Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

Zhang Jian dusted off his hands, slowly stood up from the recliner, and walked towards the front hall.

To be honest, he really doesn't want to deal with those people from the intelligence department right now.

Too much work, too little money.

In contrast, the General Staff's side did the exact opposite.

Selling intelligence to Al-Khalid is both profitable and hassle-free.

The money is right, and there's not much trouble.

Most importantly, with the General Staff Department backing them up, the store's security level has increased significantly.

How could the intelligence department alone possibly provide him with a basement full of weapons and equipment?

Zhang Jian lifted the curtain, walked to the counter, and looked at the other person through the counter.

"Major Reza, what are you doing here in the middle of the day instead of resting in the hospital?"

Zhang Jian spoke casually, not even bothering to pour a glass of water.

Reza took out several wads of money from his pocket, placed them on the counter, and pushed them forward.

"Mr. Zhang, I'm here again to buy information."

Zhang Jian raised an eyebrow and glanced at the US dollars on the table.

"What kind of intelligence are you buying?"

"Mossad's."

Reza sighed.

"Several high-ranking officials have been assassinated recently."

"The higher-ups are pressuring us to investigate this matter, but I don't have any leads, so I'm just trying my luck with you."

Zhang Jian rolled his eyes inwardly.

Taking a chance?

This is clearly just laziness; they don't want to spend the time and effort to look it up.

He initially wanted to refuse outright, but then he reconsidered.

This guy is from the intelligence department after all. If we directly embarrass him, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause behind our backs in the future.

He casually grabbed a piece of sticky note, picked up a pen, and quickly wrote down a name and an address.

This is the cheapest piece of intelligence in the system.

A liaison on the periphery of Mossad has no impact on the overall situation, but it's enough to fool the superiors.

"Fifty thousand dollars."

Zhang Jian pushed the sticky note over.

Reza did not haggle.

He counted out five stacks of money from the table and pushed them over, then put the rest back in its place.

He then folded the note Zhang Jian had written and tucked it into his pocket.

Zhang Jian was slightly surprised.

In the past, Reza was very stingy when buying intelligence. Even if he didn't bargain, he would always complain a few times. Why is he so willing to do it today?

Before he could think further, Reza turned his head slightly, his gaze passing over Zhang Jian's shoulder and looking towards the backyard.

Amidst the swirling smoke of the barbecue, Bakhtiar, shirtless, fanned himself while Haishen continuously turned the meat.

"It's quite lively here at Boss Zhang's place."

Reza twitched the corners of his mouth, his smile somewhat forced.

"Barbecue?"

"right."

Zhang Jian followed his gaze and glanced at him.

"Brothers, you've worked hard for a month, you deserve a good meal. Major, how about staying for a couple of skewers?"

"No need, I have official business to attend to."

Reza withdrew his gaze, leaned on his cane, and limped towards the door.

As I pushed open the door, the wind chimes on it rang crisply once more.

Farhad walked to the counter and watched through the glass door as Reza got into the passenger seat of a black sedan.

He didn't turn around until the car started and disappeared at the end of the street, his expression somewhat solemn.

"Boss, something's wrong with Reza."

Zhang Jian put the $50,000 on the table into the drawer.

"How so?"

"He had been observing our situation ever since he walked in."

"Look at the layout of the hall, the number of people in the backyard, and even observe Ali's gun and Shahra's position."

Farhad paused, then added a sentence.

"It's a professional instinct; he's assessing the force deployment here."

"I agree with Farhad's statement."

Shahra walked to the counter, her brows furrowed slightly.

"His gaze just now was clearly cautious, unlike before. He has something to hide."

Zhang Jian rubbed his chin.

He was so focused on dealing with Reza that he didn't really pay attention to these details.

But Fahad was a former senior intelligence agent, and Shahra was a top-notch agent sent by the General Staff; their intuition was definitely correct.

What is Reza, an intelligence shopper, doing assessing the military strength of a grocery store?

Does the number of people in his own store have anything to do with him?

Zhang Jian felt increasingly uneasy.

He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Ahrid's number directly.

The phone rang three times before being answered.

"open?"

Akhalid's voice came through.

"I've already reported the situation, but the higher-ups haven't finished their assessment yet. If you're asking about the results, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer."

"No, no, no."

"General, that's not what I'm asking about."

Zhang Jian got straight to the point.

"I wanted to ask you about something."

"Has your intelligence department been looking for Mossad agents lately?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"This task has always existed."

Ahrid's tone became somewhat strange.

"Do you have some intelligence pointing to Mossad? Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Zhang Jian briefly recounted how Reza had come to buy intelligence.

"Bang!"

A sound of someone slamming their hand on the table came from the phone.

"What a disgraceful piece of trash!"

"A major in the intelligence department, having to pay for intelligence just to investigate a case!"

"These useless bunch! The government allocates so much funding to them every year, is this all they do? What's the point of keeping that department around?!"

He was cursing and swearing on the other end of the phone.

Zhang Jian didn't respond. He waited until the man finished cursing before pretending to ask a casual question.

"By the way, General, what happened to Reza's leg?"

"With such a thick cast, it looks like the injury is quite serious."

"Don't even mention it."

Aihari's tone was somewhat irritable.

"It happened just a couple of days ago."

"This guy led a team to raid a Mossad hideout, but not only did they find nothing there, they were also ambushed."

"ambush?"

"Yes, two of his men died, and he himself was stabbed in the leg and almost didn't make it back alive."

Aiharid scoffed.

"We didn't catch the person; instead, we got ourselves into a mess."

Zhang Jian astutely grasped the key moment.

"A couple of days ago? Which day specifically?"

"When else could it be?"

Aiharid sighed.

"It was the night we captured 'Black Snake'."

Zhang Jian's mind went blank.

The day the black snake was captured?

That night, "Black Snake" was not caught.

At the same time, Reza was injured?

Zhang Jian felt his heart beating faster and faster.

He straightened up, took his phone, and walked to the corner of the hall.

"Brother, where did Reza get the clues for that hideout he investigated?"

"How would I know? I don't usually get involved in their intelligence department's internal affairs unless it's something major."

Aiharid could clearly sense that Zhang Jian's voice was off.

He paused, then asked, "Zhang, do you think there's something fishy about this?"

"No, I was just asking."

"General, please continue with your work. I'll treat you to barbecue another day."

Zhang Jian hung up the phone hastily.

He leaned against the wall, quickly going through all the clues in his mind.

The Black Snake ran away.

Reza is injured.

And the person who provided the information about the "Black Serpent" was himself.

Today, Reza, dragging his broken leg, came to the general store to buy information.

It appears to be buying intelligence, but the motives are clearly impure.

Both Farhad and Shahra could tell that Reza was assessing the grocery store's security.

Why would an injured intelligence major assess the weaponry of an intelligence broker?

unless……

He wanted to resort to force.

But Reza had no reason to attack himself.

I've been helping them deal with the Americans and Israel all along.

And behind him now stands Ahrid.

To take action against oneself is to slap the General Staff in the face.

unless……

Reza's stance has now changed.