It was afternoon, and a Chevrolet Suburban had just arrived at the capital’s international airport .
In the car, Xia Lei firmly patted Liu Zhengnan on the shoulder . “Try not to go out for the next two days . Just stay in the factory . I’ve already talked to Zhou Xiaohong too, so she’ll help you . ”
Liu Zhengnan stared at the makeup mirror on the passenger seat . He still looked visibly shocked as he stared at Xia Lei’s face being reflected back at him, instead of his own . He couldn’t find even a single inconsistency despite observing himself multiple times . Whenever he saw his reflection, he couldn’t help but feel that his soul had somehow accidentally entered Xia Lei’s body .
Xia Lei, who was in the driver’s seat, also wore an unfamiliar face . He looked to be in his early thirties, with a darker complexion . No one would ever suspect that he was Thunder Horse Company’s Director in the least . Most people would only see him as nothing more than a migrant worker, one who did demanding physical labor on construction sites . He would not warrant more than one look at him on the streets, much less attract attention .
“Hurry in, your flight is about to take off . ”
“Then I’ll be going now, Brother . I don’t know what you’re going to do, but… be careful . ” Liu Zhengnan began to leave as he finished his sentence . He opened the car door and got out .
“Remember what I told you . I’ll be leaving too . Take care . ” Xia Lei said his goodbyes and drove off .
He didn’t tell Liu Zhengnan that he was going to Korea, nor did he say what he was going to do there . Xia Lei’s withheld the truth not because of a lack of trust, but rather because he wanted to protect Liu Zhengnan . After all, Liu Zhengnan was an ordinary person . There was no benefit in letting him know the truth, and only danger awaited him if he found out .
Even Xia Xue wasn’t aware that their father was a leader of the FA Organisation’s agents . Her version of the ‘truth’ was that he had been stuck in Cuba for a few years, and was able to return to the country recently after being saved by the local police .
Xia Lei drove into the airport’s car park, where he quickly parked his Chevrolet and got out . He then entered a Buick business car, which had been waiting by the side .
Two people were in the car, and Park Taeyong was the driver .
“Is everything ready?”Xia Lei cut to the chase and asked .
“Everything’s ready . The weapons have been shipped to the dock, and the ship and her crew are all ready . They’re on standby, waiting for us,” said Park Taeyong .
“Let’s go,” said Xia Lei .
The Buick drove out of the airport’s parking lot, heading for Jilin province .
Park Taeyong was a very focused driver . Xia Lei, on the other hand, had nothing to do at all, and was deep in thought, pondering every member of the Zodiac Team . His father had given him more power by giving him command of the team, but he still didn’t know much about any of its members . He needed to know how to manipulate each member’s individual strengths so that he could use this team most effectively .
“Park Taeyong, what’s your specialty?” Xia Lei broke the silence after a while .
Park Taeyong paused for a bit . “Uh, driving . My specialty is driving . ”
“You mean driving cars?” Xia Lei was a little disheartened at the mundane reply . Anyone could drive a car . Did it even count as a specialty?
“Well, yes . But besides driving cars, I also drive passenger planes and fighter aircraft . I can also drive tanks . ” Park Taeyong laughed . “Boss, I’ve always been in charge of transportation for our team’s missions . There was one time when your old man sent Yelena and I to bomb one of the FA Organisation’s training bases in Siberia . I remodelled an aircraft meant for distributing pesticides, and used it to drop the payload . ”
Xia Lei was speechless .
“Could I ask you for a favour, Boss?”
“What is it?”
“Our vehicles are lagging behind . If you give me the money, I can remodel our vehicles . It would be of great benefit to future operations . Oh, and I promise that every cent you give me will be spent on the upgrades . ” Park Taeyong was earnest, and probably worried that Xia Lei would mistake his request as him trying to cheat some money out of him .
Xia Lei laughed . “No problem . How much?”
“Two million would suffice . ”
“I’ll give it to you after the mission is complete . ” Xia Lei agreed candidly .
“Thank you, boss . You’re straightforward, just like your old man, except you have money and he doesn’t . ”
Xia Lei laughed and changed the topic . “Oh, right, tell me about the others too . I don’t know any of you too well, but I still need to have some sort of understanding of you guys . ”
“No biggie, I can fill you in,” said Park Taeyong . “I’ll tell you about Amanda first . ”
A picture of the black girl from England, with her unforgettable figure and striking resemblance to Rihanna, appeared in Xia Lei’s mind . He was very curious as to what Amanda specialised in .
“She’s British and lives in London . Her single mother was lying in an alley with a gunshot wound to the carotid artery when your old man found her . Amanda was only eight at the time ー young and pitiful . But she isn’t the same weak girl she used to be . Now she’s a very skilled hacker, adept enough to easily hack into the CIA’s backend . Besides that, she’s also been our tactician for many of our past operations . ”
Xia Lei clearly understood . ‘A crafty rabbit has three burrows’ was a very famous saying, and one that applied to Amanda . The rabbit looked cute and gentle, but was actually very careful and sneaky . It was obvious from her skillset and characteristics that she was the Zodiac Team’s Rabbit . She fit the ‘crafty rabbit’ role perfectly . Likewise, Park Taeyong was the Horse, since it resembled speed and was used for transportation . He was also a perfect fit .
