Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 413 - 395: Live Teaching

Chapter 413: Chapter 395: Live Teaching

Gao Yi’s trip from Germany to Moscow took eight hours.

Considering the distance, the fact that the buyer could reach Moscow in ten hours was impressively quick.

Luo Changyou sent Gao Yi and his group to the hotel booked by the travel agency, a three-star hotel, not exactly good, but not bad either, absolutely not luxurious, but also not uncomfortable.

After settling Gao Yi and the others, Luo Changyou drove away. His parting words were to wait for all the members of the tour group to arrive and then have dinner together in the evening.

There wasn’t a great deal of enthusiasm, but they weren’t neglected either. Then, the entire time only Luo Changyou, the driver-cum-tour guide, showed up. After getting to the hotel, Gao Yi encountered only Russians.

This was just an utterly normal group tour.

In Gao Yi’s hotel room, he couldn’t help but ask Green, but after speaking, he also couldn’t help but look around the cramped hotel room, waving his hand to ask Green if this room was safe.

Green calmly said, "Absolutely safe, you can say whatever you like."

"It doesn’t feel like I’m being taken seriously. Is this normal?"

If in doubt, ask. It was fine if Gao Yi didn’t understand, for they had experienced Green here.

"You are already being taken very seriously. For the sake of safety and to ensure the transaction goes smoothly, the buyer even activated one of their one-time use hidden lines, which comes at a great cost. What more could you ask for?"

Gao Yi, puzzled, asked, "What do you mean by activating a line?"

Green nodded and said calmly, "Everything for safety, but there’s also no choice. You’re dealing with the KGB, so anyone associated with you will be exposed, and those exposed lose the meaning of staying undercover. Therefore, to ensure the safety of the trade, the buyer can only activate an absolutely reliable and sufficiently covert line."

"One line, not just one person?"

"How could one person be enough? It’s at least an entire line."

Green calmly said, "If there wasn’t anything particularly important, they’d live quietly in this country as immigrants, usually not in contact, unaware of each other’s existence. But once there’s something important, they’d activate and fulfill their mission. Just like that."

Gao Yi thought for a moment and said, "I see, that makes sense... Wait, but what if the KGB is deceiving me and this whole transaction is a scam? Wouldn’t that be a huge loss?"

Green smiled and then looking at Gao Yi, said, "Compared to this already activated line, what’s one billion dollars! What’s one billion dollars compared to decades of time? But after the transaction involving metallic hydrogen, you’ve become trustworthy, worth the risk."

Slapping his own thigh, Green expressed, "Why do you think I came to Moscow with you? I really wanted to see how the buyer operates. Opportunities like this to be directly involved from start to end are rare."

Setting aside Green’s individual actions, Gao Yi once entertained the idea himself, but given the absence of an expert by his side, he might mess up, so he decided to continue to trust Green and complete the entire process of the transaction with him.

Gao Yi seriously said, "So, how should I approach this transaction?"

"A transaction is a transaction, don’t mix in any personal emotions, otherwise it’ll be difficult for everyone. There’s something you should understand."

Green turned serious, looking at Gao Yi, he calmly said, "CIA, Pentagon, KGB, Directorate-General for External Security, Saudi Secret Intelligence Bureau, Military Intelligence Sixth Department - think about how complex your identity is. You can only make them all think you are valuable, but you can never earn anyone’s trust. You have no homeland for the rest of your life, there’s only one identity for you: you are the Garden’s Gardener, understand?"

Gaining a lot also means losing a lot.

Gao Yi thought about it, nodded with a hint of resignation, and said, "Understood."

"Good that you understand," said Green with a smile. "I’m quite tired. Go back and rest. Don’t think about anything, don’t contact your people, don’t let them get close. Right now, just wait for the Russian intermediary to come to Moscow before getting touch. The rest, just follow whatever the tour guide arranges."

"Just wait, nothing else?"

"Waiting is already doing everything."

Gao Yi understood.

Then, just wait.

Compared to decades of waiting, the mere two or three hours Gao Yi was waiting truly felt like the flick of a finger.

Luo Changyou came back to the hotel again, bringing four people with him. After he settled these four people into the hotel, it was almost time for dinner. Then, Luo Changyou took a total of seven people to a nearby Russian barbecue restaurant.

Including Luo Changyou, there were eight people in total, perfect for occupying a long table for dining.

Gathering a bunch of people who seemed all wrong and shouldn’t be together in a public restaurant for a meeting, this was something Gao Yi truly couldn’t understand.

Also, the four people Luo Changyou brought along seemed not to know each other. They were not professionals, for even a half-baked person like Gao Yi could sense their unfamiliarity and distance with one another.

Four men; the eldest, in his fifties, wore glasses and appeared cultured, while another forty-something middle-aged man, also in glasses, lacked that scholarly aura and seemed very sharp and crisp instead.

Another was a young man, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with very short hair, obviously freshly cut, and very pale. He moved and sat down with a certain reserve, not due to his mental state, but because all his movements were quite small; he must be someone accustomed to living in confined spaces for a long time.

