Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 542 - 530: Opportunity

Chapter 542: Chapter 530: Opportunity

Yang Yi was deeply moved. After heaving a sigh, he said in a grave voice, "This is the information era, too terrifying. It feels like an era where there simply are no secrets at all."

Now, Yang Yi finally understood why his father refused to make phone calls or send emails back then, insisting on passing information face to face after meeting someone in person. The principle was understood long ago, but only now did he deeply feel its significance.

A seemingly inextricable situation was broken by a single sentence.

The Grey-cloaked People kept a deep cover; their movements had been incredibly secretive for many years. However, even with their strength and level of secrecy, it was impossible to be completely isolated from the world in this era of information.

Organization of Water’s capabilities in cyber-intelligence were quite strong, but compared to state-level intelligence agencies like the CIA, the difference was like heaven and earth, with no basis for comparison. Yet in the end, the Organization of Water still managed to catch the Grey-cloaked People’s tail, so everything comes down to an opportunity.

It was just a small chance that Yang Yi and his team got, and with it, they pried open a big door.

Data kept streaming in continuously. However, it was up to Yang Yi and his team to analyze and summarize which pieces of the excessively complicated data were truly valuable and could be called intelligence.

In the information era, one could easily obtain a vast amount of information. But discerning which was junk and which was valuable required the judgment of the information receiver themselves.

All those who had no immediate tasks at hand were involved in analysis work, which of course included Yang Yi. But he quickly realized that this job was really not for just anyone.

"This job really suits Mike better..."

The one who made the remark wasn’t Yang Yi, it was Brian.

After all, Brian belonged to the action department, and Mike was from the intelligence department. This kind of work, collecting data and then analyzing which were valuable, was what Mike excelled at. As for Brian, what he was skilled at was killing.

The one and only true intelligence expert in the Organization of Water was Mike. But Mike had died, and since his death, there had been no one in the Organization of Water who could replace him.

Yang Yi also felt a sense of loss; his extraordinary memory didn’t mean that his judgment was equally extraordinary. Moreover, memory couldn’t replace the predictive work that required long-term training and a great deal of experience.

Finally, Yang Yi couldn’t bear it any longer, and he said loudly, "Send this information to the cleaners; let their people help us with the analysis."

It was a time when the Organization of Water and the cleaners were working together on a joint operation. Since it was a cooperative period, it was naturally time to make use of the cleaner’s free labor force.

Yang Yi gestured with his hand, saying, "Quickly send it to the cleaners, otherwise, we won’t be able to analyze a result by tomorrow."

Just then, Tang Guo spoke up urgently, "Wait, don’t just send it; do you want to be implanted with a trojan or a virus by the cleaners? Let me do it."

Yang Yi agreed repeatedly, "Right, right, your thoughtfulness is what we need, you do it."

With the compliment, Tang Guo smiled sweetly and then said loudly, "Give me a disposable phone. I have plenty of bots here. Let me transfer the files, and in the end, they can only be traced back to the bots."

"Bots", as referred to by Tang Guo, were personal computers controlled by hackers, also known as zombie machines. Tang Guo could completely control a computer in any corner of the world to transfer data to the cleaners. Then if the cleaners wanted to send back a trojan or a virus or anything of the sort, they would only reach that particular bot.

One must always guard against others, and even though he was currently in a collaborative relationship with the cleaner, he couldn’t bear the thought of someone secretly prying into his secrets. For Tang Guo, the hacker, preventing any vulnerabilities to attacks had become instinctive.

Yang Yi didn’t know the specifics of how to do it, but all he needed to know was that Tang Guo could handle it.

After making a phone call and instructing the cleaner to receive the data, analyze it quickly, and then send him the results, Yang Yi suddenly remembered a problem.

His satellite phone was supplied by the cleaner, who was also in charge of protecting it from eavesdropping. This meant it was possible all his calls were being monitored by them. In that case, what was the point of guarding a single data transfer?

Upon this realization, Yang Yi was indeed disheartened and couldn’t help but say with a bitter smile, "Maybe I should just forget it. My calls are definitely being monitored by the cleaner. What’s the point of taking these precautions? Might as well be generous about it."

Tang Guo, curious, said, "Your phone is being monitored? Then why not change it?"

Yang Yi, feeling helpless, replied, "Either I’m monitored by an agency like the CIA or by the cleaner. In any case, avoiding surveillance is impossible. Given the current situation, it’s better to let the cleaner monitor. At least the cleaner is our ally."

Tang Guo stuck out her tongue and said, "That’s true. It’s quite depressing when you think about it. Unless we had our own satellite network, but that’s unlikely."

The feeling of identifying a problem but being unable to solve it was awful.

It was then that Xiao Ran said, "Schultz has said that all the information that could be found has already been copied over. Perhaps with time, more could be uncovered, but for now, there’s nothing else to be found."

Yang Yi glanced at his watch; it was already past two in the morning. He stood up from his seat, stretched lazily, and said loudly, "Then let’s send all the data to the cleaner and everybody go rest. Perhaps by tomorrow, we’ll have the results we want."

Brian immediately pushed his computer to one side and, with an impatient look, said, "Isn’t it time to find a professional intelligence analyst? And not just one, we’d do well to find several."

No wonder Justin in Ukraine only wanted intelligence analysts and not people like Roman who were just responsible for operations. For those in intelligence, analysis was much more important than operations. There’s specialization in every profession, and you have to respect it.

Yang Yi had money now, but he was short on people. If the Organization of Water was to fine-tune its specializations, those responsible for operations were indeed abundant and formidable in strength. But as for the intelligence department, sorry, not a single professional.

But with money, finding people would be much easier.

Yang Yi sighed and said, "It is time to find some professionals, but it’s too late to find someone now, isn’t it?"

Brian spread his hands and said, "If this situation continues, it’s right to start looking now. We can’t depend on the cleaner for everything."

Better to patch the pen after losing the sheep than never at all, and sharpening the axe will not delay the work of cutting wood. With little thought, Yang Yi felt Brian’s words made sense and nodded, "Alright, I’ll start looking for someone right now."

Brian spread his hands and asked, "How? Where do you find someone you can trust?"

Yang Yi sighed and said, "That’s the problem. I can’t exactly recruit from the CIA or the cleaner. Ah, I need to hurry but can only take it slow."