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"Her last name is Karasuma, and she's usually just like you...she has a very heroic personality."
After hesitating for a moment, not knowing how to describe it, Shirakawa Kiyoshi used the word "heroic".
"Baihe, you are probably praising me, right?" Mary tilted her head and looked at him.
"Ah."
Bai Heqing nodded and added: "She is a very easy-going person. She likes to be active when talking to people. If she wants to do something, she will do whatever it takes to achieve it. She doesn't care about other people's opinions... In short, she is a very special person."
Baihe, are you really praising me?
Listening to his description, Mary wanted to complain something, but when she saw the slight smile on Bai Heqing's lips, she finally held back.
[He should be praising me, yes, that's right...]
Chatting along the way, the two arrived at the apartment rented by Mary.
This is a very small apartment. Except for Mary's own bedroom and bathroom which are separate rooms, the kitchen and living room are all squeezed together, and the balcony only has two square meters of space.
This was an apartment that Mary rented with her own money. After all, MI6 would not provide accommodation for newcomers.
There was no special reason why she brought Bai Heqing here tonight. The main reason was that Bai Heqing wanted to borrow her home phone to call her director of MI6.
Considering that it was inappropriate to use a public phone outside, Mary agreed.
"Please sit anywhere. I'll first report today's situation to the major." After saying this, Mary walked straight to her bedroom and picked up the landline phone in the bedroom.
"Ah."
Nodding, Bai Heqing sat on the chair against the wall next to him.
Listening to Mary's phone call in the room, out of professional habit, he subconsciously looked around the small apartment.
The space is small, but the various furniture are arranged very neatly, without giving people a messy feeling. The floor is very clean and there is no dust in the room.
Preliminary judgment shows that the owner of this apartment should be a person who has very strict self-discipline.
On the small balcony, there are several carefully cared-for green potted plants, adding a touch of vitality to this clean and tidy room.
I am strict with myself, but not rigid...
This does fit with Shirakawa Kiyoshi's impression of Mary today.
"You must reimburse me for the public expenses, okay?"
Suddenly, Mary's slightly threatening voice was heard in the room.
She was probably threatening her superior whom she called Major...
Thinking of this, Bai Heqing had a smile on his face.
Although Mary is now just a new agent of MI6 and is still worried about her meager salary, he has a hunch that her future will never stop here.
"Okay, that's it then... Shirakawa."
Finally, Mary hung up the phone, poked her head out of the room and called out to Bai Heqing.
"Here, phone."
"Ah."
Nodding, Bai Heqing stood up and walked into the room.
Like the living room outside, Mary's bedroom is very tidy and the layout of the room is very simple: a bed, a desk and a wardrobe, just these three things.
Standing in front of the desk, taking the microphone handed to him by Mary, Bai Heqing dialed the private number of Stuart White, the director of MI6.
"Who is it?" He didn't have to wait long before an old male voice came from the microphone.
"Director White, my name is Shirakawa." Shirakawa Kiyoshi said in Japanese.
Behind him, Mary's ears twitched, obviously curious.
As a newcomer to MI6, Mary had never spoken to her top commander, and had even met him only a few times.
However, Shirakawa Kiyoshi from Japan was able to directly dial the other party's private phone number...
Tsk, that’s why she said that she hates those people with backers the most!
"Ah, it's Shirakawa..."
On the phone, Stuart also switched to his not-so-fluent Japanese and asked with a smile:
"How was your day in London? Did you make any progress on the case? I heard from one of my subordinates that you caused him a lot of trouble in a bar today..."
What Stuart was referring to was, of course, the incident in which Shirakawa Kiyoshi dealt with the French mafia in the bar.
"I'm very sorry." Baihe Qing replied immediately.
"Don't be nervous, it's just a small matter. I don't mean to blame you. Young people will always be impulsive. This is normal. I was like this when I was young...
Now thinking back, I have known old man Hatoyama since the war more than ten years ago. It has been nearly thirty years now. Speaking of which, old man Hatoyama has an extremely stubborn temper. He never bows his head and asks for help unless it is absolutely necessary. This time he even called me and asked me to take care of you. It is really rare, hahaha..."
Stuart suddenly laughed as he spoke, obviously in a good mood.
"Ah, sorry, I got off topic. Now let's get back to the point. Baihe, how is the investigation of that case going? Call me tonight. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"The case is progressing smoothly. We have already investigated clearly that the cultural relics were stolen by Black Rose after being brought to London by a transnational theft gang." Bai Heqing explained in a calm tone.
"Black Rose... is she the thief who has been active in the UK recently?"
As the director of MI6, Stewart obviously knew the code name Black Rose, even though the Black Rose incident had nothing to do with MI6.
