Gunfire, Punk and Necromancer

"It would be great if we could prepare for this operation a month ago." After the meeting, Lucy left the group of Zhuang Xuteng, Nightingale and Yanque behind and said to them: "There is too little time left for preparation. It was made public on the Internet. There is very little information, which is definitely not enough to support a successful operation, let alone allow four groups of people to succeed at the same time.”

Is the situation so difficult that even one successful operation cannot support it? Lucy obviously didn't have any confidence, so why did she call everyone together and assign tasks to everyone? She couldn't possibly let everyone die, right?

"It is impossible to organize an invasion mission of this level of complexity in two or three hours. Nike, don't you have any doubts about where these action plans come from?"

Zhuang Xuteng thought for a moment and said, "If you didn't just scratch your head and figure it out, then someone has done this before, and you just used someone else's plan."

"Yes. Nine years ago... less than ten years ago, it was an autumn. I had established a firm foothold in the intermediary industry and was ready to vigorously expand my business scope. Your master, Famine Stranger, already had a name, and Ge I just started working in the industry... These are not important. What is important is: at that time, an intermediary came to me and hoped that I would organize a commissioned task with him. "

"The target of the commissioned task is the Constitutional Government's resident identity registration system. A private data maintenance channel must be inserted into it so that anyone's identity information can be queried and modified." Lucy said: "At that time, I was thinking, if there is such a Through this channel, you can make a lot of money in the future by selling fake identities or helping people evade capture."

Nightingale glanced at Rock Bird, and then said: "What we are going to implement now is the original plan?"

Lucy nodded and said: "Yes. What you have in your hands is the outline of the original plan. I don't have the specific plan, but I believe someone will. So I need you to go to Duva and get the original plan from him. A detailed copy of the plan.”

"I feel like this is not a good job..." Zhuang Xuteng stared at Lucy and asked, "Du Wa's operation must not have been successful, right? You only know the outline, which means you were not deeply involved. At the same time, are you working with Du Wa? Are you conflicted?"

"You are right." Lucy nodded and said: "At that time, I was expanding my business and bought a lot of real estate. I had people but was short of cash. Therefore, this was a difficult project that required a large investment in the early stage but could not guarantee subsequent returns. It just wasn’t suitable for me. In front of Dewar, I couldn’t say that I was running out of money, so I had to drag him along. Later, when I got tired of dragging him down, he dumped me and started working on his own, and then failed.”

"I don't know what went wrong specifically, but he came to me afterwards. He said that the mission was only a little bit successful, but the other party seemed to suddenly wake up and directly made the most correct response, causing him to lose his troops. He said that he It has been calculated that even if the opponent finds out, it will take time to try the response plan. Among all 700 solutions, only two are effective, and the opponent's reaction time is only enough to try three. Because the opponent directly uses the most effective response plan , Dua suspected that I had leaked information and got angry at me."

You shouldn’t hold grudges anymore about things that happened nine to ten years ago, right?

"Duwa is currently imprisoned in Peicheng No. 3 Prison. I can't visit the prison, so only you, Naike, can go." Lucy said, "Nightingale and Yanque will arrange a list of prison visits for you. You can set off now. If you can make it, Go to the wave at 10:30 this morning. After you see Dua, find a way to give him the communicator; if you can't bring it in, tell him that I am willing to buy his solution."

"Why is he in prison?" Zhuang Xuteng asked.

"He is a shareholder of that prison. He arranged for himself to live in a single room and enjoy the protection of the constitutional government and PCPD, even if he is retired." Lucy said to Zhuang Xuteng: "You go on your way first. I will tell you the specific situation on the phone. In addition, you bring this check and give it to him when he wants a deposit. As long as it does not exceed 300,000 euros, you can fill in the number as you like. But remember, the detailed plan must be the transaction content, and it is best to get him The specific circumstances at the time of the original action.”

Zhuang Xuteng had never met Dua, and he had never even heard of this person's name because he entered the industry later than Dua retired. After leaving the music restaurant, Zhuang Xuteng felt a little confused. He didn't know what kind of person Dua was, how to talk to him, whether it was really just about money.

Looking at the time and calculating the distance, he should be able to squeeze out an hour and a half of extra time. Zhuang Xuteng first called Brother Dao and asked him about Dua, the middleman. The result also touched Brother Dao's knowledge blind spot. Brother Dao lost his name as a mercenary when he first entered the industry and had to work from the bottom. At that time, Dua was already considering his retirement. The two people have never cooperated. In Brother Dao's words: It is impossible to reach a high level.

