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The reason Henry had brought Jack Reacher to the Goat Valley Laboratory was partly due to poor planning—

And partly because he was gambling on Reacher's character.

He was betting that Reacher was like the protagonist from the film adaptation Henry remembered before transmigrating: not the sort of man obsessed with power, status, or advancement.

Those earlier warnings had only been part of the performance, so Reacher wouldn't think Henry was inexplicably offering unconditional trust.

What Henry hadn't expected was this:

The laboratory's location remained hidden—

But he himself had been exposed.

And all of this was Kitty's fault.

Once he got back to Los Angeles, that striped cat's weight-loss program needed to be intensified.

Still, since his identity was already compromised, Henry simply said through Little Duck:

"How about this—you eat first. Once you're done, if you don't mind not speaking face to face, you can tell me directly why you wanted to meet me."

Reacher asked, "Is your communication line secure?"

Kree and Skrull communication technology—along with their interception and jamming capabilities—came in different grades.

At the highest level was quantum entanglement communication, which could ignore distance entirely and allow synchronized communication across star systems.

According to records from the Kree scientist Mar-Vell, the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree Empire used that very method to communicate with all imperial citizens.

Of course, the receiving party needed a beacon signal on their person so the Supreme Intelligence could locate and identify them.

It was still technology, not magic that locked onto souls or species.

These beacons could also have secondary uses depending on design.

For example, the device once used on Captain Marvel to suppress her power belonged to this category.

When Mar-Vell discarded her beacon, even though she was still a blue-blooded, pink-skinned Kree, it effectively meant abandoning her Kree identity.

She was no longer monitored by the Supreme Intelligence.

And no longer protected.

But despite how tiny a beacon was, the receiving equipment on the Supreme Intelligence's side was building-sized.

Even if Henry coveted that technology, he had no intention of doing anything so conspicuous.

So instead, he used another system—

One that even visiting Kree or Skrull technical officers would have difficulty cracking.

Quantum encryption.

The data was transmitted in fragmented frequency-hopping bursts.

Even reconstructing the message required overcoming decoding barriers similar to the Enigma machine.

Sometimes block encryption was used.

Sometimes stream encryption.

Sometimes both in mixed layers.

That ensured that even if a segment were intercepted, brute-force decryption using current computing power would take thousands of years.

And even then, the result would only be fragmented nonsense with no meaning.

Since he only needed to operate within Earth's range, Henry didn't particularly care about transmission distance.

Rather than miniaturize a quantum entanglement communicator, it was easier to build a monstrously complex encryption system.

For someone like Henry—whose technological reserves weren't yet systematic and who had to focus resources on solving one field at a time—that was the more practical route.

So when facing Reacher's question, Henry could guarantee this much:

Even if the greatest minds on Earth gathered together, they'd still need several generations of upgraded tools before they could intercept and crack his system.

Pure technological domination.

It felt amazing.

A quantum computer had already been completed in the undersea laboratory.

Though only an early-stage model, it was paired with topological chips.

According to Moore's Law, Earth's science would need at least another thirty years before laboratories could begin approaching Henry's current level.

Commercial products would take even longer.

Of course, it was still possible that some outrageous genius somewhere would invent a shortcut.

But as Henry continued mastering Kree and Skrull technology, his growth rate would only outpace Earth's Moore's Law progress further.

He had no obsession with squeezing maximum profit from every stage before advancing to the next.

That was the logic of businessmen trapped in market economics.

Intel's habit of incremental upgrades was a perfect example.

Henry wasn't in a hurry to establish his own original scientific framework.

First, he would fully digest the knowledge of two great alien empires.

Study the proper roads.

Study the shortcuts.

Watch others walk them first.

Then build something of his own.

That was the truly practical path.

Forget nonsense like:

"Only forging a path no one else has walked is the pride of Kryptonians!"

First of all—how do you walk a different road unless you know what roads others already built?

And unlike Earth, there was no patent law issue here.

He didn't need to avoid seeing other people's designs out of fear of accidentally copying them and getting sued.

Still…

Explaining all this to Jack Reacher would probably be like playing music to a cow.

And much of it couldn't be spoken aloud anyway.

He had already revealed enough today.

No need to expose his final cards too.

So after suppressing his urge to brag for a long while, Henry finally answered through Little Duck:

"The line is secure. But you should still choose your information carefully. Eat first—I'm not in a hurry."

Reacher picked up his knife and fork again and resumed cutting into the steak prepared by a robot.

To his own surprise, it was excellent.

Nothing like the chemical-lab food he had imagined.

Reacher also ate quickly.

But unlike many people, he focused entirely on eating while doing so. He didn't talk with food in his mouth.

During that time, Henry temporarily disconnected.

He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

This rescue operation had been both a success and a failure.

The success:

He had extracted the target unharmed.

Well… mostly unharmed.

A few scrapes and bruises, but Reacher himself didn't care, so Henry saw no need to fuss.

The failure:

He had accidentally leaked personal intelligence.

Part of that was Reacher's terrifying observational ability.

But part of it was Henry himself.

He had grown complacent.

Pride in mastering alien technology far beyond Earth's visible science.

The prestige brought by the Titanic project.

Though the biggest beneficiary of that was James Cameron, the producer-director.

Still, Henry's old reputation of:

"The idiot investor who knows nothing about movies"

had transformed into:

"The lucky bastard who still knows nothing about movies."

Then there was having one of the world's great beauties as his girlfriend.

Honestly, if that didn't send a man's ego sky-high, what would?

But reality had proven something important:

A smooth winning streak did not guarantee freedom from mistakes.

Just a little carelessness.

A plan overtaken by events.

And suddenly several secrets he never intended to reveal had slipped out.

He called over a flight attendant and requested an alcoholic drink.

Alcohol did nothing to a Kryptonian body—

But at least it could sting his tongue.

When Henry judged enough time had passed, he put his glasses back on and reconnected with Little Duck at Goat Valley Laboratory.

He came back online just in time to see Jack Reacher asking for the first-aid kit and cleaning his wounds.

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