Invasion of the United States

The little girl turned her head and glared fiercely at Zhou Qingfeng, "I don't want to talk to you! You're a liar, you're not really FBI at all!

No genuine FBI would brutally beat up street gangs like you do. Everyone in the neighborhood knows you're a fake!"

Zhou Qingfeng was momentarily speechless, feeling slightly embarrassed.

He indeed hadn't expected that his overly "friendly" and "helpful" demeanor would get him exposed so quickly.

Lucy sarcastically laughed at this.

Since even the little girl saw through him, Zhou Qingfeng decided to stop pretending. He reached up and peeled off the gelatin mask from his neck, revealing his true face.

"Phew—" he exhaled deeply, rubbing his slightly reddened skin, "Wearing this thing for too long is really uncomfortable, it's suffocating and stifling."

Lucy watched Zhou Qingfeng with great interest, clearly having anticipated this. The middle-aged father busy in the kitchen glanced back but didn't seem to care.

The little girl, initially disdainful, was suddenly shocked upon recognizing Zhou Qingfeng's face, exclaiming loudly, "You... you... you..."

"What?" Zhou Qingfeng glanced at her.

The teenage girl immediately lowered her voice, weakly asking, "Can I take a photo with you? To post on my personal homepage? This would be super cool and make my classmates really jealous."

Zhou Qingfeng didn't reply but looked towards the busy middle-aged father.

The little girl caught on quickly, immediately turning to hug her father, whispering, "Dad, please."

The middle-aged father, looking somewhat awkward, turned to Zhou Qingfeng with a pleading expression, "Is this... okay?"

Zhou Qingfeng nodded, "When I leave, I can fulfill this request. But you'd better wait a few days before posting it, and also think about how to deal with the police inquiries."

The little girl nodded eagerly, cheering in excitement.

-----------------

The middle-aged father was a cab driver, working hard from early till late every day. After dinner, Lucy asked him to drive them out of the city.

Since the military and police pursuit incident, Lucy's attitude towards Zhou Qingfeng had softened, agreeing to take him to her grandfather's retreat.

The cab circled through the city and finally stopped in front of a secluded countryside mansion.

The two walked towards the back garden of the mansion, Lucy whispered, "My grandfather is here, you'll see him soon."

Under the night sky, a crescent moon hung high, and the backyard of the mansion was surrounded by a fence of trees.

A small lamp lit up the yard, where moths fluttered erratically under the light, and the chirping of crickets added some vitality to the quiet night.

Hammer Lee lay under a thin blanket, sitting in a rocking chair, his eyes staring blankly at the night sky, as if reminiscing or simply passing the time.

The mansion employed a nanny to take care of the elderly man's needs. She quietly walked to the rocking chair, gently reminding, "Sir, your granddaughter Lucy and her friend are here to see you."

Hammer slowly turned his head, his gaze lingering on Lucy's face for a while before barely recognizing her.

When he saw Zhou Qingfeng, his cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and he excitedly sat up straight in the rocking chair, "Victor! You are Victor! I am Hammer, your 'Hourly Worker'!"

Lucy watched the scene, sighing, "I didn't expect that while my grandfather almost forgot me, he still remembers you."

Hammer trembled as he took out his phone, opened the memo, and waved it at Zhou Qingfeng, "You rascal, I remember all the bad things you did!

Lately, I've been bored to death, stuck here waiting to die, just passing time by looking at my past records. Why are you here to find me?"

In contrast to the old man's excitement, Zhou Qingfeng remained stern, his tone carrying a hint of interrogation, "Hammer, I didn't want to come to you like this.

You helped me eliminate the Chris Family, and I gave you half of what I got from them as a reward.

I thought I was being very generous, and even if the recipient didn't reciprocate, they shouldn't turn against me.

But what happened? That reward ended up feeding a mad dog.

I want to know, who exactly is Dias from the 'Tree of Justice'? I paid him, and now he wants to take me out."

