.17th Floor, Capital Hotel, Washington, D.C., United States.

Putting aside all the previous unhappiness, the Tsars and their wives were quite satisfied with the bedroom arranged for them by the US government. Gorgeous carpets, noble beds, chic desks, dressers and lampshades, every detail here is in pure Russian style, and from this point it is clear that the American authorities have really put a lot of effort into it.

As Linda walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a comfortable bath towel, Agrini was writing at her desk, Linda didn't have to look at it to know that it had something to do with military planning, and to her disdain even more was that it was destined to become a pile of waste paper after the naval meeting.

"Your Majesty, take a bath and rest early!"

Aglini let out an "um", still focused on the paper.

Linda silently walked back to the bedroom, where the two maids who were waiting immediately expertly arranged her hair, oiled and massaged her, and then changed her into luxurious new clothes.

After this, Linda rang the bell.

The door opened, and an attendant officer no less than fifty years old walked in and stood respectfully one step away from the door, "What does Your Majesty command?" ”

Linda turned, "Call Colonel Salugin!" ”

"Yes!"

After about 2 minutes, the door opened again, and in came the chamberlain, followed by a colonel in a white gown. He stopped three steps from the door and put his feet together, "Your Majesty! Colonel Salugin of the Department of Naval Intelligence came to report! ”

At this time, Aglini on the other side of the desk stopped his pen and frowned, but then lowered his head again and continued his grand plan.

Linda didn't look at Aglini either, but asked the colonel to come up to her, "I wonder what happened today?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty! So far, all the delegations have arrived, and the most special thing is that the German Kaiser actually flew directly from Berlin in an airship, and it is said that there was no fuel or supplies to be retained or replenished anywhere along the way! In addition, the American public was generally welcoming to the naval meeting, except that the Japanese delegation's convoy had a little trouble entering Washington, D.C., and a few Americans threw stones at their cars. And the Japanese delegation has already protested to the US Foreign Ministry about this! The Colonel said as he glanced over the desk, and the Tsar did not seem to have the slightest interest in the reports.

"Just this afternoon, our people went round Washington!" The Colonel looked at Linda as he said this, and after getting the look from her that he was motioning for him to continue, he said in a normal tone: "The city is so calm that our people have nothing to gain!" ”

"Nothing to gain?" Linda whispered, it was a code word, meaning a situation that wasn't so good.

"Is there anything else Your Majesty needs to command?" The colonel asked, as usual.

Linda didn't think much of it. "Oh, let them continue to be vigilant, and don't let the hostile elements work against your majesty! Remember! ”

"Yes!" After receiving instructions, the Colonel saluted Linda and Agrini, respectively, and turned to the door, which Agrini ignored.

Linda glanced back at her husband and walked thoughtfully towards the bedroom.

After leaving the Tsar's room, Colonel Salugin walked forward in three steps and two steps, and knocked down a flower pot on one side of the corridor, which disappeared at the end of the corridor while the attendants were busy cleaning up.

It was bitterly cold in Washington at night. The outside temperature has dropped below zero. There were fewer pedestrians on the road, and only the loyal street lamps still stood straight on both sides of the road.

After going through a series of strict inspection procedures, Salugin, who had changed into civilian clothes, walked out of the Capital Hotel quickly. Then I walked three blocks away and hailed a taxi.

"Tequila Bar!" Salugin commanded the driver in pure English.

Ten minutes later, the smoke-puffing taxi pulled up in front of a nondescript bar, and Salugin handed the driver a $5 bill and said in a dashing manner: "No need to look for it!" ”

Looking at Salugin's distant back, the chubby driver said with a slight mockery: "Another big guy! ”

Unlike the deserted streets, this bar called "Tequila" is very popular, with stylishly dressed men and young sexy women everywhere in the dim lighting, the bar's gramophone playing the popular jazz music, the waiters with drinks shuttling between the tables, and the waiters standing at the bar skillfully mixing a variety of cocktails for customers.

