Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 408 - 390: Desperately Insane

Chapter 408: Chapter 390: Desperately Insane

The Russians were extremely inefficient.

Sherkin had passed the message a day ago, yet there was still no response. Gao Yi and his team had already moved from the Netherlands to Cologne, Germany, and the Russians hadn’t replied whether they wanted the intelligence or not.

In this time, the American’s funds had already been secured.

Luca was now very busy.

The prowess of Iron Fist George was mediocre at best; defeating him alone hadn’t taken much effort for Gao Yi. However, the gold coins exploded by Iron Fist George were substantial, nearly overwhelming Luca’s security accounts.

Security accounts were the ones Luca meticulously opened to ensure they wouldn’t be targeted by anti-money laundering organizations. These accounts were valuable in themselves. Luca wouldn’t deposit all his money in one account, nor would he deposit two large sums into the same account, to prevent an incident where an account is hacked and all savings drained.

But now, Luca felt the dozen security accounts he had were barely sufficient.

The one hundred million dollars from Northeastern University were divided by Luca into four cards for depositing, but after Panetta added 700 million dollars, it seemed very challenging to manage.

Receiving a deposit of 700 million dollars meant Luca had to split it and deposit it in parts, then shuffle it through various financial channels back.

Gao Yi truly didn’t understand these intricate maneuvers, but seeing Luca busy to the point of nearly smoking from mouthing off, he couldn’t help but challenge Luca’s authority,

"Is all this necessary?"

Luca, busy operating the computer, simply gave Gao Yi a disdainful glance.

"Just put the money in one account, since it has to be returned to Panetta anyway."

Luca couldn’t hold back any longer, he angrily retorted to Gao Yi, "You don’t know a damn thing! Even though we are an assassin organization, we must ensure the financial security of our clients and partners. The Garden’s assassin business can be stagnant, but the financial operations must remain secure and efficient!"

Gao Yi had nothing to say in response.

Luca huffed, "Such a huge sum of money, needing to be returned to the CIA and shared with the Pentagon, and we need to keep some for ourselves. What if it gets flagged by anti-money-laundering organizations?"

"Pretend I didn’t say anything then, you continue."

Gao Yi withdrew awkwardly.

They were currently making a brief stop, and within the next three days, before they resold the intelligence entirely, Gao Yi and his team would keep moving continuously, embodying the essence of being untraceable, making it impossible for any Dark Web assassins to find them.

Although Gao Yi didn’t see much need for this.

But since Green had already instructed it, they would proceed as Green had intended, respecting his expertise and authority.

Leaving Luca’s room in a decently sized chain hotel, Gao Yi was about to go find Lucy when his phone rang.

The call was from Panetta, Gao Yi instantly answered it in the hallway.

"The money’s received?"

"Received, now dispersing into security accounts, then I’ll transfer it to you."

Panetta had dedicated a special fund for purchasing intelligence. Gao Yi on his end would receive and launder it before returning it back to Panetta, though the exact amount wasn’t yet decided; it was Panetta’s money, after all.

Panetta was very enthusiastic, pleasantly saying, "You handled this sharply. Freedom Wind had located Iron Fist George and even made contact once. However, before Freedom Wind had figured out how to safely extract the intelligence from Iron Fist George, you led them astray. Now, you’ve obtained the intelligence quite effortlessly, highlighting Freedom Wind’s incompetence and wastage of resources."

Effortless, really?

Actually, it wasn’t effortless at all, but the outcome was satisfactory.

Panetta habitually praised Gao Yi, then continued, "Keep 200 million for yourself, give 200 million to the Pentagon so everyone is happy. You’ll provide the intelligence to Joelson, and I will portray Joelson as the planner and director of this operation. What do you think?"

It was rather consulting with Gao Yi than merely informing him.

Panetta’s stance was notably humble, or rather, extremely considerate.

Gao Yi immediately replied, "I think it’s excellent, no issues whatsoever."

million dollars, arriving in ten hours; the Americans hadn’t deceived because it was Panetta who paid and benefited from kickbacks, bypassing any concerns about credibility then.

Panetta calmly stated, "Good, go manage it. Split my portion into three parts, 50 million, one hundred million, and 150 million. It can take some time, but it must be secure. I have major plans, and it would be very troublesome if there’s any issue with the funds."

"My financial manager is very good, there won’t be any problems."

After a moment’s thought, Panetta added, "I’ll have Joelson give you a few financial transfer routes, so you don’t have to worry about American financial surveillance in the future. It will be more secure then."

