"Mr. Charles! This is simply slander! I never endorse this investigation! My people have never done anything extraordinary on your soil." Only halfway through the video conference, Minister Chen made an indignant accusation.
Regional Head of the US Region.
Charles's face also turned red and white.
He really didn't have enough evidence. He couldn't just say that just because a person died on the rooftop of the building where Guan Dehou and others lived, he could conclude that it was Guan Dehou and others who had done it.
But the question is, who else has the ability to kill fifteen of his elite personnel overnight without anyone noticing?
"Don't get too excited. The current investigation report is only unilaterally submitted by us to the Supreme Review Committee of the Ministry of National Security. It is our reasonable presumption based on the results of the current investigation. I did not say that your people killed anyone." Charles defended.
road.
Upon hearing this, Chen Jingrui pointed the report in his hand at one of them and said, "Then what does this sentence mean?"
Charles knew at a glance which item Chen Jingrui pointed out... because he was responsible for drafting the entire investigation report.
"Perhaps my language is too extreme and I am not as tactful as you Chinese, but Minister Chen, fifteen of my elite men were killed inexplicably. There must be a clear explanation for this matter.
Isn’t it?”
"Oh? Do you think I am speaking too tactfully? Okay, Mr. Charles, let me put it bluntly. You must not have thought about the impact this matter will have when drafting the investigation report, right?
The fifteen elite Chinese personnel of the National Security Department who were deployed to your country as reinforcements will be directly under your jurisdiction after arriving in New York, USA. However, this does not mean that you can mobilize them at will. However, the current situation is that you first violated the internal personnel of the National Security Department.
The relevant provisions of the deployment were followed, and then you arranged for them to live in private houses outside the safe house. When your people were killed that night, you directly said that it was these Chinese personnel who were serving as reinforcements. You don’t think this was intentional.
Will it destroy the harmony between our two divisions?" After Minister Chen said this, he looked at the heads of other divisions participating in the video conference.
Everyone expressed their agreement, but only some division leaders of the European Community and those of Australia remained silent.
After hearing this, Charles said: "Minister Chen, I understand what you mean, but the killing of fifteen American elites is not a small matter, not to mention it happened in such a sensitive period, so... all our arguments now are completely meaningless.
I believe that the review committee will give a fair and reasonable answer."
With that said, Charles closed the communication first.
This is the first time in a video conference of division leaders.
Such impolite behavior naturally caused dissatisfaction among many people, but the person in charge of the Australian side smiled and said: "R Chen, I think you don't have to be so hasty to make a judgment on this matter. After all, you Chinese people made a decision many years ago.
Something similar has happened before, so I think this is a good opportunity.”
Hearing this, Chen Jingrui naturally understood what the person in charge of the Australian side meant. He said with a chill on his face: "Mr. Owen, your Australian side also has certain responsibilities for the joint operation many years ago, but after all, it is not the same thing. Now you are talking about
What do you mean by chance? Do you think all of this is because there is something wrong within our National Security Agency?"
Owen Stanley is a 47-year-old white man. He is a special forces officer. He was decorated in the United Kingdom before joining the National Security Agency. He is considered a "respectable aristocrat".
But in Chen Jingrui's eyes, he is just an annoying golden-haired monkey.
Owen smiled: "Minister Chen, such a panic is not your style. Besides, I am just making a simple metaphor about the current problem. As for whether our actions more than ten years ago were wrong?
It's all meaningless. The key now is that 'Player No. O' is still at large, but such a big thing happened within us first. I think... It's reasonable for me to point out that there may be problems within us now, isn't it?
?”
After Owen finished speaking, before Chen Jingrui answered, the head of France, one of the member states of the European Community, echoed: "I think Mr. Owen's words are very reasonable. Minister Chen, now is not the time to argue. If you think Mr. Charles is going to
If the investigation report submitted by the Supreme Review Committee is slanderous, you should immediately send investigators to the scene to formulate a more objective and specific investigation report instead of blaming your collaborators here."
Chen Jingrui smiled coldly, took a deep breath and said, "Our investigators are already on their way to the United States. Thank you both for your concern."
After saying that, Chen Jingrui also interrupted the video communication.
The division heads of two major countries left the meeting early, causing the entire video conference to become awkward.
The person in charge of the Russian subdivision, who had always been silent, said: "I don't know what to say." Then he also interrupted the communication.
Japan and South Korea are more direct. They come quietly and the same goes when they exit the video conference.
Upon seeing this, Owen smiled and suggested: "Since the problem can no longer be effectively solved through consultation... then, everyone, let's break up the meeting."
After that, Australia also withdrew from the meeting.
…
On the evening of March 21, 2024.
Li Shaoan's special plane landed on the runway at the National Security Agency outpost in New York, USA.
But this time no one came to greet him.
Li Shaoan took the investigators off the plane and left the outpost directly, and used civilian vehicles to go to the scene of the incident, Passaic.
Passaic is a county in northeastern New Jersey, United States, about fifty kilometers from the center of New York City.
It is a nearly 70-kilometer drive to get there from the National Security Bureau outpost.
