Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 1203 - 1208: On What Grounds

Chapter 1203: Chapter 1208: On What Grounds

The tip of the dagger emerges.

The moment has finally arrived. After so much planning, after such a heavy price paid, these words have finally been spoken.

Aaron’s expression turned serious at last. He lifted a hand slightly toward Yang Yi and said, "Continue."

Yang Yi locked his gaze on Aaron and spoke deliberately, word by word: "I was an S-level collaborator with the Cleaners, then I became an S-level client of the Cleaners, and finally, I became one of the Cleaners. My sole mission was to get close to you and extract every possible piece of intelligence about the Grey-cloaked People."

Aaron responded faintly, "Oh? The Grey-cloaked People? What are they? What are you talking about? I don’t understand."

Yang Yi ignored Aaron and continued in an equally calm tone, "The issue with Ukraine Gold was my doing. The shipwreck incident... also my doing. I am indeed a member of the CIA, but I became part of the CIA specifically to investigate you, to get close to you, and to expose the fact that you’re a member of the Grey-cloaked People. Oh, and there’s one more thing—you’re also a KGB mole. I need to peel away that layer of disguise as well."

Aaron spread his hands and smiled. "Sounds like I have quite a complicated identity. But why don’t I know anything about these identities?"

Yang Yi exhaled, still disregarding Aaron’s words, and continued speaking to himself: "This time... I wanted to take down Gong Yang, or capture Gong Yang, to win your trust. But I didn’t expect—Gong Yang turned out to be a client of the Cleaners too, an S-level client!"

Aaron raised his eyebrows slightly, but this time, he remained silent.

Yang Yi continued in a subdued tone, "At first, I didn’t know. Later, I found out. But I thought... I was more important than Gong Yang!"

Yang Yi looked at Aaron with a deeply melancholy gaze before lowering his voice and saying, "But I was wrong. I didn’t expect them to come after me so ruthlessly! If it weren’t for her... blocking the bullet for me, I’d be dead. But now, I’d rather be the one who died. I’d rather it be me, do you understand that?"

Yang Yi reached out and grabbed Aaron’s collar. He no longer needed to pretend—his desperation was entirely genuine.

Aaron gave Yang Yi a long look before finally speaking softly. "Why?"

"Why? How would I know why? I thought I was far more important than a mere client, far more important! I killed Gong Yang solely to gain your trust. But why would they want me dead? Was it just because of Gong Yang? A mercenary? A... client? What am I worth? I’m already part of the Cleaners now, an official member! My mission is so critical, so why would they want me dead?"

Yang Yi looked utterly indignant. Letting go of Aaron’s collar, he displayed an expression of bitter, desperate anger and rasped furiously, "They really chose to kill me over a mercenary. Fuck! Just for a mercenary!"

Aaron replied mildly, "Ever considered that perhaps Gong Yang is very important to the Cleaners?"

"Of course I considered that! But no matter how important Gong Yang is, could he possibly be more important than me? Look at all I’ve done for the Cleaners!"

Yang Yi was still seething with rage. At this point, Aaron calmly said, "What about adding Big Ivan into the equation?"

"Big Ivan..."

Aaron smiled. "Don’t act like this, or I might think you don’t measure up."

Yang Yi spoke calmly, "Big Ivan and Gong Yang have a good relationship, I know that. Big Ivan is connected to the Cleaners—that, I wasn’t aware of, but I can guess. But what does any of that change?"

Aaron exhaled and said, "You really don’t know?"

Yang Yi shook his head and frowned. "Is there something I don’t know? I’m a Cleaner."

Aaron smiled. "You just found out Gong Yang is a Cleaner client."

"Of course Cleaners keep secrets from each other. That’s easy to understand, isn’t it?"

"Absolutely. But it also shows that... your rank isn’t very high."

Yang Yi nodded and said, "Within my sphere, my position isn’t low. To others, my standing isn’t any of their concern. That much you can agree with, right?"

"Of course."

"But I still can’t believe they actually chose to kill me—over a mercenary! Just a bloody mercenary! And they left the woman I love paralyzed!"

Yang Yi took a deep breath, then shook his head as he said to Aaron, "I’ve been betrayed. Abandoned. You can imagine what I want to do, can’t you?"

"I can imagine. But for people like us..."

Aaron chuckled and then spoke with a dispassionate expression, "Logically, anyone can guess you want revenge. But the issue is, for people like us, revenge seems rather pointless. Secondly, it’s possible all of this is just an act."

Yang Yi said with a sinister tone, "Of course. As a spy, it’s normal to think like that. Not thinking that way would be abnormal. But what if I can make you believe in my sincerity? The most critical part—what if I can prove my capability to you?"

Aaron continued smiling, "Alright. Show me."

Yang Yi stared at Aaron. "Then, what can I get?"

"First, show me your capability."

"What about sincerity?"

"Sincerity is certainly important. But capability is more important. If you’re dead set on taking revenge against the Cleaners but you’re completely incapable of achieving it—well, what use would you be?"

Yang Yi took a deep breath and said, "First tell me what I can get, then I’ll tell you what I can offer."

"Hmm. A promotion."

Yang Yi looked at Aaron and, with mounting impatience, said, "I’m really agitated right now. Impulsive. I want to act immediately. If this drags on, it’ll hinder both my revenge and the results you could gain. So let’s set aside our current roles for now—let’s speak as equals. No, call it negotiation. So first, tell me—what can you offer me?"

After saying this, Yang Yi extended a finger and added, "Given my situation, I don’t have much leverage for demanding too much. So I can lower my expectations—but don’t think you can bluff me. Speak."

Aaron thought for a moment, then spoke softly: "You could join the Grey-cloaked People. On the condition that you earn our trust. You won’t be silenced, and no one will pursue what you’ve cost us so far."

"That’s it?"

"That’s it."

Yang Yi hesitated for a brief moment before replying immediately, "Alright. I accept!"

"Good. We’ve reached an agreement. You can begin."

Yang Yi took a deep breath and said, "My contact is named Elvin. I’ll contact him immediately. You get your people ready to capture him. Beyond that—I know many confidential Cleaner safehouse addresses. I truly know them. All of these I can give to you."

Aaron’s eyes widened slightly, and then he smiled. "Sounds tempting. We haven’t seen such a promising situation in years. But, show me your sincerity first."

"Alright. What should I do?"