A male voice came through the transmitter: "Mr. Lin, I'm Lu He, hoping to discuss a business deal with you."
Lin Beichen mocked: "I don't think there's much to discuss with someone whose accent is strange." The male voice fell silent for a moment, without a response.
Lin Beichen took the opportunity to observe the surroundings, discovering that only these two seemingly fake leaders knew the inside story.
Meanwhile, he kept a close watch on Xia Luyao's situation over there, just in case.
Xia Luyao maintained a calm face, her gaze slowly drifting over the bodies of those men.
Seeing this, Lin Beichen felt slightly relieved.
After a short silence, the male voice sounded again: "Mr. Lin, are you satisfied with my accent now?"
Lin Beichen showed a trace of surprise on his face; the accent turned out to be similar to his own.
He's heard imitation of tone, but imitating pitch and intonation is something he's come across for the first time.
He composed himself and calmly replied: "Actually, I don't really care about your accent."
"But I care," the voice seemed to laugh, "I wouldn't want the only person who understands Chinese here to not understand my Chinese."
Looking around, Lin Beichen noticed a hint of confusion on others' faces and instantly understood the implication.
"Since it's about business, you should know that not all deals are ones I take." Lin Beichen realized this "business" might involve secrets not suitable for others around to know.
"Then tell me, which deals won't you take?" the voice asked curiously.
After a brief contemplation, Lin Beichen solemnly said: "Anything that undermines national friendship, harms national interests, conflicts with my tasks or hurts my teammates, I won't do."
The voice seemed to have anticipated his answer and said eagerly: "Rest assured, what we are about to discuss has nothing to do with those."
Seeing Xia Luyao still safe and sound, Lin Beichen gradually relaxed.
"Speak then, what do you want me to do?" he proactively asked.
The voice changed to a different accent and intonation: "There are many dead bodies at Li Congjing's base gate, you need to take their chest badges for me."
"Badges? What do you need those for?" Lin Beichen originally thought it would be something more troublesome, but it turned out to be as simple as collecting badges.
Although he didn't mind doing it, he needed to understand the motive of this mysterious person to prevent interference with their task.
"I'm a collector." The voice casually replied.
Lin Beichen understood this mysterious person might not want to reveal the true purpose, so he stopped further inquiry.
"Since it's a transaction, you have to offer me something, right?" he tried to probe further.
A cold laugh came through the transmitter: "Something? I leave you the lives of your comrades; isn't that the best deal?"
Then the voice became gentle: "Your teammates are all in my hands."
"You mean Xia Luyao?" Lin Beichen glanced at her, "Do you think after we've been talking for so long, you can still take her away from me?"
The mysterious person remained silent for a moment, then laughed evilly: "Do you really think after chatting for so long, you can rescue Flying Eagle and the others?"
Lin Beichen's face gradually turned gloomy, and an invisible aura emanated from him: "What have you done to Flying Eagle and the others?"
"What could I possibly do to them?" the voice carried a bit of arrogance, making Lin Beichen's expression even worse.
"Rest assured, Lin Beichen, you still hold some value, I won't do anything to your teammates." The voice seemed to stand up, and a burst of static noise followed from the transmitter.
Lin Beichen clenched his fists, his tone revealing anger: "Are you sure you'll release my teammates when the time comes?"
"Certainly." The voice answered busily, seemingly doing something, "Let's leave it at that for now, I'll contact you again after you complete the task."
He suddenly laughed: "What I mean is, you can dispose of those I've sent however you like."
Upon hearing these words, those haphazardly assembled for Black Boxing turned pale, while Lin Beichen and Xia Luyao remained unfazed.
The voice in the transmitter disappeared. Lin Beichen was silent for a moment before signaling Xia Luyao with a glance. She immediately understood and began to counterattack those around her.
"Kill them all, that's fine." Lin Beichen transmitted to Xia Luyao.
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded to indicate she understood.
Then Lin Beichen looked at the group in front of him, stroking his chin as if contemplating something.
The group, attracted by the commotion on Xia Luyao's side, wanted to turn and check but were shocked to find they couldn't move.
Those who originally had ideas of ambushing also dispelled their thoughts, finally realizing the formidable opponent they faced.
Meanwhile, Rick was taken to a study room.
The study was filled with limited edition books from various countries, all looking new, evidently never read.
No one would question the taste of the study's owner since his words always led the trend.
"I really can't believe you'd be interested in a small fry like me." Rick still wore a weary expression, but this time it seemed more genuine.
The study's owner, sitting behind the rosewood desk, lit a cigar and handed the lighter to Rick, motioning for him to have one too.
"Don't underestimate yourself." The study's owner smiled, pushing a box of cigars toward Rick. "I've wanted to offer you a cigarette for a long time now, how could you be a small fry?" His words carried a smile, but his eyes revealed coldness.
Rick paused, then picked up a cigar, lit it, and deeply inhaled.
"To be honest, I never thought I'd smoke a cigar this good in my lifetime." Rick said bitterly.
His family had barely escaped but was intercepted by a warship and forcibly brought here.
Seeing the study's owner, he felt a bit enlightened.
This man and Joseph were college classmates and had a close personal relationship.
Later Joseph became a mercenary, stirring up storms, while the man before him steadily rose in the military ranks.
"Don't be so modest." The study's owner naturally didn't know Rick's thoughts, continued speaking on his own accord: "If you want to smoke such grade cigars, just take a few assassination orders." Rick didn't respond because he knew speaking at this moment was meaningless.
The study's owner shrugged and laughed, then directly got to the point: "You've cooperated with Li Congjing and Joseph for so long, do you know what Joseph's trump card really is?" Rick wasn't surprised by the question.
He took a deep puff of the cigar and then extinguished it, stating solemnly: "Sir, you should know, no one dares say they know Joseph's trump card."
The study's owner's expression remained unchanged; despite noticing Rick's resigned attitude, he didn't care.
He took a gun from the drawer and placed it on the table: "If you really don't want to answer, go ahead." He shrugged and shook his head: "But I remember your wife and daughter are also in my hands."
Rick's face showed sarcasm: "Sir, you still like playing dirty tricks as you did ten years ago."
"Dirty tricks?" The study's owner laughed heartily: "What counts as dirty tricks? Besides, aren't you, Joseph, and Li Congjing all playing dirty tricks?" Rick remained silent.
He knew the study's owner was right.
"Then consider me hypocritical." Rick calmly said, then picked up the gun and pointed it at the study's owner: "Be honest now."
Deep inside his pupils, a flame danced. He knew he was staging an impossible kidnapping.
He also knew the man before him regarded life with great value.
But what does that matter?
Meanwhile, Lin Beichen and Xia Luyao were strolling the road. Those involved in Black Boxing weren't killed; Lin Beichen simply severed their hand tendons.
Truthfully, what Lin Beichen did was quite merciful—most would ensure these people were completely incapacitated.
Lin Beichen didn't care about those who tacked on; he focused intently on recalling the conversation with the male voice, attempting to uncover some threads.
On Xia Luyao's left shoulder were several unhealed knife wounds, but she didn't even furrow her brows, as if these pains were entirely trivial to her.