naruto-story Chapter 386 Jose's Secret
Chapter 386 Jose's Secret
Chapter 384 Jose's Secret (10,000-word chapter, wow!)
[Samana, Old Town, 8:30 PM]
"Captain's Bar" is located at the end of a quiet, cobblestone alley in the old town of Samana.
It has no neon sign, only a weathered wooden sign made from a repurposed anchor and rum barrel.
When Lin Yu'an pushed open the creaking cowboy door, a mixture of rich rum aroma and spicy cigar smoke instantly enveloped him.
The bar was just as lively as it had been a few days earlier when he and Mike had come. Under the dim lights, there were small groups of local fishermen and long-haul sailors from all over the world.
They were gathered around an oak table, loudly boasting about their achievements in Spanish or heavily accented English.
The walls are adorned with a huge blue marlin specimen and faded nautical photographs, adding a touch of legend to the place.
Lin Yu'an's gaze quickly swept across the entire bar, finally settling on the familiar figure behind the bar counter.
Jose was leaning against the bar, wearing a faded old T-shirt, slowly wiping a crystal wine glass with a rag whose original color was no longer discernible.
His face, like dried orange peel, was etched with the lines of time, but his eyes, deep-set in their sockets, remained as sharp as an eagle's, as if they could see into the soul of every customer.
Lin Yu'an walked straight over and sat down at the bar.
Good evening, Mr. José.
Jose glanced at him, a faint smile appearing on his face: "It's you. How's filming going these past few days?"
"It went fairly smoothly." Lin Yu'an laughed as well. "It took us two days to find a suitable spot near the Whale's Mouth to photograph the rock paintings. We just got back to town today, and we're exhausted."
"Hmm," Jose nodded, continuing to slowly wipe the glasses, "Young people have energy, they'll recover quickly. Why aren't Mike and his daughter having a drink with you?"
"They're all exhausted and resting on the ship," Lin Yu'an's answer remained flawless. "Besides, we're setting sail for Cuba early tomorrow morning."
"Leaving so soon?" Jose paused in wiping his wine glass, his sharp eyes scrutinizing Lin Yu'an in the dim light. "Not staying a few more days?"
"No, the flight plans are all set." Lin Yu'an shook his head, and then finally steered the conversation toward the real purpose of his trip.
He took a roll of US dollars from his pocket and gently placed it on the gleaming bar counter.
"To be honest, I came here today to buy you a really good bottle of wine. To celebrate the successful filming and also to give the other two crew members a surprise."
He leaned forward slightly, lowered his voice, and added in a half-joking tone, with a hint of pleading, "And—to be honest, I'm also pursuing his daughter. You can definitely give me the best advice on how to win over my future father-in-law."
Jose looked at the roll of US dollars on the bar, then at Lin Yu'an's sincere young face, a knowing smile flashing in his sharp eyes.
He put down his glass, wiped his hands, and came out from behind the bar. "I understand. Come with me. The drinks for Mike can't just be taken outside."
He led Lin Yu'an through the noisy bar and into a small door at the back that had a sign that read "Private Area, No Visitors Allowed".
Behind the door was not the dark and damp underground wine cellar Lin Yu'an had imagined, but a clean and bright small room.
The room was small, with wooden wine racks covering the walls, displaying hundreds of bottles of various kinds of rum, many of which were unlabeled and simply homemade wines in glass bottles.
In the center of the room, there was a small table and two chairs for wine tasting. The table was covered with tulip-shaped glasses and saucers of various shapes.
"Kid," Jose's voice was particularly loud here, "you can't buy Mike's heart with just an expensive bottle of wine. What he values is the story behind the wine and the joy of sharing it."
Instead of handing Lin Yu'an a bottle of wine directly, he acted like a hospitable host, casually taking down a few unremarkable-looking bottles of wine from the shelf.
"What you need is not a bottle of wine, but the knowledge of wine tasting." José's eyes gleamed with the confidence and authority of an old craftsman.
"That kid Mike has been drinking his whole life. If you give him a bottle of something that costs thousands of dollars, and he can't explain what it is, he'll just think you're a know-it-all idiot."
