Elon Musk's mansion in New York.
Shortly after returning to New York, he received a call from the former president.
"Elon, I think you should see this."
The former president said only a few words before sending a document to Elon Musk's private email address.
Elon carefully read through it, his expression growing increasingly serious.
The document contained Toru's classified history.
Just like the former president, Elon briefly wondered whether Toru was some kind of superhuman when he saw the file.
His record was simply too extraordinary.
The former president believed Burns would not deceive him, and Elon likewise believed the former president would not lie to him about something like this.
That only made the contents of the file even more unbelievable.
In addition to Toru's service record, the former president had also sent Elon a detailed report on the recent assassination attempt.
According to the report, Toru had first knocked a Secret Service sniper unconscious at his home, then impersonated him and entered the rally site.
Based on multiple recordings and surveillance videos from the scene, Toru's impersonation had revealed no flaws whatsoever.
Moreover, the Secret Service was an organization whose agents often communicated only when necessary. Because of that, neither the sniper's colleagues nor his superiors noticed anything unusual.
It was not until Toru shot and killed the gunman that the Secret Service realized one of its key snipers had been replaced by an impostor.
What did that mean?
It meant everything Toru had said was true.
Had he accepted Spencer's order and chosen to carry out the assassination, the former president would undoubtedly have died. There would have been no chance of survival.
Toru truly was the man who had saved his life.
At the same time, however, Toru's actions frightened both the former president and Elon Musk.
Such an advanced disguise technique, combined with his assassination skills, was almost impossible to defend against.
They could not help wondering whether similar assassins might already be hiding among the people around them, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Iris scans and fingerprint verification need to be implemented as soon as possible, but..."
Elon paced back and forth through his mansion.
To some extent, the former president had sent him this file as a warning.
Elon reviewed the footage from the rally and even analyzed it with the latest artificial intelligence software. Yet the system still failed to identify that the sniper had been impersonated by Toru.
Of course, such a disguise must have had limitations.
It could not reproduce fingerprints, irises, or, to take the idea to an extreme, a person's DNA.
No matter how advanced Toru's disguise technique was, it could never imitate those things.
But if Elon had to conduct such detailed identity checks on everyone around him every single day, he would no longer be living freely.
It would be no different from living in a prison.
At first, Elon even considered discussing with the former president whether Toru should be eliminated as an unstable threat.
After all, someone like him posed a danger to everyone.
But the thought lasted only a moment before Elon dismissed it.
Who was best suited to eliminating someone like that?
The Central Intelligence Agency, without question.
Yet Toru himself had once been the CIA's most formidable operative, and Director Spencer already wanted him dead.
What had been the result?
The CIA had been helpless against him, while Spencer was now the one facing mortal danger.
Threats were usually best eliminated before they could grow, but this particular threat was already far too dangerous.
Elon did not believe it was worth making an enemy of someone like Toru.
By now, Elon had become partly a politician while still remaining a businessman.
Whether he considered the situation from a political perspective or a business perspective, his instincts told him that becoming Toru's friend would be far wiser than becoming his enemy.
He took a deep breath, picked up a nearby glass of champagne, and moistened his throat.
Earlier, at the private club, Elon had not directly agreed to grant Toru access to the Starlink network.
After all, the system involved too many sensitive matters.
Even Russia had struggled to counter Starlink on the battlefield in Ukraine. If such a system were placed in private hands, the consequences could be enormous.
But now, Elon had made his decision.
He would allow Toru to use Starlink, including the functions developed in cooperation with the U.S. military.
He only needed to find a suitable excuse, perhaps claiming it was for his own use, and conceal the arrangement from the military.
Just then, the phone rang urgently.
The moment Elon answered, an elderly man's anxious voice came through the receiver.
"Elon, quickly, tell me where the person who gave you this biological report is!"
"I need to meet him immediately. No, forget that. Are you at home? I'll come to you now. Wait for me."
Without waiting for Elon to reply, the caller hung up.
Not long afterward, a disheveled elderly man arrived at Elon's mansion.
The moment he entered, he abruptly demanded to know whether the person who had provided the biological report was there.
"Professor Robert, calm down. We can discuss this slowly."
Elon knew the professor well.
He was a renowned biologist at MIT.
The fact that he had rushed over in such a state suggested that the biological report Toru had provided was extremely important.
Professor Robert ignored Elon's attempt at courtesy.
"Elon, I don't want to waste time. I only want to meet the person who gave you this report."
Filled with curiosity, Elon asked, "Professor, what exactly is so important about the contents?"
"What's important about it? Good Lord, Elon, I know biology isn't your field, so I'll put it plainly."
"The research described here is enough to win a Nobel Prize."
"If these findings are genuine, the human lifespan could be extended dramatically. However, the report becomes deliberately vague in several crucial sections. I need to meet the person responsible and confirm that the experiments described here are real rather than fabricated."
Professor Robert spoke rapidly while tugging at the few strands of hair remaining on his head.
Then a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"Still, the writing style and structure of this report remind me of someone."
"Who?"
"A former student of mine."
"She earned a doctorate in biology when she was only eighteen. Her name was Shiho Miyano."
"I wanted her to remain at MIT and teach. With her ability, she could easily have become a professor. But she eventually disappeared."
Professor Robert's expression filled with regret.
"She was the most brilliant and gifted student I ever taught."
Elon paid little attention to the professor's regret.
He stared at the report he could not fully understand, his eyes flickering with thought.
It seemed Toru had been telling the truth.
He might genuinely possess extraordinary biological technology.
Elon himself was also developing advanced mechanical technologies.
Perhaps the two of them truly could cooperate, exchange their discoveries, and allow science and technology to flourish through their partnership.
Together, they might even change the world.
It was the kind of grand ambition every engineer secretly carried, the ideal they buried deep within their hearts.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)