Although Nemo tried his best to avoid the fate of being pranked in the Carnation community, he still couldn't escape the glory of being injured while serving as the personal bodyguard to the world’s richest man during his most recent failed assassination attempt.

Matthew described to the media how his best friend was shot twice and selflessly threw himself at him. Fortunately, the bulletproof vest stopped the fatal shot, but he couldn't avoid the bullet that hit his thigh, requiring immediate surgery to remove the bullet and rest. With an expression of fear, gratitude, and sadness, this man not competing for an Oscar is nothing short of a great loss to the film industry.

Tolya immediately called to inquire, and Nemo knew he was probably the one sent as a representative. Sunny Jie and boss Liu must have been worried that Nemo would only report good news, not the bad, so they sent the Russian roommate to take the lead.

"It was just one bullet that barely grazed my foot. We were both wearing bulletproof shirts—long sleeves too! Matthew exaggerated for political effect. He was about to meet with the government to negotiate with the Greens tribe in the Mississippi River Delta, but the assassination attempt interrupted it. Of course, he had to make it sound more serious to avoid trouble while rescheduling," Nemo explained.

"The Greens have a tribe now? That’s so fantastical! Wait, doesn’t that mean the original kaiju blood-seawater infection case might not be as bad as the out-of-control Greens in Carnation Community?" Tolya was getting more and more tangled in the growing monster-related issues.

"Even with a lot of preparation and planning, fish don’t always adapt to small tanks. Let alone if you don’t change the water properly, feed, or treat the injured ones, they’re bound to become overcrowded and worsen. It’s no surprise they’d get violent." A piece of advice from someone who failed at fishkeeping.

"How did you end up being his personal bodyguard again?"

"Last time, our team-up in Carnation Community was very successful. Matthew asked if I wanted to do it again. Wouldn’t you want to see the Greens tribe leader? Plus, the U.S. Navy hospital ship is right next to us, with special forces everywhere."

"Of course I’d love to see it! Can you take some photos for me?"

Nemo could hear the dissatisfied noises Tolya made from his hospital bed.

"No, I’m just telling you this to make you jealous. Same old rule: hear it, but keep your mouth shut."

"You’re bribing me to make excuses for you to Boss and Sunny Jie again!" Tolya wasn't a fool, but Nemo was truly a bastard.

"Make sure you phrase it beautifully, focusing on 'Nemo is recovering at Matthew Grimm’s Lakeview Villa.' There’s communication control there, so my phone won’t get through. It’s not that I’m ignoring your calls; Matthew prefers that I don’t leak information. I’ll send regular updates via email." Nemo was getting more and more accustomed to the attitude of "the billionaire’s home is my home."

Nemo cleaned his still-bleeding left chest wound. The black scales were broken by the armor-piercing bullet, and some parts were still intact on his skin, like a tough chestplate. The internal scales were slowly fading, causing Matthew’s stitches to loosen a bit, but the wound didn’t seem infected. Both Nemo and Matthew felt it was fine to continue observing for now, given that the fusion of their superpowers was a rare case.

The painkiller finally took effect, though it wasn’t even half as effective as it should be, Nemo was still grateful.

"So, you’re really staying at the Lakeview Villa before the renegotiation? Or did you sneak off to some other dangerous place?" Tolya pressed.

"I’m just fishing, sleeping, and watching TV at the Lakeview Villa, avoiding those dangerous reporter monsters. Satisfied?" The curly-haired youth spoke the white lie with no burden. Aside from fishing, everything else was true—Nemo was staying at the Lakeview Villa and hadn't gone anywhere.

Tolya was also stuck in a single hospital room recovering, but he finally found balance. If the Lakeview Villa hadn’t been Matthew’s private residence, he would have wanted to join Nemo for a vacation fishing trip, even if it meant just setting up a tent by the shore. Nemo’s fish dishes must be delicious! But once he remembered that it was Matthew Grimm’s territory, Tolya lost all interest.

Tolya had originally planned to mention that Nemo’s birthday was coming up, but both of them knew it wasn’t actually his real birthday. Nemo didn’t like that emergency fill-in birthdate, so after some thought, Tolya decided to drop the subject. He just wanted to relax and enjoy some food and drink, and Nemo’s fake birthday just happened to fall on Tolya’s discharge day. Isn't that worth celebrating in a big way?

Tolya wasn’t sure whether it was a coincidence or part of Matthew’s scheme, but the Russian did indeed gain quite a few benefits from Matthew Grimm, and he would remember that favor—though it didn’t stop him from continuing to have a bad opinion of the billionaire.

