After his long and insightful talk with Jeff, Ves said goodbye and entered the military shuttle sent to pick him up. As the armored vehicle lifted into the air, it flew back to the military base at a steady pace.


    Ves looked forward to returning, because he observed enough clues to write a damning report. As long as shlight or the Mech Corps moved fast enough, they’d be able to uncover the evidence he nned to point out!


    Even if he misjudged some of his observations, the usations would still be able to stick as long as ten percent of his ims turned out to be true!


    "Seems like there is no way to avoid a reckoning."


    He no longer cared that much about shlight’s inclinations on making the KNG suffer. Having gathered plenty of evidence of improper handling and outright stealing military mech parts made him rather angry and disappointed at the big mech manufacturer.


    Yet even as he med the KNG, he couldn’t help but fear such an oue taking ce at his ownpany one day. Ves knew that the important takeaway from this incident would be to be more thoughtful on how to delegate responsibilities.


    "Regardless, this has been a very eye-opening lesson to me. Running a mechpany is way more difficult than I initially thought."


    Kadar and Neyvis already deserved a lot of credit for growing theirpany to this extent. The only domestic mechpanies that surpassed the KNG all enjoyed the direction of Senior Mech Designers.


    Therefore, Ves did admire them for their sesses and didn’t think their life’s work should be shut down.


    However, he had no say in the government’s handling of thepany and their owners. Depending on the severity of the problem as well as the agendas of those in power, Kadar and Neyvis could either receive a p on the wrist or lose all of their property!


    In the worst case, they might not even be able to escape jail, though Ves didn’t think this option would be likely. Without evidence of their direct involvement in the scheme, they couldn’t be med directly.


    However, Ves knew that they held ultimate responsibility over military production in their facilities. Regardless of how many lower workers failed to do their duties, ultimately the negligence andck of effort on the part of the owners allowed them all to get away with their misdeeds.


    He put aside his deliberations when the shuttlended at the parking zone of the military base. As Ves waved the shuttle pilot goodbye, he walked towards the building that held his quarters so he could pass on his conclusions to Lnd.


    The intelligence officer would be able to live with the usations he nned to report. Ves felt a little relieved that he didn’t have to report too many falsehoods to meet shlight’s expectations on how he chose to fulfill the mission.


    Once Ves put this sordid experience behind him, he figured he earned enough kudos from shlight to enjoy their backing and protection in earnest.


    He deserved it. After all the hardships he endured and the risks he took, Ves definitely expected shlight topensate him sincerely.


    Hopefully, this would be thest dangerous mission he took part in. A mech designer like him belonged in a quiet, well-defended research base like Frozen Point. Even if he got assigned to an unfulfilling chore of a job again, Ves resolved to neverin about his duties again!


    As Ves walked halfway back to the officer barracks that held his quarters, a bright light instantly shed across the base.


    "ARRGH!"


    Momentster, Ves finally felt an excruciating pain! A powerfulser beam burned a hole right through his service dress uniform, punched through his chest and burned another hole on the way out!


    rms instantly rang out across the base and a host of mechs and security guards jumped into action to secure the entire premises. A handful of emergency responders already raced towards the open spot where Ves copsed!


    "Assassin!"


    "Who fired thatser?! Triangte its origin point and secure the area!"


    "Sir, we’ve detected that a high-poweredser rifle has been fired inside the premises of our base!"


    "Damnit! The sniper is someone from the inside!"


    "Spread out! Spread out! Don’t let the sniper get away! Also, immediately ount for every personnel and guest at our base! Ground all vehicles and don’t let any of them enter or exit!"


    As the guards and officers stationed at the base went into action, Ves felt hot, numb, burned, pained and woozy at the same time!


    Surprisingly, Ves managed to hold on to his consciousness, enough to realize three important facts.


    First, the sniper aimed at his heart! Ordinarily, this would have resulted in an instant fatality when struck by aser weapon, but it just so happened that Ves did not possess a normal heart anymore.


    Aside from his recent gene optimization treatments that made his body cope a little better against heat and burn damage, his half-alien traits saved him at the critical moment!


    The Jund organ that Dr. Jund imnted his body had at first surrounded his heart before slowly merging together tobine their functions!


    This strange and wondrous organ which now integrated the functions of a heart was virtually immune to the energy damage whichser weapons typically discharged! No matter how hot or energetic aser beam such weapons fired, a Jund organ eagerly gobbled them all up without sustaining any damage as long as the iing energy didn’t surpass their appetite!


    Only the weapons discharge of a massive mech-gradeser rifle would be able to induce his Jund organ to copse!


    The second fact was that he’d been shot from the back. This assassin not only managed to fool the military base’s stringent monitoring system, but also managed to fire off a shot without alerting Ves at all!


    This stood in stark contrast to the assassination attempt he suffered much earlier in his career. Back then, an assassin armed with a massive deployed railgun attempted to kill him several times!


    Yet at those instances, Ves always received advance warning due to the strange flicker of spirituality he perceived.


    This time, the assassin avoiding giving themselves away, thereby giving Ves no reaction time to defend himself!


    The irony was that the railgun-armed assassin back then was probably better at his job than theser-armed assassin that seeded in striking Ves without warning!


