cicada

Chapter 456 Meeting the Detectives

"Woo~"

An old steam train slowly stopped beside the platform, and white water vapor came out from the bottom of the train, soon covering the people and porters who came to pick up the station in smoke.

"Jack, keep an eye on our luggage. These Chinese people are not friendly to us. If you lose your equipment, damn it, I swear I will throw you into the jungle to live with those monkeys."

In the first-class carriage, a middle-aged white man wearing a top hat got up from his seat, while folding a newspaper, he said to the young red-haired servant beside him, his blue eyes were full of sternness.

"Yes, Mr. Formosa."

The young servant named Jack was carrying the luggage and muttering in his mouth, obviously he was not so happy, but who made Formosa willing to pay 10 pounds a week to hire him.

This was not a small amount of money. The weekly salary of a skilled worker in London was only 10 pounds. Although the pound depreciated sharply after the war, it was still able to support a family of several people.

Formosa put the gentleman's single-frame glasses into his breast pocket, and said coldly: "Mr. Jack, a qualified servant will never talk about his master behind his back, am I right?"

"But Mr. Formosa, I am not your servant. The employment agency on York Street told me that what you need is an assistant who can accompany you to the Far East, not a servant."

Jack straightened his back and retorted in an unassuming manner, emphasizing the word servant. There is a difference in status between a servant and a master, but there is no assistant. It is not the nineteenth century.

"Then you have to respect your employer. Well, be careful of the fragile items in your luggage, especially the test tubes and cameras inside. This is the latest technology of the Germans, and it is difficult to buy substitutes in the Far East."

Formosa wisely avoided the discussion of servants and assistants, and talked about science instead. A kid from Lower London, he didn't understand the difference between ordinary test tubes and test tubes.

This is enough to make the other party shut up.

Sure enough, the movements of Jack's hands were much lighter. Human beings are always willing to remain in awe of unknown things, such as religion. In a sense, science is also a religion.

The corners of Formosa's mouth raised slightly, and he put the windbreaker on the hook on his body and walked out of the carriage first. Before he could show his demeanor as a British gentleman, he was stunned by the complicated smell.

"Quack~"

"Cackling."

People swarmed out of ordinary carriages and rushed to the platform. Many of them carried cages in their hands, which contained many kinds of poultry. After a whole night of accumulation, the bamboo cages were full of excrement.

Formosa yelled in horror, "Damn it, Jack, get these people away from me, ignorant Chinese, why are they carrying germ-laden animals on the train?"

For an imperial aristocrat who grew up living in the upper class of London, this kind of scene is really unacceptable, even though the British subway① and trains are equally dirty in this era.

Jack, on the other hand, seemed much calmer. He skillfully pushed the luggage that was as tall as a person out of the car door, blocking other passengers from approaching the employer, with a helpless expression on his depressed face.

This aristocratic lord of Scotland Yard is really too difficult to serve, and he has given himself all kinds of difficulties along the way, not for the sake of the pound, he has long wanted to punch the other side's hateful face.

"I shouldn't have agreed to the superintendent's request to come to this barbaric Asian country. Speed ​​up, Mr. Assistant, where are the reception staff of the consulate, they should come to meet me."

Next to him, Formosa took out a handkerchief and wiped the non-existent dust on the shoes, then raised his head to look at the messy platform, and said very unhappy that the journey was really not smooth.

First, the cruise ship was damaged due to unknown reasons in the Mediterranean Sea, and then encountered a legendary pirate in Malacca. Although there was no harm, it was not a pleasant memory.

Coupled with the upcoming contest with the Chinese intelligence agency, a policeman who publicly investigates the case on the other side's territory is simply sending himself to death. One can imagine how bad he feels.

"please wait a while."

At this moment, a young man's voice came from behind. The other party's English was very standard, his tone was full of anger, and he vehemently refuted what he just said about China.

"Sir, this is a nascent republic. Just over 20 years ago, she was under the rule of barbarians. We just lacked the necessary time for development, but we did not lack civilization.

It is inappropriate for you to comment on these uneducated ordinary people, or is it that you, as a citizen of an imperial country, have a natural hatred for the republic's furniture, am I right? "

Formosa was taken aback when he heard the words, and turned his head slowly. A well-dressed Chinese young man was standing not far away, his eyes were full of ridicule, and there were more than a dozen young men in black standing beside him.

Damn it, could it be that he met a Chinese gang member, and the other party felt like those criminals in the Birmingham area, such as members of the traditional gangster family like the Razor Gang.

Elegant yet fierce.

