Chapter 468: An Unexpected Windfall

Inside a luxurious reception room at the Peninsula Hotel.

Ever since the Landlord Association rebelled against Chen Jiajun, they had moved their usual gatherings from Luyu Tea House to the Peninsula Hotel.

From that time on, the card games were all held at the Peninsula Hotel.

Today, everyone was gathered together, but not a single person spoke.

Each of them looked heavy-hearted.

A moment later, the satellite phone in Chen Zhan's hand rang; after connecting, it turned out to be Huang Shitong's number.

Chen Zhan told Huang Shitong about the recent events, then said to him, "Brother Tong, that is roughly how things stand. We would like to ask you to make a decision!"

"Did those Gweilo not intervene?" Huang Shitong asked with some surprise.

"They did, but it had little effect!" Chen Zhan said helplessly, "I heard the Commissioner personally gave the order, saying that the Police Force is not allowed to intervene in this matter!"

"What?" At this moment, Huang Shitong, hiding in London, also had a very ugly expression on his face.

He had not expected that the backer he found would be so useless, unable to even influence the Police Force.

If things went on like this, the Landlord Association would soon fall apart.

When that time came, relying on himself alone, how could he continue to fight against a Big Boss like Chen Jiajun?

At this moment, a sense of foreboding was already spreading in Huang Shitong's heart.

Huang Shitong was not a fool, nor was he short-sighted; it was only after those two Gweilo showed him their immense power that he had agreed to cooperate.

He just hadn't expected them to be paper tigers as well; now Huang Shitong felt he was in trouble! Just as Huang Shitong was about to say something, a huge sound suddenly erupted from the phone.

Following that was a scream that did not sound human.

Meanwhile, at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, that old guy Lin Rundong had a hollow steel rod pierce into his body, pinning him to the wall.

Although the steel rod pierced his abdomen, it did not kill him immediately; blood just kept flowing out from inside the rod.

Leaving Lin Rundong in agony, he kept emitting shrill wails.

The other members of the Landlord Association were already pale with fright, looking at the nearby construction site in horror.

At this time, a Lesser Demon slave on the construction site looked down at the people from the Landlord Association and revealed a ferocious grin.

Beside it lay another steel rod of the same type that had pierced Lin Rundong.

This was naturally its doing.

"A Zhan, A Zhan, what happened?" Huang Shitong shouted anxiously on the other end of the phone.

Chen Zhan came to his senses at this moment and immediately hung up the phone.

Soon, the hotel staff called the police and emergency services.

But Lin Rundong did not hold on until the ambulance arrived and died from excessive blood loss.

According to the police "investigation," this was another accident: a steel rod had slipped from the construction site next door, flown into the hotel, and pierced Lin Rundong's abdomen.

This was because the police did not believe that anyone could throw a hollow steel rod from such a distance and strike a person with such precision.

Hearing the police's conclusion, everyone in the Landlord Association, except for Luo Minsheng, felt a bone-chilling coldness well up in their hearts.

Just like the car accident last time, Chen Jiajun's subordinates could use all sorts of "accidents" to finish them off.

Yet they and the Gweilo behind them had no way to deal with the Guojun Group.

Then, that afternoon, Mai Shengyun, Ma Zhuoqun, and Chen Zhan went to find Sima Nianzu.

After all, the effect of killing the chicken to warn the monkeys this time was quite good.

……

At the same time, Casablanca, Morocco.

After being cajoled by Solomon, Ilsa, Ethan, and Benji's group had decided to go to the local dam to steal the list.

Neither Chen Jiajun nor Silva was in a hurry to act; after all, this kind of infiltration was not their specialty.

Ethan Hunt lived up to his reputation as an IMF Kingsman, even though his method of operation was extremely suicidal.

But at least they managed to successfully pass through the terrifying defense system and obtained their so-called "Account Book."

However, at this moment, Ethan was already on the verge of death; if Ilsa hadn't used the defibrillator, Ethan would probably have kicked the bucket by now.

Just as the three were preparing to change clothes and leave, Ilsa suddenly turned traitor.

She directly used the defibrillator to shock Benji, then took the list and made a run for it.

A very weak Ethan took Benji and prepared to pursue.

It was just that by this time, Ilsa had already taken the "Account Book" and joined up with the Syndicate members, preparing to slip away.

Ethan could only find a car and chased after Ilsa relentlessly.

Both sides had a "Fast and Furious" moment on the streets of Casablanca.

By now, the CIA had also arrived and joined the chase.

Chen Jiajun observed all of this and said to Silva, "We can make our move!"

"As you wish, Boss!" Silva grinned and ordered his Information Officers to act.

