"Face Reality, Boss"

"Jerry! Are you ready yet?"

"Almost, almost... Ah! This damn machine!"

Thud! Thud!

Following a series of thumping sounds from a fist, the screen, which had been pitch black, flickered with static before finally beginning to display the footage.

Facing the camera was a female reporter who defined the word "sexy," sporting a work badge, a grey suit, a black pencil skirt, and long, wavy blonde hair.

To the reporter's right stood a man with a buzz cut, wearing sunglasses, a red tie, and a black suit, with red "Λ" metal buttons adorning his shirt collar and cuffs.

Behind them was a street that, judging by the traffic lights and architecture, seemed to have been built in the 1960s or 70s.

Further off in the distance was a highly modern industrial park, "bathed" in the midday sun, looking completely out of place compared to the surrounding buildings, clearly a recent construction.

At this moment, the left hand of the cameraman, Jerry, appeared on the left side of the screen, giving a thumbs-up as he said:

"OK, OK, we're good to shoot!"

"Oh? It's ready so quickly this time?" Upon receiving the cue, the reporter adjusted her outfit and hair, then raised the microphone she held in her right hand:

"Ahem, testing, testing."

"No problem, starting recording, five, four, three..." The cameraman pulled back his left hand, skipping the final two and one.

"Hello, everyone!" The reporter, having finished her own silent countdown, began her report with a professional smile:

"I am your old friend, the field host for Seattle Noon News, Robin Mead!"

As she spoke, Robin Mead turned slightly, gesturing to the surroundings: "Today, we have come to Accra, the capital of Ghana, known as the land of cocoa. As for the reason we are here..."

Robin turned her gaze back to the camera. "It is a topic that has been the talk of the town in Seattle: the multinational giant Atlas, our city's pride, announced three months ago—on June 12th—that it would be investing in Accra to build a large-scale industrial park.

"I'm sure you all know what happened next: during the construction of the Accra park, it actually created a massive number of jobs for Seattle, once again boosting the city's entire economy.

"However, everyone, including myself and our staff cameraman Jerry, has been very confused as to why Atlas would choose to build a park that is top-tier in every field in a West African country.

"Although Ghana is known as the land of cocoa and Accra is one of the few modern cities in Africa, we don't understand why they didn't build this park in Atlas's hometown of Seattle. Wouldn't that have provided even more job opportunities for the local citizens?

"Therefore, we have invited the manager of the Accra park, Shane Wang, to clear things up for us!"

With that, Robin moved the microphone toward the man in the suit and asked: "Mr. Wang, was the intention behind Atlas building an industrial park in Accra to invest in Ghana, or...?"

"The reason is simple: natural resources." Shane Wang didn't have the same smile as the reporter, but he explained in a relatively kind tone: "We understand the public's confusion, and we understand that Africa faces many challenges.

"However, industrial manufacturing requires vast amounts of natural resources, and Ghana is rich in minerals like gold, bauxite, manganese, and iron, with reserves that rank among the highest in the world.

"After several site visits, we decided to establish the park in Accra to manufacture our company's products and handle some heavy industrial operations.

"And we have never forgotten Seattle. Otherwise, we wouldn't have recruited nearly ten thousand residents from Seattle and the surrounding areas to cross the ocean and work at this park.

"More importantly, Atlas has not only provided these employees with the most comfortable living conditions but also a monthly salary four times higher than the local average in Seattle.

"Increased wages will stimulate consumption and make the Seattle market more vibrant, while also indirectly raising the income of the local population. It's a virtuous cycle.

"As for security within Ghana, it is relatively stable compared to the rest of Africa. Even if armed conflicts were to break out, our Atlas security team has the capability to protect the park and its employees without needing the local military."

"Hmm, that certainly makes sense." Robin nodded thoughtfully, then followed her interview script: "Then, Mr. Wang, may we go inside the park for a brief tour?"

"Of course, please follow me."

Next.

The camera crew followed Shane Wang to the main gate, where they saw two armed security guards equipped with rifles, body armor, and helmets.

One was standing guard, while the other was inside a security booth.

Even knowing Shane Wang's face and status, the guards followed protocol, first verifying their credentials and reporting to their superiors. Only after receiving approval did they allow the group to enter the park.

Of course, the areas the camera crew visited were strictly legitimate facilities like factories, cafeterias, and dormitories. They would never be allowed into the true core area, which was—

The arsenal.

That's right. As the reporter mentioned in her intro, the Accra park was announced on June 12th and was fully completed ten days ago, on September 9th.

From project initiation to official operation, it took just over three months.

The true purpose and goal of Atlas building this park was to manufacture and test technology obtained through the first space gate, such as mechanical exoskeletons that could significantly enhance individual combat capabilities, and the batteries that powered them.

The reason they didn't hide the park was that, given the scale of Atlas, they would inevitably be targeted by peers and competitors. Being secretive would be no different than "burying three hundred taels of silver here," so it was better to be open about it.

At the same time, the park could serve as a cover for the ruins base deep in the rainforest.

Once the hype died down, they could spend some money to shift public attention and then strictly enforce confidentiality measures; there would be almost no need to worry about exposure.

As for recruiting people from Seattle and the U.S. West Coast to work here, to put it nicely, it was to provide jobs and stimulate the market economy. To put it bluntly, Atlas and Sui Yang held deep suspicions toward Ghana and local African workers.

Not all of them, of course, but the inherent impressions of laziness, ignorance, violence, lechery, and dishonesty were hard to shake.

In contrast, the carefully selected new recruits and the veteran employees with higher clearance levels were not only motivated by Atlas's high salaries and benefits but also possessed a sense of goodwill and loyalty toward a hometown company. Furthermore, after signing non-disclosure agreements, they lived in fear of the "deadly" consequences of leaking information.

At this moment.

In the core area of the Accra park, there was a three-story building, roughly the size of a schoolhouse.

And inside one of the offices in this building...

"Boss, my team and I have performed seven comprehensive tests as you requested, and each time the DNA similarity between you two came back at over 99.9%. The results support a parent-child relationship. There's no need to struggle with it anymore; just accept reality."