As soon as Hamr heard that Roy and Gerald were about to leave, he imdiately called out to stop them.
Tonight, Hamr had not only lost eight sheep but also his pride. There was no way he'd let Roy and Gerald slip away so easily.
At Hamr's command, a few guards blocked their path.
"General Hamr, what's the aning of this?" Roy asked, glaring at him with dissatisfaction.
Hamr waved his hand, signaling the guards to stand down, then fixed Roy with a sincere look.
"Mr. Black, I'm hoping you'll consider helping deal with this ss. I'd owe you a personal favor," Hamr said earnestly.
He sounded almost desperate, even offering a favor, which was a big deal. Clearly, the trouble he was facing wasn't trivial.
But Roy's expression turned odd after hearing Hamr's words.
"General Hamr, did the person who suggested this to you ntion that I've had a run-in with Amacham Corporation?" Roy asked.
Hamr froze. He genuinely hadn't known about this.
"Is that true?" he asked, surprised.
Gerald stepped forward to back Roy up. "It's true. Black once stumbled upon a serious bio-leak incident in Nevada. At the ti, he didn't know it was caused by Amacham's secret experints, and that led to a conflict. Afterward, Amacham tried multiple tis to make trouble for Roy. Just a few months ago, FEA headquarters warned Amacham's chairman, Genevieve Aristide, to back off."
Hamr's face darkened instantly. "That damn Amacham Corporation! They dared to use !" he cursed, realizing he'd been played.
Gerald, anwhile, seized the mont to fan the flas with a sly tone. "Exactly. Amacham's been getting more brazen these past few years. Take that Nevada incident—they tried to wipe out an entire town with rcenaries to cover their tracks. Seems like Amacham's forgotten why they even have their current status with the Pentagon."
Hamr's face grew so dark it could rival Gerald's. For a traditional patriot like Hamr, Amacham's actions were way over the line.
Amacham had earned its Pentagon connections by supplying resources during World War II. To an old-school soldier like Hamr, their behavior was a betrayal.
Gerald didn't push further. Saying too much might seem deliberate and could backfire if Hamr caught on later.
"I'll settle accounts with Amacham later, but first, we need to deal with the problem at hand," Hamr said, turning to Roy. "Mr. Black, can I trust you?"
Roy exchanged a glance with Gerald.
Truth be told, a favor from a powerful Navy lieutenant general was no small thing. But Roy didn't know much about Hamr's background, so he hesitated.
"General Hamr, I need to discuss this with Mr. Olin before deciding. Can we have so privacy?" Roy asked.
"Of course," Hamr replied.
Roy and Gerald walked to the far end of the aircraft carrier's deck, hundreds of ters from Hamr. Even shouting wouldn't carry that far.
In the distance, FEA agents were working through the night under a rickety offshore drilling platform, their spotlights turning the area bright as day.
"Mr. Olin, what do you know about this Lieutenant General Frank Hamr?" Roy asked.
"I've heard of him," Gerald replied. "He's a very old-school soldier, doesn't tolerate any nonsense. The Pentagon speaks highly of him, and the rank-and-file soldiers respect him deeply."
Gerald shared more about Hamr, painting a fuller picture in Roy's mind: a man who rose from the bottom through military rit, cared deeply for his troops, and was stubbornly traditional. It was a familiar archetype in movies, but rare in real-life Arica.
Roy rubbed his chin, thinking it over, then looked at Gerald. "Mr. Olin, do you think General Hamr's reliable?"
Gerald had a hunch about Roy's intentions. When soone asks a question like that, they usually already have an answer in mind—they just need a reason to go with it.
So Gerald began to break it down. "Mr. Black, overall, General Hamr's pretty trustworthy. You saw how he handled losing that bet earlier. Amacham's been so bold because of their strong Pentagon ties. I think it's worth building alliances within the military to counter them."
Hamr's reaction showed he was already fed up with Amacham. With a little push, he could beco a key player in an anti-Amacham military faction.
Roy was tired of Amacham's constant scheming. This was a chance to take the fight to them and keep them too busy to pull their usual stunts.
"You make a good point," Roy said. "I'll work with General Hamr then."
Gerald grinned. "I can't wait to see the look on Bartholow's face."
"Sa here!" Roy replied.
Later, a warship quietly broke away from the carrier group and headed toward the Hawaiian Islands.
Roy slept until noon the next day, waking up in the warm equatorial climate. It was his first ti sleeping on a warship, and the experience felt fresh.
Too bad there wasn't a pretty female soldier to share the night with. Hamr might need Roy's help, but he wasn't that desperate.
At the ship's ss hall, Roy's appetite shocked the Arican soldiers. There's an old saying: the more you eat, the stronger you are. In ancient tis, a warrior's strength was often judged by how much they could eat. That's where the phrase "Is Lian Po too old to eat?" cos from.
In the strength-worshipping Arican military, eating a lot was a badge of honor. So soldiers even recognized Roy as the new Olympic heavyweight boxing champion and ca over for autographs.
Knowing Roy's massive appetite, the ss hall went all out to keep him fed, leaving him thoroughly satisfied.
At least Hamr's attitude was solid, and Roy's impression of him started to improve.
