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“Yesterday,” Wen replied “We detected signals e from an ROV Sonar was intermittent, due to the small size of the subinalsite”

Han put a hand to his te pain “How could this happen? I thought naval units of the PLA had that area locked down”

Wen explained the breach with grudging admiration “I will admit they found a novel way around our net A ht, their discovery will prove irrelevant”

“Not if they send the inforton”

“That will never occur,” Wen prohai We’ll soon have thee and used as bargaining chips And, to their dismay, they will find they’ve thrown their lives away for nothing Even a detailed survey with accurate sonarsonar will reveal very little to anyone The real as deep under the seafloor in the tunnels carved out by your machines, too deep for standard sonar to reveal

“At best, the A operation that was destroyed b

y soe of an aquatic habitat, half buried in the canyon They will have learned nothing about the nature of the operation or the Golden Adamant And by the tiovernents will be free toyou can actually find it”

Han was put on the defensive “We’re very close,” he insisted “I will soon be in possession of the ancient swords and Masa Those items will lead us directly to the mine from which Masamune obtained the alloy in the first place But none of that will do any good if the NUMA agents in Shanghai or their associates here expose us”

Wen fell quiet for aGo Han took the moment to take another drink

Finally, the old ain “You say Austin came to you?”

“He asked for my help in the exploration”

“A bold stroke,” Wen said “Heto shake you”

“I assure you, he learned nothing”

“Still, there’s a great deal to be adame And much to learn”

“Such as?”