CHAPTER 512: CHAPTER 512: BANQUET, THE SUDDEN CALL FROM FBI HEADQUARTERS

Today’s dinner is the birthday banquet of the Los Angeles City Mayor himself, attended by a multitude of guests, businessmen, politicians, some stars from Hollywood, and even according to Director Nasim, the Governor of California will be joining the feast.

"These are all older folks here; you should not keep us company anymore."

After a brief chat, Director Nasim handed his wine glass to a passing waiter, smiling at Luo An:

"The upstairs is where the young people are. You should go take a look there."

Having said this, Director Nasim patted Luo An on the shoulder and continued in a low voice:

"The mayor’s daughter is also there; you can go have a chat with her."

Seeing the look Director Nasim gave him, Luo An’s eyes flashed with speechlessness.

"A very outstanding young man."

Watching Luo An’s retreating back, Director Nasim’s wife lifted the corners of her mouth slightly, as Luo An had just left a good impression on her during their conversation. After putting down her wine glass, she asked:

"Do you want to introduce Group Leader Greenwood to the mayor’s daughter?"

"It wouldn’t hurt for them to meet."

Director Nasim smiled and shook his head, as it wasn’t up to him to decide these things. Seeing a familiar congressman approaching them, the two tacitly stopped discussing the matter and began jovially conversing about other topics with the newcomer.

Taking the elevator to the second floor, just like downstairs, it was filled with banquet guests. The difference was that the people here were younger, with a higher number of female guests, centering around a very pretty girl.

The girl had long golden hair, a delicate face, and was wearing very eye-catching pearl earrings. Dressed in a silver backless gown, her long and fair thighs exposed as she moved were quite eye-catching.

Luo An recognized her; she was Carolina, the daughter of the Mayor of Los Angeles.

However, Luo An only gave her a few glances before he turned and walked towards the side buffet.

She was very pretty, but not Luo An’s type—not just because he already had Mona, but also because she possibly put all her effort into her face and thighs, lacking the curves where it mattered, far from Mona’s allure.

As Luo An stood leisurely sampling the delicacies at the buffet, a girl suddenly approached:

"Hi! Luo An! It’s you again!"

The girl’s voice was honeyed, and Luo An, swallowing the food in his mouth, turned to look at her, recognizing her somewhat familiar face, and soon recalled her name:

"Adanna?"

"Exactly, it’s me!"

Adanna struck a pose with her hands on her hips, blinked her surprisingly large eyes, and looked at Luo An with a beaming smile.

She was the same girl Luo An had met not long ago at Supervisor Elmer’s daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony.

Luo An was somewhat surprised:

"Why are you here, too?"

"Because my mom is also working part-time as the Mayor’s financial advisor."

Adanna said proudly:

"So I’m attending this banquet."

Before Luo An could continue, Adanna suddenly ran off and pulled a young man from the crowd to her side. Her face brimmed with happiness, she asked:

"This is my boyfriend, Martin. Handsome, isn’t he?"

Luo An nodded; the boy was somewhat shy but indeed quite good-looking. However, Luo An didn’t quite understand why Adanna was showing him off.

"It’s not a big deal; I just want to simply tell you that I’m not interested in you anymore."

Adanna casually waved her hand, indicating she had seen the press conference yesterday and thought Luo An’s job was too dangerous for her taste.

Then, without waiting for Luo An to respond, Adanna stood on her tiptoes and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek, before leaving him behind and rushing away to chat with other girls.

"..."

Luo An was somewhat speechless, not quite grasping Adanna’s thought process. Picking up a wine glass, Luo An smiled and extended his hand to the boy in front of him:

"Hello, I’m Luo An Greenwood."

The boy gave a shy smile, reached out, and shook Luo An’s hand:

"Martin, Martin Vikra."

As they shook hands, a flicker passed through Luo An’s heart; with his "emotional perception" always on, he noticed the other person was lying.

Luo An kept his expression unchanged, took a sip of wine, and casually asked:

"May I ask what you do?"

"I’m a singer."

