Luo An ultimately refused Louise's request, not to mention the risk of close contact for several months possibly leading to the discovery of the system in his brain. From Mona's perspective alone, there was no way Luo An could agree to Louise's request. In just a few months... Luo An could already envision the scene where Mona coldly stared at him without saying a word, only to kick him off the bed at night. Moreover, there were some cases whose details could not be disclosed, as well as the fact that Louise's father was a minister, Luo An had no choice but to reject her. However, Luo An had previously taken advantage of Louise's assistance to contact the Deputy Minister of Defense, Hernandez; Louise did indeed help him out. After a moment's thought, Luo An made a call to help Louise get in touch with his superior, Vireness, the Senior Assistant to the Minister for Crime, Cyber, Response, and Services at the FBI Washington Headquarters. Vireness had the authority to access a number of case files, and with her understanding of the rules and sense of propriety, she would certainly be able to meet Louise's needs for accumulating material. After the dinner party and driving away, it was late at night when Luo An returned to the villa. Mona hadn't gone to bed. Instead, she waited for Luo An on the sofa while watching TV, even making him some late-night snacks. Looking at the steaming food from the kitchen, Luo An smiled as he hugged Mona from behind, gently kissed her ear, and whispered with a chuckle: This was why Luo An and Mona liked each other. Although they did argue sometimes, they generally thought more for the other on most days. After finishing the late-night snack, Luo An washed the plates and bowls, took a shower, entered Mona's bedroom, and the two embraced each other as they fell asleep. The next day, Monday, as soon as Luo An arrived at the special investigation unit's office, he received a call from Vireness and went with her to Mr. Clement's office. "I've been informed about the situation over at the Department of Defense," said Mr. Clement in his office, without any superfluous words, handing over a dark gray file to Vireness and explaining: "This case is indeed special; it's not suitable for the Department of Defense to investigate personally. Or rather, they don't have a suitable department capable of conducting the investigation." Luo An was puzzled; the Department of Defense had seven departments under its jurisdiction including the Army Department, Navy Department, Air Force Department, National Security Bureau, Defense Intelligence Agency, Geospatial Intelligence Bureau, and National Reconnaissance Bureau. What kind of case could they not investigate? Vireness opened the file folder next to her. Inside was a photo of a Caucasian man, who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, dressed in a suit and giving a standard insincere smile showing eight teeth to the camera. Upon seeing the information under the photo, Vireness's pupils shrank in shock as she exclaimed: "It wasn't a natural death? Poisoning?!" Luo An turned his head in confusion. Vireness swallowed and passed the folder to him. As Luo An looked down, he noticed that the contents were not extensive. The Caucasian man was named Eric Baldwin, and his identity was unremarkable; he was just the former director of the National Security Bureau (NSA) who had retired less than half a year ago. A month before, the former NSA director died in a hospital, with the cause of death announced to the public as complications from cancer, when the real cause was poisoning. Orıginal content can be found at noⅴelfire.net "…The examination results show the victim had traces of polonium-210 in his body, indicating death by radiation poisoning…" Seeing the word polonium-210 in the file, surprise also flickered in Luo An's eyes. Polonium-210, a radioactive element with a very short half-life but extremely strong radioactivity. When it decays, it releases high-energy alpha particles that severely damage human cells and tissues. It is highly poisonous, and even a very small intake can cause poisoning and death. Moreover, it is an inert element with almost no chemical reaction with other substances, difficult for the human body to metabolize and eliminate, and its presence in the body almost invariably spells a slow death. "Was it done by Vodka Country?" Just as Luo An was recalling information about polonium-210, Vireness furrowed her brows and asked: "But if it was done by Vodka Country, why would they come to us, the FBI?" Luo An came back to his senses, recalling a piece of perhaps true or false news from his previous life, that Vodka Country's agents had once used polonium-210 to assassinate a former agent, a case that had drawn global attention to polonium-210. Luo An also frowned. The affairs between nations were too complex for him to grasp, and he had no desire to wade into these murky waters. Mr. Clement leaned back in his chair and shook his head, saying: "Although once this matter erupted, the National Security Bureau (NSA), Central Security Bureau (CSS), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and other departments all internally claimed it was the work of Vodka Country. But in reality, everyone is well aware that the true culprit behind this is not Vodka Country." The cold war and the decades following its end have nurtured a habit within the Federation to throw all the blame towards Vodka Country, regardless of the situation. This is evident in those Hollywood movies, where the ultimate villains in most of the films are from Vodka Country. As operators, the senior figures in the Federation Government are well-informed and know what's true and what's false. However, as this practice persisted, pinning the blame became a form of political correctness, to the point where even they would subconsciously think of Vodka Country when something happened. If you tell a lie often enough, you start to believe it yourself. Hearing that the true mastermind wasn't Vodka Country, Vireness breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked: "Then who is the real culprit behind this?" Mr. Clement turned his gaze to Luo An and said: "That's why this matter has come to us." Over the past month, after investigations by the National Security Bureau (NSA), Central Security Bureau (CSS), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and other departments, it was determined that the perpetrator was not from Vodka Country. Having accustomed themselves to casting blame elsewhere, these departments suddenly realized that since it wasn't a matter between nations, this case had turned into a simple poisoning murder. The victim, Eric Baldwin, was the former director of the National Security Bureau (NSA), having retired less than half a year ago. He had many political enemies, both outside and within these departments, so the National Security Bureau (NSA), Central Security Bureau (CSS), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and other departments were all struck with the realization: Oh no, I'm a suspect now! Vireness's face twitched, and she opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. Mr. Clement pulled out another folder, opened it, and handed Luo An a document with several stamps on it, introducing: "This is an executive order signed by the Federation Vice President, permitting the principal investigator of the case, in certain special circumstances, to take action first and find evidence later." Polonium-210 is an extremely dangerous assassination weapon. Due to its high toxicity and difficulty to detect, it allows criminals intent on assassination to act boldly and with impunity. Since departments like the National Security Bureau (NSA) determined that the real mastermind was not Vodka Country, but an individual, some organization, or even someone from their own departments, the case fell under the purview of the FBI. After a brief discussion, Luo An and his colleague took the relevant documents and left Mr. Clement's office. Vireness returned to her office to help contact people to investigate clues within the departments of the Defense Forces, while Luo An went back to the special investigation team. That afternoon, the door to the special investigation team's office area was knocked on, and a female agent walked in, wearing glasses, with short brown hair, and about 1.65 meters tall. She was an NSA agent temporarily reassigned, named Iris. "We've found a suspect for the poisoning." After a brief introduction of her identity, Iris immediately handed over the documents she had brought to Luo An and said: "The suspect comes from a professional assassin organization." "Assassin organization?!" Hearing this word, Luo An's eyes narrowed slightly, and his heart skipped a beat. Thinking that Luo An was not familiar with the situation of the organization, Iris explained: "This assassin organization is very ruthless in achieving their goals." "For example, to kill a certain tycoon who was very fond of women, they deliberately trained an AIDS squad, to kill invisibly."