José opened a bottle of wine; it was a dark glass bottle without any label.
He poured a little into two exquisite tulip glasses. The amber-colored liquid looked exceptionally clear under the light, and he pushed one glass towards Lin Yu'an.
"Here, try this. It's made with local Samana sugarcane, using the oldest agricultural rum method, single distilled, and not aged in barrels. Smell it, what does it smell like?"
Lin Yu'an picked up the wine glass, but did not drink it immediately. Instead, he imitated a professional sommelier, tilting the glass at a 45-degree angle to observe the color and "legs" of the wine.
Then he brought his nose close to the rim of the cup and took a deep breath. A refreshing herbal scent hidden within the spicy aroma instantly filled his nostrils.
"It's very refreshing," he tried to describe. "It's not like ordinary wine; it tastes more like the sugarcane field after the rain, with a hint of grass and earth."
"Excellent!" A hint of approval flashed in José's eyes. "This is the soul of agricultural rum: terroir."
"It's not made with molasses left over from sugar production, but rather with freshly squeezed sugarcane juice that's fermented and distilled directly. That's why it retains the most original plant flavor of sugarcane. Now, take a small bite."
Lin Yu'an took a small sip, the spicy liquor gliding across her tongue, followed by the fragrance of plants and a clear sweet aroma of tropical fruits.
"It tastes like banana and pineapple?"
"Not bad! You have some talent." Jose nodded approvingly and took a small sip as well.
"This flavor comes from the esters produced during fermentation. Remember, kid, the world of rum is far more complex than you think."
He put down his glass and, like a most generous teacher, officially began this privately customized "Rum Master Class".
"The history of rum is a history of blood and tears in the Caribbean." He took a second bottle from the shelf.
This is a bottle that looks equally old, but has a blurry "1703" year mark printed on it.
"In the 17th century, colonists planted sugarcane here, extracted the sugar, and shipped it back to Europe. The leftover sticky molasses was discovered by slaves, who found that by adding water and fermenting it, they could brew a strong liquor that could temporarily make people forget their pain."
"This was the earliest form of rum; back then, it was called the devil's killer," harsh and spicy enough to burn your throat.
He poured Lin Yu'an a second glass, the liquid a deep golden color. "This is from Barbados, the world-renowned birthplace of rum. Try it and see how it differs from the previous one."
Lin Yu'an took a sip and immediately felt the huge difference. This cup was noticeably smoother and richer, with the spiciness replaced by a complex flavor reminiscent of vanilla caramel and roasted almonds.
"Softer, and sweeter?"
"That's right. Because it's a traditional rum made with molasses and aged for at least eight years in American bourbon barrels."
José explained, "The bourbon barrel gives it vanilla, coconut, and caramel flavors. Barbados' style is this balance, elegance, and smoothness, like a gentleman in a tuxedo."
He paused, then gently tapped the bottle with his finger. "Don't underestimate it. A bottle of top-quality Mount Gay."
"XO" would cost around $80 to $100 at a duty-free shop in Miami.
"And if it's a limited edition like those from the Foursquare distillery, the price at auction can easily exceed $500 or even $800, which is no cheaper than any single malt whisky of the same quality."
This specific price gave Lin Yu-an a completely new understanding of the value of rum.
Then, José picked up the third bottle of wine, which had a huge, rugged "H" logo on it.
"Now, let's get exciting." Jose's lips curled into a mysterious smile. "This is 'Hampden Estate' from Jamaica. Jamaican rum is the beast of the rum world."
As soon as the aroma of the third glass of wine he poured wafted out, Lin Yu'an smelled something akin to an overripe pineapple, a rotten banana, and even—a hint of paint thinner.
"Is this... broken?" Lin Yu'an thought to himself, but his face remained expressionless.
"Haha, scared by the taste, aren't you?" José laughed. "This is the hallmark of Jamaican rum, a unique flavor with an extremely high ester content."
"They use a mysterious substance called Dunder for an extremely long fermentation process, creating this wild, unrestrained, even slightly rotten aroma. Those who love it treasure it, while those who hate it avoid it like the plague."
