Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 90 Mental Attack
Half past four in the afternoon.

The sky outside the window was already getting dark.

The firewood in the fireplace crackled and popped, casting an orange glow on the room.

Alexei sat on the sofa by the window, a well-worn atlas spread out on his lap.

At that moment, Igor pushed open the door and came in.

"Going through my junk again? You've always loved studying those scraps of paper since you were a kid."

“It’s not waste paper,” Alexei said lazily, without even looking up. “There’s a dot on this page, which is where you said a shot was fired.”

“Krasnozom.” Igor sat down opposite him. “It was a training ground back then, now it’s a graveyard.”

After saying that, he pointed to the teacup in front of Alexei: "Is it still hot?"

"It's alright." Alexei handed over the cup. "If you don't mind that I used it, you can have some."

Igor took the cup, took a sip, and immediately frowned: "It's soaked like urine."

“You only have this one kind of tea in your kitchen,” Alexei said, shrugging.

Igor didn't say anything more, just put the cup back in its place, his fingers tapping the armrest unconsciously, as if he was thinking about something.

After a moment, he glanced at Alexei and suddenly asked, "How old are you now?"

"Twenty-eight, what's wrong?"

Igor nodded. "When I was twenty-eight, I was still in the Caucasus Military District."

"The Fourth Bureau of the General Staff has decided to support Syria."

“I borrowed this opportunity from a few old colonels, got two truckloads of supplies, and hitched a ride to get them out.”

"The document was fabricated by himself, but the official seal was stamped by a legitimate unit. The political commissar pretended not to see it."

"A few days later, the military factory delivered some canned goods and cigarettes, saying it was 'year-end surplus' and told me not to make a fuss."

“And you,” Igor paused, “you’re still studying place names and history.”

"I don't have your brains," Alexei awkwardly retorted. "And I didn't intend to take your place."

"You're not going to steal it."

Igor looked at him, his gaze devoid of reproach, but instead filled with a rare patience. "I don't want you to become like me either."

Instead, I hope you can find your own way.

"But the prerequisite is that you must first understand how the world works."

Upon hearing this, Alexei threw down the picture book and sighed deeply.
"When you talk like that, nothing good comes of it."

"I want you to try to handle something."

Alexei didn't move, and asked dryly, "Who are we going to negotiate with this time?"

"No negotiation, just an investigation."

Alexei frowned: "Don't you have Mikhail, and my cousins ​​too?"

"Of course they can do it."

"But they are them, and you are you."

"It was good that you wanted to stay by my side before."

"But now, the situation is quite different."

Alexei did not respond immediately.

A hint of wariness, mixed with some confusion, flashed in his eyes: "Why now?"

“Because it’s time.” Igor’s tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable weight.

"I know that you and I have different personalities."

"But you can't always stay in your villa writing articles."

A moment of silence fell over the room.

The firewood in the fireplace popped softly, as if something had broken in the fire.

"."

"Speak," Alexei finally spoke, "Where? What happened?"

Igor stood up, took two pieces of paper from the drawer, and handed them to him:
"In Simferopol."

"Lymphal Colonel Lavrentiev, who was transferred from the Air Force, has been acting rather strangely lately."

"Would he dare to tamper with things behind the scenes?"

"It seems so, but I can't say for sure if he's doing it alone." "So you need to investigate and find out if there are other people behind him."

Alexei stared at the paper, his fingers twitching slightly: "Are you serious?"

“Of course, I’ve already had everything prepared for you,” Igor said.

"You can decide for yourself how to act."

"Who you want to see, who you want to ask, and how you want to ask are all up to you."

"If you investigate thoroughly and feel it's time to take action, I won't stop you."

Alexei sensed a hidden meaning in those words, and after a few seconds of silence, he asked:
"You already had a conclusion, so I didn't need to investigate, right?"

Igor remained silent, neither confirming nor denying.

".All right."

After much deliberation, Alexei knew he couldn't avoid it, so he finally agreed.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Igor smiled with satisfaction and casually added:
"Oh, by the way, I've also arranged a special partner for you."

You will be safe.

The smile held a hint of mischievousness that was deliberately concealed but couldn't be hidden, as if it were waiting for a certain expected reaction.

Alexei suddenly felt that something was wrong.

It wasn't the kind of danger that could be immediately identified, but rather a kind of unease that slowly rose from the bottom of my stomach.

There was no reason, and no clear direction.

It was just a familiar physiological reaction that reminded him—something was amiss.

Alexei looked at Igor, his lips twitching slightly:
".who?"

“Fahd”.

The air froze for a second.

Then--

dong dong.

The door opened twice, slowly and deliberately, as if the rhythm had been rehearsed beforehand.

Alexei's neck stiffened, and his body became ramrod straight.

Then, the door was pushed open.

Zhou Yi walked in.

He wore a long black wool coat and walked with steady, light steps.

Anton followed behind, his cheeks still red from the wind, his ears shining from the cold.

"There was a bit of traffic, I'm two minutes late, sorry."

Anton closed the door, smiled, and raised his hand to give Igor a somewhat informal salute: "Boss."

Igor glanced at them and nodded slightly: "It's good that you're back."

"To be honest, it's quite lively on the road."

As Anton spoke, he took off his gloves and put them in his pocket.

"A military vehicle overturned into a ditch. It claimed to be a unit supporting local security and had come from the port. The driver got scared and ran away, and they haven't found him yet."

"Huh, which unit?"

"They were taken from the Black Sea Fleet and given a temporary designation by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Nobody knows who they're actually under."

Anton scoffed. "A group of people, carrying five barrels of liquor, were crammed into the carriage along with Kalashnikov, and two boxes of canned goods of unknown origin were strapped to the back."

"When we passed by, they were squatting by the roadside cooking, like they were camping."

"As the car drove by, some people stood up and saluted us. They were drunk and were shouting something like 'For the Soviet Motherland'."

The conversation continued, but Alexei was completely oblivious to what was happening.

The person stood at the boundary between light and shadow, with a calm expression.

It was exactly the same as the car in Kherson that night.

At this moment, Zhou Yi also noticed his gaze and slowly turned her head.

Then, he smiled and said, "Hello, Alexei."

(End of this chapter)