Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

Zhang Jian hung up on Karimi and threw his phone on the counter.

My gaze was fixed on the white Renault van across the street, beyond the glass window.

That guy has been standing here for half an hour.

He frowned.

With a slight thought, the system panel is brought up directly.

"System, check the people in the car over there."

[Ding! Target information retrieval in progress...]

[A deduction of $500 will be made.]

A pale blue virtual screen instantly unfolded before my eyes, and densely packed information scrolled down like a waterfall.

Zhang Jian quickly scanned the text above.

[Name: Ivan Kosov]

[Identity: Retired former member of the Russian Alpha Special Forces, currently serving in the "Black Gold" mercenary group, codenamed "Stinger".]

In places like Iran, mercenaries are a rare breed.

Once caught by the Revolutionary Guard, they would be hanged on charges of espionage, skipping the trial process altogether.

This guy's got some nerve, daring to openly scout out locations on the streets of Tehran.

Zhang Jian rubbed his chin and continued reading.

[Mission Status: The CIA Middle East office has posted an urgent bounty on the dark web, requesting identification of Shahra's protected individual. Ivan, a street cleaner who has taken on a contracted job, is currently working to identify the target.]

So, this guy is here to confirm his identity?

Zhang Jian's heart sank.

Although he himself was not exposed, Shahra's departure was clearly noticed by those moles in the General Staff.

The entire General Staff is like a sieve; once there's the slightest disturbance, before they can even react, the intelligence has already been leaked.

Iran's intelligence services are truly rotten to the core.

He took a deep breath, feeling even more pressured.

He picked up the cigarette pack from the counter and gave them a few words of advice.

"You keep an eye on things, I'm going to make a phone call."

Shahra nodded.

Zhang Jian arrived at the warehouse entrance, leaning on his cane.

He slowly lit a cigarette and leaned against the door frame.

The information about that person couldn't be given to Shahra directly; there had to be some pretext.

After finishing his cigarette, he stubbed it out with his toe before walking back to the front of the shop.

"How is it? Any unusual activity?"

Shahra shook her head.

Zhang Jian pulled over a chair and sat down, his expression calm and composed.

"We've figured out what's going on inside the car."

Shah was startled and abruptly pulled him back to look at him.

"The man in the car across the street is called Ivan; he's a Russian mercenary."

Zhang Jian crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"His main objective is to investigate the person you are protecting, which is me."

He paused, then made a joke.

"I suspect the information was leaked by a mole within your General Staff."

"I didn't expect you to be so highly regarded in the General Staff."

Shahra didn't react for a moment, staring at Zhang Jian as if he were a ghost.

Only a few minutes have passed?

He went to the back, smoked a cigarette, and made a phone call...

As a result, they even found out the nationality, name, occupation, and even mission objectives of the people in the car opposite.

This speed of intelligence gathering...

She couldn't help but shiver.

"Don't look at me like I'm a monster."

Zhang Jian shrugged.

"Intelligence brokers always need to have their own channels, otherwise they would have all died out in this business long ago."

He pointed to the back door of the shop.

"This kid is a retired Alpha Group soldier; he's very alert."

Zhang Jian lowered his voice.

"If you want to take him out, you might have to go around him through the back alley and avoid his blind spot in the right-side rearview mirror."

"If we confront him head-on, I'm afraid he might have other weapons in his car. With just your little pistol, you're likely to be at a disadvantage."

"Of course, if you feel you can't handle him, you can call for backup."

Shahra took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the horror in her heart.

Without a word, she reached out and pulled out the Glock pistol from the outside of her thigh, cocked it, and chambered a round.

Like a night owl, he slipped out silently through the back door.

Zhang Jian leaned back in his chair, picked up the now-cold tea from the counter, and took a sip.

The tea was somewhat bitter.

His gaze remained calm as he watched the white bread truck across the street.

Thirty seconds later.

Suddenly, a crisp "crash" sound came from across the street.

The sound of shattering car windows was particularly jarring on the quiet street.

Shahra executed Zhang Jian's command precisely, suddenly leaping up from the right rear blind spot of the bread truck.

She smashed the passenger window with the butt of her gun, leaned half her body into the car, and pressed the dark muzzle of the gun against Ivan's temple.

Ivan reacted extremely quickly.

The moment a gun was pointed at him, he showed no intention of surrendering.

He suddenly reached under the seat with his left hand, trying to grab the hidden shotgun.

But Shahra didn't give him that chance at all.

His free left hand transformed into a vicious elbow strike, whistling through the air as it slammed into the back of Ivan's neck.

A muffled "bang" was heard.

Ivan's eyes rolled back, and he slumped onto the steering wheel, causing the car horn to emit a short, sharp whine.

Shahra rolled out and opened the driver's side door.

Grabbing Ivan by the collar, they dragged the nearly 1.9-meter-tall Slavic man directly out of the driver's seat.

It dragged along, leaving a clear drag mark on the ground.

She dragged Ivan, whose face was covered in blood, into the grocery store and threw him onto the floor in front of Zhang Jian like a dead dog.

"Mr. Zhang, the person has been brought here."

Shahra put away her gun, her voice muffled.

"Clap clap clap".

Zhang Jian clapped his hands in a sigh.

Shahra's actions were under their watchful eye.

As expected, there are different levels among special forces soldiers, and Shahra's skills are clearly much better than Ivan's.

Furthermore, by taking advantage of the opponent's unpreparedness, they caught the other party completely off guard.

As expected, those who are personally assigned by the general must be quite capable.