He pointed to the bottle: "This is an 8-year-old Hampden Estate, labeled 'LROK' for ester content. It's considered an entry-level bottle with a medium-to-high ester content, and it costs around $70 a bottle."
"If it's a DOK grade with a higher ester content, or a 17-year-old vintage from a legendary distillery that has ceased production decades ago, then in the hands of collectors, the price wouldn't even be enough to get a whiff of it without $10,000."
"Try it, dare you?"
Lin Yu'an didn't hesitate and took a small sip. An extremely complex flavor instantly exploded in his mouth!
The sweetness of ripe fruit, the pungent sensation of industrial solvents, and a hint of olive-like saltiness intertwine to create an extremely memorable experience.
Lin Yu'an listened attentively like a student eager for knowledge, savoring each glass of wine that Jose offered.
However, Jose's sharp eyes remained focused on Lin Yu'an's face, observing the most subtle changes in his expression.
However, they did not notice that every time Lin Yu'an brought the wine glass to his lips and seemed to drink the wine in one gulp, he did not actually swallow.
The spicy, mellow, or wild and unrestrained golden liquid, once it enters the mouth, swirls on the tongue, acquiring all the taste information, and is then sent into the storage space.
After tasting four or five different styles of rum, from the refreshing Agricultural Rum to the mellow Barbados to the wild Jamaican Rum, and as the atmosphere became increasingly harmonious and relaxed, José's smile suddenly vanished.
He slowly put down his wine glass, turned around, and took out something that stood out from all the other wine bottles in the room from an inconspicuous drawer behind him.
An old but very well-maintained Tokarev TT-33 pistol.
He didn't point the gun at Lin Yu'an; he simply placed it casually on the wine table between them with a "thud."
The cold sound of metal striking the wooden table instantly froze the relaxed atmosphere in the room.
Jose slowly sat back in his chair, his sharp eyes, like two invisible arrows, fixed intently on Lin Yu'an.
The aura of a warm-hearted old fisherman that once emanated from him vanished at that moment, replaced by a terrifying aura as cold as the skies of Alaska, filled with the oppressive power of a superior.
"My child," his voice grew low and hoarse, "I will be 100 years old next month. I have seen more people than you have drunk water."
"From the moment you first walked into my bar and asked me about the mouth of the whale, I knew you weren't here just to photograph some damn rock paintings."
He looked at Lin Yu'an, a cold smile curving his lips. "I put something in the last drink you had."
A colorless and odorless neuromuscular relaxant.
"Don't worry, you won't die. After 5 minutes, you'll start to feel weak all over; after 10 minutes, you'll fall into a deep sleep and look exactly like you're drunk."
"If you want to recover, then from now on, you'll answer whatever I ask. Understand?"
The aura of a veteran agent was on full display at this moment. It was an absolute control and a sense of oppression that could only be honed through countless life-or-death struggles!
As he expected, Lin Yu'an's face began to turn pale. He braced himself on the table with both hands, trying to stand up, but his legs gave way and he sat back down heavily.
He even accidentally knocked over the wine glass in front of him, spilling the amber-colored liquid all over the table.
"Who—who are you?" His voice carried just the right amount of shock, anger, and a hint of barely perceptible fear.
Every micro-expression perfectly illustrates the reaction of a young person who has fallen into a trap.
Who I am is not important.
José completely ignored his question, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, like an old hunter watching his prey's final struggle.
"The important thing is, now, I'll ask you questions and you'll answer them."
His gaze precisely analyzed Lin Yu'an's every reaction. He asked his first question: "What exactly are you looking for near the whale's mouth?"
"I—we weren't looking for anything. We were filming a documentary about—about the rock paintings of the Taino people."
"Documentary?" He shook his head, and a chilling murderous aura instantly filled the entire room!
"Kid, my patience is limited. Every year, there are one or two drunk tourists who accidentally fall into the sea and feed the sharks. You don't want to be one of those tourists, do you?"
Lin Yu'an's body trembled uncontrollably, his eyes filled with the fear of being completely seen through.
