Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 251 - 238 Not Following the Script

Chapter 251: Chapter 238 Not Following the Script

Lucy awoke first.

After waking up, she didn’t rush to open her eyes, yet it was evident from her moving eyeballs, visible even with her eyelids closed. Then, her eyeballs stopped moving too.

Gao Yi found this very interesting, so he didn’t make a sound but decided to observe what Lucy would do next.

Few could feign sleep in front of Gao Yi, and none could pretend to faint in his presence.

Because Gao Yi practiced Hsing Yi, Eight Trigram, Tai Chi, and even Heart Connect Technique, all of which ultimately involved breath control—it meant that anyone practicing these arts needed to heed every inhale and exhale.

So while others breathed unconsciously to survive, Gao Yi’s breathing was a decades-long practice.

A master of Inner Boxing could simulate the breathing state of sleep, but a comatose person, having lost consciousness, could not consciously adjust their breathing.

When Lucy had just awakened, her breathing had momentarily plunged into chaos, although she quickly regained control. Despite her body remaining still and her eyes shut, Gao Yi instantly noticed it.

Then he watched as Lucy likely felt her condition with her eyes closed.

Initially feeling herself on a bed indicated she was no longer on the battlefield. A blanket over her suggested the environment wasn’t hostile.

After this tactile assessment, Lucy slightly opened her eyes a crack. She used her eyes to observe and, upon realizing this place was neither a hospital nor a prison but a large room with several beds, Lucy must have been puzzled.

Hence, Lucy didn’t rush to open her eyes; she was presumably trying to analyze what all had happened.

Until Lucy, motionless, turned only her eyes back and forth, then noticed Gao Yi, she finally let down her guard and slowly opened her eyes.

"You’re awake."

Gao Yi greeted Lucy with a gentle and joyful voice as she came to.

Lucy first spoke in French, her mother tongue, still not quite clear-headed. She knew to assess the safety of her environment but didn’t think to adjust her language.

After a moment, Lucy switched languages quietly saying, "Master."

This was truly unbearable.

A beauty waking up and the first thing she does is call someone master.

Gao Yi knew this was strange but felt a great satisfaction within himself, creating a profound contradiction.

"What’s our situation now?"

"We’re at the Elysee Palace, but we’re about to be taken to the swimming pool—ah, the swimming pool means the headquarters of the Directorate-General for External Security."

Lucy looked extremely shocked and exclaimed, "The Elysee Palace?"

Yes, logically, Lucy should be French.

The White House in the United States is open to the public annually, but the Elysee Palace has only been open once in over a hundred years.

Lucy had not been very noticeable in this fight because she had held off the enemies at the rear gate but had been knocked unconscious in the early stages, unaware of everything that happened afterward.

Gao Yi helped Lucy sit up slowly, his voice gentle, "Do you feel dizzy? Uncomfortable? Is there anything discomforting?"

Lucy seemed more psychologically shocked than physically shaken, her face bewildered, "Why are we at the Elysee Palace?"

"That’s a long story..."

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Lucy turned to look at the door, and Gao Yi raised his voice, "Come in."

The door opened, and Marina entered.

Seeing Lucy sitting up, Marina smiled slightly, then nonchalantly said, "Everything’s ready; we can leave now. The lady is awake—congratulations."

Marina’s attitude was impeccable; there wasn’t much else to say or do.

But Lucy looked puzzled at Marina, strangely vigilant.

Strange.

Marina was over forty and not particularly attractive. Though it’s said that like genders repel, a great age difference should be an exception.

Logically, Lucy shouldn’t have any hostility.

As Gao Yi pondered, Lucy slightly turned her head aside, after a moment of thought, she suddenly said, "The swimming pool..."

Marina smiled lightly, "You’ll like it there. Alright, we depart now."

With a wave, a group entered, beginning to move the severely injured onto stretchers.

Abdulla and others were there, but they supervised rather than lending a hand personally.

In the dim light of early morning, Gao Yi and the others were all transferred out of the Elysee Palace. Gao Yi only gave the palace, where he had stayed for just one night, a few casual glances.

In this lifetime, he probably could only visit this famous palace once. Indeed, he felt a bit regretful for not having the chance to explore it properly.

The good news was that Gao Yi and his team could now thoroughly visit the Directorate-General for External Security of France, which, theoretically, had an even higher level of secrecy than the Elysee Palace.

The headquarters of the Directorate-General for External Security were located near the Tourville Swimming Pool at the Mortier Old Barracks in East Paris. It looked quite ordinary from the outside, except for being quite extensive with a circle of barbed wire atop the surrounding walls. That was it.

