Los Angeles, Santa Monica...

There are many beachfront apartments near the famous Santa Monica Beach. Some luxury apartments cost $100,000 a month, while others are more affordable at just a few thousand dollars a month.

The area is convenient for transportation, life is easy, and compared to other tourist destinations in Los Angeles, the cost of living is relatively cheaper. That's why not only people from other places like it here, but locals from Los Angeles do too.

Of course, the cost is just relatively lower...

After separating from the Butcher and the others, Mountain Eagle took Daria and Tiffany as per the address that Blood Fox had left, avoiding the FBI blockade, and drove to a ready-made clothing store in Santa Monica.

When they fled, they had already changed out of their gear, and the three of them wore nothing but simple T-shirts and jeans when they got out of the car.

At this time, it wasn't fully light yet, and the biological clocks of the people of Los Angeles didn't allow for them to get up and work this early, so there wasn't even an open breakfast spot around.

After stepping out of the car, Mountain Eagle stretched his body forcefully, took a deep breath, and the slightly seawater-scented air made him rub his slightly itchy nose.

Coming from the north of Los Angeles to West Los Angeles, perhaps because he drove through at night, Mountain Eagle did not see any signs of prosperity, even when passing through the famous Beverly Hills, he did not feel its opulence.

The entire Greater Los Angeles doesn't have too many impressive skyscrapers, and it doesn't quite feel like a modern metropolis; it rather resembles a super community pieced together by numerous prosperous small towns.

The infrastructure in the areas Mountain Eagle and the others passed by wasn't top-notch, but to be honest, the climate conditions on the West Coast of the United States are definitely first-rate.

Mountain Eagle stretched out his uncomfortably cramped body from the small car interior, circled around the silver second-hand Prius that Blood Fox had prepared for them, and said with disdain, "I hate these little cars, sitting in here makes me feel like I'm a sardine packed into a can..."

Tiffany got out of the driver's seat, coughed covering her stomach, and looking at Mountain Eagle, who seemed unaffected by the battle a few hours ago, said, "BOSS, we're on the run, the more low-key the better!

I drive a Prius myself - it's fuel-efficient, eco-friendly, and affordably priced, cops rarely pull over these cars."

Mountain Eagle shook his head with distaste and said, "Is this still the United States?

Even without an American big V8, an MPV would've been good..."

Saying this, Mountain Eagle looked at Tiffany, whose face seemed a bit pale, and asked with a frown, "Are you injured?"

Tiffany leaned against the car engine, covering her stomach and shaking her head somewhat helplessly, "Last night a bullet hit me in the chest..."

While speaking, Tiffany took a deformed bullet out of her pocket, and said with a serious expression, "I've been shot before, but I've never felt like this."

Mountain Eagle took the bullet and glanced at it, frowning, "6.8 mm bullet...

I checked the sniper's rifle at that time; his equipment was very advanced, and he was using an M24. Is there a 6.8 mm version of a Remington 700?"

Tiffany shook her head and said, "I don't know if Remington has a new version, but I know that a 6.8 mm caliber is the new generation individual weapon system tender requirement for the US Army.

The HRT once helped several firearms companies test some new guns, and I have seen some of them.

Compared to 5.56 mm caliber rifles, 6.8 mm bullets are obviously more powerful with stronger penetration, and the recoil isn't as hard to control as the 7.62 mm rifles."

Speaking of which, Tiffany said with a somewhat ugly expression, "Ordinary mercenaries couldn't possibly get their hands on such weapons...

BOSS, our trouble this time must be huge!"

Mountain Eagle looked at Tiffany, whose face was somewhat pale, and said with an indifferent smile, "We've been sought after by an elite with four-eyed night vision goggles...

Able to provide soldiers with such level of armament, nothing about them would surprise me!"

Saying so, Mountain Eagle patted Tiffany on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry, no matter how tough they are, they're just people paid to do a job.

As long as we can hold out until the negotiations between US and Russian Intelligence Agencies are over, everything will be past."

Tiffany looked at Mountain Eagle, her expression somewhat helpless, "I hope so!"

Then Tiffany looked at the ready-made clothing store, with no sign and decorated like a pawn shop, sighed, and asked, "What should we do next?"

Mountain Eagle nodded towards Daria, who had just gotten out of the car, then said with a smile, "We knock on the door...

This place was arranged by Blood Fox, they surely won't shoot us just because we arrived early!"

Dressed in fresh attire, Daria headed to the door of the clothing store and knocked for about 5 minutes...

A white-haired old man, wearing a somewhat comical pair of reading glasses and cursing in his pajamas, came to the door.

Squinting through the small window in the door, the old man motioned with his finger to Mountain Eagle, who was clearly the boss, and said, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Mountain Eagle approached with a smile and said, "I'm here on behalf of Peterlovich..."

