The Wolf of Los Angeles.

The relatively closed community provides a quiet and peaceful living environment, and unfamiliar faces that suddenly enter can easily attract attention.

The garbage truck that comes and goes in the community every day arrived on time this day. The experienced driver picked up a new guy and they cleaned up all kinds of garbage cans along the way.

Arriving near a detached house, Ramos, wearing sunglasses, jumped out of the car, opened the garbage bin loading container, and used a semi-automatic device to empty the garbage bins one by one into the corresponding bins of the garbage truck.

He had received professional training and had been studying the satellite image in recent days while searching for a suitable approach.

At this moment, he checked the satellite positioning coordinates and, taking advantage of the break between loading and unloading the garbage bins, quickly observed the houses diagonally opposite, using the garbage truck as cover.

The streetlight poles with community signs hanging on them, and the tall green trees in front of the poles, all match up perfectly.

The only difference from the photo is that the car parked outside has become a high-end Mercedes-Benz sedan.

Ramos didn't look at it for long. After cleaning up the trash, he immediately got into the car and headed to the next trash can location with the driver.

As soon as he started the car, he noticed four or five people coming out of a nearby house.

One of them, dressed in a suit—a typical agent's attire—was holding a blueprint or something similar, and was enthusiastically trying to sell something to a couple who were clearly a married couple.

Ramos knew this must be a real estate agent. He deliberately looked over there and said to Danas, who was driving, "The houses here are really nice. When will we be able to afford a house here?"

Danas glanced quickly in that direction and saw real estate agents and prospective buyers. He chuckled and said, "Thinking too much will only make you feel annoyed and think that society is too unfair. This is an upper-middle-class community. For people like us, it's very difficult to buy a house here."

Ramos, though not very old, acted impulsively, like a young man who had just entered society: "As long as we work hard, we will definitely be able to live in such a big house in the future."

Danas didn't want to dampen the young man's idealistic enthusiasm, but he still gave him a heads-up: "Your efforts will only make our boss move out of this community sooner."

Ramos feigned surprise: "Isn't it fine here? Why do you want to move out?"

Danas said with a sneer, "From an upper-middle-class community to a completely gated community of wealthy villas, huh?"

He stepped on the brakes, and the garbage truck stopped in front of another garbage bin placement point.

Ramos was very motivated and jumped out of the car to get to work without Danas reminding him.

Danas was happy to have someone do the dirty and tiring work, so he quietly lit a cigarette, turned on the radio, and listened to country songs.

In the following days, Ramos continued to do this promising job, going to work on time every day and stopping by the community as well.

On his third visit, he happened to see the people inside the target building.

It was a family of three, and they looked very happy.

Ramos had a hidden miniature camera mounted on his jacket, which captured images of all three of them.

That same afternoon, the house in the community that was listed for sale welcomed its fifth group of potential buyers in a week.

This is a couple in their thirties who haven't been married for very long and don't have children yet.

Before coming to see this house, I had already looked at four houses in Scranton and had also discussed the price of another house with real estate agents from other companies, but the deal fell through due to the price issue.

The real estate agent was enthusiastically promoting the house, not only making it sound incredibly appealing but also helping to negotiate a lower price with the landlord.

Compared to the other couples who had looked at the house before, he knew this couple truly had the financial means to buy it outright.

The Palmers, who came from Pittsburgh, were hired as sales directors by the largest agricultural machinery sales company in Scranton at a high salary.

After some haggling, the two parties reached an agreement the next day and signed a property transfer contract.

Although it takes time for the documents to be processed, the Palmers, who had just arrived in Scranton, purchased the furniture and appliances that needed to be replaced that same day, as stipulated in their contract.

This has attracted considerable attention in the community.

Smith, who was on vacation, also paid some attention to the new neighbors. Due to the caution required for his profession, he asked his wife and daughter to go over to the neighbors they often visited to inquire about their situation.

My neighbor is a kind-hearted person. As soon as the new neighbor's furniture arrived, he went over to ask if I needed any help and also took the opportunity to find out about the other party.

When his wife returned, she told him what she had learned. Smith didn't say much, but the next day he secretly followed her to take a look and found nothing unusual.

Smith was quite confident in his covert work, and also quite vigilant. He secretly planted a listening device while the other party was at work, and after observing for several days, he confirmed that there was no problem.

But a hidden network has already been laid around this community.

Inside the agricultural machinery company's office, Carlos, posing as a supplier, asked Palmer, "How's the situation?"

“This man’s name is Adam Smith, and he supposedly works in Arlington,” Palmer said, recounting what he knew. “He’s currently on annual leave and has been staying home for a while now.”

Carlos flipped through Palmer's records, recalling the situation that had occurred on set, and it wasn't hard to see that Adam Smith had only taken his so-called annual leave after the problems arose on set.

He said, "The next step is to focus on investigating Adam Smith's family and personal networks. The higher-ups have decided to leave Adam Smith alone for the time being."

Palmer fully understood: "Find out who's hiding behind Adam Smith?"

Actually, it's not about finding out, it's about arresting. Not to mention the bigwigs in Los Angeles, even Carlos could guess who this was related to.

However, to create a real threat, one cannot rely solely on speculation.

Carlos said, "Find the person if possible, and if Adam Smith is alerted, take drastic measures immediately."

Palmer nodded. "I understand."

Carlos didn't linger; he quickly took the product information and left the agricultural machinery company.

He then found Ramos, who was hiding in the shadows, and gave him some other instructions.

California places great importance on Adam Smith and has specially arranged for two teams to come to Scranton.

...Los Angeles, Coast Building.

