newbobooks Chapter 1337 The Soldiers Kumail Led (Happy New Year)
Chapter 1337 The Soldiers Kumail Led (Happy New Year)
Chapter 1337 The Soldiers Kumail Led (Happy New Year)
Since it involved a conspiracy, Tang Ze certainly wouldn't take Vermouth anywhere else.
Once again, Vermouth arrived at the Phantom Thieves' hideout, which was essentially a staged version of the group's headquarters.
To be fair, after a long period of palace simulation and learning, Noah's virtual London has already begun to expand to outer London. It can now be played as a Victoria simulator, so building a detailed house interior is not a difficult task for him.
So when Vermouth got out of the car, she saw a house that was a little more lived-in than the old house that had been simply pretended to be uninhabited last time.
The corridor on the first floor still had a lot of dust, but this time it was clear that people lived there.
So when she entered the house from the garage and bumped into Naomi Altinto, who looked surprised, she just smiled kindly and didn't say anything when she saw Tang Ze walk up and coldly shoo her away.
"I need to use a large number of devices, and I always need someone to maintain them," Tang Ze smiled subtly. "I usually don't let her come here."
"No need to explain to me. I feel more at ease with her in your hands." Vermouth waved her hand casually, offering no further comment.
Naomi Altinto went missing after the Pacific buoy sank, and the organization naturally assumed that she had been transferred away under relatively tight information protection after accepting a new project from Interpol.
Vermouth hadn't thought much about this issue before, and she wasn't surprised to see her in Kumail's hands.
For Kumail, whose childhood was marked by constant displacement and who lacked control over his own survival, his outburst of desire for control was less a personality trait and more a form of psychological compensation.
Since he considers Naomi Altinto a threat, even if that threat is small, it would be intolerable to him.
"There won't be any new developments in cross-age facial recognition, so it's not a bad thing for you, right?" Tang Ze said in a very teasing tone.
"Indeed." Vermouth shrugged gracefully and sat down on the sofa. "However, if my situation were to be exposed, the FBI would pose a much greater threat to me."
Tang Ze watched as Curaçao awkwardly sat down opposite Vermouth, making a dusting motion as if she were utterly disdainful of what he had just mentioned: "Who knows? With all this mediocre progress over the years, they might even get funding thanks to your unchanging face."
"I don't deny your guess." Vermouth's smile was much more genuine this time, having understood his subtext.
To be fair, Shuichi Akai, having infiltrated the organization for so long as an undercover agent, may indeed possess a lot of security value. However, the real reason the FBI is willing to provide him with such a team and personnel, and continue to provide funding, might actually be Jodie.
Because the evidence provided by Judy reveals an undeniable fact: Sharon Vineyard and Chris Vineyard are actually the same person. Considering the considerable time that this evidence was produced, everything is solid and compelling enough to demonstrate that Vermouth's appearance and physical functions have truly remained unchanged.
She is a female celebrity who frequently appears in front of the camera. Even if we can't see her real life, at least her physical condition is genuine.
A beauty whose appearance has remained unchanged for decades—this project sounds much more promising than anything about counter-terrorism or capturing transnational criminal organizations.
"I already explained the basic situation last time." Without sitting down with them, Tang Ze gestured to Curaçao, whose hands were resting on her knees. "There are currently two plans. You take the risk, or she comes. It makes no difference to me. As for which method to use, you two can discuss it."
His tone was relaxed and casual, as if he were simply arranging a leisurely afternoon tea for two people who wanted to socialize with each other. However, Vermouth and Curaçao, who were silently looking at each other, only tensed up, and the atmosphere was very tense.
"Alright, now it's the ladies' time, so I won't disturb you any longer." Tang Ze smiled and gave a gentlemanly bow. "I need to take care of a few things. Excuse me."
After Tang Ze finished speaking, he seemed to genuinely not care about their subsequent conversation, and turned to leave the small meeting room.
Vermouth did not pay attention to his movements.
Regardless of any additional functions this building may have, its earliest and most fundamental purpose was for Kumail to detain and treat Tang Zezhao. Kumail didn't need to ask anyone else if he wanted to visit someone.
