After Steve arranged for a guard to lead Luo Zheng, he left in a hurry. On the way back, Luo Zheng noticed that the number of guards in the accommodation area had clearly doubled, each one watching the surroundings as if facing a formidable enemy. Even with a guard escort beside Luo Zheng, they did not relax even slightly, strictly checked identification docunts. Everyone living in this area had a record, equipped with an entry card that, when scanned, revealed clear background data, making impersonation impossible.
After a thorough inspection, Luo Zheng finally reached the villa entrance. There were no guards within ten ters of the villa, adhering to the principle of not interfering with any country's privacy. The guard escorted Luo Zheng to the door and then left. Luo Zheng strode inside, and the staff on the first floor saw Luo Zheng and nodded in greeting. Luo Zheng returned the gesture and asked a few questions, learning that the president was resting in the bedroom. He hurried upstairs to the second floor, only to find Mountain Eagle waiting there, his expression grim.
"There's trouble, follow ." Mountain Eagle said preemptively without waiting for Luo Zheng to ask, speaking in a low voice, just enough for Luo Zheng to hear, and started walking forward.
Luo Zheng hesitated, then quickly followed Mountain Eagle, arriving soon at a room entrance to find Hong ihua and Lan Xue also there, watching the floor with serious faces. Luo Zheng looked over and saw a snake on the ground, already chopped into two halves, motionless, surrounded by bloody ss, and couldn't help but be shocked, turning towards Mountain Eagle.
"This snake appeared half an hour after you left. No one knows how it got in, just appeared out of nowhere. We had no choice but to kill it." Mountain Eagle quickly explained.
"Nice work." Luo Zheng praised, taking a few steps forward and squatting down to seriously look at the venomous snake on the ground, feeling puzzled as it looked like an ordinary venomous snake, nothing special. Slowly standing up, he looked at Hong ihua and Lan Xue and said in a deep voice: "Can you discern its thod of attacking people?"
"Can't tell. There's nothing lethal besides the teeth." Hong ihua said.
"However, Mountain Eagle ntioned a strange phenonon. Mountain Eagle, please explain." Lan Xue said beside him.
"Sure." Mountain Eagle quickly agreed, looking at Luo Zheng, intrigued, and seriously explained: "Normally, venomous snakes attack in one of two ways, venomous fangs and poison liquid. This snake reacted very quickly. After seeing sneak attack, it raised its head high, half its body off the ground, and was chopped in midair by my flying military knife. Oddly, it didn't spray poison liquid, but a mist-like substance."
"Poison mist?" Luo Zheng asked in surprise, looking at him.
Mountain Eagle thought for a mont and replied seriously: "Poison mist? Quite descriptive; it indeed looked like a water mist, very dispersed, disappearing quickly in the air, white in color. I looked at the ground, and there's no trace of water mist landing, it completely vanished into the void."
"So that's how it is." Luo Zheng mused in shock for a mont, then looked at Hong ihua and Lan Xue and said: "The venomous snake relies on scent to find targets and sprays poison mist at them. What's unclear now is whether the poison mist delivers a lethal blow upon contact with skin or if it kills upon being inhaled? Either way, it's disadvantageous to us."
"The reasoning is persuasive, it can be confird that the venomous snake finds targets by scent; otherwise, it wouldn't have co to this room. As long as we ensure the president doesn't have this scent, the venomous snake won't pose a threat to us. I worry that the perpetrator will try to re-apply the scent on the president after this failure." Hong ihua cautioned.
"Yes, the president has to attend various occasions and et diverse people. It'd be easy for the perpetrator to get the scent back on the president, all we can do is make sure the president showers frequently. Less likely during the day, I worry about night ti." Lan Xue worriedly said, looking at Luo Zheng.
"Not necessarily, my concern is that the enemy might change tactics. With the snake killed, the perpetrator would likely guess that we've discovered the assassination secret, and won't use the sa thod again. If they use a different thod, it'd be hard to defend against, putting us at a disadvantage. By the way, what does the increased guard presence an?" Hong ihua asked, turning to Luo Zheng.
"It was my request for Steve to strengthen security, raising the difficulty of assassination, which is beneficial to us." Luo Zheng explained, recounting Steve's wife's and internal guards' betrayal, which drew an astonished reaction. Luo Zheng solemnly added: "Steve must have gotten so clues and is pursuing them, but I don't anticipate success. A person who can ticulously plan out an assassination would definitely have an elaborate retreat plan."
"It makes sense, for Steve's wife to have been undercover for ten years, she must be an important intelligence operative, not used until absolutely necessary, and would definitely have a foolproof escape plan to ensure safety; otherwise, who would beco a spy in the future? That's a rule in the secret warfare." Hong ihua agreed.
"If it's indeed Sam Country, then Jackson is more complicated than we thought." Lan Xue cautioned.
"That's what worries ; Jackson being a military man, if he orchestrated this operation, it indicates a significant change in him—cannot be reasoned by common sense, and past experiences of dealing with Jackson may no longer apply." Luo Zheng spoke gravely, glancing at Hong ihua.
"A courageous and wise gentleman turned into a treacherous villain, the shift is indeed big. Regardless of whether it's Jackson or not, our mission is to ensure the president's safety. With both the banquet assassination and snake attack failing, Jackson won't let it rest and will plan more intricate assassination attempts for next ti. We can't afford to be careless." Hong ihua voiced concern.
After exchanging a few words, staff downstairs ca up, reminding that the president was to attend a eting. The president was already prepared and was waiting in the reception room. Luo Zheng entered to report, and the president looked at Luo Zheng in surprise, asking, "Weren't you participating in the investigation? Has sothing happened?"
"Yes, Steve's wife and a guard are highly suspicious, but they have both vanished. Steve might have found so clues and is pursing it. I ca back first." Luo Zheng quickly explained.
"So it seems soone is targeting us." The president said with a calm deanor.
"Yes, the likelihood of Sam Country being involved is high. Jackson and I are arch-enemies." Luo Zheng reported truthfully, not daring to hide anything on such a significant matter.
"Jackson, the son of the Defense Minister of Sam Country? So it's him, no wonder. It seems all of it could be orchestrated by him, your rivalry cos head to head again, this ti you cannot lose to him. You look very worried, does it an he'll strike again?" The president asked with surprise.
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