HBWnovel Chapter 124: The Boss in the Field
Chapter 124: The Boss in the Field
Chapter 124: The Boss in the FieldEvelyn observed me intently, allowing her words to fully register before continuing.
"Also....You'll be in charge of the team responsible for finding them."
My fingers paused mid-drum, and I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." She took another slow sip of coffee, as if she hadn't just dropped another bomb into my lap.
I stared at her. "Since when am I leading this?"
"Since now."
I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair. "There has to be someone better for this. I don't exactly have experience in—"
Evelyn cut me off with a look. The kind of look that shut down arguments before they even started.
"You're the boss."
The impact of Evelyn's remarks was like an earthquake.
I looked at her, expecting an explanation, but I didn't get one. Those three words, spoken as though they were self-evident.
She got up and adjusted her coat before I could ask her any more questions. "Good luck," she stated plainly, giving the group one nod before making her way to the door.
She vanished in a matter of seconds.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose and let out a breath. Being placed in charge of a high-level retrieval operation was not one of the things I had anticipated this morning.
Sienna, Camille, and Alexis seemed equally caught off guard, though they processed it in their own ways.
Camille leaned back in her chair, smirking. "Well, look at that. Boss man Reynard, making power moves."
Alexis shot me a side glance, unimpressed. "Don't let it go to your head."
Sienna just sighed. "Try not to get shot."
They didn't stick around much longer after that. One by one, they left to handle their own work—Sienna to her re
"We've marked potential locations that might be connected to the missing prototypes," he explained. "Old company rivals, abandoned warehouses, trillion-dollar corporations that could be backing illegal experiments. Standard suspects."
I studied the map. They were thorough. If there was a lead to be found, it was probably already here.
And yet—
Something felt off.
My instincts had been screaming at me since Evelyn mentioned mass production.
If you had the ability to create hundreds, maybe thousands of skill enhancers...
Why would you keep them?
Why not sell them?
A slow realization settled in my chest.
I straightened, tapping a different section of the map.
"The black market," I said.
The room quieted.
Milan raised an eyebrow. "You think they're selling them?"
I nodded. "If I had this kind of tech, I wouldn't just hoard it. I'd distribute it. Quietly. In places where no one's tracking sales."
Anthony let out a low whistle. "That's... actually smart."
Milan exchanged glances with a few of his team members. "If that's the case, then we need to start tracing transactions. Illegal skill enhancement tech would go for insane prices."
"Exactly." I leaned forward. "Forget warehouses. Forget corporate leads. If we want to find this tech, we follow the money."
The plan shifted.
The teams paired up, preparing to dive into the underground world of illicit trading. Milan and Anthony were with me. The others would split off to track down different leads.
Before we left, I glanced around the room, meeting their eyes.
This wasn't just about retrieving stolen tech anymore.
It was about finding out who had it.
And why.
If someone had the power to mass-produce skill enhancements, the real question wasn't where they were hiding.
It was what they were planning to do with them.
And I had a bad feeling we weren't going to like the answer.