But instead of immediately collapsing as José had anticipated, he stammered a bewildered question in his fear: "I—I don't understand what you're talking about—why would you ask that? Could it be—could it be that there's some unspeakable secret near the whale's mouth?"
Jose narrowed his eyes!
He hadn't expected that this young man, who looked like he was on the verge of collapse, would still have the mind to play these kinds of language games with him.
Jose sneered. He decided to increase the pressure and throw out some "bait" to see the other party's reaction. "Secrets? There are no secrets there. Only some forgotten rubbish."
"I'm just curious why anyone, fifty years later, would still be interested in that garbage that should have long since rotted into history."
Fifty years!
This precise number made Lin Yu'an's heart skip a beat! But the expression on his face looked even more confused and innocent.
"Fifty years? I don't understand—" He took a few "difficult" breaths, as if the drug was taking effect, "We're just following a map—to find a pirate's treasure—"
"You're still lying!!" José slammed his hand on the table, making the Tokarev pistol jump up!
He leaned forward abruptly, his wrinkled face almost touching Lin Yu'an's, his eyes burning with the fury of being repeatedly toyed with!
The voice was icy cold. "Kid, you don't have many chances to save your life anymore. This is your last chance. I'm asking you for the last time: what exactly are you looking for in the whale's mouth?"
11
"Don't rush to answer. Think it through. If you can't give me a satisfactory answer this time, I guarantee you'll be on the news's list of victims tomorrow."
A hint of panic flashed in Lin Yu'an's eyes, as if he was hesitating whether to deny it completely or to say something in exchange for a chance to survive.
Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he answered in a slightly trembling voice, "Okay, I'll tell you... We're looking for a World War II treasure! This time it's for real!"
Jose's voice even sounded somewhat kind, as if he had received a satisfactory answer.
"Very good, young man. You've successfully saved yourself this time. Now, here's the next question: how did you find out about this treasure clue?"
"It's—it's a person—I don't know his name, I only know a code name." Lin Yu'an deliberately released a bait, trying to seize the initiative in the conversation.
"A man codenamed—Colonel Mercator, the Stormbringer—told us that there's a treasure trove of gold in a cave near the Mouth of the Whale!"
"If we can find the treasure's location, no matter how much gold is inside, we'll get a million dollars!"
Lin Yu'an deliberately revealed the extremely secretive designation of the Storm Brigade to see how Jose would react to the term!
Sure enough, when the words "Storm Brigade" came out of Lin Yu'an's mouth, Jose's deep-set eyes narrowed sharply! Although it was only for a moment, Lin Yu'an saw it!
José's smile froze instantly. He shook his head slightly, as if he were feeling sorry for the young man's ignorance and shallowness.
"Stormbringer—" he murmured the word, as if savoring a bitter olive, his eyes flashing with complex emotions: longing, pride, but mostly anger.
"Well done," his voice was soft, yet carried immense weight, "but unfortunately, you've come to the wrong person."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly raised his head, and the suppressed emotions finally erupted like a volcano! He was no longer the wise man in the brothel, but an old lion that had been wreaked havoc!
"The Storm Brigade, from which there is no such thing as Colonel Mercator!" he roared, spitting as he spoke. "The only colonel and political commissar in the brigade was named Ivan Kosanovich, and he died in battle in 1945!"
His tone turned icy and chilling, each word seemingly squeezed out from between deer's teeth: "Kid, don't try to pull these low-class information-trafficking tricks on me!"
"Do you think this is a movie? You think you can fool me just because you saw some sacred code in some old magazine?"
He slowly stood up and bowed slightly, looking down at Lin Yu'an with absolute contempt in his eyes.
"You've lost your last chance. But I won't feed you to sharks, that would be too easy for you." He paused, a cruel smile curving his lips.
"You have to accept your punishment. For your damned lie, you're going to lose all ten of your fingernails."
After saying that, José turned around and took out a small pair of pliers from a box. As soon as he turned around... José saw an unbelievable scene!
He saw that the young man in front of him, who should have been powerless, mentally broken, and completely at his mercy, had all his panic, fear, and trembling vanished without a trace.
Instead, there was a kind of playful irony he had never seen before, as calm as an abyss.