When music was mentioned, a glint of light appeared in Martin’s eyes, and he seemed a bit more confident, talking non-stop about musical matters with Luo An.

But Luo An keenly noticed that, apart from the genuine knowledge about music, the other things the person said were still lies.

Luo An’s interest grew even stronger when suddenly the entire room’s crowd began moving towards the distant staircase. Adanna quickly ran over, grabbed Martin by the arm, and started pulling him away while urging Luo An:

"The banquet is about to start, the Mayor of Los Angeles is going to speak downstairs, hurry up and get down there!"

"OK."

Luo An followed behind the two, descending the stairs. By now, the music in the hall had ceased, and the Mayor of Los Angeles stood in the center of the crowd. He needed to say something tonight to reflect the appropriate attitude.

After a brief glance around the crowd, the Mayor raised his wine glass:

"Thank you! I want to thank everyone for coming here, and for your support over the years..."

The Mayor’s voice grew louder, and the hall quieted down to where only his voice could be heard.

"As Mayor of Los Angeles City, there’s always some pressure."

"Like economic issues, like law enforcement issues..."

As he was speaking, the Mayor of Los Angeles suddenly called out loudly:

"Mr. Greenwood!"

The Mayor looked around, and his gaze eventually settled on Luo An.

The crowd parted, exposing Luo An to everyone’s gaze, with some people looking on in surprise, not expecting Luo An to be singled out like this at such an important event.

"Mr. Greenwood is an excellent law enforcement officer. The recent gas attack and the bank robbery were quickly solved thanks to his efforts..."

After briefly mentioning those two cases, the Mayor swiftly transitioned to other matters, such as the CEOs of companies and economic issues, but as the first person brought up by the Mayor of Los Angeles, Luo An still attracted many surprised and curious glances.

Soon after, the Mayor finished his speech, raised his glass, and the gathered guests also collectively lifted their glasses. Music resumed, and the atmosphere instantly soared!

What followed was the opportunity for more in-depth individual conversations, where everyone could chat with the Mayor about topics they cared about and found interesting, which was, of course, the core of the evening’s agenda.

Luo An intended to continue his conversation with Mr. Martin, but he was intercepted by the Mayor’s daughter, Carolina:

"Hello, Mr. Greenwood, you look even more handsome than you do on TV."

Luo An stopped and clinked glasses with her:

"You are very beautiful too, Miss Savary."

Savary was her family name.

"Just call me Carolina."

With curved eyes and a smile on her lips, the girl took a sip from her glass and asked:

"I’m quite interested in the gas attack that my father just mentioned. Could Mr. Greenwood briefly talk about it?"

"Of course, but there are some details that I can’t share due to regulations."

"Of course, I understand."

After chatting for a moment, Carolina suddenly asked:

"I heard Mr. Greenwood has a movie adaptation of a case he personally experienced?"

"It was just selling the adaptation rights of that particular case involving me to Columbia Pictures." (Chapter 234 - The First Lady Explosion Case)

Recalling what Mona and Michelle had mentioned, wanting to make it big in Hollywood, Luo An’s eyes flickered with speculation and he asked with a smile:

"Miss Savary, are you interested in that adaptation movie?"

"Yes."

Carolina didn’t hide it, she nodded and said:

"As far as I know, Columbia Pictures has already started preparing the movie, and they are currently at the casting stage.

Mr. Greenwood, do you think I’m capable of playing the female lead in that movie?"

Luo An laughed upon hearing this, as the girl before him was clearly grasping at straws; he wasn’t a director or a producer, only the story had been sold to Columbia Pictures.

"Mr. Greenwood, I think..."

Seeing Luo An laugh without answering, urgency flickered in Carolina’s eyes. Just then, Supervisor Nasim suddenly walked over.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, Carolina," said Nasim, offering a simple apology, then turned to Luo An saying:

"Washington Headquarters just contacted me, they want you to head over there."

Luo An frowned, but before he could speak, Supervisor Nasim immediately added sternly:

"The request from the other end is immediate! I’ve already prepared your plane; you need to leave now!"