    The third fact struck Ves while the first responders finally reached his body and began to erect foldable armor screens to protect him from follow-up shots. For some reason, he hackingly coughed out augh due to the sheer absurdity of what he perceived.


    Theser beam that punched through his uniform and chest, mostly leaving his Jund organ intact along the way, also burned away his ribbons!


    "The Mech Corps will be pissed.. hahaha.. even I’m pissed..."


    "Mr. Larkinson! Please remain still!" One of the emergency responders said as they got over their shock that he managed to survive a shot through his heart. "Your condition is too critical for you to talk!"


    Arge chunk of his lungs, arteries, flesh and other important pieces of himself got burned or vaporized. Ves didn’t need a medical degree to figure that out. Yet strangely enough, his Jund organ not only protected his heart function, but also siphoned away the damage immediately around it, thereby leaving enough parts intact to maintain some basic functioning.


    For some reason, he managed to maintain his consciousness throughout the aftermath. Even though the emergency responders injected him with loads of sedatives before carting him off to the nearest infirmary, his body functioned far too well to beid low by these trifles!


    It still hurt a lot to have a hole burned through his body though! Half of the time, Ves screamed or moaned in pain.


    As the entire military base went crazy in their hunt for the sniper, the doctors at the infirmary first ced him into a tank filled with some sort of medical goop that instantly soothed the pains in his body. He felt as if much of the pressure of his wounds subsided a bit.


    Now that Ves’ condition stopped deteriorating through this measure, if only temporarily, the doctors ordered the entire tank to be brought to a military hospital which possessed the facilities to treat such a severe wound properly.


    "Hang on, Mr. Larkinson!" The doctor said on the other side of the tank as a lifter bot grabbed hold of it. "I’m not sure why you’ve managed to survive such an attack, but you’ll live! You have to!"


    What happened next started to blur a bit in his mind. As the sedatives mixed in with the medical goop started to affect his body, Ves had difficulty staying awake. He was sure he cked out at some instances, as every time he regained consciousness for a little bit his surroundings kept changing.


    First he saw through the transparent cover of the tank that he’d been brought inside an armored shuttle.


    Next, he woke up to the sight of medical experts scratching their heads over his medical file and all the aberrations they mentioned. How could they even begin to treat a half-alien freak like Ves?


    Sometimeter, he thought he woke up in the middle of an operation that sought to transnt cloned tissue into the missing portions of his body, but he wasn’t sure.


    After a few more jumps in lucidity where Ves only vaguely gained awareness of what went on, he finally woke up for real.


    Even though he felt weak, pained and hopped up with far more sedatives than he thought was healthy, Ves couldn’t help but release augh. His lung function also recovered due to the expert medical treatment he received!


    "Hahaha... I survived. Damnit, for all the trouble it’s given me, the Jund organ is certainly miraculous."


    "Indeed." Another voice spoke from the side, instantly causing Ves to jump in his bed.


    "Lnd! You’re here!"


    "I am." His case officer said and offered Ves a strangely pleased smile. "You’ve gone through a rough time, Ves. I’m very d to see you haven’t been taken out. I worried for a moment but I was sure you’d be able to pull through."


    The strangely enigmatic smile on Lnd’s face did not fit this situation. It actually caused Ves to grow suspicious.


    A horrifying realization dawned upon him. "You... it wasn’t the BLM who attempted to assassinate me, right? It was you! You ordered it! One of the members of the strike team probably did the deed!"


    The sniper fired within the premises of the base. Who was in a better position to assassinate someone inside the the base than shlight that could easily subvert its existing security measures?


    Lnd grinned deviously at Ves. "I didn’t want to let you know, but since you already figured it out, oh well. I admit it. I ordered the hit. Now don’t worry Ves, I never intended to have you killed. I have ess to record and I’m aware of your unusually strong physical state. I ordered my man to aim at your abnormal heart organ withplete confidence that you’ll survive! And you have!"


    "You utter piece of crap!"


    Ves was so furious he wanted to scream at this slimy bastard! How could Lnd do something like this to him! How could shlight let him get away with it! No matter what his Jund organ was capable of, it didn’t change the fact that he could have died!


    Lnd ignored the anger directed at him. Instead, he moved on to business. "The assassination attempt has rmed the Mech Corps. They definitely bought it. Now is the time to capitalize on it, Ves! Soon enough, the Mech Corps will dispatch someone to investigate the matter. Tell them that you suspect that the KNG or BLM is responsible and exin to them what you suspect is going on at the Mosville Complex. The Mech Corps will definitely be inclined to believe your ims due to attempt on your life!"


    So that was why Lnd ordered Ves to be struck by aser beam! It was all to strengthen his case against the KNG and agitate the Mech Corps into treating his investigation with greater urgency!


    "What if you miscalcted?" Ves asked. "What if I died?"


    "Then your family would bepensated and you’d be buried a hero." Lnd shrugged. "In any case, you would have died while you worked as a liaison to the KNG, so thepany would definitely fall under intense scrutiny."


    It sounded as if Lnd didn’t particrly care whether Ves lived or died in the first ce. To him, the needs of shlight came first, and he would do whatever was necessary to achieve the greatest oue that benefited the agency!