At ten o'clock p.m., Erikson knocked on Xia Lei's door.
"Mr. Xia, Miss Eva is already here. Are you ready? If so, we can set out anytime," said Erikson.
Xia Lei glanced around at the fully armed French military police corps' special forces and then said, "I don't have anything I need to prepare. I can leave whenever."
Erikson made an inviting gesture. "Mr. Xia, please come with me."
Yeliena who was also in the room got up to follow Xia Lei out, but the moment she got to the doorway Erikson's arm blocked her way.
Yeliena expressionlessly looked at Erikson.
"Sorry miss, but we only invited Mr. Xia. You cannot come with us to the Louvre," said Erikson.
"She's my secretary so why can't she come?" said Xia Lei.
"My apologies Mr. Xia, I was only ordered to take you there and no one else," said Erikson.
"Even my secretary can't come?" Xia Lei frowned.
"Mr. Xia, please don't make things difficult for me," said Erikson.
Yeliena's face was cold but right when she was about to erupt, Xia Lei stopped her. "All right, then I'll go by myself."
Yeliena's lips moved but she didn't say anything.
"You're free to do as you please," said Xia Lei. Then, he left with Erikson.
Yeliena returned to her room and took out a satphone. "Boss is already following the French people downstairs. If the MP soldiers show any abnormal signs then get rid of them."
"Copy that. We will keep our eyes on them," Alessio's voice responded through the satphone.
After the call, Yeliena went out again with a large backpack, filled with a Gust assault rifle and several mags of ammunition.
Actually, it didn’t matter if she and the members of the Zodiac Squadron went with Xia Lei to the Louvre, because Xia Lei had never left the Zodiac Squad’s line of sight. If something happened, they would immediately respond!
When he got to the hotel, Xia Lei saw three cars parked by the road. A black Benz entertainment car and two off-road vehicles, and all three were bulletproof.
The Benz’s windows rolled down, and Jacqueline Eva stuck her head out from the driver’s seat. “Mr. Xia, please get in. Tonight, I will be your driver and tour guide. If you need anything, feel free to let me know.”
“Okay, thank you so much.” Xia Lei got into the front car seat.
Jacqueline Eva started the car and entered traffic. Erikson and seven other French special forces soldiers from the military police got into the off-road vehicles. One vehicle sped up until it passed Jacqueline Eva’s Benz, and drove at the very front, clearing the way for them.
A faint perfume smell was in the Benz, and smelled like a mix of tulip and cape jasmine. It was very unique and smelled very good.
Xia Lei took a little sniff. “Miss Eva, what perfume is this?”
“Hm? I didn’t think Mr. Xia liked perfume too.” Jacqueline Eva laughed. “This is a secret perfume. It’s called Mary’s Desire and it’s not on the market.”
“Mary’s Desire? That’s a really unique name. If it isn’t on the market, how did you get it?”
“My mother gave this to me. She’s an expert at this. If you like it, I can give you some. Oh, if you were to give this to a girl, she’d definitely be very happy.” Jacqueline Eva maintained a nice smile on her face, as she observed Xia Lei’s face with her peripheral vision.
“How would I? What about this, I’ll pay you…” Before he could finish, Xia Lei suddenly shook his head.
Right when he was about to say “I’ll pay you cash”, his head suddenly went foggy and a faint heat started in his underbelly. He actually had that type of desire.
This perfume was abnormal!
“Mr. Xia, were you about to say that you’d pay me money? I don’t want your money, since you’re an esteemed guest for France. I should be giving you some gifts.” Jacqueline Eva’s voice had already started changing in Xia Lei’s ears, becoming illusory.
Xia Lei shook his head again, but the foggy feeling became stronger and stronger.
“Mr. Xia, can you tell me why you’re so interested in the Louvre?” Jacqueline Eva turned towards Xia Lei and switched the topic.
“I’m going to the Louvre…” Xia Lei said, his voice clearly exhausted. His gaze shifted to her thigh. Her skirt was very short and could only cover a fourth of her thigh. Because she was driving, her legs were a little parted, so her skirt revealed her secrets.
Xia Lei’s thoughts had already become very slow, whether it was due to this mysterious perfume or rose-colored mesh. He found it so exhausting to just answer a simple question and some hallucinations began to occur in his head. He began feeling like he wasn’t sitting next to a young blonde woman but a goddess emitting holy light, almost like Athena from the Greek myths and Guanyin, in the Buddhist myths. Regardless of who she seemed like she had supreme dignity that made him unable to stop himself from worshiping her and complying with her every word.
“Mr. Xia?” A mysterious smile surfaced on Jacqueline Eva’s face. Xia Lei’s reaction seemed to be within her expectations.
Xia Lei heard her voice but his brain reacted very slowly.
“Mr. Xia, you can tell me. Why do you want to go to the Louvre?” Jacqueline Eva’s voice became fainter, and she felt more godlike than ever.
