Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 116 - 106: Sphere of Influence

Chapter 116: Chapter 106: Sphere of Influence

They’re willing to pave the way with their own money. Grins got the idea; his mindset expanded, and his future brightened.

Gao Yi went in first. Without saying much, he addressed a few people: "All of you, come out."

Everyone, including the five lucky ones who had been rescued, all came outside the cabin.

It was still not fully light outside, and not too hot yet.

"How is it?"

Luca whispered the question in Gao Yi’s ear, then looked back with a worried glance, "Let him handle it?"

"Yes."

Luca was somewhat relieved. He exhaled softly and whispered, "Letting him do it is good. We’ll wait."

Suddenly, a sharp scream came from the cabin. Though faint, coming from close to the cabin, it was still a discernible wail—its shrillness and intensity immediately identifiable.

Luca froze for a moment, then said, "It would be over in a second to kill him; why does he scream so miserably?"

Gao Yi wasn’t just explaining to Luca alone. He raised his voice slightly and said to the few people in front of him, "It’s fine, it’s fine; just routine questioning."

None of them dared to make a noise because these mercenaries close to Lin Xianghua knew the situation was absolutely different from what they had known before.

The sharp and short screams turned into continuous and drawn-out wails. The pitch of the cries was erratic, indefinable, but it was clear that the Plunderer was suffering greatly. He was truly in agony.

About half an hour later, the sky got a bit lighter, but the temperature had not risen yet.

Then, suddenly, the door opened.

Was it over?

Guerra stood at the door, urgently saying to Gao Yi, "Come in and help me."

What else could he possibly help with? Gao Yi could only enter, and then he saw Guerra, with a face full of ecstatic joy, whisper to him, "This guy, really! He’s really been selling intelligence to Iran!"

It was somewhat surprising, but not too surprising.

The surprise was that the Plunderer could actually make contact with Iran.

What wasn’t surprising was that the Plunderer was clearly the type who liked to sell intelligence; anything and anyone could be utilized for maximum benefit in his hands.

Lin Xianghua was brought by the Plunderer Mercenary Corps to take down Gray Horace. But after realizing Gray was not easy to kill—at least not a job the Mercenary Group could handle with ease—the Plunderer decisively sold out his own men.

The most important thing was that he only sold for ten thousand dollars. This showed that the Plunderer was indeed a principled man; regardless of the amount, as long as it could be sold, it was good.

With the Plunderer’s greed at its peak, if there was important intelligence that could fetch a great price, could he really keep it hidden?

Personality determines fate. The Plunderer’s downfall was rightfully earned.

"What would happen if he really sold intelligence?"

To Gao Yi’s question, Grins said with almost grateful enthusiasm, "That would mean he’s a real spy! No need to frame, no need to entrap, no need to forge evidence, no need to rely on unverifiable confessions to forcefully resolve the case. I can send him to the Secret Action Bureau for a thorough interrogation, to make him reveal more useful information!"

"There won’t be any problems, right?"

Grins, who had quickly grasped the essence of maximizing benefit, whispered, "The man is in our hands; he is the ironclad evidence of the CIA’s incompetence. Of course, there will be no problem."

Gao Yi whispered, "I mean, the Plunderer must die. If he lives, the money he’s put out could be... inconvenient."

Grins smirked, then whispered, "He’s alive in my hands, but whether he can stay alive once he reaches my superior, that depends on whether his superior wants the money or not. I estimate the process will reach the level of Central Command, and then it’s up to the Pentagon, so the Plunderer cannot leave the Middle East alive."

"What does Central Command mean?"

"The United States has six geographic combatant commands and five functional commands. The Pentagon established the Defense Clandestine Service in alignment with the operational areas under the control of the combatant commands. The Secret Action Bureau is subordinate to the combatant commands but not directly commanded by them; it is directly commanded by the Pentagon."

Grins had no choice but to explain to Gao Yi the structure and scope of their Secret Action Bureau because the next operation had a great deal to do with the Bureau’s scope of power.

"The US Army’s Central Command is responsible for the central area of the global scope, covering Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen."

Having rattled off the list, Grins suppressed his joy and said, "And we belong to the Defense Clandestine Service under Central Command. My boss is the head of the Iraq office. If I hand the Plunderer over to him, he transfers the Plunderer to the regional office of Central Command. The next step would be directly to the headquarters at the Pentagon, and the headquarters will report to the Intelligence Bureau at the Pentagon. At most, four levels are enough."

