Monte Port, a small coffee shop, in the corridor by the basent door.
The sign at the entrance of the coffee shop now says "Temporarily Closed for Business", and the owner of the coffee shop has a typical mixed-race appearance: high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, appearing to be in his thirties.
Hearing Conrad state that the coffee shop owner is one of their CIA people, Luo An nods, then suddenly pulls out his gun and presses it against the coffee shop owner's head.
"?!x6"
Luo An's action caught everyone off guard, and Evelyn and Sean instinctively pointed their guns at Luo An. Mona and Reesi did the sa, imdiately aiming their guns at Evelyn and Sean.
The group stood with guns on each other's heads, the air in the area becoming deathly silent; everyone could hear their own breathing and that of others.
Conrad was also startled by Luo An's action. Not ard himself, he frowned and asked,
"Group Leader Greenwood, what is this all about?"
"You might want to ask the owner here."
Luo An chuckled, his mind ever-activating the "emotional perception". When they entered, besides being surprised, the coffee shop owner didn't betray any other emotion.
The mont they all stepped out of the basent, the coffee shop owner's emotions suddenly turned cold and malevolent, displaying unwillingness and struggle.
Moreover, when they ca out of the basent, Luo An noticed the coffee shop owner's right hand slipping into his pocket, imdiately sensing sothing off about this coffee shop owner.
Conrad, with a tight frown, waved at Evelyn and Sean to lower their guns and turned to the coffee shop owner, asking sternly,
"Porfirio, explain yourself."
The coffee shop owner himself was hugely startled by Luo An swiftly drawing his gun and had to pinch his own thigh hard to calm himself. He turned and smiled at Conrad, saying,
"Boss, I'm clean, I've been wrongly accused."
The smile on the coffee shop owner's face appeared normal, revealing no flaws, but the fear in his eyes could not be hidden.
A chill passed through Conrad's heart as he gained a new appreciation for Luo An's acute observational skills. Suppressing the shock within, he kept his composure and nodded, saying,
"I believe you, but first hand over your cellphone to ."
"..."
The smile on the coffee shop owner's face slowly stiffened. Evelyn and Sean also sensed sothing was amiss. Just as they were about to speak, the coffee shop owner suddenly threw a dark object from his pocket and turned to run!
Evelyn, Sean, Mona, and Reesi, not seeing clearly what the object was, instinctively turned to evade. Conrad didn't care about that and started to chase after him.
Bang! Bang!
The next second, gunshots rang out. Luo An, with his quick reflexes, had recognized the dark item as rely a pack of coffee beans and without hesitation he fired, striking the coffee shop owner's legs accurately on both sides.
The coffee shop owner's eyes bulged and before he could howl in pain, Conrad had already caught up behind him and delivered a kick that knocked the coffee shop owner unconscious.
Luo An walked over calmly to the side of the coffee shop owner, searched, and found his phone. He promptly located a text ssage and showed it to Conrad:
"Llegó el pescado."
The ssage was in Spanish, roughly translating to "The fish has arrived" in English.
Taking the phone and seeing the content, Conrad's face turned very grim.
Luo An turned and helped Mona and Reesi up from the ground, selectively ignoring the hand Evelyn extended for help, saying,
"Group Leader Conrad, it's quite clear that our whereabouts have been exposed."
"I'm sorry, this one's on ."
Taking a deep breath, Conrad suppressed the fury in his heart, admitted his own work error, and then ordered:
"Evelyn, take this guy away to Safe House 19, the other safe houses have already beco unsafe."
Having picked herself up from the ground, Evelyn was about to carry out the order when Luo An quickly added:
"Mona, Reesi, go with Agent Evelyn."
Conrad remained silent, tacitly accepting Luo An's command. Evelyn nodded in agreent, Mona snorted coldly, and together with Reesi, followed Evelyn as they took the person away from the coffee shop.
The coffee shop owner was suspect, their own movents might have been exposed, but Conrad decided to head to the dock anyway because that was the last place Anita lost contact. The key information might be there, and to find it, they had to go and investigate.
Luo An was confident about ensuring his own safety, he did not refuse Conrad's plan. Together with Conrad and Sean, they took a vehicle to the distant port.
"I'm sorry, Group Leader Luo An."
Midway, Sean apologized for his behavior of having aid the gun at Luo An, expressing that he had overreacted.
Luo An smiled and said nothing. The six people from both teams clearly did not trust each other. There was no heart-to-heart battling, but being on guard was inevitable.
He had no intention of changing this situation, nor was there a need to change it. Both sides were not of the sa kind, and becoming a close family in a short ti was simply impossible.
Moreover, after this mission was completed, it's possible they might never see each other again, so there was no need to waste ti on interpersonal relationships.
As long as the codes could run, there was no need to change them, because otherwise, other bugs might appear.
The three won went to Safe House 19. It didn't take long for Luo An and the others to arrive at a certain dock in Monte Port.
"Under normal circumstances, Anita would leave so inconspicuous, yet long-lasting small items to pass on information."
As Conrad cautiously observed his surroundings and moved forward, he explained to Luo An:
"The dium is not fixed; it could be stones or trash; we need to search ticulously."
"OK."
Luo An nodded his head. He was cautiously observing his surroundings with his "emotional perception" activated to prevent any enemy appearance.
Conrad was also worried about traps, so instead of splitting up, the three of them stuck together, searching carefully near the containers on the dock.
Ti ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, forty-so minutes had passed. Luo An and the others had walked from the northernmost part of the dock to the southernmost end.
The good news was that there were no enemies and no traps. The bad news was, they hadn't found any clues.
Sean's brow was furrowed, and Conrad showed no expression, preparing to turn back towards the other side of the containers to continue the search.
Looking around, Luo An noticed a container crane that was not in use not far away and then said:
"I'm going to check sowhere else."
The three split up temporarily, and Luo An thought that a higher vantage point might reveal so clues, while Conrad continued with Sean to thodically sweep the area.
The container crane was quite high, and Luo An climbed up hand over hand, quickly reaching the top of the crane. From the high vantage point, he could see nearly a quarter of the dock below.
Conrad and Sean were making their way along the side of another row of containers; Luo An used the binoculars he brought from the safe house to check the area where they were.
Suddenly, he noticed dark tire marks on the ground in the middle of the row of containers closest to the sea, between them and the crane. As soone who often drove fast... soone with a lot of driving experience, Luo An recognized at a glance that these were marks left by a car's ergency braking.
His eyes flickered with realization, Luo An thought of a possibility and pulled out his phone to contact Conrad, asking him to check out the area with the tire marks.
Before he could press the button, Luo An saw through the binoculars that Conrad had stopped walking and had taken out his phone to answer a call.
The next second, Luo An's phone also rang. Pressing the answer button, Reesi's voice ca through:
"Luo An, the coffee shop owner has woken up. We've got so information from him."
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