In the morning, when he got up, Ronan deliberately changed into the local worker's clothes he bought last night. With his attire and a slung toolbox, he appeared like a coffee plantation worker from Belle Île.
After hearing Anna's words, he always felt that the French factory was shrouded in mystery. Since the crime scene was close to the mineral water factory, he needed to be cautious.
The dense forest was impenetrable, and the tall trees dripped water, making a rustling sound as it hit the banana leaves.
Following the path created by footprints, Ronan walked while examining the surroundings. The vigilance of a predator always captured nearby movements first.
He encountered several lizards but didn't spot any giant chameleons.
The path had been recently traversed, marked by hacked vines and broken branches.
Climbing a small hill, where the trees were fewer, he stood at a higher vantage point. In the distance, a small factory was built by the seaside. The factory building was surrounded by tall walls, obscuring the view inside.
The factory was located above the seaside resort.
Ronan didn't know much about the mineral water industry. Could it be so close to a resort?
After descending the small hill, the vegetation ahead was disorderly.
There were people there!
A tall woman in a light-colored shirt tucked into jeans, obviously assessing the situation.
Elza turned her head and saw Ronan, suddenly smiling. "What a coincidence."
Ronan nodded. "Indeed."
Since they had both arrived, he couldn't just turn around and leave.
Seeing Ronan approaching, Elza discreetly distanced herself. The repeated interactions seemed unusual to her.
Ronan glanced briefly; this was the place from the video.
But the scene had already been disturbed, leaving no trace of the chameleon.
Arriving at the tree where the chameleon disappeared in the video, Ronan furrowed his brows. Almost all the bark had been peeled off.
The chameleon couldn't have peeled off the bark; it was clearly done by a person.
Destroying the traces left by the chameleon?
Ronan thought about the Spirit Panther. The Spirit Panther originated from the British explorer who discovered the parchment book. Later, Antonio García seized it and raised the Spirit Panther...
Belle Île doesn't have chameleons! Anna said she had never seen anything like a chameleon since childhood.
Could chameleons also be raised by people?
This could explain why someone destroyed the traces left by the chameleon...
Thinking this, Ronan looked around; all he could see were trees, nothing special.
Expand the search area.
It seems the French factory is closest from here.
There are no chameleons on the island; chameleons could be raised by people. The French factory is closest, and in the eyes of the locals, it's somewhat mysterious...
Elza suddenly asked, "Did you find anything?"
Ronan casually replied, "Find what?"
Adjusting his backpack, he walked straight ahead, intending to go near the factory to take a look.
Elza stood still for a moment, then followed.
Passing through the forest, the vegetation became sparser, and ahead, there was a brick-and-concrete wall.
One section of the wall seemed to be newly repaired; the color of the exterior was notably different, and there were broken bricks and debris nearby.
Anna mentioned that a typhoon had passed through here a week ago.
With strong winds, the wall lacked sufficient support and was prone to collapsing.
Ronan appeared as an ordinary traveler, walking along the less dense area of trees, a distance away from the wall, towards the center of the island.
Footsteps behind him, Elza had one hand in her pocket, keeping a not-too-close distance.
Ronan turned his head to look at the factory area and saw a black man on a small building not far from the wall, staring in their direction.
He continued forward until he entered the woods, where the factory area was no longer visible.
Elza suddenly asked, "Who are you?"
Given their consecutive encounters, she found it too coincidental, and now meeting at the scene of the incident, claiming to be a tourist – who would believe that?
This woman wasn't naive. Ronan simply opened his bag, took out the badge he had confiscated from Matt Grave, and said, "FBI agent, Martin Hoffman. Here to investigate the deaths of five college students."
Elza didn't question its authenticity but instead asked, "Did you find anything?"
Ronan replied, "The scene has been tampered with. Someone is covering up the truth. We need to investigate further." He countered, "And you?"
Elza turned towards the direction of the factory and said deliberately, "There's something wrong with the French factory."
It's hard to say if there's a problem, but judging from various clues, there's a connection, Ronan thought to himself, but asked, "Weren't you here to take your cousin back home?"
"The Governor's Office had already cremated the body; only ashes remain," Elza said, one hand in her pocket. "My cousin died under mysterious circumstances. I want to uncover the truth."
Ronan speculated that Elza, like him, might be concealing her identity, but their goals seemed to overlap to some extent. He said, "Let's exchange information. I'm staying at the Sofia Inn near the harbor."
Elza once again mentioned, "There's something wrong with this factory. Interested in taking a look inside?"
Ronan asked, "Can you apply through official channels?"
Elza shook her head.
"Let's discuss it later," Ronan said, carrying his backpack and heading deeper into the jungle.
The French are cooperating with Garsa. If there's anything going on, Garsa must be involved.
The Governor's Office has a military force and armored vehicles with artillery.
Ronan had recently faced off with police helicopters and knew the terrifying power of modern heavy weapons. It wasn't something mere flesh and blood could contend with.
What if the giant chameleon was raised by the French? In that case, if a conflict arose, how could they deal with armored vehicles?
Just the thought of it was giving him a headache.
He needed to find a suitable opportunity.
As Ronan pondered, he considered whether selling this woman to the Governor's Office as a bargaining chip would be feasible. It didn't seem quite right, and his own identity wasn't something to be revealed either.
