The Wendeng Port area is lined with buildings of varying sizes. The houses are mostly made of brick and wood, and most of them look dilapidated. The tallest building has only three floors, giving the area a backward and chaotic appearance. The streets are paved with gravel and cobblestones. Dirty water runs along the ground, garbage is scattered everywhere, and people scurry back and forth.
- Fresh cod! Who needs cod?
- Sea beast meat! Just delivered this morning!
- Freshly picked tea leaves! Only 10,000 beli per kilo!
– The Big Pine Tavern is opening with huge discounts! 50% off drinks! There is also a beer contest! The winner will receive 100,000 beli!
Sonic and Who's who led the way, followed by hundreds of CP agents. They moved quickly through the flat part of the city, forcing street vendors, haggling customers, and workers to put their belongings away so as not to obstruct the passage.
At the same time, Sonic smelled a strong smell of sweat and seawater in the air, mixed with other strange scents. As one of the agents of the secret organization CIPHER-POL, which reports directly to the World Government, he was already accustomed to the chaotic streets of such backward places.
At this moment, Who's who face was cold, he looked around at the dirty streets around him with disgust and said:
- What a backward place... even the air is filled with a disgusting stench!
Sonic glanced at Who's who and realized that he was hinting at him. He wanted to pretend that he didn't understand, since he had defeated him before, but then he changed his mind and decided to answer.
He raised his hand and covered his nose, deliberately feigning disgust:
- Yes, exactly, like the smell of some wild animal. I even feel sick from the apples I ate on the ship.
"You..." Who's who face darkened, he clenched his cigarette tightly between his teeth and hissed angrily: "You're right, it stinks of wild animals here, as if some ferret had released its stinking gas!"
"How dare you say that, fat cat!" Sonic's eyes lit up and the veins on his forehead stood out.
"Smelly ferret, do you want to die?" Who's who face was distorted with anger, and his right hand was already on the hilt of a dagger disguised as a samurai sword.
"What, you want to give me a manicure? Maybe you should get a bigger pair of nail clippers?" Sonic raised his right hand to his chest with disdain, his thin fingers curling like claws.
Bam!
The two stared at each other, and then collided with such force that a flame three feet high erupted above their heads. The powerful low-pressure aura made the agents behind them tremble in fear, they did not even dare to breathe.
- Gentlemen, gentlemen... we are here.
Suddenly a young agent approached them, his face expressing horror and his voice trembling.
- What?
- Already?
Somic and Who's who froze for a moment, then turned their heads forward at the same time.
The Wendeng Port area was small. At the end of the main street, less than 200 meters long, they found themselves on the outskirts of the city. There were few buildings, the roads were uneven, and there were almost no pedestrians. Ahead, there were dense trees with lush foliage, almost forming a forest.
Nearby, on the right, a river less than ten meters wide flowed, and everyone could hear the murmur of water. But what attracted the most attention was the stone castle standing on the hill opposite the river.
Sonic took a quick look at the castle. It was square in shape, with a perimeter of about one hundred meters, and the tallest tower in the center was almost twenty meters high. At the top, a black flag with a white skull with the symbols of "Pele" painted on its eyes was flying.
Around the castle was a three-meter ditch in the shape of the letter "U", into which water flowed from the river. Despite its small size, the castle was well fortified. On the walls and in the corner towers, figures were visible, apparently these were guards standing guard and patrolling the territory.
"Hey... didn't they notice us?" who's who said with surprise and bewilderment.
One of the agents quickly took a telescope out of his pocket. After carefully examining the castle, he said with surprise:
- Gentlemen, really, there is no movement... They didn't notice us?
"You look like an idiot, stop talking nonsense!" Who's 3cut him off sharply.
At this moment, Sonic grinned and decisively snatched the binoculars from the agent's hands. Carefully observing the situation in the stone castle, he said in a low voice:
- Frank Jeff is known as the "money printer" and is the world's largest counterfeiting gang leader. The CP organization has tried to arrest him many times, but to no avail. This shows that he is as cunning as a fox. If it weren't for our agent who infiltrated Frank's group and discovered their lair, we definitely wouldn't be here.
Who's who looked at him with disbelief and objected:
- But if the island of Aivolo is Frank's base, how could there not be his informants on the pier of the port of Wenden?
Sonic turned to him, looked at him with an expression as if he saw a fool in front of him, and answered sharply:
- Did you eat too much raw meat and get parasites in your brain? We've been standing here for a while, why aren't any of Frank Jeff's men reacting? Are his guards all blind?
"You yourself have parasites in your head!"Who's who cursed, blushing with anger, but could not find a worthy argument.
Indeed, the distance between their group and the stone castle was less than a hundred meters. They didn't even try to hide. Even the guards on the castle walls could easily spot them with the naked eye. And considering that they were all wearing suits and carrying weapons, their presence was too obvious.
Even if the castle had been filled with ordinary aristocrats or rich people, and not criminals, the guards would have certainly gotten nervous when they saw such a group of armed men. But there was no reaction.
- No... Frank Jeff wants to escape! - Suddenly, Sonic's face darkened, and he quickly said: - That means we arrived too suddenly and quickly, and he simply did not have time to escape. If the intelligence is correct, and this is really his base, then he needs time to gather everything he needs.
He chuckled and added:
- Property, accounting, banknote counterfeiters... It's unlikely that the "printing press" will just abandon all of this and run away. He's probably distracting us to buy time!
- According to intelligence, there are about two hundred people around Frank. I bet they are hiding behind the walls right now, not showing themselves, to catch us off guard