Although he felt uncomfortable, he still nodded and said, “Okay. I will cooperate with Miss Bai.”
Huo Shaoheng briefly looked at the bank security map that Gu Nianzhi had forwarded to him.
He also had a similar security map, but it was a different angle from the one Gu Nianzhi had sent him.
He compared it with his operational arrangements and actually discovered two inconspicuous but crucial points.
If a sniper hid in those positions, their situation would become very difficult.
Huo Shaoheng tapped his finger on the phone screen a few times and adjusted his previous commands.
Two field personnel who had been lurking in advance were moved away by him. Another one was placed in an elevated position that perfectly overlooked the two positions and could provide an overview of the entire basement.
…
After dinner, the four of them got into the car and drove to the downtown financial district.
They didn’t speak much along the way, so Gu Nianzhi occasionally broke the silence and teased Zhao Liangze to inject some liveliness into the atmosphere.
Bai Shuang was much too silent compared to earlier. Maybe it was because she felt that she had nothing to say to Zhao Liangze, or perhaps it was because Huo Shaoheng was sitting in the car. She could no longer act openly like before.
Huo Shaoheng was still in disguise, and his appearance was quite different from how he usually looked.
But his body was as tall as normal, so he looked perfect with Gu Nianzhi when they stood together.
When Gu Nianzhi got out of the car, she held Huo Shaoheng’s arm with a sweet smile on her face. It seemed as if she was actually attending a banquet with Huo Shaoheng rather than preparing for a secret operation.
Bai Shuang also took Zhao Liangze’s arm.
She smiled and pinched Zhao Liangze, whispering softly, “…Pay attention to your expression. From the way you’re acting, other people might think I am holding you hostage…”
Zhao Liangze, “…”
He sighed in his heart but still managed to form a decent smile on his face.
He walked forward with Bai Shuang, and every step felt like walking on blades.
They all showed their invitations at the bank entrance and were successfully let in by the guards at the door.
One of Li Dexi’s assistants was hiding on a floor of the building opposite to the bank. He was holding a pair of high-powered binoculars and looking at the traffic at the entrance.
Seeing Bai Shuang lead two men and a woman into the bank entrance, the man immediately sent a message to Li Dexi saying, “The target has entered the area. The target has entered the area.”
Li Dexi looked at the video sent to him and nodded with a smile. “We will go inside too.”
Their men successfully entered with their own invitations.
…
Gu Nianzhi, Huo Shaoheng, Zhao Liangze, and Bai Shuang entered the bank’s lobby and immediately realized it was extremely crowded.
It seemed as though the entire upper echelon of Cape Town was gathering here.
The men were all dressed in fancy tuxedos and had glasses of red wine in their hands as they chatted in small groups.
The women were all in evening dresses and were eager to show off all parts of their bodies.
Bai Shuang’s red dress and Gu Nianzhi’s smoky gray trousers made them two outliers. They stood out like sore thumbs amongst all the glamorous and flashy evening gowns.
Fortunately, Huo Shaoheng and Zhao Liangze were both tall and muscular. They seemed to block Gu Nianzhi and Bai Shuang from view intentionally and prevented others from paying attention to them.
Bai Shuang had a better understanding of the situation than the rest of them.
Her eyes quickly swept across the faces of everyone in the lobby, then she squeezed Zhao Liangze’s arm and said, “Let’s go over there. There is a secret door that leads to the elevator that will take us to the basement.”
At that moment, no one was waiting for the elevator.
But there was still surveillance in the area.
Zhao Liangze still needed to hack into the surveillance system and alter the security footage.
Zhao Liangze felt even more uneasy when Bai Shuang urged him.
Was she that eager to push them into a trap?
He shook his head silently and said, “Wait a minute. I need to go to the bathroom.”
He pulled Bai Shuang’s arm away and walked quickly to the bathroom.
Bai Shuang squinted her eyes at Zhao Liangze’s back, then quickly looked away like nothing was amiss.
The Bluetooth headset in her ear was suddenly connected, and Li Dexi’s voice began to speak.
“Agent Bai, well done!”
