Chapter 1600 G.o.dly Tongue
Luke’s main target this time was a s.h.i.+ELD branch in s.h.i.+njuku.
As a bridgehead against China, j.a.pan had many American military bases.
s.h.i.+ELD worked under the World Security Council, and China, as one of the five council members, also had supervisory rights.
But just like how s.h.i.+ELD in America had nothing to do with China, s.h.i.+ELD in China actually had nothing to do with America.
j.a.pan, on the other hand, was on good terms with America, and both parties were on the same page.
Most of the lower-level agents here were still j.a.panese, but the middle and upper levels were basically Americans.
Because of j.a.pan’s geographical position and the distinctive upright nature of the j.a.panese, the American government specifically requested that Nick Fury not interfere too much with this branch’s affairs.
More than half of the funding for the j.a.panese branch wasn’t decided on by Nick Fury, but came from the government.
Thus, Nick Fury had very little control over the j.a.panese branch. He basically didn’t have any of his own men here.
This also meant that the elimination of the j.a.panese branch wouldn’t have any substantial impact on the other branches.
Phil had looked for Big Dipper to clean up this group of Hydra members. It was safest for a branch like this which operated almost independently to disappear.
Otherwise, when it encountered a crisis, it could hide as a whole and escape the spotlight before changing its face and reappearing again.
Hydra had played this trick in World War II and successfully turned itself into the current s.h.i.+ELD. Nick Fury wasn’t stupid enough to let them do it again.
The size of the j.a.panese branch was now a mystery.
There were only 120 people on the list which HQ had, including the supervisor, agents, clerks, logistics personnel, and so on.
There were less than 40 front line agents, which wasn’t a lot.
However, Nick Fury’s investigation showed that many people in this branch had subordinates who weren’t on file, and there were actually more than 500 active personnel.
Of course, this setup wasn’t allowed.
NYPD also had support officers, but these were registered personnel. Subdivisions couldn’t hire people without reporting it.
Investigations had already revealed that most of the people in the j.a.panese branch were problematic.
Luke had to clean up these people and their “temp” subordinates.
It was a huge project.
Luke had never dealt with so many “criminal officials” in one go. There were too many things to consider.
Looking at the 3D map of s.h.i.+njuku that was slowly being completed, he picked up his phone and didn’t stop writing and sketching as he made amendments.
Polaris (the Big Dipper armor’s A.I. program) never stopped finding loopholes and problems in the plan to fix.
He was busy until the afternoon, and had lunch at the coffee shop.
Compared with the maid cafe, this first-rate coffee shop had a much more professional chef, and Luke rated the French dishes at 70%.
When he was almost done, the waitress politely asked if he was satisfied.
Luke said casually, “Not bad. It’s just that some of the ingredients weren’t very good.”
Very soon, the chef came out to apologize to him and sincerely asked him about the dishes’ shortcomings.
This chef was j.a.panese.
j.a.panese chefs made French dishes, American chefs made Chinese food, and that Korean diner owner in America made Middle Eastern kebabs. It was an interesting “cycle.”
This had nothing to do with loving the country; it was just to stand out from the compet.i.tion.
Looking at the chef whose waist was about to break from bowing, Luke casually mentioned the shortcomings of a particular ingredient.
The chef’s initially interrogative att.i.tude immediately turned into reverence.
However, when he saw Luke wave at the waiter to take the plates away, he knew that the customer wasn’t interested in talking, so he could only bow again and leave.
Top customers absolutely had the right to criticize top chefs.
There were very few top chefs, but even fewer customers could point out the flaws in their dishes.
If this was a comic, this customer would have a “G.o.dly tongue.”
Looking at it this way, the chef was far from reaching the top.
But Luke would never mention that his comment earlier was actually a complaint Gold Nugget had made before. He was just borrowing it.
In other words, the “G.o.dly tongue” which the j.a.panese chef admired… actually belonged to a dog.
Luke asked for a cup of coffee, and the waitress brought him a pot. Noticing the curiosity in his eyes, the young waitress felt a little dizzy.
Maintaining her professionalism, however, she immediately explained, “This is a small token of Chef Yamada’s grat.i.tude for your comment. Also, your meal today is free.”
Luke nodded obligingly.
Gold Nugget’s evaluation really wasn’t feedback that just anyone could give. After all, n.o.body apart from Luke, Selina and Claire knew how much of a gourmet food critic it
was.
Feeling both excited and a little regretful, the waitress left.
Everything about this aloof Prince Charming was good, and his indifferent att.i.tude made people both love and hate him.
After this interlude, it was quiet all the way into the night.
Neither the chef nor the waitress disturbed him again, which was the advantage of a top-cla.s.s coffee shop.
Luke locked his phone and narrowed his eyes to alleviate his fatigue. At the same time, he called for the waitress.
It was already seven in the evening. The earlier waitress had gotten off work, while the new one kept sneaking peeks at him.
Seeing that he had pressed the b.u.t.ton, she immediately walked over. “Sir, how can I help
you?”
Luke asked, “Do you have Chinese green tea?”
The waiter said, “Yes. What would you like?”
As they talked, footsteps rang out, and five people walked past Luke.
Luke glanced at them and said, “Then, a pot of Maofeng tea.”
A red-haired girl subconsciously looked at him.
Luke naturally looked away, as if he hadn’t seen her.
Various emotions flashed across the red-haired girl’s face, but she didn’t stop as she entered a private room further away.
Ten minutes later, the red-haired girl walked out of the private room and stood two meters away from Luke. She smiled. “Hi, Mr. John Wick?”
Luke turned his head. “Hm?”
It was the red-haired girl who had taken away the girl in the white dress last night.
Last night, her hair had been bright red, but today, it was gradually turning pink. However, both hair colors were undoubtedly very… 2D.
Generally speaking, she could be considered fairly pretty.
Luke looked at her and wondered if he should kill her. She was a bright red evil, and would be worth at least 200 points.
The red-haired girl’s hair stood on end.
She sensed that terrifying aura of death surge out of the man again to drown her.
The red-haired girl trembled. “Sir, pardon me for disturbing you.”