Xiang Qian Creates the First Big Melon of 2010

The agents outside the door were quickly escorted off the premises by hotel security. Red Star led his bodyguards to sweep the entire floor's public space, expelling several "lost" guests from other floors in the process.

Just as Mystique Raven had complained, there were currently more agents in the Hilton Hotel than there were U.S. soldiers around the bay.

When the floor finally quieted down, Red Star pushed the door open to report, while Xiang Qian had just hung up a "condolence" call from the White House.

The situation on Alcatraz Island had gradually become clear, and those who needed to know about Jimmy's disappearance basically knew—except for Worthington II. Incidentally, that old white man had been rescued by his son while being hunted by radical mutants.

The researchers on the island suffered heavy casualties; many failed to reach the basement in time and were brutally killed by the mutants.

The mastermind who had orchestrated the theft while posing as a victim accepted the official condolences and reiterated his willingness to maintain cooperation. At the same time, Xiang Qian did not forget to play the thief crying "stop thief," demanding that the U.S. government capture Magneto as soon as possible and recover Jimmy, the key to the Mutant Gene Serum.

After hanging up on the White House Chief of Staff, Xiang Qian immediately ordered his legal department to file a lawsuit against Worthington II. With Jimmy lost, the production of the Mutant Gene Serum was declared suspended; everyone understood that Worthington Industries was about to face a catastrophic disaster.

As long as it could be proven that the major losses suffered by Worthington Industries were significantly linked to the actions of Worthington II himself, he would have to bear the responsibility for compensating investors for their losses. At times like this, many were waiting to kick a man when he was down.

To solve the mutant problem, the research and production of the gene serum would eventually have to continue. However, the primary developer, Worthington Industries, had to be completely eliminated first.

Before that, Jimmy could still enjoy a few more days of a peaceful, ordinary life.

After arranging all his official business, Xiang Qian took out the note he had left idle for two days and excitedly called out to Red Star, "Lao Hong, help me pick—which number should I call first?"

"What number?" Red Star asked, confused.

"The Hilton sisters' phone numbers." Xiang Qian held one in each hand. "This one is the older sister's, this one is the younger's. Come on, you pick—which one should I call first?"

"What are you trying to do?"

"Create gossip to divert attention," Xiang Qian said with a wicked grin. "With so many agents staring at us, it's impossible to guard against them all. I might as well create a huge scandal and put myself in the spotlight; it'll be safer that way. Plus, it'll confuse everyone else's focus."

After explaining, Xiang Qian urged him impatiently, "Hurry up, help me pick one. Which one first?"

Red Star suddenly realized his intent and pressed further, "You said pick one number—does that mean you're going to call the second one too?"

"Of course! How is dating just one enough?" Xiang Qian replied as if it were obvious. "A well-known Playboy like me dating a socialite—what kind of big news is that? Not enough of a hook! But, if both sisters are with the same man... hmm?"

Red Star looked at Xiang Qian as if he were looking at a devil.

"No wonder the people in the agency say you're a bastard!"

Everything was going fine, so why the sudden insult?

Xiang Qian pouted unhappily, "I think such unfounded remarks are entirely rooted in some people's jealousy, and feelings of jealousy are inevitably rooted in the incompetence of the jealous person themselves."

Red Star rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

"You really are a bastard!"

Xiang Qian shrugged dismissively, crumpled both slips of paper into a ball, and began to draw lots.

Over the next three days, the news media on the West Coast of the United States was as lively as if it were a festival.

The Alcatraz Island incident shocked the world. Within twenty-four hours, all the world's major media outlets had gathered in San Francisco, with reports appearing one after another. Many tabloids and magazines that relied on gossip and scandals followed suit, though their influence was nowhere near that of the authoritative media.

The authoritative media ate the meat, while the tabloids couldn't even get a sip of the soup—but their savior soon arrived.

On the second day after the Alcatraz incident, someone sold scandal photos to the tabloids, claiming they had captured the youngest daughter of a famous hotel chain family entering the Hilton Hotel to meet a lover in secret. Moreover, the wealthy heiress had stayed in her lover's room for over ten hours, not emerging until the early hours of the morning.

Many tabloid editors who received the news scoffed at it. With the Alcatraz incident dominating the headlines, who cared about such a minor scandal?

Then, even more explosive news arrived.

Less than three hours after the younger heiress left the hotel, before dawn, someone else captured the eldest daughter of the same family entering the hotel and heading to the exact same presidential suite. The photos were clear and the evidence was irrefutable.

Now, the tabloid editors finally had some interest.

Upon inquiring about who was staying in the presidential suite, they discovered it was James Zion, a shareholder and technical partner of Worthington Industries who had suffered heavy losses in the Alcatraz riot.

The tabloid editors were ecstatic.

The mutant riot on Alcatraz was serious socio-political news, the stage for authoritative media. But for gossip tabloids like them, since they couldn't even get a sip of soup regarding Alcatraz, they might as well just eat melons!

Consequently, on the desk of a certain dark-skinned man who was keeping a close eye on Xiang Qian's movements, the daily task briefing on the surveillance target underwent a drastic stylistic change, with the lines filled with the entertainment style of gossip tabloids.

"Motherfucker, what the hell is this?" Nick Fury gripped a stack of reports, his veins bulging with rage.

The report contained several related gossip publications, including one Chinese-language supermarket tabloid distributed only in San Francisco's Chinatown, with a sensational headline: Socialite Sisters Fight Over Playboy, He Takes Both.

"Don't tell me your daily job is to collect these gossip rags. Motherfucker, are your task briefings just clipped from tabloids?" Nick Fury caught the person in charge of the mission and berated him until spit flew.

"I'm sorry, BOSS! Aside from meeting those two sisters, the target hasn't made any other moves. His security team and entourage haven't shown any unusual activity either. The only major move was filing a lawsuit against Worthington II in the local San Francisco court yesterday."

"If I wanted to know this public information, I would walk out the door myself and spend fifty cents at a roadside newsstand to buy a paper, instead of sitting behind my desk waiting for your briefing." Nick Fury glared at his subordinate with his one good eye.

"Your job is to dig out the unspeakable, dark side hidden beneath the public news! I want you to dig out things that actually have value."

The dark-skinned director slammed the task briefing onto his subordinate's face. "I don't want to know how many women that Playboy has dated, I don't want to know when those women entered his room or how long they stayed, and I certainly don't want to know if he wore a condom when he was screwing around! I want something of real value!"

"Sorry, boss." The unjustly scolded subordinate broke out in a cold sweat, reporting tremulously, "We only know that James Zion might detour to Los Angeles in the next two days; that is the only information we can confirm."