Lelist City, outside the office building of the Propaganda Department of the International Equality Alliance
After coaxing the two children to sleep, Clementine quietly came to the outside of the building alone, hoping to wait until Piaf came out.
Although even if Piaf is still working inside now and will come out after a while, she doesn't know how to contact him, but trying to see him as close as possible is better than staying in the hotel and doing nothing.
"Hello, could you please show me your identification." There is no curfew in Lelist City, but Clementine lingered around the Propaganda Department for a long time, which still attracted the attention of the patrol team.
"Oh, okay." Clementine showed the ID to the other party for inspection.
"I see you have been standing here, do you need any help?" After checking and confirming that there were no problems, the comrade from the patrol team asked.
Clementine waved her hand: "No, I was thinking about joining the International Equality Alliance and working in the Propaganda Department in the future, so I came over to take a look."
Knowing that Clementine wanted to join the International Equality Alliance, the comrades in the patrol team showed a more cordial smile: "When applying for identification, our comrades should have told you the location of their office. If you want to join the International Equality Alliance
, you can go to them and submit an application.”
"They have already given me the application form and I am going through the procedures." Clementine said.
"Then I look forward to the day when you become our comrade, and I would like to extend my welcome to you." The comrades of the patrol shook hands with Clementine.
"Thank you." Clementine felt their sincere kindness.
In addition to trying to find a way to meet Piaf these days, the second thing she had to do was write an application.
The International Equality Alliance's review may be slower and it will be too late to help her contact Piaf, but she herself hopes to enter it, so this does not conflict.
"Then I won't disturb you. Also, pay more attention to safety at night and come to us anytime if you need anything." The comrades from the patrol team returned to their original positions for inspection.
Clementine heard another meaning.
The comrades in the patrol team are not only worried about her safety, but also hope that she will not stay here for too long in the current sensitive situation.
It's one thing to say that she's joining the International Equality Alliance, but it's another thing for the patrol to be vigilant against her.
In order not to cause trouble to them and cause unnecessary suspicion and misunderstanding, Clementine sighed and prepared to leave.
At this time, the main entrance of the building was crowded with people.
Soon, a woman, surrounded and escorted by a group of comrades, walked out and went straight to the car parked on the roadside.
Piaf, the director of the Propaganda Department of the International Equality Alliance, is a woman, and there should be no other candidate besides her for such treatment in the Propaganda Department office area.
Unfortunately, as soon as Clementine recognized that the other party was Piaf, Piaf passed by her in a car and disappeared at the intersection.
——
Lezein, newspaper
Capa has been extremely active since his wife left with their children. This satisfied the editor-in-chief Byron, who naturally arranged for him to work overtime and handle more complicated matters.
Capa couldn't ask for this.
He knew very well that the photos he had taken previously would cause an uproar again under the one-sided public opinion, but to truly reverse the situation, those were far from enough.
If you can collect a complete chain of fraud from the Provisional Government and newspapers, the International Equality Alliance will gain a valuable advantage in this public opinion war.
If the International Equality Alliance can win the battle of public opinion, the world will undoubtedly take a firm and solid step towards beauty again.
"Aren't you leaving yet?" A reporter who, like Capa, was left to work overtime to write articles stretched himself and asked Capa.
"I still haven't finished writing, what about you?" Capa hoped that the other party would leave immediately, so that he would be the only one in the newspaper office, and it would be extremely easy to search and collect evidence.
"I'm too sleepy. I'm going back to rest first. Come here early tomorrow and try to finish the manuscript before the editor-in-chief asks me for it." That colleague is famous for procrastinating manuscripts, otherwise he and Capa would not stay and work overtime.
"Then you go back first. I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well spend the night here today," Capa said.
The colleague yawned, packed up his things and stood up: "Then why don't I say hello to the soldiers outside and tell them not to wait for you?"
"Say it, but they should still stay in the newspaper office to prevent people from the International Equality Alliance from sneaking in secretly." Capa nodded.
