Chapter 81 Chapter 81 Whatever you did in the bathroom...

Amidst the chaos, Elio finally found the right button. He pressed it, and the bomb finally calmed down, its lights no longer flashing, its countdown no longer ticking. Elio breathed a sigh of relief and patted the back of Leopold's hand. His best friend stood there, frozen in place, staring blankly at him, then back at his bomb-studded vest.

"I know this looks scary," Elio tapped his headset, temporarily shutting down the communication, "but everything that just happened was planned. I'll be fine, Leo."

Leopold looked at him. Those blue eyes held a complex expression, but Leopold said nothing. She simply stared at him, then slowly loosened her grip. Elio, freed, slipped delicately from Leopold's grasp, then patted his friend's shoulder comfortingly.

"It's okay," Elio said.

Leopold remained silent for a moment, his hands resting on the edge of the sink. Elio zipped up his pants again, glanced at himself in the mirror, and then at Leopold.

"You're such a bastard," Leopold said weakly.

"I know, I know." Elio glanced at his watch. "I'm sorry I made you worry. I'm sorry, but I really have to go now."

"Elio."

The assassin, who had been called back, had already retreated to the door. He gripped the door handle and turned around.

“When this is all over,” Leopold told him, her voice still trembling, “remember to send me a text. Just one. Let me know you’re safe.”

Elio fell silent for a moment. Although he wished he could simply grant Leopold's seemingly simple request, the assassin knew he would never be "safe." But before Leopold realized the significance of his silence, Elio quickly smiled.

"Of course." Elio walked over and hugged Leopold. "I will."

"You'd better really remember it." Leopold said in a muffled voice in his arms.

Elio gave him one last smile and let go of his hand.

"I have to go," Elio said apologetically. "Be safe."

Leopold said nothing, only raised his middle finger to him with a stern face. Then his index finger. A clear "FU." Oops! Elio scratched his cheek awkwardly. This time, Leopold must have been really pissed off.

"Yeah, of course, fuck you too," Elio replied randomly, "but I really have to go now."

Before he could get any answer from Leopold (although Elio felt he probably wouldn't say anything), Elio quickly slipped out. The show was about to begin, and he glanced down to see that most of the audience had already found their seats and were seated.

Elio didn't have much time to get back to the car. He crossed the standing area as quickly as possible and tapped his headset. "I'm back. There was an accident just now."

After a crackling sound, Ethan came back online.

"Welcome back." Ethan pretended to be cheerful, "But I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"If you want to shut down the communication," Ethan said, "you should tap the headset twice, not once. It's just, well, you know."

Elio, who was running down the stairs, paused in confusion before realizing what Ethan was saying, "Ah, damn."

"No, no, no," Ethan said quickly, "I logged off after I heard you guys turned off the bomb effect. Whatever you did in the bathroom, I didn't hear it."

"We didn't do anything," Elio said emphatically. "Ethan Hunt."

"Okay. Let's get back to business." Ethan said nonchalantly, "My teammates and I are still searching for Solomon Lane. Do you have any information you can tell me?"

"No," Elio said grimly, "except that I know of at least two Syndicate agents inside the theater, intent on murdering the Prime Minister."

As he entered the alley, he saw the driver's door open. John, carrying his suitcase, said to him, "You're back just in time. Next."

Elio scrambled to catch the suitcase, "I thought there was a bomb here?"

"Relax, it won't get angry easily." John shook the remote control in his hand. "Unless I press this, it will be as quiet as Mount Fuji."

“But Mount Fuji is an active volcano,” Elio said.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"... Never mind," John called out to him nonchalantly, "Hurry up. Our target has already entered the area, and the car is heading to the parking lot. It's time to leave."

Elio didn't know how they did it, but the Prime Minister's security team did manage to open a small hole, just enough for Elio to sneak in. Two minutes later, Elio, looking pale, crawled back to the stairs from the car with empty hands and nodded to John, who was on lookout.

They returned the same way they had come. Nothing happened.

"When will they be back?" Elio asked as soon as he sat down.

"It's still early." John also slumped into the car. Perhaps the mission was completed, he relaxed a lot and picked up the Turandot playlist tucked under the windshield. "They won't be back for an hour."

Elio breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his temples as John lowered his head to look through the set list. He looked like he was leaning back comfortably in his seat, but that was just an appearance. In reality, he was keeping his back clear of the seat because there was an active volcano sitting there.

His original plan was to replace the bomb in the car, turn off the switch and hide it under the seat, then find an opportunity to throw it away. But plans always change quickly, and the only opportunity Elio could find to replace the bomb was next to the Prime Minister's car; it went without saying that he would not leave the bomb there, even if it was turned off.

In other words, the real bomb is now strapped to him.

"Great," Elio said, "I was just about to have a cigarette."

He was about to use this as an excuse to get out of the car, but just as he reached out his hand steadily and grasped the door handle, John raised his head.

"Give me one too," said John.

"You smoke, too?" Elio improvised, rubbing his empty chest pocket in front of him. "Oops, I forgot to bring my cigarettes. But there seems to be a convenience store down the road."

John tutted, clearly dissatisfied. But just as Elio tried to leave for the second time, the agent pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"That's a good deal for you, you forgetful boy." John smoked a cigarette himself and then generously handed over the case. "Dunhill Red. I brought it all the way from London."

Elio had never heard of this brand, but he nodded in mock approval, pulled out a cigarette, and bit into it.

"Lighter?" he asked with the last glimmer of hope.

"Here it is," John replied, taking it out and winking at him with a smile. "A chain smoker like me never forgets his gear."

