Chapter 90 Chapter 90 Their lives and mine are in your hands...
2.4 billion pounds! So that's what's on the USB drive! No wonder Ryan is so desperate to unlock it, no wonder the British are taking such great pains to guard it. That's enough money to keep the syndicate operating incognito for ten years!
Elio's eyes lit up almost inopportunely when he finally figured this out, but then dimmed awkwardly under Leopold's gaze.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Leopold asked with a smile.
'I thought,' Elio thought helplessly, 'but I've been given muscle relaxants!'
There was an awkward silence. Elio felt Leopold's fingers running through the curls at the back of his head, as if trying to figure out how to undo the bite guard.
"You won't bite me, will you?" Leopold said.
As he spoke, he unhooked the leather bite guard. But as soon as he let go, Elio's head drooped limply. Leopold immediately grabbed his hair and forced him back up. Elio tried to flash his most innocent eyes, hoping Leopold would show mercy, but Leopold simply stared at him in silence for a moment before releasing his grip.
"So that's what they mean by 'mobility,'" Leopold said.
He sounded less angry. Elio watched Leopold wander around him, seemingly squeezing his shoulder, patting his arm, or something, before finally walking out angrily and bargaining with the agent. "He can't even speak!" "Of course he can't speak. That's the effect of the muscle relaxant." "He's only conscious!" "Well, I thought you'd enjoy it."
…In short, Leopold won the right to administer the muscle relaxant next time. He strongly demanded a conversation with Elio, at least to get some reaction. The agent readily conceded, motivated by the money.
"Listen, I'm going to give you a chance to escape," Leopold whispered in Elio's ear. "We'll talk about this outside. If you understand, just blink."
Elio blinked with difficulty. His muscles were gradually recovering, but controlling them was as difficult as overturning a truck with his bare hands. He could barely blink a second time, signaling "no" to Leopold, who was staring at him intently.
"No?" Leopold frowned, puzzled. "Why not? Do you think the risk is too great?"
Elio blinked twice, "No."
"What's that for?" Leopold whispered, puzzled. "You don't want to leave here, do you?"
Elio blinked quickly and said, "Yes."
Leopold stared at him in astonishment. After a moment, Leopold repeated, "You don't want to leave?"
"yes."
This time, Leopold remained silent for a longer time. He turned around, took a deep breath, and struggled to digest the news.
"This was all part of your plan, wasn't it?" Leopold whispered. "My meddling disrupted your plans, didn't it?"
Elio stared at him, speechless, at those blue eyes that cracked like Arctic ice. He wanted to say, "No," to say, "Thank you so much for doing this for me," but he couldn't. He could only stare at Leopold silently. That look reflected in Leopold's eyes, and he understood everything. He raised his hands to cover his face.
'I'm so sorry,' Elio thought worriedly.
"Don't blame me, Elio," Leopold muttered. "I just..."
Elio's eyes widened. 'How could I blame you?!'
But Leopold just covered his eyes and remained silent. After a moment, he removed his hand and looked at Elio again.
"Perhaps I don't know you as well as I think, Elio," he murmured. "But then again, perhaps you don't know me as well as you think, and I suppose that's enough to even things out."
He approached Elio and put the bite guard back on him. The buckle snapped shut behind the assassin's head with a sharp click, but no one paid it any attention. Leopold looked into Elio's eyes and saw a deep worry in them.
"Do you want me to go away?" Leopold whispered. "And have no further involvement in this matter?"
Elio blinked slowly, "...yes."
Leopold sighed deeply, lowered his head, pressed his forehead against Elio's, and looked into his eyes.
"I can see," Leopold said, "that you haven't had a good rest or a good meal in days. If you think it's worth it, I won't stop you."
Elio blinked slowly.
"With all my heart I wish you would go with me," Leopold said. "But with all my heart you also wish to stay here, don't you?"
Elio again answered in the affirmative. Leopold fell silent. Elio could feel him trembling slightly. He tried to look Leopold in the eye, but his eyelids were already closed, tightly shut.
"...I understand. There's one last thing I want you to know," Leopold said softly. "Elio, I've never blamed you. You don't owe me anything."
Then he loosened his grip. Elio blinked furiously several times, but Leopold simply smiled and turned away.
When Leopold opened the door, the agent outside was about to knock.
"It's about time," the agent handed over the syringe. "You said you wanted to inject him yourself."
