004. Dépotoir

La Rochelle, France.

A man with disheveled long black hair emerged from a haphazardly parked sedan. His facial expression radiated intense annoyance, and his brown eyes glared sharply at a curly-haired man who appeared to be standing nervously. Beside him stood a woman in a white shirt paired with black slim-fit pants and a blazer of the same color, exuding a formal aura. She stood alongside two police officers. However, the long-haired man's gaze was solely directed at the man near her. As the distance between them closed, the tension on the curly-haired man's face heightened, especially when the long-haired man appeared to clench his fist.

Just two steps away, and suddenly, the man lunged forward. His kick landed forcefully on the unfortunate curly-haired man's abdomen, sending him sprawling and crashing into an empty garbage bin in front of a restaurant overlooking the canal. The two police officers present immediately tried to restrain the outburst of the long-haired man. However, it turned out his body wasn't just large but also possessed formidable strength. The two officers struggled and were almost dragged, barely managing to hold back the man's powerful arms.

"If you're looking for the person responsible for the incident in Mireuil, I am the one, Mr. Balzac!"

The firm voice of the woman, Nora Laurent, made the imposing long-haired man named Pierre Balzac turn his gaze. His sharp eyes seemed as if they could devour her alive. However, Nora Laurent was not an ordinary woman easily intimidated. She stood calmly with her hands clasped beneath her protruding chest. In contrast to Nora's composure, the two police officers holding Pierre became even more frantic as he dragged them toward her.

"If you were a man, I would have beaten you to a pulp by now!" he retorted aggressively.

"So what if I'm a woman?" challenged Nora. "Do you think I'm too weak for you?"

"The authority of DGSI does not influence FN's activities, Little Girl!"

Upon hearing Pierre's words, the two police officers holding him simultaneously released their grip. They didn't understand what Pierre meant by FN, but they were well aware of DGSI, and both chose not to get involved in affairs that could potentially complicate things for them. The man sprawled on the ground, kicked by Pierre, immediately got up and patted their shoulders, gesturing for them to leave. Staying would mean getting further entangled with the state intelligence service. Despite their curiosity and concerns about Pierre's anger, they promptly departed from the scene in their patrol car.

"You're causing trouble in this Republic! Any mission you undertake should be done with our knowledge!" Nora exclaimed fiercely after the departure of the two officers.

Pierre was taken aback. His forehead furrowed as he looked at the woman with curiosity and then asked in a voice much gentler than before, "How old are you?"

"None of your business!" Nora replied curtly.

"Well, then, just give me your card number so I can understand the purpose of your actions obstructing my colleague Guillaume's duty?"

Despite finding the man's question peculiar, Nora recited a series of letters and numbers that served as her identification number in the French intelligence service. She was unaware that Pierre was an eideteker. He memorized all the personal information of every member of DGSI, FN, and almost all the top officials in the police and military services of the country.

"Nora Laurent, twenty-three years old, born on November the second at thirteen past twenty-six minutes in Chambéry. Your parents have been deceased since you were in school. You graduated faster than average, summa cum laude, from university. And you've excelled even though you've only been with DGSI for a year," Pierre stated as if reading notes, although his eyes were fixed on Nora.

"How—" she didn't continue her sentence. She just stared at Pierre with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth.

"I will introduce you to how FN operates. I will also take you everywhere on this mission. But afterward, you must treat everything you see, hear, and experience as confidential! FN reports directly to the EPCU. Our country is just one of its members," Pierre spoke, then turned to the curly-haired man beside him, declaring loudly, "Get your ass up, Guillaume! Leave your car here! I will drive!"

The three of them quickly entered Pierre's sedan and sped away, leaving the streets of Quai Louis Durand, the meeting point between the canal and the sea, marked by a medieval tower. Fortunately, the time was just six in the morning. In another hour, the streets would be crowded with people walking towards the city center for work or to the university complex across the canal for studies.

La Rochelle is a city predominantly inhabited by students. With numerous bars and people from diverse cultural backgrounds, a commotion like earlier wasn't unusual for the locals. Moreover, Pierre, Guillaume, and Nora were in front of a row of restaurants and bars that hadn't opened yet. As long as there was no physical altercation, no one really cared about verbal spats. Fortunately, no one happened to pass by that early in the morning except for the two police officers who thought that Guillaume and Nora were lovers quarreling over something. They innocently tried to mediate without knowing what they got themselves into.

Pierre Balzac and Guillaume Deschamps are members of the Force Noire, or FN, a secret unit within the EPCU dedicated to France, similar to OCK for Russia. Pierre, known for his seriousness, has a tough and hands-on approach to his tasks. He was recruited from the GIGN, Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale, the elite anti-terrorism unit of France known for its effectiveness even in missions abroad. While working in that force, Pierre earned the nickname "Yeti" for once thwarting a helicopter takeoff by hanging onto its tail. He is a man who will go to any lengths to accomplish his mission.

