Chapter 1074: Speculations about Nerve Agents

The man with the ponytail was sent to the US military base for interrogation by the CIA. When everything was done, it was already afternoon. Hungry Jack and Ma Xidao found a hot pot restaurant to have dinner.

Halfway through the meal, Anna came over and skillfully picked up the tripe with chopsticks and boiled it in the hot pot.

"Did you find anything?" Jack asked the charming proprietress for two more plates of tripe and lamb in fluent Chinese.

"Because your FBI report mentioned that these unusual poisons are extremely pure, if the iconic red dye is removed, the main body should appear blue, so I directly tracked down the precursor materials for making this kind of poison.

About a month ago, a pharmaceutical company's warehouse was robbed and a batch of aniline drugs for treating asthma were lost. The security guard had his neck twisted.

At about the same time, the door lock of a chemical factory warehouse in Busan was damaged, and a large amount of chemical raw materials including hydrochloric acid disappeared without a trace, more than ten tons. This is the detailed list. "

As she spoke, Anna handed Jack a file bag. The charming smile on her face even made Ma Xidao, who was sitting opposite her, couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Although she only had some minor plastic surgery, with her current appearance, even if she returns to France, those people in the fashion circle who once knew her would no longer be able to associate her with the original slender supermodel.

If the official agents of the FSB belong to the carefully crafted exclusive Gundams, then field agents like Anna probably belong to mass-produced models such as the Zaku.

Although Jack firmly believes that a real man drives a Zaku and only sissies drive a Gundam.

But for the FSB, although such field agents are not disposable, they are obviously not too cherished.

The many hidden injuries left by high-intensity training, coupled with problems such as gastritis caused by dieting and irregular lifestyle in her modeling career in recent years, have made Anna's seemingly glamorous appearance actually riddled with holes inside.

After leaving the FSB, Anna was arranged to go to Hainan. Perhaps because she had been eating coconut chicken for several months, she also went there at Jack's suggestion to do a series of acupuncture and other real health care.

After returning, Maomei's image has changed drastically. Her cup size has increased by at least two sizes. In addition, when they met in Hawaii before, Jack gave her a BUFF. The whole person has undergone a complete transformation from the inside out.

Anna gulped down a large glass of coconut milk. Her forehead was sweating and her cheeks were red from the spiciness. She added ingredients to the hot pot while continuing to report.

"Justin also captured a suspicious truck loaded with blue chemical plastic barrels on the camera at the highway exit. The location seemed to be called Yongin."

Yongin City is located more than 40 kilometers south of Seoul. It was originally just a small village, but was later developed into a new industrial area with chemical plants and pharmaceutical factories everywhere. It is indeed suitable for hiding secret drug manufacturing dens.

"It's not easy to find in Longren. There are too many abandoned factories and warehouses there, at least hundreds of them." Ma Xidao frowned while biting his chopsticks.

Jack glanced at the silent phone. The CIA's efficiency was a bit poor this time. Half a day had passed and they still hadn't come up with any results.

But his eyes were immediately attracted by the list of stolen items from the chemical plant warehouse provided by Anna. He muttered to himself, "Phosphorus trichloride, why did they steal this? And in such a large quantity."

Although phosphorus trichloride is also a chemical raw material, it has nothing to do with the production of ash poison.

"Didn't you say they were terrorists? Maybe they were planning to poison us or something like that."

It is obvious that Anna, this Russian girl, is not very good at chemistry. Although phosphorus trichloride is a highly toxic chemical, its main principle is to generate hydrochloric acid mist in the air, which irritates the human respiratory tract.

Although the quantity on the list is several tons, this stuff is generally volatile and will not have much effect even if dumped in a downtown area. If it is dumped into a water source, the Han River is a river after all, and several tons of chemicals poured into it may not be as high as the Viagra content in it.

After recalling the chemical knowledge he had learned in his previous life and combining it with the materials he had memorized during the FBI training, Jack suddenly became unable to sit still.

A large number of chemical formulas containing phosphorus are not very friendly to the human body. For example, a large number of organophosphorus pesticides have been strongly associated with the term chemical weapons since their inception.

The four famous nerve agents, tabun, sarin, soman and VX, are all organophosphorus or organophosphate compounds and were originally developed for use as pesticides.

Phosphorus trichloride is the main raw material for the production of organophosphorus.

