“””

Upon seeing Agent Luo An emerging unscathed from the villa on TV, carrying Sabina, Mona let out a long sigh of relief and the expression on her face relaxed.

“I knew it,” she said to herself. “Luo An must have had a plan.”

Mona was delighted, confident in her judgment of Luo An.

Feeling the sweat make her palms slippery, Mona reached for a piece of paper to wipe them, but her expression turned to one of displeasure as she glanced at the number on her phone, tossing it aside as if it were a poisonous mushroom.

Sitting on the table, Augustus grinned broadly at the TV screen, revealing his molars.

The more he looked at Luo An, the more he saw a reflection of himself: not only were they both handsomely charismatic, but also smart, articulate, and capable.

Hadn’t Vireness’s face flushed with excitement when Luo An stated on TV that his actions were under proper leadership?

Sitting in her chair, Vireness watched Luo An on the television, instructing reporters to direct their questions to his superiors at the press conference, a look of contentment written in her eyes that said two words: Satisfied!

Feeling a chill on her thigh, Vireness took a deep breath to compose herself, gradually regaining her natural expression before turning her head to Augustus coldly and declaring:

“In thirty minutes, I’m calling a press conference. Notify the journalists now; the more, the better.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Augustus joyfully agreed, and couldn’t help but ask:

“Does Luo An need to attend? He might be late if he does; thirty minutes won’t be enough for him to get back here.”

“…”

Stunned by Augustus’s question as she was about to leave the office area, Vireness hesitated. By all accounts, Luo An’s presence was essential, but ordering him to attend might upset him…

After a moment’s thought, Vireness replied, “Call Luo An now and ask if he wants to attend the conference. If he does, he can come. If not, then never mind.”

“… Okay.”

Augustus looked surprised; Vireness had never been this understanding before. Nevertheless, he took out his phone and called Luo An.

“Can I skip it, ma’am?”

As Luo An, riding in the SUV and seeing the SWAT team finally arriving, heard Augustus’s words, his face was full of reluctance:

“I’ve been running around all day today. All I want to do is go home and get some sleep. I’m exhausted.”

Don’t be fooled; this story might have spanned from chapter fifteen to forty, but it only covers the events from nine o’clock in the morning until about midnight. It’s barely been a day.

“This…..”

Gazing at Vireness who stood beside him, likewise hearing Luo An’s voice on the phone, Augustus’s facial expression stiffened. As he coughed and was about to speak, Vireness nodded in approval and responded coldly:

“Agent Luo An, you’ve worked hard. Go home and rest. You have my permission to come to work tomorrow afternoon.”

Augustus: “???”

A delighted Luo An: “Alright, thank you, ma’am!”

After hanging up the phone, Vireness ignored the expression on Augustus’s face that read ‘I also want to come in late tomorrow’. Dragging her somewhat weak legs, she turned and headed for the restroom in Unit Five’s area.

She also didn’t forget to sternly instruct Augustus:

“Augustus, in thirty minutes, I want every news outlet in New York present in the conference room on the first floor, got it?”

“Yeah.”

Augustus sighed and shifted his gaze from Vireness to the agents in the adjacent office area:

“Now, everybody move! Contact all media in New York! We can’t miss a single one, no matter how big or small!”

The agents: “…”

Beside the cabin in the woods.

By the roadside, Darren and his wife Sabina waited for the secretary’s car to pick them up while they exchanged their deepest thoughts and comforted each other.

“””

At the same time, with an understanding unspoken, they both refrained from mentioning things they had kept hidden from one another.

Agent Luo An ended the call, sitting in the SUV and watching this scene unfold with an eye twitch, filled with a belly full of words yet not knowing what to say.

Reesi, having arrived only after the incident was over, made some small talk with the SWAT team. Afterwards, she made plans with one of the female agents to go shopping together the next day, then returned to Agent Luo An’s SUV.

“Take me to the Flame Queen Bar in the Manhattan District.”

As soon as she got in the car, Reesi urged Luo An to drive quickly. Then, she pulled down the mirror above the passenger side, and miraculously pulled out a few makeup products from her pocket, beginning to dab and draw on her face:

“Hurry up a bit, someone is waiting for me there.”

“…”

Agent Luo An’s face turned the color of constipation, but said nothing, putting the car into gear and stepping on the gas, the SUV rolling forward.

After applying her makeup, Reesi packed away the cosmetics, took off her suit jacket, folded her shirt enticingly across the front, and as the streetlights on both sides of the road slowly receded, she asked in a voice filled with internal conflict:

“Erm, Luo An… can you drive as fast as you did back then?”

“What are you talking about?”

Agent Luo An turned his head and asked with a smile:

“I remember someone complained that I drove too fast before and said they would never ride in my car again in their lifetime. Now you’re asking me to speed again?”

Such a petty man.

Reesi rolled her eyes beautifully and, after some thought, somehow pulled out four business cards from who knows where, and handed them to Luo An, who was driving:

“If you can get me to the Flame Queen Bar in less than twenty minutes, one of these four girls will be yours tonight, how about it?”

Luo An glanced at the cards without taking them:

“Who are they?”

“Don’t worry, little boy, I wouldn’t deceive you. There’s nothing in it for me, this is your reward for successfully solving the case with me today.”

Reesi stuffed the business cards into Luo An’s suit pocket, laughing:

“They are all students at New York University. Because of their good looks and figures, they work part-time as servers and models at the bar. With my help, as long as you’re not too dim-witted tonight, you’ll definitely be able to take one home.”

“Heh.”

Agent Luo An glanced at the business cards in his pocket, shook his head in disdain:

“One? I want them all!”

Reesi: “???”

The next second, Luo An floored the gas pedal, the engine roared violently, and the dark SUV turned into a black bolt of lightning, shooting towards the distance.

—-

Inside a conference room on the first floor of the Jacob Federation Building, the lights were bright.

A bunch of reporters who had been forcibly ordered to work overtime by their bosses were sitting with their pen and paper, hefting their cameras, watching Virene standing at the front of the conference room.

Virene had changed out of the business suit she was wearing four hours ago, now wearing a more casual suit with long pants.

Not only that, but Virene had also redone her light makeup from before, this time a bit heavier, making her appear more sharp and imposing.

“Good evening everyone, thank you for attending this press conference.”

Virene briefly repeated an overview of the scene of the crime and then explained the process by which her agents solved the case. After a brief introduction of the suspect Frederick’s identity, she paused when she got to the part about how her agents caught him.

“Why did you stop?”

“Is it because an agent was injured?”

A few reporters from small newspapers were puzzled, not understanding why Virene had abruptly stopped when she reached the crucial point.