Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 768 - 773: The Unknown Martyr

Chapter 768: Chapter 773: The Unknown Martyr

Yang Yi had imagined various scenarios for Brian and Annastasia’s reunion, the most likely one being that the two would embrace tightly, lost in silence for a long time.

But it obviously was not like that now.

Annastasia seemed very elegant, very calm, and perhaps too calm.

Thinking about it, arranging to meet in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is hardly normal; if it were a pair of lovers longing for each other, how could they possibly agree to meet in such a place?

Annastasia and Brian were both gazing at each other.

There was a faint smile on Annastasia’s face, while the fervor on Brian’s face gradually faded until he too was completely calm.

Decades of love awaited, decades of faith held fast, but now it seems not so steadfast.

There was no deep affection in their gaze. After an opening remark, they both fell into silence. After looking at each other for a full minute, Brian finally said softly, "How have you been?"

"I’m fine."

An uninspired dialogue, but after Annastasia said she was fine, she hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "No, I’m not fine, actually I’ve been very unhappy these years. What about you? Have you been well over the years?"

"How are you? I’m fine. And you? I’m also fine."

That’s what a normal conversation should be, but after Annastasia’s question, Brian fell into a long contemplation.

"Over these years... I was supposed to be fine, but now, I’m not so sure, um, I haven’t been well, you know. The days in the black prison certainly weren’t good."

Annastasia glanced towards Yang Yi and them, then smiled and said, "The people you brought?"

Brian also looked back and then said with a face full of emotion, "Yes, the people I brought."

Yang Yi knew that Brian’s heart must be very cold at the moment, because Annastasia’s demeanor seemed in no way like that of a lover, especially not the demeanor expected of someone reuniting with a lover after decades apart.

Just as I thought, how can one trust the KGB, especially believing that a KGB swallow would fall in love with their target? That’s simply preposterous.

Annastasia looked at Brian again. After sizing him up, she said softly, "Where has your hair gone?"

Brian touched the top of his head with a hand filled with sentiment and said, "My hair unfeelingly left me because I’ve gotten old."

"It’s not because you got old, but because you have the genes for baldness."

Annastasia had aged too, but her figure was still good, not the usual corpulence of Russian matrons her age. Her face could no longer be called beautiful, and there was a lot of white in her hair.

But the aged Annastasia was elegant and graceful, no longer youthful, but still beautiful.

Annastasia gently stroked her hair and then said softly, "We’ve both gotten old."

Brian looked on, lost in thought, and said, "Yes, we’ve both gotten old..."

Annastasia chuckled softly, "Someone called me and asked if I was willing to see someone named Brian. I knew it was you, but I had really not expected the day to come when I could see you again."

Brian forced a smile and said, "Yes, under normal circumstances I should’ve been dead by now, and even if not dead, there’s no way I could ever leave prison. Even if I escaped from the prison, it wouldn’t be possible to see you. I believe it’s God’s will; He wanted me to see you again, so I came."

Annastasia pressed her lips together lightly and then took a breath, quietly saying, "I have complex feelings about you."

At that moment, Brian simply stopped talking.

It was over. Everything was over. Brian knew it, Yang Yi knew it, Kate and Xiao Ran knew it too.

How could a KGB swallow possibly fall in love with her target?

Annastasia continued in her calm and elegant manner, "You were my first target, and my only mission. I was trained for seven years, but after I successfully turned you, my mission ended, and so did my career as a spy."

Brian sighed softly and then said with a look of dismay, "So it was all fake..."

Annastasia shook her head, and then she looked at Brian with a sense of helplessness, "Sometimes I really wonder how you became the captain of Pandora. Didn’t the CIA ever test your psychological quality?"

Brian turned his face away, remaining silent for a while. Then, turning back to her, he spoke in a low voice, "My psychological quality is not bad. It’s just that I made a mistake with you, made one mistake..."

"As a spy, isn’t making one mistake enough?"

Brian had no words in response.

Annastasia said in a soft voice, "Actually, you are a very naive person."

Brian gave a wry smile, then he lifted his hand, feebly waved it, and said quietly, "Should I quietly turn around and leave, or should I embrace you before I go?"

Annastasia shook her head with a smile, then she looked towards the eternal flame in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Brian’s face was ashen. He glanced at Yang Yi, his eyes void of life, then he made a gesture to signal Yang Yi and the others that it was time to leave.

Just then, Annastasia said in a low voice, "I personally sent you to prison, then I returned to my country as a meritorious officer. Because of your special identity, I no longer had to go on any missions abroad, so I was placed at Moscow University’s Department of Foreign Languages as a teacher."

Brian turned back again.

Annastasia sighed, "My career as a spy was doomed to be used just once, only once. After sending you to prison, I was imprisoned too, but unlike you, my prison had no walls."

Brian said in a low voice, "Doesn’t the KGB treat its heroes quite well?"

Annastasia let out a slight chuckle, then she continued, "This is my first time here, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, to take a look. Do you know why?"

Pointing her finger at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Annastasia said with a calm face, "From the moment I became part of the KGB, a spot here was reserved for me. No one knows my name, no one knows what I did. The moment the Soviet Union collapsed, I was officially buried here. I am still alive, but my youth and my heart are both buried in there."

Annastasia drew back her hand, holding her purse with both hands, turned towards Brian, and said calmly, "No one likes to see their own grave, nor do I, so this is my first time coming here."

Brian was already confused. He didn’t know what Annastasia was truly thinking.

Annastasia watched Brian for a moment, then she once again reached up to brush her hair and smiled, "You were my first and only target to turn, which means you are the only person I have ever loved. I came here to see you and, incidentally, to reminisce and pay my respects to myself."