The ringtone of the mobile phone caused Andre to hesitate slightly, and he pulled out his phone to look at it and immediately hung up the call.
"Luo An Greenwood."
Andre held the phone and looked up, staring at Luo An with a serious face:
"I don't care if you are CIA or FBI, I want to tell you, I hope..."
Ding-a-ling—
Before he could finish, Andre's phone rang again.
"..."
There's a saying, "Strike while the iron is hot, waver and you falter, attempt thrice and you'll exhaust yourself."
First interrupted by Luo An, then twice by the ringtone of the phone, Andre's brewing emotions were completely disconnected, and Luo An's smile was very sunny:
"I think you should take the call first, Mr. Andre."
Glaring fiercely at Luo An, Andre picked up the phone and said coldly:
"It's me, Andre."
An elderly man's voice came from the phone, saying a lot in French, to which Andre did not respond until the very end, and he replied with a simple "I know" before hanging up.
Taking a deep breath, Andre waved toward several cars in the distance, and the cars immediately started up and left, clearing the runway for the airplane. Andre turned his head to look at Luo An and said sternly:
"Luo An Greenwood, I hope this is the last time you use illegal means to enter the French Republic. Understand?"
Luo An smiled:
"I hope so too."
"Très bon très bon."
Andre snorted coldly, and Luo An smiled and waved to the agents behind Andre before leading Winslow, Chenier, and Mona onto the plane.
The plane started up, sped forward for a moment, and slowly ascended into the sky. Looking through the window at the rapidly retreating convoy on the runway below, Reesi asked softly:
"Luo An, what were these people doing today?"
"Just venting their frustrations."
Luo An smiled, piecing together recent events, and he guessed that the interception was very likely a decision made by Andre Clermont von himself.
The content of that phone call was probably from Andre's superiors, who forcibly ordered him to let Luo An and the others leave.
Luo An wasn't surprised by this, the case has far-reaching implications, involving intelligence departments from the Federal government, the British Empire, the French Republic, and the De Republic.
The matter had become not just an ordinary case but had evolved into a political maneuver by those above.
When Vireness called earlier, the hollow background noise was clear, leading Luo An to suspect she was calling from a restroom. Only a matter associated with politics could make her so anxious.
Luo An didn't explain much further, and Reesi did not continue to pry, only discussing briefly before returning to her seat.
The plane had a smooth journey, and after a few hours, it successfully arrived at Federal Washington D.C.
"It feels so strange."
Exiting the airport and settling into the car, Reesi stretched vigorously and complained:
"When we left, we were heading to the southern hemisphere, but we ended up coming back from the north."
"That's because the Earth is a sphere."
Luo An casually replied, then glanced at the information on his phone, and said:
"You guys take the suspect back first, I'm going to visit the FBI Washington Headquarters."
"OK."
The group split up along the way, and Luo An strode into the FBI Washington Headquarters, heading straight for Mr. Clement's office.
Seeing Luo An's arrival, the secretary at the door smilingly stood up, nodded at him, and then opened the door to the office.
Inside the office, besides Mr. Clement, there were two Caucasian men in suits.
The Caucasian man on the left, with half black and half white hair, was Lewis Kunier, who had once encountered Luo An after the "Sarls Case" ended, and was also a friend of Mona's father.
The Caucasian man on the right, appearing to be in his fifties, had meticulously groomed brown hair into a neat slick back. Seeing Luo An enter the room, his expression immediately turned somber.
Walking into the room, Luo An first greeted Mr. Clement:
"Good evening, Chief."
Mr. Clement introduced:
"This is Lewis, and this is Camren, both from the CIA."
Luo An nodded at Lewis Kunier, who responded with a smile, while Camren, without any chitchat, directly asked:
"Group Leader Greenwood, what happened to Conrad and Evelyn's death?"
Luo An blinked and gave the premeditated reply:
"They were killed by a surprise enemy attack."
"Where are the bodies?"
"Not clear."
Luo An shook his head:
"Former CIA agent Valery dumped a lot of blood in that area of the sea, and interrogation revealed that it was all cow blood.
As we all know, cow blood easily attracts sharks, so as for the bodies of Conrad and Evelyn... I'm sorry, I don't know the specifics."
"..."
The office air was very quiet, with Camren staring fixedly at Luo An, his face gloomily grim.
Luo An appeared indifferent; he told the truth, the ones who killed Conrad and Evelyn were indeed the enemy from their perspective.
Camren was silent for a long while, then stood up, nodded at Mr. Clement, and left the office. Lewis got up first, smiling as he patted Luo An on the shoulder before leaving the room.
The office door closed, and Luo An turned to look at Mr. Clement:
"Chief?"
"It's alright, no need to worry."
Mr. Clement revealed a satisfied smile and handed a folder to Luo An, saying:
"This case was not easy, and you handled it very well, you've worked hard."
Luo An smiled as he took the folder and opened it to find several letters inside, which Mr. Clement introduced:
"These are letters of gratitude from certain special operation groups inside our FBI, they are very thankful to Group Leader Luo An for the recovery of the list."
Unlike the CIA, most of the FBI agents on that list are embedded in some drug lords or criminal organizations;
Should the list have been leaked, those agents would not survive the next day, and those investigation groups would suffer heavy losses, destroying networks of undercover agents that took months or even years to establish.
In addition to the letters of gratitude, these investigation groups had other ways to show their appreciation.
Simply giving money was not deemed appropriate, so they sent a lot of specialty products for Luo An's special investigation group, most of which are from border regions or overseas, making the items extremely varied. With the speed of federal express delivery, they were expected to arrive over the course of three months.
Luo An smiled and closed the folder. He didn't care much about the special products and instead asked:
"Chief, what's with that Camren just now?"
"The CIA sent him for show."
Mr. Clement casually waved his hand, indicating Luo An needn't worry, and explained:
"This incident clearly stems from certain people within the CIA who stop at nothing, they're fundamentally in the wrong to start with.
However, those two CIA agents did die in this incident, so the necessary investigative procedures had to be followed.
What Camren did just now was intentionally putting on a show to pressure you, to make you say something he wanted to hear, but unfortunately for him, you disappointed him."
A flash of enlightenment appeared in Luo An's eyes as he smiled and said:
"As long as the chief isn't disappointed, that's good."
"Hahaha..."
Mr. Clement laughed heartily, playfully pointing at Luo An, then added:
"Tomorrow, have that agent Valery transported to our FBI's temporary detention prison, bringing this case to an end. The follow-up will be handled by Vireness and your special investigation group is back on leave, leave duration to be determined."
"Alright, Chief."
Just as Luo An was about to turn and leave, Mr. Clement suddenly asked:
"By the way, I recall your hometown is in Boston, right?"