Before Aiden could answer, Choi Ji-Yoon cut in before him and said, "Of course we can."
Aiden looked at her curiously, then heard Jill explain to him, "Ji-Yoon's mission this time is precisely for Soi. Honestly speaking, Soi is also on our BSAA's key watch list, it's just that there's too much going on in Europe, Chris and the others have never been able to spare time."
"What are Chris and the others doing in Europe?" Aiden was very curious about this.
"Not too clear, Chris didn't tell me, just that he's going to a village to find someone. A few days ago I talked to him on the phone, and he told me that he ran into Leon there." Jill shrugged.
"Leon huh…" Aiden understood who they were looking for, he just didn't expect Chris to also be involved.
"Hey hey, please get back to the topic." Choi Ji-Yoon was unhappy the two of them were straying from the topic, she forcefully knocked on the table, but didn't get the two's attention; instead, she startled Irina who was secretly eavesdropping in the corner, making her frantically hug the food tray that almost spilled.
"Alright then, back to the topic." Facing Choi Ji-Yoon's unhappy gaze, Aiden also shrugged like Jill, then asked Revy, "When are you guys setting off?"
Revy said, "Dutch said the sooner the better, so we're setting out tonight. After dinner we'll head to the Moscow Hotel to pick up Soi, around eight o'clock."
Aiden thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Tonight huh, alright, we'll arrive at the Moscow Hotel before eight."
"Then thanks a lot." Seeing Aiden agree, Revy said with a smile.
"We're friends after all, helping with this is no problem." Aiden said.
Of course, it wasn't just because they were friends. The key point was that nothing could be allowed to happen to Soi. As the chief researcher who had participated in many classified projects, her importance went without saying.
After lunch, Revy took her leave, and then Aiden and the others began packing their luggage, preparing for departure.
"Aiden, what about her?" After helping Aiden prepare the needed supplies, Roberta looked at Irina squatting blankly in the corner and asked Aiden.
Aiden thought for a moment, then said, "Let's bring her along."
"But wouldn't that be troublesome?" Roberta didn't want Irina to come along, mainly because during this time Irina had stolen too much of Roberta's work.
Now the only work Roberta could do was cooking three meals a day, things like laundry had all been thrown to Irina by Choi Ji-Yoon, making her feel she couldn't fulfill her duties as a maid.
"So we might as well kill her." Roberta added.
Seeing Aiden's reluctant expression, she then changed her tone, "Letting her go is also fine."
"No." At this time Choi Ji-Yoon stuck her head out from the room and said.
"I wasn't talking to you." Roberta didn't like her and said coldly.
"I wasn't talking to you either, I was talking to your man." Though Choi Ji-Yoon couldn't beat Roberta in a fight, she would never back down verbally, and immediately talked back.
However, Choi Ji-Yoon was only unwilling to lose verbally. When Roberta's eyes narrowed and her expression turned unfriendly, she immediately shrank her head back into the room and closed the door, even tossing out one last line, "Anyway, she can't be let go."
Looking at the tightly shut door, Roberta said to Aiden with dissatisfaction, "One day, I'll put a chain on her too."
Her voice was very loud, everyone in the room heard it. Irina, curled up in the corner, lifted her head, her eyes shining with expectation. For her now, she looked forward to that day immensely.
Aiden noticed Irina's movements and didn't need to guess to know what she was thinking. After thinking for a bit, he said, "Maybe, she wouldn't mind someone treating her that way."
Roberta felt what Aiden said made sense. Thinking about Choi Ji-Yoon's behavior these past days, she coldly snorted, "A perverted woman."
'What a mild label…' Aiden patted Roberta's waist, "You're flattering her too much."
Roberta was stunned and felt like that might be true, but she couldn't think of a more venomous term, so she just coldly snorted again and left.
After packing, Aiden stayed home to rest for the whole afternoon. During that time, he contacted Balalaika to ask about the route to Bangkok, but Balalaika didn't go into details on the phone.
She only said it wasn't finalized yet, and they might need to switch between multiple modes of transportation, the final plan still needed arrangement.
Since this escort mission was from Koko, Aiden didn't ask too much on the phone. After all, Balalaika was from a professional military background, and even an officer, when it came to operational planning, she was much stronger than a half-trained guy like him. After all, he'd only studied theory for a while, completely incomparable to someone who came out of a military academy like Balalaika.
