CHAPTER 246: CHAPTER 246: LADY IN WHITE

Lucia poured herself a glass of cocktail, delicately holding it with two slender fingers. She gracefully stepped around the bar and approached Shire, leaning against the table with natural charm tinged with seduction. With a smile, she raised her glass slightly towards Shire, "Colonel, does your offer to cover all expenses include my drink as well?"

"Of course!" Shire replied.

The surrounding officers burst into cheers. Major Fernan lightly patted Shire on the shoulder, leaned in, and whispered in Shire’s ear, "You’re in luck, Colonel. Many have tried to buy Lucia a drink, but none have succeeded!"

Shire merely smiled faintly without saying anything.

The officers tactfully made way for Shire and Lucia to have a corner to themselves. Lucia confidently sat down before Shire.

Then she suddenly noticed a look of alertness in Shire’s eyes. His hand was even resting on the revolver at his waist.

"You don’t seem to welcome me?" Lucia asked, puzzled.

Shire’s voice was cold, "Speak, what are you trying to get from me?"

Lucia was taken aback, then laughed, "I don’t know what you’re talking about!"

"I accidentally overheard what you said to Garell earlier." Shire’s eyes bore into Lucia’s, "You can’t refuse a wealthy hero."

"Is there a problem with that?" Lucia’s eyes still held a smile, she even provocatively eyed Shire up and down, like a leopard watching its prey.

"If I hadn’t met Dominic, I might have believed you," Shire replied, his fingers gently unclasping the holster.

Lucia’s face changed slightly; she knew where the problem lay.

Shire spoke unhurriedly, "Prior to this, I could still consider you an independent woman. People who don’t want to give up love for money do exist, and you might be one of them. However, you freely told others you are approaching me for money."

Lucia laughed, her beautiful blue eyes fearlessly meeting Shire’s, her tone slightly ambiguous, "Perhaps you can have both money and love..."

"You more seem to be a spy," Shire interrupted Lucia, "Working as a bartender in the officer’s club, you can gather a lot of intelligence. Dominic might have been a good choice, but you couldn’t choose him because you must obey orders from your superiors. Am I right?"

Since seeing Hari at the ball, Shire had become more cautious around women.

He had always thought spies were distant, characters that only appeared in movies. He then realized spies were actually close by.

Lucia, sitting before him, might be one of them.

Shire took out the revolver and held it under the table, aiming it at Lucia, "If I arrest you now and send someone to thoroughly search your residence, I might find some evidence as proof."

Shire then added, "Even if we find nothing, there’s no harm done, right?"

Lucia’s face changed again, her eyes flashed with a hint of panic. She glanced around and lightly shook her head, "You can’t do that, Colonel!"

Shire let out a sound, "You have one minute!"

The reason Shire hadn’t acted was that spies during this period were too complex.

Lucia might not necessarily be a German spy; she could be an English, Russian, or even a capitalist plant within the military.

Except for the former, all the others could be considered "one of us."

"I..." Lucia hesitated, then explained, "I don’t belong to any organization you know. In fact, we spontaneously organized ourselves..."

Shire continued to hold the revolver with his right hand, while his left hand picked up the glass of alcohol from the table for a small sip. He coldly ordered, "Keep talking, and you’d better tell the truth!"

"I was originally Belgian." Lucia looked at Shire with a hint of admiration and sincerity in her eyes, "Your actions in Belgium inspired many! So, we spontaneously organized a team in hopes of doing something for this war, and we wish to do so under your command!"

Shire raised an eyebrow, it sounded plausible.

The Belgians indeed had such demands. Helping the Allies was essentially helping themselves, and Shire had a significant influence in Belgium; he was almost the embodiment of victory.

But Shire certainly wouldn’t easily trust this woman; spies were excellent actors, especially female spies. They were adept at using their beauty, even their bodies, to make men believe them. Hari was a living example.

"So, what you’re saying is..." Shire mockingly looked at Lucia, "you stayed here for so long just to contact me?"

"You could say that." Lucia lightly nodded, "But you come here too infrequently. I thought the last time was a rare opportunity, but Dominic ruined it!"

Shire recalled, Lucia did seem to want to use Major Fernan to get in touch with him, but then Dominic showed up...

Shire shook his head and laughed, "Lies, you have no proof to back your words."

"What else can I do to prove it?" Lucia was both anxious and angry, "Perhaps you should first prove we are guilty. We have done nothing to harm the war effort; on the contrary, we’ve provided the British with much intelligence!"

"The British?" Shire looked at Lucia, puzzled.

"Yes!" Lucia replied, "The British intelligence network is much stronger than France’s. We discovered some British spies and secretly provided them with military intelligence through civilian contacts."

Then Lucia seemed to think of something, "You can verify this with the British. We provided the positions and artillery numbers of two artillery positions near Condos Town and Anloule, as well as Anatole’s troop deployments!"

The name "Lady in White" suddenly popped into Shire’s mind.

This organization, like Lucia said, was a spontaneous Belgian civilian organization. They hoped to provide intelligence to the Allies and thus contacted the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), becoming part of its spy network.

During the war, they accomplished many feats, providing the Allies with much valuable intelligence.

Moreover, this organization required neither funding nor support; they had only one request: to recognize them as warriors rather than spies.

They hoped to be seen as fighters against the invaders.

Shire asked, half-believing, "You wish to fight under my command? Then, what are the conditions?"

Lucia lightly shook her head, "There are no conditions. We only wish to be regarded as soldiers, with a structure just like the troops!"

Shire was a bit dizzy.

This was likely because Shire had established a reputation in Belgium, so the "Lady in White" did not seek out the British as in history but found him instead, and their formation time seemed to have moved up!