Hammer listened to Zhou Qingfeng's account and fell silent. After a while, he sighed and softly said, "Dias... he indeed could do such a thing."

"First tell me, who the hell is that bastard?" Zhou Qingfeng pressed on, "I am also a creator of 'Tree of Justice,' I have the right to know who is in the organization."

Hammer hesitated for a moment, finally opening his phone, and after searching, he said, "His real name is Steve Norm,

he's a senior intelligence officer in the Department of Homeland Security's Directorate of National Protection and Programs, overseeing risk management and analysis. Dias is his codename.

Victor, you don't plan to eliminate him, do you? That guy is in Washington, living like a corporate drone, tightly secured every day.

I think there might be some misunderstanding between you two that could be resolved by talking. If you fight, it benefits no one."

"Misunderstanding? How could there be a misunderstanding with someone who wants to take me out and seize my assets?"

Zhou Qingfeng sneered as he took out his phone, quickly sending Steve Norm's name and identity to 'Gray Shark,' and then 'Gray Shark' forwarded it to Thomas from the Ministry of Efficiency.

The moment Thomas received that information, he erupted with a loud "Yeah!" on the phone, sounding extremely exhilarated.

Old Hammer, seeing this, asked in surprise, "Victor, who are you contacting?"

"The Ministry of Government Efficiency," Zhou Qingfeng replied calmly, "Since Dias wants to plot against me, he shouldn't expect me not to retaliate."

"How can you contact those 'dogs'?" Hammer said angrily, his tone full of dissatisfaction and urgency.

"Don't contact outsiders, we should resolve internal matters internally. I'll call Dias immediately to stop him from doing anything stupid." ThereferenceversionofthischapterisonM*V*LEMPYR.

Lucy took a step forward to stop him, "Grandpa, you can't contact Dias directly."

"Why?" Hammer asked in surprise, very dissatisfied, "We are patriots, we need to stay united."

"Because he might also want to take you out," Lucy said gravely, then briefly recounted the day's events involving strangers coming to their door.

"Besides Dias, I can't think of anyone who would go to such lengths to find me and mobilize the local police department."

Although Hammer had dementia, his mind was clear when he wasn't confused.

He quickly understood his situation—he had become a "redundant person," and Dias didn't want him to continue living.

The old man's expression gradually turned somber, with both anger and helplessness. He slowly lowered his head and murmured, "It seems... I really am old, old enough to become a liability."

But after a moment of silence, he opened his eyes again, fiercely shouting, "'Tree of Justice' was founded by me, why should Dias control it?

He doesn't have the authority to make decisions for me, he doesn't have the right to take my life. The organization hasn't come to the point where he calls the shots."

Enraged, Hammer began to search through his phone, both to rally friends and determine the strength of Dias's faction; and to spread information and reconsolidate his position.

The old man first sought out fellow 'patriots' who were in a similar situation. By discussing Dias's autocracy and the unchecked threat he posed, he could get many to seriously reconsider their stance.

As they say, 'an elder at home is like a treasure,' Hammer, functioning well, could easily become the backbone of the team, with much lower communication costs than Dias.

With just a dozen phone calls, the internal dissatisfaction and fear towards Dias within 'Tree of Justice' would unite.

"Victor, book a flight, we are going to Washington tomorrow. It's time to introduce you to the senior members of 'Tree of Justice' and expand your network.

Trust me, if you were an American, I could easily get you elected as a Congressman, and if not that, at least a state legislator."

Hammer spoke with great enthusiasm, as if the thorny issue was easily resolved. Just when Zhou Qingfeng thought the problem would be smoothly taken care of, he spent half an hour in the restroom...

Zhou Qingfeng had a bad feeling.

Indeed... the old man, upon coming out, stared blankly at his granddaughter, "Lucy, is that you? How did you suddenly grow up? Who's the silly boy next to you?"