Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 398 - 380: Speaking of Intuition

Chapter 398: Chapter 380: Speaking of Intuition

Gao Yi felt as if he had a nightmare.

The content of the nightmare was an exam.

What was more terrifying was that it was not a dream, it was reality.

When a teacher gives a question, one must answer, regardless of whether the answer is right or wrong; the key was that he definitely had to answer.

Gao Yi thought for a long time, then he realized that with the current conditions, the conclusion drawn after serious thought was no different from blindly pointing on a map with his eyes closed, so, the thinking process could essentially be ignored, just as if all multiple-choice questions had the answer "C."

"He will go to Amsterdam!"

Gao Yi replied confidently to Green’s question.

Green did not hesitate in the slightest, he immediately asked, "Reason?"

"I don’t know."

Gao Yi spread his hands clearly, saying, "I guessed."

"No, there is a more suitable way to describe this answer, intuition. You should say it was judged by intuition."

Gao Yi was slightly stunned; he thought that Green would at least scorn him if not outright scold him.

Green pointed to his head and said, "Intuition is a very precious ability. Some people have highly accurate intuition. If your intuition is precise, then you can always use your own intuition. But, I would prefer you to randomly mention a place by intuition, rather than use a mode of thinking based on erroneous foundations to come to a wrong conclusion."

Green’s teaching method was really strange.

Gao Yi thought about it; he seemed to have never had any teacher teach him this way.

Green continued, "I have emphasized many times that any effort based on wrong foundations will lead to the worst outcome. It’s better to do nothing at all than to do something wrong."

Gao Yi finally said, "Alright, you are right!"

Green took out a map, a paper, large-scale tourist map.

Then Green started to draw lines on the map, marking the city where Iron Fist George had just left.

"As the largest city closest to Rotterdam and also a major city in the Netherlands, you think Iron Fist George will go to Amsterdam and there is no problem with that, so this is a judgment based on the most basic geographical information, with no issues."

It was the first time in his life that Gao Yi was praised by a teacher for a randomly guessed answer; if it had been his grandfather teaching him Kung Fu, his grandfather would have definitely kicked him.

After hesitating repeatedly, Gao Yi finally said, "Otherwise, you better explain in detail, or simply scold me; by spoiling me like this, I’m a bit uncomfortable."

Green continued expressionlessly, "Being a spy, the most important thing is to seek truth. Deliberately released false information or clues pointing to false intelligence are too common, strategic deception, phishing, traps, conspiracies, these words are what spies face the most. How to find the truth in extremely complex fake information, how to avoid being tricked by false clues, these are essential basics."

It’s still the basics, but these basics were advanced secrets to Gao Yi, something he had never encountered before.

"But you said you would teach me how to think, but this method of purely guessing clearly has nothing to do with thinking, right?"

Gao Yi carefully brought up his query, hoping Green would give him some difficulty.

Green spread his hands and said, "The correct way to think is more important than thinking itself. Many important figures do not have high IQs or particularly outstanding abilities, but they are still the best decision-makers, the best leaders. If only verbalizing, a staff officer speaks better than a commander, but it is the commander who makes the decisions, not the staff officer, not the entire Staff Department, why?"

Pointing to his head, Green continued, "You may not understand, but having people who do understand is enough. Thus, this lesson tests your attitude, not your ability. And your answer was perfect. You sincerely admitted that you guessed, and that is enough for me. I appreciate very much your frank and direct admission of your limitations, rather than concocting a bunch of meaningless judgmental reasons."

Gao Yi was somewhat dumbfounded.

He had already passed the test, and he had performed perfectly.

Why was it like this?

This was not the kind of exam where scoring high meant getting into a good university; it was a test of growing his abilities. Why would Gao Yi pretend to understand when he did not?

To know when you know, and not to know when you do not know, is knowledge — an education principle for thousands of years, and Gao Yi was by no means foolish.

After a long moment of bewilderment, Gao Yi finally said, "Then how can we judge where Iron Fist George will go next?"

"Just this information, God knows where he wants to go, only God knows where he will go, if you’re playing the role of God, then you can only rely on intuition to guess, so when you say it’s a guess, of course there’s no problem."

Gao Yi was speechless and helpless, he muttered in disbelief, "Can it really be like this?"

"Of course, it can only be like this."

Green shoved the map he was holding into Gao Yi’s hands and said, "The director’s assignment is a pseudo-problem, the conditions provided are invalid false clues. He told me that he knows what to do, it’s to see if you can come up with the correct solution to this problem which inherently has no correct answer."

"Then you also don’t know where Iron Fist George went..."

The answer was correct, but the situation was hopeless.

Green smiled and said, "No, not exactly, you can’t make a valid analysis and then a judgment, but I can."