Li Shaoan had been trying to get in touch with Guan Dehou and others on the way, but from the night of the 19th to now, Guan Dehou and his group of thirteen people seemed to have evaporated, and no one could contact them.
At that time, Li Shaoan's first reaction was to believe that the US Department of National Security personnel had detained Guan Dehou and others for investigation. However, the feedback he received from Charles was that... they did not know the whereabouts of Guan Dehou and others.
And this is one of the reasons why Charles identified Guan Dehou and others as the murderers of the fifteen elite American personnel of the National Security Department.
The other reason is more specific.
It is said that the guards in the safe house tried to contact Kaisen and Guan Dehou when they noticed something unusual.
However, Kaisen's communication had been offline for more than an hour, and Guan Dehou had repeatedly hung up on communication requests from the guards, as if he was deliberately avoiding something.
So the guards immediately went to the residence of Guan Dehou and others. When they arrived, they discovered that they were missing. During the subsequent search, they discovered fifteen corpses piled up in the corner of the rooftop.
After verification, these corpses were those of Kaisen and his men.
After such a horrific tragedy, not only senior officials of the U.S. National Security Agency were shocked, but the U.S. government and the FBI also expressed extreme shock.
When the news spread back to China, China responded positively but also expressed concern and worry about the mysterious disappearance of Guan Dehou and others.
As a result, no one from the United States was found, and an "accusation" that was extremely detrimental to these missing persons was sent to the Supreme Review Committee of the National Security Agency.
When Chen Jingrui found out, he yelled at Charles and others for their unwarranted slander!
Therefore, Li Shaoan, who was originally going to stay in the country for one more week, was ordered to take charge of the investigation of this bizarre murder and disappearance case.
At the same time, in view of the investigations and accusations submitted by the United States, the Supreme Review Committee of the National Security Agency also submitted an investigation application to the highest management level of the National Security Agency, and a joint investigation team composed of multiple countries has also assembled in New York.
However, while they were still having a meeting to study and determine a rough investigation framework, Li Shaoan was already standing on the rooftop of the incident site.
Two consecutive days of rain made the air extremely cold and humid.
Li Shaoan, who was wearing very thin clothes, walked forward along the edge of the rooftop while replaying in his mind what might have happened that night.
Vaguely, he seemed to see a group of people approaching quietly in the rain. They were well-equipped and moved quickly, but as they approached the attic window, they were already noticed by the hunters in the darkness around the rooftop.
The rain screen provided them with the perfect cover, but at the same time allowed them to ignore the dangers in the shadows.
Stand where the corpses were previously stacked.
Li Shaoan saw a completely different picture from before.
Based on his understanding of Guan Dehou, even if the night raiders like Kaisen were really dealt with by them, they would not leave their bodies here.
The blood will be washed into the street by the rain and will soon be exposed.
What's more, it is impossible for everyone like Kaisen to gather from the rooftop to the attic. This does not conform to the basic operational pattern of the elite personnel of the National Security Department.
It's too easy to expose yourself.
But why...why did Guan Dehou pile the corpses here?
Before Li Shaoan arrived in New York, he had basically determined that Kaisen and others were killed by Guan Dehou's people.
Because he knew Guan Dehou and his men too well.
Guan Dehou, who is better at using knives than firearms, is best at hiding and assassination.
Judging from the autopsy reports, these people were all killed by sharp weapons without exception.
Some had their throats cut and their hearts pierced... Some were stabbed in the back and their spines were severed... Others had daggers directly pierced through their eyes and pierced their heads...
Li Shaoan took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
…
"It's not good, Brother De! These people...are Kaisen's people!" Lao Peng noticed something strange when he turned over the corpse. When he saw their identity tags, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Guan Dehou was not surprised at all. He came over and took the identity card from Lao Peng's hand and said: "It's not them that would be the strange thing."
"Hey? What's going on?" Lao Peng asked.
Guan Dehou did not answer the question and said: "Go and let them move all the corpses to the rooftop."
Jing Quan was washing the dagger with rainwater, and was stunned when he heard this: "Ah? Brother De, why don't we find a place to dispose of the body?"
Guan Dehou sneered: "Why do you deal with it? Then they won't know that we killed him."
"Uh..." Lao Peng was even more confused. Although he knew Guan Dehou's character and was familiar with the scene just now, after all, he was in the United States now, and those who were killed were all elites from the American District of the National Security Department. There was really no point in doing so.
Problem?
"What are you doing standing around? Hurry up, it's getting late." Guan Dehou was a little unhappy when he saw people around him hanging around.
Jing Quan didn't think too much and immediately started asking people to move the body.
But Lao Peng didn't move. He came closer and whispered: "Brother De... Even if they want to do harm to us in the middle of the night, after all, our people are not harmed. What's more, we are on other people's territory now. Just kill them all like this."
Kill him, we will never be able to get away with it!"
Guan Dehou smiled and asked: "Then what do you think is the best way to do it?"
Lao Peng was stunned for a moment, and then said seriously: "How about this, Brother De, you use their gun to shoot me twice, and it's best to hit some key places, as long as you leave me breathing room to survive."
"oh?"
