New Gods of North America

Casually accepting a security task meant that the detective agency's office expenses for this trip to Richmond were, for the time being, covered by a generous benefactor.

So, after leaving Mr. Morier's "client room," where he was temporarily recovering, the detective agency's three partners, plus business backbones like Doug and Sanders, gathered for a small meeting.

After announcing the newly acquired security task, Wayne kept it as brief as possible:

"Although we've taken on the security task, Mr. Morier and I have already agreed that the boundary of our detective agency's services is to temporarily ensure his safety, preventing him from dying in an accidental attack. However, this doesn't mean we'll confront federal law enforcement organizations. Given Mr. Morier's secret identity, every agent needs to recognize this point."

Those present were generally aware of Wayne's stance and weren't surprised. In fact, the detective agency's style had always been more or less like this.

Lina handed the just-verified check to Ineisha and was the first to raise her hand, "So, do I need to continue acting with him?"

Wayne thought for a moment, "Let's maintain the status quo for now. This is mainly based on two considerations. First, his past actions still need to be verified, which will determine whether we should proactively hand him over to the relevant federal agencies later. Also, during the security period, it's best to keep the client's mental state stable, so our work can proceed smoothly. Otherwise, whether we want to gather information or ensure his safety, it will become very troublesome."

Providing the client with some emotional value is also part of the service.

Lina frowned. Wayne paused slightly before continuing:

"Actually, providing security for him is just a side benefit for us. I think one of the directions we can investigate next is to thoroughly investigate tonight's attackers."

"Although Mr. Morier wasn't originally our target, he's been in Richmond for quite some time, and it's said that he's never been attacked before. Now that our leads have just reached him, something like this has happened. It's too coincidental. I think it's very likely related to the assassination case."

"So, being responsible for protecting him is like having an additional potential source of information. As long as either of them has any follow-up actions, it will be difficult for them to avoid us, and we can obtain more first-hand intelligence in the process of dealing with them."

Ineisha basically agreed with this view. In fact, after returning to the detective agency's temporary base, she had been asking Lina about the attackers' situation tonight.

Lina originally had a script for a romance or spy film tonight. After dinner, Mr. Morier planned to take Lina to see a violinist's performance, essentially the pursuer's usual tactic of prolonging their time together.

Unfortunately, Lina's "fallen noble lady" identity was entirely an act. It was okay for her to put on a show and maintain appearances, but she wasn't willing to sit quietly and listen to music.

So, plans couldn't keep up with changes. In the end, the itinerary became a visit to Mr. Morier's home to see his collection.

Mr. Morier was, of course, happy to have a beautiful woman visit, and Lina happily went to scout the place. However, the romantic scene Mr. Morier had imagined ultimately didn't play out smoothly. After Lina memorized the map information, she quickly found an excuse to successfully slip away.

But not long after leaving, Lina heard strange noises and sensed something was wrong. Then, when she planned to return on the pretext of "accidentally forgetting something," she unexpectedly encountered the attackers who were committing the crime.

Then the story became "brave agent fought back, pretty lady rescued the hero."

The reason why Lina and the others were able to escape safely, in addition to their own combat power, was that the attackers at the scene didn't pursue or entangle them too much. After discovering the unexpected situation, they quickly stopped moving, unlike when the detective agency catches people, chasing them all over the street.

"Since your itinerary tonight was changed temporarily and wasn't originally in his plan, and the attackers didn't even let you notice anything unusual before launching the attack, it means he may have been targeted by the attackers long ago, and even his daily movements and the defenses of his residence have been figured out. This doesn't seem like the work of amateurs."

"And you had just left when the other party officially launched the attack. The most reasonable suspicion in this situation is that the attackers' actions were highly targeted and didn't intend to involve unrelated people. Therefore, they specifically waited for you to leave before taking action. If we put this prerequisite in again, the attackers seem to be in a hurry, giving people the feeling that the plan was well prepared, but the specific action orders were issued somewhat urgently and hastily."

After the small meeting, Ineisha continued to analyze the situation with Lina.

Lina obviously agreed with this:

"This is one of the reasons why I brought him back earlier. The attackers at the scene didn't seem interested in property, and they weren't malicious towards irrelevant people, but they were very decisive when dealing with targets within their range of action. This usually only happens in larger organizations, and the temperament is completely different from ordinary criminal gangs."

Wayne thought for a moment, "If this was done by a professional intelligence organization, then according to normal procedures, now that the target has escaped, what should be done next?"

Lina almost didn't need to think, and the answer came out directly:

"The target's escape means the operation failed. The conventional procedure is to first clean up the traces and cut off the retreat in time. Then, depending on different instructions, there may be another action, the target may be abandoned, or a new group of people may be sent to carry out a new attack mission. This mainly depends on whether the action itself can be exposed and whether the action team has subsequent support locally."

Hmm…

It sounds a bit like the viper genus in the animal world. After suddenly popping out and giving the prey a "large and satisfying" dose of venom with its fangs, it may not chase or confront it head-on at all, but will slowly go to see if the prey is dead after a while, and then either "take another bite" or "wag its tail and leave." Underneath the seemingly lazy and casual mode of action is an almost cold calculation and survival of the fittest.

However, Wayne had already obtained the information he wanted to confirm, "So, since the action has already failed, if we go back to investigate now, the observation posts that the other party set up near Mr. Morier's house should have been evacuated, right?"

"Not necessarily accurate, but very likely." Lina nodded slightly, "Maybe even the scene has been 'cleaned up.'"

That's a coincidence.

What detectives are good at is finding "what's missing from the scene."

Although the detective agency's current style of fighting and killing all day long is somewhat off track, according to the example in the animal world, the king cobra, which can eat vipers as a dish, just happens to be the "over-the-mountain wind" that likes to chase after its prey's tail in a fiery manner.