Day 3

Fuyuki was aware that he shouldn’t have said what he said to Feng Liwei. But he didn’t lie when he told Annisa that the Major just pissed him off. He had no intention of answering them earnestly and said some empty words instead to appease them. And the most infuriating thing is that he cannot really blame him for that either. As a future leader, anyone should think twice before saying any risky statements that later might prove to be a fatal error in their career.

Whatever. This and everything leading up to this point just confirmed his belief that if he really wants to achieve something he has to do it himself. At this point he doesn’t really have any useful information about the Major that he could give to Winter Breeze, meaning that he also won’t get the blueprint in return. So that only leaves him with one choice.

If he wants to get that blueprint he has to get it himself. It’s not entirely impossible but not easy either. First off, he doesn’t even know where they keep it. He could make some wild guesses about its location but cannot really have the time or the means to search an entire building. Not to mention that he has to get access to enter that building and the rooms in it first. And Winter Breeze is also on the move to acquire that document, so he better hurry to get it before him. But how?

At this moment a knocking sound made Fuyuki shudder as he looked to the left to see the silhouette of a man standing beside his car and knocking on its door to draw his attention. He tapped the door twice with his finger to open it.

“Sorry, I was about to get out. I was just thinking something over,” he said without much thought.

“No worries, I’m not here to park your car. I just saw you still sitting in there and thought to ask you if you’re coming up,” came the casual reply making Fuyuki to look at the other person for the first time since he stepped out of the car and closed its door.

It was that Yamada guy he talked to yesterday. Dressed for the occasion, he looked fine in black but still not as fine as a certain Major in anything. Fuyuki was mad at himself for having such thoughts and immediately shook his head as if his mind would clear after that.

“I just have many things in my mind these days,” Fuyuki said after a while. “Let’s go in, shall we?” he said and headed towards the entrance to the building.

Neither of them bothered to look back as both their cars were automatically locked down in the garage with their own ID, ensuring that no one can get access to their vehicle without scanning their wristband or giving access to another person’s wristband directly, thus enabling them to use it just like in case of any other building, room etc. This method which was available but not yet compulsory to use worldwide was already in use in Hualong for a little more than a year. For them, this might be new but here this was already a custom.

It was weird entering such a formal place as a ministry at night. It was even weirder to see everyone dressed so formally as they drink and chat without angrily refuting someone’s idea. But of course this is only for show. If there are enmities between people a mere reception would not wash it away.

Fuyuki looked around and after spotting Annisa, he left Yamada to find his own circle of friends and went to join her. She was dressed in a beautiful pink and green satin dress and was just about to take a glass of champagne from an android waitress.

“You look nice, why still alone?”

“Well, our Major Feng isn’t free now and besides, after your little fiasco, I don’t really have the face to go talk to him anyway,” she commented a bit morosely.

She was right of course. The person in question was in the middle of talking with three ministers discussing who knows what. That really wasn’t the time to go up to him and try buttering him up. Unless someone had some constructive ideas to tell. Which they clearly didn’t. One of them wanted to hook up with him while the other wanted to get close to him in order to gain information about him. It was definitely a bad timing to do either of that.

While his father... Fuyuki didn’t even consider talking to the old man. He figured if the younger one is such a though nut to crack than his father might be worse. He doesn’t want to take such a risk.

“Then just wait a little,” he suggested instead. “Maybe there’ll come a time when he’ll be free,” he said, hoping the opposite.

He knew that in the off chance that blueprint really does exist just like Winter Breeze said, then it might as well be here since this is probably one of the safest places in the entire city.

“Even if he’ll be free do you think I have so much nerve as you do to just stroll...” she said vehemently but once noticing that Fuyuki was no longer paying attention to her, she stopped speaking and looked in the direction he was looking. At that point, she also noticed that Major Feng was no longer talking with those ministers and in fact, he was nowhere to be seen.

Well, they couldn’t be sure since the room was big, and the guests were many, not to mention all the humanoid androids walking around and serving food and drinks to everyone present.

“I’ll be back,” he said suddenly and left the surprised woman.

He walked around for a while and after seeing that the Major was in fact just talking with another group of delegates, he looked around to make sure that no one was looking and left the room.

Even if someone noticed his leaving, they might only think he just left to go to the restroom. Unless they bother to check his location and realize that he not only didn’t go there but he suddenly disappeared from the whole building. Well, figuratively.

Not being transparent in this city was almost like a crime but so long he doesn’t do anything to make them check, he is safe.

But still, he couldn’t relax one bit. Not until he got what he wanted and he is back in his country safe and sound.

He looked around but no one was in the corridor to stop him. One advantage of that whole transparency madness is that it makes everyone so confident that they don’t bother to have other security guards standing outside. Who would even dare try and get in where they shouldn’t supposed to be?

Well, him.

As he was nearing the door to Feng Yiheng’s office, he was preparing to hack into their system to open the door but he soon realized that there was no need for that. Because as he approached the door, he saw that it wasn’t entirely closed. The person leaving was either so confident that no one would dare go inside the current world leader’s office without his consent or he wasn’t just didn’t realize he didn’t close it entirely. Be it either way, it’s his luck anyway.

Fuyuki slowly pushed the door open being extra careful in case someone was still inside and that’s why the door was still open. He looked inside and after confirming that the room was empty, he went in and closed the door behind him.

The room was spacious and quite old-fashioned with rows of shelves on the walls filled with books. He looked around and after seeing the huge mahogany desk near the shelves, he decided that it might be worth a shot to search it through. It’s quite a cliché place to put that document but it’s better to search the obvious places first.

So, he walked up to the desk but barely had a chance to look through the top of it when he heard some movement from behind. He immediately froze and his necktie suddenly felt suffocating. He probably had mere seconds until he was discovered. Leaving the room was out of the question as he wouldn’t be able to reach the door even if he were to run.

As a last attempt, he squatted down and hid under the desk. With the armchair covering him, no one would be able to see him unless...

Unless that person decided to sit down.

And that’s exactly what that person did. Fuyuki was still trying to breathe soundlessly and kneel without moving an inch when he suddenly saw a pair of legs coming closer and the person to whom those legs belonged pulled away the chair a little and sat own.

And as Fuyuki slowly raised his head to look up he saw Feng Liwei looking down at him shocked as he saw Fuyuki sitting between his legs on the floor.

Now that was awkward. For both of them.