Long-term salvation

"Briefly, they all had at least a month's free time, and those who weren't available didn't come," Colonel Faulkner shrugged. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, which was still stained with blood. "No one was seriously injured. There were only five with minor injuries. They were screaming quite loudly. By the time I ran over, those little bastards' wounds were almost healed!"

Rhodes was amused by Colonel Faulkner. Of course, he also knew what he meant. He patted the colonel on the shoulder and said with a smile:

"I really hope they won't have to spend time in the hospital, even if it's free."

After briefly exhorting Colonel Faulkner, Rod walked down the stairs, twisted his neck, sighed tiredly, and prepared to find a place to rest. But before he had taken a few steps, Laura's excited voice suddenly pierced his ears:

"Mr. Rhodes! When are we leaving for Paris? I heard you're going to explore the catacombs of Paris! An adventure into the otherworld!"

"...Tomorrow," Rhode put his hand on Laura's forehead and turned her around again, "Go and comfort your old housekeeper first. I think he almost wants to eat us alive - the bill for the damaged items was also sent to me. It's really a living hell. Yuxiang will definitely kill me..."

Even more painful is the next task -

[Side Quest: Twelve Trials: Catacombs (Note ①)]

Mission Description: Go to Paris, France, enter the catacombs, close the passage to the other world, and obtain a black stone sample.

Black Stone...isn't it the Philosopher's Stone in the movie?

Rhodes felt a bit of a headache. There were many things called "Black Stone" in various movies and games, such as those in Warhammer 40K and Control. Before seeing it with one's own eyes or getting a hint from the system, one really couldn't - wait, if one thought along this line, it seemed that he could actually guess something!

Note 1: "As Above So Below" movie, 2014 movie

Chapter 187 James Bond's Confusion

James Bond looked down and saw a river of countless humans flowing under the cliff.

This is not reality, but a distorted world formed by countless nightmares. It is also a possibility for human civilization in the future.

The man looked up and saw the lonely Moai statues and the giant stone ring slowly sinking from the sky, followed by the ruined and collapsed Roman city-state. Countless bricks and stones fell, trailing dust, like a meteor shower composed of billions of shooting stars.

He gazed into the distance, where a massive, dark figure stood, practically touching the sky. Its palms pointed downward, and the natural creations of the earth swirled into its palms like a tornado. Deserts, jungles, oceans, even the deepest mineral veins beneath the earth, formed an incredible, wondrous illusion... It was as if the falling man-made objects had been created by the black figure itself!

Suddenly, Bond felt a sharp pain, his heartbeat accelerated, and hot blood rushed into his limbs along with the pumping of his heart. Amidst the painful suffocation, he saw more horrific scenes:

Huge ancient beasts roared in the woods and fields, fleeing in terror at the wrath of nature, their bodies beginning to transform as they ran, until they became feathered birds - ancient apes leaped down from tall trees, picked up stones on the ground and threw them, and they turned into whistling cannonballs as soon as they left their hands - a white-haired old man wrote formulas on the blackboard in the empty classroom, and the pharaoh sitting in the front row began to smile and applaud - dazzling lights flickered on the surface of the planet like stars, and black and gray mushroom clouds slowly rose - finally, a skeleton lying in the desert looked back at the sky blankly, a bolt in his left hand and a bottle cap in his right.

Bond recognized this skeleton; it was himself.

All of this flashed through Bond's eyes until he screamed because he could no longer bear the pain in his body and the fear in his heart!

"He's awake! Go call the doctor!"

Bond only heard a strange voice shouting this, but he did not wake up completely, but fell into a deep sleep - fortunately, this time, he did not dream, as if some great existence had finally given up the useless toy in his hand.

When Bond regained consciousness and opened his eyes, it was almost dusk. The lights and noise of the city shone through the curtains. Two nurses were busy by the bed. When they noticed that he had woken up, they ran out immediately.

A few minutes later, Bond saw Mrs. M, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and his immediate superior, walk in quickly, with a look of relief, seriousness and a little fatigue on her face.

After carefully examining Bond lying on the bed, Mrs. M took a deep breath, calmed her tone, and said:

"I thought you'd never wake up, 007."

"Do we still need to call each other by code names here?" Bond frowned, trying to lean back on the hospital bed. He took a few breaths and looked up at the person he almost regarded as his mother. "That... the person related to Atlas Corporation, and the Exum Priory you sent me to..."

"The target has already left the UK. As for the Exham Priory you mentioned, I never sent you there. Furthermore, you were found on the coast of northern England, nearly frozen to death."

"Leaving? When?"

"Two days ago, we boarded a private yacht and headed for France, presumably to Paris," Mrs. M said calmly. "The MI6 agent lost us. The French are refusing to provide us with intelligence, and I don't have the resources to handle it right now, so we'll have to put it on hold for now."

"Tsk, how long have I slept... Never mind, I'll continue with the mission regarding that target. Don't let anyone else interfere. I'll find out." Bond put his hand between his eyebrows. His head was still groggy and aching, as if it had been beaten by a group of people. "But I still need some support, preferably a few elite special forces. I'm a little worried that the situation will be out of control."

