Chapter 58: An Invitation from General Hawk
Egypt.
As one of the world's oldest civilizations, it has always been renowned for its mysterious culture and pyramids.
Beneath the endless yellow sands lies the splendor of this civilization's past, and also a clever concealment of certain special organizations.
The headquarters of the G.I. Joe team is located in the Egyptian desert.
In a spacious command center, a tall, handsome middle-aged man with a stern face is frowning as he reviews documents.
He is General Hawk, the commander of G.I. Joe, a seasoned professional soldier who has participated in numerous wars.
G.I. Joe was initially established by ten countries, including the United States, and has since expanded to 23 countries, composed of the most technically skilled and capable combat personnel from around the world.
"General, these are the profiles of several of the most outstanding combat personnel from each member country who are eligible for consideration," a tall, blonde, blue-eyed female soldier approached General Hawk and handed him a document.
Due to its classified nature, G.I. Joe is kept secret—applications are not accepted, and membership is only granted through invitation after review by the Special Operations Department.
"Any noteworthy new prospects?" General Hawk asked casually.
"There's Captain Zach Bruce from the U.S. Marine Corps, and another is Bloom Irwin, a German KSK operative, but the most interesting one is this guy." The blonde turned to a page in the file and pointed to Mason's photo, speaking softly.
"Oh, handsome young man!" General Hawk joked with a smile.
"You should take a look—his performance will definitely surprise you!" The blonde smiled mysteriously.
"His stats are quite ordinary, barely reaching the average level. Oh, his family is quite well-off—he's a rich kid. Also, this guy's private life is really..." General Hawk frowned, clearly finding Mason's initial stats somewhat unremarkable.
"You'd better look at the recent entries. In the last month or so, he's participated in nearly 20 special operations, even volunteering for cross-regional cooperation. He's completed every mission flawlessly!"
"Not long ago, he captured the infamous Morelli Kevin, even scaring his henchmen so badly they pissed themselves."
"Oh?" General Hawk's interest was piqued.
"I remember this Morelli Kevin—he came under our G.I. Joe radar for terrorist activities, didn't he? I didn't expect that before we could even make a move, he'd fallen into this kid's hands."
"What a strange guy. Compared to his previous record, he's like a completely different person."
As the two were talking, a tall, fair-skinned woman with long, auburn hair walked in from outside.
"A new member joining?"
The auburn-haired woman wrinkled her nose—the freckles on her face didn't detract from her beauty, but rather added a touch of charm, softening her slightly sharp features.
"Indeed, a promising prospect," General Hawk remarked casually.
"Scarlett, how's the new recruit assessment going?"
Scarlett, an auburn-haired beauty, is a full-fledged member of G.I. Joe. Despite her youth and beauty, she's a true prodigy, graduating from university at age 12 and holding the team's shooting record.
Scarlett crossed her arms. "I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. While she's much stronger than the average special forces operator, she still doesn't meet our standards."
"Perhaps you should consider lowering the standards a bit," Scarlett shrugged helplessly.
General Hawk shook his head. "G.I. Joe is the elite of the elite—we only recruit the top warriors." He waved the documents in his hand. "Perhaps this guy would be a good choice."
Scarlett smiled. "Are you going to personally invite him, General? Have you forgotten the embarrassing situation four years ago when you invited Duke and Ripcord in Thailand and were turned down?"
"That must have been the only time you personally invited someone, right?" Scarlett smiled teasingly.
"When are you leaving? Can I come with you? Maybe I'll be lucky enough to witness the embarrassing scene of you being rejected for the second time."
"Well done, Mason!"
"Great job!"
At the French Counter-Terrorism Bureau, Mason accepted the praise with a smile. He touched the medals on his chest and his promoted rank, a bitter smile appearing on his lips.
After nearly a month of frantic operations, his compatibility with this body had reached 100%, and his physical fitness had basically reached normal levels.
But unexpectedly, he didn't receive an invitation from G.I. Joe—instead, he was promoted unexpectedly. Could this be considered a consolation prize?
On his way to the office, he received at least three flirtatious invitations from female clerks, and even at the corner of the corridor, a beautiful woman accidentally bumped into him and secretly slipped a pair of stockings into his hand.
"Damn hedonistic society—romantic French people!" But Mason had no time to dwell on this. Just yesterday, he saw a series of business moves by MARS Industries on the news.
According to Mason's estimation, they should have already produced the nano-warheads and could hold a demonstration at any time, meaning he didn't have much time left.
"Should I activate my backup plan?" Mason hesitated for a moment. Lately, he had a feeling that someone was following and investigating him. He estimated that these people were sent by Anna.
It seemed that the shock of that night at the estate had made her uneasy.
Under normal circumstances, only three forces could come into contact with the warheads during the transport that day.
The NATO joint task force—that is, the team that the protagonist Duke was in—was probably too late to join now.
If he still couldn't get an invitation from G.I. Joe, then Mason would have no choice but to approach Anna again and try to infiltrate MARS Industries!
However, McCullen's organization was secretive, and if he approached rashly, it would be difficult to gain their trust, and it might even trigger some unknown variables.
"If all else fails, should I just crash the transport on the day and start grabbing?" Mason felt a headache coming on.
Although his strength far surpassed that of ordinary people, neither G.I. Joe nor MARS Industries were easy opponents. Take their electromagnetic pulse cannon, for example—a single shot could flip an armored vehicle.
Even if his physical abilities were several times greater, a direct hit would be fatal.
What worried Mason even more was that his experiences in the Captain America universe had shown him the disastrous consequences of drastically altering the plot.
While there were certainly some benefits, in the last world, without a stroke of luck and some chance, Mason, whose mission had been completely derailed by plot changes, would likely have been dead long ago.
Therefore, before the official storyline began, he really didn't want to experience what happened in the last world again.
Bang bang bang.
A knock came at the door.
"Hey, Mason, to celebrate your promotion, let's party all night at Louis Bar!"
Meanwhile, at the Cobray estate, Anna hung up the phone with a cold expression.
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