This was the first time Brooke acted in such a manner against non-criminal parties.
Hodge did not know what to do when he saw Brooke and Austin who were turning on each other.
Hodge had always been mild-tempered and innocent by nature. Although his circumstance had left him in a dark place, Blacklight Biotechnology had prepared for this in advance and arranged designated therapists for him. He would undergo psychotherapy two to three times each week on average.
Hodge usually came out of the therapy sessions feeling much better mentally. Although he still succumbed to the occasional depressive episode when he thought about the condition of his body, he was gradually finding new hope in this new profession —
To be a world-famous superhero had been his dream all along.
The other officer, Blake, was the most mentally composed of the trio. He never despaired despite having all four limbs severed. These days, it seemed he had dedicated his mind and soul to build a larger fanbase. His psychological evaluation score had always been the highest of the tree.
Meanwhile, the captain, Brooke, was the definitive strongest of the trio.
Even before he was disabled, he had always been the trump card of the task force since his marksmanship and melee combat skills were far higher than average. He was also known for handling cases meticulously. However, the two years following the accident that left him disabled had been miserable for him. The episode brought him huge psychological trauma and twisted his personality completely.
Meanwhile, while they were all at a loss of how to react to what was happening, everything that happened was taped from the recording device installed in their armor and relayed to the BHB command center.
The BHB command center was a branch under the newly established BHB department of Blacklight Technology. As the name suggested, it was the logistics department of the three BHB members. They essentially functioned as a publicity department with an integrated logistics and operation chain. Their purpose was to craft a positive international reputation for the “BHB Combative Police”.
At the moment, a deafening alarm was sounding off in the command center. One of the officers cried out, “This is terrible, Mr. Brooke’s physiological state is highly volatile at the moment, he’s furious!”
“What happened?”
“He attacked Miss Austin!”
“Hurry up and get the manager and the supervisor!”
Within two to three minutes, three department executives arrived at the command center. By then, Brooke had walked away from Austin.
“What happened?”
A middle-aged Chinese man asked with a stern frown.
“Brooke attacked Miss Austin just now. The situation was dire but now it seems everything is fine.”
One of the inspectors replayed the recorded footage and noted. “We were going to toggle the emergency shutoff for Brooke’s bionic armor, but then he let go of Miss Austin on his own so we didn’t have to resort to that option.”
The executives looked at the replayed footage. When they saw Brooke lifting Austin in the air with one arm, their expressions immediately turned dark.
If Brooke had the audacity to treat Austin who represented Blacklight Biotechnology, that meant he would do the same to any others.
“Brooke’s mental state is extremely questionable.”
The Chinese man frowned as he remarked, “I’ve gone through his data. Out of four psychological assessments, he failed there of them. It seems to me that he only managed to pass his latest assessment by examining the psychologist’s routine and navigate around them. After all, he has always had sharp intuition and sense for these matters. Realistically, he shouldn’t have been inducted into the BHB combative police force so soon.”
“There’s no way around it, President Qian didn’t give us much time.”
Another bald executive mentioned, “Besides, wasn’t it you who mentioned that it was not a big issue? You’re the department advisor. Without your signature, he wouldn’t have been inducted into BHB so soon after only undergoing several assessments.”
“Hmmph! So what now?”
The Chinese man scoffed discontentedly. “He’s very mentally unstable and refuses to obey our management, this puts a lot of pressure on us. If word of this gets out, President Qian will feel that we’re incompetent and if things go south, we might be relegated to our original department.”
“This incident may be significant, but at the same time, it’s not a major issue.”
The third man among the group suddenly spoke, “First of all, it’s Austin’s fault for offending the BHB officer. Meanwhile, Brooke’s action of assaulting her must not be tolerated as well, but that doesn’t mean we should make a public display of punishing him. We can talk with him to make him understand that we hold control over his life and threaten him that way, make him understand who’s in charge!”
“I suppose that will have to do.”
The Chinese man contemplated for a moment before agreeing. “We climbed up the corporate ladder with great difficulty to finally become department managers and supervisors. Although this BHB department is newly established, there are great expectations from above that need to be met. We mustn’t let our progress be stained by something like this.”
“Yes, we’ll make him understand the fault of his ways…”
Brooke glanced at Austin who was lying passed out on the ground. He felt relieved at having the opportunity to vent his anger. He proceeded to sneer and turn around, and walk down the other end of the hallway, completely ignoring Hodge who was calling after him.
After he took the elevator to the underground parking lot and was just about to drive home, the communication device built into his armor suddenly started to ring.
The caller was none other than the department executive of BHB — Liu Zhijian.
