Chapter 1552 I Am Just Following Local Customs
She turned quickly and opened her door.
Her hotel room was a suite, with a living area just beyond the entrance.
Raymond, Lawrence, and Clifton were seated on the sofa in the cramped living room. The three men looked uncomfortable, squeezed together on the narrow couch.
Raymond had been marking points on a map but paused, momentarily taken aback when he saw Selena emerge wearing only her nightgown.
It took Selena a moment to register her state of undress. Her luggage had been taken away, and she had nothing but the nightgown she'd set aside the previous evening.
Raymond, not seeing her suitcase, assumed she'd arrived in haste without packing.
"Why don't you get some more rest? I'll buy you some clothes," he suggested.
"Alright," she agreed.
She closed the door behind her, her cheeks burning.
Raymond returned his attention to the map, placing it before the two men and indicating several points they'd been discussing.
"If we're going in, these two locations are our entry points. Look them over while I go get some clothes," he said, rising and heading for the door.
Lawrence and Clifton, both unattached, were surprised that Raymond would personally shop for women's clothing. The sizing here differed from their home country, requiring precise measurements, not to mention the style variations.
Raymond returned forty minutes later with several shopping bags, which he carried straight to the bedroom.
Selena had showered and was waiting for fresh clothes.
"I had them sanitized at high temperature," he explained as he unpacked the items.
She tried them on, pleased with the fit, and kissed his cheek gratefully. "Thank you."
Breakfast had been prepared outside. The three men continued discussing strategies for infiltrating the research facility while Selena ate quietly, unable to contribute to the conversation.
Suddenly, Raymond added more food to her bowl. She turned to look at him.
"You're eating for two now. You need more protein," he said.
Perhaps because Lawrence and Clifton were present, she felt self-conscious but nodded in agreement.
Lawrence glanced at the serving tongs, considered for a moment, then added some meat to her plate as well.
Selena tensed but remained silent.
Not to be outdone, Clifton picked up the tongs and added vegetables to her plate.
Both Raymond and Lawrence turned to Clifton with scrutinizing gazes.
Clifton raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Just following local customs."
Raymond's expression hardened as he used his fork to methodically remove every bit of food Clifton had added to Selena's plate.
Selena bit back a laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
She recognized Clifton was trying to lighten the mood and said nothing. After finishing her meal, pregnancy fatigue set in, and she found herself nodding off on the sofa.
With the sofa occupied, the three men sat in chairs, continuing to plan their infiltration of the research facility.
Lawrence pointed to the hospital on the map. "They're transporting thirteen bodies to the facility. My team of five and I can disguise ourselves as corpses and enter through this route."
This left Raymond and Clifton to consider the welfare center as their entry point.
The welfare center regularly sent groups of about a dozen people to the research facility. Raymond and Clifton would need to pose as selected refugees. The critical issue was their Stellarian appearance.
Stellarian faces were rare among refugees; suddenly having over a dozen appear would certainly raise suspicions.
Raymond leaned back, hearing gunfire in the distance. His finger came to rest on a park marked on the map.
"Lawrence, you and Clifton's men can all pose as hospital corpses. Tonight, I'll create a disturbance here and coordinate with local officials to falsify death reports. I'll emphasize that a Stellarian gathering was taking place, which would explain why so many Stellarian bodies are suddenly available. Arcturus rarely sees Stellarians these days, except for construction workers, so the research facility would likely value Stellarian specimens."
Lawrence and Clifton exchanged glances, silently agreeing to the plan.
Raymond's finger moved to the welfare center. "My seven-man team will enter through the welfare center. With official reports of a Stellarian gathering, eight Stellarian faces won't raise suspicions. Both Stellarians and Vistalians are probably demographics the research facility lacks. Building their facility here, the one thing they don't lack is local residents."
With the plan settled, Lawrence glanced at Selena, concern evident in his expression.
Raymond understood his worry. Despite his lingering resentment toward Lawrence for past actions, he had to admit the man had recently fulfilled his role as a brother admirably.
"The fifty-plus operatives we brought in have filled this floor and the floors above and below us. No suspicious individuals will get near her. Once the mission is complete, I'll take her back home with me," Raymond assured him.
And then it would be time to plan the wedding.
He lowered his eyes, unable to hide the flicker of anticipation that crossed his face.
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