"Who?" Huang Liang asked instinctively, but immediately realized he shouldn't have, so he changed his mind and said, "I mean, I can go there, and it's definitely more suitable for me than Europe."
Howard said, "To be honest, I don't know who it is. The candidate and the plan were submitted by the head of the Asia chapter, and the second leader approved them."
Huang Liang gave an "oh" and didn't ask any more questions. He put the helmet back on the table, then took out his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time casually.
The organization has already sent people to Wuzhong to specifically investigate and deal with the Mei Laboratory. He didn't know if this laboratory was related to Qingmu, nor did he know that the intermediary he used to contact Qingmu was actually a Ghost lying in the underground server cluster of the Mei family laboratory building. He was just wondering whether he should put this message in the GHOST folder, if that folder still worked.
He glanced at his phone screen, then put it back in his pocket and asked:
"Since I don't need to go, why are you telling me all this?"
Howard took a bottle of brandy from the shelf and poured two small glasses. He handed one to Huang Liang, then gently swirled his glass and said, "Let's drink to the friendship we fought together for."
Huang Liang was puzzled. He took a small sip and said, " Howard, you're acting a bit strange today, not like you usually are!"
Howard said, "Of course it's different, because from today onwards, you're no longer my subordinate."
"What?" Huang Liang looked at Howard in surprise, not knowing what he meant.
Howard said, "You've been with me since you came into the human world. I've always admired you, and you haven't let me down. Not only have you excellently completed the tasks assigned to you by the organization, but more importantly, your growth has exceeded my expectations. You don't need to look at me with such surprise. The organization has been observing you all along. Every move you've made this past year has been under the organization's watchful eye. The organization will not bury any outstanding talent."
Observation is a test. Now that you have passed the test, one of my wishes has been fulfilled. I want to promote you, but it must be approved by the majority of the organization. Your performance in Amsterdam has earned you respect, and no one has objected to your promotion.
"Thank you!" Huang Liang said.
"Oh, you're welcome!" Howard said. "I did want to promote you, but I'm not yet capable of making you the fourth person in this club to enter this office. This time, it's not me promoting you, but the second leader!"
"The Second Leader?" Huang Liang asked, puzzled. "I don't know the Second Leader at all, so why would she promote me?"
"Never underestimate a leader's wisdom, and never question a leader's decisions!" Howard said, half-warning and half-joking. "A leader promotes you because they see your strengths. You must believe that the leader's decisions are never wrong, which also proves that my judgment of people is extremely accurate."
Huang Liang said, "Even if the leader promotes me, I will still be your subordinate and the Tushu's staff. I have absolutely no disloyalty to you."
Howard seemed pleased, downing his drink in one gulp. "I know, I know! I know what you're thinking, and I'm glad! But you're going to Canada soon. You know I never interfere in Americas affairs; it's always been directly led by the leader. You'll have a brighter future there than staying in Europe or Asia!"
" Canada?" Huang Liang hadn't expected that after a year in Europe, he'd be going to North America again. "Then, the leader must have assigned him some kind of mission, right?"
"Of course!" Howard put down his glass and went back behind his desk. "Once you complete this mission, you'll be on equal footing with me!"
He took a document from the drawer and handed it to Huang Liang, saying:
"This is detailed information about the Wolf Family. Take a good look at it when you get back. They are a large family with mixed Chinese and Inuit ancestry. Their family wealth is in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and the global assets they indirectly control are worth trillions of dollars, not including some shady businesses. In addition, they control the largest Chinese gang in North America, with 100,000 members. This is a very large force, and it is very important to the organization."
"What do you need me to do?" Huang Liang asked, flipping through the documents.
" The Wolf Family suffers from a strange genetic disease, somewhat similar to Werewolf Syndrome. Their current Old William Wolf, is now terminally ill. Your new mission is—"
Howard suddenly stopped and, in an extremely solemn tone, as if announcing a leader's decision, announced, "You will travel to Vancouver as a doctor to treat William Wolf."
"Why? North America has the best hospitals and doctors; a family like theirs should have access to the best treatment and care in the world. Why would they let me treat Mr. Wolf? I'm just an ordinary surgeon!"
"This is the second leader's decision," Howard emphasized seriously, then softened his tone, "I'm not entirely sure either. Once you're in Canada, someone will naturally help you make arrangements. But I guess it's probably because your Chinese heritage makes it easier to gain their trust."
"But even if I gain their trust and get close to Mr. Wolf, I still won't be able to cure his illness!" Huang Liang said.
Howard pondered for a moment and said, "I also have my doubts about that, but since the leader has made this arrangement, there must be a reason. You'll understand when you get to Canada. Treating the illness is probably just a pretext; the real purpose is definitely to control the Wolf Family's assets—that's a huge piece of meat!"
Huang Liang nodded and continued flipping through the documents. He discovered that besides the detailed information about the family and William Wolf personally, the document contained a large amount of information about a man named Quill Wolf. According to the document, this was the successor designated by Old Wolf.
Huang Liang had a premonition that his main task and goal in going to Canada might not be the terminally ill Old Wolf at all, but rather this Little Wolf whose Chinese name was Hong Kui.
He could tell that Howard didn't know much about the mission either, so he didn't ask any more questions.
Howard helped him organize the documents, putting them into a portable plastic bag. Then he put the helmet on the table back into its box, saying, "This box is for you. You can use it for entertainment when you have time. The instruction manual is inside."
"Didn't the leader warn us not to use this?" Huang Liang said.
Howard said, "It's just that there are risks, not that it's forbidden. We can't stop the rise of a revolutionary new thing, and we can't close ourselves off like your country did more than a hundred years ago. We still need to do the research. As your ancient China philosophers said, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.'"
Huang Liang said nothing more, took the Space Box, picked up the plastic bag containing the Wolf Family's information, and prepared to leave. "When am I going to Canada?"
Howard said, "Oh, we'll be leaving around the same time. Your plane ticket will be taken care of, don't worry."
Huang Liang asked curiously, "Are you also going to Canada?"
"Oh no, I'm not going to Canada, I'm going to Egypt. Something happened there, I need to go check it out." Howard finished speaking and then pointed to the things in Huang Liang's hands, "Hey, Huang, put these things here for now, come back for them later. You can come and go in this office freely now, it's inconvenient to carry so much stuff."
A mocking expression appeared on his face. "I promised Carol I would return you to her unharmed, not a single cell missing!"