Then think of the bad things that the country to the north had done in Malaysia, nerve agents, chemical experts capable of producing high-purity anthrax, the lost phosphorus trichloride, and hundreds of "Little Wing" individual air-to-air missiles that someone had tried to buy.

"I have to make a phone call."

A terrible guess arose in Jack's mind, and he could no longer suppress it. He picked up his phone and left quickly, leaving the two people looking at each other in astonishment.

There is a 13-hour time difference between Seoul and Los Angeles. Rossi was soundly sleeping when he was awakened by the sudden ringing of the phone. The old man stared at Jack's name on the screen for a long time before answering the call.

"You'd better have a good reason, or I'm going to tell Jiejie and Hannah about June Doe's true identity, which they've been tracking down lately."

Jack paused for a moment before realizing that he had overlooked the time difference between the two places, but he couldn't care less at this moment.

"In addition to the raw materials for making tannin, Zhang Mingjun's people also stole a large amount of phosphorus trichloride. Their purpose of frantically dumping high-purity tannin in South Korea over the past month is not to make money, but most likely to raise funds for the upcoming chemical weapons attack."

Rossi, who was still a little sleepy, suddenly sat up straight in bed and almost sprained his waist, but then he remembered that Jack was currently in South Korea, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you sure? What are the possibilities?" He picked up the glass of water from the bedside table to moisten his tight throat, then asked in a deep voice.

"It's just speculation at the moment, there's no solid evidence, but several tons of phosphorus trichloride were lost, and there's news that a military chemistry expert defected with Zhang Mingjun.

This can be verified from the high-purity finished products of elm poison. Ordinary people may be able to synthesize it in batches, but it is impossible to achieve such a high purity. "

Those little cuties who have watched "Breaking Bad" have all seen Walter White's craftsmanship, but that is actually just the result of the TV drama.

Although in theory high-purity ash poison is indeed a very beautiful blue color, in reality, due to problems with equipment and technology, this high-end product has never been circulated on the market.

The tartar that drug addicts can access has a tar content of less than 20% and is mixed with impurities such as talcum powder and flour.

In the UK, ash poison with a purity of 80% was once discovered, which is the limit of what can be achieved under informal laboratory conditions.

In other words, the level of this chemical expert in Zhang Mingjun's hands is at least 1.5 times that of Walter White. Considering his military background, it is difficult to say whether he is better at making poison or nerve agents.

"Considering their original intention in purchasing the 'Little Wing' missiles, I think they initially intended to modify the missiles to release nerve agents on a large scale."

After listening to his disciple speaking at a very fast pace, Rossi could no longer sit still in bed. He quickly got up, put on his pajamas and walked towards the study. His knowledge of chemical weapons was no worse than Jack's, and he was even more aware of the severity of the situation.

"If it was a nerve agent, simply using explosives to detonate it would be a disaster. As long as the wind direction is right, it would be enough to cause casualties of 100,000 people in a densely populated city like Seoul."

He paused and instructed, "Continue investigating according to your idea. I will contact experts to provide you with support. If it is confirmed, you'd better evacuate directly after notifying the South Korean side."

The reason why chemical weapons are called the poor country's nuclear bomb is that, in addition to being relatively cheap and easy to produce, the terrible lethality and difficult-to-clean-up legacy of some chemical weapons, depending on their type, are comparable to those of nuclear weapons.

The "Agent Orange" spread by the United States during the Vietnam War caused 480 million victims, of whom 40 died directly as a result, a large number of newborns died, and among the surviving babies, about hundreds of thousands had congenital malformations or physical defects.

Even the Korean troops who went to Vietnam as vassal troops to burn, kill and loot could not escape the poisoning of this chemical weapon. It is said that at least one-third of the total 30 Korean vassal troops were contaminated, and at least 2 died from related diseases.

The so-called "Agent Orange" that caused this result is "just" a "herbicide" containing a large amount of dioxin in the words of the Americans, and it cannot be considered a chemical weapon.

So when it comes to nerve agents whose lethal doses are measured in milligrams, there is no need to worry about any sequelae.

So Rossi's first reaction was to let his trusted disciples evacuate immediately, because that thing was too dangerous.

Although Jack didn't like Korea very much, he had to stand aside and let the country's top officials handle this kind of incident involving large-scale civilian casualties unless it was irreversible.

In view of the fact that the Sewol ferry incident had already happened, he felt it would be better for him to make an effort on his own side.