"Regarding this matter... you can find suitable candidates, but don't bring too many people. After all, we're operating on allied territory. Don't be impulsive and don't cause any trouble for me—don't forget what you did last time. You embarrassed me in front of the heads of other departments!"

Mrs. M reached out and knocked on Bond's body, causing him to scream in pain.

"Okay, okay, 'Mother', I'll keep an eye on it. After all, MI6's resources aren't so limited that they can't even find a handsome man with two lovely girls, right? He's quite conspicuous."

Looking at Bond, who still looked rather indifferent, Mrs. M sighed, walked to the window, drew the curtains, turned on the light, and closed the ward door tightly. Then, she reached out and pulled a chair over to sit beside Bond's bed, looking into his eyes, and said slowly:

"MI6 is deploying resources to suppress this information. It's very important information."

"What? The royal family is finally going to kill Princess Diana?"

"Shut up! That's not something you can gossip about!" Mrs. M glared at Bond, but she finally relaxed and said tiredly:

"The nuclear reactor at Cumberland (now Sellafield, Cumbria) had an accident a few days ago. Number 10 Downing Street is currently in a state of panic over this. MI6 has cooperated with the government's news blackout to conceal this information, including from our NATO allies. We will only share this information once the investigation has yielded some results."

"The reactor exploded?! I just came back from Northern England, it's so close!"

"No," Mrs. M said seriously, a faint hint of fear in her eyes. "A giant lizard over a hundred meters tall attacked the nuclear reactor. It 'ate' the reactor and then returned to the sea... We speculate that the reactor has been leaking since the nuclear accident in 1957, and the nuclear radiation reaction in the seawater attracted this giant beast."

Bond: “…”

Bond shrank down and wrapped himself in the quilt. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly opened it and said to Mrs. M, who was obviously frightened:

"I must go to Paris, France immediately. That man—Rod—he definitely knows something!"

Taking in the figure stumbling out of the ward, Mrs. M sighed, feeling the world grow unfamiliar, becoming harder for her to accept... Perhaps retiring early would be a good option? Hang on for a few more years, let those MI6 bastards have a few more years of fun.

The iron curtain of the Cold War has not yet fallen, but what will cover human civilization this time?

+ + + + + + + +

"Captain John Price! Someone's looking for you!"

"Who?"

"It's an agent named Bond. He seems quite anxious. Uh... he also has orders from MI6."

"Tsk..."

Price threw the silk cloth he was using to wipe his rifle onto the table and looked at the other people in the training ground - Soap, Xiaoqiang, Ghost... This team was called "Task Force 141", an elite force organized by General Sheffield himself.

Watch out Sheffield?

Price snorted, putting all these messy thoughts behind him, and asked:

"Ask that jerk where we're going?"

"France, Paris!"

+ + + + + + + +

[We have officially jointly submitted the contract to ICA (International Contract Agency)]

[The target is a secret executive of Atlas Corporation named Rod, who may be the illegitimate son of Jonathan Irons. Give that arrogant guy a warning.]

Kill him, send out all your assassins in France!

A bald killer stood in front of the bathroom mirror, reached out to touch the barcode on the back of his head, and thought about the words from his partner a few days ago.

+ + + + + + + +

"Adler, why are we covering up Operation Treadstone? Killing a rogue agent? Our mission is to track down Perseus!"

"Perseus has also been active in France, and someone is covering their tracks and facilitating their activities... We also need to find evidence of collusion between Atlas and the Soviets, and France is a good starting point."

+ + + + + + + +

A few days ago, the English Channel.

"Sensei! We fished out a poor bastard in a wetsuit!"

Rhodes walked out of the cabin yawning. He stretched, then bent down and turned the unfortunate guy's face over so that he could see clearly -

"Matt Damon?! No, it's Jason Bourne!"

Chapter 188 From Le Havre to Paris

Compared with the rainy British Isles, France, separated only by a channel, looks like another world.

After landing in Le Havre, a port city in the Normandy region, Rhodes and his party began to head towards Paris on this sunny day.

Normandy in May is no longer the bleak image of winter. The gently rolling hills are verdant and soft, like a veil of emerald green draped across the vast plains of Western Europe. On the well-maintained roads, the rhythmic sound of wheels scraping against the pavement carries cheerful tourists through the scent of jasmine, lavender, and other unknown flowers, leaving only the faint laughter of young girls fading in the air.

Unlike the relaxed others in the car, Jason Bourne, clutching a can of cold coffee in his hand, was filled with worry and doubt... The young man sat uneasily in the passenger seat, glancing out the window, wondering who he really was.

He loses his memory, is pulled from the ocean, and the man driving the car tells him his name is "Jason Bourne," which sounds like he made it up—he also says something like, "That's not your real name"—right after beating him up.

When Bourne just woke up, he subconsciously punched the person closest to him, but his fist was grabbed and he was hit by a hook on the left cheek. When he tried to fight back in a daze, the man hit him with another heavy punch!