Elio sat up straight in despair and used John's lighter to light up the Dunhill Red, which was likely to be his last cigarette. John had no idea that they were smoking next to the bomb, but he smiled and rolled down the window to let the smoke out.

"I must say I was a little loud with you just now," John said, "but you do your work beautifully."

Elio turned to look at him. John was also turning to look at him. A small section of thick, rustic Viennese marble, in a rich, rustic Viennese hue, was visible through the window behind the older agent's head. A passerby in a yellow dress walked past them, her high heels treading leisurely.

"Good news, Elio," Ethan said into his earpiece. "We found an agent on the surveillance."

"Really?" Elio said. "That's great."

"But don't get too cocky, newbie." John turned his head away. "It's just a simple mission."

"Bad news, he had a gun." Ethan was panting, not knowing what he was doing. "I really want to know how he got through security."

Elio lowered his head, held the fireworks and laughed softly.

"I don't mean to brag, but it's really that simple." The flickering firelight illuminated Elio's face. "I've done this many times, and I've always done it beautifully."

Ethan grumbled, "Seriously?"

"Seriously?" John glanced at him. "Okay, you're serious. It seems the boss likes you for a reason."

"He must think highly of you," Elio said. "Look at what we're going to do tonight."

Ethan fell silent, but the clatter of fighting rang out in time.

"You haven't seen us do anything else," John said. "Tonight is just a very small operation. There are no helicopters, no nuclear bombs, and not even a virus."

Elio was exhaling. Hearing this, he tightened his grip on the cigarette.

"That was quite a scene," he said flatly.

"Yeah." John turned his head and knocked his cigarette ash out the window. "A lot of people died too."

"I thought our purpose was to cause chaos," Elio said cautiously. "Isn't it normal for people to die?"

John snorted, sounding rather disapproving. But he said nothing more, just staring out the window into the darkness. Perhaps now, Elio could find a chance to get out of the car. John probably wouldn't stop him. But the topic stayed with Elio.

"You sound like you have a different opinion."

"How dare you say that?" the agent said lazily. "I'm just following orders."

"Come on," Elio risked. "You agents are supposed to follow orders from your country. But look where you are now. Your country couldn't have ordered you to jump ship to the Syndicate."

The impact of these words was greater than Elio had imagined. John whipped his head around and glared at him. But the middle-aged agent, known for his expressive nature, didn't show his previous irritation. After a brief glare, he pointed his cigarette butt at Elio.

"You are too young, boy," John said finally. "You don't know what it feels like to be betrayed by the monarch you swore allegiance to. Only Lion took us in."

“…like Ethan Hunt?” Elio said.

"Like Ethan Hunt," John said.

They were silent for a while longer.

"You're not an agent. I don't understand why Ryan recruited you," John said. "Only people with nowhere else to go would join the Syndicate. Only people like us, who can no longer appear openly and have killed blindly at the behest of the state, would be desperate enough to join the Syndicate and believe in Ryan's foolish ideals. But you don't look like one. Why are you here?"

Only then did Elio realize the veteran's piercing brown eyes. The young assassin was momentarily speechless, unable to find a response. After a moment, he managed a forced smile and asked casually, "Can't someone who hasn't been betrayed have the foolish ideal of changing the world?"

John looked at him and smiled.

"You are too young and too talented," he said only. "Use your talent carefully."

Then he didn't say anything else. Not until Elio tentatively said he wanted to go out for some fresh air and got out of the car did John say another word.

This was the kind of neglect Elio had been dreaming of, but when it finally happened, the assassin's heart somehow grew heavy. He suspected John had more to say, but he was even more worried that what he said was the absolute truth.

"Good news," Ethan said. "I took down that agent."

"Excellent," Elio said casually, his mind full of thoughts. "So what's the bad news this time?"

"Oh, you're free now." Ethan picked up the gun. "The bad news is that 'Nessun Dorma' has already started, and I've found two more red dots aimed at the Prime Minister. I have time to stop one, but only one."

"What the hell?" Elio ran. "Solomon sent three agents to kill him?"

As he sprinted toward the Danube, he flung off his coat and clutched it in his hands. Then, the bomb-studded vest. Elio quickly shed it, clutching his coat in one hand and his vest in the other, running shirtless through the dark streets of Vienna. Occasionally, a streetlight illuminated his form, and Elio flashed before the eyes of passersby.

"And the bomb you installed on the car." Ethan held his gun and glanced through the scope at the Syndicate agent in the mechanical control room, then at Ilsa in the stage loft. "Please tell me you've taken care of it."

"immediately!"

Elio finally reached the Danube. With a flick of his hand, the bomb-laden vest flew free, tumbling into the darkness in the middle of a tributary. Relieved, Elio put on his jacket as usual. He paused briefly at the river's edge, then hurried back.

“Okay, it’s done,” Elio said. “But if he gets shot in the theater, it won’t matter if I do it.”

Ethan didn't say anything. The wind rustled past Elio's ears, and at that moment, he heard the faintest sound of a gunshot.

Elio turned his head sharply and looked around. But he couldn't find any red dots. Then he realized that the silenced gunshot had come from the headset.

"Are you okay, Ethan?!" Elio yelled. "I heard a gunshot!"

"I'm fine." Ethan put away his gun. "I fired the shot."

"You fired the gun?" Elio wondered. "Who did you shoot?"

"Prime Minister." Ethan also ran. "I shot him down first, so he wouldn't be shot by any gunmen! Enough talk, Elio, I have to run."

He hung up the phone quickly. Elio was incredulous. "You can't be serious!"