North Africa, Tunisia.
Bar sat in his office, feeling as though his head was about to burst into flames, even with the air conditioning on.
At four o'clock this morning, he had been awoken from his sleep by a call from the operations director, Remondo.
Remondo had some unfortunate news for Bar, JK had disappeared.
When the DGSE agents arrived at JK's residence in Algiers, they found the place riddled with bullet holes and in complete disarray, clearly indicating a gunfight had occurred, and everything suggested a raid had taken place there.
They later learned through an inside source at the local police station that a gunfight had indeed occurred at JK's residence that night, but when the police arrived, they found nothing, not even bodies.
The only clue was some traces of blood in a nearby alley, which the police collected some samples from before leaving.
In Algeria, a headless case like this, with no bodies involved, attracted no attention.
JK had previously traded intelligence with DGSE.
After the failure to intercept Song Heping's arms shipments, Bar had wondered if Song Heping would retaliate against JK, so he had sent Remondo with a few agents to Algiers.
It's not that he cared about JK's life or death.
For DGSE, the life or death of an intelligence broker wasn't important.
What mattered was that if Song Heping went to Algiers to retaliate, perhaps Remondo could encounter this mysterious arms dealer there.
Bar had ordered Remondo to capture Song Heping alive.
He wanted to bring this guy back and interrogate him to find out what exactly was going on.
Because the agent Jimmy, released by Song Heping, had brought back a message, quoting Song Heping's words, informing Bar that he was not an enemy of the DGSE.
That sentence made Bar feel for a moment that Song Heping wasn't working for the Americans.
However, just before six o'clock in the morning, he received another piece of bad news.
A large-scale attack had erupted in Affines in northeastern Mali, with about three battalions of Salafi Armed forces attacking the town's government army barracks and the stationed French foreign squads. The defensive forces were under severe pressure, trapped in the town and unable to break through. Meanwhile, the French Air Force base in neighboring Niger was preparing to launch two Mirage 2000s to the area to provide fire support for the ground troops.
Generally, military operations weren't under Bar's jurisdiction — that was a matter for the army. However, when the military was attacked by armed groups, they always contacted the intelligence department to see if DGSE could provide any useful information, like recent threats from armed organizations or movements among other nearby armed groups, or if internal operatives had provided any intelligence that could be used to assess the situation.
Bar was currently in the dark.
He had no intelligence that could assist the military.
This even counted as a dereliction on his part.
Just a week ago, during an online meeting with the military intelligence department, when asked about DGSE's assessment of recent movements of armed groups in the Sahel Zone, Bar had confidently told everyone present that there would be no conflict for a month.
The reason was simple: a month earlier, in Mali, an armed group had launched an attack in Affines, only to be seriously crippled by the Mirage 2000s that took off from the Niger Airport under French command.
After the cleanup of the battlefield, this armed group had suffered over three hundred dead and over a hundred captured, a significant loss of force.
Bar's insider within the armed groups had reported that the armed groups had learned their lesson; everyone knew that the French had deployed Mirage 2000s in Niger, and any skirmish on the Mali side would provoke cross-border retaliation.
So, for the time being, the armed organizations planned not to launch any large-scale attacks and were rumored to be purchasing anti-aircraft weaponry.
This was precisely why Bar was so tense upon receiving intelligence about Song Heping transporting SA-9 missiles into the Sahel Zone, even going so far as to hire a hit team to eliminate Song Heping and thwart the deal.
Now, having received news of the massive attack by Salafi Armed in Affines, Bar had a vague sense that there was more to this incident than met the eye.
SA-9 missiles...
Large-scale attacks...
Same location, Affines...
Weren't they afraid of the Mirage 2000?
So he picked up the phone and called Brigadier General Lani, the commander of the French forces in Africa, to inform him that there might be more to the attack on Affines and that caution was needed.
At the moment, Lani was furious. He had received news of the attack on Affines earlier that morning and had suffered significant losses due to being caught off guard. He was about to deploy attack aircraft toward Niger to give a lesson to the reckless armed militants in Mali, but now he was receiving a cautionary advice from Bar.
"Caution, caution what?! Bar, didn't you just say in the conference call the other day that the armed organizations in the direction of Mali would not dare to launch a substantial attack within a month? I even asked you if the information was reliable, and you confidently told me it was intelligence from your most reliable inside source! But it's only been a little over a week, and Affines has been attacked. Do you know how many people have died in the barracks there, just during the time you and I are speaking? Just from our detachments outside France alone, four have died and six have been injured, and dozens from the Mali Government Army are already dead!"
Lani was also filled with rage.
Originally, after resolving the attack in Affines, he himself was about to confront Bar.
Bar actually dared to come on his own, which was unexpected.
Bar informed Brigadier General Lani that SA-9 missiles might have already entered the Sahel Zone and possibly fallen into the hands of the Salafi Organization, trying to make him realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Bar, for God's sake..."
Brigadier General Lani scoffed impatiently, "If it's really something so serious, why didn't the higher-ups at your intelligence agency contact the Ministry of Defense directly? About the SA-9 missiles, do you have any solid evidence?! For instance, did you capture any photos of SA-9 missiles in Africa? Or maybe the scene of their transaction?"
"No..."
Bar sighed weakly.
"We indeed don't have proof, but I believe the intelligence is real..."
"Enough! Bar!" Lani finally ran out of patience. "I don't have time to chase shadows and chitchat with you while my people are dying!"
With that, he hung up the phone without another word.
Bar sat holding the phone in his chair, stunned for quite a while.
Having been in the DGSE for many years, he considered himself a seasoned agent.
Even the executives at headquarters did not speak to him with such a nasty tone. It seemed Lani was blaming him for the cause of this attack.
Just when Bar was seething with frustration and had no outlet for it, there came a rapid knock at the door.
Knock, knock, knock—
"Come in!"
Bar slammed the phone down on the cradle irritably.
The one who entered was Borangli, the head of the intelligence division.
"Chief, we've intercepted a very important piece of intelligence."
Initially wanting to vent his frustration, Bar saw the excitement in Borangli's eyes.
"What intelligence?!" Bar temporarily suppressed his anger, trying to speak in a calm tone, "I hope it's as important as you say."
"We've found the location of the SA-9 missiles!"
Borangli placed his laptop on Bar's desk, turning the screen toward his chief.
"Look! Three SA-9 systems, coordinates and positions clear as day! Right before our eyes!"
Bar was greatly shocked, and he immediately turned his gaze to the screen.
It was a GPS tracking software, and three cursors were clearly visible on it.
Upon seeing the location, Bar couldn't help but exclaim, "Mali!"