When he woke up the second time, he was already sitting in the passenger seat of the car.

"Does your face still hurt?" Rhodes asked with concern. He was a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I know you're very strong, so I used a little more force."

“…Don’t do it a second time.”

Bourne sighed and drank his coffee. It was hard to say what the canned coffee tasted like, but it was definitely better than the "hot pot water" he'd been drinking before... Had he ever tried any other kind of coffee? It was probably American instant coffee.

"I might be a United States citizen," Bourne said hesitantly, "but I can speak French, and I... I don't know who I am, but many things are imprinted in my mind: language, writing, reading, even fighting. Can I even shoot? I might be a policeman or a veteran!"

"Why don't you consider that you might be a CIA agent?"

"..."

"I dug a bullet and a positioning chip out of your body," Rhodes said, reaching behind him. Hina handed him a small box containing a slightly deformed bullet and a chip still stained with blood. "Think about what kind of person would have these two things in their body. Of course, you definitely don't want the bullet."

Bourne took the small box in a daze and looked at the small object inside in silence. The faint headache brought by the shattered memory made him upset. He had to quickly close the lid and said softly, both to himself and inquiringly:

"Next...what should I do? Go back?"

"It depends. If someone comes to kill you, then don't go back. If not, how about you come and work with me? We'll go save the world, kill those nightmare monsters, and explore the supernatural dimension!"

Rhodes' words made Bourne laugh. He crushed his coffee can and threw it, along with the box, into a trash can that flashed by outside the car window, causing the travelers passing by to shout in surprise.

After two hours of slow driving, Rod drove his Renault Espace II through the small town of Louviere. He planned to have something to eat here before heading to Paris, so that he could check into the hotel before dinner time.

After parking the car, Rhodes found a small restaurant and asked the girls to go in and order food first, while he and Bourne went to the shopping street on the other side of the street to buy some snacks and desserts.

"I want sour cherry clafoutis!" Abigail shouted to Rhodes before being pushed into the restaurant by Nayako, "And orange Venetian cake!"

"How can we get these in this small place, my princess? Besides, the cherry season hasn't arrived yet! We have to wait until the end of May at least... Laura, please help take care of them."

Rhode waved his hand, telling the regretful girls to hurry in. The "Ruins Destroyer" whose name was called shrugged and quickly joined the others.

"I want to eat it too. Please treat us well when you come to Paris~~~"

Hearing this, Rhodes opened his mouth but was speechless for a long time. He had no choice but to pull Bourne, who was laughing beside him, away and walked along the street.

Louviere's population wasn't large, rarely exceeding 20,000. But even so, it was more vibrant than the more populous towns in the western United States where Rhodes had lived. While the French weren't as relaxed as the Italians, you could often find small restaurants and shops along the streets, filled with leisurely residents watching football games.

The bright sunshine helped Rhode relax his tense spirit. He stretched and bought a few bouquets of flowers for the girls at the nearby flower shop. Then he glanced at Bourne, who was in a daze, and patted his shoulder.

"Let's go, we have to finish shopping in fifteen minutes. It would be a loss if we can't catch the hot meals."

"Okay... But, Mr. Rhodes, what exactly do you do?" Bourne asked. He put his hands in his pockets, a look of confusion and vigilance on his face, as if he had figured something out during this time. "And according to what you said, you know my real name and my past, and you're willing to take me to Paris..."

"Why, do you think I shot you into the water?"

"Theoretically, it's possible to cleanse memories and reuse them."

"That kind of thing does happen, but let's not talk about the risks," Rhode said, turning his head with a hint of disdain. "Then why don't I just find a beautiful girl? Look, one of those beautiful young secret agents who's been trained since childhood, with razor-sharp reaction times and can dodge bullets—why would I look for a grown man?"

Bourne: "...You have successfully convinced me."

"See, that's it. Let me tell you, you are indeed a very powerful CIA agent, but that's all."

Rhodes raised his foot and continued to walk forward, showing his back to Bourne without any concern:

"You were drafted from the United States Army, trained, changed your name, and then sent on a mission called 'Operation Treadstone,' which aimed to eliminate individuals the CIA considered to be stumbling blocks. Perhaps even the CIA director wasn't fully aware of the plan. And you, the agent carrying out this plan, fell overboard while carrying out your mission, were rescued, and lost your memory... Oh! This story sounds like a traitor's self-defense."

Having said that, Rhode stopped walking, turned around, looked at Bourne, who was pursing his lips, and asked with a slightly wicked smile:

"The rest of your life will be painful, Jason Bourne. Your life, your loved ones, and your peaceful daily life will be watched closely by murderous eyes in the dark. If you're not careful, you could be killed by a cold gunshot from nowhere. Perhaps suicide is a good option now."

"...and the other option," Bourne exhaled slowly, his words filled with helplessness, "is to work for you, right? Who are you, anyway?"

"Rod, Supreme Commander of the Army Without Borders, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. David Webb."

Note 1: Jason Bourne’s real name.

Chapter 189: Paris Night Dream