v1c6 (1/2)

Volume One: Eastwood Is All Stones

Chapter 6: He is not a special agent

Bao Longtao had not seen what happened under the big green tree earlier, but that didn’t stop him from raising plenty of caution about the youngster whose face was still hiding behind the hood. He took two steps forward and then lowered his head so he could speak softly right next to Xu Le’s ear, which was of course still separated by the hood.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t ask you. I should go ask Li Wei.”

Like how animal handlers at the zoo always had their ways to handle the disobedient animals, whether with a whip or a piece of fresh meat, if an officer of the Federation wanted to handle the underground forces, he always had endless means. When Bao Longtao mentioned Li Wei’s name at this moment, he obviously was making a threat – even without checking ID himself, he could still easily find out about Xu Le’s ident.i.ty.

But Xu Le had no worries. He was sure that Li Wei and those other orphans had plenty of means to survive. He carefully avoided Deputy Chief Bao’s intimate gesture without showing any offending signs. Still with his head lowered, he walked into the dark shadow humbly.

“I am sure we’ll meet again!” Bao Longtao shouted toward the youngster’s back, loosening his grip of the police baton.

……

……

It didn’t take long for the two to meet again. As a matter of fact, it was too short, so short that it was shocking and absurd.

In the dark shadow by the side gate of the Green Garden Apartments, Xu Le raised his head in shock, his bright eyes now squinting into two crescents. He gazed in utter disbelief at Bao Longtao, who leaned against the wall in a very comfortable posture with the confidence that the entire situation was still under his control. Xu Le appeared quite startled at the fact that the man had followed him to this remote corner without ever catching his attention.

“Didn’t I say we’ll meet again…? And I am very glad that no security monitors or nosy pa.s.sersby would be able to interrupt our communication this time.”

Deputy Chief Bao stepped out of the dark shadow in his dark police uniform, the big grin on his face filled with insidious satisfaction. The police baton hanging by his waist was now in his hand. The diamond-shaped metal tip sparkled with terrifying blue electric arcs. Although they looked small, no one would have any doubt about their power.

Bao Longtao didn’t want to give Xu Le any chance to escape and didn’t expect Xu Le to immediately spill his guts. Out of habit he was ready to disable the young lad with a good shock before anything else and use the unbearable pain to soften the boy’s heart, so he would reveal the person behind him, the one who was capable of hacking into the Police Station network and taking advantage of the conflicts among the upper management of the Riverwest State government.

The tip of the baton almost reached Xu Le’s waist when Deputy Chief Bao suddenly felt a sharp pain.

A strong electric current instantly shot through his entire body, making all parts of his body twitch without control. In unbearable pain, he collapsed to the ground, trembling like someone with an epileptic seizure. White foam spilled from his half-open mouth.

The faint burning smell quickly dispersed into the night wind. The wall, however, was left with traces of permanent burning marks from the electric current.

After making sure Bao Longtao had no resistance left in him, Xu Le carefully returned the electric prod to his pocket.

The prod was only as long as a finger, but the electric current it sent out far exceeded the prod he gave to Li Wei earlier, not mentioning the police baton held by Bao Longtao.

Bao Longtao had pretended to let Xu Le leave and secretly intended to torture him in the dark corner. It was simply beyond his imagination that the feeble young lab could so easily take him down.

Xu Le walked by Bao Longtao. He hunkered down and examined the man. Then he placed a small metal piece into his ear and spoke with an intentionally lowered voice.

“Special agent No. 78 of the Federation Communication reporting. Operation interrupted. Should I erase the eyewitness?”