American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

“Ashford?” The tall, thin man frowned. “Who’s that?”

“An agent from the FBI’s Mutant Affairs Task Force,” the short, stout man said, “is supposedly a seasoned veteran, very difficult to deal with. He's the one who sabotaged this operation in New York.”

Where is he now?

“Who knows,” the short, stout man shrugged. “He’s probably still investigating a case in New York. But I heard the higher-ups are already looking for ways to deal with him; it’s only a matter of time.”

“It’d better be dealt with quickly,” the tall, thin man sneered. “A nuisance like him should be taken care of as soon as possible.”

Lynn's fingers paused for a moment on the keyboard, then continued typing nonchalantly. His brain was working at lightning speed, organizing and summarizing the information he had just heard.

The New York project. He thwarted that operation.
What project were they talking about? He remembered stopping the fraternity's planned Times Square bombing in New York. What was the purpose of that operation? Was it more than just a terrorist attack, or was there another motive?
He needs to know more.

“Oh, by the way,” the short, stout man suddenly lowered his voice, “I heard that the ‘Queen’ from New York recently appeared in the Bay Area.”

Lynn's ears perked up. Queen—that was Eileen Shaw's code name.

"Really?" the tall, thin man asked in surprise.

“It’s true, someone saw her on the streets of San Francisco,” the short, stout man said, “but only from a distance; they didn’t dare get closer.”

What is she doing in the Bay Area?

"Who knows? It must be something important," the short, stout man guessed. "Maybe it's about the failed New York project, and they're here to discuss countermeasures with their superiors."

"Is that project really that important?"

“Of course it’s important,” the short, stout man lowered his voice. “It’s a multi-billion dollar project, involving several important figures. If we can secure that project, the organization can completely establish its influence on the East Coast.”

"It's a pity that Ashford ruined everything."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore," the short, stout man stood up. "I'm going downstairs to buy a coffee, do you want some?"

"No need, I have something to do later."

The two ended their conversation; the short, stout man left the office area, while the tall, thin man began working on his computer.

Lynn continued working as if nothing was wrong, but his brain was racing.

The New York project. A multi-billion dollar undertaking. The bombing was to help the Brotherhood win the bid for that project.
This information completely overturned his previous understanding of the Brotherhood.

He had always thought the Brotherhood was an organization primarily based on terrorism and violent crime, but now it seemed that was just the tip of the iceberg. Their real purpose was commercial profit—huge commercial profit. Those bombings and killings were merely tools for them to compete for projects and eliminate rivals.

what does this mean?
This means that behind the Brotherhood lies a deeper business logic and a broader network of interests. The relationship between those capitalists—Victor Chen, Alan West, Margaret Love—and the Brotherhood may not be as simple as that of financiers and henchmen, but rather a more complex community of interests.

He needs to find specific information about that "New York project".

Lynn began searching the system for relevant documents. He tried various keywords—"New York," "project," "East Coast," "engineering"—but the search results were all irrelevant.

Perhaps this sensitive information is placed in a higher-privilege area, which his current B-level privileges cannot access.

He decided to try a different approach.

At lunchtime, Lynn left the office area and went to a small restaurant downstairs. It was an ordinary Cantonese tea restaurant in Chinatown, with a few greasy tables in the cramped space, faded menus and posters on the walls, and the aroma of roast goose and char siu filling the air.

Lynn ordered a char siu rice and an iced lemon tea, then found a corner seat to sit down.

He took out his phone and began searching for recent large-scale construction projects in New York.

He quickly identified several potential targets: a $3 billion urban renewal project, a $2 billion subway expansion project, and a $5 billion waterfront development plan.

Among them, the waterfront development plan caught his special attention.

It was a massive project called the "East Coast Revitalization Plan for Manhattan," which planned to build a series of high-end residences, commercial centers, and public facilities along the East River in Manhattan. The total investment was estimated to exceed five billion US dollars, making it one of the largest urban development projects in New York in recent years.

More importantly, the bidding period for this project coincided with the planned timeline of the Times Square bombing.

Lynn read the relevant news reports carefully.

According to reports, there are two main bidders for the Manhattan East Shore redevelopment plan – one is a consortium led by New York real estate giant Empire Estate, and the other is a consortium led by Bay Area investment company Pacific Innovation Fund.

Pacific Innovation Fund—Lynn had seen this name before in the materials Sarah had provided. It was one of the shell companies that had financial dealings with the Brotherhood.

Everything started to connect.

The capitalists behind the fraternity and the Pacific Innovation Fund wanted to take over the East Side redevelopment plan in Manhattan. To eliminate the competition, they orchestrated the Times Square bombing—perhaps to create chaos and undermine Empire State Properties' confidence, or perhaps to seize key resources or connections in the chaos after the bombing.

But the bombing was stopped by him—Lynn Ashford.

After the plan failed, the Pacific Innovation Fund lost its competitive edge and ultimately failed to win the project.

That's why the two men said it was "a waste of time".

Lynn organized this information in his mind, and a complex emotion welled up inside him.

He prevented a terrorist attack that could have killed or injured thousands—it was his duty. But now he knows that the real target of the attack was a business project—a multi-billion dollar business project.

This means that the Brotherhood is willing to kill innocent people for money. Thousands of lives are nothing more than bargaining chips in a business game in their eyes.

After lunch, Lynn returned to his office area and continued his work.

But his mind was no longer on those client files. He was thinking about what to do next.

He needed to find a direct link between the Pacific Innovation Fund and that "New York Project." This link might be hidden in the fraternity's internal documents, but he didn't have the necessary permissions to access them.

He needs to find a way to gain higher privileges or other means.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Li Xue walked to his workstation.

"Jack, are you free?"

"Yes, what is it?"

