Tum stood still, gazing at the model sailboat displayed prominently in Gawin's office. It was a gift from Lu Rong, presented the day Gawin was officially appointed Director of the Hydrogen Project. To some, it was a symbol of prosperity, but through Tum's eyes, it looked like a vessel steering them straight into a violent storm on the high seas.
He turned to head back to his desk, but froze when he encountered a Chinese woman so stunning she looked as if she'd stepped off a high-fashion runway. In her slender hands, she clutched a black leather dossier. Seeing Tum, she flashed a radiant, honeyed smile, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear with a practiced air of bashfulness.
"Hello. Is there something I can help you with, Miss...?" Tum asked politely, maintaining his professional secretary persona.
"My name is Rong Ru... I'm from the Finance and Accounting department," she replied, her voice melodious yet slightly trembling, like a girl meeting her dream man. "I have urgent documents for Mr. Gawin to sign, but I saw you were quite busy earlier..."
As Rong Ru spun her tale with sweet smiles, Tum's special perception caught a pink aura infused with streaks of deep red radiating from her. It was a wave of raw infatuation mixed with calculated seduction.
"Um... well..." Rong Ru bit her lip softly, seemingly gathering her courage. "Mr. Tum... would you happen to be free this evening?"
Tum looked deep into those flawless eyes. She was breathtakingly beautiful, but behind that swirling pink mist lay a murky grey shadow—an aura of deception lurking beneath the exquisite smile.
Sending a 'Siren' to kill the warrior, are we? A bit cliché, Tum thought, offering a warm, unassuming smile to hide the fact that he saw right through the ruse. Whether ordered by Ming Zhi or Wen Jie, they were clearly using her as bait to make him leak secrets.
"I am free," Tum replied with a smile charming enough to melt stone. "Do you have a restaurant in mind? I'd be happy to join you."
Rong Ru's smile widened with genuine-looking delight. "Really? In that case, may I send the details to your WeChat?"
Tum nodded. She hurried over to exchange contact info and then skipped away cheerfully, leaving the secretary's icy gaze in her wake.
"I wonder who's pulling your strings," Tum whispered to the empty air, his gaze shifting from gentle to razor-sharp, ready for whatever 'war' awaited him at dinner.
Inside the digital library, the only sound was the low hum of the computer's cooling fans. Phuak sat bolt upright before the screen, acting like a sage holding the fate of the art world in his hands. A gallery assistant stood nearby, hands clasped respectfully like a royal servant awaiting orders.
Phuak feigned a deep, weathered frown, removing his glasses and looking up from the screen with an expression of profound sorrow—as if he were witnessing the Mona Lisa being vandalized with spray paint.
"Miss..." Phuak said gravely. "The light-weight scan I just ran on this Phoenix... there is an anomaly that deeply concerns me. The digital system doesn't specify the details of this particular metallic coating."
"If it's not in the system, it's likely in the external registry," she said innocently. Phuak let out a long, weary sigh as if carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"Could you please retrieve the maintenance files and the surface coating logs for me? If the materials don't meet the specifications, this 5-million-Yuan masterpiece might be effectively worthless. I simply cannot let that pass."
"Oh! Of course! Please wait a moment!" The assistant hurried away, terrified that the 5-million-Yuan deal would evaporate. The moment her back was out of sight, Phuak's face broke into a wide, jagged grin.
"Coast is clear... time to move, baby!" Phuak muttered. He shed his high-brow curator act instantly, transforming into a gluttonous IT spy with a data-hacking speed fueled by pure adrenaline.
He whipped out a USB Shadow Drive and plugged it into the back port of the PC with lightning speed. His fingers danced over the keys like a world-class pianist. "Let's see what we can suck out of this thing..."
Green download bars began to race across the monitor. Phuak bypassed hidden folders, digging deep until he hit the entrance to 'ProjectTHAI'. As soon as he saw the contents, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Bingo! There it is! CK Golden Group... CK Logistics International... you bastards copied the entire parent company's naming structure," Phuak cursed under his breath, cranking up the copy speed. "What a masterpiece of a scam."
The green bar crawled forward slowly. Phuak's heart hammered against his ribs, racing against the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Closer... and closer.