But Brother Dao pointed out the way to Zhuang Xuteng: go to the owner Suo of the wonton stall. That antique overlaps with Dewar's active era and may shed more light on the situation.

This idea coincides with Zhuang Xuteng. After he came out of the music restaurant, the car drove towards the river embankment area. Although he could also get information about Du Wa's life from Lucy, Zhuang Xuteng felt that it would be best to understand Du Wa from a third-party perspective.

Early in the morning, snowflakes began to drift again, and coupled with the mist evaporated from the heat of underground pipes, the vehicles seemed to be driving in a wall of snow. At this time of winter, the wonton stall only comes out during lunch, so Boss Suo is still sleeping at home. Ge Gongdao and Zhuang Xuteng called him one after another, which disturbed his dreams, and it was normal for him to be scolded a few times.

"I know it's presumptuous, but it's so cold outside, why don't you let me in?"

The meeting place between Zhuang Xuteng and Boss Suo was in the backyard of his home, in an illegal construction area enclosed by a fence on the sidewalk. Across the door, Boss Suo's house was steaming with steam, and the aroma of some kind of broth-based food kept wafting out, teasing Zhuang Xuteng's sense of smell and raising his desire for breakfast by several levels.

"Just stay here. You are so fierce now, I'm afraid you will scare the child."

"I don't look scary at all. You don't have to let me in, but don't accuse me falsely." Zhuang Xuteng shook his head and said, "Okay, guests can do as they please. If you don't let me in, I won't let you in. Boss Suo, I I came to you mainly because I want to know about Dua."

"Dua? That old guy who put himself in jail? What are you asking him for? Isn't it because he was commissioned to kill him?" Boss Suo frowned and said: "That guy is not a good person, just kill him." But he still owes me 150,000 euros. After so many years, it’s almost 300,000 euros with interest, and he still hasn’t paid it to me.”

"I want to ask him about an old mission. How can I get him to talk honestly?"

Boss Suo smiled and shook his head and said: "This is too difficult. That is a middleman. What kind of formation have I never seen? Naike, imagine that he has done dirty work for many people. There must be something wrong here. Few people hope that their secrets will never be discovered. In addition, after the middleman retires, he will no longer be helpful, so it is inevitable that someone will want to kill someone. Duva is in prison, living according to his schedule every day, and he is still alive Well, he’s still alive after all these years—he won’t be threatened by you.”

Zhuang Xuteng obviously looked at the problem from a different perspective. He said: "If the middleman wants to retire, it is best to hide completely incognito. Dua is in prison. Even if he is a shareholder there and has a worry-free life, he is not free by any means. ? I think he is not outstanding in ability, but he is stretched thin and can only barely maintain a balanced situation: I am here, I will not run away, but don’t bother me, otherwise I will use countermeasures."

"Countermeasures? What countermeasures does the retired middleman have?"

"I guess it may be the information he left behind from those dark jobs he did in the past?" Zhuang Xuteng spread his hands and said, "Because Du Wa became famous too early, I can only ask you about the situation: what kind of person is he and what does he do? What kind of work and integrity do you have towards your subordinates and clients?”

Boss Suo lowered his head and thought for a while, weighing the pros and cons, while also referring to Naike's past credit status. "You have to promise not to reveal that I said it;" Boss Suo raised two fingers and said: "In addition, I want 50,000 euros in cash, preferably time coins."

"Okay." Zhuang Xuteng reached out and touched Boss Suo with his palm, finalizing the deal.

An hour later, Zhuang Xuteng left the Hedi District and drove to the third prison in the southern suburbs of the city, while thinking about the various situations Boss Suo told him. Du Wa is more open-minded and carefree in his dealings with others, giving people the feeling that "everything can be solved by asking him". Due to frequent overturns, Dewar has developed very good remedial skills, so much so that when other middlemen are in trouble, they will ask him to clean up the problem.

The "cleanup team" system now used by middlemen was established based on his experience and gradually matured.

The problem of saying whatever comes to mind has cost him many friends. Dewar's reputation in the middleman-mercenary industry is not very good. Especially the mercenaries under him were often chased and scolded by him because of a failed mission, blaming the mercenaries for some mistakes that did not belong to the mercenaries. You must know that the reputation of a mercenary is linked to future earnings. Even if you have an opinion, you can only discuss it in person in private and cannot say it publicly. Duva's later retirement was also related to this kind of thing: his mercenaries almost lost their drive for adventure and became extremely cautious, safe and withdrawn.

Without taking risks, the mercenaries could not complete the entrusted tasks, and the continuous failures made it difficult for Dua to start business. He knew that if he didn't get out, his mercenaries would definitely create something to deal with him, and maybe ask other middlemen to start a war against him. So Dua packed up his bedroll, found connections, and went to prison to retire.

