Chapter 321 School Board of Directors
“It does seem like Cassel College is a place where you feel like you belong, and you feel like you’re already a part of them.”
"At least they pay me a salary."
"Now you have no one to rely on. If you came today with the purpose of irritating me and the entire secret party, then you did it. If you want war, we will give you war."
"Do you think we will regret the coming of war? No. This is our mission."
The thin sunlight shines on the recording on the brown and black conference table. An old man in a crisp suit stands by the window, with his eyes closed and his arms folded, hiding under the sound of waves. The recording plays quietly in the silent conference room. As he stood, the white gauze curtain beside him was slightly fluttered by the sea breeze, brushing against the corners of his suit arms, tenderly like a girl's skirt kissed by the wind. What was hidden behind was not the spring light, but the white building. The dazzling midsummer of Wavefino outside the Fortress of Solitude.
White sea foam hits the black rocks. On the other side of the sea is the outline of a ferry passing by. Behind the outline is the shadow of an island. On the island are mountains. Beyond the mountains is the sea, and beyond the mountains are mountains. On the sea, on the mountains, on the green leaves, everything seems to be covered with a dazzling halo of summer, except for the people in the dim conference room. It seems that no matter how strong the sun is, it can't illuminate the faces of these men and women. .
This is Portofino, a seaport town in Italy. The scenery is beautiful, especially in midsummer. Now it is the end of July, and it is the season when seagulls and the sun shine together, so every inch of the land here exudes laziness. And the breath of Mi Mi.
Before the 1960s, Portofino was an unremarkable fishing village. Until one day, a film investor who relied on the Gattuso gang visited this land with a keen eye and shot a heart-wrenching movie. A romantic movie, this fishing village has since turned into a holiday paradise, with high-end hotels and restaurants, attracting countless celebrities and photography enthusiasts.
The Gattuso family, which brought economic renaissance to it, also had the absolute right to speak in this land. Every mayor would rush to the manor with generous gifts and sit at the other end of the table as if he was still wearing clothes. Children with short socks, the mayors cautiously and submissively proposed to the men behind the table their grand plans for the next ten years, and then offered gifts and loyalty. If they could kiss each other's hands, it would represent the next ten years. Worry-free years of tenure.
For the past ten years, the meetings of the Kassel College Board of Trustees have been held in this seaport town with absolute say. Residents and friends can always see top-notch luxury cars one after another at certain times, bathing in them. Under the dazzling sunlight, we headed towards the white fortress on the top of the mountain. The number of vehicles is always constant, sometimes seven at most and no less than six at least. Sometimes you can even see mountain bikes under luxury cars. People riding mountain bikes are huffing and puffing as they climb the steep slope and are caught by a car. The car passed by and finally drove into the fortress without making any sound.
The time now is July 25th. In the hot summer, the annual school board meeting was held in advance. The distinguished guests came with their beautiful summer skirts and walked into the room that was still dim no matter how bright the summer light was. Sitting in front of the brown-black conference table with copper bells in each room, his eyes were on the face of the old man whose face remained unchanged no matter how fast or how long the years passed.
If it were normal, the old man would first give a speech of appropriate length, summarizing the past contributions of the Secret Party to the cause of dragon slaying, how many steps the hybrids had taken towards the ultimate goal of ending the age of dragons, and then proceed as usual. Small talk, flattery, and finally discussing the real 'big stuff' over a clink of martinis.
But today's meeting did not have these complicated and cumbersome processes, and there was not even a glass of martini to celebrate the victory. There was just a black rectangular recording pen quietly placed in the center of the conference table.
When everyone (except those who were absent) sat and looked at the head of the table, the old man with his hands in his suit pockets leaned out and pressed the switch of the recorder, playing a song that was played not long ago in an opera house in a coastal city in China. of a conversation.
Every school director listened so attentively, with his back straight as if he had a javelin stuck in his clothes while sitting on the chair. During the first half of the recording, everyone's expression was so calm. When the final prophecy came out, the sound resounded. In the empty conference room, it was like waves breaking on a reef, leaving tiny but extremely clear traces on the surface of the hard black reef under the sunlight.
Until there was a sharp shattering of glass and a cry of exclamation, the sound of gunshots filled the ground with chaos, and the recording came to an abrupt end.
Angers walked from the window to school director Elizabeth Laurent at the table. When the other party was confused and thinking, he reached out to take back the recorder on the table and pressed the close button.
At this time, all the school directors came to their senses. Three men and two women, with the same thoughts written on their faces, suddenly tightened their hands holding the cane, and the beads that were stagnant in their hands began to grind. The lips under the black veil His horns slowly tightened, and he looked at the attendant behind him for a long time before finally falling silent. It seemed that compared to the speeches in previous years, the current recording was more mellow than the wine, which made everyone enter the state earlier.
"This is an audio record of an executive mission that took place in China a month ago. The recording was provided by Director Frost." Angers sat back in the main seat, put the recorder under his hand, and turned to the table on the right Frost in front of him smiled and nodded, "The experience encountered by a specialist from the Execution Department when completing mission number 'A090607'. The female voice in the recording is the suspect who is the target of the mission, and the male voice is the specialist from the Execution Department."
"Does the execution department now record the entire process when performing tasks?" A middle-aged man wearing summer cycling clothes asked as he rang a bell. It was worth mentioning that there was a mountain bike helmet next to his copper bell. It's breathable and expensive, and there's no doubt that the only person who could sit here is one of the school directors, even though he looks like a mountain biking enthusiast on a self-driving trip.