"Alright."

"Be cautious, the situation is complex over there. Goodbye."

Panetta hung up, and Gao Yi was about to go to Lucy’s room, but he changed his mind after the call and walked toward Green’s room.

Might as well take the time to learn some more.

He knocked on the door, entered, and found Green already lying on the bed, fully dressed, with a very small gun next to the pillow—an FN product, but Gao Yi did not know the specific model.

"What’s this rare gun of yours called?"

Not knowing what else to say, he started the conversation with the gun, a tactic that often proved effective.

Green replied calmly, "German HK P2000SK Pistol, I just use it casually."

"It looks quite compact."

"Yes, small enough, yet not too small, but I prefer full-size guns when I really need to resolve issues with them—they work better."

That was enough about guns. Gao Yi cleared his throat and whispered, "No response from the Russians yet. I suspect the middleman might be too low-ranking to relay messages promptly. Perhaps, using your connections to contact the KGB might help?"

Green shook his head, "I really don’t have direct contact channels with the KGB. However, Russians do tend to drag their feet nowadays. It’s very possible that your middleman has already passed the message, and the Russians are just slow to respond. Besides, since you chose a middleman, it’s best not to switch suddenly. You might want to check what’s happening with him."

That was the only option left.

Gao Yi picked up the phone and dialed Sherkin’s number.

Sherkin picked up quickly, and Gao Yi whispered, "Why have there been no updates? What’s the status? Have you relayed the message?"

Since he asked like that, it showed his discontent with Sherkin’s efficiency.

Sherkin, extremely helpless, replied, "Of course I’ve relayed the message, but there’s been no reply yet. I’m not sure what the situation is."

Gao Yi looked at Green. After a moment of thought, Green mimed counting money and then waved his hand.

The gesture meant that Gao Yi should not insist on money—it was what they had discussed before, he had to proceed like this.

Gao Yi sighed and told Sherkin, "Buddy, I’m short on time and can’t keep waiting for them to decide. If there’s no response in the next 24 hours, the deal is off, and you can forget about your commission."

"Twenty-four hours? That’s too tight; this won’t work..."

"Buddy, all other clients have completed their payments and transactions. I can’t wait indefinitely. Not earning your broker fee isn’t my fault."

Sherkin needed to be pressured.

With a resigned sigh, Sherki said, "Alright, I understand. But there’s nothing I can do. 110 million dollars is just too much for the KGB right now unless you lower the price or change the trading terms. Otherwise, it’s impossible to complete the transaction within 24 hours. Even a week would be miraculous."

Gao Yi smiled at Green, who spread his hands as if to say that all this was expected.

Doing business with Russians, you couldn’t brag about the profits, but they were more receptive to bartering.

"Uh, change the transaction terms—how would that work?"

"KGB has limited bargaining chips they can offer now. How about an intelligence swap?"

"What intelligence?"

"The personnel information for the American intelligence stations in the Middle East has completely leaked. The KGB has a complete list. How about that list?"

Gao Yi looked at Green who, after a brief pause, shook his head.

"Forget the intelligence; I’m not into intelligence trading, it won’t make money."

Gao Yi immediately rejected Sherkin’s bargaining chip.

Green whispered from the side, "That intelligence isn’t valuable. The KGB wouldn’t let go of really valuable information, and intelligence is hard to monetize."

As Green was speaking, Sherkin interjected again, "How about the electromagnetic signal database of NATO naval vessels accumulated over the years, from 1960 to 2000? This can absolutely be monetized, and if handled correctly, it could sell for well over a hundred million dollars."

Gao Yi felt a chill and looked at Green.

Green shook his head, murmuring, "It’s outdated, and they’ve already sold that. This guy isn’t serious."

Gao Yi sighed and told Sherkin, "Forget it, you’re not serious. If you’re not serious, how can the KGB possibly deal with me? I’m disappointed, buddy. I thought we were friends, which is why I approached you first to be the middleman, but... Let’s end this transaction."

"Wait! What about adding the sonar fingerprints that Russia has collected over so many years? Do you understand what that means? It’s the Russian database for NATO submarines’ and ships’ sonars, and this has definitely not been sold before. Whoever gets it owns a gold mine, so we can’t just sell it for a hundred million. We’re asking for 500 million, subtracting the 100 million you want leaves 400 million, plus 50 million dollars in commission for me."

Gao Yi looked at Green.

Green was dumbfounded and exclaimed in a shaking voice, "Falke! The Russians are selling this too? They must be desperate! These bastards have truly lost their minds..."