What shocked Jose even more was that Lin Yu'an's two hands, which had been hanging limply at his sides, now each held a compact, all-black pistol!
Two Glock 26s that are smaller and more lethal than the Tokarev!
The two dark gun muzzles, less than half a meter away, were steadily aimed at his forehead and heart, respectively.
The entire offensive and defensive situation was completely reversed in a mere 0.1 seconds!
Lin Yu'an slowly leaned back in his chair, elegantly resting his elbows on the table, his two Glocks still as steady as a rock.
Then, he raised his eyes, looked at José who was frozen in place, and a smile full of shrewdness appeared on his face.
"Mr. Jose, I think—now, can we fairly turn downstairs and have a chat?"
José's body was as stiff as a sculptor's statue.
For the first time, those sharp eyes, which had witnessed a century of vicissitudes, revealed an expression of disbelief and horror.
He couldn't understand how this young man had been completely unscathed from his "expectations," and how he had conjured two guns out of thin air right under his nose.
These questions have already exceeded the scope of all the experience he has accumulated over the past hundred years.
But he is, after all, José, the "ghost" who crawled out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in World War II and survived the sword fights of the Cold War.
After a brief moment of shock, his powerful heart resumed its steady beating. He slowly and gently placed the small pair of pliers he had prepared for plucking nails onto the table.
Then, he raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm, and slowly turned back to his chair.
He dared not, nor was he willing, to touch the Tokarev pistol that belonged to him on the table again.
Because he knew that if his hand dared to move even a centimeter toward that gun, his centenarian head would immediately explode like a well-cooked watermelon.
"You win, kid." José's voice was incredibly hoarse, his eyes filled with complex emotions. "Who—are you?"
"I'm just a navigator who doesn't want to cause trouble." Lin Yu'an's tone was calm, without the slightest hint of a victor's pride.
He withdrew the gun from Jose's heart, but the one aimed at his brow remained as steady as a mountain.
"Mr. Jose, our purpose this time is indeed to search for treasure. We discovered a 1714 Sibyll Royal Gold Coin near a World War II shipwreck in the Bahamas."
Upon hearing the word "gold coins," José's eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly.
"We discovered that the gold coin had a miniature map engraved on its face. After deciphering it, the coordinates pointed to the mouth of a whale."
""
Lin Yu'an continued, "So we did it. We really just wanted to find that legendary pirate treasure."
"We were very relieved, and we did indeed find the cave hidden in the Red Hill Forest Waterway."
At this point, Lin Yu'an's tone suddenly changed, becoming extremely solemn.
"However, what we found inside—is something that ordinary people like us can't possibly get our hands on."
He didn't describe the weapons and nuclear devices in detail, but rather created a terrifying atmosphere by only hinting at them.
"We were terrified and ran away immediately. We didn't want to get into any trouble and just wanted to pretend nothing had happened and continue our voyage."
"But," Lin Yu'an's gaze pierced José's heart like a hawk's, "I took something with me. It was a book, a collection of Croatian poems."
"Because at first I thought that might be the key to unlocking the secret of the treasure."
"I spent a long time trying to figure out the pattern of the lily and the five mad stars in the book, and finally I found a name called Stormbringer."
""
Jose's breath visibly paused when he heard the word.
Lin Yu'an observed all his reactions and continued calmly, "I don't know what the Storm-Journey has to do with what's in that cave. I don't want to know."
"The reason I contacted you again was because of a coincidence. I suddenly felt like hugging, and luckily, I had accidentally seen that girl tattoo on your arm in your bar before."
"Around her neck was a necklace with a pendant—the one with the lily and five mad stars design."
These words struck José's heart like a silent hammer blow!
He glanced at his arm instinctively; the skin there was already loose, and the tattoo was blurred, but he knew that the design was still there.
"Mr. Jose," Lin Yu'an's tone shifted from statement to transaction, "I'm not here to cause trouble, much less to threaten you. I simply hope to reach an agreement with you."
"We will completely forget that cave and everything inside, as if we never went there. I hope that you and your organization will also completely forget us."