“D*mn it!”
Brooke was enraged when he realized his leisure time was about to be interrupted again. He smashed against the wall with all his might. The staggering impact created a large hole where his fist landed, pieces of debris scattered everywhere along with a cloud of dust!
With just one punch, the load-bearing wall was punched through by Brooke, revealing the layer of deformed steel bars underneath.
After unleashing his built-up anger and frustration this way, Brooke finally answered the call. He heard a grave voice coming from the other end. “Brooke, come to my office immediately.”
“Alright, I’ll be right there!”
Brooke did his best to suppress his anger and proceeded to return to the elevator.
Five minutes later, Brooke came before the door leading to the department executive’s office. Just as he was about to knock, he heard a voice coming from inside. “Door isn’t locked, come right in.”
Brooke swiftly pushed open the door and saw a Chinese man sitting behind a large and classy desk. The man stared at him without any notable expression.
This Chinese man looked somewhere in his mid-thirties. He was slightly plump and had a mostly flat face, topped off with a mildly receding hairline. His complexion was ruddy and pink, which was probably a result of proper and routine skincare.
Brooke asked unenthusiastically when he saw this man who was shaped like a hound in front of him, “Manager Liu, you were looking for me?”
“Come, please sit.”
The man addressed as Manager Liu pointed at a chair opposite his table while he held a button on his table and instructed, “Little Zhou, please bring us tea.”
“That’s enough.”
Brooke motioned and claimed harshly, “Get straight to the point, I don’t plan to waste too much time here because I need to head back to my family.”
Manager Liu did not seem to be too bothered by this and proceeded to tell him, “In that case, I’ll get straight to it.”
With that, he took a heavy booklet of agreement from his drawer and set it on the table and got very serious as he said, “Mr. Brooke, I know that you belong to the Namibian police department. Still, please don’t forget that you’re also employed under Blacklight Biotechnology by definition. This contract that you signed states that you’re obliged to complete the tasks that Blacklight Biotechnology assigns you.”
“I know.”
Brooke only glanced briefly at the contract on the table. The contract clauses began to appear automatically in the form of an overlay in his vision. After looking at the contract clauses, Brooke continued:
“I took a look at Namibian laws during this period and found that some of the treaties in this contract don’t comply with the Namibian Labor Law. This includes the contract condition that states we have to be on standby for all twenty-four hours each day.
“The labor law clearly states that apart from a handful of vital departments of the country as an exception, private companies aren’t allowed to cut into the leisure time of their public employees. Strictly speaking, it shouldn’t be legal for my working hours to exceed twelve hours, but I’ve already been on standby in the company for more than seventy-two hours by now.”
Brooke rapidly scanned through the contract clauses gliding past his vision and went on. “Also, there are certain clauses that severely violate Namibian laws and even Namibia’s Constitution to a certain extent. For example, Article 26, Article 45, Article 13, Article 57, Article 8…”
Liu Zhijian’s expression grew darker with each word uttered by the officer. He asked in near disbelief, “You’re crazy, do you have any idea what crazy tales you’re spouting? Are you planning to breach the contract?”
“Of course not.”
Brooke shook his head. “Blacklight Biotechnology granted me a chance at a new life, I wouldn’t repay the company’s kindness by turning my back against them. Still, from what I’m gathering based on this contract, it seems that every inch of my body is rendered as a property of Blacklight Biotechnology. It ranges from my name, appearance, catchphrase… If these contract details were to be publicized, I believe the reputation of the company would take a hit as well. I’d appreciate it if I can rectify certain conditions stated in the contract.
“Apart from that…”
Brooke continued pushing his argument. “Our BHB Combative Police Force acts as the core of the police department, but our compensations and salary are measly when compared to the investment of more than a billion dollars in the entire department. I’d like to push for shared dividends of the department’s funds. This way, we may have more reasons to be more committed to our work and strive to achieve a higher standard. I hope that Manager Liu will think about the points I’ve raised…”
Upon hearing this string of requests, Liu Zhijian looked at Brooke as if he was a lunatic. “The contract the three of you signed are standard contracts. If your contract has to be altered, doesn’t that mean everyone else has reason to alter their contracts as well? It’s ridiculous to even propose something like this. As for the shared dividends, don’t even think about it. Even I don’t have a say in the project dividends!”
“In this case, there’s nothing more to say.”
Brooke appeared standoffish as he said this, “The nature of the relationship between Blacklight Biotechnology and myself is a cooperative one, I’m not an employee of Blacklight Biotechnology. From now on, I’ll work here the same way as I did in the police station, which means I’ll have the standard time off and will not be responsible for any further tasks assigned to me after I’m off work. Even when it comes to fighting against crimes, I’ll only follow through with the plans I draw up myself instead of following the orders of Blacklight Biotechnology.”
