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Chapter 2627 Dead End (First Update, Please Subscribe)
What was the cause of their deaths?
"Some people die from car bombs, some from gunshots. Some die from car accidents, some from disease. Some die from war, but ultimately..."

Andrei recalled the contents of the documents he had seen, and then said:

"You can tell—this is one of the million ways to die in Beirut."

"Are there really so many coincidences?"

Hans's question made Andrei laugh, and then he said...

“My friend, this is Beirut. Before the arrival of the coalition forces, this was a place where various factions fought each other, so their cause of death doesn’t seem to be anything special.”

"Indeed, sir, anything is possible in war."

"That is indeed possible, but..."

Hans lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said:
"But isn't this just too much of a coincidence?"

After saying that, he turned his gaze to the outside of the car window. Although it was his first time in Beirut, everything here was different from what he had imagined.

The arrival of the coalition forces and the ongoing war on terror have given Beirut a new lease on life. Unlike the past wars, Beirut has not only regained stability but has also shown signs of post-war reconstruction.

As the Land Rover drove through streets riddled with bullet holes, the contrasting scenes on either side presented a cacophony of images: many buildings remained in ruins, with huge gaps in the walls revealing twisted steel bars, and collapsed roofs leaving only half-ruined ruins.

But not far away, several brand-new buildings are under construction, with workers wearing safety helmets busy at work, scaffolding erecting new outlines, and even many shops reopening, with signs hanging at the entrances. All of this seems to indicate the vitality of the city market.

Occasionally, they would encounter armed police officers who reminded them that things were not as peaceful as they seemed.

Their safe house was hidden in a narrow alley in the old town; it was an inconspicuous three-story building.

This was the accommodation prepared for them by Hydra, and it served as their base for the next few days. As soon as they arrived in Beirut, the task force began their investigation.

The first step in the investigation was to reinvestigate and re-examine those clues. However, as the investigation deepened, the original doubts became even more suspicious.

"All dead?"

Nop couldn't help but say while flipping through the documents:

"Car accident, car bomb, civil war... what a coincidence!"

Although Beirut was in chaos at the time, the fact that these key figures connected to the London terrorist attacks had all died "naturally" in different ways just months earlier seemed suspicious. We discussed these fragmented documents and traces from the crime scene all the way there, and the more we thought about it, the more suspicious it became.

Hans nodded, deeply agreeing:

"Andrei, Linowski, and I had discussed the materials repeatedly beforehand, so this is definitely not a coincidence."

These deaths, seemingly consistent with Beirut's chaotic state and lacking any trace of deliberate murder, reveal a closer examination of the timeline: their order of death perfectly aligns with the logic of intelligence transmission—the first to die was the remittance agent, from whom the funds were sent to London and delivered to terrorists. He died in the explosions during the civil war.

Next was the arms dealer. Intelligence indicated that he supplied the terrorists with their weapons, but he and his family died in a car bomb, believed to be retaliation by an armed group. On the surface, there seemed to be no unusual traces, but these 'accidents' could have been staged...

"If it was a disguise, then there are no clues left to follow. Their investigation is very detailed; they even found out about the armed groups that were in chaos at the time. It seems like they were all conducting normal military operations."

"Yes, it looks very normal. We interviewed people around them but didn't get any valuable information. Everything seems normal."

"The biggest abnormality is that everything is perfectly normal."

Hans took a drag of his cigarette, then looked at the photos on the wall, focusing on the Havana agent in one of them, and said:
"This person is the key to everything. The money was transferred from him through the Hawara system. The only question is—who gave him this money? This money didn't appear out of thin air, so where did it come from?"

“The dead can’t speak. His shop was destroyed in the civil war, and he and his family died in a gas canister bomb. The entire shop was destroyed. In previous investigations, the SEA’s investigation department even dug deep into the ruins. They found the shop and some ledgers, but nothing else. Although there were remittance records in the ledgers, but…”

As Andrei spoke, he took out a photo from the document and said:

"Only the remittances were recorded, but the source of the funds was not. The most important thing now is the source of the funds. And only the deceased agents would know this information."

That's the crux of the problem—the dead can't speak.

"And what about the arms dealers?"

"Tried it."

Andrei shook his head, his tone full of helplessness:
"He didn't have any leads either. He was paid to do things, and the funds came from the deceased Havara agent. After receiving the money, he disguised the weapons and shipped them to England, and that's how the trail went cold."