Before actually speaking, Vermouth looked around the room.
Following the principle of disguise, Kumail would certainly not use any rooms that could be seen from the outside. This place, furnished only with a coffee table, sofa, cabinets and other furniture, looked exactly like a tea room for drinking tea and relaxing. The only drawback was that there was no window, which made it seem a bit cramped.
It aligns well with the layout Kumail would choose, but I wonder if it was specifically designed for the two of them.
"How have you been these days?" As if it were a casual conversation, Vermouth rummaged through her purse, pulled out her cigarette case, took out a thin cigarette, and held it between her fingers. "Is working for Kumail difficult?"
As she spoke, she leaned forward in a relaxed posture, her body curves rising and falling naturally with the movement, making her gesture full of sexy feminine charm. It can only be said that she is a female star who has been in the entertainment industry for many years; every move she makes is full of charm.
However, as she approached and stared intently at him with her light green eyes, Curaçao felt as if she were being watched by some ferocious beast.
As with every encounter with her in the past, there was no peaceful warmth in those eyes, only a cold scrutiny and contemplation. It seemed that if anything displeased her, her insignificant life would be easily taken away by her judgment.
Fortunately, I am no longer such a fragile, rootless duckweed.
Even if Vermouth were to truly anger Tang Ze, she wouldn't do anything more until Tang Ze nodded.
"—Kumel is a great boss." Curaçao looked back at her and said the truth, "He's the best I've ever had. I'm very grateful to him."
"Heh, that's something you can't really argue with." Vermouth seemed genuinely amused, a smile spreading across her face. "He really can be surprisingly kind from time to time."
It's not surprising that there were many interests at play in rescuing Curaçao, and Vermouth didn't simply label such an act as benevolence.
What she said was a bit harsher, after all, Kumail, who came from a laboratory background, couldn't possibly be unaware of Curaçao's "use".
However, given that Curaçao is currently in good condition and doesn't appear to be injured, Kumail has at least managed to maintain a relationship similar to that of a real employee and boss, thus ensuring Curaçao's basic human rights.
Of course, considering that Sherry is also under Kumail's control, it's impossible to know whether there's any exaggeration involved.
"I am very grateful to him," Curaçao repeated.
Ignoring everything Tang Ze did for her, even without those identities, Tang Ze was just Kumail. The fact that he was willing to give her a chance to live, instead of using her and then discarding her like others, was already a rare act of kindness in her barren life.
Does she really deserve so much investment and planning? Is she really qualified to participate in such an important project and bear such trust?
To be honest, even Curaçao himself wasn't entirely sure, but that's exactly what Tangze did.
Saying thank you and gratitude was simply because she couldn't find a more intense expression of emotion in her mind; her true feelings were far more intense than what she was saying.
"You should be thanking me." Vermouth pulled a lighter out of her makeup bag by the corner of it. "Younger children are more soft-hearted."
After losing Curaçao and Binga, and with fewer and fewer people at his disposal, Rum's anxiety was almost overflowing.
At this moment, Kumail's plan is actually quite feasible.
There was no need to inform her at all. If she knew the plan's deceptive exterior, she might even fall for it. With Kumail's intelligence, he wouldn't be unaware of this.
But in the end, he maintained the demeanor of an accomplice and chose to sit down and openly discuss terms with her, presenting the facts and reasoning with her. This was already respectful enough for him.
She really is very soft-hearted.
Curaçao, who was fully aware of Tang Ze's persuasive skills and the details of his plan:
'
Tang Ze even came up with such a ruthless scheme to trick Rum into putting the noose around his own neck. Does Vermouth call that being soft-hearted?
Sure enough, the dosage of the tissue is the key.
Curaçao pursed her lips, unsure how to respond, and lowered her head, leaning forward as well.
The low table in front of them wasn't wide, so that she and Vermouth were less than an arm's length apart.
Vermouth raised an eyebrow, making no reaction, but rather observing Curaçao with interest, wondering what she was going to do.
