Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 394 - 376 Mind Reading Technique

Chapter 394: Chapter 376 Mind Reading Technique

Strictly speaking, even good policies must be implemented, and though John’s assurance was pleasing, it actually needed to be executed before being taken seriously.

John’s words sounded fine, but it remained to be seen whether he would truly act on them.

Frankly, Gao Yi didn’t fully trust John’s altruistic promises, even though he couldn’t spot any fault in John. It was just that, instinctively, he was wary of things falling into one’s lap like a pie from the sky.

"I have found you a decent mentor," John mentioned, "a former member of the Military Intelligence Sixth Department’s action office, specialized in assassination. After his field duties, he was responsible for VIP protection—not as a human shield, but as a security consultant."

Efficiency—a term perfectly embodied by John.

Mentioning a mentor for Gao Yi meant that a suitable candidate was already in place.

Gao Yi said, "I’m more interested in Iron Fist George. Where is he?"

"The whereabouts of Iron Fist George need further confirmation through the Andic Group’s channels. He is a fine agent who pays great attention to hiding his tracks, so I can’t give you an unconfirmed address."

High efficiency matched with meticulousness, or rather, high efficiency on the basis of being meticulous.

John coolly said, "Since you’ve agreed to my succession plan, the succession plan starts now. Your situation is very dangerous, more so than you imagine. Thus, it’s crucial that your mentor is in place soon. Additionally, we should avoid meeting unless absolutely necessary, but if your situation becomes extremely perilous, I will sacrifice everything to protect you. Plans can change, but death is final."

Gao Yi was somewhat bewildered by all this, and Luca also asked in surprise, "It starts now?"

"Yes."

John raised his hand slightly to signal someone, and then, a person who was sitting in the restaurant eating fries suddenly stood up, walked past a couple of tables, and sat next to John.

Gao Yi and Luca tried to maintain their composure as they looked over at the person who had just sat down next to John—...an old man.

John himself was no longer young, being in his sixties, but the old man who sat beside him looked even older.

"This is Green Maguire," John introduced. "Green, this is your student and the person you will protect, Gao Busi."

After the brief introduction, Gao Yi noticed that John had used his legal name. Legally speaking, Gao Busi was now his name.

John looked at Gao Yi, "From now on, Green is in charge of protecting and instructing you. He is not your subordinate. Please understand this."

After giving Gao Yi this advice, John said calmly, "I hope you get along well. If things really don’t work out, tell me, and I’ll find you someone else."

Having finished speaking, John got up and said, "I’m pressed for time, so I will leave now. You continue your discussion."

John turned to leave, and Gao Yi instinctively started to stand to see him out, but Green said softly, "Sit down, don’t move. Just watch him go."

Gao Yi and Luca exchanged glances again, both feeling that the situation was a bit odd.

Finally, it was Luca who said, "Just now... um, you mentioned there was a mentor and a beautiful woman. Where is the beautiful woman?"

"I have the budget for any type of beautiful woman you want, but teaching is my responsibility, and for anything like pimping, you better look elsewhere. If you give me grief, I’ll castrate you and stuff it in your mouth."

Green’s demeanor was coarse and his temper fierce.

Gao Yi found it amusing that an old man in his seventies or eighties was supposed to protect him.

Who was protecting whom here?

Gao Yi had no intention of saddling himself with a living ancestor, but just as he was about to diplomatically refuse, Green said nonchalantly, "If you don’t like me, just say so, and I will leave immediately."

Had his thoughts been read?

Hesitating, Gao Yi looked at Green again, about to speak, but Green interjected, "Yes, I can read your mind—your micro-expressions and movements betrayed your thoughts and instincts."

Gao Yi was shocked.

Green continued, "Surprised? This is a basic skill that every spy should have, a skill necessary for an assassin too, although individual aptitude and application effects vary."

Gao Yi whispered, "Has the teaching started already?"

"Everything I do and say is a lesson for you, including fighting skills. At the very least, you should master the right timing to strike."

Coarse, vulgar, and quite arrogant.

Green, who appeared to be at least seventy, had a round face and a slightly rotund figure, which meant his wrinkles weren’t very pronounced, but the flesh on his face had begun to sag.

Standing about 1.8 meters tall, he was quite hunchbacked due to his age.

Dressed in cheap clothes and wearing a large mechanical watch, he placed his left hand, the one with the watch, on the table while his right hand remained underneath, resting on his leg.

