At dawn, Xia Lei arrived at a luxury residential area.
Li Youdun’s house was in this neighbourhood. In the past month, he had come here ten times, and five times for more than eight hours. Xia Lei had been hoping that the informant would appear in Li Youdun’s house but it didn't happen. Even so, he still insisted on visiting this place every few days.
This was a must. He was basically Li Youdun. How could he not return to his own home in the span of one month? If that was the case, it would definitely attract suspicion from the Jingdu CIA intelligence quarters.
Xia Lei opened the door with Li Youdun’s key and entered. The house was very quiet, there was no sound.
There was a glass door separating the balcony and the living room. Xia Lei stood in the living room and activated his left eye. He looked through the curtains and glass door, scanning every window in the apartment opposite.
This wasn’t the first time he had done this. Every time he came to Li Youdun’s house, he would do the same. He hadn’t found anything suspicious but that didn’t mean there was never going to be.
The CIA was the world’s most powerful intelligence organisation with more than ten thousand people working for them. Every one of these people had undergone strict formal training. Not all of them would become special task force agents or spies planted in enemy countries. Some of them were used to keep tabs on their own members. These agents’ identities would be kept a tight secret. With such an important spy like Li Youdun, why wouldn’t the CIA send people to watch him?
Due to this reason, Xia Lei started checking all the windows much like his first time here.
One minute later, Xia Lei’s gaze locked on a window directly opposite his. The window was also tightly shut, with its curtains drawn close. However, there was a gap between the edge of the curtain and the wall.
Xia Lei zoomed in using his left eye and quickly identified the object. It was a telescope with a thermal camera. The person holding the telescope was a man with yellow skin and black eyes. He looked like a regular Chinese man. He wasn’t tall nor short, with an average figure and face. He was the kind to disappear in a crowd.
The watcher had finally appeared.
Xia Lei was not surprised to see this person. If the CIA had to watch Li Youdun in Jingdu, a Chinese person would best suit the role. A Caucasian or a black person would merely attract attention. The CIA would never commit such a low-level mistake. Plus, every country in every age across history did not lack citizens who would betray their own country. Some would willingly sell their daughter for personal gains. Why wouldn’t they betray their country?
When he saw the watcher, Xia Lei started to move. He walked towards the glass door between the living room and the balcony, drew the curtains open, opened the glass door and stretched facing the rising sun.
There was a slight movement at the curtains opposite, for the watcher had hidden behind the curtains. He did not want Xia Lei to accidentally catch him for even a second.
Xia Lei turned to enter the living room, then sat on the couch to watch TV. After watching the news, he entered the bedroom, took a shower and went to bed. Everything he did was characteristic of someone who had just pulled an all-nighter at work.
However, he did not sleep. He activated his left eye once again, looked through the walls and the windows opposite to observe the watcher.
The watcher was still observing him through the telescope. While the telescope had limitations, its thermal observation properties were close. He could see the heat signature of Xia Lei on the bed, then deducing if he was asleep or doing something else.
The watcher was patient, maintaining the same posture for hours on end.
Xia Lei retracted his gaze. He could not maintain his x-ray vision for long. He thought to himself, ‘Where would he send his reports to? The CIA headquarters at Langley? Or the base in Jingdu? The informant hadn’t even appeared for a month. Yet after what happened last night, the watcher is suddenly here. Looks like the FA and Hattori clan require intelligence reports urgently. They need to track me well, and Li Youdun is the only route they can get information from.’
He knew well enough to speculate this without expending his brain power.
As he lay in bed, he entered ‘sleeping’ mode. Xia Lei lay in a sleeping position but his brain was still analysing things, simulating the responses and consequences of each possible situation. In the end, when there was nothing much to do, he started to refine his Alloy X and Ghost drone plans again.
With something to think about, time passed quickly. Soon, it was already four in the afternoon. It was time for him to wake up.
When he woke, he checked on the watcher. To his surprise, the other guy was still in the same posture, watching him. He was like a mannequin at a costume shop.