Clearly, this “Mary’s Desire” was a drug that would make one have hallucinations, and it could even result in hypnosis. Even though Xia Lei thought this, he still couldn’t control his urge to confess to this “goddess”.
“Tell me, what did the Germans give you before you got their technology?” Jaqueline Eva didn’t even bother with saying ‘Mr. Xia’.
Right when he was about to open his mouth and tell her the truth, his brain suddenly released a mysterious energy with the same resonance as the ancient alloy. A refreshing feeling seemed to take root in his brain as it quickly filled his entire body. In the blink of an eye, his brain was no longer murky and the heat in his underbelly from desire had also disappeared.
“You can say it. Don’t resist and just tell me everything,” urged Jacqueline Eva.
The fox had finally revealed its tail. She actually hypnotized him with a drug, trying to gain the intelligence she wanted from him! Xia Lei had already become clear-headed but he continued to feign his stupor. His voice was exasperatingly slow. “I don’t know. Ling Han’s in charge. He knows the truth.”
“Ling Han? Who’s that?”
“An official with a really high rank.”
“Why do you want to go to the Louvre?”
“I wanted to buy the Mona Lisa and the bronze mouse that France stole from the Summer Palace as well as some other historical relics.”
Jacqueline Eva was speechless.
Xia Lei coldly laughed in his heart. ‘If you’re using drugs and your femining charms to gain intelligence, you aren’t in the weapons and equipment division of France. You’re probably one of France’s intelligence people. You aren’t qualified to play around with me!’ thought Xia Lei.
“Who’s your wife?”
“Shentu Tianyin. We already divorced.”
“Your girlfriend?”
“Liang Siyao, but we already divorced.”
“Are you willing to collaborate with France and sell your technology to France?”
“Of course, I like France.”
“What do you want to get from France?”
Charles De Gualle’s aircraft carrier’s electric navigation system,” said Xia Lei.
Jacqueline Eva immediately blanked. “You’re pretty ambitious.”
This clearly wasn’t something that a “goddess” would say. They were only words that a surprised woman would say to herself.
Xia Lei’s heart tried to guess at Jacqueline Eva’s next question, but Jacqueline Eva didn’t have anymore questions. She looked at her wristwatch and frowned. Then, she said, “Mr. Xia, you’re tired. You can rest and I’ll call you when we get there.”
“I’m so tired, yaawn…” Xia Lei obediently closed his eyes. He did close his eyes, but even though his eyes were closed, he could still see Jacqueline Eva’s every movement.
Jacqueline Eva’s questioning methods had been really skilled. She mixed some important questions with some boring questions, trying to use this method to see if he was telling the truth. His responses had also been skilled, with lies and truths mixed together. Part of it was true and part of it was false, which meant she would reach a contrary judgement.
Now he was basically certain of Jacqueline Eva’s identity. She was probably someone from the French intelligence department. Even though he didn’t know what her actual job was, he was certain that she didn’t have a low rank in the French intelligence department.
After several minutes, Jacqueline Eva glanced at Xia Lei and waved her hand in front of Xia Lei’s eyes. After ensuring that Xia Lei didn’t have a reaction, she lowered her head and whispered into a button on her collar. “He’s willing to collaborate, but he’s a little ambitious...after I get back we can talk more, it’s not convenient right now...Yes, I know. He isn’t as awesome as they say. I can deal with him.”
The button on her collar was clearly a small communication device.
‘Deal with me? Then come at me. I want to see if French special service agents are any good,’ thought Xia Lei.
Jacqueline Eva glanced at Xia Lei and then she opened the air conditioning. Cold air blew through the entire car and the perfume scent in the car became fainter and fainter until it finally disappeared.
The Benz accelerated. After ten more minutes, the outline of the Louvre’s old windshield appeared. This ancient palace even had a charming glass pyramid in front of it. It glinted with bright light in the night, incomparably elegant.
‘Mona Lisa, I’m coming for you,’ thought Xia Lei.
“Mr. Xia?” Jacqueline Eva called out softly.
Xia Lei had no reaction.
Jacqueline Eva reached her hand out to lightly shake Xia Lei’s shoulder. She called again, “Mr. Xia we’re almost there.”
Only then did Xia Lei slowly open his eyes. He blanked for a moment and said with shock, “How did I fall asleep?”
“Mr. Xia, you’re probably jetlagged. I was just chatting with you and as we chatted, you fell asleep. You’re really too tired,” said Jacqueline Eva laughingly.
“What did we talk about?” said Xia Lei with alarm.
“Perfume, Mary’s Desire, and you really liked the perfume scent on my body. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a bottle of Mary’s Desire. It will help you get the girls you like,” said Jacqueline Eva.
Xia Lei was silent for a moment. Then, he said, “Can you give me three bottles?”
Jacqueline Eva was speechless.