After handing the hat and coat to the waiter. Salugin walked straight to a table in the corner and called a waiter, "Please help me find Mr. Carter, just say that his friends who often hunt with him are looking for him!" ”

"Okay, wait a minute!" The waiter finished and left. After that, Salugin asked for a glass of juice and casually surveyed his surroundings as he drank it. At this time, the bar had about 30 people with customers and waiters, all of whom did not appear to be in their 40s, and none of them were black or yellow, although it was not necessarily a racist bar. But it also seems that only the petty bourgeoisie can afford to consume. As for the scantily clad young women, needless to say, they are also engaged in the ** trade, they flirt with the guests with ambiguous expressions, while drinking expensive wine.

"Sir, alone?"

Along with these words came the smell of strong cheap perfume, and Salukin couldn't help but frown, he wasn't misogynistic, but he had more important business to do now.

Seeing that the other party didn't speak, the woman who accosted her took the initiative to sit down, put her left hand on the table, supported her chin with her right hand, and looked at Salugin with affection: "Can you invite me to have a drink?" ”

"I'm waiting for someone!" Salugin felt that his voice and expression were like the air outside, shiveringly cold.

But the woman got closer, "Are you waiting for the old man?" I'm not going to be worse than her, sir, aren't you? ”

Salugin was about to pay for her, but heard a rough voice from behind: "Let's go!" This gentleman is not for you! ”

The woman didn't look back, but just left with a reluctant face, and what appeared behind her was the person Salugin was looking for.

"My friend, we're meeting again!" Salugin shrugged helplessly.

The other party didn't say much to each other, "Come with me!" ”

The two of them walked through the bar one after the other, then walked up the small staircase on the side of the bar and finally entered a small room. There are two sofas and a table and a chair in the room, a lamp is lit on the table, and some small things are placed in a messy table. Wait for Salugin to come in. The man was about to close the door, and the sound of jazz died down.

"What instructions does Your Majesty have?" The man was a completely formulaic robot, barely with any extra words in his mouth.

Salugin still had that helpless expression, "Your Majesty commands, complete the task at all costs!" ”

The man sat down in a chair behind the desk, lit a cigarette, and said quickly in Russian: "The problem is that our men are being blocked by American border guards at the border, and the latter group is even more unlucky. They're in big trouble in Canada. Now that things can't be brought in, our people can't use their fists to complete the task! ”

Compared to the previous smell of perfume, Salugin also did not like the choking smell of smoke here, so he frowned again.

"There is no way, problems will always be encountered, and our task is to solve them!"

"But after each group misses someone, they have the right to decide for themselves how to do it! I'm right! The man said with another puff, then tapped the cigarette twice on a small ashtray, "Even if we can get something from other sources, it will be very difficult to contact each group." Unless they reach out to us! ”

"Alas. Why don't you get a hidden warehouse and stock some guys? In that case, we wouldn't have so many troubles! Salugin began to complain, even though he knew that the time given was too short and that there were a lot of supplies to prepare, considering that the Russians only had such a small spy station in Washington. A few people and a transmitter are just a few people, and how can they secretly store a large number of arms on weekdays.

The man smiled bitterly: "If that's really the case, I'm afraid I've been targeted by the American police here for a long time!" ”

"I'll send another amount of money to your account tomorrow, in short, the funds are not a problem, you have to get as many goods as possible in the shortest possible time!" I'll be back to you in three days! Salugin got up and left, leaving the man smoking a cigarette in silence.

Two days later, in the corner of the last page of the Washington Daily News, there was this news:

It is reported that according to the tip, the police in our city conducted a surprise inspection of a warehouse on the outskirts of the city last night, seized a batch of high explosives on the spot, and arrested three Russian men. According to the confessions of the three men, the police initially judged that this was a case of arms smuggling related to a triad organization. According to the chief of police in our city, the police are currently following the clues to track down the mastermind, and at the same time hope that those who know can actively provide information to the police, and the police will provide a certain amount of reward.

"Major, did you think something could have happened to our people?" Ban Cuntou handed the newspaper to the middle-aged man, and said very worriedly, while the shaved face on the side looked at Ban Cuntou a little blankly.