After washing up, Xia Lei entered the living room, closed the glass door and drew the curtains. It was at this moment when he saw the man bring out a satellite phone to make a call. At least he wasn’t watching Xia Lei through the telescope anymore.
Xia Lei read the watcher’s lips.
The watcher was speaking in English. “Code Messenger, password FF5230. He rested at home for eight hours and slept for six hours. He did not make any calls, nor did he use his computer. He has already woken up, probably preparing to leave the house. I understand. End of call.” At this point, the watcher ended the call and continued watching through the telescope.
When the call ended, Xia Lei had already walked to the door at the living room. When he picked up his telescope, Xia Lei was coincidentally reaching out to open the door. It was exactly timed, down to the second.
Xia Lei opened the door, carrying the briefcase he had previously prepared and exited.
The watcher disappeared behind the curtains in the apartment opposite.
At ten minutes to eight, Xia Lei arrived at Tree Leaves Cafe. This cafe was run by an Indonesian businessman selling the world-famous Luwak coffee. It cost several hundred to a thousand yuan per cup. Its customers were all from the top tiers of society. This place felt safe and public, for there were no suspicious people around. It was perceived to be a more innocent atmosphere. Control was easy to maintain in a place like this
When Xia Lei entered, there were already customers inside. There were Chinese and Caucasians here and they were all well-dressed. He walked towards the innermost table. Every face was deeply etched into his mind. Someone was staring at a lady’s legs, another was looking out of the window, while another was calling for the waiter. Xia Lei took in every detail.
He must study them in detail to lock in on one target through the process of elimination. This was necessary because the true Li Youdun had met this person more than once. If Xia Lei showed no response to the person in this cafe, it would be a serious flaw in his disguise.
The process seemed complicated but only actually took three seconds. Three seconds later, Xia Lei activated his left eye to scan the place. This time, he wasn’t looking at faces but the things in their clothes.
The informant must have something with him, right? Listening devices, pinhole cameras, weapons, passcards or something. He just needed a little hint.
An assortment of different objects appeared before his eyes. Wallets, phones, lipsticks, powder, sanitary napkins, chewing gum, pens, condoms…
Thirty seconds later, Xia Lei stopped looking and sat at a table. He hadn’t seen anything that would give him a clue. This meant the informant hadn’t arrived. He wasn’t surprised. Xia Lei had arrived ten minutes early for a reason. He needed time to observe the place.
“Sir, would you like to order?” A waiter approached.
Xia Lei said mildly, “One Luwak coffee, and a plate of dessert.” After a pause, he added, “Chocolate dessert.”
“Alright, sir. It’ll be a moment.” The waiter left.
Xia Lei’s gaze fell on the door. It was going to be eight soon. The informant would be here anytime now. On the surface he was calm, but he was actually very anxious.
Three minutes later, the waiter placed a tray on his table. He put a cup of Luwak coffee and a plate of chocolate dessert on the table, saying politely, “Have a good meal, sir.”
During the moment he placed the dessert down, Xia Lei’s gaze fell on his right index finger. There was an obvious callous on the joint of his index finger. He had a realisation. “He’s a waiter at a cafe, how could he have a callous on his right index finger? Only people who use guns often have that callous. Could he be the informant?”
However, he quickly eliminated this possibility. If the waiter was the informant, then he would have given him a hint already. He wouldn’t turn and leave like that.
At this moment, there was a reflection of a person in his cup. It came from a Caucasian man walking in from the door.
This Caucasian man was about forty-seven years old, with a robust physique and harsh lines on his face. He was wearing a pair of spectacles with transparent frames. However, to Xia Lei, no matter how this man dressed, he was definitely still a man who had experienced countless battles and killed many men.
A person could disguise as anyone but it was difficult to change one’s aura. Xia Lei had undergone a month of imitation training, plus he had a super brain to control every nerve in his body so he could completely transform into Li Youdun. Who else in this world could control his entire body like him?
Xia Lei looked up at the Caucasian and nodded slightly. This was Li Youdun’s habit. In the past, Li Youdun would always give him a slight nod whenever they met.
The Caucasian man nodded slightly at Xia Lei.
The informant had finally shown himself.