“Come with me,” Li Xue said. “There’s a situation I need your help with.”

Lynn stood up and followed Li Xue out of the office area. They walked down the corridor for a while and came to the door of a small conference room. "Let's go in," Li Xue said, pushing open the door.

There were two people sitting in the conference room—Mr. Qian and another man Lynn had never seen before. The man was about fifty years old, with gray hair, wearing a well-tailored dark suit, and had a shrewd and worldly expression on his face.

“Jack, come, have a seat,” Mr. Qian said. “Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Wang, our business partner in New York.”

Lynn walked over and shook hands with President Wang. "Hello, President Wang."

"Hello," Mr. Wang glanced at Lynn, "I heard you're the new finance person? Young and promising."

"I dare not accept such praise."

"Alright, let's begin," Mr. Qian gestured for everyone to sit down. "Mr. Wang flew in from New York today specifically to discuss some matters."

"What's wrong?" Li Xue asked.

"Regarding the Manhattan East Coast redevelopment plan," Mr. Wang sighed, "you should already know, we didn't win that project."

Lynn's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained calm.

“Yes, we’ve heard,” Mr. Qian said with a grave expression. “It’s very regrettable.”

"It's more than just a regret, it's a disaster," Mr. Wang said, his tone clearly displeased. "How many resources did we invest in that project? How many connections did we use? And it all went down the drain."

"The main problem is that the operation didn't succeed," Mr. Qian said in a low voice. "If the plan had gone smoothly, the situation would be completely different now."

"Let's not talk about that," Mr. Wang waved his hand. "It's too late to say anything now. I'm here today to discuss what to do next."

"Next step?"

“Yes,” Mr. Wang leaned back in his chair, “Although we didn’t win the Manhattan East Coast project, there are other opportunities. Several large projects are currently in the planning stages in New York; we can’t give up just because of one failure.”

"Which projects?" Mr. Qian asked.

“The Brooklyn Naval Shipyard renovation project is worth $1.5 billion,” Mr. Wang said. “There’s also the Queens affordable housing project, worth $800 million. In addition, I heard the federal government is considering building a new data center in New York; if we can secure that project, the profits will be even greater.”

“Sounds good,” Mr. Qian nodded, “but we need to be more cautious this time. The last failure has already displeased the higher-ups.”

“I know,” Mr. Wang said, “so this time we’ll change our strategy. We’ll no longer rely on those radical methods, but instead strive for projects through normal business channels and political lobbying.”

“Normal business channels?” Li Xue interjected. “Then where does our advantage lie?”

“Our advantage lies in our network of connections,” Mr. Wang said. “We have several key figures in the New York City government, and we also have insiders at the Federal Housing Administration. With proper management, securing one or two projects shouldn't be a problem.”

"What about Empire Realty?" Mr. Qian asked. "They won the Manhattan East Coast project last time, and they're riding high now. Will they continue to compete with us?"

“Of course,” a cold glint flashed in Mr. Wang’s eyes, “Imperial Properties has always been our biggest competitor in New York. But this time, we need to find a way to weaken their competitiveness.”

"How to weaken it?"

“I already have some ideas,” Mr. Wang smiled mysteriously, “but it’s not convenient to reveal them yet. I’ll let you know when the time is right.”

They discussed some specific business details, and Lynn listened quietly, memorizing all the information.

After the meeting, General Manager Wang left. General Manager Qian saw him out, leaving only Lin En and Li Xue in the conference room.

"What are your thoughts?" Li Xue suddenly asked.

"What are your thoughts?"

“Regarding what we just discussed,” Li Xue looked at him sharply, “you were quiet the whole time; you must have been thinking about something.”

Lynn hesitated for a moment, then said, "I was just thinking that these projects involve very large sums of money. If we could secure one or two of them, it would greatly improve the organization's financial situation."

“You’re right,” Li Xue nodded. “That’s why the higher-ups attach so much importance to these projects. The organization needs a lot of money to operate, and while the casino’s revenue is decent, it’s not enough to support their bigger ambitions.”

"Greater ambitions?"

Li Xue glanced at him, a meaningful smile playing on her lips. "You'll understand once you've been in this organization for a while. We're not just an ordinary business organization; we have much grander goals."

She didn't say anything more, turned around and walked out of the conference room.

Lynn sat alone in the empty conference room, pondering everything he had just heard.

Pacific Innovation Fund, Manhattan East Coast Revitalization Project, Empire State Properties, Brooklyn Naval Shipyard Project. These names and numbers intertwined in his mind into a complex network.

He needs more information.

Back in his office, Lynn began searching the system for documents related to the Pacific Innovation Fund. This time, he tried more keyword combinations and finally found some useful information.

It was an internal report called "Project Pacific," with a clearance level of B, which was right within his access range.

Lynn opened the file and began to read it carefully.

The report is very detailed, documenting the Pacific Innovation Fund's major investments and partners over the past three years. Among them, the Manhattan East Coast Revitalization Project in New York City is listed as a "strategic priority," with a projected return on investment exceeding 300%.

But what shocked Lynn the most was the last part of the report – “Competitive Strategy”.

That section details how to eliminate competitors and seize project ownership through various means. These include "business tactics," "political tactics," and...
"Special means".

The report did not specify the details of the “special methods,” but Lynn knew what it referred to—bombings, assassinations, intimidation, all the violent acts that the Brotherhood was good at.

He continued reading and found that the report mentioned the names of several key figures.

"VC"—this most likely refers to Victor Chen, the founder of the Bay Area's largest venture capital firm.

“AW” – likely Alan West, the former CEO of NovaTech.

“ML” – Margaret Love, the queen of the semiconductor industry.

These three people are key suspects on their list.

The report also mentioned another name – “TH”. (End of Chapter)