Just like that, the agreed meeting time came. After dinner, the group drove to the Moscow Hotel, but when they arrived, they found the Black Lagoon members were already there.
After getting out of the car, Aiden greeted Revy and Dutch, then they all entered the Moscow Hotel. Roberta and the others stayed behind, since someone still had to keep an eye on Irina.
Though whether anyone watched or not didn't matter, Choi Ji-Yoon had made some threats to Irina. If she dared to run, the consequences will be heavy.
Of course, this behavior naturally made Aiden and Jill dissatisfied, but she still had her reasons, constantly saying SL and the US had done this plenty, she wasn't the only case, and she had no psychological burden.
So Aiden couldn't refute her and could only sigh that the espionage business really had no bottom line.
Leaving the matter of Irina and Choi Ji-Yoon aside for now, after Aiden's group entered the Moscow Hotel, they were led by the adjutant to Balalaika's office. In the office, aside from their escort target Soi, there were also Triad members.
Seeing Aiden and the others come in, Balalaika glanced at Jill and Choi Ji-Yoon, who had followed Aiden, then pointed to the sofa in the room with her cigar-holding hand, "Please sit."
Once Aiden's group was seated, Dutch, who had entered with them, asked, "Balalaika, is the route planned?"
"It's already done." Balalaika nodded, then glanced at Soi and said, "Because Koko emphasized that this person is extremely important, I've decided to give up the most convenient sea route. After all, you guys don't want a repeat of the gunboat being chased by an armed helicopter."
"Of course not." Dutch nodded, "Just thinking about that, I feel that if we hadn't been lucky and the other guy hadn't been arrogant, we would've been shark food by now."
That scene was deeply etched in Aiden's memory too, so he nodded and said, "So, Balalaika, are you planning to go by land? But if we're just driving, it won't be much better if we encounter another ambush like last time."
Just like the system said, even though this world had been elevated and some people had special abilities, Aiden had tried several times these past few days and found that several of his class skills couldn't be used, especially the Ghostblade and Mechanic ones.
But the other classes from the Gunner branch were unaffected, particularly the Ranger class; aside from the Awakening, the other skills all worked. But if they encountered another helicopter ambush, he'd still be troubled.
"Of course you won't be driving all the way. Even if T-country is small, it still takes a day to drive from Roanapur to Bangkok. If anything happens on the way and delays you, it'll take even longer. So I plan to have you drive to the nearby tourist city, Krabi. Then take a train to Bangkok."
Balalaika said, "Although Roanapur is a lawless zone, once you leave here, it's not convenient to carry guns in other cities. So I've prepared gun licenses for you. With these, you can even walk around with rifles on your backs."
While she spoke, her adjutant took out a stack of palm-sized gun licenses and handed them to Aiden's group.
However, only Revy and Dutch from the Black Lagoon group took them, Benny and Rock didn't.
"This is an escort mission. We wouldn't be much help if we came along." Rock explained.
"Oh!" Aiden nodded and didn't ask further.
When the adjutant got to Jill and Choi Ji-Yoon and hesitated about giving them gun licenses, Choi Ji-Yoon took out her credentials and waved them, "I don't need it."
She was different from Jill, Jill's BSAA wasn't a formally recognized international organization yet, so carrying guns required reporting. But Ji-Yoon had an official organization background and had the right to carry guns in most countries.
Of course, this didn't include mainland Z-country. No foreign forces were allowed to carry guns domestically, virtually no exceptions.
Seeing that Choi Ji-Yoon didn't need it, the adjutant only handed one to Jill. But at this time Aiden called him again, "Give us two more."
Actually, he didn't need this thing either. He had the system inventory, carrying guns was more convenient than anyone. But since it was his first time having a gun license, he was a bit excited.
Carrying a gun openly on the streets, that experience was impossible in the real world. And the two extras were for Roberta and Fabiola.
Taking the gun licenses handed over by the adjutant, Aiden opened them curiously and found that there were no photos inside, nor any gun type restrictions, which puzzled him.
