"I knew he wasn't dead! I just knew it! That old sly fox isn't that easy to kill!"
In the Special Operations Command in the Green Zone, Thomas took off his headset and stood up to shout to Colonel Brown, who was standing not far away, "Colonel, you need to come listen to this recording!"
Colonel Brown walked over to Thomas and put on the headset.
Thomas replayed the recording.
Colonel Brown's expression became more serious as he listened, and by the end, his eyebrows were deeply furrowed.
After listening, he took off the headset and asked loudly, "Has the action team returned?!"
"They have already returned to the base near the airport."
An ISA team member immediately responded.
"Damn it!"
Colonel Brown said, "Hurry up and have them take off again, head to Haditha, land in the Victory Camp area, and then wait for my orders!"
Once Colonel Brown had arranged everything, Thomas said with undeniable pride, "Colonel, working with us is the wisest decision you've made."
Brown gave Thomas a glance.
He didn't like this kind of person.
But he had to admit that Langley had their own way of conducting black ops.
For instance, this time, Thomas had installed eavesdropping devices and tracking equipment in the Lincoln car. By having full control over the "Musician" Mercenary Group's movements, they indeed provided significant help.
The recording that was just played came from a listening device in the Lincoln car. It captured a conversation between Angel and Mr. J in the car.
Clearly, Mr. J was not dead.
Not only was he not dead, but he also seemed to forgive and forget, thinking that the failure of their initial meeting was due to US Special Forces' interference with the plan.
So he decided to arrange a new meeting to complete this important transaction.
He also reminded Angel to be cautious, suggesting there might be a mole in her escort team that resulted in the leak of the meeting location. Before meeting again, he asked Angel to be sure to sort out any risks within the security team, and he would contact her again in an hour.
Just then, an officer hurried into the command center holding a report.
"SIR! The preliminary analysis report of the body is out..."
"No need to look at it."
Colonel Brown waved his hand.
"Let me guess, the body isn't really Mr. J."
The officer was stunned, "SIR, you already knew?"
...
As both ISA and GRS departments had confirmed that the man killed on the dam was just a double for Mr. J, a storm was also brewing inside the refinery.
"A mole?!"
After hearing the judgment of Mr. J recounted by Angel, the Cook was the first to shake his head.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
He said with utter certainty, "There can't be a mole in my team!"
Maybe it was the ferocity of the Cook's expression that frightened Angel, causing her to quickly hide behind Song Heping.
Grey Wolf said, "Could it be someone from the ISF?"
"That's impossible too," the Cook said. "We have taken precautions before this. They don't know the exact location."
Indeed, the Cook had taken measures before arranging the trip to Krasa Town.
After all, in Illiguo right now, you simply can't tell who is a person and who is a ghost.
Especially the local forces, which are even more complicated.
Even though Sadam has fallen, quite a few officials from the old regime have surrendered to the coalition forces and have secured a place in the Temporary Management Committee.
These people are also a resource that the coalition forces must utilize.
It's true that the coalition forces are powerful and have militarily occupied most regions of Illiguo, but when it comes to managing the local people, they still need to rely on these former powers.
It's a dilemma any occupying army must face.
The Illiguo Temporary Management Committee is currently acting as an interim government, which after all is a puppet government supported by others, using those tribal powers, former government officials, and military forces, with Lighthouse Country's military pulling the strings behind the scenes. These bastards act as puppets on the front stage, using each other.
Therefore, under this Frankenstein-like government, loyalty is a joke for the hastily assembled armed forces; it's money that talks.
As long as there's money, they're willing to sell their souls.
That's why the Cook had the ISF stay in Krasa Town while he personally escorted Angel to the dam with five members of the "Musician" Mercenary Group. First, it was to honor Mr. J's wish not to see the ISF, and second, it was to guard against any potential traitor within the ISF.
"Maybe it was a drone..."
Grey Wolf recalled the drone that had previously appeared in the sky over the scene.
"That's right," the Cook's eyes lit up, "That's it! It must be this thing!"
He suddenly noticed that Song Heping had been quiet all along, so he asked, "Song, what do you think?"
After everything that had happened, the Cook now held Song Heping in high regard and wanted his opinion on matters.
It wasn't that Song Heping didn't want to speak, but after Angel mentioned the possibility of an inside man, something in his mind began to stir in the shadows, trying to emerge yet unable to do so, creating a feeling akin to constipation.
"It's not..."
Song Heping pondered for quite some time, but still couldn't grasp that elusive something in the darkness.
"A drone? What's there to think about? The US Special Forces and CIA have used it before for tracking and assassination."
Upon hearing the words "CIA."
Song Heping suddenly felt as if he'd been given an enema, and the jumbled fragments in his mind cleared instantly.
"The car! It's the car!"
He turned and ran toward the Lincoln armored vehicle, pulled open the door, and dove into the car.
Everyone was stupefied, not understanding what Song Heping was up to.
The dashboard, circuit board, seats, doors...
Luckily, this Lincoln had already been riddled with holes by a heavy machine gun, which made disassembling it somewhat convenient.
White Bear couldn't help but say to the Cook, "Song is dismantling the car? What's he doing?"
The Cook couldn't make heads or tails of it and shook his head.
But he wasn't going to stop him.
Song Heping was no fool; he knew what he was doing.
Soon after, Song Heping emerged from the car, sweating profusely, with something extra in his hand.
Smack—
He threw that thing on the ground.
"A listening device, and if I'm not mistaken, these two Lincolns have GPS trackers as well."
"How is that possible!" The Cook's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
"It was GRS! Yes," Song Heping now remembered, the two Special Soldiers he and Grey Wolf had killed near the dam in the woods were GRS men!
No wonder he had found them somewhat familiar.
He had seen this man before.
That time he and Ah Guan were delivering goods and got ambushed, the person who came to meet Thomas was this man.
It was just that back then he was so grief-stricken over the deaths of Ah Guan and Tan Fatty that he didn't pay much attention, just a fleeting glance.
When the Cook had mentioned CIA, it had suddenly hit him - GRS was a subordinate department of the CIA. If GRS was involved in this operation, it meant that Thomas was compromised.
If Thomas had an issue, the car certainly had one.
Song Heping had always felt it made no sense for Thomas to lend two expensive armored Lincolns to a little-known mercenary group; thinking about it now...
It wasn't because of any life-and-death friendship with him. Here, such bonds were worthless; life-and-death friendships were a daily occurrence.
Thomas lending the cars was a scheme with ulterior motives, targeting Angel.
With that in mind,
Song Heping felt even more pressure.
It now meant that he was opposing the CIA.
That was the number one spy organization of Lighthouse Country, and he had even killed one of their men.
Damnit!
This situation was really tough!