Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 355 HUMINT
Saigon, June 20th.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, the air was stuffy and sticky.

Nguyen Van Hang sat on a wooden chair by the door, holding a newspaper in his hand.

The room was small, the paint was peeling off the walls, and the electric fan was spinning shakily.

In the corner, Zhou Yi was curled up in a wicker chair, smoking.

He stubbed out his cigarette and quickly lit a second one.

The ashes piled up into a small mountain on the plate.

Ruan Wenxing felt bored and somewhat uneasy.

He was unaware of the dramatic changes that had taken place in the outside world.

An old regime collapses, and a new regime is established.

The United States is waging war on an unprecedented scale.

With a budget increase of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of people were urgently drafted into the military.

**The advance support engineers have just arrived at Langshan.

In the near future, even more organized support teams will join in.

Brezhnev's conservative policies forced Ho Chi Minh to turn to his northern neighbor.

But he could vaguely sense that a storm was about to break.

The number of patrol teams has increased.

The departure of the optician next door.

The woman across the hall who owned a dog suddenly became very quiet.

And everything was related to the rescue operation that day.

But now, I'm just sitting here doing nothing, sweating profusely from the heat.

On the contrary, the man who called himself Zhou Yi didn't seem to be in a hurry at all.

I stay indoors until evening every day, and sometimes I go out in the early morning and come back before dawn.

During the day, he would sit in a wicker chair, smoke, listen to the radio, and occasionally clean his gun.

After hesitating for a long time, Nguyen Van Hang finally asked:
"So, have you received any new information?"

"what news?"

"For example, the noise outside."

"Or, what explanation did your superiors give?"

Zhou Yi shrugged. "Which side do you want to hear?"

"From the south? From the north? Or did it come from across the ocean?"

Ruan Wenxing was speechless for a moment.

He didn't understand what Zhou Yi meant, but he felt that her expression was like a joke.

“I was just asking,” he explained.

"What's there to ask? Everything that was going to happen has already begun."

"You mean—"

“War,” Zhou Yi said. “The whole world is flocking to this place.”

Ruan Wenxing scratched his head, mustered his courage, and asked again.

"And what about your task?"

"."

Zhou Yi remained silent.

After a while, he glanced at the system countdown.

"If I were relying on your intelligence system, I might have to wait here for a year."

Ruan Wenxing was somewhat embarrassed.

He wanted to explain that He Wenchang's side was still actively searching.

Fifteen days have passed, and there is still not a single clue.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he ultimately didn't say them.

Zhou Yi seemed to see through his thoughts and sighed deeply:
"Maybe they're in Vietnam, maybe they aren't."

In the end, you still have to find it yourself.

As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up and picked up a pistol from the table.

"Let's go."

Ruan Wenxing was taken aback: "Where to?"

"Work."

As Zhou Yi spoke, he tossed the pistol and magazine over.

The metal traced an arc and landed precisely in Ruan Wenxing's hand.

"Today's topic—HUMINT."

"what?"

"Gather intelligence through interpersonal channels, such as interviews and interrogations."

"However, I personally prefer the other one, which is more efficient."

"Which one?" Ruan Wenxing asked instinctively.

Zhou Yi stopped answering.

“You’re not bad at fighting.” He opened the door and gestured for Ruan Wenxing to follow.

"Follow me tonight, and help me translate if needed."

Stepping out of the room, I realized that dusk had already fallen.

The clouds on the horizon were tinged with dark red.

Ruan Wenxing followed closely behind Zhou Yi.

The gun was tucked into his waistband and covered by his shirt.

There were still quite a few pedestrians on the street.

A vendor selling sweet soup pushes his cart, while children chase and play at the alley entrance.

The two walked through several alleys with mottled walls.

Zhou Yi didn't walk very fast, stopping occasionally as if he was estimating the time.

His steps were steady, light, and silent.