"Okay, I'll leave first." The colleague walked out of the newspaper office.
Capa exhaled slowly, and his heart beat faster unknowingly.
"Dong dong dong."
There was a knock on the door, but before Capa could speak, two government soldiers came in and confirmed: "Aren't you going home tonight?"
"Ah, I won't reply. There are still many manuscripts that have not been finished." Capa replied while swallowing his saliva.
"Then we will lock the door, but we will patrol outside. If you have anything, you can knock on the door and contact us."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"fine."
The windows and doors of the newspaper office were locked, and the soldiers on duty began patrolling.
Capa's hand holding the pen was sweating. He did not go to investigate the information immediately. Instead, he chose to pretend for a while to ensure that nothing would happen before taking action.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Thirty minutes.
Time passes little by little, and as the bell rings, November 26th arrives.
There should be no problem.
Capa thought to himself and stood up, crept close to the window, gently opened a little of the curtains, and looked outside.
There were several lights on the street outside, and under the lights two groups of government soldiers were patrolling across the street.
The newspaper is responsible for fabricating reports and exerting public pressure on the International Equality Alliance. Therefore, the interim government is very vigilant and does not dare to relax the protection of the newspaper. It ensures that the International Equality Alliance will not destroy the newspaper and create variables in a situation where victory is basically guaranteed.
.
Fortunately, these soldiers were mainly wary of the outside, and no one paid attention to the inside of the sealed newspaper office.
After observing silently for a few minutes, Capa turned around and came directly to the door of the editor-in-chief's office.
Editor-in-chief Byron played an important role in this public opinion war, and there must be a lot of key information hidden in his office. As long as this information can be found, his mission is almost successful.
"throat."
When Capa turned the door handle, he felt firm resistance.
Editor-in-Chief Byron locked his office.
This did not discourage Capa, but made him even more excited.
Even though the government troops were closely protecting the newspaper office, the door was still locked. It was obviously because they were on guard against him. And if they were guarding against him alone, it meant that there must be some confidential documents stored inside.
"Huh..." Capa breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the other side of the office, and tried to push the window.
The window was motionless and locked.
How can you enter the office without damaging the windows and doors? How can you keep the windows and doors locked after leaving?
Theoretically there is only one possibility, which is to use the key to open the door directly and then use the key to lock the door.
But the problem is that the key was carried by the editor-in-chief Byron. He had probably taken it home at this time and put it on the bedside table closest to him.
Is it possible that today we have to give up all our efforts and look for another opportunity to carve a key first?
Capa didn't want to waste a precious night like this, so he stood in front of the window again and looked at the window carefully.
The lock of the window is a simple latch. The plug on the window frame is inserted into the socket on the window frame. The window cannot be opened unless the plug is pulled out from the inside.
So, is there any way to remove the bolt from the outside of the window and then put the bolt back in after the search and evidence are found?
Capa focused on the cracks in the windows.
There is a tiny gap between the window and the frame, about two millimeters.
If you can get thin wire or iron wire, you can try to stuff it in, hang it on the plug, and pull out the latch from the outside. After it comes out, you can also use the iron wire to pull the latch back in.
Capa had never done anything like this before, but after deducing it in his mind and feeling that it was quite feasible, he immediately started looking for materials in the office area.
Unfortunately, everyone came here to work, and no one would bring thin wires, wires or other things. He searched everywhere but couldn't find anything.
The time came to one o'clock in the morning.
The patrol soldiers outside the newspaper office changed. Capa sat in front of his work station, holding his hair with both hands, thinking hard about countermeasures.
The complete chain of fraud by the interim government and the truth behind the large number of innocent people being imprisoned as members of the International Equality Alliance were all things he desperately wanted to master and know.
And these are most likely to be placed in the editor-in-chief's office, which is just around the corner.
For a moment, a crazy idea came to Capa's mind, which was to break in by force, collect the evidence, and then escape during the day before editor-in-chief Byron went to work.
But after just a few seconds, this idea was suppressed.
