Chapter 89 Chapter 89 This is all within our plan...
The Syndicate acted quickly. Seizing the momentary jolt of electricity piercing Ethan and Benjy's brains, they abducted Elio. Elio, dazed and dazed after receiving a shot of muscle relaxant, was loaded into the trunk of a car by the well-prepared Syndicate members. The black car whirred away, leaving Ethan no time to pursue.
"Ten o'clock tonight," Ryan left a message on Ethan's phone. "I want the unlocked USB drive."
Ethan and Benjy hurried back to their temporary base, remaining silent the entire way. Just as they opened the door, Luther and Brent, who were inside, rushed out, nearly colliding head-on with them. The two men, guns drawn, exchanged awkward glances for a moment before each sheathed their weapons and reentered the house.
"I thought you were at headquarters," Ethan said.
"Yeah," Brant said, "if the CIA wasn't planning on killing you the first time they found you."
"To make a long story short, Ethan," Luther sat down again, "you definitely need our help."
Ethan and Benjy looked at each other and smiled.
"You guys arrived just in time," Benjy breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried this morning that we weren't going to have enough men."
Brent, who was standing by the window, noticed something and frowned in confusion.
"What's the shortage of manpower?" he asked.
"Here's the thing, guys," Ethan said, "we're going to catch Solomon Lane by today."
There was a moment of silence.
"Solomon Lane?" Luther confirmed. "The leader of the Syndicate?"
"Yes, that's him." Ethan took out a USB drive. "I have something he wants, but it happens to be a red box, and he doesn't want to risk kidnapping the Prime Minister himself. So Ryan kidnapped one of our friends and asked me to unlock the red box in exchange, tonight at 10 o'clock."
He explained everything in a few words, but just as Ethan took a breath and was about to continue talking about their plan, he noticed Luther looking at him with his mouth wide open.
"Any questions?" Ethan said, unscrewing the bottle of mineral water on the table.
Benjy, who was also drinking water, shrugged at Luther.
"Wait, wait." Brant stepped forward and gestured wildly. "You just said 'kidnapping the Prime Minister,' right?"
Ethan took a sip of water and said, "Yeah."
Brant glanced at Luther. This was the reaction of someone who suddenly heard something completely absurd. They would look to those around them for confirmation, trying to prove they had misheard.
"You heard what he said, Luther." Brant laughed dryly. "Haha, that's funny. I thought it was the Prime Minister."
Luther, having recovered from the bad news, shrugged at him and gave him a look that said "I understand you, man" but was helpless.
"I thought it was the British Prime Minister," Brant repeated. He looked around the room, trying to find a response to refute his statement. But to his surprise, no one actually refuted him!
"That's the British Prime Minister." Ethan looked up from his phone. "He'll be at the Somerset House auction tonight at 8 o'clock. We have just enough time to prepare."
Brent's vision darkened. Damn it! Ethan Hunt was really planning to kidnap the British Prime Minister and had even figured out his itinerary!
"You look like you've got a plan," Luther said. "Go ahead, man."
"Wait, Ethan." Brent stopped Ethan from continuing, his eyes serious, "Are you sure this is the only way? We are talking about the British Prime Minister. In fact, we should warn our counterparts in MI6..."
He looked a little nervous. Ethan didn't interrupt Brent, but looked at him with understanding and let him finish.
"...The CIA has issued a shoot-to-kill order," Brant said wearily. "Ethan, in their eyes, you've become an extremely dangerous terrorist. I'm afraid only those in this room know you're not. If you insist on kidnapping the British Prime Minister, Ethan, have you considered the consequences? It will only further solidify their impression of you."
Ethan looked at him, "I know."
"If you knew, you wouldn't do it!"
Benji, who was adjusting the data on the human skin mask, was startled by Brant's sudden rise in volume. Luther also silently observed the conversation between Ethan and Brant, wanting to say something but stopping himself. But Brant sighed deeply and faced Ethan, who raised his hand to try to comfort him. "If no one is willing to play the villain, then let me play it. I say we give up the hostage in the hands of the Syndicate and hand over the red box to the CIA. That will be enough proof of the Syndicate's existence. Ethan, this will clear your suspicion and allow us to rebuild the IMF."
But Ethan immediately responded, "I understand, Brent. But we can't do that."
"What a 'we can't do that.'" Brent laughed angrily. He circled the room and then came back. "Why can't we do that, Ethan?"
"Because Elio, the hostage, was kidnapped voluntarily," Ethan said. "This was all part of our plan."
At the same moment, a match was lit in the dark room, and the "hostage" opened his green eyes.