Bai Shuang smiled and replied softly, “Mr. Li Dexi, we have arrived. Are you here too?”
“Of course. How else could I see you?” Li Dexi chuckled quietly. “Now, you are going to take them into the basement. There’s still two hours before 9:00 pm. Don’t get exposed.”
“I’ll be careful.” Bai Shuang’s gaze flickered around the lobby and suddenly noticed Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi.
She wasn’t sure if they were trying to blend into the crowd or if it was because they simply couldn’t help themselves.
Bai Shuang saw Huo Shaoheng standing in a dark corner with his back facing everyone. He pressed Gu Nianzhi up against the wall and lowered his face to kiss her.
Gu Nianzhi hugged Huo Shaoheng’s neck and stood on her tiptoes. She appeared very engaged.
There were not many people in that area in the first place. When the occasional person wandered over and saw two people kissing, they just smiled and walked away, assuming they were lovers. No one really looked into who those people actually were.
This was actually one of their techniques for hiding their identities.
Bai Shuang was not very familiar with this approach, so she just laughed. At that moment, she still had a lot of romantic thoughts in her head. She really didn’t know if she should praise Huo Shaoheng for his demeanor as a great military general or if his relationship with Gu Nianzhi was actually that sweet.
…
Zhao Liangze went to the bathroom to find an empty stall. Closing the door, he took out his phone and quickly hacked into the building’s security surveillance system.
He had left the back-door program there that morning, so he was able to find the surveillance locations very easily.
It took three minutes for the elevator to go down to the sixth-floor basement from there.
Zhao Liangze set the timer to disrupt the surveillance video and switch the footage, then turned his phone into the remote control for the surveillance system.
He could see all the surrounding guards from the other bank’s surveillance system.
He came out of the bathroom and saw Bai Shuang her arms crossed, leaning back against the wall. She looked lonely.
When she turned around and saw him coming out, she immediately put on a bright smile and said, “Are you okay? Let’s go to the reception.”
Zhao Liangze’s heart dropped, and he stretched his arm out towards her as he said, “Let’s go, Miss Bai.”
Bai Shuang took his arm and walked into the reception lobby from earlier.
The two of them found Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng chatting in the corner.
They were not kissing anymore, but their cold attitude towards everyone else prevented anyone from trying to come up and strike a conversation with them.
Zhao Liangze walked over with Bai Shuang, saying with a smile, “I’m all set. What do I do for the next two hours?”
“Participate in the reception, listen to the speech, and drink red wine.” Huo Shaoheng raised his glass at Zhao Liangze.
Gu Nianzhi also raised the wine glass in her hand and glanced at Huo Shaoheng with some bitterness.
Other people had their glasses full of red wine, while hers was grape juice – the natural and freshly squeezed kind.
Huo Shaoheng smiled and greeted Zhao Liangze, chatting like they were real bankers.
Bai Shuang listened to Huo Shaoheng. She had no choice but to admire him.
He was truly able to appear exactly like whoever he pretended to be. He must have studied the banking industry very carefully.
Otherwise, he might have been exposed at any second if an expert came over to chat with him.
It didn’t take long for a banker to come over.
He was not a very tall man. He had gray hair and fine wrinkles on his face, but his eyes were very wise.
It was obvious from first glance that he was a seasoned banker.
Huo Shaoheng was vigilant but still used a fluent English accent to speak with the old man.
Gu Nianzhi smiled vacantly the entire time and acted like the prettiest doll.
…
At 7:00 pm, the doors were closed, and the lights in the lobby dimmed. It didn’t take long for them to light up again.
A potbellied man stood on the stage in front of everyone and began to give a speech.
Within the five minutes it had taken from the lights to go bright, to dark, then bright again, all of Li Dexi’s people slipped out of the lobby and went to the hallway.
Their equipment had been shipped in a long time ago.
A dozen people carried boxes with guns out from a small room in the hallway and took the elevator down to the sixth-floor basement to hide the boxes in four or five key places.
At that moment, the bank’s surveillance team was actually being held hostage by two parties.
Zhao Liangze secretly invaded the system, but Li Dexi had replaced the bank security personnel on duty that day with his own men.