The middle-aged man took the newspaper quite unexpectedly, and after reading the news briefly. His expression also looked rather grim.

"Chances are some other group! Looks like we're lucky! ”

Just last night, he exchanged $3,000 in cash for three boxes of high explosives for engineering use, which are now hidden in a small warehouse not far from here.

It took a few seconds to finish watching the news, and then skillfully came up with a coherent action of pulling and turning the gun, "If they run into us, those damn American cops won't be so lucky!" ”

The middle-aged man looked at the two people with different expressions, got up and paced back and forth in the room a few times, and said:

"We don't have a lot of three boxes of explosives in our hands right now, but we can't risk any more! We must be doubly cautious until the mission is completed! ”

Ban Cun reminded on the side: "But didn't that 'thin man' say that he helped us contact another group of people who can provide explosives?" ”

"Go tell him that our friend has bought enough explosives!" The middle-aged man replied very firmly.

Out of habitual reaction, Ban Cun put his legs together, "Obey!" ”

The middle-aged man thought for a while, and then said, "I'll go and contact the boss tonight, you two stay here and don't go out!" ”

Shaved Face also stood up, "Yes!" ”

After thinking about it, the middle-aged man finally settled down, and he looked out the window at the domed U.S. Capitol, which was not tall, but had a magnificent momentum, which was his ultimate goal.

At this time, the Parliament building was bathed in the cold winter sun, and because it was in recess, the meeting hall, where many lawmakers usually discuss the bill fiercely, was empty, and the whole building waited in a quiet atmosphere. Five days later, the much-anticipated International Naval Conference will be held here

Washington does not lack buildings capable of hosting international conferences, but the US authorities have ulterior motives in arranging this international naval conference to be held at the Capitol. The Capitol built in 1793, burned down by the British in 1814 and rebuilt from 1819 to 1867 symbolizes the indomitable spirit of the Americans, and the overall layout of Washington is based on the Capitol Building as the axis, and the four avenues radiating from here divide the city into four areas, so that Americans declare Congress as the center of the capital, the center of the United States, and hope that it will become the center of the whole world in the future.

When he came to the counter on the first floor, White was sitting behind the counter writing something. So he patted the counter, "Boss, what about the waiter named 'Skinny'?" ”

White looked up at the visitor, "In the back!" Wait...... Skinny! Skinny! ”

Before White could shout a third time, the "thin man" suddenly came out from behind the curtain. As soon as he saw that the rich lord was coming, he immediately strung to Ban Cuntou's side like a dog smelling bones, and without waiting for the other party to speak, he said with a smile on his face:

"You still want to pay to listen to stories, right? Okay, let's go, I'm free now! ”

"Um", "spending money to listen to stories" is the code that the "thin man" agreed with them in order not to let the boss find out about his transactions with customers.

Glancing at the back of the "thin man" and the departing head of the board, White muttered "this kid", and then lowered his head again. Naturally, he would not have known that the "thin man" had received a full $300 in "intermediary fees" from yesterday's transaction, which was a month's turnover of this small hotel!

When he walked to the corner of the third floor, he looked left and right, and then whispered, "That friend of ours has already bought enough goods!" ”

"Huh?" The "thin man" glared at the boss, he just thought that there was another opportunity to make money, and by the way, he recalled the super cool feeling of putting a lot of colorful banknotes in his pocket.

"Good work!" Itachi patted him on the shoulder, then slipped a few ten-dollar bills into his jacket pocket.

"But the ones I helped you contact this time are all first-class goods!" The "thin man" was a little anxious, and said in a panic that the price could be negotiated again.

"No, it's really not a matter of price! Our friend really doesn't need the goods! Ban Cuntou looked at each other very seriously, and it seemed that the "thin man" had given up anyway.

"Well, if you still need any goods, just look for me, you can't make a friendship in trading!"

Itachi smiled, and walked towards his room.

"Alas......" The "thin man" shook his head helplessly, "The story can't be told!" ”