At 9:30 in the morning, at the FBI Washington Headquarters, in a conference room deep on the first floor.
To the left of the conference table stood three individuals dressed in black suits, with light blue badges hanging around their necks.
The man leading looked to be around forty, tall with a long face, and most striking was his hair; the golden hair on top of his head was sparse, just a step away from a diterranean hairstyle.
Luo An quickly glanced at the two slightly younger individuals behind him, then walked to the right side of the table next to Vireness and smiled:
"Good morning, chief."
Vireness glanced at her watch:
"You're late."
"I just moved to the building next door; the journey is too far and there was so traffic."
Luo An unflinchingly made up an excuse, suggesting that the 800-ter distance was too far to drive. He could tell Vireness was not mad; the comnt was just to provide an explanation for the three people across the table.
As expected, Vireness nodded without dwelling on the topic, and simply introduced:
"Luo An Greenwood, head of the Special Investigation Unit.
Martinez, from the British Empire's Federation Embassy."
The sowhat balding Martinez smiled and extended his hand to Luo An:
"Hello, Group Leader Luo An."
"Hello, Mr. Martinez."
Luo An grinned, revealing a standard eight-teethed smile, and shook hands briefly.
Though he said he was from the embassy, he was actually from MI6, which both Luo An and Vireness were well aware of but chose not to expose.
After the handshake, Luo An asked directly:
"I wonder Mr. Martinez, do you need my assistance with sothing today?
Feel free to ask, I'll do my best to help."
"You are indeed the quick-talking, capable Group Leader Luo An,"
Martinez praised Luo An as they sat down, then said:
"As we know, Sarls has been brought back to the Federation by Group Leader Luo An, right?
We hope Group Leader Luo An can collaborate with us to interrogate Sarls."
"Together in interrogation?"
Luo An raised his eyebrow and asked:
"What information do you want to know? The dark-skinned female agent?
Sarls has confessed and admitted to killing her; she also answered our questions about the specific location.
If Mr. Martinez needs, I can provide you with the interrogation records. It's a small matter; a phone call would suffice, Mr. Martinez, there was no need for you to co in person."
Martinez's brows furrowed slightly:
"We hope to interrogate Sarls alone."
Luo An nodded and smiled:
"That's possible, I can stay in the adjacent surveillance room, watching Sarls at all tis to ensure she doesn't have a chance to hurt any of you."
"...Group Leader Luo An, my n are very skilled; they won't be hard by Sarls."
"You underestimate Sarls? She is capable of killing an MI6 agent! I must be responsible for your safety."
"..."
Seeing Martinez still beating around the bush in his words, Luo An also chose to play dumb, acting as if he couldn't understand.
After several exchanges, Vireness sat quietly at the side with a slight, almost imperceptible smile curving at the corner of her mouth while Luo An's face was bright with a welcoming smile, giving a friendly impression.
Martinez, however, had a stiff face and was visibly frustrated; the man and woman behind him also wore unsightly expressions and looked at Luo An with displeasure.
After a silent confrontation, Martinez took a deep breath, finally stopping beating around the bush and said solemnly:
"Group Leader Luo An, our side wishes to take Sarls back to the British Empire for interrogation, and we hope you can cooperate with us."
Luo An widened his smile and asked:
"What's in it for ?"
"?"
Martinez was montarily stunned, and the man and woman behind him also widened their eyes, surprised by Luo An's directness.
Eventually, it was Martinez who reacted quickly, and he imdiately responded with a chuckle:
"As long as Sarls is handed over to us, Group Leader Luo An will naturally gain the friendship of the British Empire."
Vireness frowned slightly beside them, while Luo An looked enlightened and then chuckled:
"As long as Mr. Martinez stops discussing Sarls with , Mr. Martinez can also certainly gain my friendship."
Without waiting for Martinez to speak, Luo An turned his head to Vireness and said:
"Chief, the expenses for this operation to arrest Sarls have been calculated, totaling to 140... actually, 2.4 million US dollars. When should I send you the report?"
"Let's talk about that later, let's focus on the matter at hand first."
Vireness gave Luo An a look, and Luo An chuckled, nodding his head, before turning his gaze back to the three people around Martinez.
"..."
By now, Martinez's expression had turned completely grim, and the countenances of his two companions had darkened.
They all understood what Luo An ant; asking for money was understandable, but blatantly raising the price like that was too much.
Clearing his throat, Martinez said solemnly:
"Group Leader Luo An, our British Empire and the Federation have always worked closely together in political and economic aspects, and the cooperation has been joyful..."
Martinez said a lot, the gist being that the British Empire and the Federation were good friends, and Luo An's actions were inappropriate, potentially causing great harm to the bilateral relations.
Of course, as Group Leader Luo An is still young, Martinez, being magnanimous, could overlook these young people's minor mistakes as long as Sarls was handed over to them, then he would let bygones be bygones.
Vireness's eyes slightly narrowed, while Luo An still wore a smile, which beca even more genial and sunny, as he gently said:
"Mr. Martinez, I can only say, considering the current situation, given the overall context, and throughout history, considering the Federation's average standards, and summarizing all points, perhaps, to put it bluntly, it may sound harsh, no matter what, the developnt of affairs is probably quite delicate..."
After a lot of long, nonsensical sentences, which took three minutes to deliver, Vireness looked stunned, the two n and won stared blankly, and Martinez's face turned even darker with frustration.
"...So, did you understand, Mr. Martinez?"
Luo An took a sip of coffee and asked with a light smile:
"If you didn't understand, I can explain it again."
"..."
After a long, quiet mont, Martinez and Luo An exchanged looks briefly, then suddenly Martinez slamd the table, stood up, and left the eting room with the two n and won.
"Really lacks manners."
After closing the wide-open door, Luo An shook his head and returned to the conference table, laughing:
"It seems Mr. Martinez has grown accustod to freebies; that's not good."
"It was the numbers you quoted that scared him."
Vireness shot Luo An a look, took a small sip of her coffee, and asked:
"Is the expense really 1.4 million US dollars?"
"No, it's actually 800,000 US dollars."
Luo An spread his hands; he simply thought that the British Empire, once a major power, although increasingly weaker, still had financial capability, and MI6 could certainly afford that much.
"That is indeed a bit much."
Vireness stood up, patted Luo An on the shoulder, and said:
"Bring the report to as soon as possible, the one for 1.4 million US dollars."
Luo An frowned:
"Do we really have to hand over Sarls to the British Empire?"
"We are the FBI, we can only follow FBI's orders."
Vireness said calmly:
"These matters must go through procedures, which take ti, and besides, CIA also wants to interrogate Sarls; we can't make decisions for the CIA."
Luo An smirked and silently gave Vireness a thumbs up.
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