162 Beginning the Mission

The rumor quickly spread from Shili Village to the town.

Amidst the growing commotion outside, Li Lin, the third son of the Li family, and Li Changjiang's mother were completely taken aback by Li Changjiang.

"Mom!"
"Mom!"

After calling out twice without a response, a burst of loud wailing followed. After receiving a couple of solid blows, silence instantly descended.

Given Liu Fen's temperament, even if she picked up a broomstick to hit him a few more times, it wouldn't dispel her anger. However, seeing the porcelain-doll-like foreign little girl standing right in front of her son Changjiang, staring at her with puffed-up cheeks, she couldn't help feeling a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

After a long moment of quiet, the atmosphere finally settled.

"Dad, why don't you talk some sense into Mom!"
Li Lin shot a reproachful glare.

"Talk sense? How am I supposed to talk sense? She's been bragging for ages about you joining the army, practically wishing the whole village knew. And look what you did—you went to Libya and brought her back a foreign granddaughter. Do you really expect her to wrap her head around that?"

With that, he turned around and walked away.

Early the next morning.

Li Changjiang had just finished wiping Lucia's mouth and hadn't even started his morning exercise when the roar of car engines echoed from the entrance of the village. Soon, two Santana police cars were seen driving straight toward his doorstep.

The cars stopped.
Several police officers stepped out.

Before long, the front courtyard of the Li family was packed three layers deep with curious onlookers.

"What is this about?"
"Are you Li Changjiang? We are from the county public security bureau. Someone reported that you are involved in child trafficking, specifically a foreign child. We need you to come with us and clear up some circumstances."

The speaker was a middle-aged police officer with no particularly noticeable expression on his face, though one could tell he was quite confident in his judgment of the situation. However, his words made Li Changjiang inwardly displeased.

Child trafficking?
Which of your damn eyes saw me trafficking children?

"Child trafficking? Do you have any evidence? Without evidence, I have every right to consider this slander."

Ever since returning from France, Li Changjiang had been harboring a bellyful of suppressed anger with nowhere to vent. Last night's chaos had been thoroughly unpleasant, and now, bright and early in the morning, someone was accusing him of child trafficking. His tone naturally carried a hint of hostility.

Both Li Lin and Liu Fen felt something was amiss.
Their son was still the same son, but Changjiang's temperament had never been this sharp.

Sure enough.

Just as Li Changjiang finished speaking, the middle-aged policeman's expression turned decidedly unfriendly. He wasn't any sort of big shot—just a very ordinary team leader from the county bureau—but Li Changjiang's attitude severely rubbed him the wrong way.

"What kind of attitude is that? Bring out the child's passport and other documents for me to inspect."

Li Changjiang ignored him.

Instead, he leisurely squatted down to tie his shoelaces. His morning exercise hadn't even begun before a bunch of people barged in and made his blood boil.

Other matters might have been troublesome to deal with, but he certainly wasn't lacking in Lucia's paperwork. Polika's influence was simply beyond imagination; within days of Li Changjiang deciding to bring Lucia to Huaxia, Polika had already had all the paperwork processed. Furthermore, Lucia's passport and other temporary documents were entirely genuine—a feat that was by no means simple.

Compared to overseas, Huaxia exercised much stricter scrutiny over such matters. For Polika to get everything ready in such a short period of time meant things were definitely not as simple as he claimed.

"Take him into custody."
"Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?"

Seeing the police move to make an arrest, Li Lin and Liu Fen panicked. Shoving through the crowd, they rushed forward to block Li Changjiang.

After a noisy commotion that lasted quite a while, Li Changjiang grew thoroughly annoyed, but ultimately produced the documents.

The items Polika had secured were naturally genuine, and the police couldn't find any flaws. However, once the police left, the matter blew up. Not only did nearby villages learn of the incident, but the entire Taihe area was soon buzzing with gossip.

"This matter must be handled strictly. Immediately investigate where Li Changjiang and that foreign child returned from, and get to the bottom of the whole story."