Elza didn't continue following but started to contemplate Ronan's true identity.
The FBI badge was genuine. As an agent of Military Intelligence Section 6, she could instantly recognize it. However, in this world, there were many imposters claiming to be from the FBI, just as MI6 agents often pretended to be Scotland Yard police.
"Who loves impersonating the FBI the most? The CIA!"
Elza speculated that this person might be a CIA operative.
Could it be that the CIA had also taken an interest in the situation on the island?
Instead of heading into the deep jungle, Elza found a nearby vantage point. She pulled a telescope from her backpack and observed the situation at the factory.
The real target of Elza's mission was the French!
Buckingham Palace had been procuring high-end cosmetics from France for a long time. At the last Round Table Meeting, Arthur, the head, had met with the Queen and discovered serious issues with the cosmetics. MI6 suspected that an organization was secretly planning to undermine the royal family.
After investigation, many leads pointed to Belle Île.
Since Elza was already in New York, she decided to impersonate a relative of a deceased passenger and come to investigate.
After observing for a while and finding no obvious clues from the outside, Elza decided to sneak in secretly at night to get a firsthand look.
...
The sun turned towards the west, and after a seaplane had radioed the port, it landed on the sea and glided towards the pier.
Three middle-aged men descended from the plane: a burly man with a poker face, a bald man with youthful looks, and a tall, muscular black man.
"Take your botanist credentials with you, Barney," the bald man reminded.
Barney's expression remained unchanged. He took all his credentials and was the first to step onto the pier, waiting for the bald man and the black man.
The bald man was named Lee Chrismerse, a member of Barney's hired mercenary team, a veteran with a background in the British Special Forces.
The black man was also a mercenary, with a remarkable name: Caesar. He was skilled in heavy weapons.
As they disembarked, on another pier, a ship from Aruba was docking.
Three individuals came off the ship: a blonde, a bald man, and a tattooed man wearing a cowboy hat.
These three were also members of the mercenary team.
Upon entering the hall, Barney and Chrismerse handled the negotiations, as Old Amas was off duty and Tony, who was standing in, proved responsible. After a thorough inquiry, especially upon seeing their American passports, they were permitted.
Barney carefully observed the hall, noticing the armed guards and police presence; ordinary people instinctively kept their distance.
Leaving the hall, he gazed at nearby houses, most of them dilapidated, creating a stark contrast to the distant opulence of the Governor's Palace.
Chrismerse approached from behind, pulling out a photograph. "Can you ask about this Ronan? A man so handsome he could commit crimes – anyone who's seen him won't forget."
Coincidentally, Anna arrived at the harbor to meet her classmates from Aruba. She was near the entrance when Chrismerse approached her, taking advantage of his good looks to pat the bald man and squeezing out a smile. He went on, "Hello."
Anna responded with a smile, "Hello."
"Could you please help us?" Chrismerse produced a photo of Ronan provided by the CIA. "A friend of mine arrived on the island a couple of days ago and asked us to meet him here. His phone's dead, and we haven't been able to reach him. Can you check if you've seen him?"
Anna recognized Ronan from the photo.
The young girl was kind-hearted but capable of detecting falsehoods. She had just been about to give Ronan's phone number last night, and this morning she'd given him a card with the inn's phone number, knowing he never turned off his phone.
Seeing Chrismerse's two companions, whose appearances were menacing and scarred, she decided to make a face-based judgment. "I haven't seen him."
The situation was too complex for Anna to comprehend at her age; she just wanted to divert them for now and inform Ronan later.
"Thank you," Chrismerse smiled.
Barney and Caesar followed, the three of them heading towards the town.
At an intersection, they met three others. They exchanged glances and split up, each looking for someone.
Anna took out her phone, about to make a call, when four girls came out of the hall.
One of the blondes called out, "Anna, we're here!"
Anna hurriedly went to greet them, embracing her former classmates from the Aruba High School. "Lena, Mickey, Ruby, Alison, welcome to Belle Île!"
Alison handed Anna a card. "This is your Aruba driver's license. Keep it safe!"
Mickey said, "When we arrived, we saw the beautiful white sandy beach. Let's head over there! It's been so long since we swam together!"
"Should we drop off our luggage first?" Anna suggested.
"No need," Alison showed her small travel bag. "Other than the clothes we're wearing, we only brought bikinis!"
Anna agreed, "Alright, let's go for a swim first."
The five of them left the pier, walking along the road towards the east. The French had enclosed a large section of the white sandy beach, but there was still enough space left for a large group of people to play.
As they walked, Anna was making a call. By the time they reached the white sandy beach, she finally got through. "Martin, where are you? Three men have arrived from off the island, claiming to be your friends, three middle-aged men!"
Anna roughly described their attire and appearances.
On the other side of the white sandy beach, at the vacation resort construction site, Sierra was standing on higher ground. She noticed the four girls approaching; their ages seemed to match.
Considering the cooperation with General Garsa, it wasn't feasible to rush into town and capture people.
Sierra called over the leader of the mercenaries, pointing towards the direction of the white sandy beach. "Bring them here quietly, no fuss."
Boba glanced at her. "Easy enough."
The four girls went into the coconut grove behind the sandy beach to change clothes and never came out.
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