"Should we inform General Al-Khalid?"

"The intelligence leak is a serious dereliction of duty by the General Staff."

"Can."

Zhang Jian stood up and walked up to Ivan.

Ivan coughed twice on the ground, slowly waking up. He tried to get up, but Shahra stomped him back down.

He spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood and struggled to lift his head.

He stared fiercely at Zhang Jian and sneered in broken Persian.

"You yellow-skinned monkey, you're dead meat."

Ivan gritted his teeth.

"You have no idea who you've messed with!"

"Once my employer discovers I'm missing, your entire shabby shop, along with both of you, will be blown to smithereens!"

Zhang Jian chuckled softly.

He looked down at the arrogant mercenary on the ground, his expression completely unchanging.

"Ivan Kosov."

Zhang Jian read the name aloud.

Ivan's expression froze for a moment.

"Former captain in Alpha Group."

Zhang Jian continued speaking, his voice not loud, but clearly audible in the quiet shop.

"He was dismissed from the military for smuggling weapons in Chechnya."

The fierce look on Ivan's face froze instantly.

Later, he joined the "Black Gold" mercenary group, codenamed "Stinger".

"In addition, you have $420,000 in your offshore account in Cyprus."

Zhang Jian bent down slightly and stared into Ivan's eyes.

"The password is your youngest daughter's birthday."

"August 17th, right?"

"The little girl is six years old and attends a private kindergarten in the suburbs of Moscow?"

"Do you need me to tell you the name of the place across from the kindergarten?"

Ivan's body convulsed suddenly.

He stared intently at the young Chinese man in front of him.

The fierceness and disdain on his face vanished instantly.

Instead.

It was fear, the ultimate fear!

"Who...who are you?"

Ivan's voice trembled.

He had only been on the job for less than four hours!

From the time he parked his car on this street until now, it's only been half an hour at most!

The other party not only found out his background, but also dug up all his accounts!

"How much money did the CIA give you to probe my background?"

Zhang Jian tapped Ivan's chest with his cane.

"Five thousand? Or ten thousand?"

Ivan's mouth was open, his lips trembling slightly, but he couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

"I don't have time to waste on you."

He straightened up and turned to look at Shahra.

"Search him and find everything of value on him."

Zhang Jian curled his lip.

"I spent a full five hundred dollars to buy his information."

"This debt cannot be pinned on me; he should reimburse it himself."

Shahra crouched down and deftly began to grope Ivan's body.

Soon, a tactical dagger, two bundles of US dollars, and a Rolex watch that looked quite valuable were thrown onto the counter.

"Alright."

Zhang Jian waved his hand.

"Break one of his legs, then call your General Staff and have them send someone to handle it."

Ivan's eyes widened suddenly, and he tried to struggle to get up.

Without hesitation, Shahra raised her right leg, the hard sole of her military boot slamming down on Ivan's right knee with tremendous force.

"Snap!"

The crisp sound of bones cracking echoed through the grocery store.

"ah--!!!"

Ivan let out a piercing scream.

He curled up on the ground like a boiled shrimp, cold sweat instantly pouring out of his forehead from the pain.

Zhang Jian couldn't help but shiver.

To be honest, this was the first time he had ever heard such a sound up close, and he was instantly terrified.

Suppressing the urge to turn around, I took a deep breath and walked back to the rocking chair behind the counter, trying to appear composed, and slowly sat down.

Shahra quickly pulled a rope from the shelf, tied it around Ivan's arm, and connected to Ahrid's communication.

The communicator was connected after only two rings.

Before Shahra could speak, Ahrid's impatient voice came through the communicator.

"What's wrong now?"

Shahra automatically ignored Ahrid's displeasure and glanced at Ivan on the ground.

"General, we captured a Russian mercenary in front of Mr. Zhang's shop."

Ahrid on the other end of the phone was clearly stunned.

"Mercenaries? At Zhang's doorstep?!"

Ahried's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"Yes."

Shahra reported the facts truthfully.

"Mr. Zhang said that this person accepted a bounty from the CIA's dark web and came specifically to investigate his identity."

"The intelligence came from the General Staff. My disappearance caught the attention of a mole within the CIA, so..."

A loud bang of a table being slammed came through the communicator.

"These scum!"

Ahrid was furious on the other end.

Is the person still alive?

"Alive, but with a broken leg."

"Keep a close eye on him! I'll send a team over right away!"

He roared in exasperation.

"Ten minutes! My men will be here in ten minutes!"

The communication was disconnected.

Shahra put the communicator back in her pocket and turned to look at Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian was holding the two stacks of US dollars in his hand, weighing them in his hand.

He then threw the money into the drawer, picked up the Rolex again, looked at it, and casually put it in his pocket.

"Five hundred dollars for twenty thousand, that's a pretty good deal."

Zhang Jian muttered something to himself and sat back down in the rocking chair.

Ivan was still groaning in pain on the ground.

Zhang Jian ignored him, picked up his phone, found Karimi's number, and dialed it back.

The call was connected.

"Hey Zhang? Why are you calling me right after I hung up?"

Karimi asked from the other end of the line.

"Sorry, the number I mentioned earlier was too small."

Zhang Jian looked at the blinding sunlight outside the door, "Six or seven isn't enough."

Karimi paused for a moment, then asked, "How many do you want?"

Zhang Jian tapped the table with his knuckles, making a crisp sound.

Ten.

His voice was calm.

"If possible, I want to see them standing in front of my shop before it gets dark this afternoon."

"Tell them to bring their weapons; things aren't going to be peaceful here."