"In this way, when daybreak, we can first report to the Supreme Supervision Section of the National Security Department, saying that people like Kaisen attacked our room at night and almost killed me. Fortunately, our people were alert and after a fierce exchange of fire with the opponent
, and annihilate them all, but we didn’t know who they were at the time, so it would be much easier." Lao Peng said it very seriously, and his ideas were practical and feasible.
But Guan Dehou said: "Oh... tsk... your method is indeed good... but... there is a loophole."
Lao Peng was startled: "Uh? What kind of loophole?"
Guan Dehou said: "You just said that we annihilated them after a fierce exchange of fire. But look, it's raining heavily now, and everyone was killed with cold weapons. How can you prove that we had a fierce exchange of fire?"
What? You can’t just pick up the gun and shoot them a few more times now, can you?”
Lao Peng suddenly stiffened and didn't know what to do.
But the matter has come to this, and there is finally a way to solve it.
After thinking about it for a while, Lao Peng gritted his teeth and said, "How about this, Brother De, just say that you were sleeping last night and it was me and Jing Quan who killed the people while on sentry duty. What do you think?"
Guan Dehou laughed again when he heard this: "You mean, you and Jing Quan are going to take over everything and try to protect me?"
"Ang! Brother De, don't worry. We brothers are all the living dead you dug out of the snow pits in the Northeast. If it weren't for you, how would we still be popular? So now that something has happened, we brothers should do something.
yes."
Guan Dehou was stunned for a moment, then smiled and patted his shoulder and said: "Okay, I know you and Jing Quan can definitely do it, but we don't need to be secretive about this matter, and we don't need anyone to stand up as a scapegoat.
,because...these guys deserve to die!"
"Ah?" Lao Peng was completely confused now. After thinking for a moment, he thought Guan Dehou was talking angrily, so he asked: "Brother De, even if they sneak attack on us on a rainy night and intentionally do evil, they won't deserve to die, right?"
?”
Guan Dehou knew that he didn't understand what he meant, so he said: "Let's do this, Lao Peng, I know you have doubts in your heart, but now is not the time to explain. If you are Brother Xinde, help Jingquan and the others collect the corpses quickly."
Come here, besides... although we are not afraid of trouble, we can't cause trouble to Shaoan, Minister Chen, or the organization, so... you have to wipe away all the traces carefully. It's best to let them rely on these corpses.
Apart from the presumption, no concrete evidence can be found!"
After hearing this, Lao Peng stopped asking and nodded: "Okay, I will listen to you!"
Lao Peng went to work, and Guan Dehou stood in the rain, looking at the place where the corpses were piled, and silently took out a cigarette and lit it.
The rain hit the brim of his hat and wetted the cigarette in Guan Dehou's hand, but as long as he took a puff, Guan Dehou's trembling heart would stop.
He blew out a smoke ring and said meaningfully: "Nice job..."
…
Li Shaoan opened his eyes and saw the clouds clearing and the fog dispersing, and the sun shining through the gaps in the dark clouds and falling on the rooftop.
"Nice job..." Li Shaoan sighed and said, "What on earth do you want to do..."
After sighing, Li Shaoan turned around and prepared to leave the rooftop.
As a result, when I turned around, my eyes were suddenly shaken.
That is caused by very subtle reflections that are easily undetectable.
Li Shaoan, who had received rigorous scout training in the Northeast, soon realized that this was the reflected light of a sniper rifle.
So he lowered his body subconsciously, and at the same time he swooped and hid behind the raised ventilation duct on the rooftop. Just as he lowered his body, a bullet hit the ground behind him.
Then another shot flew past Li Shaoan's shoulder.
Only after two gunshots were fired did the guards react. They picked up their weapons and prepared to search for the sniper's position and fire back.
But Li Shaoan stood up indifferently and said: "No need to look for him, he has already left."
"I'm sorry, Director, it was my dereliction of duty..."
Li Shaoan stared at the only communication tower in the distance that was taller than here for a few times and then said: "I'm not injured. I have nothing to apologize for. Go get ready and let's go back to New York."
"Um? Director, are you going back like this?"
Li Shaoan asked back: "Huh? Are you ready?"
The guard captain was stunned and said: "Well, no, that sniper just now..."
"Ha..." Li Shaoan looked back and said, "He didn't kill me but gave me a warning. Since the warning has been sent, I should be more conscious."
After saying that, Li Shaoan went downstairs with a somewhat mysterious smile.
The remaining two guards looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what Li Shaoan meant by this sentence.
But when the leader leaves, there is no need for them to stay here.
"Hey, forget it, just obey the arrangements."
…
On the way back to New York, Li Shaoan and his party encountered a vast investigation convoy.
Unknowing passers-by saw this row of black official SUVs and thought it was the arrival of some important person.
While waiting at the red light, the guard captain who was driving said with a smile: "These guys are really good at showing off. Are they crossing the road in such a ostentatious way, afraid that others will not know that something big is going on?"
The co-pilot's guard smiled and said nothing.
After watching the convoy go away, Li Shaoan said: "We won't go back to New York now. Let's find a place to eat nearby."
The guard captain was stunned, looked in the rearview mirror and said, "Uh... ok."