Although Silva's Information Officers were not skilled in combat, because they had come abroad this time, a combat squad had been specially deployed.

This combat squad was composed of Lesser Demon slaves, and their strength was extremely formidable.

Just as the Syndicate was entangled with the CIA, the brothers from the Information Department intercepted Ilsa and several Syndicate members on the spot.

Ilsa had not expected that the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; she looked at the Lesser Demon slaves with suspicion and fear, asking, "Who are you people!"

Although Ilsa seemed to have been backed into a dead end, she did not intend to surrender without a fight.

Her hand had already touched the flashbang at her waist, preparing to wait for these mysterious black-clad men to get close and then give them a nasty surprise.

Unfortunately, Ilsa's little trick had long been seen through by the Lesser Demon slave, who sneered and said, "Miss Ilsa of MI6, doing that won't do you any good!"

As they spoke, they had someone pull out a different kind of firearm and aim it at her.

Before Ilsa could react, a rope-like object sprayed out from the gun barrel.

After unfolding in mid-air, it turned into a giant net.

Just as Ilsa pulled the pin on the Flashbang, the net wrapped her up tightly, and then the Flashbang exploded, nearly blinding her own eyes.

Then, a heavy blow struck the back of Ilsa's head, and she passed out on the spot.

By the time Ethan and the CIA people shook off the Syndicate and tracked them here, where was there any sign of Ilsa?

"Damn it! There was actually another force intervening?" Ethan quickly judged that this was not an internal conflict within the Syndicate, but that another force had truly intervened in this matter.

Having lost Ilsa, Ethan and the others returned to their lodging with dejected expressions.

None of them were in high spirits, and the CIA people looked directly at Ethan and said, "What should we do now?"

Ethan suddenly thought of something, turned his head, and said to Benji, "Please tell me you made a backup!"

Benji rubbed his back and then said to Ethan, "Of course I made a backup!"

Hearing this, smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

Subsequently, Benji began to crack this USB Flash Drive-like thing. As a technical expert, Benji's abilities were not to be underestimated.

Otherwise, after the IMF was reorganized, the CIA Director would not have specifically kept him in the agency.

Under Benji's operation, an interface soon popped up.

Benji said helplessly, "I have no way to crack this thing!"

Ethan immediately walked over and asked, "Can't crack it? What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't open this thing!" Benji explained, "This thing is a 'Red Box'!"

"What thing?" Ethan asked, looking puzzled.

Benji explained, "This thing is used by the Yingjili Government to transmit national secrets."

"Sounds very mysterious!" Brandt said, frowning.

"This thing has three layers of encryption; to open it, you need a fingerprint scan, an iris scan, and voice recognition, and it must be the same specific person!" Benji continued.

Ethan pondered for a moment and arrived at a shocking answer: "The Prime Minister of England himself!"

Benji nodded and said, "That's right!"

Brandt said distressfully, "If there is no Account Book, we cannot confirm the existence of the Syndicate, so we are back to square one! And we are all wanted criminals by the CIA now; I am so proud of us all!"

Although Brandt brought a CIA team to save the day, it was clear he had not obtained the consent of CIA Director Alan.

Benji frowned and said, "I don't understand why a 'Red Box' would appear in Morocco!"

Brandt said, "But if Ryan can't open it either, then what does he want it for?"

"Since Ryan wants it, I bet he has a way to open it!" Benji pointed at the 'Red Box' and said, "And we just helped him steal it!"

Ethan was suddenly shaken, then widened his eyes and said to everyone, "He wants to kidnap the Prime Minister of England! That's right, he will definitely do that, but how is he going to pull that off?"

Brandt said directly, "We must notify MI6!"

"Don't be hasty, Brandt!" Ethan stopped him and said, "Put the phone down first, let me think this through!"

Brandt said earnestly, "We have a responsibility to notify the Yingjili Government! We cannot..."

"Give me some time! Damn it!" Ethan shouted loudly.

Brandt was silent for a moment, then threw his phone aside and said, "OK, then tell me now, what are we going to do!"

At this time, in a hotel.

Ilsa woke up and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Then she saw an Asian man sitting not far from the hospital bed, reading a newspaper.

Ilsa immediately jumped up from the bed, looked at the man in front of her with vigilance, and demanded, "Who are you?"

Chen Jiajun just glanced at her and said calmly, "Miss Ilsa, I advise you not to make any extreme moves, otherwise it might not be very pleasant later!"

"You..." Ilsa grabbed the Knife from the fruit plate on the bedside table and rushed toward Chen Jiajun.

