Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 94 Using Methods

The private club by the lake had few guests today.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting its glow on the wooden floor.

The lobby was empty, with only the occasional waiter passing by behind the door, his footsteps so light they were almost inaudible.

Alexei sat at the table, head down, cutting the steak on his plate.

The blade slid across the porcelain plate, making a piercing noise.

He frowned, put down the knife, picked up the cup, and took a sip of water.

Zhou Yi sat opposite him, smoking silently.

"Aren't you hungry?" Alexei asked.

Zhou Yi shook his head.

"You seem to have only said six sentences since last night."

“Seven sentences,” Zhou Yi said.

Alexei didn't laugh; he raised his hand and rubbed his temple.

"My performance this morning was terrible."

He stared at his steak. "But I wasn't unprepared—I've been planning this since last night."

“I even thought he might slam his fist on the table and say, ‘Why did your uncle send a kid?’ or he might just send his adjutant to fool me.”

"But he did nothing, and even seemed quite polite."

Zhou Yi didn't say anything.

“He didn’t say a single harsh word or lie the whole time, but I could tell he didn’t take it seriously at all.”

Do you know what that feeling is like?

Alexei paused for a moment, then continued, "It's like you walking into a meeting room in a suit and listing out the problems."

“But he just glanced at it, said ‘Okay, I’ll get back to you,’ then got up to answer a phone call and never came back.”

"I've never thought of myself as particularly smart, nor do I think I can control anything."

"But I originally thought that at least my uncle's identity would make them take it seriously."

"Now I understand that they are not afraid of my surname; they are only afraid of those who can truly harm them."

“And I’m obviously not on that list.”

Zhou Yi took a sip of his drink and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "What are you going to do next? Start the investigation from the train station?"

Alexei remained silent for a long time, then slowly shook his head. "I originally wanted to start the investigation from the grassroots level and uncover all the loopholes in the process."

"But I don't have the time or the ability."

“I studied ethnology and later obtained a PhD. My dissertation was titled ‘Power Structure and Ethnic Memory in Khosaur Wedding Rituals in the Don River Basin’.”

“During fieldwork, we often stayed in Lower Kurmoyar for several months at a time.”

“I know which villages use embroidered cloth to cover chicken coops at weddings, but I can’t even tell the difference between ‘standard decommissioning number’ and ‘replaceable storage and transportation code’ in the military supplies allocation list.”

He smiled, with a hint of self-deprecation.

"Yesterday was the first time I faced a person in real power alone."

“The other party did not know me, they only knew that my surname was Smirnov.”

"Then, he tested the waters."

"It turned out that, 'this kid really isn't up to par.'"

After saying this, Alexei leaned back in his chair and looked out at the sunlight.

"So," Zhou Yi began, his tone calm, "you're just going to go back and report like this?"

Alexei's lips twitched slightly, as if he was enduring something.

“I don’t want to go back like this,” he said, “because then I’ll be facing my uncle.”

"He won't scold me, but he will smile."

"You've seen that kind of smile before, haven't you?"

"Very gentle, like coaxing a child, and saying, 'It's okay, it's your first time, you did well.'"

Alexei paused for a moment, then turned to look at Zhou Yi:

"But the worst part isn't that I messed up."

"He really has expectations of me and is waiting for me to produce some results."

Zhou Yi stared at him, expressionless.

"You might think I'm a coward, afraid to shed blood, and unable to even utter harsh words properly." A few seconds of silence followed.

“Maybe you’re right,” Alexei said softly, “but I really don’t want to spend my whole life standing behind others.”

The sound of a ship's whistle could be heard in the distance.

Alexei's fingers twitched.

Finally, as if he had made a decision, he pulled out the stack of documents and placed them on the table.

"I realized something while I was going through this stuff just now."

“Look at these stations, Kamyny Station, Tatyanov Station, Lviv South, Delzhipro—who is in charge of each of them, what are the divisions of authority, and how should the scheduling procedures be carried out? I don’t understand.”

"And the goods on top."

"Airborne fire control processing unit, intermediate frequency radar filter, Su-27 hydraulic components, portable target designation terminal."

"Which unit were they assigned to? Were they under military control? Were they considered core supplies? I knew nothing about any of that."

"Not to mention, finding out what happened to them."

"But then I suddenly realized something."

"Actually, we don't need that many details."

"I just need to find out one thing—who has the ability to bypass my uncle's system and divert these goods from their original route."

"The arms trade may appear to be the movement of goods, but its essence is never materials, but people."

"It's not about 'where the goods go,' but 'who made them go.'"

“And that Lavrentiev, he knows.”

"He may not be the mastermind, but he certainly played an important role in it."

Zhou Yi lit a cigarette for himself. "What do you want to do?"

Alexei looked directly at him, no longer avoiding his gaze.

"I want to see him one more time."

"Not in the office, not at the port."

"In a place we control."

"Since we're doing illegal business..."

"Then there's no need to continue handling it according to their dog rules and regulations."

“This time, I’ll ask him the questions, and you’ll be in charge of the interrogation. Force him to tell you everything.”

Zhou Yi remained silent, quietly smoking.

Damn it, after all that effort, I finally got to hear those words.

This kid is such a good-for-nothing.

It's unbelievable that it took me so long to figure this out.

Fortunately, it's not too late now, so we can proceed with our plans more naturally.

Alexei misunderstood his silence and asked hesitantly, "You still mean the same thing, right?"

"Technically speaking, you are providing escort protection, not participating in the execution."

"."

"But I'm in danger now."

"What danger?"

Alexei shrugged. "Psychological danger, I guess."

"I'm in such an unstable state right now, I might just go to the port to kill someone this afternoon."

Zhou Yi laughed. "How do you plan to decorate?"

“Tonight, at eight o’clock,” Alexei said. “My uncle left a few dead spots in that old loading and unloading area on the west side of the port.”

"We usually use them for transit or to store goods."

"The door lock is mechanical, and there are no security cameras inside."

“I had someone draft a fake document so he would think it was about signing a supplementary order.”

"If he comes, take the opportunity to get him to explain why, and then let him go."

“If you can’t explain it clearly—” he paused, his eyes hardening, “then stay until I’m satisfied.”

(End of this chapter)