Silence fell in the room, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere filling the air. All they had to do was confront cold, hard documents and a disturbed crime scene, trying to piece together clues.

However, all leads went cold because of the person's death, making it impossible to continue the investigation.

“That’s millions of dollars, but there’s absolutely no clue…”

Taking a deep drag on his cigarette, Hans countered with a question:

"How could that be?"

This problem is like a boulder weighing on everyone's mind.

They risked exposing their identities to come to Beirut in order to prove their worth and protect their families.

But now, the mission has hit a dead end right from the start. All the clues have been cut off due to the "natural death" of the person involved. There are no witnesses, no evidence, and no direction. They are like people trapped in a maze, unable to find any way out.

They tried to piece together the information and clues, but they were unable to form a complete chain of clues.

"Is there really no way at all?"

"Right now, it seems the SEA investigation department is in the same predicament as us, and Hydra is in the same situation," Andrei said helplessly.

"They, like us, are stuck in a stalemate."

"Do not……"

Hans shook his head and said:

“We are different. We need to complete this mission because we must prove our worth and that we deserve their protection!”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's brows furrowed in dismay.

Yes, they are different. Whether it's the Investigation Department or Hydra, they are just conducting investigations.

But what about them?
They need to complete this task to save their lives.

"So now the only problem is..."

Andrei looked at Hans and said:

"How can we complete this mission?!"

"I do not know."

Hans shook his head, and then he said:

"I only know one thing—we must complete the mission, at all costs, even if God is involved, I will find it."

After he said this, Langer, who had remained silent until now, a guy who specialized in both wet and dry work and rarely offered analysis, said:
"Is it possible... that the money came in through legitimate channels?"

His idea surprised Hans and the others, who said:

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, we've considered all the illegal possibilities, so is it possible that the money came in through legitimate channels?"

"You mean a bank transfer?"

Andrei flipped through the documents and said:
“They have investigated every remittance. Over the past few years, they have investigated the source and destination of all funds that have entered Beirut through legal channels, and found nothing.”

Then, he emphasized:

"You need to understand that the SEA controls the international money transfer channels, so how could they possibly overlook this?"

"Do not."

Faced with the rebuttal, Rangel remained calm and said:
"I'm not talking about that channel, but the normal entry process, like through customs. When I'm carrying out many missions, the funds I need are carried in cash. If the amount of money is large, I'll also hand it over to specialized smugglers. They specialize in flying to various countries and carrying cash or valuables into the country..."

Before Rangel could finish speaking, Hans interrupted:
"They investigated this channel and found no deaths of smugglers or large sums of cash entering the country. In the past two years, the largest single payment made by those smugglers was only tens of thousands of US dollars, and the recipients often used the money to buy drugs. Furthermore, they checked all customs entry declarations from the past two years and found nothing..."

Suddenly, he stopped speaking. Hans, as if struck by a sudden realization, said:
"There are no livestreamers promoting the products, but..."

He paused, then Hans, raising a slight brow, said:
"But what if they send the funds through another means?"

"Through what means?"

"port."

Hans said it bluntly.

"All merchant ships need to pay various fees after entering the port, such as loading and unloading fees, berthing fees, and other expenses."

Beirut has been in a state of conflict for the past two years, meaning that people at the port prefer cash to remittances.

Although Hans didn't understand these things, he was very clear that in war-torn regions, cash transactions were the simplest and most readily accepted option compared to remittances.
"This means that those ships will definitely be carrying large amounts of cash when they enter the port. These funds neither need to be declared to customs nor will anyone notice them."

If someone brings money in through this channel, the outside world won't even notice.

Andrei listened to Hans's thoughts and then spoke.

"Such an obvious place, didn't the Investigation Department and Hydra notice it?"

"They must have noticed."

Hans took out a document and then said:

"You see, they also investigated the merchant ships that have entered and left this port in the past two years. But their focus was on whether anyone used these merchant ships to enter Beirut?"

It's certain that someone will do this, but such smuggling is almost impossible to trace. After all, smuggling happens every day; people and goods are brought here daily through this channel. Even the crew members don't know what they're carrying.

Another dead end!
The fundamental reason why this matter remains a mystery to this day is... the lack of clues.

Faced with this dead end, Andrei said:

"Then what about those who benefited from Beirut's post-war reconstruction? After the London terrorist attacks, the coalition will inevitably intervene in Lebanon. In that case, who will be the biggest beneficiary?"

(End of this chapter)