Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 528 - 516

Chapter 528: 516

Yang Yi hesitated. He was very tempted, but he really did not appreciate the janitor’s word games, even if the solution proposed was extremely tempting.

After much contemplation, Yang Yi finally wavered. He had intended to outright reject Terry’s offer, but now, his heart was truly moved.

"I need to think about it, I need to talk to my people."

"Of course, that’s only appropriate."

Yang Yi stood up, nodded at Xiao Ran, then walked back to the room they had come from.

Some matters could not be known by too many people. Yang Yi had wanted to discuss things with those he trusted most, but calling out Zhang Yong, Xiao Ran, Kate, and the others would obviously be excluding Hank and McDonald from the inner circle of the discussion. How could Yang Yi, intelligent but also not lacking in emotional intelligence, do something like that?

So, Yang Yi called over only Brian.

"Brian, come here for a second."

He gestured to Brian and called him over to the side. In a low voice, Yang Yi said, "You must be familiar with the CIA, even if you’ve been locked up for a long time, but the habits and procedures of the CIA don’t change, right?"

"That’s right. What’s the problem?"

Yang Yi took a breath and said, "A hundred million dollars problem."

"Oh, that’s quite an expensive problem."

Yang Yi smiled and repeated to Brian what Terry had just told him.

Brian’s first reaction was disbelief.

"That’s impossible! How could the CIA possibly be infiltrated to this extent!"

"Err, Aaron..."

"Aaron, yes, he could be the mole, but that’s for the Soviet Union, two opposing superpowers, two opposing ideologies. It’s normal for the CIA to be infiltrated, but the cleaners? An underground organization wanting to control the CIA? What do you think the CIA is!"

Yang Yi spread his hands and whispered, "Perhaps the CIA isn’t as united as you think. Terry said, I could pay after confirming the identity is real, but I can’t confirm it, because it’s an ace of spades with countless possibilities, and revealing it too soon would render it useless."

Sighing, Yang Yi looked around and then lowered his voice even more, "Think about it, we make arrangements, collect or forge some evidence, and then claim that Jason Moore recruited me to expose the true face of Aaron as the mole. What do you think about this idea?"

Brian looked at Yang Yi and said, "Even if you were a spy personally trained and deployed by the CIA, does that mean people will necessarily believe what you say? Let alone such an undercover recruit in secret."

Yang Yi exhaled and said, "It can also be said that I am a CIA agent undercover as an information broker, there are too many scenarios it could be used in."

After pondering for a moment, Brian shook his head and said, "But a hundred million is too expensive. It’s good to look at the long term, but shouldn’t you also consider the immediate? Think about what a hundred million dollars can do, how many people in the underground world could resist the power of a hundred million dollars in cash flow? You could recruit many people with this money, purchase the equipment you need, sort out people you can’t currently sort out. This hundred million dollars could allow you to grow rapidly in the underground world!"

After speaking, Brian sighed and said, "And it’s best not to provoke the CIA, because the CIA isn’t as stupid as you might think. Perhaps now that the CIA has expanded, indeed it has given some people loopholes to exploit, but those who underestimate the CIA usually end up very badly. You think impersonating the CIA is an opportunity, isn’t it also a crisis?"

One was a long-term interest, the other an immediate and urgent interest, and Yang Yi was torn.

Yang Yi wouldn’t have sought Brian’s advice if he weren’t so conflicted.

If the price could be lower, even if Terry asked for fifty million US dollars, Yang Yi estimated he wouldn’t have come to discuss with Brian.

Brian’s stance was clear; he firmly opposed spending that one hundred million dollars, while Yang Yi was still not willing to give up.

"Brian, if I became a member of the CIA, it would be much easier to avenge Mike," Yang Yi said. "Plus, it might also help find Kate more conveniently. All we need to do is design a plan that can..."

"Stop talking."

Brian smiled bitterly and then patted Yang Yi’s shoulder, whispering, "Thank you, but seeking the CIA’s help to look for Kate is impossible, and dealing with Aaron can also be postponed. Right now, our top priority is to establish and strengthen ourselves in the underworld."

After patting Yang Yi’s shoulder heavily, Brian said in a deep voice, "Stop thinking about it. If you had ten billion US dollars, I wouldn’t stop you, but not now. This one hundred million dollars should be spent on something more important. And don’t forget, if the cleaners can do all this now, who’s to say they wouldn’t be able to later?"

Yang Yi sighed and said, "Alright, you’re right. One hundred million dollars is indeed too costly. I’m giving up for now."

"How are we going to handle the trouble with MI5?"

"This is the solution provided by the cleaners."

Brian spread his hands and said, "I don’t get it, wasn’t the deal to handle our troubles in the United Kingdom for free? If this is the solution, why then are we paying one hundred million dollars?"

Yang Yi shrugged and said, "It’s not free, it’s symbolically one hundred thousand US dollars, but Terry said this solution is worth one hundred million. So, what can I do? Even if I know the cleaners have played a word game, what can I do?"

"Bastards."

After muttering under his breath, Brian waved his hand, "We can’t do too much business with the cleaners when they operate like this. These people don’t play by the rules. The compensation we got for stealing the gold is already low, yet they renege on their promise of a free service, fuck!"

Shaking his head, Brian said sternly, "Reject him. Talking more is pointless. We’ll accept it this time, but there won’t be a next time."

Trust is hard to build, but breaking it often only takes one instance.

Looking around, Brian whispered, "If the cleaners’ reputation isn’t as good as we imagined, then..."

Brian made a discreet hand signal indicating danger.

Yang Yi nodded gently and said with a smile, "Alright, we should get on with our own business now."

Both Yang Yi and Brian were annoyed, but Brian’s face showed no sign of it, and Yang Yi appeared to be simply resigned to the situation.

However, once back inside the house, Yang Yi signaled for caution.

Brian expressed his stance again, feeling the cleaners could no longer be trusted. To him, distrust meant the cleaners might as well opt for silencing witnesses, especially since they were just about to do such deeds. Therefore, he thought the cleaners could easily wipe out everyone associated with Trident, which would be a more effective way to keep secrets and also save fifteen million US dollars.

Yang Yi heeded Brian’s advice, trusting his judgment. Now on the cleaners’ turf, sensing the danger meant that being cautious was necessary.

Observing Yang Yi’s gesture, Zhang Yong subtly took up the gun that was resting beside his chair, while Paul adjusted the rifle slung behind him and shifted his chair slightly to aim the gun inadvertently towards the door.