First, he could not guarantee that there was absolutely evidence in the editor-in-chief's office. If not, he would lose the opportunity to collect evidence in the future if he broke up.
Second, as a reporter for a newspaper, he is accompanied by government soldiers in all his travels. These soldiers are not only protecting him, but also monitoring him. The consequences of escaping rashly are foreseeable.
It seems we can only wait until daybreak.
Either find the wire and prepare for the second night, or find a way to steal the key from the editor-in-chief Byron and make a copy.
Reluctantly, Capa tried his best to calm down and write the manuscript.
At two o'clock in the morning, the manuscript was basically finished and entered the proofreading stage.
"Bang!"
"Bang bang!!"
"Bang bang!! Bang bang bang!!"
Suddenly, crisp gunfire and the noisy shouts of government soldiers were heard outside.
The frightened Capa dropped his pen, stood up in a hurry, went to the window, and looked outside.
A patrol team seemed to be chasing someone and quickly disappeared into the night. Another team searched for the two bodies they had shot dead.
Immediately afterwards, densely packed soldiers, roughly estimated to number over a hundred, appeared from all directions and implemented a tight seal on the newspaper office and surrounding streets.
It turns out that the so-called two inspection teams were just a defense on the surface of the Provisional Government. In fact, they invested ten times as much power into the newspaper as they did openly!
This is no wonder. After all, the most likely place for the International Equality Alliance to attack is the newspaper office. There is no reason why the Provisional Government cannot set up an ambush here and wait for them to take advantage.
Thinking of this, Capa's heart skipped a beat.
The few people who were shot outside and those who temporarily escaped were members of the International Equality Alliance?!
This is the only possibility.
Except for the International Equality League, no one would come near the newspaper office early in the morning to implement unknown plans.
Before he could think about it, the door of the newspaper office was quickly opened and a group of soldiers poured in.
"Mr. Capa, we just killed a group of International Equality Alliance people outside. While you were staying in the newspaper office, did you notice anything unusual inside?!" The officer leading the team strode towards Capa.
"I, I'm not sure, I've been writing a manuscript, and when I heard the gunfire..." Capa was frightened and said intermittently.
"You guys, conduct a comprehensive investigation of the newspaper office to make sure there are no problems." The rigorous military officer arranged for his subordinates to begin a detailed investigation of the newspaper office.
A few minutes later, the soldiers reported the situation to the officers one after another.
"No problem!"
"No problem!"
"No problem!"
"Second Lieutenant, the door to that office is locked, we can't get in!"
All eyes were focused on Editor-in-Chief Byron's office.
"That's our editor's office." Seeing the officer approaching the office, Capa suddenly had a bold idea. He followed him and explained, "There should be very important information stored in it, so every time he leaves
Our editor-in-chief will always lock the office door."
The officer stood in front of the window and looked at the interior layout of the office.
From the window position, you can have a panoramic view of most of the interior of the office, but there are still a few places that are invisible due to the angle and are suitable for hiding people.
"What is being stored? In addition to the gunfire outside, did you notice any noise coming from inside the newspaper office?" the officer asked.
"I don't know what is stored. This is all my guess, otherwise our editor-in-chief wouldn't be able to lock it tightly every time. The movement inside the newspaper office... I seem to have heard it, but I don't seem to have heard it..." Behind it
On that issue, Capa deliberately pretended to be uncertain.
"What do you mean by seeming to hear but not seeming to hear?" the officer frowned.
"I... it was really messy just now, I..."
The officer hesitated.
His duty is to ensure 100% safety of the newspaper office, but now there is a slight risk in the locked office, which makes him very troubled.
The possibility of entering and searching someone was very slim, and it was not easy to explain to Byron at the newspaper.
If you don't search, if someone from the International Equality Alliance really hides in, causing serious consequences, you may be dismissed from your post or lose your head.
After weighing the situation, the officer said: "You go and notify Mr. Byron to come over, and the others will keep an eye on the office."