Some people like to buy stocks, some like to engage in real estate, some are willing to run boxing clubs, and some are willing to run prisons. Dua had good food, drink, and sleep in prison, and used his "privilege" to get things for other people in the prison. He felt like a fish in water and lived a relatively comfortable life. Since the gifts brought by visitors were also a channel for getting things from outside the prison, Du Wa thought Zhuang Xuteng was the one who came to deliver things, so he went to the interview room and waited as usual. In this way, Zhuang Xuteng easily saw this "legend".

The interview room received twelve groups of relatives and friends meeting at the same time. Each person was in his or her own semi-enclosed cubicle, but only the sound was blocked, and everyone's actions could be seen at a glance. They also wear prison uniforms. Some people's prison uniforms are thick and velvet and clean, while some people's prison uniforms are wrinkled and cheap. Dua, an old man in his fifties, not only has clean clothes, his hair, eyebrows and beard are all neatly groomed, and his skin is shiny and moist, as if he had just finished a sauna and skin care. The old man was chubby, and the flesh on his face trembled when he sat down. He looked curiously at Zhuang Xuteng up and down. If it weren't for the bulletproof glass, he might have wanted to reach out and touch him.

"Who are you? I've never met you."

"I brought you a bouquet of flowers with a greeting card inside. I'll send it over in a moment." Zhuang Xuteng pointed upward and said, "I'm a messenger. Someone wants to talk to you."

Duva looked up. At first, he thought there was a black spider crawling on the ceiling. Unexpectedly, it suddenly jumped down, flew down along the shadow area of ​​the glass isolation window, and landed steadily in front of him. Only then did he see clearly that it was a miniature communication earbud.

"You're pretty good at bringing this thing in!" Dua picked up the earbuds with three fingers and asked, "Who wants to talk to me?"

"A buyer, someone you know." Zhuang Xuteng said.

"It's quite mysterious!" Dua smiled and shook his head, put the earplugs on the table and said, "I don't want to cause any trouble."

"It's precisely because you don't want anything to happen that I suggest you put on your headphones and listen to what the other person says." Zhuang Xuteng spread his hands and said, "I have always been a friendly person and don't want to say threatening words, but I have a mission and some words need to be answered for the entrustment. People bring it.”

"Who asked you to take the message? What do you want to say?" Dua pointed to the communication earbud and said, "Is it the person here?"

"No, the person in the earplug is to save you. I have another client. That person asked me to tell you: Times have progressed, and your prison, which has not been upgraded in six years, five months, and seventeen days, cannot be saved. You." Zhuang Xuteng then pointed to the earbuds and said, "If you refuse to answer that thing, I have only one commission left. And I think the client is right: PCPD does check carefully, but their technical level It wasn't enough. They searched me as hard as they could, but I was still able to bring my stuff in."

Dua gritted his teeth and finally picked up the communicator and put it into his ear. He covered his ears with one hand and lowered his voice and said, "Who's looking for me?"

At this time, Zhuang Xuteng was the No. 1 relay, using a buried communication implant to forward signals. This signal is connected to the White Beast's No. 2 relay station, which then communicates with Lucy via an encrypted channel.

After spending enough years in the middleman industry, Lucy has long since become a veteran, while Dewar can only be regarded as an expired and corrupt "ex-food". At the beginning, Lucy made the first move of "retreating to advance" and apologized to Duva for not participating in the action that year. This apology is essentially just a matter of a few words, and does not involve actual interests. Lucy can give unlimitedly without any burden. She did this just to reduce the points that Dua could get entangled with and gain the initiative for subsequent negotiations.

Next, Lucy took advantage of the information gap to bombard Dua indiscriminately, sometimes by coercion and inducement, sometimes by reasoning and by emotion. As a relay station, Zhuang Xuteng listened to all the conversations. He could also observe Dua's expression in person and understand the impact of every sentence and conversation strategy on him. By tapping the mandible, Zhuang Xuteng transmitted his observations back in real time. Duva thought he was only fighting with sounds, but in fact his micro-expressions revealed quite a bit of information.

When he was almost defeated, Dewar pinned his hopes on visiting hours. A visit can only last for half an hour at most. As long as it is delayed, he can find a way to evade it. However, Zhuang Xuteng used his wraith tentacles to slow down the four clocks on the wall, buying enough time for Lucy to negotiate and ensuring that Lucy could place her weapons in front of Dua one by one.

"Okay! I'm selling! If you can succeed, get me out of here and give me a sum of money to leave."