The locations of the offices of several major intelligence agencies around the world were no secret, and they were mostly in densely populated areas. Yet, they maintained their most mysterious veils amidst the hustle and bustle, offering the thrill of close contact with secrets, likely the greatest sense of achievement of entering the headquarters of an intelligence agency.

The car that picked up Gao Yi and his group stopped in front of a large building, and then several injured persons were wheeled out of the ambulances directly into the hospital ward.

Yes, this wasn’t a hospital, yet it had professional hospital rooms and doctors.

Gao Yi and his team were then arranged in some vacant guest rooms.

Calling them guest rooms, of course, was Marina’s way of putting it nicely. These rooms were primarily used as dormitories for spies who were undergoing long-term training and learning for significant missions, and to detain or protect some important people. So typically, by French standards, as long as no one was using them, they indeed served as guest rooms.

There were four guest rooms in total. One was given to Lucy, and the remaining men figured out the distribution themselves.

Gao Yi settled into a single room, presumably intended for use by senior agents, furnished quite lavishly, much like a hotel.

Then, without rushing to rest in his room, he helped Lucy settle down in her bed, attending to her and tidying up various little chores. Just as he finished, Marina punctually knocked on the door again.

It was barely dawn when they arrived; after all the bustle, it was now only eight in the morning—still very early for the French, yet Marina had some matter to discuss.

"Have you settled in? If you have, please come with me."

Marina smiled and earnestly said, "Let’s get some morning exercise and then have breakfast, maybe a cup of coffee."

Gao Yi, surprised, responded, "Now?"

"Yes, now. We’re all very eager and I hope you can understand our urgent mood. So I’m sorry, but could we start now?"

Looking for a beating so urgently?

Gao Yi couldn’t say he was too annoyed, but he had agreed to come to the swimming pool and interact with the Directorate-General for External Security under coercion.

Well, since they were looking for a beating, he wouldn’t be polite.

Gao Yi whispered to Lucy, "Rest well, I’ll be back soon."

Lucy’s face showed displeasure, clearly directed toward Marina.

Lucy looked at Marina and whispered softly, "Be careful, I’ve got a bad feeling."

"Alright."

Gao Yi stood up and said to Marina, "Let’s go."

Gao Yi had figured out how to impress and slap faces.

The usual routine: he would undoubtedly be underestimated at first, usually with someone strong going up to slap his face, saying something foolish but seemingly reasonable, like "watch how I deal with this loser," and then Gao Yi would go up and slap their faces in various ways.

According to routine, the first one wouldn’t be beaten too harshly since Gao Yi wouldn’t have gauged the situation clearly, having to leave some face for the other party. This misconception would cause the real expert hidden within the Directorate-General for External Security to misjudge, thinking they could defeat Gao Yi—so, a second person would step up and be quickly demolished by Gao Yi, facing another slap in the face. Only after this could he gain respect and truly impress the Directorate-General for External Security.

The third person would come looking for genuine advice, truly respecting Gao Yi after being impressed by him, and sincerely seeking tutelage—that was the usual way.

These were trivial matters; anyone who had read books or seen movies knew this, and Gao Yi had experienced this, so he knew what to do.

Simple: just go and fight, show no mercy, make sure they couldn’t leave their beds for three days without causing any serious injury, and quickly win them over.

They walked through a corridor specially arranged to take them outdoors to avoid Gao Yi seeing anything he shouldn’t, and then entered the headquarters building through another door. However, the corridors they passed were definitely cleared in advance, and they finally arrived at an indoor training camp.

Following Marina, Gao Yi entered a fighting arena covered with mats, which wasn’t likely used for training new recruits—they had a special area for that. It seemed more akin to a gym.

The fighting arena wasn’t very big, but it was crowded; Gao Yi took a quick look and saw about thirty people filling up a fifty-square-meter room all around.

Quickly finish them off and have breakfast.

Gao Yi made up his mind, and Marina stepped forward and announced loudly, "This is Busan! You have seen his profile. Having Busan here for an exchange is a rare learning opportunity for us. Don’t miss this chance. Welcome, Busan."

After Marina finished speaking, she started clapping, and the fighting arena quickly erupted with enthusiastic applause.

Gao Yi found himself surrounded by looks of admiration and respect.

This wasn’t right; this wasn’t normal. Something must have gone wrong.

Gao Yi didn’t know how to respond, so he followed his original plan, "Hello, would anyone like to come and try?"

The applause was enthusiastic, but when Gao Yi spoke, it stopped, and among the thirty people present, not a single one stepped forward.

The situation turned slightly awkward.

Gao Yi regretted it; he shouldn’t have followed the script because the other party wasn’t following the script either.