Gao Yi respected the elderly, although he couldn’t see anything special about Green. Yet, he believed that a proud person must at least possess some skills, especially since John had chosen him to be his mentor.

What those skills were, he would find out in time.

Gao Yi was raised by his grandfather and therefore, despite not feeling particularly close upon first meeting Green, he didn’t dislike him because he felt an affinity for stern yet kind old people.

However, Luca found it hard to accept Green. Be it the past or the present Garden, he seemed never to have been given much importance.

At least John hadn’t shown any particular concern for Luca just now.

Now, Green also lacked enough respect for Luca.

Though not hostile towards Green, Luca at least wanted to figure out what his capabilities were.

"How much do you know about our relationship? I mean, do you understand our identities?"

Green glanced at Luca and said, "I am completely uninterested in your identities."

Luca felt completely unable to communicate with Green. He still trusted John but couldn’t trust Green, whom he had just met.

Luca turned to Gao Yi and whispered, "About what comes next, this..."

Green suddenly said, "You had better be polite to me, because in the coming days, you are in the greatest danger. Of all the people around Gao Busi, you face the most jeopardy."

Luca’s mouth twitched as he said, "You, you..."

"Yes, you might think I have the Mind Reading Technique."

Unabashedly showcasing his ability to read micro-expressions, Green turned to Gao Yi and said, "Among your many collaborators, there aren’t many targets the Andic Group can strike, such as your ally Grasse at the Pentagon. He won’t be an assassination target for Andic because he’s an official from the Ministry of Defense’s Secret Action Bureau and is with the Pentagon, and the NSA is under the Pentagon. With this in mind, the Andic Group won’t kill him."

Gao Yi looked at Green in surprise, and Green continued, "But it’s different for him. He manages your money, he is your important aide, and killing him won’t have repercussions. Hence, he’d better not act alone anymore because once total war begins, valuable or not, the people around you must die."

Gao Yi thought this made sense.

After pondering for a moment, Gao Yi addressed Green, "So what do you suggest we do next?"

"Gather your people, although the target might become larger, more people mean more targets, increasing the difficulty of taking you down. Increased difficulty requires more intricate plans, which take more time. In sum, even if all the people around you are useless, having them around still has its advantages."

Luca complained, "Hey, please be more respectful when you speak. What do you mean by ’useless’?"

"’Useless’ is just a metaphor. I don’t think you are all useless; in my view, even trash has recyclable value, so there are actually very few true wastes in the world, much like true geniuses."

Green looked at his oversized mechanical watch and then said to Gao Yi, "We need an event to test whether the Andic Group is keeping real-time track of your whereabouts, to see their reaction and the methods they can employ. The greatest danger now is the unknown. Testing it will yield much useful information. The event is prepared—it’s Iron Fist George. But we need the director to confirm Iron Fist George’s location. I think it should be within two days, so it would be best if your people could gather within two days."

Gao Yi, surprised, said, "Director?"

"The director is John; in his movies, the director controls everything."

John’s nickname was apparently ’Director,’ which sounded quite cool.

Gao Yi murmured, "Then we go to Paris, since it involves the operation against Iron Fist George, and I have some business to handle in Paris too."

"Okay, I will arrange the flight."

Gao Yi immediately said, "We have a private plane available."

"A private plane is the easiest way to expose your whereabouts—no contest."

Green didn’t hesitate to tactfully decline Gao Yi’s suggestion. He took out his phone and began looking up flight information. After a short while, he naturally said, "There’s a flight to Rome in four hours. We’ll go there and then catch a connecting flight to Paris."

Gao Yi, puzzled, asked, "Why take a connecting flight?"

"For no particular reason; I just chose a random flight."

"Then why not fly directly? Why not go straight to Paris? I just want to know—is it necessary to be so cautious?"

After speaking, Gao Yi hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to be frank. He whispered, "I can tell you that, actually, my identity information and personal data are hidden by the CIA, FBI, and NSA. I am invisible, and neither the Dark Web nor any network can trace me."

Green laughed, displaying a mouthful of teeth that weren’t particularly neat or white.

"It seems you know nothing about your own situation."

After sighing, Green opened the palm of his left hand and said, "Let me show you what the real world is like, so you can understand the situation you’re in. Right now, all I can say is, don’t be a techno-idealiste; your so-called invisibility is a joke."