"Usually not, but there are special circumstances. This is a special case." Angers looked at school director Frost Gattuso with a warm smile on his face.
"The execution style of the executive department has become more and more arrogant in recent years. I think this surly style should be curbed to a certain extent. A third party must be established to get involved. We do not rule out the establishment of a similar executive department in the college. organization." Frost rang the bell and said expressionlessly.
"In order to contain the East Factory, a new West Factory was established?" Ange smiled lightly, "But no matter what factory they are, they all work for the secret party. It is not wise to lead one's own nose and beat the right hand with the left hand."
"So the Executive Department is still a secret agency of the secret party? I thought it had already become the talk of the president of Cassel College and his hunting dogs." Frost said.
"Now is not the time to talk about this. The system of Cassel College was created by the first generation of school directors. Now after a hundred years of effectiveness, there are no problems. A system without loopholes does not need any icing on the cake. There is only one executive department now, and there will be no more in the future. There will only be one. The more knives you hold in your hands on the battlefield, the better. I think everyone understands this." School Director Lisa rang the bell.
The other school directors all looked at the new school director who supported Angers. The person who once sat in this position was not this young girl, but a gentleman who was the same age as the two old people on the school director, but he was very young. It's a pity that his life was taken away by accident. Now the child sitting here has become this child who is too young to be Ange's daughter. But Ange's attitude towards her is indeed the same as his daughter. No wonder he has the courage. Frost, who has always had the greatest say in speaking openly.
"I support School Director Elizabeth. There can only be one executive department. Now our topic should be this recording, not internal strife. Please ask the executor to clarify the theme of our Presbyterian meeting." The old man with a cane rang the bell. The sound was as deep as a rusty euphonium.
The executor mentioned by the old man is none other than Angers. In addition to the principal of Cassel College, Angers also has an identity that is several times greater than the former - the five school directors in front of him and one absent school director jointly launched the secret... The spokesperson of the party, he represents the face of the entire secret party when he walks in a mixed-race society, so he is high-profile and arrogant, and he is full of power and arrogance under the appearance of a gentleman.
Angers no longer looked at Frost, and Frost didn't look at him either. It seemed that the two had disputes in meetings more than once or twice. Angers' attention turned to what the old man with the cane said. , smiled lightly and said: "Is it a meeting of the Presbyterian Church? What's interesting is that the woman in the recording also mentioned the same words. She said, 'When the black emperor usurped the throne and made the king famous, the era of the Presbyterian Church has become obsolete.' .”
"'Presbyterian Church'? This is a new discovery. If confirmed, it may have epoch-making significance and can be a big step forward for us to understand the dragon civilization." The middle-aged man touched his mountain bike helmet if there was any Said thoughtfully.
"But unfortunately, based on our understanding of the dragon civilization, the vague term 'Presbyterian Era' cannot be effectively verified in any way." Angers said.
"You mentioned that this recording came from a mission of the Executive Department. I want to know the details of this mission." The girl who had been silent at the school board meeting looked at the attendant in a straight suit behind her, then turned to look at Angers and said.
"A gathering suspected of illegal trading of alchemical items was held by an unknown organizer. The guests present were a mixed bag of mixed-races, business tycoons, capitalists, and ancient mixed-race families from China," Angers said.
"The identity span among the guests seems a bit wide. Are there ordinary people present?" the middle-aged man said.
"Many, most of the alchemy items were found by this group of ordinary people through various channels, so we defined this as an 'illegal assembly.'" Angers said, "Our commissioners sealed off the site of the illegal assembly. , suppressed all the guests who came to the scene."
"Suppression? I heard gunshots in the recording." The old man with a cane said, "Is the execution department going on a killing spree again?"
"An unidentified mercenary team broke into the scene and wanted to rob a certain exhibit." Angers explained.
"There are descendants of mixed-race families at the scene. Are there any casualties among them? Improper handling of this kind of matter will cause huge troubles, and it is likely to escalate into international disputes." The old man asked.
Everyone knows that China's ancient aristocratic families are huge, but they have never easily expanded their influence externally because of internal strife. However, whenever a foreign enemy harms their collective interests, they will almost not hesitate to attack them. The tip of the knife pointed outwards, no matter who the opponent was or where he was hiding.
The secret party had always kept a distance from those mixed-race families, but now that they could not avoid involving the descendants of those people, the school directors had to take a serious attitude.
"No, they were lucky, because the person who controlled the scene at that time was the ace of the execution department." Angers smiled, "There were almost no casualties at the illegal assembly except for the perpetrators. You can always trust the ace of our execution department."
"The trump card of the execution department? Do you mean the kid you dug up? Is he handling this task?" The old man nodded, "I have heard some rumors about him, but not many."
"I think you all should have gotten some information from your own sources, and you will have some impressions." Ange nodded with a smile. He pushed a document from his side and circulated it among the school directors.
After the school directors took the file and opened it, they first saw the boy's photo, and then the work file marked 'S'-class secret in the Information Department, which contained all the work activities the boy had engaged in in detail. , the school directors flipped through the files with their fingers as fast as money counters, their eyes narrowing as they scanned every line of words and every picture.
"Lin Nian, an extremely outstanding young man, I see the shadow of me in him. He has always done a great job to this day, hasn't he?" Ange said with a faint smile, "Just right, we are here The theme of this meeting revolves around him."
ps: There is also