I am a Big Player
Chapter 494 - 488, List of Security Consultants (First Update)_1

Chapter 494: 488, List of Security Consultants (First Update)_1

Steve always felt he was the one at a disadvantage in his dealings with Ren He, a sentiment that arose without warning and yet was something Steve highly identified with.

In the end, it was because Ren He had leverage over him, and even though the money he made was enough for his retirement, it was all for things he was rather reluctant to do.

If his initial plan to get rid of Ren He had failed, Steve too would have had to flee for his life and certainly wouldn’t be as relaxed as he was now.

The US government would never tolerate a suspected traitor and former CIA member.

That was why Steve really didn’t want to answer the phone. He let the first call go until the ringing stopped, not picking it up. However, Ren He didn’t call a second time. Ordinary people might think the trouble had passed, but as Steve looked at the silent phone, it felt like he was experiencing a soundless mockery...

Because his vulnerability was still in Ren He’s hands, and while the latter had returned to China without any issues, he still had to live in the United States! He could hesitate momentarily about not answering the call, but he had to call back!

Recently, he had come to understand Ren He’s character and integrity. After a rough summation, Steve thought that Ren He was quite a good person.

In this world, receiving a genuine assessment of being a good person was no easy feat. It was not the sort of "good person card" a girl hands out when rejecting someone.

Steve believed that Ren He probably wouldn’t stoop so low as to expose his secrets, but still, he couldn’t shake off his own feelings of guilt...

He called back and started with a laugh, "My old friend, how have you been since returning to China?"

Ren He had no time for idle chitchat with Steve and cheerfully said, "Cut the crap, I need you to steal something for me."

"I’ve already retired," Steve said through gritted teeth.

"That’s all right, I don’t mind," Ren He laughed. "I really don’t mind."

Steve’s face turned green with frustration. You don’t mind? Screw that, I do! He decided to explain seriously to Ren He, "Friend, I sent you abroad initially because I did not want to continue engaging in illegal activities, so you need to understand that I won’t do this sort of thing anymore."

"Listen to me," Ren He, pouring himself a glass of water and looking at the list Xu Nuo had sent him on the computer, said over the phone, "This time the thing I’m having you steal is just some disks with code related to some ordinary citizens due to a business reason. You know I’m involved in the internet industry in China, these codes are of great importance to me."

Ren He was telling the truth. The homes of these cybersecurity consultants had no special measures or decor that would differentiate them from any ordinary citizen’s. These top hackers could create a storm online but had such a low level of safety awareness in real life that it became a frequent cause of incidents.

Furthermore, Ren He didn’t mind if Steve looked up the real identities of the people on the list after hearing it. For instance, Snowden’s girlfriend was not ordinary; after much investigation, it was only revealed that Snowden worked for a security company, not knowing that the company served the National Security Agency and that Snowden himself was an NSA agent.

Of course, before the exposure of the Prism Program, no one associated these companies with anything other than normal cybersecurity businesses, but Ren He knew better.

And Ren He wasn’t absolutely sure, he just had Xu Nuo widen the search scope, choose several more companies, and then carry out large-scale theft. If he managed to steal something, good; if not, so be it, because something would definitely come out of it...

So even though Steve’s identity was special, all he could find out were the ordinary employees of the cybersecurity companies. The CIA and the National Security Agency did not share resources, and in the stream of information, the NSA ranked above the CIA, whereas the CIA had superiority overseas in terms of armed forces.

Steve was well aware that he had no room to refuse in front of Ren He. He said gravely, "I hope we can become real friends, so I’d like to know, will you continue to threaten me after this?"

"Here’s how it is: you see, as long as you complete this task, not only will I hand over the payment with both hands, but I will also personally send you back the written guarantee you made. What do you think?" Ren He said with a smile. In fact, he had no intention of continuing to use Steve. After getting even with the US government, he would be just an ordinary person wanting to enjoy his wealthy and leisurely life.

After pondering for a full minute, Steve sighed and said, "Send the detailed information of the people you want to steal from to my secret email."

"No, no, that definitely won’t work. We cannot send it through email. Find a secure satellite phone, and I’ll tell you over the phone," Ren He shook his head. Since the plan itself was to expose the Prism Program, it needed to be operationalized in a way consistent with the program’s intent.

When a list containing over 90% of security employees’ information went through a US server, Ren He didn’t believe it would go unnoticed by the US government.

To say the Prism Program is the all-seeing eye of modern society is no exaggeration, no wonder the revelation of the program caused so much panic in the past.

Confused, Steve found a satellite phone, paid for it, and listened as Ren He recited a list of names and addresses one by one—fifty in total...

By the time Steve recorded the fiftieth name in his notebook, he was bewildered, "Hold on a minute, do all these fifty people have the codes you need?"

Ren He laughed with restraint and said, "Yes."

At that moment, Steve felt overwhelmed by the task: was he really going to steal from fifty residential houses? Indeed, as Ren He said, house theft was easy, especially for him, it posed no actual problem.

However... the quantity was massive!

So you’ve started dealing in bulk now?

Steve was sure there was something wrong with this list; he was even afraid to ask others to investigate it for fear of being betrayed in the event something went wrong.

He had to check by himself, and after researching all night, he was even more perplexed; these people indeed worked at five different cybersecurity companies, and each company appeared legitimate from the outside, seemingly without any noticeable flaws.

Steve even checked out one of the companies in person and confirmed there was nothing amiss—it looked like a regular residence!

He called Ren He back, "I’ll take the job, but you have to ensure that there won’t be any issues afterward. If anything happens that endangers my family, I won’t let you go, even if I have to flee to the ends of the earth."

At this point, he didn’t care about the written guarantee anymore. His thumbprint was on the original, and even if it was destroyed, it wouldn’t matter; Ren He could make countless copies.

Steve could only hope that Ren He’s character was as passable as he understood it to be.