Thanks to the popularization of the internet and computers, the police system operated at a rapid pace. But it would have been better if they hadn't investigated; once they did, the upper echelons of the HA County Bureau were given quite a fright.

"What's going on? What do you mean you can't find anything?"

The police officer speaking barged into the information department in utter confusion, but when the technicians showed him the pop-up window on the computer screen, he froze instantly.

Insufficient privileges?
What on earth was going on?

As the situation continued to ferment, someone soon dug up Li Changjiang's previous records, naturally uncovering the logs of the higher-ups transferring his personnel file away. This prompted a wave of hushed sighs.

"Drop this matter for now. Do not spread it, and anyone who knows must keep it strictly confidential."

Over the next few days, the commotion gradually subsided, but things grew increasingly fierce in Shili Village.

People came to Li Changjiang's house every single morning, becoming an absolute nuisance. Eventually, Li Lin and Liu Fen had no other choice but to keep their doors shut even in broad daylight.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the end of August was fast approaching. The security mission Polika had assigned to the Hunter Mercenary Group was scheduled to begin at the end of September.

Before that, Li Changjiang's biggest headache was how to resolve Lucia's living arrangements. Leaving her in his hometown was out of the question; even if Li Changjiang and Liu Fen had no objections, he would never let Lucia stay in such a place.

Sending Lucia back to Europe was actually the best choice. After all, whether considering the social environment or ethnicity, Lucia would be much better suited to life there. However, judging by the current situation, the little loli had no intention of leaving him whatsoever.

A few days later.

Li Changjiang quickly departed HA County with Lucia. This time, the two of them made no stops, flying directly from Tianhe City to the United Arab Emirates to rendezvous with the Old Russian, Yilisa, and other members of the mercenary group who were already waiting there.

"Hey! Boss, welcome back! Lucia, little angel, how are you?"

After exchanging a hug with the Old Russian, Li Changjiang noticed that compared to before, Lucia's emotional state had stabilized significantly.

Li Changjiang had previously worried about whom to entrust her with, but upon this return, Lucia showed no resistance toward Yilisa. Thus, quite naturally, Li Changjiang left her in Yilisa's care.

After resting in the UAE for a few days, Li Changjiang and his team finally received the notification to execute the mission.

"Venus Vladimir **va!"
22 years old!
Became Russia's most famous piano performance prodigy at age 16!
Won the championship of the World Youth Piano Grand Prix at age 18!
--

The night sky in the UAE was bright, possessing an inscrutable hue. The coffee in his hand had already grown somewhat cold, but Li Changjiang tilted his head and poured the rest straight into his mouth.

It was strange!
Yet he couldn't figure out where the problem lay.

This Russian named Venus Vladimir **va was deeply enigmatic. Li Changjiang didn't understand why Polika had let the Hunter Mercenary Group take on this mission, but he was already certain it wasn't simply a matter of them being safe choices.

Three days later.

Aside from Yilisa and Lucia, Li Changjiang, the Old Russian, William, and the assassin—a total of seven people—departed directly from the UAE for Moscow to execute this mission, which looked ordinary on the surface but was definitely far from simple.

Meanwhile.

Inside an ancient villa in the suburbs of Moscow, graceful piano melodies compelled listeners to close their eyes and quietly listen to the story woven within the notes.

However, a suddenly pushed-open door instantly shattered that rhythm.

Walking in from the doorway with hurried steps, Polika paid no mind to the unfriendly expressions on the guards' faces on either side.

"Polika! You ought to be more polite."
"Yes, Uncle!"
"Very well. What is it?"
"The men from the Hunter Mercenary Group have already set out."

The lavishly decorated, golden hall fell into a heavy silence. After a long while, the Russian middle-aged man, who bore a striking resemblance to Polika, slowly uttered a single sentence.

"Then initiate the 'Mask Plan'. Remember, Polika, all those hunters can die, but I want Nicholas alive. This is what I owe him."
"Yes!" (To be continued.)