685: Chapter 677: Waiting by the Tree Stump for Rabbits 685: Chapter 677: Waiting by the Tree Stump for Rabbits He hung the pepper-bottle gun inside his underwear, completed his final preparation, and then put on Professor Barnard’s suit.
Gao Yang felt quite uncomfortable, especially with the pepper-bottle gun hanging awkwardly on him.
It felt awkward, but he had to admit, he could not find a trace of himself in the mirror.
Reflected was a completely unfamiliar old man.
Medusa slid a wedding ring onto Gao Yang’s finger and then shook her head, “The ring is a bit loose, you need to be careful not to let it fall off.
Remember your full name now, and have you memorized your home address and the route back home?”
Gao Yang nodded and said, “I have.”
After closely inspecting him for a moment, Ryan said, “You will go back to Professor Barnard’s office and wait.
If the time comes, just leave at the normal time he finishes work.”
“Understood.
I need to try the gun.
I’d rather have just one gun than be completely unfamiliar with this one.
Also, do I have any other weapons I can use?
Anything from the mission armory is fine, even a thin wire for strangling.”
Ryan glanced at his watch and said, “It’s Professor Barnard’s dinner time now.
We have half an hour to find a place for you to test the gun.”
Medusa took a crucifix out of the box and handed it to Gao Yang, “You can wear it against your skin around your neck.
This thing, once you pull off the protective cover at the front, is a Punch Spike.
It won’t be detected by metal detectors or x-rays.
The neck strap is designed to break easily.
If they search you very thoroughly, it might be discovered, but given your identity, I don’t think they will be especially thorough when they search you, so you can take it with you.”
Ryan produced another pepper-bottle gun and put it into his pocket, then said, “Let’s go find a place to shoot.
Just a heads-up, this gun has a very short barrel, so it lacks accuracy at even modest distances, but on the upside, the recoil isn’t too strong.
You can re-aim and get ready to shoot faster.
Oh, and the gunfire is loud, much louder than what you’d expect from such a small gun.
Be mentally prepared for that.”
Gao Yang exhaled and said, “Okay, I think I am ready.”
Medusa was the first to leave the room.
When Gao Yang followed her out to the other room, he found an old man, covered with a blanket, sound asleep on the couch.
His face was identical to the old man Gao Yang had seen in the mirror just moments before—there was no difference whatsoever.
Sergei stood up, his face showing surprise.
He looked from the Bernhard Gao Yang had disguised into to the real Professor Barnard lying on the couch and couldn’t help exclaiming, “Incredible!”
Ryan snapped his fingers and said, “Alright, you stay here and keep an eye on Professor Barnard.
If you leave, get someone else to watch him and take care of our boxes.
If you have to go, find someone reliable.”
After waiting for Sergei to nod, Ryan then said to Gao Yang, “Alright, let’s go.”
The makeup took quite a while, more than two hours.
Gao Yang checked the watch that belonged to Professor Barnard and whispered, “We need to hurry up.”
Just then, Ryan, after pressing the earpiece he wore, said to Gao Yang, “Ivan has a message.
The South Africans are pulling out from the Consulate General.”
With a sense of urgency, Gao Yang said, “It seems we really need to hurry.”
Ivan didn’t speak; he simply listened intently to the sound coming through the earpiece, then looked gravely at Gao Yang and said, “We might not make it in time.
The team monitoring the Consulate General reports a car has left the premises.
You must stay in your office until we confirm the people in the car aren’t coming for you.”
Gao Yang was slightly distracted.
The CIA was moving faster than anticipated.
It would be for the best if they hadn’t changed their plans to come looking for Professor Barnard earlier.
If that was the case, he would not get the chance to test fire the pepper-bottle gun.
Bad news arrived.
After a short wait, Ryan spoke again, “The bad news is confirmed.
The content of the surveillance indicates that the withdrawal by the South Africans has provoked the Consulate General.
They’ve moved up their plans.
The car that left the Consulate General was indeed coming for you.
They could be here in as little as twenty minutes.
Now Ivan and the others are also ready to attack the Consulate General at any moment.”
Medusa suddenly said, “How about we test fire here?”
Ryan shook his head and spoke in a low voice, “Gunfire will alarm many people, and it’s impossible to predict the consequences of a test fire.
However, we can opt to use a makeshift silencer, which will affect the shooting effects, but it’s better than being completely unfamiliar with the firearm.
Ram, how do you choose?”
Gao Yang immediately said, “Test fire here.”
Returning to the room they had used for makeup earlier, they drew six circles on the wall to serve as targets and used a sofa cushion to muffle the muzzle.
After Gao Yang closed his eyes and focused for a moment, he suddenly turned around and fired six shots at the wall.
Using a sofa cushion as a makeshift silencer is commonly seen in movies, and indeed it does reduce noise, although not to the near-silent level depicted on screen.
However, it can slow down the gases expelled from the muzzle enough to lower the noise of the handgun to an acceptable level.
The sound would be somewhat softer.
At least the noise would turn muffled, so even if someone heard it, they wouldn’t think of gunfire right away.
Of the six shots fired, only one hit the target, which was to be expected.
With the muzzle blocked by the sofa cushion, one could only shoot by feel, completely eliminating the possibility of aiming.
Still, the test fire proved very useful by giving Gao Yang an intuitive sense of the recoil and the feeling of shooting.
No matter the consequences the gunshots from the test fire might cause, if anyone heard them, Sergei and Ryan would take care of it.
Gao Yang stepped out of the room, merely nodded to the people waiting outside, and then strode towards Bernard’s office, or rather, his own office.
Gao Yang acknowledged the people greeting him along the way with a nod and quickly entered the office, sitting down in front of “his” computer.
He turned on the computer, opened an unintelligible document at random, and started staring blankly at the screen.
After sitting there for fifteen minutes, someone knocked on the door.
When Gao Yang told the person knocking to come in, a white man in his forties entered his office, closed the door behind him, and said in a deep voice, “Hello, you must be Professor Barnard.”
“Yes.”
“A patient needs help.
You’ll have to come with me.
Please do not refuse.
It will not pose any harm to you, and you will receive a substantial amount of money as a reward.”
“Sir, I’m off duty now, and I’m not feeling well.”
The middle-aged man gave Gao Yang a slight smile and said, “Please don’t refuse.
It’s for your own good.
Trust me, you won’t be in any danger.”
Gao Yang said in a hoarse voice, “I don’t feel well, and I think you can tell.”
After speaking, Gao Yang fell silent because the middle-aged man produced a handgun.
As a result, Gao Yang “had to” quietly take his coat and then follow the man out of his office.
(To be continued.
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