After confirming once again that Cheng Yi's Vivre Card had burned to ashes, Lin Hao finally concluded that the "Cheng Yi" he had seen at the bar yesterday was a fake—a hook S.H.I.E.L.D. had deliberately cast out.
Even Cheng Yi, the former head of S.P.E.A.R.'s Americas Branch, had not known that Vivre Cards existed. Nick Fury naturally had even less chance of knowing.
By putting out such bait, S.H.I.E.L.D. had clearly assumed that S.P.E.A.R. headquarters did not know of Cheng Yi's death and had tried to pull the wool over their eyes. Zheng Xian's internal report had indeed stated only that "the Americas Branch suffered a devastating blow, and its director has gone missing."
Nick Fury had obtained that conclusion through a mole planted within S.P.E.A.R., which was why he had confidently launched the "Impostor" plan.
Who would have thought that the fake would be exposed by Lin Hao the moment he entered the bar?
But that raised another problem.
Only Zheng Xian and Cheng Yi had known about this bar in Los Angeles. Even Lin Hao, the new director, had only learned of this hidden contact point from Zheng Xian after arriving in America.
So how had the impostor known?
In the world of spies, there was no such thing as coincidence. Lin Hao did not believe that his entering this bar and then immediately encountering a fake "Cheng Yi" coming to the door was a coincidence.
This bar, located in a working-class neighborhood, was neither famous nor particularly distinctive. Most of its customers were nearby residents, and they were relatively regular.
Under normal circumstances, there were only two possibilities.
Either Cheng Yi had revealed it before his death, or the bar owner had been unable to endure the suffering of years spent undercover and had chosen betrayal.
But Zheng Xian had personally watched Cheng Yi's Vivre Card burn to nothing in an extremely short time. That meant he had died instantly and had not been subjected to torture before his death.
Could Cheng Yi have voluntarily revealed the secret, then calmly gone to his death?
What would have been the point?
Since he had not known about Vivre Cards and did not know that headquarters could confirm whether he was dead, there had been no need for him to deceive headquarters by acting as a dead agent. If he had truly intended to defect, he could have traded the secret for wealth and status.
That left only one possibility: unless some other special superpower had intervened, the bar owner had long since betrayed them.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had used the bar owner and the fake "Cheng Yi" to set a trap, hoping to lure the new head of S.P.E.A.R.'s Americas Branch into it.
That was also why Lin Hao had deliberately given the bar owner another look before leaving the bar last night.
He had his suspicions, so naturally he would not be foolish enough to walk into their hands.
However, Zheng Xian soon sent him new information.
"Ivan's Vivre Card is almost burned through." Zheng Xian, on the video feed, had arrived before another metal rack and pointed the Den Den Mushi's eyes toward a glass slot on it. The Vivre Card inside had already burned away by more than half.
Ivan was the elderly bar owner.
Then Zheng Xian pulled up the warehouse's surveillance footage and found the time when Ivan's Vivre Card had changed.
"It started at 2:21 a.m. He was most likely taken away by S.H.I.E.L.D. after you left and subjected to brutal interrogation."
"So..." Zheng Xian asked Lin Hao again, "Are you sure there are no flaws in your technology?"
"Impossible!" Lin Hao was somewhat irritated.
Even he could not physically travel to the One Piece World. Could someone else have crossed over from there? And even if someone really had, could they be smarter than Vegapunk?
"Perhaps it's a ploy to gain our sympathy, or perhaps there's something we don't know." Lin Hao restrained his emotions and thought calmly. "If Ivan hasn't betrayed us, I'll find a way to rescue him."
"Don't forget your promise. Your own safety is what matters most!" Zheng Xian reminded him.
Normally, a genius scientist like Lin Hao, who possessed multiple pieces of black technology, would never have been sent to an enemy country for a dangerous undercover mission. Unfortunately, Lin Hao had stubbornly begged and applied repeatedly, even threatening to go on strike.
After Zheng Xian and his direct superior assessed Lin Hao's financial situation, they confirmed that America could not offer a higher price. Only then did they rule out the possibility that Lin Hao might defect.
Because Lin Hao was simply too rich!
Setting aside S.P.E.A.R.'s salary, the special allowances he received, and the bonuses from his many major inventions, Lin Hao had also partnered with several prominent domestic families to establish a technology company.
By analyzing the flying car obtained from a Capsule Corp Capsule and combining it with Vegapunk's energy technology, Lin Hao had developed a magnetic levitation car suitable for mass adoption and an efficient, safe, energy-saving, clean battery.
Even before Bulma repaired Goku's spaceship and built a time machine, the battery technology of the Dragon Ball World had been enough to support flying cars as they crossed mountains and seas, passing through crowds upon crowds.
Most outrageous of all, it could be charged with an ordinary household power supply.
The One Piece World's energy technology was even more absurd. With technological craftsmanship from the steam age, it could somehow power lasers.
Absurd or not, Lin Hao had created such a battery.
Although the magnetic levitation car had not yet been released, the new battery that had launched directly shook up the traditional energy structure, and new energy vehicles soon became widespread.
All of China benefited from it. In recent years, it had been breaking through the energy blockade imposed by international powers with unstoppable momentum.
It was precisely because Nick Fury saw the ancient country across the ocean regaining its vitality that he painstakingly laid plans to sever the tentacles S.P.E.A.R. had extended.
Because only Lin Hao could solve these unreasonable technical problems and continue innovating, he held more than half the shares in this technology company.
This fortune could not be measured in money, let alone the status and influence it had granted him at home. Even if he went to another country, Lin Hao could not receive better terms.
Besides, Lin Hao knew perfectly well what the so-called beacon of human civilization, America, was really like. No matter how well dark-skinned people performed here, there was still a glass ceiling over them. At best, they were high-ranking servants.
It was because Lin Hao had frankly revealed his true feelings to Zheng Xian and his direct superior, and had strongly insisted on coming to America, that the two finally agreed. The Americas Branch had also just suffered a devastating blow and urgently needed a powerful figure to take charge, so Lin Hao had been sent over.
As for Lin Hao's ability to protect himself, they were not worried at all.
At first, the title "Great Demon Lord" had merely been a nickname given to Lin Hao by colleagues in S.P.E.A.R.'s Technical Development Department who could no longer endure his torment. It carried their recognition of Director Lin's professional ability.
After all, in China's sports world, "Great Demon Lord" was an endearment!
Later, Lin Hao took the opportunity to go on several field assignments. From then on, "Great Demon Lord" became his agent codename. To enemies who did not know the truth, it was a title he fully lived up to.
In Zheng Xian's eyes, Lin Hao was already strong enough to defeat Weather Witch and Sabre working together head-on, more than qualified to lead the Americas Branch.
In truth, that was only the combat power Lin Hao had displayed. He could never tell others about the existence of Little Devil.
"Don't worry."
Lin Hao smiled at Zheng Xian. "Since they want to play 'deceiving the heavens and crossing the sea,' then I'll give them a round of 'killing with a borrowed knife.'"
Coincidentally, while flying north to San Francisco on Bruce Lee's private plane this morning, his Observation Haki had detected a stealth aircraft flying low and slow.
At this point in time, only one force on Earth possessed such technology: Wakanda, the African beacon that claimed it could share advanced technology with the entire world, making MIT look like an elementary school.
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