Sun Jinghai came out of the Sea Patrol Brigade's post in the end, on Shen Cong's insistence, and stood in front of the Vajra Fortress to meet him. Thirty or so, hair parted down the middle, thin but with a big frame on him.

"Boss Huang. An honor." Sun Jinghai cupped one fist in the other and bowed over them, like a man imitating the ancients. "Deputy Captain Lu tells me you're a merchant come from the Eastern Theater Command?"

His eyes went around the Vajra Fortress, the four-legged dragon and Shen Cong in turn. He was plainly nervous.

The Activity wave that carried his pressure had been reined in, but the sheer size of the four-legged dragon and the Vajra Fortress still gave away how strong they were. Whether the new arrival was friend or enemy was an open question, and Sun Jinghai's nerves were only natural.

"That's right." Shen Cong stood beside one of the Vajra Fortress's tires, and came up to two-thirds of its height.

But in the Hell Plant Armor he stood two meters seventy, close to three meters, a full meter taller than Sun Jinghai, who was a little over one meter seventy.

The weight of it made Sun Jinghai deeply uncomfortable. It was worse with the huge thing lying on the Vajra Fortress's roof — snake or lizard, he could not tell — keeping its eyes on him and drooling without a stop.

So he smiled to take the edge off. "Deputy Captain Lu has already told me what brings you, Boss Huang. He says the rebels have made contact with the Eastern Theater Command?"

Lu Dingbo cut in from the side, with contempt. "Don't go throwing the word rebels around. How the China Rescue Team gets classified is not for a Sea Patrol Brigade captain to squawk about as he pleases."

"It isn't my classification. It's the government's, in a formal document." Sun Jinghai gave Lu Dingbo no courtesy at all, and got his jab in before turning back to Shen Cong. "If Boss Huang can speak for the Eastern Theater Command, then…