Chapter 588 - Want to Play?
Only by personally defeating this Huaxia Major General would people stop doubting Sean’s abilities. That was how he had to win the respect and trust of these old-timers in the CIA. In order to be a leader, he first needed to prove that he could control his subordinates’ ability, and this ability was based on using his own power to command the loyalty of his subordinates. A slick tongue would do nothing for these people since they all were good negotiators themselves. The only possible way to was to earn their respect with true ability.
Sean left the office and called over his security team. “I have a confidential mission in the next few days so I can’t have all of you following me around. You guys stay here for a little while and monitor the people here. If anything strange happens, call me right away.”
“Roger, Chief!” the security team agreed in unison and immediately divided responsibilities in monitoring the entire Asian Intelligence Branch.
Unfortunately, they were only security personnel. Everyone in the branch was skilled in monitoring others, so their methods were completely useless. Instead of monitoring the branch, they ended up being the ones monitored. At lunchtime, several of the agents from the branch grumbled to James, “What do these people want? What are they watching us for? Why aren’t they protecting that fearless little runt?”
James knew they were referring to Sean but only kept smiling quietly. He took a bite of his hamburger and suddenly felt that the sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the osmanthus fragrance was permeating the air; everyone looked so likable, and if not to accommodate that person, James would’ve bought iced coffees for all the security personnel secretly monitoring them…
The weather was getting hot. Huo Shaoheng also felt this way, as he’d been weaving his way through the New York alleyways and between the tall buildings over the past few days. He was so hot he could explode. Not far behind him was a scruffy man wearing a straw hat who had been following him the whole time. Huo Shaoheng hadn’t been returning to his rented luxury apartment but pretending to be a criminal at large, darting through the poorest and dodgiest streets of New York.
Today, he was in Harlem, which was like night and day compared to Fifth Avenue, the order of the Upper East Side, or the understated luxury of the villas in Long Island. Harlem was full of all kinds of vicious gangsters who would start a shootout without a second word. There was at least one shootout a day and countless street fights, so even the police ignored it. As for the shootouts, the police only cared when there were mass casualties. They disregarded it all, otherwise. This was truly a paradise for criminals.
Huo Shaoheng remembered how, when the CIA and FBI had first pursued him, they’d assumed that he would hide there. They had combed through the area like a rat’s nest several times, destroying many gangs. Because of this, the gang leaders were enraged and assumed the police were truly after them under the guise of arresting a kidnapper. That was why there were black vehicles driving recklessly on Fifth Avenue a few weeks ago and had started a shootout. Huo Shaoheng had saved the little girl from the gang shootout that day, and since then, the American police and military had given up searching Harlem and other areas of high crime rates to focus on high-end communities instead. But they’d never thought that Huo Shaoheng would reappear in the most chaotic areas.
…
Sean had been tailing Huo Shaoheng for several days now but still couldn’t figure out where he was staying. This man was too sly and alert. There were several instances when Sean almost got him but still managed to lose him. It as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Sean was thoroughly provoked and had been chasing after him endlessly for the last few days. He swore to personally kill him! Yes, his original goal had been to personally arrest him, but after the last few days, he knew it would be impossible to catch Huo Shaoheng alive. If that was the case, he would send him to hell!
Huo Shaoheng suddenly stopped ahead and looked around as he stood in front of the window of a very old and rundown store. He seemed to be looking at something.
On the shabby streets of Harlem, an unfriendly black man walked past in the street. Colorful graffiti covered the walls between the alleyways in unknown patterns. Several voluptuous and somewhat overweight black prostitutes clad in tight tank tops, short shorts, and 10-centimeter high heels solicited for business on the streets. Their breasts were like huge pairs of balloons, their lips shimmering in red, and their black skin shining. Their coarse hair was arranged into countless little braids and wrapped into large buns at the backs of their heads. With cigarettes dangling between their fingers, they whistled at anyone walking past them and giggled, “Hey handsome, want to play?”
People ignored them, but instead of getting angry, they continued to whistle and tease the next targets. It was as if, instead of being prostitutes, they were the ones soliciting for sex.
Sean was intently focused on the target ahead and completely failed to notice the black prostitutes on the street. He didn’t expect to be surrounded instantly as they tried to tease him. One of the prostitutes saw that he was handsome and even offered to sleep with him for free… Sean was enraged and shoved the prostitutes away, but Huo Shaoheng had already disappeared ahead. He had expended all that effort to find Huo Shaoheng and had even used a bit of the intelligence of James’s informant, yet he’d lost him again after tailing him for the last few days!
Clenching his fists, he gritted his teeth and turned back to quickly return to his office in CIA headquarters. Using the CIA’s authority, he requested the Harlem police to send him the local surveillance footage for the day. Although the Harlem police didn’t get involved much, they still quickly cooperated at the request of the CIA for surveillance footage. Soon after, Sean got ahold of the video and took the entire night to finish watching all the footage. This time, he thought he had found where Huo Shaoheng was hiding.
There was an unassuming building in the streets of Harlem with stores on the ground level and six floors of residential apartments on the upper levels. Sean carefully studied the apartment’s surroundings and finally locked onto a shorter building across from the apartment. This building was only three floors tall, which was half the height of the apartment building Huo Shaoheng was in. The two buildings faced each other directly, with a main road running in between, and the direct distance was less than 100 meters. It was within sniping range—Sean’s specialty. Sean had always been praised as a natural marksman, and when he’d served in Europe, he had completed many assassinations without ever failing.