Gao Yi felt like he was being muddled by Green.

Green said lightly, "First of all, I know Iron Fist George’s background, so I know what he has learned. Knowing what he has learned, I can ascertain his way of thinking, behavior patterns, and his habits. What do you call that? It’s called style. The KGB has the KGB’s style, the CIA has the CIA’s style, and the Military Intelligence Sixth Department certainly has its own style, which is to avoid public transportation as much as possible when needing to escape pursuit."

Gao Yi asked puzzledly, "Oh, why?"

"Don’t be too hasty to ask why, I’ll explain in detail. The reason is simple, because after World War II, the UK lost its status as a superpower; its operations outside its territory couldn’t possibly receive global support like those of the United States and the Soviet Union. Therefore, every act of taking public transportation could mean exposure, especially now with continually advancing technology.

Train stations, airports, whether you use identification or undergo security checks, the moment you step into places like train stations and airports, you’re already captured by numerous cameras. Relying on makeup to avoid all the surveillance is unrealistic and unreliable. Once you enter a plane or a train, such confined spaces also mean losing any chance of escape.

Why do spies always choose to have very ordinary faces? Because it’s too hard to hide if you have distinctive features. For example, if you are two meters tall, your chances of escaping pursuit are almost zero. The reason is simple; there are too few people in the world who are over two meters tall! You can’t hide yourself among ordinary people."

Avoid taking public transport, avoid crowded public places, this is the style of the Military Intelligence Sixth Department, and it specifically applies when trying to evade tracking.

Gao Yi nodded and said, "I understand now."

Green continued, "In Western Europe, the road network is very dense and the roads are in good condition. Avoiding public transportation and not using trains and planes leaves only one option: driving oneself. Driving yourself also means that you can’t travel too long a distance in a short period of time."

Gao Yi immediately said, "But one could just keep driving without stopping, as if they were circumnavigating the world, wouldn’t that prevent them from being discovered?"

"Right, but you overlooked one issue, Iron Fist George isn’t just evading a short-term pursuit; he no longer has a way out, no home that can offer him shelter. Simply put, if Iron Fist George was still an agent of the Military Intelligence Sixth Department, then of course he could keep moving until he got back to his country, and then he’d be safe. But now, it’s not like that; Iron Fist George has to spend the rest of his life on the run. So, if he keeps driving non-stop, what quality of life could he have?"

Gao Yi nodded, sincerely responding, "You’re right, it’s actually a simple concept, but I really hadn’t thought of it until you mentioned it."

Green was pleased with Gao Yi’s eagerness to learn and smiled, "A professionally trained agent knows how to hide himself, and he doesn’t necessarily have a specific place he needs to go to, so God knows where his next destination is. But if you know his personality and style, then even if he makes choices subconsciously, or even if he flips a coin to decide his direction, you can still roughly guess where he’s headed, why?"

"Why?"

"Because his style has already limited his options broadly. To put it another way, if he flips a coin to decide whether to go southeast or southwest, no matter how he flips the coin, he only has these two directions to choose from."

Gao Yi nodded repeatedly.

Green smiled and said, "Intelligence based on the correct foundation is valuable. For instance, I know Iron Fist George is six foot four. Now that you have this correct clue, do you have any new ideas?"

This question was different from the previous one.

Gao Yi’s mind was still blank. He thought hard but could find no direction. Just as he was about to confess his ignorance again, he suddenly thought of something.

Green had mentioned height, so he considered it from that perspective.

"The Netherlands has the highest average height in the world."

After speaking, Gao Yi looked nervously at Green.

Green nodded and smiled, "Yes, the Netherlands has the highest average height globally. In other places, being six foot four is considered tall, but in the Netherlands, it’s quite ordinary and common."

Finally, a correct guess, or rather, a correct judgment was made for once. Gao Yi was very happy and continued, "The Germans are also quite tall. In Berlin, being six foot four isn’t too unusual."

Green sighed and said, "Yes, in the Netherlands, Iron Fist George can blend in better with the crowd, not stand out as a giant, not remembered by people inside a restaurant due to his height. Excessively distinctive features are fatal for someone needing to hide. The best hiding place for a drop of water is the ocean, the best hiding place for a sardine is within a school of sardines. So, Iron Fist George would be in the Netherlands."

"Amsterdam is the largest city closest to Rotterdam and also has many tall people, so saying that..."

Gao Yi uncertainly said, "Is Iron Fist George really going to Amsterdam?"

Green smiled and answered, "It’s at least one of the most likely places. We aren’t God, so we can only wait in the most likely places. If we get definite intelligence that he’s in Amsterdam, we can act immediately. So, we’re going to Amsterdam, now."