He frowned slightly, and tried to explain in a gentle tone: "The feces of those animals carry a lot of germs, if a plague breaks out, everyone on the train will die because of it.

Therefore, I have no prejudice against your country and its people, and it has nothing to do with the political system. Young man, I don't know your identity, but there are some people you can't offend. "

Formosa feels that as long as he reveals his identity, the other party will quickly give up the entanglement. Although the empire's power in East Asia is not as good as before, it is not something a low-level gangster can provoke.

"Oh, you can't offend me?"

The young man smiled slightly.

The people in black around him laughed wildly. With their identities, no one in the entire Republic of China could afford to offend them. As long as they were not relatives of the emperor, even if they killed a foreigner, it would be nothing.

To put it bluntly, there are not a few foreigners they killed quietly, and they have never seen any country come to their door. The special nature of their work has given them special rights.

"Okay, stop laughing."

The young man raised his hand after laughing, and then walked slowly to Formosa who was pretending to be calm. After looking at him with interest, he touched his smooth chin, and said in a firm tone.

"Sir, you must be British. Looking at the luggage you are carrying, the shipping label on it has not been removed. This means that you have just come to Asia from Europe, and you drove from Shanghai to Jinling overnight."

The itinerary is so hasty, it seems that you are in a hurry to come to China, and it is a business. If it is a private matter, you will not carry so many heavy suitcases. The items inside must be related to work.

When you suddenly heard my voice earlier, your first reaction was to touch your right waist. This is the standard way for the police to hold a gun, and only the police will place their weapons in such an obvious place.

Obviously, the person standing in front of me is a British Empire police detective, and considering the umbrella in the hand of this red-haired gentleman, you must be from London, um, is it Scotland Yard? "

The young man saw through Formosa's identity with just a few words. The men in black showed admiration after hearing the explanation from their English-speaking colleagues. This boss was much more reliable than the previous ones.

In the past, just hearing people from the secret service say how amazing Zuo was, they seemed to be able to figure out where the spies were hiding with just a pinch of their fingers. Now that they have Chief Meng, they can show off to each other.

Yes, the young man is Meng Ting.

He returned to Jinling from Shanghai where he transferred Fan Shusen. When he got off the train, he heard a white man spouting nonsense here, slandering China as a barbaric country, and he refuted it out of anger.

Unexpectedly, he met half of his peers. Having studied at the French police academy for two years, he knew very well that Scotland Yard also undertook part of the anti-espionage work. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was a peer.

The question is, why did a British policeman come to the Republic of China, and brought so many equipment, it seems that he intends to solve the case in the Republic of China, but the UK has no law enforcement power within the jurisdiction of the Republic of China.

So what kind of case did the other party come to investigate, and whether it has anything to do with intelligence activities? If so, this case probably belongs to the business scope of one department, and he must investigate clearly.

Meng Ting began to carefully observe this person's reaction. If he could not give himself a reasonable explanation, he might take this British policeman back to the secret service headquarters for strict examination.

"Yes, young man, you are right. I am indeed a police detective from Scotland Yard, so why not let me guess your real identity, as you Chinese say, reciprocity."

The Formosa donkey on the opposite side said the Chinese proverbs learned on the boat, confirming Meng Ting's guess, and took out a pipe from his pocket and put it in his mouth, saying triumphantly.

"At first I thought you were gang members, but the discipline and obedience shown by these gentlemen should only have such qualities in the soldiers, police and secret police in your country.

Considering that you don't have many traces of military training and rough skin, you can rule out your status as a soldier. At the same time, the plainclothes police will not and have no authority to question a citizen of the British Empire.

If I'm not mistaken, gentlemen are members of your country's intelligence agencies, I've heard of you, and you've done an excellent job of teaching those Japanese shorties some necessary lessons. "

"Scotland Yard lives up to its reputation."

Meng Ting said something with his thumbs up, without explaining that it was the fault of the Secret Service. After speaking, he and Formosa looked at each other with a smile, shook hands, and introduced themselves tacitly.

"Inspector Scotland Yard, Formosa."

"Special Agent Headquarters, Meng Ting."

"Happy to meet."

"Happy to meet."

"Why don't I send Mr. Formosa?"

"Very well then, thank you."

The two men with ulterior motives walked out together like this, which stunned Jack and the man in black. They didn't understand what the employer (section chief) was planning, so they had to follow behind in a daze.

　①Urban rail transit system in London, England, it is the first subway in the world,
　　Finally caught up, thank you for your understanding.There is really something wrong with it, people are too fragile.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)