Floral Shirt frantically shouted for Mountain Eagle to stop, and Mountain Eagle, amenable as ever, moved the gun barrel away from Floral Shirt's knee...

Looking at Tiffany, who was very uncomfortable by the side, Mountain Eagle spread his hands and said, "This gentleman is not able to use his hands and feet, help him take out his cell phone."

Tiffany frowned and searched on the yelling Floral Shirt, flipping out a cell phone from his pocket, an old-fashioned slider phone.

Mountain Eagle took the phone in his hand, looked at it, and pulled up the call log...

Looking at those unnamed numbers, Mountain Eagle brought the phone to Floral Shirt's face and said, "Which one is your boss's number?"

Floral Shirt's consciousness had already been shattered by the pain...

These Replacers living in the United States, compared to those Mountain Eagle had seen in Thailand, might be even more frantic, but when it came to their tolerance for physical pain, they were far inferior.

Honestly speaking, the living standard in poorer areas of developed countries is not at all the same as those in Southeast Asia.

The criminals created by this class gap and wealth disparity are several levels below those hard-pressed by life to the edge of desperation.

At the very least, people here won't starve, so they can't cultivate that kind of deep-seeded ruthlessness!

Mountain Eagle immediately saw through Floral Shirt's frailty; he might indeed not fear death, but he dreaded bodily pain...

When Floral Shirt faced Mountain Eagle's question, he trembled as he recited a number...

"999-***"

Mountain Eagle repeated the number to himself as if mumbling, and then stood up, not in a hurry to have him make the call, strolling around the stinky apartment...

Looking at the two gunmen Tiffany had knocked down and who were now breathless, he said to Tiffany with a complex expression and a smile, "You see, you're actually more cruel than me; these guys suffered a lot!"

Tiffany evaded Mountain Eagle's gaze uncomfortably and stubbornly said, "They deserved it!"

Mountain Eagle simply nodded without comment, picking up the several guns on the ground and placed them on a coffee table laden with drug paraphernalia...

While picking up the guns, Mountain Eagle noticed that Jerry's parents were already sober, they just didn't dare to move or speak, the acidic smell of vomit by their heads seemed not to shake their determination to continue 'fainting'...

Mountain Eagle narrowed his eyes, held a silver M1911 in his hand and pulled the slide to check the chamber, then aimed the gun at Jerry, who was curled up in the corner of the sofa...

"Hey, buddy, remember what I told you yesterday?"

Jerry nodded, trembling like a sieve, but facing the gaze of Mountain Eagle, his tongue seemed to be tied in knots, and he could only utter 'ah, ah' sounds, unable to say a complete word.

Mountain Eagle didn't need Jerry's answer, directed the gun at Jerry's head, and pulled the trigger...

With a "bang", the bullet grazed Jerry's ear and hit the wall behind him.

Jerry let out an 'ah', completely petrified and eyes shut tight in fright.

Meanwhile, the male and female on the ground twitched slightly, determined to maintain their unconscious state...

Mountain Eagle watched Jerry who was scared out of his wits, tears and snot running down his face, silently sobbing and hugging his head on the sofa...

He coldly emptied the handgun's magazine onto the ground beside the couple...

"Bang bang bang bang..."

With a series of gunshots, the couple in only their underwear panicked and rolled towards the direction of the bathroom, then skillfully knelt on the ground, hands together, starting to pray...

They were talking too fast and with a thick accent; Mountain Eagle couldn't make out what they were saying.

Seeing that the couple didn't even glance at their son from the beginning to the end, Mountain Eagle sighed and, ignoring Daniel's inquiries from the earpiece, said to Tiffany, "Take him in for a wash and find some clothes, we'll send him to his sister's place later..."

Saying this, Mountain Eagle gestured for the middle-aged couple to go into a room and close the door, then gently tapped the earpiece and said, "Things are fine here, are you done on your end?"

Daniel on the radio immediately replied, "The position shows the number is in the parking lot of Santa Monica Pier, FBI folks say there are too many vehicles and people there, so we need someone to go and do the search."

Mountain Eagle, annoyed, said, "You don't even know what the other party looks like, what the hell are you searching for?"

With that, Mountain Eagle ignored Daniel, bent down and untied Floral Shirt's shoelaces, tying one around his right forearm and the other above the injured knee...

Using two spoons, he tightened the makeshift tourniquets amidst Floral Shirt's screams...

After making sure Floral Shirt's bleeding was temporarily stopped, Mountain Eagle handed him the phone, and said firmly, "Call him, arrange a meeting, say you got important intelligence from Jerry..."

Floral Shirt took the phone with a pale face, his left hand shaking as he dialed the number...

A few seconds later, he spoke into the phone, "Boss, something went wrong with that kid Jerry, I think you'd better talk to him personally..."

"..."

"I'll take him to the safe house near Kegel Canyon to meet you; it's important..."

"..."

"OK, 4 PM, I'll be there on time!"