At the same time, on the other side of the phone, although Rossi believed in Jack's judgment, he still had doubts because the whole thing did not sound so logical.

"Hasn't it been confirmed before that Zhang Mingjun defected from that country? Why did he carry out a terrorist attack in the south? If he was really a soldier, he should know that it is impossible to provoke a war between the two countries in this way."

One thing that goes against common sense is that for more than half a century after the end of the Peninsular War, the wartime command of the Confederate Army was always in the hands of the United Nations Command.

The commander of the joint command is also the commander of the US forces in South Korea, and the entire combat command system of the South Army is also in the hands of the US military.

In other words, if one day the president of the South suddenly wakes up and wants to declare war directly on the North, then among the more than 60 active Southern Army troops, the only ones he can mobilize are probably the several thousand people directly under the Capital Defense Command.

Right now the guy in the north can't get any part of his body hard except his mouth, and the guy in the south is so desperate that he wants to stick his tongue into a pug.

Therefore, even if a terrorist attack caused by defectors from the North with heavy casualties really happened, it would be the Americans who would have a headache. As for the pressure from the people, in addition to the usual street protests and finger cutting, the people might also make a few more movies to commemorate the event.

To sum up, if Zhang Mingjun could still think logically, he would know that it is impossible to trigger a war on the peninsula in this way.

But the latest intelligence Jack got from Jiang Zhentai today gave him a hint of inspiration. "I heard that someone from the north will come for talks next week. I suspect that there is a target that Zhang Mingjun wants to deal with."

"An assassination using an indiscriminate attack?" Rossiel understood what Jack wanted him to do after a moment's hesitation. "I will immediately ask someone to ask the Korean side for the list of the delegation and investigate the identities of the relevant personnel. Jack, be careful."

"Don't worry, I'll go find the phosphate-dissolving needle and atropine right after I hang up the phone."

Although theoretically Jack would not die as long as he was not locked in a secret room and was not constantly injected with poison gas, first aid medicines were still prepared.

Organophosphorus nerve agents are different from the poison gas that people generally know. Although they can kill people if inhaled, gas masks are completely useless against the former.

This is because nerve agents can poison people with just the slightest contact with the skin, and ordinary clothing not only has no isolation effect, but is extremely easy to absorb.

The poisoning mechanism of this thing is to block nerve signals, so the poisoned person will neither bleed from all seven orifices nor suffer from ulcers all over the body, but will die from the "power failure" of the nerves.

-

"Why do I encounter such dangerous incidents every time I meet you?" Although he said this, Ma Xidao still had an indifferent expression on his face.

Jack's Audi S6 was destroyed after being driven for less than a day. In the afternoon, the embassy sent another Subaru. Anna, who was sitting in the passenger seat, also had a very calm expression.

"You should be thankful that you have a wise and brave partner like me by your side whenever you encounter any dangerous situations."

Jack corrected the guy's statement and stopped the car on the side of the road. The door of a military Hummer that had been waiting here opened, and a US Army second lieutenant with a Red Cross armband got out.

The lieutenant walked to the side of the car and saluted Jack, then took off a first aid kit from his back and handed it to him. "Sir, everything you want is in there. Do you need me to teach you how to use it?"

Jack didn't have a military position so it was inconvenient for him to return the salute. He took the initiative to extend his hand and shook the other party's hand, thanking him, "No need, I have received relevant training, thank you very much."

After bidding farewell to the lieutenant who was supposed to be a military doctor, Jack opened the first aid kit, only to find it was filled with boxes of standard-dose first aid medicines, mainly phosphate-dissolving needles and atropine syringes.

Because nerve agents have an extremely fast onset, these antidotes are directly packaged in disposable syringes. Remove the needle cap and insert it into the muscle. Break off the thin neck mark of the ampoule and the drug will be automatically injected.

"I hope I won't have to use these things." After listening to Jack's explanation of how to use them, even someone as thick-skinned as Ma Xidao couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

The Suburban started again and headed towards Yongin City.

There has been no news since the ponytail man was taken away by the CIA and the military. Rossi shared Jack's speculation with them and asked them to speed up the interrogation.

What’s interesting is that it was Jiang Zhentai and Lin Zheling, who took the slightly fat man away, who brought good news. They had found the suspected hiding place of Zhang Mingjun, which was indeed in Yongin City.