There was also a man in his thirties who seemed to be the leader by his words and actions, but if he had any distinguishing feature, it was that he had none.

Seven people met for the first time and sat at the same dining table, then Luo Changyou courteously but indifferently said, "This is a famous Russian barbecue restaurant, please try the authentic Russian barbecue, plenty of meat for everyone, don’t be shy."

The server was a pretty Russian girl, and the menu had been pre-ordered. If nothing went wrong, every tour group would have about the same dishes, as Luo Changyou clearly showed he was already tired of them.

The barbecue was prepared in advance and served quickly.

Roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken, grilled sausages, large skewers, and meat racks served on plates, with two bowls of salad, basically a plate of pickles for each person.

After all the dishes were served, Luo Changyou raised his beer and said warmly, "Come on, now that everything is ready, eat and drink well, relax."

Green raised his beer glass, toasted Luo Changyou, and took a small sip.

Putting down the beer glass, Luo Changyou smiled and said, "Eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink. Given that we’re all meeting for the first time, let me briefly mention the precautions for this trip. Actually, there’s not much to say, just avoid conflicts with the locals, and they won’t give you any trouble. Of course, once you get to know the locals better and after some interactions, there are certain things to be aware of."

Gao Yi still didn’t understand why Luo Changyou would gather people in a public place to say these things.

But Luo Changyou quickly provided an explanation.

"Why have I invited everyone to dine here? Mainly to have you all meet and get to know each other. Besides, we always come to this restaurant for meals on every tour. It’s our partner restaurant. Well, it’s not ours, but we can ensure its cleanliness and hygiene. Instead of you all finding places to meet and communicate privately, it’s more convenient here."

Luo Changyou tried to explain, in a metaphoric way, why they were dining here, then he smiled and said, "Everyone is hungry, let’s eat."

Gao Yi casually grabbed a large skewer, took a bite, and found it tasted good.

Then Gao Yi saw the restrained young man in the room, without hesitation, starting to eat the salad with a fork — the salad made of Romaine lettuce and cucumbers, among other things.

He had only had one bite of the roasted stuff, a small cherry tomato.

At this moment, the middle-aged man who looked neat even though wearing glasses suddenly said, "Eat more meat."

The man placed a piece of smoked pork chop in front of the young man who immediately said, "Oh, thanks, I can do it myself."

Without touching the pork chop on his own plate, the young man used his fork to pick several leaves of the salad and stuffed them in his mouth.

The middle-aged man said softly, "Eat meat!"

The tone was a bit heavier, and the young man was startled for a moment before he quickly acted enlightened, hastily stuffed the salad leaves in his mouth, and then began to focus on eating the pork chop in front of him.

Green took a deep breath, and then he suddenly said, "Well, I quite enjoy observing your reactions, but I can’t remain silent and just watch anymore, considering my student..."

He pointed at Gao Yi sitting beside him, and Green continued, "Considering my student lacks experience, I have to step in and clarify the situation on his behalf, to prevent any misjudgments due to lack of understanding."

Luo Changyou looked at Green.

Green pointed to the young man who loved vegetables and said, "He is a sonarman who has just come off the boat, passionate about fresh vegetables."

Pointing to the middle-aged man, Green continued, "He is a sonarman who has left the submarine and should now be working on land, but you are an old sonarman from the Kilo-class."

Both men showed changes in their expressions.

Green pointed to the older man wearing glasses and continued, "He is a scientist, an expert in sonar charting. If I’m not mistaken, he should also be an expert in sonar imaging, meeting several technical requirements. They all received orders on short notice and were hastily gathered together, led by this person."

Everyone was silent, only Luo Changyou was smiling at Green.

Green smiled and said, "Just a live training for my student; such opportunities are rare, I cannot miss it."

Luo Changyou immediately said, "Understood, no worries, we’ll cooperate however you want."

Green nodded, then calmly said, "I am from Military Intelligence Sixth Department, and the middleman is from KGB. Please forgive my frankness in saying this, because before coming to Moscow, we had already sold the metallic hydrogen information to the CIA, you know what that means, right?"

Gao Yi didn’t understand why Green would say these things, he couldn’t help but look at Green.

And Luo Changyou obviously understood, he pushed the plates in front of him forward slightly, smiled and said, "I just remembered there’s still soup simmering on the fire at home. You guys keep eating, I’ll go add some water to it. Don’t worry, my home is very close, I’ll be back soon."

Green said indifferently, "Stop with the vague metaphors. There are too many laypeople present, it’s better to speak plainly. Fellow professionals, even though I am a member of the middleman team, I don’t have absolute control over a safe period of time."

After finishing, Green waved his hand and said with a half-smile, "So, the test for you has arrived."

Gao Yi was surprised looking at Green.

First, Green had spoken all this in Chinese, and secondly, he had never communicated any of this to Gao Yi beforehand.

Meanwhile, Luo Changyou still wore a look of feigned enthusiasm and said, "No worries, no worries, Old Ke isn’t a problem, we can host Old Cai if he comes, everyone eat and drink well, I’ll be right back."