irritation deep inside York, but he put on his best smile to conceal his annoyance and enquired nicely, “Yes team leader, need anything?”

The man whom York addressed as team leader was a middle-aged man whose hairline was barely clinging on for dear life. He continued howling as he approached York's desk and slapped an evaluation form on the desk. Then, he ranted with his fingers repeatedly tapping against the form. “Look at the articles you've written last week. Two articles out of three were rejected and the only one that got approved was ridiculed by our readers. This is your admirable work from last week!”

York seemed troubled and complained, “But team leader, wasn't it you who wanted me to write articles on these current affairs?”

“But it wasn't me who told you to write such garbage content!”

The team leader roared. “The manager isn't happy with you. If you still can't give us some proper articles this week, get ready to pack up and go home!”

After the team leader was done with his scolding, he waddled away, contented with himself.

There was no word that could describe how infuriated York was. He had only done as the team leader instructed him to. Not only did he have to be reprimanded senselessly, he was also potentially going to lose his job.

He could not handle this anymore…

York was feeling dejected. He sighed and slowly opened a webpage and began scanning for useful articles online, just as he always did.

Since he worked in a small media outlet, he did not have the privilege of on-site reporters. His only source of content was by scouring for resources online. Fortunately, there were no topic restrictions for the articles written as long as they attracted plenty of clicks. This meant that most small media outlets tended to hop on to whatever topic was trending at the time.

After browsing for some time and noting that there were no interesting topics, York looked at the time and saw that it was around eight-thirty. He suddenly remembered to check out the Blackwatch official website.

Blackwatch was the single most influential company in the world with no clear rivals. Whatever news announced from their end was bound to astound the world, which also meant that for small media outlets like the ones York worked in, Blackwatch was the best platform to piggyback on.

York was a regular customer of the Blackwatch official site and regularly tuned in for their routine eight-thirty site refresh.

At eight-thirty sharp, York went to the Blackwatch official site and repeatedly hit the F5 b.u.t.ton.

His repeated attempts at refres.h.i.+ng the site paid off by the thirteenth time. A new headline appeared in the center of the homepage of the official website while at the same time, the entire website turned black and white.

“Hm, what's going on?”

York was taken aback by the sudden incident. He initially figured that it was a problem with the screen. It was only after he read the headline when he realized what happened. He hung his mouth wide open and was completely frozen in his seat…

[Captain of the BHB Combative Police Force, Brooke Humphrey, killed last night in the line of duty, retiring at the age of 35.]

York was floored by this headline. It took him several seconds before he came to his senses, which he then immediately tapped into the article with the cursor.

This took him to the article page.

“In the early morning of 20 August 2028, Brooke and the recently inducted officer Lane were ambushed in the suburbs of Queens, New York City when they reported to duty to arrest drug traffickers in the area. The captain was. .h.i.t by anti-tank artillery and pa.s.sed…”

Attached below the pa.s.sage was a black and white photograph of the late Captain Brooke. He looked like his usual handsome, charming, and determined self in the picture, almost like a holy sculpture.

Listed below was the list of accomplishments in Brooke's career.

By this point, York could not bear to read on anymore…

“Stupid April's Fool…”

York uttered a dejected complaint, the mouse in his hand dropped onto the floor.

[Tragedy: World famous superhero, BHB Combative Police Force Captain Brooke dies heroically in the line of duty!] – Northern American a.s.sociated Press News.

[The world mourns! BHB Combative Police Force Captain Brooke dies at the age of 35!] – Reuters News.

[Be wary of the resurgence of evil factions, the path to the resistance of evil is a long and tedious one. What kind of lesson and reflection can we gain from the death of Captain Brooke?] – Hezhong International News Agency.

[Real-life superheroes have been taken away from us. The real world is not as the stories told, superheroes are not immortal!] – Sina Express.

Within minutes of the announcement on the official website of Blacklight Biotechnology, the news of Brooke's death spread across the public horizon and the world was plunged into a state of grief. Countless media sites in Northern America changed the theme of their websites to black and white to commemorate the death of the hero. There were also countless video game platforms such as Steam who announced a one-day site closure to pay respects to the deceased, beloved hero.

In an instant, the world was plunged into a state of grief and ceaseless mourning…