"You continue with your mission, or guard your secret. As for me, I'll continue our world voyage with my crew, pretending I know nothing."
"From now on, we'll have nothing to do with each other, and we'll keep to ourselves. I don't want to find a KGB cleaner suddenly appearing by my bedside in the middle of the night, even though we're not yet intimate."
"Of course," Lin Yu'an's tone turned icy, "if you don't agree—or, if you think I'll never leave this room—"
He paused, then revealed his final offer: "I will immediately contact my informant in the Dominican capital, who will submit a complete report to the Chinese embassy."
"The report is simple: a Chinese citizen, while on a legal expedition in the Dominican Republic, accidentally discovered a secret cave that may contain weapons of mass destruction. This matter is beyond the scope of his personal ability to handle, and he requests state intervention."
"Do you think that by then, you'll still be facing a young man like me who just wants a peaceful life at sea?"
"At that time, the secret of the temple will no longer be a secret. And you will transform from a ghost into one that is known throughout America."
A living monster that Europe, and even Moscow, want to capture.
After Lin Yu'an finished speaking, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.
All expression vanished from José's face, and his cloudy but still sharp eyes stared intently at Lin Yu'an, as if trying to see right through him.
He was astonished by the young man's courage and wisdom; he had not only uncovered the truth but also constructed a perfect...
The "prisoner's dilemma" that he couldn't refuse.
Promise him, and the secret can continue to be kept.
If we refuse him, everyone will fight to the death, and the secret will be exposed.
Time passed, second by second.
Finally, all the murderous intent and hostility on José's taut, withered face slowly faded. In its place was a weariness that seemed to have spanned half a century.
He slowly leaned back in his chair, and for the first time, he re-examined the young man before him with an attitude of equality.
"You're right, kid." His voice was incredibly hoarse. "We can indeed have a fair talk now."
José remained silent for a long time, as if making some difficult decision.
He finally spoke, his voice carrying a hint of longing for the past that even he himself was unaware of.
"Now, I only have one question: I want to see the gold coin you found."
Lin Yu'an looked at him, and from those cloudy eyes, he no longer read a threat, but a weariness and sadness that was almost overflowing.
He nodded: "Okay."
He reached into his pocket, and the gold coin that had been lying dormant at the bottom of the Bahamas for decades appeared silently in his empty left palm.
I gently placed it in the center of the tasting table, and then slowly pushed it towards one end of the table with a finger.
Jose's gaze never left the moment the gold coin appeared.
In those eyes that had witnessed a century of vicissitudes, only a complex and indescribable emotion, surging like a tidal wave, remained at this moment.
There was shock, nostalgia, and pain, but more than anything, there was a heartbreaking tenderness, like something lost and then found again.
He reached out his hand, which was covered in age spots and trembling slightly, and carefully picked up the cold gold coin.
Instead of looking at the cross-shaped shield representing the Sibiya kingdom on the front, he flipped the coin over and fixed his gaze on the miniature map on the back.
With fingertips, gently and repeatedly, she caressed the pattern that had long been worn away by time, as if she were stroking the face of a lover she had cherished all her life.
After a long silence, José spoke: "Since you've come this far—I'll tell you a story."
He poured himself a full glass of the strongest rum, the wild pulse of which filled the small room, just like the wild era in which he grew up.
"My real name is not José," he said slowly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the walls of the cellar, looking towards his distant homeland, long since vanished from history.
"I was born in the mountains of Bosnia. In 1943, when I was 15, German planes swarmed overhead like locusts. Villages were destroyed and relatives were massacred."
"Like all the young men who survived in the village, I took up a gun and joined Tito's guerrillas. I was assigned to the 3rd Neretva Assault Brigade, which is the Storm Brigade you found."
His voice was calm, as if he were telling someone else's story.
"The winter of 1944 was the coldest winter I've ever seen in my life. The German army launched Operation Vault-Tig, like a swallow's stalk, trying to find Field Marshal Tito's command post."
"At that time, because I knew a little German, I was selected as a liaison officer and was responsible for making contact with the Allied troops."
"Fortunately, in the valley of the snow-capped mountains, the person I met was a female claw."
