Chapter 311: Tracking and Counter-tracking
"A feint? What does that mean?"
Even after leaving the banquet hall, Harry kept pondering Ron's words. He knew Ron's last phrase was probably some tactical term, but unfortunately, due to the arrogant tradition of the British Empire focusing solely on their own military doctrine, he was completely ignorant of American strategic terminology.
Ron explained it again more clearly, but Harry still frowned: "But your actions just now were too obvious. Valentine's secretary clearly saw it. Are you sure it will still work?"
Ron didn't answer him directly, but instead opened the central control in his car. The screen showed two small red dots very close together, and Valentine's voice came back simultaneously.
Harry's mouth dropped open in surprise. He hadn't even told Ron the tracker's frequency IP address; how did he receive the signal?
"Don't think about it. This isn't your tracker. I just placed it on my two scientist friends. I guess you, like Valentine's secretary, focused all your attention on Valentine, right?" Ron said smugly.
"Since that's the case, then you..."
"Why go through all that trouble?" Ron interrupted Harry before he could finish his question. "Of course, it's to lower his guard. Where's your receiver?"
Harry pulled the receiver out of his jacket and handed it to Ron. Just then, a stray dog walked by the car. Ron reacted quickly, opened the car door, grabbed the dog by the scruff, and lifted it up. The dog struggled violently in Ron's hands.
"What are you doing?"
Ron's image in Harry's eyes had become unfathomable after the tracking incident. Harry believed that Ron would not do such a thing simply to abuse an animal.
Ron didn't explain. He shoved the receiver Harry had just given him into the dog's mouth, then shook the dog a couple of times. He then pried open the dog's mouth again until he was sure the receiver had been swallowed before putting the dog down on the ground. He gave the dog a light kick on the rear.
"Woof! Woof!" The stray dog barked fiercely at Ron twice, but seeing Ron raise his foot as if to kick him again, it immediately forgot its revenge plan and slunk away down the alley.
"Come on, old timer, this isn't the era of 007 movies where agents can just throw a couple of high-tech gadgets at the enemy and they're helpless," Ron finally turned around and began to explain to Harry.
Harry was a little annoyed by Ron calling him "old timer," but he didn't say anything. Harry was already 47 years old, considered over the hill in the spy industry. If it weren't for the fact that the Kingsman Secret Service was currently in a critical period of transition, he would have retired long ago.
Calling him "old timer" wasn't a big deal for him.
"The bad guys these days are more cunning than ever before, and even more tech-savvy than us good guys," Ron said, thinking of Cipher, a prime example. "So what do you think they'll do after they find the tracker? They'll obviously trace the signal back to its source."
"Do I need to remind you that your opponent this time isn't just some unhinged terrorist, but also a Caltech graduate and the CEO of the telecommunications giant, BIMSTEC?
I bet he can crack a tracker like that in five minutes flat."
"Then how can you be so sure Valentine will invite your two scientist friends back to his place?" Harry was exasperated by Ron's sarcasm, but still somewhat unconvinced.
"I can be sure of it," Ron said confidently, "because he seems to have a particular fondness for young and promising scientists, so he would definitely invite outstanding scientists like my friend and my brother to participate in his so-called grand project. Professor Arnold, whose head got blown off before, is proof of that."
Ron's reasoning left Harry speechless. In fact, after Ron's explanation, he noticed details that he had previously overlooked.
As his investigation into Valentine's influence deepened, he discovered an increasing number of unexplained disappearances of powerful figures from various countries. He had focused his efforts on this issue, neglecting the occasional disappearances of scientists from different nations.
"Your insights are truly remarkable! I sincerely invite you both to my home. Would you care to join me? I'll prepare a delicious meal for you there, and we can continue our discussion over dinner." Just then, as if to confirm Ron's words, Valentine's invitation came through Ron's receiver. Howard and Rajesh were overjoyed and readily agreed.
Ron saw the two small red dots on the map begin to move towards the parking lot. Ron smiled smugly: "See? Everything is just as I predicted, isn't it?"
Harry was truly convinced: "So, what do we do? Follow them?"
"No rush. My tracker is a bit more advanced than yours. As long as they don't leave Los Angeles, I can pinpoint their location. But before that, we have a good show to watch; we can't miss it."
A good show? What kind of show?
Harry wanted to ask, but out of gentlemanly restraint, he suppressed his curiosity. Of course, a more important reason was that he didn't want Ron to become even more smug.
After a moment of silence in the car, Valentine's convoy drove past them. Just after the car left, Harry saw the beautiful secretary who had been accompanying Valentine pacing back and forth in the parking lot, carrying a device and occasionally looking thoughtful.
"What's she doing?" Harry finally asked.
"Just watch, something good is about to happen."
Ron didn't answer, but pointed in the secretary's direction. The secretary suddenly showed a look of intense satisfaction and sprinted off at an incredible speed.
Only after she passed Ron's car did Harry realize that this woman had no feet!
Instead, she had a pair of special prosthetic blade legs that moved faster than Olympic running shoes.
"This woman is really hardcore," Ron remarked.
"What exactly do you want me to see?"
"That!" Ron's face lit up, and he pointed out the window. Because they had kept the lights off and the engine off, and with the special tinted windows, the female secretary hadn't noticed anything amiss when she passed by, while they could see clearly outside from inside the car.
The female secretary ran a few steps, suddenly lunged, and crawled under a car, then emerged looking bewildered, holding a small dog.
That dog was the stray dog that Ron had just fed the tracking device to.
(End of Chapter)
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