"Do you know where we're going?" Ruan Wenxing's lips barely moved. "To visit some friends," Zhou Yi said casually.

"What friend?"

"The CIA, an old friend of the American people."

Hearing his calm tone, Ruan Wenxing's heart couldn't help but beat a little faster.

They turned off the main street onto a narrower road.

Night falls.

The streetlights were shaded by the trees.

The market in the distance had already closed for the day.

A military police jeep sped past from the opposite direction.

Not far away, a language school came into view.

A two-story building.

The sign reads "Centre de Formation Privée" in French.

Looking through the window, it was pitch black inside, seemingly deserted.

Zhou Yi stopped at the corner ahead of time.

"Is that it?" Nguyen Van Hang asked.

"Based on my observations over this period of time, it is most likely a branch station."

"The real entrance is not ahead."

Zhou Yi raised his head slightly and gestured to the inconspicuous iron gate on the side.

There was a hidden sentry.

"Fifteen meters to the north, 175 cm tall, considered a temporary deployment."

"What is our plan?"

"The plan is simply to avoid dying."

After Zhou Yi finished explaining, he stepped out of the shadows.

He used an abandoned pickup truck as cover to drive around without arousing any suspicion.

When I got within five meters, a motorcycle sped past.

boom--

The engine roared to life.

Zhou Yi moved with the momentum, drew his knife with his right hand, and took the last three steps to approach along the wall.

The sentry was standing against the wall when he heard footsteps and turned his head to investigate.

But it was too late.

Zhou Yi grabbed the man's chin with one hand and lifted him up abruptly, forcing his throat to be exposed.

Immediately afterwards, the short knife was inserted diagonally from directly below, with the blade slightly to the left.

The soft tissue was instantly ripped open, penetrating the trachea, thyroid cartilage, and internal jugular vein.

A surge of warmth suddenly erupted out.

The other person's throat emitted a choking, bubbling sound.

Zhou Yi remained expressionless, pressing his knee against the inside of his thigh.

Then, lean forward and press your entire body against the wall.

The target struggled desperately, its fingers weakly trying to grasp something.

His eyes trembled, and only blood and foam churned in his mouth.

Zhou Yi lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over both sides, but no one seemed to notice.

So he adjusted the knife handle slightly to further enlarge the wound.

Three seconds later, the struggle ceased.

The man completely lost his will to live.

Zhou Yi slowly lowered the body until it lay flat on the ground.

He crouched down, sheathed his sword, and rummaged in the man's pocket for a moment.

He quickly found the keys, ID, and a notepad in his jacket.

Nguyen Van Hang was approaching from the edge of the dark alley.

Zhou Yi made a short gesture:
stop.

Don't move.

Upon receiving the signal, Ruan Wenxing immediately pressed himself against the wall and remained motionless.

Zhou Yi turned around and confirmed that the bloodstains on the ground had not spread.

The entrance is just to the left, a few meters away.

He took out his keys, walked to the door, and listened intently for five seconds.

It remained completely silent, with no sound of motors, people moving around, or airflow.

Zhou Yi inserted the key but didn't turn it, testing the resistance first.

Everything matches perfectly.

The iron lock then turned open, making a slight sound.

The next second, in the blink of an eye, a rifle appeared out of thin air.

The gun is pointed forward, the right elbow is slightly extended, and the left foot moves forward.

Zhou Yi gently held the door panel and slowly pushed it open.

A cold wind swept over me.

He stepped in alone, gun barrel first, turning with his shoulder.

Clean the blind spots on both sides.

There was no one behind the door either.

The space was cramped, like a logistics room, with several wooden crates and cable reels piled up.

Zhou Yi pressed himself against the wall and took three deep breaths, then focused his gaze on the corridor without moving.

After confirming there was no movement, he turned to the side and made a pushing gesture with his left hand.

Ruan Wenxing received the signal and quickly moved in close.

The door was then gently closed.

(End of this chapter)