She remembered that before she passed out, she had been captured, and now she had to find a way to escape.

For instance, taking this man in front of her hostage should be a good idea.

But she did not expect that the moment she grabbed the Knife, two Taser Gun bullets would be fired from outside the window.

Subsequently, Ilsa convulsed on the spot, and after a moment of being powered down, she fell softly to the ground.

Chen Jiajun shrugged indifferently and said, "I told you!"

Ilsa lay on the ground for a good while before recovering, but she learned her lesson this time; she didn't dare to act rashly at all, just curled up in the corner, her eyes staring fixedly at the man in front of her.

A moment later, the room door was opened, and a tall man walked in.

Ilsa's eyes widened immediately, and she looked at the guy in front of her in disbelief: "Instructor?"

"Oh my, I didn't expect little Ilsa to have become a qualified Agent!" Silva said to Ilsa with a smile, "How have you been lately?"

Ilsa stared at Silva with hatred and said, "You are a traitor!"

Silva said helplessly, "Oh! You saying that makes me so sad, little Ilsa. I have never betrayed England; it was England that betrayed me!"

Ilsa suddenly changed from her previous anger and asked tentatively, "So, Instructor, you also joined the Syndicate?"

Silva laughed immediately: "Hahaha, what is the Syndicate? Someone of Ryan's caliber isn't qualified to order me to do things for him!"

Ilsa was shocked again; she had originally thought that Silva, this Legendary Agent, had also joined the Syndicate.

After all, the Syndicate was specialized in taking in those Agents who had been 'killed in action' or 'gone missing'.

But now it seemed that was not the case? Ilsa felt that this matter was becoming more and more complicated.

Taking advantage of Ilsa's shock, Silva held the USB Flash Drive and said to Chen Jiajun, "Boss, this thing is not an Account Book!"

"Not an Account Book? What is it?" Before Chen Jiajun could speak, Ilsa spoke first.

This thing was something she and Ethan had risked their lives to steal, so naturally, she wouldn't give up so easily.

Chen Jiajun looked speechlessly at Ilsa, who had interrupted him, and then said to Silva, "Tell me about it!"

Silva smiled as he toyed with the USB Flash Drive in his hand and said, "It's the Red Box!"

"What is the Red Box?" Ilsa asked, snatching the chance to speak first again.

Silva glanced at her and said, "Lovely little Ilsa, you are always so impatient! The Red Box is claimed to be for transmitting state secrets, but I once saw this thing in the hands of Madam M."

"It is not only not some Syndicate Account Book, nor does it contain any secrets, but it is a huge sum of money! Enough money to keep an intelligence agency running for many years!"

Hearing Silva's words, Ilsa was stunned on the spot: "What?"

Silva stroked Ilsa's long hair as if petting a small animal and said, "That's right, poor little Ilsa, you've been played by Atlee! That whole account book thing is fake; your superior is competing with the Syndicate for this sum of money!"

Ilsa collapsed on the spot, pointing at Silva and saying, "You are a traitor, everything you say is fake!"

Silva revealed an evil smile and said, "Really? Poor little Ilsa, then as an MI6 Agent, why haven't you had your status restored yet? I think you must have already told your superior the news about Ryan Solomon, right? He should be able to carry out an arrest at any time, shouldn't he?"

"Why on earth would he place his capable subordinate by the side of such a dangerous person? Could it be that he has no other agents to handle this matter?"

Silva's voice was like a devil's, constantly bewitching Ilsa.

"No! You are lying, it's you..." Ilsa denied it while recalling some of her superior's small actions.

These small actions could not withstand scrutiny; once scrutinized, they were full of holes.

Even she herself began to have some doubts.

Silva had no time to pay attention to Ilsa, instead saying to Chen Jiajun, "According to my deduction, this money was originally intended by the new M Mister to be used to establish the Syndicate, but after the Syndicate went out of control, he thought about having someone destroy this thing, not daring to let people know about their relationship with the Syndicate!"

"After all, it is no exaggeration to call the current Syndicate a terrorist organization! If MI6 were to be linked to the Syndicate, there would be quite a show to watch! That is why this current M Mister threw such a foolish girl by the side of Ryan Solomon!"

Chen Jiajun nodded and then said to Silva, "Have you unlocked this thing?"

"No, this thing is not so easy to unlock! It requires the Prime Minister's voice, fingerprint, and iris recognition!" Silva chuckled and said, "But this matter is not a big problem for us! Before MI6 was reorganized, they investigated quite a few ministers, and it just so happens they have the current Prime Minister of England!"

Hearing Silva's words, Chen Jiajun's eyes suddenly lit up. (End of chapter)