"Will you come back on the day I’m discharged?" When Tolya was hospitalized, Nemo would still visit Westlake Restauran, though he hadn’t gone back to work in the kitchen. Boss Liu and Sunny Jie noticed his eagerness to train and grow stronger at the Grimm Tower, believing that Nemo was serious about pursuing a career as a bodyguard. It was no longer just a gilded opportunity; it was a golden business card.

Even though they sometimes worried about the curly-haired youth getting into danger, The boss couple often praised Nemo's bodyguard potential when talking to Tolya on the phone.

"If there’s no important business, of course, I’ll pick you up from the hospital. Also, I’ll rate your disability acting. Don’t think you can get away with not shaving or washing your hair. And the eyes—gotta show the essence of despair and ruin."

Nemo’s serious tone reassured Tolya yet made him a little sad. How much did his roommate want to see him crippled and helpless?

"What important business do you have?"

"The renegotiation date isn’t set yet. The government officials are dragging their feet. But the hospital ship and the negotiation room are still in place. If a hurricane hits, that would be ridiculous."

"Haha! You better stop jinxing things, you never know what will happen!"

※※※

Nemo didn’t realize he had made an inadvertent prophecy. Although he hadn’t predicted the weather change, the issue of hurricanes was indeed a major oversight in the previous negotiations with the Greens tribe.

The Greens, who had escaped to the Mississippi River Delta, were all used to civilized life and the bustle of big cities. In recent years, New York City had frequently been hit by hurricanes due to extreme weather, even causing massive flooding and dozens of deaths. The mayor declared a state of emergency. However, for New Yorkers over 30, hurricanes weren’t a part of their ingrained disaster memories—robbery and theft were more common fears.

Moreover, many of the Greens had come from the Midwest or further north, and they had never experienced the full force of a hurricane. Occasionally, a few hurricanes would make landfall from the south, but by the time they reached New York, they had weakened significantly. At most, they brought heavy rain and flooded subways. But for the Greens now living in the Mississippi River Delta, water was everywhere.

Chief Mark then added a requirement to build sturdy shelters and stock up on dry food and clean drinking water in safe areas beyond the blockade line, allowing tribal members and their families to automatically bypass the blockade order and take refuge in the shelters during hurricanes and floods. Of course, the federal government began to argue over the costs and safety of this plan, and there were heated discussions about which state the shelters should be built in—no one wanted to be stuck with an unwanted facility.

Another issue arose when some Greens, who had taken refuge for two or three months, found it too difficult to adapt to the primitive wilderness lifestyle and wanted to return to the civilized world. The shelter could simply be transformed into a Greens community, but they didn’t want to become like the decaying and fragile Greens of Carnation Community, urging Chief Mark to demand guarantees from the government to provide a living environment that wouldn’t worsen their health conditions.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Matthew privately contacted Chief Mark, and his response was that he could help smooth things over regarding the first condition, but a dedicated community was too much. Carnation Community hadn’t even started rebuilding yet, and the Greens could never agree to live there. They even believed that stepping into the area would cause them to lose their powers and turn into violent crazies.

Chief Mark agreed to make a concession, stating that he would only politely let the federal government negotiate, so that both sides could report back without issues.

The billionaire finally expressed his impatience while testifying in Congress, stating that he would take care of the shelter buildings and would also build dormitories for the Greens scientists nearby. This would allow Greens family members at risk of infection to come there for medical treatment during non-refuge periods and encourage regular health check-ups.

For the federal government, this was an unimaginable fast solution, but in Matthew’s eyes, it was an unforgivably inefficient outcome. Nemo also suspected that both the government and the Greens were taking advantage of the situation.

"Forget it. The cost of setting up large-scale experiments is more than building houses. If it helps observe the Greens’ recovery or the development of their health in a semi-wild state, consider it an investment in field research," Matthew said to Nemo afterward.

Once the Grimm Group made its commitment, suddenly, the question of which state the shelters should be built in became irrelevant.

Matthew wasn’t a child, and as for the governors' invitations, he accepted them all.

He thus arranged construction plans for the Greens shelters in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. However, only Greens who were registered as specific tribal members and had good reputations while living within the blockade zone, along with their families, could enter. This effectively encouraged hidden Greens patients to gather within the blockade zone.

"Do you truly intend to go all in with your charity for these Greens and their families who are on the verge of infection?" Nemo asked when Matthew finally returned to the Lakeview Villa to rest.

"It’s not just lizards that eat bugs—fish do too. Someone suggested the possibility of creating a food chain among infected monster patients, and considering the bright future ahead, Congress finally agreed to increase the benefits for the Greens," Matthew responded.

"That ‘someone’ wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?" Nemo didn’t even consider a second person.