“So, you’re insisting on breaching the contract?”
Liu Zhijian looked at the officer like he was a brazen fool. There was even a hint of pity in his eyes because he realized that Brooke had been bedridden the last two years and due to the depressing financial state of his family, he must have been out of touch with the real world all this time. There was a chance that this man barely understood what the phrase Blacklight Biotechnology implied.
However, Liu Zhijian would not state this claim out loud, he only remarked stubbornly, “Mr, Brooke, if you intend to follow through with this, the company will hold you responsible for your actions and demand that you return the bionic armor!”
Brooke squinted the moment he heard this. He shot up from his chair and started to draw closer to the manager. “Are you threatening me?”
Liu Zhijian was initially shocked by how the officer reacted. He still remembered what happened to Austin previously. However, he became resolute when his eyes darted to a bright red emergency button covered under a transparent lid on the table. He immediately declared:
“Mr. Brooke, this isn’t a threat but a piece of advice! I’m sure you wouldn’t want to return to your previous bedridden state and live your life like that, no?”
“I’m sure you have the right to take back the bionic armor.”
Brooke nodded, then he continued with raising another point. “But if it gets to that point, that means the BHB Combative Police Force is corrupted and the hundreds of millions of dollars invested by Blacklight Biotechnology to strengthen its public image becomes entirely wasted. I’m sure even Manager Liu would’ve trouble holding onto his role in the department when that happens, am I wrong?”
With that, Brooke turned around and headed toward the exit.
“Brooke!”
When he saw that the officer was about to leave, Liu Zhijian’s heart dropped. It turned out that the reason the other party dared to negotiate terms with him was that he knew that the executive did not want to risk publicizing this matter. He knew that he could not afford to let this person gain the upper hand on him because it would be used as leverage later on.
Upon considering this, Liu Zhijian quickly flipped open the transparent lid on his desk and smashed the red button!
“Clap!”
There was an urgent blare of an alarm. Immediately after, Brooke felt like he had lost all sensations in his body. He felt his movements being frozen instantaneously as soon as the alarm sounded. After that, he lost his balance and slumped to the ground.
“What’s going on!”
A trace of panic started to surface in Brooke’s eyes when this happened. “Why is my body…”
“Mr. Brooke, this isn’t your body.”
Liu Zhijian took a deep breath. He got up from his seat and approached Brooke, proceeding to kneel in front of him to look at him. “Since you’ve read the contract, I’m sure that you’re aware that this armor belongs to the company. You’re just borrowing it for the moment, we have the right to take back the bionic armor at any given moment!”
Brooke finally descended into a full-blown panic when he heard this. He struggled inside his shell. “You can’t do this! It’s illegal! Screw this!”
“If you think that you can threaten Blacklight Biotechnology with measly hundreds of millions of dollars of investments, you’re dead wrong.”
Liu Zhijian viciously grabbed Brooke’s face and held a hand over his mouth to stop him from babbling. “You’d best not cause any more trouble and continue being a good robocop, it’s a win-win situation for you and me.
“Worst case scenario, I’ll be fired from this position, but the stakes are different from you because you’ll lose this body. You’ll return to being a bunch of squabbling pigs rolling around in a pool of mud, just as Austin described it!”
Brooke immediately fell silent upon hearing this and stopped resisting.
“Do you understand!”
When Liu Zhijian did not receive a response from Brooke, he gritted his teeth and delivered a swift slap to the crippled Brooke’s face.
“I understand!”
Brooke cried out.
“Excellent.”
Liu Zhijian let out a sigh and proceeded to get up and return to his desk to toggle the red button again.
Brooke immediately regained control over his body. He quickly pulled himself back on his feet and glared at Liu Zhijian with a glacial expression.
“Do you have any more questions, Mr. Booke?”
Liu Zhijian returned the same glare at Brooke. His right palm hovered over the button as sweat trickled down his forehead slowly.
Brooke did not say anything else. He only gave Liu Zhijian one last ominous look before turning around to push open the door and leave.
After ensuring that Brooke had left by checking the surveillance camera, Liu Zhijian finally wiped the sweat off his forehead and loosened up.
“I never thought that someone like me who has never been in a fight since I was a kid would threaten someone else with violence… It does seem like the pragmatic solutions where I come from won’t fly in a place like this…”
Liu Zhijian mustered a strained smile and shook his head as he thought of this before he fell into deep thought again.