After hanging up the phone, Floral Shirt looked at Mountain Eagle, pale-faced, and said, "We have a farm nearby Kegel Canyon, my boss will be there at four in the afternoon."

Mountain Eagle looked at Floral Shirt with a not-quite-smiling expression, he took Floral Shirt's cell phone, redialed, and found that the other party had already turned off their phone…

As the dial tone 'beep beep' sounded, Floral Shirt cried out in panic, "That's just how we operate. After discussing important matters, we turn off our phones and then meet in person to talk."

Mountain Eagle smiled but did not speak…

......

At this moment in the Santa Monica Pier parking lot, a Southeast Asian Rohingya man with a big beard snapped a SIM card in half and threw it into a trash can, then turned and boarded a small van.

The van quickly left the parking lot, heading north towards Los Angeles.

A crow circled above the small van…

Soon, the crow intercepted a radio signal, confirmed it matched the small van's location, and then transmitted the radio communication content to Mountain Eagle.

Without support from the technical department in the back office, Crow had few options for dealing with mobile phone signal towers.

However, Crow could locate via radio signals, and if the other party wasn't using particularly advanced military radios, without sophisticated encryption systems, it could capture the other party's radio communications directly…

With radio transmissions inside the van, several other vehicles quickly caught up with it, forming a protective convoy.

......

Mountain Eagle, far in North Hollywood, witnessed this entire process…

It was clear that Floral Shirt's boss had sensed something amiss—hence, the farm in Kegel Canyon must be a trap.

Whether it was the police or the FBI, they had no leverage over Floral Shirt, as he did not fear going to prison, even less so a swift death.

The police couldn't get the truth out of him, and even after Mountain Eagle's fierce interrogation, he still played tricks.

Exactly which word or phrase was the issue, Mountain Eagle did not know, nor did he care, since he had already locked onto the target…

Now, he needed to exploit the opponent's reaction, to have Daniel and Rosa sift through their internals for any problematic individuals…

Mountain Eagle was certain not to step into the trap himself. The task of surrounding and attacking Kegel Canyon farm would be left to the people from the FBI and police force.

Currently, neither the FBI nor the police had shown up, and no one knew they were involved.

If they ended up catching nothing, that would mean someone within had leaked the information to Replacer.

The boss of the Replacers in Thailand was a prosecutor and had grown the organization to the extent of annually paying protection money to NGOs associated with the British Military Intelligence Department…

With such a successful precedent, it was difficult for other places not to imitate.

Once Daniel and Rosa came up empty, it would indicate that Los Angeles's Replacers had already formed a network within the law enforcement, and dismantling Replacers would be something Mountain Eagle would have to do himself.

Mountain Eagle wasn't in a hurry to leave; he pulled up Google maps, located a farm near Kegel Canyon, and after confirming it with Floral Shirt, he sent a crow flying over…

When Tiffany emerged with Jerry who had cleaned up and changed into a new outfit, Mountain Eagle looked at Jerry whose face was swollen as a pig's head and smiled, "Still in the mood to kill someone?"

Jerry involuntarily stepped back, vigorously shaking his head, "No, no, no, I won't…"

Mountain Eagle looked at Jerry, whose eyes were terrified to the extreme and said with a smile, "Then what do you plan to do?

Would you like me to give you a gun to take this guy down, then go to juvenile detention and eat prison food for a few years?"

Jerry glanced at the pain-stricken Floral Shirt, his body trembling, he lowered his head and said, "No, I dare not!"

Mountain Eagle walked up to Jerry, grabbed his dirty dreadlocks making him look up, and said, "So, what do you want to do?"

Jerry's nostrils flared with panic, and after a dozen seconds, he said with tears, "I, I don't know, I really don't know what I can do…"

It was obviously the truth!

Replacers' tactic was to rope in kids who saw no hope, lead them in dining, drinking, and playing, increasing their sense of belonging, and then internally stratify them through a series of trivial day-to-day tasks. Next would be brainwashing them via methods similar to pyramid schemes…

Make contributions, prove oneself!

You must do something to prove yourself before you can partake in key team projects, and then eat better, play better, even acquire a little power, and even make some money.

With children whose worldviews are unformed, some among them simply did not comprehend what killing meant.

After all, they're underage; the boss gave him a gun, telling him to go kill someone…

If caught, at worst, he'd squat in juvenile detention for a few years!

If he's lucky and escapes, they reward him with a game console, find people to join him to look tough in front of friends, maybe even a girl to be his girlfriend, and then lead him to become a core member…

With one or two successful examples, many kids simply can't resist!

Looking at Jerry who seemed as he might collapse at any moment, Mountain Eagle shook his head and said, "Would you like to move and study somewhere else?

Somewhere remote, with few people, and where nobody knows you?"

Jerry heard this and instinctively glanced at the room where his parents were, then he said somewhat desperately, "I don't know…"

Mountain Eagle knew Jerry was telling the truth; he grabbed Floral Shirt by his intact leg and dragged him out while saying to Tiffany, "Bring him with you…"

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