"It was a report presented by one of my scientists. But because the topic was too sensitive, the author didn’t want their identity exposed, so I blacked out the name," Matthew said, lying through his teeth while patting his chest, as though to ensure Nemo understood how brilliant he was.

"The new negotiation date and terms have been finalized, and this time, there won’t be any more disputes."Matthew was glad to finally get the chance to renegotiate and get rid of this shit. The report from Chief Mark had really struck a nerve with him.

The renegotiation was scheduled for June 6th. Nemo didn’t even remember the date of his fake birthday, but it turned out to be the day Tolya was discharged from the hospital. It was marked with a red star on the calendar. Nemo had no choice but to ask The boss couple to accompany Tolya to handle the discharge procedure, and he asked them to record the entire process for Nemo to review later.

The departure route was still the same as last time, but Matthew expanded the security perimeter by ten kilometers. The military also sent out a large number of personnel to patrol around Little Rock and set up roadblocks, citing the need to intercept terrorism-related information. This wasn’t just for the billionaire’s safety—it was also to catch the assassin from the previous attempt.

Matthew had made a "piece of evidence" with an armor-piercing bullet lodged precisely in the left chest area of a bulletproof vest. An ability user who could shoot from a distance with precision, capable of hitting the heart and piercing armor, was a nightmare for the wealthy elite. The fact that the assassination attempt on the billionaire had almost succeeded further proved the person’s strong anti-social tendencies.

With the election approaching, no candidate wants their campaign schedule to be interrupted by a headshot as soon as they get off the plane. The president himself secretly ordered that this superpowered individual must be prioritized for capture, and if alive capture is impossible, they must be killed on sight.

In the end, the same type of attack didn’t appear again, but the ability user had been specially targeted by the U.S. government, and that was the result Matthew had wanted.

The billionaire had quietly ensured that the gunman had been moved up to the top of the deep-state assassination list, though it hadn’t quite relieved his frustration, it was at least a small return on investment.

This time, Matthew and Nemo successfully arrived at the glass-greenhouse-like transparent negotiation room. Surrounded by special forces, the federal representatives and the solo-appearing Chief Mark met without issue. The process went as smoothly as a movie premiere.

The now legendary Greens leader wears an N95 mask, which serves as a response to others not wearing full isolation suits, with everyone displaying maximum goodwill toward each other.

Although the negotiations had a ceremonial tone, the debates between the federal representative, who was a lawyer by trade, and Chief Mark, a former journalist, were filled with sparks.

In the end, under the billionaire’s laid-back mediation and humor, the first significant cooperation agreement for monster disease victims was finally signed, setting a precedent for countless similar agreements worldwide.

Beyond the relocation of the Greens tribe, Matthew had a more important agenda: to initiate the secret military program that America didn’t want to fall behind on compared to other countries. While many nations had already encountered setbacks in similar experiments, the U.S.'s greatest advantage was having Matthew Grimm, a patriotic genius billionaire with forward-thinking expertise across multiple fields.

“There’s an experiment that might improve your condition, make you stronger—or maybe it won’t. The military already has its own volunteers. I just want to ask, would you be interested in sending representatives to participate? The condition is that if successful, you must serve in the U.S. military for twenty-five months and be on reserve duty for ten years. The experiment will be carried out by the Grimm Group, and the researchers, like you, will also be Greens,” Matthew suddenly proposed. Aside from Chief Mark, no one in the room was surprised.

The billionaire continued, “The process must be kept confidential. You can regularly send videos and letters to your family and friends, of course, as long as the content passes inspection and doesn’t disclose any classified information.”

“You mean, if the experiment succeeds, we might live for more than twelve years, and our people could become the super soldiers the military needs? Even if the Greens die on a mission, it won't be from the monster disease?” Chief Mark immediately grasped the key point.

“That’s the ideal vision of the Greens scientist who proposed it. As the boss and a patriot, I’m willing to fully support the plan. After all, the military has suffered many setbacks since the Meteor Shower Event, and recruitment is in a terrible state. The weakening of the U.S. military is something I don’t want to see. I’m trying to prove to the President that Greens are still U.S. citizens and eligible to enlist,” Matthew explained.

“That... sounds good,” Chief Mark’s eyes reddened slightly.

Although the U.S. currently had a volunteer military system, the law still retained mandatory service requirements. Every American citizen must register for the draft when they turn eighteen, regardless of personal beliefs. Fighting for the country was at the core of the American spirit, so military service was the best way to prove that Greens were fellow citizens, not monsters.

