"Dedicating the entire Automotive Lab's resources exclusively to you puts me in a difficult position." Zhao Weiliang turned the matter over slowly. "The iron people in the Motor Battalion work like an assembly line every day, and not one of them has received a full-resource overhaul. You've just arrived, and already you're asking for preferential treatment. That's hard to justify."

"What do I need to do to offset the blowback?" Shen Cong went straight to it. He understood how people worked — he simply didn't bother most of the time. But at its core, this was just an exchange of interests.

Commander Zhao knew his temperament well enough not to dress it up. "First: all materials, including the Automotive Lab's overtime costs, come out of your own pocket. Second: in exchange for priority modification access, you guarantee that if an evolved beast threatens the camp, you'll assist in the response. Third: next week the camp is holding an open tournament — all evolved people, mandatory participation. I need you to win it. Cleanly."

"I don't want to waste time on a sparring match."

"Xiao Hu." Zhao Weiliang leaned forward. "I want you in that tournament because I'm trying to build you into something — a symbol for this camp. I've thought about it carefully. Morale is slipping. Ordinary people are losing faith; they don't feel safe anymore. We need a hero. Someone who can stand up to evolved beasts face to face and win. Someone who gives the civilians reason to believe again. You're the right person for that."

He clenched his fist, as if he could already see it — Shen Cong, the camp's icon, humanity's champion.

Shen Cong, meanwhile, shifted almost imperceptibly toward the door. His expression was hidden beneath his visor. This was the elevated platform closest to Vajra — he could see the truck through the window from here.

He never entered the camp in daylight. He didn't trust it — this wasn't his territory. Every meeting with Zhao Weiliang happened at night. Darkness that blinded everyone else was simply the best operational condition for him.