Chapter 26: Is Du Fulin the Mastermind Behind It All?

Christine’s face was expressionless. With her arms crossed, she managed to accentuate her already perfect, voluptuous curves even more.

“It seems our guest is awake!”

A soldier stepped forward, grabbing the hippie’s hair roughly and forcing open an eyelid to check his pupils.

“Ma’am, there’s something wrong with him. I have a feeling he might never speak again…”

“Who are you!” The soldier was cut off mid-sentence by the hippie’s hoarse voice.

He froze, unable to believe what he’d just heard. That was a slap to the face—so direct and unyielding! The soldier looked awkward, but Christine paid him no mind and went straight to the point. “Who are you? Why were you with Jimmy? Where is Mr. Dufresne?”

The hippie raised his head slightly, his eyes half-open as if still drunk, but his hands flailed about aimlessly, groping like a blind man, while his legs trembled as though he were searching for something. The disharmony between his head, hands, and legs was striking.

Christine frowned. “Answer my question, sir! Or I’ll shove your head down the sewer!”

The hippie glanced around but said nothing. His hands and feet, however, seemed to settle, resting quietly at his sides. Christine’s gaze was sharp and unwavering as she stared at him, but he remained silent.

After a few seconds, Christine extended her palm. “I hope you know what you’re doing. If you disappoint me—”

“You’ll shove me down the sewer, right? Honestly, your threats aren’t scary at all, little girl!”

Christine narrowed her eyes. “I meant after chopping you up first!”

The soldier stepped briskly out of the bathroom, leaving Christine alone. They had no worries about her handling a mere drunkard; if a CIA agent couldn’t subdue him, then the Agency itself wasn’t worth much.

“Now it’s just you and me. Time to answer my questions.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

The hippie nodded indifferently. “It all started a few hours ago. I was on vacation in New York, feeling pretty good. I’d had a few drinks, met a stunning beauty, and was just about to take things further in a hotel room when a sudden car crash shattered my perfect plans! Someone disguised as Big Nose kidnapped his employer, and I happened to witness it. Unarmed, I got dragged into the car as well.”

Christine asked, “What kind of car?”

“A black SUV—looked modern, sealed up tight. I couldn’t tell the make.”

She nodded for him to continue. What he described matched the surveillance footage she’d seen, so she found herself believing him a bit more.

“They blindfolded me and tossed me aside. I could vaguely hear voices from another room—sometimes even screams…”

“What were they saying?” Christine pressed, tension in her voice.

He shrugged innocently. “I was too far away. I couldn’t make out anything.”

She lunged forward, grabbing his collar and staring him down. “Listen, you idiot, I don’t care what it takes—you’d better remember something, or I’ll lock you in federal prison and let you rot there forever!”

The hippie immediately raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright! But I really didn’t hear much—just some vague talk about viruses and a water resources company or something!”

Christine’s face darkened. Clenching her fists, she paced back and forth in the bathroom, her breathing growing quick and ragged. After about half a minute of restraint, she finally let out a curse.

She shot the hippie a fierce glare, then turned and pulled out her phone.

“Dr. Simms, listen to me. The plan’s been compromised—evacuate immediately!”

The moment she spoke, Gao Ning and his two companions were stunned.

They’d previously pieced together the plot. None of them remembered much—after all, it had been years since they’d seen the film, and Grandma Liu hadn’t seen it at all. From their discussion, aside from Dufresne and Jackie Chan, the only major character on their side appeared to be the female CIA junior officer. On the antagonist’s side, apart from Banning, only the mad scientist stood out.

Logically, Christine, as a senior CIA support agent, shouldn’t have had any contact with the mad scientist, Dr. Simms. Yet here she was, directly calling Simms.

Could it be…?

The three exchanged glances, just as Christine bellowed into the phone, “Just do as I say, you idiot! Don’t ask where Dufresne went—he’s dead! I’m in charge now!”

Apparently, Dr. Simms relented, for Christine’s tone softened a little. “Yes! Destroy all research data—take only the most critical samples, and only a minimal amount. Destroy the rest. Once you’re out, disappear. I’ll contact you in two weeks. Understood? Good.”

She hung up, her face even darker than before.

Suddenly, the hippie spoke. “So you’re the mastermind behind all this!”

Christine spun around. “Who are you, really?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t you already check?”

“That’s right. There’s nothing—impressive!” Christine narrowed her eyes. “I’ve always known the CIA had a special investigative unit, designed to root out enemy spies and potential traitors. All these years, I’d never seen any sign of you, so I doubted your existence. But now I know you’re real!”

Saying it seemed to lift her spirits, and a faint smile touched Christine’s lips. “But you made a mistake—revealing yourself so quickly. The special forces I use aren’t CIA—they belong to a private military contractor.”

The hippie blinked, then played along with surprise. “What? You were prepared all along? Damn!”

“That’s right.” Christine narrowed her eyes, taking in his anxious expression with some satisfaction. “From the moment Dufresne proposed this plan, we were preparing on all fronts. We thought that with so many contingencies in place, we could always escape unscathed even if things went wrong. Handled well, we could even pin the whole case on Banning Group and emerge as heroes who saved the world. We just didn’t expect you to move so decisively—secretly capturing Dufresne, and with an undercover, no less! Impressive tactics.”

Gao Ning and his companions stared at each other in disbelief.

It really was them.

In this world, it seemed the real villain was Dufresne.

Damn, it really was a parallel universe—this plot had gone completely off the rails.