"Yes, according to the clues we found, Black Rose will steal again at the Louvre in Paris tomorrow night."
"Bai He, do you want to go to Paris?" Stuart understood why Bai Heqing called him.
"Yes."
"Well... this is not a difficult matter. You don't have to worry about the procedures. I can prepare these things for you tomorrow morning. It's just..."
At this point, Stuart paused. He was a little worried. After all, Bai Heqing didn't speak the language, and France was not MI6's territory. If Bai Heqing accidentally caused trouble after going to France, he would have a hard time explaining it to that old man Jiushan...
"By the way, whose phone did you borrow to make this call?" After thinking for a while, Stuart suddenly asked.
Behind Baihe Qing, Mary, who had been eavesdropping, suddenly had a bad feeling.
【Something's wrong! 】
"It's an MI6 agent, Mary Sera." After hesitating for a moment, Shirakawa Kiyoshi told the truth.
"Ah, it's Mary. She's a newcomer with great potential. She performed very well in the assessment some time ago."
To Mary's surprise, Stuart remembered her name.
"He's very capable, but he's still a little impatient. He needs more experience, but that's normal for young people."
After praising Mary over the phone, Stuart suddenly changed the subject and said:
"Come to think of it, I remember in Mary's previous assessment report, she seemed to have written that she could speak French and German..."
【It’s over! 】
Alarm bells rang in her heart. Just as Mary stepped forward to snatch the microphone from Bai Heqing's hand, Stuart had already said his last words.
"Baihe, why don't you let Mary go to Paris with you?"
Chapter 403 Arrival in Paris
"Why do you want me to come along too?"
The next morning, at the Paris airport in France, Mary was walking angrily in the terminal hall carrying a suitcase. Behind her was Bai Heqing, who was also carrying a suitcase and looked as calm as ever.
"Sorry." Bai Heqing listened to her complaints and replied.
During this period, a visa was still required to travel from the UK to France, but with the help of MI6, this was quickly resolved.
After just finishing a phone call last night, this morning Qing Shirakawa and Mary received short-term visas to France, and also received activity funds from Stuart.
"I'm not blaming you..."
Mary slowed down her pace a little and waited for Baihe Qing to walk side by side with her, then she sighed softly.
"I just didn't expect the director to be so casual. My French is only good enough for some simple daily communication. Why did he call me over? Could it be because I brought you, Baihe, to my house to make a phone call?"
Mary raised her hand and touched her chin. She felt as if she had discovered the truth.
"So the director feels that we have a good relationship? That I am the best choice?"
Marie also knew very well that the purpose of her accompanying Shirakawa Kiyoshi to Paris was to serve as his translator and help him recover the stolen cultural relics as soon as possible.
Under such circumstances, instead of finding a new agent that Shirakawa Qing doesn't know to work with him again, it would be better to let Mary, who has been working with Shirakawa Qing for a whole day, go.
"That's a possibility." Bai Heqing thought about it and nodded in agreement.
"Ugh……"
Mary was not the kind of person who would complain all the time. After she sighed again, she raised her hand and patted her face, cheering herself up again.
"Okay, cheer up. Since we are here now, let's get those cultural relics back as soon as possible!"
If it is resolved sooner, she can return to England sooner.
"Yeah." Bai Heqing smiled and nodded, seeming to be infected by her enthusiasm.
"Then how about we first find a hotel to stay in and then go to the Louvre to look around?" Mary suggested.
"it is good."
It is not difficult to find a hotel in a city like Paris where there are often foreign tourists, especially since Mary and Shirakawa Kiyoshi have no special needs for luxury, so there are more options to choose from.
The two easily found a reasonably priced small hotel near the north bank of the Seine River in the center of Paris.
It is also relatively close to the Louvre.
With Stuart's financial support, the two generous people each booked a room and then went to the Louvre together.
As the most popular museum in France, and possibly even in Europe, even though it is not the peak season, there are still many tourists visiting the Louvre.
The floors of the Louvre open to the public can be roughly divided into four floors, one underground floor and three above ground floors.
After entering the underground second floor from the glass pyramid in the middle and completing a series of operations including buying tickets, you can take the elevator from the triangle of the pyramid hall and enter the three main exhibition halls of the Louvre from the underground first floor: the Denon Wing, the Sully Wing and the Richelieu Wing.
However, this does not mean that the Louvre has only one entrance and exit, the glass pyramid.
On the contrary, there are actually quite a few entrances and exits to the Louvre, and they are evenly distributed in various locations of the Louvre. These convenient entrances and exits greatly facilitate Black Rose's theft operation tonight.