Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 113 - 103: A Few Words

Chapter 113: Chapter 103: A Few Words

This is moving too fast.

Gao Yi wanted to throw out bait by offering US$300,000 to see if Grasse was interested in making money and whether he could pull him into the scheme.

The benefits of doing so were numerous: first, to gauge Grasse’s attitude, then his capability, and besides, the US$300,000 was a total sum, but Grasse would be paid based on the amount of work he did, and it might not be necessary to pay in full in the end.

But Grasse even wanted to gulp it all down in one bite, honestly, it wasn’t that Gao Yi was unwilling, but that he didn’t quite trust him.

From this moment on, the tables had turned.

Desirelessness rendered one immune to all poisons, but once one coveted the US$300,000, Grasse had to demonstrate his skills to the person paying—the "father" of the contract.

"The Defense Clandestine Service was newly established, short on staff, and its functions not very clear, but why did the Pentagon set up the Defense Clandestine Service? It was because the Pentagon and CIA have always been at odds, with deep-seated conflicts."

Without needing to be asked by Gao Yi, Grasse began to speak on his own; anyways, these matters were not secrets in real intelligence agencies, they were semi-public.

He previously refused to speak about it; that was just Grasse pretending to be too lazy to discuss it, but now, he had to adopt the right attitude.

"So, the CIA never provides intelligence voluntarily to the Pentagon, which makes the Pentagon very uncomfortable. Many times, operational failures have been largely due to the CIA’s untimely and inaccurate intelligence. To improve this situation, the Pentagon established the Defense Clandestine Service, whose main function is to collect military intelligence, which actually completely overlaps with the CIA’s functions. In other words, whatever the CIA does, we do too."

After taking a deep breath, Grasse said solemnly, "The Pentagon can’t provide enough budget for the Clandestine Service, and the CIA is not only the largest intelligence agency in the United States, we simply can’t compete with them and have to also endure their covert obstruction and attacks. Therefore, so far, the Clandestine Service has only been able to focus on military intelligence."

Unsurprisingly, Grasse was about to transition.

"But!"

Grasse confidently said, "The Clandestine Service is ultimately an intelligence agency of the Pentagon, so in terms of military intelligence, we are more professional and thorough than the CIA. Moreover, the Clandestine Service is really part of the military, so our operations are guaranteed maximum support from the military, something the CIA cannot match."

Gao Yi nodded and said solemnly, "Yes, yes! You’re right!"

Grasse confidently asked, "Tell me about the situation with the Plunderer Mercenary Corps."

Gao Yi immediately signaled Lin Xianghua.

Lin Xianghua approached, and Gao Yi said, "Introduce the Plunderers’ situation, more details."

Lin Xianghua thought for a moment and said, "The Plunderer Mercenary Corps... uh, the numbers fluctuate between thirty and fifty members; the personnel are not very fixed. The leader, Plunderer, has about ten people who are his regular squad; they’ve been together for many years, combat capability is strong. Plunderer is American, he previously served in the Ranger forces, and his men are likely comrades."

Grasse shook his head and said, "Named after the leader, Plunderer Mercenary Corps, and only thirty to fifty members?"

"Yes."

Grasse immediately asked, "Where are they, in Iraq, right?"

Lin Xianghua looked at Gao Yi, who said, "Tell whatever you know."

"Seems like they’re not in Iraq, I heard they were hired in Yemen by the Saudi forces to fight against Houthi’s Arms, uh, but I’m not sure, just heard it..."

Grasse raised his hand and said, "That’s enough, so completely wiping out the Plunderer Mercenary Corps will do, right?"

Lin Xianghua quickly said, "No, just need to take out Plunderer himself; there’s someone in the mercenary group who’s my friend, uh, he warned me he was getting betrayed and to get out soon."

Grasse frowned and said, "That complicates things a lot. You’d better inform your friend to leave. Honestly, once we start taking action, I’m not sure I can protect any specific individual within their ranks, but if you warn them in advance, it could lead to information leaks, which makes my job more difficult."

Gao Yi turned to Lin Xianghua and said, "Contact your friend, have you contacted him?"

Lin Xianghua shook his head, whispering, "He said not to contact him anymore, to avoid letting Plunderer know he was the snitch."

Grasse lightly tapped the table twice with his finger, then suddenly said, "Contact him, ask about Plunderer’s specific location, current numbers, and what combat mission they’re undertaking. If possible, he won’t get hurt; if not, tell him to leave early."

It wasn’t clear what Grasse meant by ’if possible,’ but seeing Gao Yi nodding, Lin Xianghua took out the satellite phone.

"He has a satellite phone, but I don’t know if I can reach him..."

Lin Xianghua took a few steps and dialed the phone, after waiting a bit, he began nodding excitedly, then whispered lowly, "Buddy, how’s it going?"

Lin Xianghua turned on the speakerphone.

"Not great, it’s hot, no air conditioning, just spending every day in boredom."

