Chapter 295: Planning and Persuasion
After rejecting Roman's two ridiculous requests—a red McLaren P1 and an orange Pagani Zonda—Roman finally settled on a low-key Ford Mustang for modification.
Ron's already sour expression got even worse, but catering to Roman's feelings wasn't in his job description. He had more important things to do: meet with Andy's fiancée, Deckard Shaw's mother, Victoria Winslow, and wait together for Toretto to arrive.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Winslow. I didn't expect that my... unintentional actions would 'accidentally' land both your sons in federal prison. But don't worry—after this mission, I guarantee they'll be released without a scratch and attend your and Andy's wedding as free men."
Ron sat across from Victoria in a coffee shop tucked into a small New York side street, the place where Toretto had agreed to meet them.
"I don't hear a single word of apology in what you're saying, only smugness. You think you're hot shit because you took down both my sons by yourself?"
Victoria ignored her coffee, staring aggressively at Ron. Ron, however, seemed completely unfazed and showed no interest in responding. Instead, he ordered another donut and started eating.
It was rude, but he was genuinely starving. From yesterday morning until now, he'd only eaten twice, spending the rest of his time modifying and tuning cars.
In the past, Toretto could handle these things, allowing Ron to slack off. But now he couldn't step away for a second, because without Toretto, he was the most knowledgeable about cars in the group.
"I wouldn't say I'm the best, but compared to your two sons, I'm probably a bit stronger," Ron replied without a hint of modesty, practically wearing his ego on his sleeve. "I wonder if anyone will ever turn my story into a movie, something like 'Agent Ron'? But I feel like if it were based on me, the box office would crush your 007 franchise, don't you think?"
I think you're shameless!
If she could, Victoria really wanted to say that, but the truth was she couldn't. Not only was her fiancé working for this "cocky bastard," but barring any surprises, her two sons would most likely be working for Ron after their release. Pissing off Ron now would be incredibly stupid.
Besides, Ron used the phrase "your 007 series" when talking about the films; Victoria knew Ron probably knew about her MI6 background.
"I don't think there's anything entertaining about a spy movie where the hero bullies orphans and widows."
Okay, even after understanding how complicated the situation was, Victoria still couldn't swallow her pride. If she could, she wouldn't be Victoria.
Fortunately, Ron didn't seem bothered by her attitude.
"Perhaps Mr. Holmes would find it interesting. I'm talking about Mycroft Holmes. Could you please pass on a message to him? Using women to cause trouble in other countries is really bad form.
I'd much rather he act like a man and have a real confrontation with me, instead of hiding behind the scenes like a coward, pulling strings like some puppet master."
"No, this Cipher isn't with MI6," Victoria shook her head. "She only worked with MI6 briefly. In fact, even MI6 doesn't really know anything about her.
Owen came into contact with this woman during that time, and I don't know what kind of spell she cast on him to make him so obsessed with her."
"To be honest, I kind of get it." Ron recalled Cipher's very seductive face and her perfectly sculpted figure, and he roughly understood Owen's mindset.
This was probably the story of a hot-blooded young operative becoming a simp and then getting manipulated by a femme fatale terrorist—tale as old as time.
Ding-a-ling
The bell on the café door rang. Ron turned around and saw a very noticeable bald man—none other than Toretto.
"Ron, long time no see. I only had an appointment with Ms. Winslow, but I didn't expect to see you here."
"Long time no see, you bastard!" Ron punched Toretto in the chest. "You think I could just sit on my ass after what happened to you? Alright, now can you tell me why? I mean, your reasons for betraying me."
"I only have five minutes, so I'll cut to the chase," Toretto said, sitting down next to Ron. "I'm a father now. Elena had my son, and they've been taken hostage by Cipher. I had no choice but to do what they say.
Do you know what it feels like when your son reaches out to you and you can't hold him? I think this lady understands that feeling better than anyone, doesn't she?"
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Victoria's anger, which had almost subsided, was reignited by Toretto's words, and she glared at Ron with hatred.
Toretto looked confused. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, you didn't say anything wrong. Some people did wrong, so they have to pay for their actions," Ron said to Toretto, then turned to Victoria.
"Let's make a deal. Your two sons go rescue Dom's son, and I'll give them their freedom and new identities. If they want, I can even give them legitimate jobs. What do you think of this deal?"
"No way!" Victoria slammed her hand on the table. "Don't think I don't know what that woman's 'God's Eye' is! Deckard is already on her radar, and she'll be monitoring his every move. He doesn't stand a chance! This mission will only get my two sons killed!"
"What if I told you that from today onwards, Cipher will never pay attention to him again?"
As soon as Ron said this, the furious older woman immediately calmed down. "What?! How is that possible? What are you planning to do?"
"Simple. We let him 'die.' Nobody wastes energy on a dead man." Ron pulled a bullet from his pocket—this was a plan he'd prepared before coming.
Because Deckard Shaw was also on Cipher's watch list, Ron had to leave him hidden at the base and come alone. However, he'd already discussed the plan with Deckard Shaw multiple times.
"This is a blank round. Toretto will load it into his pistol in a bit. When we intercept him, I'll deliberately create an opportunity for you and Deckard to meet alone. You can shoot him and show your loyalty to your new boss.