"Mr. Black, how'd you sleep last night?" Hamr asked, suddenly appearing in the ss hall with a tray of food and sitting across from Roy.
Roy glanced at Hamr's plate—it was piled high, almost like a young athlete's portion. Normally, younger guys eat more because of growth and fast tabolism. But at Hamr's age, appetites usually shrink. Roy wondered if Hamr was trying to show off after seeing Roy devour eight sheep the night before.
"Slept great, nice and sound," Roy replied.
Hamr flashed a stiff smile. Honestly, Roy wished he wouldn't. The smile was uglier than Gerald's, scary enough to give kids nightmares. Didn't Hamr's kids get childhood trauma from that face?
"Good to hear. I was a bit worried you wouldn't sleep well," Hamr said, starting on his lunch.
He ate at a steady pace, not wolfing it down like Roy. Roy noticed the soldiers around them didn't bat an eye at Hamr's presence.
"General Hamr, do you always eat in the main ss hall?" Roy asked.
"Yep, unless there's a special guest, I eat with the soldiers here," Hamr said.
Roy understood why Gerald said Hamr was so respected by the rank-and-file. A general eating in the ss hall every day was far more relatable than so officer hiding in their quarters sipping wine and eating gold-crusted lamb.
But respect aside, Hamr had clearly taken too much food today. He slowed down, each bite looking like torture.
Roy, holding back a laugh, couldn't resist. "General, if it's too much, don't force it. It's not good for you."
His well-aning advice only sparked Hamr's stubbornness. "Who said I can't handle it? Wasting food is shaful in the military!"
With that, Hamr shoved the last few pieces of bread into his mouth, nearly gagging. He covered his mouth to avoid embarrassnt.
"Mr. Black, after lunch, co to my office. I'll step out for a bit," Hamr said, rushing off, probably to the bathroom to throw up.
Roy shook his head. He'd warned the old man not to overdo it, but Hamr wouldn't listen. Now look at him.
After finishing his own lunch, Roy was about to ask a soldier for directions to Hamr's office when a brunette woman in a military uniform approached.
"Mr. Black, follow ," she said.
Roy looked up, feeling like he'd seen her before. Then it clicked—she looked like Perkins, the assassin hired by Viggo Tarasov to kill John Wick in John Wick (played by Adrianne Palicki). What was she doing here instead of working at the Continental?
Noticing Roy's unabashed stare, the woman's eyes flashed with annoyance. She hated being gawked at, even if Roy was a rare handso guy.
In her mind, good-looking guys were synonymous with pretty boys and weaklings. Sure, Roy looked muscular, but muscles didn't an fighting skills. Gym rats with steroid-pumped "dead" muscles were just for show, useless in a real fight.
"Mr. Black, are you listening?" she snapped, pulling Roy out of his thoughts.
He flashed a sunny smile. "Ma'am, may I have your na?"
Her irritation grew. As Hamr's guest, Roy wasn't soone she could brush off, so she answered stiffly, "You can call Miss Jay. Can we go to the general's office now?"
Jay sounded like a codena. Roy hadn't expected Hamr to have such a beauty by his side, keeping her hidden like that.
"Lead the way," Roy said, ntally grumbling about Hamr as he followed Jay out of the ss hall.
In the warship's largest office, Hamr looked rough—probably from vomiting too much. At his age, he should've known when to quit.
"General, I've brought him," Jay said.
"Mr. Black, good to see you," Hamr replied.
Jay, having completed her task, stood behind Hamr.
"General Hamr, is this about the mission?" Roy asked.
"Yes. Let Intelligence Officer Jay brief you on the situation. Miss Jay, tell Roy about Project Canyon," Hamr said.
After vomiting, the throat feels raw, and talking's a pain—Hamr was clearly in that state, so he passed the task to Jay.
"General, Project Canyon is top-secret. How can we tell him?" Jay asked, apparently unaware of Hamr's plan to involve Roy.
Hamr rubbed his temples, exasperated. "I know it's classified. I've authorized FEA Agent Roy Black to be briefed. He'll handle the ss with Project Canyon."
Jay's shock deepened. "This pretty boy?"
Roy shot her a glare. He hated being called a pretty boy. What's wrong with being handso? It's not like he was eating her food.
And small? Please, she wouldn't be able to handle… ahem!
"Mr. Black has handled many dangerous incidents. He's perfect for Project Canyon. Miss Jay, no more argunts—follow orders!" Hamr said firmly.
At the ntion of orders, Jay clamd up. She turned Hamr's laptop toward Roy and played a video showing a lush tropical island.
"This island in the Pacific is called Mist Island," Jay began. "Years ago, a fisherman discovered it and saw species unlike anything else. The federal governnt sealed it off."
Roy studied the video. "Why call it Mist Island? I don't see any mist."
"The island's central canyon is shrouded in fog year-round, and that's where the unique species are. About ten years ago, the Pentagon partnered with Amacham to study the canyon's special lifeforms. But recently, we lost all contact with the research base there."
Great, another classic bio-leak incident. Arica seed to need a yearly spill to feel complete.
Miss Jay (Adrianne Palicki)
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