The elderly man, seemingly with a sense of helplessness, slowly unlocked the four locks from top to bottom and then pulled open the front door...

Upon seeing the towering figure of Mountain Eagle, the elderly man murmured as he turned around...

"What a hassle..."

Saying so, the old man turned to look back at Mountain Eagle, who was still standing at the doorway, waved his hand and said: "Come with me, help me close the door..."

Mountain Eagle shrugged his shoulders at Tiffany and Daria, saying: "I don't know what's going on either, it was all arranged by Blood Fox..."

As he stepped into the tailor shop filled with the scent of fabric, he followed the old man up a somewhat dimly lit staircase to the second floor.

Mountain Eagle was startled the moment he stepped onto the second floor...

The old man immediately turned on the light, and then Mountain Eagle saw an old lady in a wheelchair holding a double-barreled shotgun aimed at him, and her expression was less than friendly...

"Whoa, whoa..."

Mountain Eagle stuck close to the old man, spread his hands out towards the old lady, and said: "Don't panic; we're not the bad guys..."

Hearing Mountain Eagle say he wasn't a bad guy, the old man turned around and gave him a strange look. He then walked up to the lady with the shotgun, bent down, and whispered a few words in her ear...

After listening, the old lady's expression relaxed, she inserted the sawed-off shotgun into the side of the wheelchair, then took the oxygen tube around her neck, placed it under her nose, took a deep breath, and with a hoarse voice, she said to the old man: "Send them away quickly..."

The old man nodded, pushed the old lady's wheelchair in front of a French window, served her a cup of tea, and then turned around to wave at Mountain Eagle and his companions, signaling for them to follow him...

The second floor's antique British decor was quite dated, and the weight of the large Mountain Eagle made the floorboards continuously emit an irritating 'creak' sound.

Mountain Eagle deliberately slowed his pace, hoping to stop that sound, but it was to no avail, each of his steps on the floor made noise.

It wasn't just Mountain Eagle, Tiffany and Daria following behind were the same. Even though they walked on tiptoe, even along the corners of the walls, the result was the same.

Mountain Eagle wasn't obsessive-compulsive, but still, he found it hard to understand how someone could tolerate this noise from the floorboards in their home.

This wouldn't be too noticeable during the day, but at night, if someone went to the toilet, they would probably wake up everyone.

It wasn't until the old man pushed open a solid wood door, entered a carpeted room, and then stood at the door with an inviting gesture...

Mountain Eagle glanced at the chipped and loose floorboards and then at the carpet inside the room where the old man was, he suddenly realized the floor might be some kind of early warning system.

At least with this thing in place, nobody could silently creep into their room from inside the house.

What kind of living environment could foster such a habit?

The old man seemed to sense Mountain Eagle's thoughts, he smiled and said: "My mother and I are used to everything about this old house; we have an affection for it, and we can clearly distinguish every sound of the floorboards.

"They make us feel like we're not alone..."

Mountain Eagle walked into the carpeted room, looked around at the furnishings, and nodded somewhat disinterestedly: "Yes, sometimes I feel that way too. When you've used something for a long time, you feel like you can talk to it."

The room Mountain Eagle and the others entered was a tailor's workshop about forty-plus square meters, with several sewing machines inside, a cabinet against the left wall filled with rolls of various colored fabrics, and to the right was a row of plastic mannequins of different heights, weights, and shapes...

Looking at what was clearly a tailor's workshop, Mountain Eagle spread his hands curiously and said: "Sorry, I'm a bit curious, am I in the wrong place?"

The old man went to the inner side of a large workbench, pulled open a drawer, took out a bunch of keys, and tossed them to Mountain Eagle...

"These are the apartment keys prepared by Blood Fox for you..."

Saying so, the old man pointed at a suit on one of the mannequins, saying: "This is the suit prepared for you by Mr. Poincaré; he believes that Los Angeles is a very important occasion for you, so you'll need a few suitable suits.

"I am a bit old, so I'm working a bit slowly, take off your clothes and stand in front of the mirror, I need to make the final adjustments and tidy up."

"A suit?"

Mountain Eagle sighed and said: "Is custom-made going to be too much trouble? I can buy off-the-rack suits as well!"

The old man glanced at Mountain Eagle through his bifocals, shook his head, and from the drawer, he drew out a small knife and flung it at the suited mannequin...

The tip of the knife precisely hit the mannequin's chest, making a 'thud' before falling to the ground, powerless.

The old man watched Mountain Eagle's surprised expression, then threw out another knife, this time it struck the mannequin's forehead, sinking two inches deep.

Seeing Daria and Tiffany unconsciously step back two paces, the old man shook his head. He slowly walked up to the mannequin, retrieved the two knives...

"This is not just a suit, it's a man's armor..."

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