Chapter 167: No Matter How Strong the Background, Can It Compare to Stefan's?

This situation was indeed challenging to handle. For these townspeople, the town chief was a good leader. He had helped them with the most important aspects of their lives and developed tourism in the area. As for the girls involved, what about them? Most of the townspeople's wives were these girls, and they didn't mistreat them. They truly cared for them as wives! Now, aren't they all living peaceful and happy lives? However, these residents were unaware that these girls could have had a much brighter future. They could have been teachers, managers, or even successful entrepreneurs. They could have seen more of the world, and their children could have had the benefit of their father's involvement in their education, rather than being raised solely by their mothers. The old leader was equally troubled. Over the years, the town chief's influence in the town had far surpassed his own. Moreover, the smaller the place, the more emphasis there was on personal relationships. Most of the townspeople had participated in the human trafficking activities. Even if the fathers hadn't been involved, if their son was in his thirties and still unmarried, they would think about buying a wife for him. What's more, the old leader had heard something earlier—the town chief had someone backing him. That could only mean his own family! Back in the day, the old leader knew that the town chief's older sister had married well, into one of the prominent families in the capital! Can someone like that be touched? The old leader was left pushing and shoving against the crowd surging toward him, desperately trying to keep the townspeople at bay. By the time he managed to get them to stop advancing, he was drenched in sweat. With a bitter taste in his mouth, the old leader spoke to Itha, "Young Master Itha, how about we wait on this matter? We're outnumbered here, and this situation is truly difficult to manage!" Itha, though feeling somewhat better after his fever, was still in poor condition. Seeing the familiar face of Assistant Barton had softened his expression somewhat, but upon hearing the old leader's suggestion, his eyes turned icy cold once more. Itha glared at the townspeople and said, "What's there to discuss with people like this? What is there to wait for?" The old leader wanted to say something more, but the townspeople, who had barely been pacified, erupted in anger upon hearing Itha's words. "Old leader, don't waste your breath on them! It seems you don't have any standing with them!" "Exactly! Today, if anyone dares to touch the town chief, they'll have to get through us first!" "I'm calling my son right now!" "We can't let such a good person be disheartened!" "If they dare to harm our town, we'll beat them to death!" Assistant Barton trembled with rage. He had never encountered such a group of people who were so ungrateful, who twisted the truth and called black white! But it was pointless to argue with them. After all, they were uneducated, and if you tried to reason with them, they'd accuse you of being pretentious. However, Irene remained remarkably calm. Her beautiful eyes scanned the crowd inside and outside the house before she softly asked Itha, "Did you say you have the right to open fire?" Itha's voice was hoarse due to his fever, "Yes, but my exemption from prosecution for firing a weapon doesn't extend to innocent villagers or townspeople." "And if we keep delaying, we'll all be in danger." Irene said calmly, "Earlier, when I was inside their house, I noticed that their back door leads directly to the wilderness. If we climb over a hill, we'll reach the intersection of the town and the highway." Itha nodded, and Irene continued, "I know there's a path there, and if we get out, someone will be there to meet us." Itha silently agreed with Irene's plan. Before leaving the Kashi estate, Irene had sent a message to Frank's email. Using the voice of an anonymous FBI informant, she detailed the dangers she was about to face and the peculiarities of the town. She even made some accurate predictions. Frank had already prepared people to secretly meet Irene. These agents had already contacted Irene when they arrived in town, providing her with a tracker disguised as earrings. Mag had no idea. She thought the FBI agent was just a drunk, burly man—one who almost scarred his own daughter. Little did she know that in that brief encounter, the agent had slipped the earrings into Irene's hand and left her with a message. That message was the very path Irene had just told Itha about. Coincidentally, two members of Irene's mercenary group were also part-time FBI agents, and today they had been sent to this town to support Irene and Itha. Their actions were awaiting a signal—one from Irene. Several camouflaged figures were hiding in the bushes. Among them was a long-haired man with a blank expression, applying ointment to ward off mosquito bites. The man was handsome, but the dozen or so red, swollen mosquito bites on his face ruined his good looks and even made him appear somewhat comical. His teammates were trying hard to stifle their laughter. The man's personality was usually the coldest, yet now he had such a ridiculous face. Another teammate, a short-haired girl, was meticulously cleaning her gun. Even though it was already spotless, she continued to wipe it down. The girl glanced coldly at the house at the foot of the hill, which was filled with people and brightly lit. "These men are sick of living! If it weren't for the cops around, I'd have torn them to pieces long ago! How dare they look at the boss with such disgusting eyes! They're asking for it!" The man gave the girl a blank look, signaling that their FBI colleagues had returned. With his usual expressionless face, the man mentally remarked, **You're part of the FBI now too.** The FBI colleagues hadn't caught all of the girl's words, but they did hear the part about the disgusting eyes. They walked over, smiling, "You better not accidentally hurt us. We're not those kinds of men." The girl snorted and stood up, "You guys take a break. He and I will patrol." After nodding in agreement, the FBI agents watched as the man and the girl walked away. The girl grumbled to the man, "Why did the boss bring her? What can she do besides eat? Why not take me? I can use a gun, I can use a knife! How am I worse than her?" The man remained silent. On the other side, Irene lowered her hand, refraining from sending the signal just yet. Several helicopters flew overhead. Aircraft were rare in this town, so many residents looked up in curiosity, their faces filled with excitement at the spectacle.