Perhaps seeing Aiden's confusion, Balalaika explained, "This is T-country, even without a gun license you can carry guns. So this thing should actually be called proof of permission to carry guns in public. Naturally, no photo is needed."
Balalaika's explanation was very simple, so Aiden didn't continue asking, and directly put away the three gun licenses.
Next, Balalaika also had someone deliver some guns and ammunition, all active military-grade gear. It was just a pity that there weren't the heavy weapons everyone wanted most, like rocket launchers.
Of course, this was very normal. Even the freest country wouldn't allow people to walk around the streets carrying rocket launchers.
In addition to that, Balalaika also prepared for everyone a very advanced set of communication devices. In-ear headphones and throat microphones were rare in this era, even the rich and powerful M-military had only popularized them in elite special forces. So when they received these things, everyone was very surprised.
After distributing the equipment, Balalaika again somewhat more thoroughly talked about some matters in the plan.
For example, that after they arrived at Krabi train station, someone would be responsible for getting them on board; and also, that she had already contacted gangs in Bangkok that had relatively good relations with the Moscow Hotel to receive them, among them was also Shenhua, a Triad member Mr. Chang had sent ahead to Bangkok.
According to her later words, as long as nothing went wrong on the road, this would be a light and pleasant journey.
However, everyone understood, this was almost impossible. So all of them prepared for the worst-case scenario.
In the end, Balalaika also said, "You guys drive directly to Krabi. Once you arrive at the train station, someone will contact you. Then, after you get on the train, the person receiving you will drive your car back. So don't worry about unnecessary losses."
"Very considerate, Balalaika." Aiden didn't care about the car at all, after all, it was given by Shenhua, but still said this.
"No matter what, being able to reduce a bit of loss is something." Balalaika threw away the cigar between her fingers and said, "Thrift is a virtue."
"If you could put that into practice, it would be better." Aiden looked at the cigar in the ashtray that was only one-third smoked and laughed.
Balalaika glared at him, then helplessly said, "I'll pick it back up and continue smoking it."
What needed to be said had been said, what needed to be arranged had been arranged, what needed to be prepared had been prepared, what came next was the execution stage.
The group quickly went downstairs and split into three teams, each getting into their own car.
Dutch and Revy were one group, they were the front car. Jill and Choi Ji-Yoon were one group, and they were also bringing Soi, they were the middle car.
Aiden, with the big and little maids plus Irina, were in the rear car. After saying goodbye to Balalaika and Mr. Chang, the three cars directly drove out of the Moscow Hotel.
Watching the three cars disappear into the dark night, Balalaika lit a new cigar again, then said to Mr. Chang, "Boss Chang, next, we should clean out the cockroaches in the house."
Aiden and his group hadn't even driven out of Roanapur yet when gunfire erupted inside the city. Judging from the direction the sound came from, it seemed like every street in Roanapur was in the middle of a gunfight.
In the car Jill and Choi Ji-Yoon were in, Choi Ji-Yoon, who was driving, listened to the gunfire coming through and said to Jill, "That woman called Balalaika, worthy of being a ruthless character who came from SL's elite special forces. Her efficiency is truly amazing."
She had the background of an official, formally recognized organization, and naturally could investigate Balalaika's identity.
However, her main duty was dealing with terrorist organizations that threatened world safety, and she didn't care at all about gangster organizations like the Moscow Hotel.
Of course, if she could investigate Balalaika's identity, then Balalaika could naturally also investigate hers.
Although Balalaika was now a gangster, many of her former comrades were still in the military, some even working in intelligence agencies. So when she saw Jill and Choi Ji-Yoon come over with Aiden, Balalaika wasn't surprised. She just glanced at them an extra time due to female instinct.
And hearing what Choi Ji-Yoon said, Jill was also shocked, "It's not just efficiency, she really knows how to stay calm. Those outsiders who infiltrated probably caught her attention on the first day, and I didn't expect she actually waited until now to act."
"But saying that, if we hadn't captured Irina back then, she probably would've been one of the targets of this cleanup too." Jill added.
"Sounds like she should be thanking us, we saved her life." Choi Ji-Yoon regretfully looked back at the rear car. If Irina were beside her, she would definitely mock her fiercely.
Jill glanced at her, "Do you think that's possible? Think about the things you've done to her."
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