Once Deckard is shot and goes down, my men will immediately put him in a body bag and take him to the morgue. I don't think Cipher has enough manpower to send someone to verify his corpse."
"But how do you plan to get Shaw to rescue my son? You know Cipher's base is on a plane. Except for refueling and resupply, it's always in the air, flying between satellite and radar blind spots."
"That's easy too. In fact, we've already figured out the trick behind this ghost flight."
Since Ron had proposed this plan, he must have already thought it through. "This is a high-quality replica I made based on the cross you usually wear. It has a tracker inside. When you go on the next mission, find a way to leave it on the plane. Then the Shaw brothers will naturally find the exact location and rescue your son."
"You're insane!" Victoria slammed her fist on the table in anger. "You actually want my son to chase after a plane in midair! How the hell do you plan to make them do that? Pray to God to give them wings?"
"Of course not. With this."
Ron handed Victoria his phone. On the screen was a strangely designed suit of armor. Ron felt a pang of regret as he showed it to her.
"This is classified. It's a single-soldier exoskeleton my team developed. If we add two jet engines to it, it can achieve short-range flight. I'll have a plane take them near Cipher's aircraft, and then they'll use this to fly over to Cipher's plane.
Before that, my hackers will remotely open the hatch and let them in."
This was a super-simplified version of the exoskeleton that Howard and his team had developed for Ron.
Ron hadn't requested the flight function. It was an extra feature Leonard wanted to add so he could cosplay Iron Man, but to achieve this capability, he had to sacrifice the sleek appearance and add two bulky wings to the outside of the suit, which didn't look cool at all. So Leonard abandoned the cosplay plan, but unexpectedly, it came in handy for this mission.
"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Victoria felt a bit out of her depth. After looking at it for a while, she still couldn't understand what it was, so she could only ask Ron.
"Of course it's safe." (Not safe at all—it hasn't been tested yet. Ron wasn't even sure if this thing could actually make people fly.) "This is cutting-edge tech from our R&D facility. The US military hasn't even started deploying it yet."
Ron had a "this is high-tech you wouldn't understand" look on his face, which actually fooled both of them.
"Okay, whatever you say."
"Beep beep, beep beep..."
Ron's phone started vibrating. Four minutes had passed since Toretto walked in, but fortunately they'd finished discussing the plan.
"Alright then, let's roll. Time to move."
...
Over the United States, on the ghost flight circling in a holding pattern, Cipher angrily slammed her fist on the back of the technician's chair. "Hurry up! Get me a visual! I need to know what Toretto is doing!"
Four minutes earlier, Toretto had used the excuse that his engine wouldn't start to drive the car into a small alley for repairs.
The open hood blocked the front-facing camera, and a large delivery truck that had "inadvertently" stopped at the alley entrance blocked the ATM camera across the street, which could have captured what was happening inside the alley.
Now Cipher knew nothing about Toretto's situation and could only vent her anger on the technicians.
"Hey! That truck is moving! He's finished unloading and is about to leave. Quick, regain control of the ATM camera across the street! I need to see what he's doing!"
Cipher commanded as she watched the truck driver return to the cab.
But before the truck could pull away, Toretto's hood closed again, and he held up a small part to the camera, mouthing, "See, it was because of this thing. I've fixed it now."
"Then let's move quickly!" After giving Toretto the order, Cipher asked another technician, "Where is the Russian diplomat now?"
"Less than two kilometers from the mission vehicle."
"Take control of all cars equipped with autonomous driving systems in this area. The operation is now a go!"
The command was transmitted from the aircraft to various terminals through the technicians' operations. The self-driving cars, whether in standby or already in operation, simultaneously changed direction and accelerated at full speed toward the Russian diplomat's convoy.
"Boss, should we warn the Agency that Cipher is about to launch an operation?"
Hank asked with some concern after Toretto and Victoria left.
Because Arthur's face looked too similar to Deckard Shaw, there was a risk of exposure, so Ron had to leave him at the base. Gisele was also excluded from the operation because she'd been in contact with Toretto's crew.
Therefore, Ron only brought Hank and Mr. and Mrs. Smith to New York. The truck driver outside was played by Mr. Smith.
Unfortunately, Cipher could only see Toretto, otherwise she would have definitely noticed that the truck driver was ridiculously good-looking, like he could be a movie star.
"Of course not. You think Hobbs can keep his mouth shut? He must have already told them, but look at their preparations!" Ron pointed to the footage of the diplomat's motorcade on TV. "The security is absolutely garbage. I even suspect that the security personnel responsible for protecting the diplomat are all Cipher's moles."
Just as Ron finished complaining—
CRASH!
On the TV screen, an out-of-control taxi first slammed into a police officer's motorcycle, then tried to continue ramming the diplomat's convoy. It was immediately blocked by a second car in the motorcade.
Just when they thought they'd finally protected the diplomat, they looked up to see hundreds of cars rushing toward them like rabid animals.
The security detail quickly grabbed their radios to request backup, then threw their vehicle in reverse and floored it backward.
But the road behind them was also blocked. Behind the convoy, self-driving cars—also hijacked by Cipher—swarmed out from various intersections, attacking from all sides.
The convoy had no choice but to turn and enter another street.
Meanwhile, Hobbs, who was monitoring the police scanner at the cold storage facility, received the signal: "Toretto is on Fifth Avenue. Move out immediately!"
(End of Chapter)
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