“Where is Alessio?” Xia Lei then thought of the handsome Italian, who was the team’s Dragon .
“Alessio is from Sicily, Italy, which is basically gangster heaven . His parents were the victims of someone’s revenge, and murdered in cold blood . Street violence and gun fights ended up being his new parents, and he started shooting and killing by the age of eight . He’s one of the fiercest in our squad, and is anything but afraid of death . He’s always on the frontlines, and dispatching the most opponents . ”
He was the fiercest, he was not afraid of death, and he always charged ahead to kill the most enemies . Alessio’s description made him seem like a fierce dragon crossing a river . It was most likely the reason why Xia Changhe gave him the code name ‘Dragon’ .
“Bagu comes from Congo . He was orphaned at a young age when he lost his parents to the chaos of war . As a forest and mountainous regions expert, he’s familiar with everything there is to know about forestry . He’s able to easily navigate the wilderness and locate sources of water in any sort of complex, hilly area, which makes him a necessity for battles in those environments . Your old man always said that he’s basically a goat in a human’s body,” said Park Taeyong .
Considering goats were able to come and go as they pleased on precipitous cliffs, it was fitting that Xia Chenghe used ‘Goat’ to as Bagu’s code name .
“How about Marcus?” Xia Lei recalled the American, who was the Ox of the Zodiac Team .
“Heh, you mean the heavy guy?”
“He’s heavy?” Xia Lei recalled the large man, but didn’t feel like he was particularly burly . He just seemed slightly sturdier than the rest of the team .
“It’s his clothes that cover it, but as soon as he takes them off, he’s King Kong . He’s practically all muscle, and he’s also our wrestling expert . He was on a rampage in America’s underground boxing scene for years,” said Park Taeyong with a laugh .
“If your old man hadn’t stop him, he probably would’ve changed professions to compete as a professional boxer by now . He’s always called him a bull, especially since he’s the most impulsive member . He’s always getting into trouble . ”
Xia Lei couldn’t help but laugh . If he was an expert wrestler, he’d surely be as sturdy as an ox . Xia Chenghe didn’t give Marcus the moniker ‘Ox’ for nothing .
“How about E’er Demutu?” asked Xia Lei .
“He’s a Mongol, and the only non-orphan among us . His ancestors were all hunters, and he follows suit . He’s an expert in everything that has to do with hunting . . . But when I say hunting, I mean people, not animals . No trace of his victim is ever left at the assassination scene . If your old man wanted someone to magically disappear, E’er Demutu would normally be asked to complete the task . And to top it all off, he’s never failed . ”
The tiger was the king of all creatures, and a famously adept hunter . Xia Chenghe most likely named E’er Demutu ‘Tiger’ without a second thought . Xia Lei was a little surprised, however . The man looked completely ordinary, with absolutely no notable features in any way . He was the type of person who could never be found in a crowd . To think that he was actually an assassin…
“I suppose I don’t need to introduce Yelena, right?” said Park Taeyong with a smile . “She’s been with your old man for the past two years, and you’ve seen her often enough . She specialises in the disposal of potential threats . I don’t know how she does it, but even the CIA's best spies can’t escape from her . When we’re with her, we don’t need to worry about being spied on or tracked . ”
“Yeah, I know her . She likes to hide the information in her chewing gum . So how about the other five?” asked Xia Lei .
“You haven’t met them yet . I’ll tell you about them when they arrive . ”
“Okay . I agree that there’s no point in telling me now, since I don’t even know what they look like . ” Then, Xia Lei suddenly had a thought . “Hmm . . . I know that Yvevgenia was the Pig, but she died . My dad said that someone replaced her . Do you know who assumed her role?”
Park Taeyong only shrugged in response . “If I’m going to be honest with you, Boss, I don’t know either . Your old man just told us that there would be a new member joining, but he didn’t say who . We’ll see each other again one day, and I’ll know who the new Pig is when the time comes . ”
Xia Lei had always thought that his father kept the new Pig’s identity a secret only to him, not to the rest of the Zodiac Team as well . The new Pig was turning out to be very mysterious .
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring . . .
The satellite phone suddenly rang .
After sending Liu Zhengnan off, Xia Lei had turned off his regular phone . The Zodiac Team used satellite phones to communicate with each other in order to prevent wiretapping and tracking .
Xia Lei answered, and was greeted by a woman’s voice . “I’ve infiltrated the Korean National Police Agency’s surveillance system, Boss . ”
Xia Lei could tell that it was Amanda, but he was surprised by her . “But why are you doing that?”
“To locate Gu Kewen . I can find her using facial recognition, we’ll know her whereabouts so as long as she appears in Korea,” explained Amanda .
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