Inside the supercomputing technology center, all the information about Adam Smith and his family and friends, as well as the video footage of his vehicles, was entered into the database after necessary technical disassembly.

Technicians said they used the supercomputer's massive computing power, along with the most advanced AI recognition system, to capture all relevant information.

Adam Smith's family is perfectly normal, with a quality of life far above the middle class, harmonious family relationships, and no involvement in any messy affairs.

The family rarely leaves Scranton, except for their annual trips.

Adam Smith’s company in Arlington was also exposed to Hawke’s attention.

This is a foundation called Chester's Foundation, which is not very large and has been established for more than ten years.

To be precise, it was established in the year that Richard Lamb's second term ended.

Its business is charitable relief, and according to the information found, its charitable relief efforts are not limited to North America, but also extend to parts of the Middle East and India.

Hawke's foundation also does similar business. Hawke is an expert in this field, and a little analysis reveals that the so-called charitable aid funds may end up somewhere in the end.

There are countless similar foundations or companies across the United States, and no one usually pays attention to them.

Hawke instructed Pierce Madden, the foundation's director, "Mobilize resources and investigate the foundation's overseas financial situation."

Pierce understood immediately: "They might have ties to armed groups in the Middle East?"

Hawke said, "We need some solid, credible data and information, something that's published in the media and is convincing enough."

Pierce was confident this time: "With a specific target, it's much easier to investigate."

After Pierce left, he asked Campos, who had just arrived, "What's the situation with those people from the Aksa militia?"

Campos said, "Betty and Fiona have made contact with our informant, Ambrose, who is in charge of military operations in Los Angeles. His group is completely under our control, and the group that entered through Los Angeles International Airport has also been under our surveillance."

Hawke asked, "I remember there was another group coming from San Diego?"

"They disguised themselves as homeless people and loitered around the federal prison." Campos had planned this all along: "Marcelo and Carvajal had already taken control of all the homeless people near the federal prison before Epstein was even brought over."

He thought for a moment and then said, "These people haven't made a move yet; they're still in the preparation stage. The people behind them haven't shown up yet."

Hawke knew exactly why, saying, "The FBI hasn't really put pressure on Epstein yet."

The transfer of Epstein to Los Angeles followed normal procedures of the Department of Justice. Even in the Ferguson family-run prison, he could not completely escape legitimate judicial supervision.

Jennifer's approach is to gradually increase the pressure on Epstein, which will take some time.

Of course, the most important thing is that the real target has not yet appeared.

Hawke is also considering whether to increase pressure on Epstein in the near future.

The situation at the prison is basically under control, and he doesn't need to expend too much energy on it.

Hawke remembered something else, looked at Henderson who hadn't said much, and asked, "Has the delegation to Argentina sent back any updates?"

The delegation has been on the field for almost a week, and Henderson gave an initial report: "We have been learning about Lopez's company and conducting targeted market research. However, Argentina is sparsely populated, the pace of society is slow, and people tend to procrastinate. In some ways, it is very similar to Spain."

As is well known, Spain has an unusually slow pace of life, and Argentina was formerly a Spanish colony.

Henderson continued, “Livestock and agriculture are pillar industries in Argentina, and they adopt a development framework of large ranches and farms. Drones and single-person transport vehicles certainly have a large market, which the inspection team can be sure of. However, the specific commercial promotion methods to be adopted will depend on the specific situation of the Argentine market and a suitable plan needs to be formulated.”

Hawke understood this as well, noting that every country's market is different and it's impossible to simply and crudely apply the American model.

He recalled Edward reporting something and asking, "In the negotiations between the two sides, was Lopez's side very cooperative?"

Henderson frowned slightly: "It's not just cooperation, they've made quite a lot of concessions. They'll back down as soon as they insist on our demands."

For other Americans, this would be considered normal, after all, the United States is the world's only superpower.

Americans deserve all kinds of preferential treatment around the world.

Those who cause trouble are most afraid of others causing their trouble. Hawke wouldn't give up such a vast market as Argentina, and asked, "What about the people we secretly sent? Have we received any feedback?"

The behind-the-scenes matters were not Henderson's responsibility, and he did not answer.

Campos continued, "Before the expedition team arrived, they formed a survey team mainly composed of Argentinians, who secretly went to Buenos Aires. They conducted secret investigations and data collection, and gathered some information."

He came over today and brought along the feedback from the other side.

Hawke took the document and quickly flipped through it; it contained information on Lopez's businesses and companies in Argentina.

This person openly possesses assets exceeding two billion US dollars, with businesses extending beyond agriculture and animal husbandry to include entertainment and football.

For example, he owns a large football agent company that controls many Argentine football players' access to play in Europe.

Campos emphasized another aspect: "The investigation team disguised themselves and entered a high-end club belonging to López. Some executives and staff members of the López Group frequented that club, and from their discussions, they obtained an uncertain piece of information—López was very likely to run in the next Argentine presidential election."

It's not uncommon for billionaires to run for president. Hawke pondered, "The United States treats Latin America as its backyard. Apart from Venezuela, most other Latin American countries have adopted a subordinate attitude. Is Lopez's cooperation with us related to his desire to run for president?"

The information gathered did not fully support this claim, and Campos could not give a definitive answer. He said, "Our people have selected a suitable target, found his weakest point, and are trying to make contact to see if they can find out some secret information about the Lopez Group."

Hawke did not object. An ambitious billionaire had taken the initiative to seek cooperation and even offered concessions to the West Coast. In his eyes, this could not be explained solely by America's superpower status.

He said, "We can try, but if things don't go as planned, we should evacuate immediately."

"There's a good chance of opening a breach," Campos said. (End of Chapter)