The key point was that once the Greens became official soldiers, they and their families would gain many benefits and the respect of the public—something that Greens couldn’t achieve through sympathy and humanitarianism alone. But if they fought on the front lines for the country, daring to face dangerous creatures that healthy humans couldn’t approach, entering zones affected by the unknown diseases brought on by the meteor shower, and the country formally recognized them as soldiers and not just weapons, things would be different.

If they fell in battle, or were captured by the enemy, whether male or female, Greens or regular humans, the U.S. military would go to any lengths to rescue their comrades, or at least bring their bodies back. This was something Chief Mark and the other Greens still believed in. The idea of becoming that "means" was not such a bad thing after all.

"Deliberately infecting healthy people is considered murder. The federal government hopes you will not harbor criminals. Please ensure that those Greens who have lost control are unable to attack others, and hand over these dangerous patients to us," said the federal representative.

“And then what? Shoot them?” Chief Mark asked.

“No, we’ll perform a prefrontal lobotomy, the same procedure used in the previous century to deal with madmen. This is how the Greens who underwent surgery in Carnation Community behave. They can feed and use the restroom independently. Your evolutionary level is different, so the degree of degeneration will likely be less. They should still be able to maintain basic living abilities. Then we’ll wait for more advanced treatments or perhaps miracles brought by ability users. If it’s too late, they’ll still receive palliative care, and their families can stay with them in a safe, isolated environment,” the federal representative added. “You can designate hospitals affiliated with the Grimm Group for the surgery, and the federal government will cover the costs.”

Chief Mark’s expression visibly relaxed.

“Greens who have undergone the surgery will be cared for by light-symptom Greens or other infected individuals who can’t reintegrate into society, like victims of the bloodsucking giant mosquito. Their families will also receive insurance and other benefits,” Matthew said, showing Chief Mark images on a tablet.

“This is better than I imagined,” Chief Mark could only kill his out-of-control companions and had no right to criticize the government. "This wasn’t the government’s original plan, was it? Mr. Grimm, supporters of ‘Leviathan’ truly care for us.”

“Leviathan?” Matthew asked.

“We worship 'Leviathan' as our deity, thanking it for its fearless efforts in slaying the kaiju on the East Coast. You are a key supporter of Leviathan, so we only trust you and your group.”

Matthew almost failed to control his expression, and if Nemo had to describe it in one word, it would be "awkward." However, the billionaire managed to compose himself and calmly expressed his respect to Chief Mark, promising to continue protecting the superheroes, especially Leviathan, who had made the greatest contribution.

Matthew exchanged a glance with the special forces captain, who nodded and gave the command. One of the armed team members immediately went to the small boat and brought back a large cardboard box.

The colorful appearance and gold-green ribbon on the box hardly conveyed any sense of threat. Even Chief Mark only wore a puzzled expression, waiting for an explanation.

“I specifically chose today, June 6th, for the negotiation because today is Nemo Captain’s 26th birthday. His injuries have recovered enough for him to attend this meeting. I want to thank him for saving my life, and I also thank you, Mark, for being willing to accept the inconvenience of delaying the negotiation. I’ve specially prepared a birthday cake to share with everyone. If we don’t finish it, feel free to take some back as a snack,” Matthew’s cheerful voice rang clearly through the negotiation room.

Everyone knew that no negotiation would actually be scheduled based on the convenience of a chef who wasn’t even a bodyguard, but the assassination attempt on Matthew Grimm was too sensitive. Not only was there internal debate in the White House about renegotiating, but the Greens tribe also faced unrest. Not all of the infected trusted the government or supported their leader going alone to the talks. Mark Freeman had to spend considerable effort soothing his followers.

Matthew Grimm’s unexpected gesture melted the ice around the usually stern federal representative, who happily mentioned that he had just celebrated his little daughter’s birthday a few days ago. The cold atmosphere between the U.S. military and the Greens Chief softened, replaced by a more affectionate and silent acknowledgment, since they had now all shared the same birthday cake.

Nemo’s expression was completely blank, clearly showing he had no idea Matthew had prepared this surprise in advance.

Chief Mark went from shocked to smiling in less than three seconds. Damn, this psychological warfare was too powerful—Matthew Grimm, the emotional manipulator, didn’t even spare the Greens Chief!

So, under the guidance of the world’s richest man leading the song, with the federal representative clapping, the special forces and Greens Chief singing in unison, Nemo calmly made a wish and blew out the candles.

Matthew cut the first slice of the strawberry-adorned cake and handed it to the birthday celebrant, the second slice to the Greens Chief, and the third to the federal representative. Then, everyone in the room received a small piece of cake, and everyone happily ate. Some even asked for an extra slice, perhaps because they hadn’t eaten breakfast.

Not even the most ridiculous superhero movie could come up with such a surreal birthday scene. Truly, it was the real world.