…
Zhao Liangze stood behind Huo Shaoheng with a wine glass in one hand and his phone in the other. He looked down from time to time to make sure that nothing unexpected happened.
The surveillance footage did not show when Li Dexi and his men left the lobby.
Zhao Liangze only thought that the surveillance footage was a bit strange for a few minutes.
But he didn’t care too much.
He knew that Li Dexi would definitely send someone in. But, as long as the personnel arranged by Huo Shaoheng were the first to arrive, the opponent would only be exposed within their shooting range.
…
One hour had passed, then one hour and thirty minutes, and finally, one hour and forty-five minutes.
There were only fifteen minutes left until 9:00 pm.
It took five minutes to get from there to the elevator entrance by the secret door.
The elevator ride was three minutes.
The entire process of entering and exiting would take about five minutes.
That left another five minutes of maneuvering time, so they couldn’t waste another second.
Zhao Liangze tapped the monitoring software on his phone and said softly, “…We can go now.”
He released Bai Shuang’s hand and gave her a thoughtful look as he said, “You should stay here and wait for us to come back.”
Bai Shuang was a bit shocked, then quickly shook her head and said, “I will accompany you. If something unexpected happens, I can help you out.”
Was she really going to help them out?
Unfortunately, she was probably there to accelerate their deaths…
Zhao Liangze sneered coldly, his eyes sweeping across Bai Shuang’s graceful neck.
How could this person be so cruel?
Did she really want him to break her beautiful neck with his own hands?
Zhao Liangze couldn’t think about it anymore. He felt so uncomfortable that he thought he was about to explode.
All he could do was maintain a polite smile on his face and shake his head persistently as he said, “No, no. You don’t understand.”
Bai Shuang was a little anxious– if she couldn’t follow them, then all her efforts would be for nothing.
She pushed Zhao Liangze away and called after Huo Shaoheng, “Huo Shao, can I go with you? I want to lend you a helping hand!”
“No!” Zhao Liangze whispered harshly and stared at her with angry eyes. “Bai Shuang, you have done enough!”
Huo Shaoheng turned his head and looked at her with dark eyes.
He clearly understood that Li Dexi had been paying attention to every move their group made. If he wasn’t careful, the suspicious and innately cunning Li Dexi would shrink away.
He pretended to look embarrassed and said with a frown, “Miss Bai, thank you for your help today. It may not be safe there, so it’s best that you don’t go.”
“You are not familiar with this place. I know the location of the basement better than you,” Bai Shuang gritted through her teeth.
She knew that Huo Shaoheng had always been very vigilant, but she didn’t expect it to be this serious.
She had helped them obtain top-secret internal information, yet he was still so indifferent towards her.
Gu Nianzhi looked at her, then at Zhao Liangze. Her eyes paused on Huo Shaoheng’s face.
“It’s better to let her follow us. I am the only woman, so I am also afraid… I will feel more at ease with Miss Bai there,” she whispered.
Huo Shaoheng looked at her and said nothing for a long time.
Bai Shuang was already holding Gu Nianzhi’s hand by then and smiled at Huo Shaoheng as she said, “Then let’s go. Let’s not drag this out.”
The corners of Huo Shaoheng’s eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.
If he allowed Bai Shuang and Gu Nianzhi to go together, then Bai Shuang would be completely indistinguishable from the enemy, and their lives would be at stake.
Did this really require such a large sacrifice?
The blue veins on Huo Shaoheng’s forehead suddenly protruded. In that moment, he could even hear the sound of blood rushing through his veins.
At that moment, Zhao Liangze’s monotone voice could be heard as he said, “Since Miss Bai insists on coming, we will not reject her eagerness to help. How about we let her follow us, and I will keep an eye on her.”
Zhao Liangze’s expression was normal. Huo Shaoheng could see from the look in Zhao Liangze’s eyes that he had already lost the will to live and was in immense pain.
His subordinate’s heart was bleeding.
Huo Shaoheng looked at him quietly, then raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder for a moment. Without saying anything, he turned and walked towards the secret door.