Unlike the OCK, FN has special task forces not bound by regions and can move around to complete investigations and pursuits. Each FN unit in every city must follow the orders of the special task force commonly referred to as Les Nomades by FN members. Pierre is one of them, and Guillaume is the head of the FN unit responsible for the La Rochelle area. Working alongside Pierre is not the first time for the curly-haired man. He knows Pierre's character well – explosive yet equally capable of calmness. After beating someone, the big man usually becomes gentler and more attentive.

"Are you okay, Guillaume?" Pierre asked from behind the steering wheel.

"This isn't the first time you've roughed me up, Pierre. I consider myself lucky since it was just a kick from you."

Pierre laughed with a voice that indicated heavy smoking status. In truth, Pierre's voice and Guillaume's weren't much different. They were both heavy smokers. Pierre's voice was just a bit deeper and seemed lazier than Guillaume's. If a foreigner heard them talk, they'd sound like they were grumbling while gargling.

"I brought some porcelain trinkets from Limoges for you and the Charente-Maritime team in the trunk."

Hearing that, Guillaume laughed happily and started massaging Pierre's shoulders from the back seat.

"For Limoges porcelain, I'm ready for you to kick me again, my friend! But just once. If it's twice, I'm afraid some of my bones might shatter."

Nora, sitting beside Pierre, frowned as she looked at the two men laughing like hooligans. The girl was different. Her ambition was supported by high intelligence and discipline. Every second of her daily life was meticulously scheduled. Nora was the type of person who followed rules obediently. However, her lack of experience made her less flexible in dealing with discrepancies in tasks.

"Let me guess," Pierre said, interrupting Nora's attempt to read the characters of the two men. "Arnaud instructed you to handle this overflow case from the FSB."

"Exactly," Nora confirmed. She kept her tone calm, even though she was genuinely impressed by how accurate Pierre's deduction was.

"That means, after this case is over, you'll be promoted."

"I only work for the peace of our country."

Pierre and Guillaume laughed at Nora's diplomatic response.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, feeling offended by the reaction of the two FN members, whom she considered a task force that always caused chaos in dealing with terror threats.

"Typically, potential leaders of DGSI will be instructed to collaborate with FN first to understand the scope of our work," Guillaume replied.

"FN is a counterintelligence and anti-terrorism task force. We also have task forces to handle what you deal with, and we always manage it more neatly," Nora stated.

"Hopefully, this case can provide a better answer for you later," Pierre asserted. "Now, explain to me how Miss X managed to escape your surveillance, Guillaume!" Pierre gave a codename to the creature that became the target of OCK and FN operations.

"My cover was blown because this naive future high-ranking official of DGSI nonchalantly called my name," Guillaume replied irritably, pointing towards Nora. "When my eyes met Miss X's, she fled at an unnatural speed."

"I told you I didn't see any girl there!" Nora retorted.

"You would have seen her if your eyes weren't just directed at what's in front of you!" Guillaume half scolded. "Just so you know, two FN members got heavily injured trying to prevent Miss X from escaping!"

Nora looked surprised, but quickly her expression turned indifferent. She then turned her face toward the road. However hard she tried to appear strong, her eyes hinted at an undeniable sense of guilt.

"You will see what we are dealing with in the dépotoir, Nora," Pierre concluded as he steered the car through a large gate guarded by two sturdy, dark-skinned men.

Seeing who was behind the wheel, both guards nodded and opened the gate without asking a single question. Asphalt turned into a mixture of sand and gravel beneath the wheels of Pierre's sedan. The beautiful scenery of Mireuil transformed into piles of shipwrecks, various scrap vehicles, and unused machines as they entered the area. The car continued to move slowly along a narrow road lined with stacks of rusty metal as high as container trucks. When the road ended in a parking area, Pierre parked his sedan next to an SUV and three motorcycles.

Nora walked into a shabby office following Pierre and Guillaume. A tall man with long dreadlocks tied back nodded respectfully, inviting them to enter a small room. In the room, there was only a table and four sofas arranged around it. Nora was about to sit down, but she quickly changed her mind when she saw Guillaume placing his right palm on the table. Her eyes widened as a blue line of light appeared on the surface of the table, scanning the man's hand. Then, accompanied by a soft hum, the table shifted to the side.

In the dimly lit corridor, dozens of steps lay ahead of them. Pierre descended the stairs without saying a word. Guillaume then gestured for Nora to enter the shadowy hallway before following behind her. Once everyone reached a small room at the bottom of the stairs, the table shifted back, closing the entrance. Suddenly, bright lights illuminated the space, accompanied by the whirring and buzzing sounds that heralded the appearance of several weapons aimed at them from every corner. Nora was genuinely startled by the unexpected turn of events. Her eyes instinctively searched for the quickest way out of the looming danger.