Jose took a big gulp of the spiciness of the liquid, which burned his throat and his memories.
"She was my age, only 15. Her name was Anya. Her whole family died in German concentration camps. She made her way from Croatia with a scattered unit."
"Her eyes were like Sachiko's in the winter of that year, blue, but without a trace of the light that one should have at that age, only an unyielding hatred."
"Anya was responsible for passing me important intelligence. Our code word was Vergissmein in German, which I gave her."
"No," she must reply with a poem.
His gaze fell on Lin Yu'an, "And the book of poems by Miroslav Krleza that you took from that cave."
"When she handed me the book, her hands were frozen solid. On the title page, she drew our unit's emblem with a nearly empty fountain pen."
"He gave me a Bosnian lily with five 'mad stars' on it, and then, on a piece of paper, he wrote the German phrase 'Forget-me-not' with all his might."
"I asked her then why she wanted to write it again. She said, 'I'm afraid that if I die, no one will remember me anymore.'"
Jose's eyes widened, and a single, murky tear slid down his cheek.
"We succeeded on that mission. The intelligence we delivered helped the command headquarters successfully relocate and evade the German encirclement. Because of this achievement, we were both selected to be sent to Moscow."
"In Lubyanka (KGB headquarters), we were separated. She was selected for the First Directorate because of her outstanding appearance and high linguistic talent, becoming what you call your son."
"As for me, I was sent to the S Bureau and became a dirty tool for the KGB to use and discard."
"On the night she chose to become my servant, I confessed my love to her in the shed in Moscow." A painful smile appeared on José's face.
"I've fallen in love with her. I want to wait until the war is over, then go back to the mountains of Bosnia with her and start a farm."
.
"But she refused... She said her heart was filled with hatred and there was no room for anything else. She said becoming a servant was the only way for her to avenge her family."
"That night, we went from being a man and a woman to becoming a real man and a woman. I tattooed her picture and the Lily Five Mad Star that witnessed our growth on my arm."
"But after that, we completely lost contact. She was in West Berlin, in Paris, in London, carrying out missions I could never have imagined."
"And I wandered the world in various madnesses, doing the dirty work that even the devil wouldn't do. The war was won, but I—I never saw her again."
José downed the glass of wine in one gulp.
"Fast forward to 1962, the KGB established a special department to frantically search for various treasures lost during World War II around the world. Their main target was the gold that the Nazis had looted from the Jews."
"One of our S Bureau teams, very fortunately, managed to extract a clue to a treasure map from a captured German SS officer, which was this Siberian Deer gold coin."
"We cracked the secret of the gold coins, seized the Dominican Republic, found the temple, and took all the pirate treasure inside."
"But for the KGB, a huge, isolated cave has strategic value in itself, so it was transformed into a safe house, codenamed Temple."
"As for me, because I am familiar with the Caribbean region, after completing the mission, I was ordered to go undercover here under the identity of Jose to continue searching for more clues about pirate treasure."
He looked at Lin Yu'an, his eyes filled with a sense of fatalistic sorrow.
"I thought I would die here alone until 1973."
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"That year, the organization suddenly issued me a top-level emergency order. The order was to provide support to a special operations team dispatched from Moscow and assist them in completing their mission."
"When I saw the leader of that group at the secret rendezvous point in Santo Domingo—I could hardly believe my eyes."
"It's her. Anya."
"We're both in our forties now. The years have left their mark on her face, but her blue eyes are still as cold as they were in the winter of 1944."
"She became one of the people in charge of the Rain You Project, and I, this old geezer guarding the warehouse, just happened to be her only contact in the Caribbean."
José's story ends here.
At this moment, this small shed is no longer a sweltering night in the Dominican Republic, but a cold winter night with heavy snow falling in the Balkans.
He was no longer the centenarian in this shed, but a young, determined guerrilla fighter who still believed in the future.
Lin Yu looked at him quietly, without speaking or urging him to continue. He knew that this gold coin was more than just a key to a treasure map to the old man in front of him.
It is the whole story.
(The next chapter will likely conclude the gold coin and treasure section. Guess what the real treasure is.)