Lin Xianghua chuckled nervously, "Can you speak freely?"

"Yes, it’s calm right now, no battles, everyone is just idling."

"I haven’t thanked you for the last time, thanks, brother."

"No problem, don’t mention it, and no need to thank me; anything else?"

Lin Xianghua quickly said, "I’ve joined a new mercenary group, the boss is really good, a base salary of ten thousand per month plus combat allowances, I can make about thirty thousand a month, mostly not too dangerous, definitely no suicide missions. Wanna come over?"

"Really?"

"Why would I lie to you, pal? How much are you making now?"

"Six thousand, just six thousand with a thousand per battle, but I’ve been here in Aden for a month and only fought once, no money to be made."

Lin Xianghua whispered lowly, "Can you leave?"

"Can’t, the contract period isn’t up yet, buddy, I’ll leave right after it ends and contact you then, how about that?"

Lin Xianghua looked at Gao Yi, nodded by Gao Yi, and Grasse made an OK gesture.

"Alright, wait for my call, my boss is impressive, maybe he can get you out of your contract early, plus, it’s all pre-paid here."

"Really! Can I bring a couple buddies?"

"Are they reliable, your friends?"

"Yes, yes, four of us, you know them, absolutely reliable, buddy, which mercenary group did you join? Never heard of such good terms before."

Lin Xianghua whispered lowly, "I have to consult with my boss before I can tell you. Wait for my call, I might call you anytime, don’t miss it."

"Alright, alright! I’ll definitely wait for your call."

Lin Xianghua hung up the phone and said to Grasse, "Aden."

"I heard."

Grasse stood up; he addressed Gao Yi, "I’ll handle it. You wait for my message, should have news by this evening, and a result by dawn tomorrow."

So soon?

Gao Yi nodded, "Okay, then I’ll wait for your good news."

Grasse nodded, picked up a half bottle of beer from the table, downed it in one gulp, exhaled, and turned to leave.

Reaching the door, he got into his own car and drove back to his workplace at maximum speed.

The US Army still had a small contingent stationed in Baghdad, and even if it was just one soldier, that soldier would definitely be under the Pentagon’s command. Thus, Grasse’s office was in the US Army’s command headquarters in Baghdad.

Grasse hurried back to his office, opened the drawer, and began sifting through a stack of confidential files. He then pulled out a dossier on the Saudi Coalition Forces’ battle operations in Yemen against Houthi’s Arms.

Opening it, he didn’t even take a look before twisting around to leave.

Walking through the hallway, he knocked on a door.

"Come in."

Grasse pushed the door, respectfully saying, "Officer."

A man in casual clothes sat behind a desk, appearing very relaxed, but when he saw it was Grasse entering, the man behind the desk leisurely said, "What is it?"

This is how most bosses treated such a diligent worker with no special performance who had not made any mistakes: nothing impressive enough to take to heart.

Grasse presented the intelligence dossier, and then he stated gravely, "I’ve discovered an Iranian spy who has been crucial in multiple battles between the Saudi and Houthi forces."

The officer immediately showed interest, expressing surprise, "Oh, an Iranian spy?"

"Not a spy dispatched by Iran but a mercenary corps bought off by Iran, more like informants, but this mercenary group has caused significant damage in several small-scale battles in Yemen. I have reason to believe that at least two battle losses were due to this mercenary group providing intelligence to Houthi’s Arms, resulting in the loss of seven men from the coalition forces."

The initially piqued interest vanished instantly.

To the officer, a person hardly qualifying as a spy and one of many informants, who are ideally few and far between, then in Yemen and not within his jurisdiction, and lastly, only seven people were dead, and they weren’t Americans.

Was such a case even worth personally reporting?

The officer listlessly waved his hand and told Grasse, "Alright, notify Saudi to clean them up, anything else?"

"Nothing more, Officer."

"Mm, go handle it."

"Yes, Officer."

Grasse turned and left the officer’s office, returned to his own office, casually placed the unopened dossier back in the drawer, and picked up the phone to dial a number.

"Hello, Baghdad branch, buddy, I’ve found a rat here, the Plunderer Mercenary Corps, they are financed by the Iranian side and have provided a lot of intelligence to Houthi’s Arms."

"The Plunderer Mercenary Corps?"

Grasse indifferently said, "I have detailed information here; do you need me to send it over?"

"No need, just a mercenary group, clean them up, I’ll notify the coalition command, thanks, buddy."

Grasse smiled slightly and said, "Can you capture them and send them here? I want to dig into what’s going on on this side in Iraq, buddy, I don’t have much going on here, can you help me out?"

"If we can capture them alive, we’ll send them over; if not, then there’s nothing to be done, you know, dealing with mercenaries is fairly dangerous, and they are usually dealt with directly."

Grasse shrugged, thought for a moment, feeling nothing was missed, and then called Gao Yi, saying, "All set."