Without a word, Curaçao raised her hands and took the vintage lighter from Vermouth's hand.
After a few clumsy attempts, amidst the rough grinding sound of the grinding wheel, orange-red flames shot out from it.
Vermouth finally laughed for real.
Compared to the past, when she was free to move around, she was like a heartless puppet. Now, Curaçao looks quite much like someone who has been trained by Kumail.
Vermouth put the filter in her mouth, leaned forward, lit the cigarette with the small flame, then leaned back, sinking completely into the soft sofa that smelled of new leather, and raised her chin.
"Alright, since I promised him, I'll naturally keep my word. Let's start with the basics. Stand up, take a few steps, and imitate someone. You need to start with their gait."
Here, the two ladies, who had briefly bumped into each other, finally began their teaching work. Over there, Tang Ze, who had walked out of the door, turned a corner and entered the "monitoring room".
Naomi was jumping around excitedly among the group of college students huddled together watching a movie.
"This is so cool! I know it's not a real holographic game, but it's still so cool! Wow! How did I do? Pretty good, right?!"
As a programmer who is completely pampered, Naomi doesn't actually get involved in the Phantom Thieves' work.
Her main tasks were to maintain Noah and the website, assist Noah in algorithm development, especially the sensing algorithms for electronic eyes and other detection devices, and incidentally do every task that operations and maintenance personnel are unwilling to do but can never escape: repairing computers.
To be honest, as a front-line engineer who has actually participated in the construction of large-scale network projects, Naomi is really good at fixing computers. She even did some extra development, such as adding visualization components to the scanner that Matsuda Jinpei made for his small inventions. It was a pleasant surprise.
Her daily routine now consists of coding, petting her cat, cuddling Ai Haibara, and occasionally sneaking a peek at Ai Haibara's phone photo album by befriending Noah. She considers her life fulfilling.
The only problem might be that, despite joining such a cool-sounding underground organization, she lives such a regular and healthy life, which makes her quite regretful.
So when Noah mentioned a project that required conning outsiders, she volunteered to participate.
How to put it? It's like I've infiltrated the crew of one of my favorite TV shows, worked behind the scenes for a long time, and finally had the chance to act for two minutes. Even though I know that this little bit of the process doesn't even count as actually participating in acting, I still can't suppress my excitement.
"That's good, your reaction was quite natural." Miyano Akemi pulled her aside and made her sit down obediently beside her, reassuring her, "If it really doesn't work, you can ask Noah to cut this out for you to keep. He's got plenty of camera angles."
At this moment, the place where Vermouth is located can basically be regarded as the interior of Noah's palace. It is only a matter of a word to control it. Noah has long since stopped worrying about this computing power.
"That wasn't a natural reaction, I was genuinely surprised." Naomi, who called Miyano Akemi "older sister" with perfect ease after learning her identity, was naturally very obedient under her. She sat down next to her and explained, "Isn't she a famous movie star? She's so beautiful in person. I never thought such a big star would be such a bad person."
Naomi had received an explanation about what the Phantom Thieves were fighting, but she had never actually encountered such a thing. As a genius girl who grew up in a honey pot and ivory tower, she didn't really have a clear concept, only a superficial impression that they were dealing with bad guys.
Now that she has seen such a concrete person, she truly understands what the group she belongs to is fighting against.
Even the celebrities who frequently appear on screen are part of that group. Only God knows how far their influence has spread.
"Don't laugh." Tang Ze walked over and sat down, taking off his neatly made-up coat. With Shimabukuro Kimie's help, he replied jokingly, "Now you're one of my trained soldiers. Be careful you don't get tricked into dying next time."
'
"I'm not afraid then." Naomi chuckled twice. "Anyway, you and Ai will save me no matter what."
Anyone who knows a little about the Phantom Thieves knows that while other companies use one type of personal insurance, their job insurance is a different kind.
This insurance is incredibly risky. Even if the situation is dangerous, what's so scary about it?
Look at Curaçao right now, being held by the shoulders and back by Vermouth and being touched at such close range, yet she shows no fear. Who could resist such a sense of security?