Reporting up the chain, only four steps were necessary to reach the Pentagon. The efficiency was extremely high.

Seeing that Gao Yi seemed not to fully comprehend the significance, Grins had no choice but to whisper, "Our organization is freshly established. We’re understaffed. The entire Secret Action Bureau under Central Command has only just over a hundred people, definitely fewer than two hundred. In contrast, the CIA has at least five thousand active agents in the Middle East. So you see, our hierarchical structure is extremely straightforward and command flow is highly efficient."

Gao Yi only understood the broader context, but he had neither engaged nor encountered these specific details before. Now he was utterly confused, with no idea of the difference between a bloated organization and a streamlined one.

Seeing that Gao Yi still seemed clueless, Grins, out of options, said in a hushed voice, "If this op goes well, I might directly become the highest-ranking civilian official in Iraq."

"Civilian highest-ranking official? That’s... the second in command?"

Grins nodded and said, "The Defense Clandestine Service is a bit chaotic because it belongs to the military; therefore, most members are military personnel with army ranks. My boss is a Major, while I came from the Department of Homeland Security. I’m a civilian with no military rank, and even if joined the military, I would have to start from scratch in terms of rank. So my promotion and pay are calculated as a civilian directly hired by the army."

Gao Yi still looked puzzled at Grins, who sighed and said, "If I can become the highest-ranking local civilian official, I’ll be content!"

"Then go for it."

Grins smiled and said, "The Plunderer won’t reveal where his money is hidden, he won’t disclose account numbers and passwords. He confesses other things easily, but becomes adamant about these details. So I can’t rush this. I need to interrogate him slowly, but that’s difficult to do alone, I need someone to assist."

After that, Grins seriously added, "How strong is your emotional endurance?"

"Not bad... I guess."

Grins nodded, gestured with his hand, and said, "Come on, then."

Gao Yi followed Grins into a cabin that looked like a shower room. By that time, the Plunderer was thrown on the floor, bruised and swollen. But more importantly, many non-lethal spots on his body were dotted with blood.

Seeing Grins enter, the Plunderer shuddered and pleaded, "No, no, please!"

Grins picked up a cloth and said to Gao Yi, "Give him water torture; you’re responsible for pouring water, and I’ll watch his condition. Don’t let him really suffocate."

These words didn’t need to be hidden. Grins approached the Plunderer while Gao Yi picked up the showerhead.

"No, not..."

If screams and pleas were effective, then there would be no such thing as torture and interrogation.

Gao Yi turned on the showerhead, watching the Plunderer’s frantic struggles slowly subside, then at Grins’ signal, he turned off the water.

Grins removed the soaked cloth and addressed the coughing Plunderer, spewing water from his nose and mouth, "No rush, we’ll take our time, even if you..."

"Account 1234..."

As soon as he could muster the strength to speak, the Plunderer eagerly shouted his account number and password.

Grins and Gao Yi looked at each other.

Gao Yi was surprised, "He gave in so quickly?"

Grins nodded, "Yeah, the CIA’s water torture works pretty well, but this was too quick."

The Plunderer continued pleading, "Take the money, just don’t torture me!"

Grins looked embarrassedly at Gao Yi, who shrugged and said, "I get it. Hold on."

Gao Yi got up, shook off the water from his hands, and went outside. He opened the door and said to Luca, "Come in for a sec."

When Luca entered, Gao Yi whispered, "He started talking about the account and password, but how do we verify it and safely get the money out?"

Luca thought for a moment and said, "Leave it to me; I’ll have a look."

After following Gao Yi into the shower room, Luca saw the situation inside, turned on a recorder placed aside, played back the recording, and noted the account number and password given by the Plunderer.

Grins asked with tension, "How is it?"

"This is an American Bank account, opened in the US mainland. The supervision is quite strict. It’ll be complicated to withdraw the money. We would need those bank card crime syndicates to wire out the money, which requires a fee of five to ten percent. Once the money is wired out, we can engage professional money laundering groups to legally and safely transfer it to you. As long as the amount isn’t too huge, it should be fine."

After explaining, Luca directly asked the Plunderer, "How much is in there?"

"Eight hundred thousand dollars..."

The Plunderer replied weakly. Luca shrugged and then, with a slightly twisted smile, said to Guerra, "Continue. He mentioned having two million. Oh, wait, let me clarify beforehand, we didn’t intend to earn this money, but as the Chief Financial Officer, my fee is five percent."

Guerra smiled and said, "As long as you can cleanly deliver the money to my superiors, whatever amount you say is fine."