Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Think Tank—Helen Appears

“Ha! Ha! We’re back!” Mingchuan and Winchester ran back to the camp, not expecting Colt to notice their hurried return.

“Where did you two run off to?” Colt asked. Winchester was about to answer, but Mingchuan stopped him.

“Don’t say anything. This is classified military information.” Mingchuan patted Winchester on the shoulder.

“Let’s go!” Mingchuan took the bag and hurried off, entering a small building. Seeing Mingchuan ignore him, Winchester left Colt behind and followed into the room.

“Winchester, come here!” Mingchuan called out, ushering Winchester inside.

“What is this place?” Winchester asked curiously, for the room was nothing special—just an ordinary library-like space.

“This way!” Mingchuan took a seat at the desk, scribbled a few words on a piece of paper, and fed it into the fax machine.

Moments later, a concealed door in the wall behind the desk slid open.

“Come in!” Mingchuan stepped through. Winchester followed, but neither of them noticed Colt spying from outside the room.

“What are they up to?” As soon as Colt saw the hidden door close, he dashed to the fax machine and retrieved the sheet of paper. On it was a phrase he couldn’t decipher: “Tranquillo!” (in Italian; originally meant to use Latin). Intrigued, Colt grabbed another sheet, imitated Mingchuan’s handwriting, copied down the word, and fed it into the machine.

The door opened. Colt rushed inside, only to find Mingchuan standing right beside him.

“Colt, following others isn’t a good habit,” Mingchuan said, arms folded, leaning against the wall, while Winchester oiled his rifle nearby.

“No matter. Come along. But remember, what you see here is classified—don’t breathe a word when you leave!” Mingchuan had no intention of silencing them; instead, he led the two of them down a long corridor to the last room.

“Hey, Helen! How are things?” Mingchuan approached a table and set the bag down.

“Is that it? Then I can begin the dissection!” Helen placed the Devil Fruit into a machine, and soon, the scan data appeared on the computer screen.

“Tyron, did you receive the data?”

“I’m not Tyron—I’m Taylor now! Got it. Was it Tynan who gave it to you?” Taylor inadvertently revealed Mingchuan’s other identity.

“No, just three low-ranking special ops soldiers. Nothing noteworthy, as long as the mission is accomplished.” With that, Helen took out the Devil Fruit and began the dissection.

“Who’s Tynan? Miss Helen, may I—” Colt tried to ask, but Helen waved them away.

“All right! Your mission’s done. You can go!”

“Miss Helen!” Colt wanted to press for more, but Mingchuan clapped him on the shoulder.

“That’s enough. Let’s go.” Mingchuan knew Helen’s temperament—once she had made up her mind, nothing would change it.

“Damn it!” As they left the room with Mingchuan, Colt began to fume.

“Mingchuan, who are you, really? Why do you have such authority? Who is Tynan? Don’t tell me you know everything.” Mingchuan walked a few steps, then slowed his pace.

“It’s just because I’m captain—I know a bit more. As for authority, I don’t have much. I’m just an ordinary guy delivering on assignments, like in a game. That’s all. Come on, let’s go.”