("When Ryan was passing the message to us, we were also passing the message to him through Ilsa," Ethan explained. "We realized that he was using us to get the USB drive for him, so his next move was not difficult to predict.")
In the assassin's dark eyes, the red flame of the match approached the cigarette in his hand. Then, white smoke curled up.
(“That is, to use us to kidnap the British Prime Minister,” Benjy continued, “and have us bring him the unlocked USB drive. Which brings us to the next key question: What actions will Ryan take to force us to do this for him?”)
"He's moving," the agent said from the darkness. "Give him a shot."
(“We had a dozen hypothetical scenarios,” Ethan said, “and we had a plan for each one. ‘Lane is going to kidnap someone close to me,’ was one of them, and Benjy and Elio were prepared for that.”)
"He woke up too quickly." The agent who was preparing the medicine muttered, "How many drugs did he take?"
A drop of clear liquid emerged from the syringe. The agent flicked it and walked toward Elio.
(“Whether it was one of us,” Elio said, “Lane would have done everything he could to keep us alive.”)
The cold needle pierced Elio's neck.
("At least, until the time of the transaction tonight." Benjy shrugged. "He just needs to wait for us to rescue him. It's simple.")
The agent held Elio's hair with one hand and held a flashlight in the other, checking Elio's pupils. "It worked."
As soon as he let go, Elio's head drooped limply.
(“I don’t see how it’s easy,” Brant said. “If I understand correctly, we’re still going to kidnap the British Prime Minister. It’s an operation where there’s no room for error, but you know, Ethan, our operations are always prone to errors.”)
"Great," the smoking agent said. "Let's get out of here."
Elio, who was paralyzed, wondered in his mind, "Hmm?"
"I thought we had to guard him here the whole time." The pesticide agent was also puzzled. "Ryan said we had to watch him like a dinosaur."
"Yeah," the agent put out his cigarette and stood up, "but someone paid a lot of money for 'visitation rights.' It's not right for us to refuse money, right?"
'Hmm?' Elio asked in confusion.
"That's a lot of money," the agent said meaningfully. "It's not as much as this guy is worth now, but you have to understand that the name Elliot Smith still has a lot of enemies. I say as long as he can still be delivered to Ethan Hunt after the visit, it will be fine. What do you think?"
'Huh?!' Elio wondered feebly.
He could only hear the two agents chatting and laughing as they packed up their things, preparing to make room for the "visitor." "Did you see his ranking on the High Table's bounty?" the agents' voices faded. "Lane is even considering keeping him alive tonight so he can fetch a good price."
Elio felt a sudden, unforgettable panic. In that moment, he recalled all the people he had offended in his life, but because there were so many to think about, he finally regained his composure. And to be honest, if Ethan's operation outside failed, he probably wouldn't survive the night.
A wise assassin never thinks about what happens after death.
He lowered his head calmly (he couldn't move anyway) and listened to the sound of several chaotic footsteps approaching. It was like a visitor with a bodyguard, two pairs of footsteps following him in a rhythmic rhythm. But as Elio listened, his mood suddenly became solemn.
A guess emerged in his mind. Although Elio found it incredible, he felt that he had not misheard the footsteps.
"We only have half an hour," the agent at the door said, presumably to the visitor. "After that, we have to go in and give him a shot. You don't want him to regain mobility. We've tied his hands and feet and given him a bite guard, but for your own safety, it's best to stay away from him. If anything goes wrong, just scream. Got it?"
There was no response. The visitor nodded. He left the bodyguard who had come with him outside the door, guarding it with the agent.
He walked in. Then there was the click of the door being locked.
Elio felt his heart grow heavier. He hoped it was who he thought it was, yet he also hoped it wasn't. He'd never wished the injection hadn't caused his muscles to relax, that he could raise his head freely, just to see who the "visitor" was. But now he could only hear his heart beating heavily, over and over again.
'Say something,' Elio thought to himself, 'please, let me know you are you.'
The only sound was the gentle rustling of fabric. The visitor slowly approached, seemingly observing Elio's miserable condition from close up. Unable to raise his head, Elio saw the pair of black boots that stopped before him, and his heart skipped a beat as if struck by a sledgehammer.
But he still didn't speak. The small cell was filled with an anxious silence, and Elio felt like he was being driven crazy by it. So when the visitor lifted his leather-wrapped chin and asked him to look up, Elio felt relieved.
"I never realized it cost so much to see you, Assassin," Leopold said flatly. "The head of the Syndicate also told me you're now worth £2.4 billion. Are you prepared to tell me what that means?"
-----------------------
The author has something to say: I still want to see Oreo in the movie (greedy) By the way, his curly hair is based on Julien in the French Red and Black (quietly) (escape)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com