Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 960 - 965 - Conditions

Chapter 960: 965 Chapter Conditions

Everything was under control, except for one thing.

Why did Porter introduce himself again when they had already met? It seemed very deliberate and abrupt.

Besides this confusion, everything else seemed normal for Yang Yi.

Especially since Porter would allow him to continue the covert investigation of Aaron, it was not only the best outcome, it truly exceeded Yang Yi’s expectations with the speed at which Porter made his decision.

It couldn’t get better than this, so what exactly had happened?

Of course, although Yang Yi was puzzled, he knew what to do.

Expressions were crucial, demeanor was important, he could not afford mistakes; the beginning was perfect, but the subsequent process was equally important and could not tolerate errors.

Temporarily putting his doubts aside, after a moment of silence, Yang Yi briefly showed a mix of helplessness and annoyance, then masked those emotions and said somewhat helplessly to Porter, "Well, since this is an order, I guess I have no choice but to obey, right? It seems I don’t have a choice."

The expression on Yang Yi’s face conveyed multiple meanings, hoping Porter would understand them all; yet he harbored an unspoken thought, striving to keep Porter from seeing it. However, due to Porter’s keen observation, this veiled intention could not escape him.

He truly did not want to carry out this so-called secret mission, that was Yang Yi’s true feeling, but he had no choice, so he agreed to Porter’s request. Yet, the thought he concealed was that since they were forcing him, they shouldn’t blame him for not being nice.

And what kind of being not nice? Even siding with Aaron was an option, depending merely on circumstances.

In essence, Yang Yi behaved like a complete individualist.

Concealing his true thoughts, layering one false emotion over another for the audience, this required significant acting skill and similarly high discernment from the audience. If Porter couldn’t discern what Yang Yi was trying to convey, then his acting was wasted.

Fortunately, Porter was an exceptionally perceptive audience, not many in the world better than him.

Porter smiled and then said gently, "You’re right, you have no choice. But I know you don’t really believe that, do you?"

Yang Yi just appeared puzzled.

Porter sighed and said, "Stop pretending, it’s pointless. Do you think you can escape? Trust me, whatever posture you adopt, Aaron’s only option is to kill you because you know too much, though you have no evidence."

Yang Yi’s face turned slightly grim, but he still smiled and said, "No, I think you misunderstand me. I’m not foolish; I obviously understand the situation I’m facing."

Porter spoke earnestly, "No, actually you don’t understand. Do you realize what Aaron stands for? Other than collaborating with us, you have no other choices. You are wealthy, you wield power, but compared to Aaron, your so-called wealth and power are laughable. You want to preserve everything you’ve already acquired? Let me tell you, just coming here to tell us that Aaron is a mole is far from enough."

Yang Yi fell silent; he said no more.

Porter calmly stated, "I need you because you’re best suited to continue investigating Aaron. Therefore, I need you to carry out this secret mission until you find solid evidence."

Yang Yi exhaled and then said gravely, "If I could have done it, I wouldn’t need to be here."

Porter raised his hand and said, "You can do it; I trust you can do it. You have the capability, and now you have my support."

Yang Yi pondered for a moment, then said, "I have a condition. If my condition is not met, then I refuse to carry out this order."

"Speak."

Yang Yi unhesitatingly said, "I must be able to maintain my own wealth. The CIA must not interfere and seize it—it’s mine, earned by myself, unrelated to the CIA, and irrelevant to any of you. If anyone targets it, I won’t just hand it over."

Porter smiled and said, "Of course, I can agree to that. You belong to the CIA, but your possessions are yours."

Yang Yi expressionlessly said, "I’ve brought a few people out of Pelican Bay Prison, and they all work for me now. You need to clear their criminal records for them, whether it’s a pardon or some other method doesn’t matter; I want them to be able to appear freely in the United States without worrying about being arrested."

Porter immediately replied, "Of course, they are your people and still need to work for you; then I certainly need to ensure their identities are appropriate."

Yang Yi sighed and said, "If, I mean if the true face of Aaron is revealed, you must agree to restore the honor of the Magic Box Squadron."

Porter’s face turned sour, then he said sternly, "What do you mean, Brian did not betray?"

"Not..."

"That’s right, since Brian did indeed turn, how can I restore his honor? Yes, he became Aaron’s scapegoat, but you need to understand, he gave Aaron that chance by betraying, so I can’t agree to that."

"I’m talking about restoring the honor of the Magic Box Squadron, not Brian."

Porter sighed and said, "Though your condition is a bit vague, but I can agree to it."

Yang Yi thought for a bit, then said solemnly, "There’s one more condition, I need to operate in my own way, none of you can interfere, and about the funding, how do you plan to provide it—no, I retract that condition, I can cover all the expenses myself, but you can’t interfere."

Yang Yi was driving a hard bargain, waiting for Porter to give in in return.

"No interference? Hmm, actually, to maintain confidentiality, I hadn’t planned to allot many people for you to command, which essentially means we can’t interfere. And about the funding, if you can cover it yourself, that’s even better; I’d save myself the hassle of figuring out under what guise to provide you funds... but if you think you can work as before, you’re mistaken."

Yang Yi was taken aback, asking, "What do you mean?"

Porter shrugged and said, "It means you’ll be working for the CIA now. From now on, you’re an agent of the Security Section—this will be your public identity, which means you’ll need to carry out the secret mission under the guise of a CIA agent."

Yang Yi paused for a moment, then frowned, "Moving from behind the scenes to the front stage isn’t good for my mission."

Porter calmly stated, "There’s no other choice because you’ve been exposed. If you continue using your old role for the mission, what would be different from before? You need a legitimate reason to interact with Aaron, no matter how you disguise, it’s more convenient using your identity as an agent of the Management Department."

Yang Yi still seemed hesitant, but Porter smiled and said, "I’ll try to meet all your conditions, but it’s impossible to gain benefits without paying some price."