Morin glanced at it, then didn't pay it any more attention.
He was just here to confirm if "Ethan Hunt"—Tom Cruise's character, oh no, Ethan—was here to carry out a mission today. As for getting involved, that would come later.
At this time, Ethan was still just an ordinary CIA agent, at least not yet at a level where he could lead a team to plan and execute missions.
This time, his team leader, an agent named Jim, had received a mission from their superiors: to steal a list of agents from this consulate.
That's why Jim had brought the team here, preparing for a stealthy infiltration.
But Morin knew that the real purpose of this mission wasn't to steal that list. The list was just a fake lure.
In reality, the mission was a ruse planned by the CIA because they had discovered a mole within Ethan's team. They had created this fake operation and a fake list to flush out the mole.
And that mole was none other than Ethan's team leader, Jim!
Jim was very cunning. Although he didn't know this mission was a setup, he was fully prepared.
He faked his own death and that of his wife, Claire, orchestrated the deaths of the others, and left only Ethan alive and in the dark.
After that, Ethan was identified by the CIA as the mole.
Then, Jim had his wife, Claire, who was also a team member, stay close to Ethan to mislead him and provide information to Jim.
And, as expected, Ethan and his wife, Claire...
Morin had to admit he admired people like this. As a human, to voluntarily be a cuckold was... incomprehensible.
But he imagined a lot of people would be willing to be his friend.
Morin didn't plan to get directly involved. Getting directly involved didn't feel right.
He wasn't some saint. If he could easily save someone, he might, but given the current situation, he couldn't save Ethan's teammates who were about to be killed without revealing his own unique abilities.
The most important thing was that this was an internal CIA matter, and another team was already monitoring them. Morin had no intention of getting involved in someone else's internal affairs.
Not to mention, if he were to act, he might expose himself.
Morin had no desire to be studied by others. At least for now, before he was completely invincible and could, for example, survive a nuclear blast, he had two options:
either try his best not to be exposed or, if he was, ensure that anyone who witnessed it couldn't speak and that no evidence was left behind.
When one is alive, discretion is the key to longevity.
While Morin's usual behavior didn't seem to align with the word "discreet," given his abilities, he was already being quite cautious.
He downed his drink, placed the glass on the waiter's tray, and walked out the door.
Now that he had confirmed what he needed to, it was time to start making some preparations.
…
Ethan stared at the computer screen, his mind in a daze.
They were all dead. Everyone was dead.
Just now, at the safe house, after hearing what his superior had said, Ethan understood some things, but more things became unclear.
His entire team was dead, and yet, in the eyes of his superior, Eugene Kittridge, Ethan was the sole culprit. Ethan was the one who leaked all the intelligence!
Even now, Ethan could recall every detail of his conversation with Eugene.
After Ethan exposed that Eugene had secretly arranged for another team to monitor them at the consulate, showing a lack of trust, Eugene laid all his cards on the table and revealed the truth about the mission.
Ethan finally learned that their mission objective had been a fake from the beginning. The headquarters' goal was never the fake list, but to find the mole among them!
And now, a massive, untraceable sum of money had been deposited into his parents' bank account.
His entire team had been attacked and killed, but he was the only one who had survived without a scratch.
It was easy to see why Eugene would suspect him of being the mole. Ethan knew very well that in this situation, he had no way to defend himself!
Ethan knew he wasn't the mole and that he had been framed, but he also knew that without strong evidence to expose the real mole, his guilt would be proven!
He knew he couldn't go back to CIA headquarters with Eugene.
As an agent, he knew their methods and had no desire to see if he could hold his ground under torture and not confess to a crime he didn't commit.
So, Ethan had used a chewing gum bomb to blow up the safe house, creating chaos and successfully escaping. He had come to this secure location to look for clues.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The sudden knocking made Ethan's eyes widen, and he became instantly alert.
Although a temporary safe house like this was supposed to be known only by team members, with a mole on the team, it was possible that even this information had been compromised.
Ethan was prepared to be found.
But he remembered he had taken out the lightbulb on the stairs before entering and had smashed the glass, scattering the shards on the floor!
This meant that anyone who wanted to come in should have stepped on the glass shards and made a sound!
Why hadn't he heard the sound of crushed glass, but instead heard a knock on the door?
Ethan frowned, grabbed his pistol from the side, and prepared himself for the door.
"It's me," the person outside seemed to know what Ethan was doing and spoke.
"...It's me?" Ethan thought for a moment, then hid behind a wall and asked, his back to the door.
He was afraid the person outside would listen for his position and start shooting. "Who are you?"
"I'm a special agent from the IRS," the person outside said. "Ethan Hunt, you've been implicated in a tax evasion case. I need to get some information from you and your cooperation to catch the CIA mole who received illegal income but didn't pay taxes on it."
Ethan: "???"
An IRS special agent, trying to catch a CIA mole who received illegal income and didn't pay taxes?
"Can't you come up with a slightly more believable excuse?" Ethan was speechless.
He was even a little amused.
Did this person think he was an idiot?
"Heh, believe it or not, Ethan," the person outside chuckled. "Our goals are the same."
*****
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