"Oh," Leopold suddenly realized, "that's what happened."
The agent followed him back into the cell and watched as Leopold tilted Elio's head, causing the assassin to fall limply to the side, exposing his neck to him. Leopold used his left hand to push aside the brown leather bite guard that covered Elio's entire chin, and blew gently, loosening the black curls that fell there. At this, Elio's neck, where it connected to his shoulder, stiffened reflexively, and he even tried to shirk, but Leopold remained firmly in control.
"Don't be nervous, Assassin," Leopold said, his tone knowingly asking. He glanced at Elio, and the subtext was the opposite of what he said, "Don't act nervous anymore."
Elio's sidelong glance was fixed on him, and a glimmer of understanding flashed across his eyes.
Leopold lowered his head and studied for a moment, then removed the needle and gently rubbed Elio's neck with the flesh beneath his right thumb, searching for the right spot. Elio, seemingly forbearingly, tensed the muscles there, glaring at Leopold as if insulted.
"Come on," the agent noticed, "he's recovering."
"I know," Leopold replied, flicking the needle one last time before stabbing it in.
Within seconds, Elio's newly gathered strength was completely extinguished. He tried to maintain his feigned hostility, but soon his vision went black and he lost consciousness. Above him, the muffled voices of Leopold and the agent exchanging "What's that?" and "Tranquilizer, permanent solution. What's wrong?" gradually faded into a chaotic darkness.
When Elio awoke, he was startled to realize that hours had passed. Everything that had happened before seemed like a blurry dream, and he was so dazed that he didn't even know where he was. But then, the clatter of voices, the clinking of coffee cups, the aroma of cake and tea, and the crashing of waves all flooded Elio's senses, along with the slightest ticking sound of his body.
Elio, who finally woke up, suddenly changed his expression.
This is an outdoor cafe by the sea. Ryan actually put him here wearing a bomb vest, which is crazy!
"Don't move," Ilsa whispered.
Elio then noticed the British agent sitting next to him. He glanced at her, then slowly sat up straight, unzipped his heavy coat, and took a quick peek inside. Then, the assassin closed the coat with an expressionless face.
"What time is it?" Elio asked.
"A quarter to ten," said Ilsa.
"You woke up just in time," Ryan said. Elio then realized he had earphones in his ears. "I was worried that little Mitchell had done something to you."
"You're worried about me dying too soon," Elio said coldly. "So is he."
"You didn't see the way he looked at you," Ryan chuckled softly, "Sometimes, intense hatred is almost equal to intense love."
Elio's heart skipped a beat, but he still said, "Stop disgusting me."
"I'm sorry we've come to this, Elio," Ryan said. "You're the most talented young man I've ever met, but you're so disobedient. What on earth did Ethan Hunt give you to make you turn around and follow him?"
"Maybe because he won't kill me if he finds out the mission failed," Elio said deliberately.
"He just knows that he's in danger. He can't possibly turn you away when he knows he's short of help." Ryan said slowly, "When you're in my position, you'll know that killing a few people occasionally is the only way to keep the organization running."
Elio gave up on talking to such people.
Ilsa couldn't hear their conversation, only glancing at Elio with a worried look. She would check the time on her watch from time to time. Elio was really motionless, just looking around silently at the people around him who were unaware of anything and were enjoying their weekend leisure.
Come on, Ethan, Elio thought, their lives and mine are in your hands.
Time passed minute by minute. It felt like a lifetime before Ethan, breathless, appeared at the intersection. Elio, who had been waiting, had his eyes lit up, and his pupils clearly reflected Ethan, who had come empty-handed.
"Are you okay?" Ethan still asked.
Elio looked at him and smiled. But Ryan gave instructions in his earpiece, and Elio, strapped with the bomb, had to repeat after him, "Where's the USB drive?"
Ethan looked at the tiny video camera stuck on Elio's pupil and smiled calmly and confidently. He knew Ryan was watching.
"You want a USB drive, right?" Ethan raised an eyebrow at Ryan. "I am the USB drive."
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The author has something to say: During the few hours that Oreo was "forced" to fall asleep, Ethan had already completed his mission of kidnapping the British Prime Minister (not really).
This part of the original movie "Mission Impossible" is really, really exciting. If you have seen it, I don't need to explain it. If you haven't seen it, you can find the movie and watch it. It is really Mission Impossible. I won't spoil it.
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