Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 470 - 450: The Arsonist

Chapter 470: Chapter 450: The Arsonist

Xinfeng finally got off work.

Not accustomed to calling him by the name Xinfeng, nor to calling him Hyacinth, after preparing for so long to treat Xinfeng as an enemy, the first name that came to Gao Yi’s mind upon seeing this person was Xinfeng.

This was a bad habit, and it needed to be changed.

"Mason is dead."

Waiting for Xinfeng on his way home from work, as soon as he got in the car, the first thing Gao Yi did was to announce Mason’s death.

"I know, I know."

Xinfeng’s expression remained calm, and he said softly: "Before Mason committed suicide, he sent out a mass email to us, everyone received it."

"What email, who does everyone refer to?"

"The content of the email is not complicated. He had prepared it long ago, stating that he was already dead by the time the email was sent, and those of us who received the email need not worry about exposing our identities. He would take all the secrets to the grave with him, and lastly, he wished us good luck."

Xinfeng briefly described the content of the email, then he continued calmly: "As for who exactly received this email, I don’t know, but at least members of Freedom Wind must have received it since we were under his direct command. However, I suspect that he had a premonition of his death for a long time, so he must have made many preparations. It’s just that I am clearly excluded from this plan, for I know nothing about it."

Sure enough, Mason’s death did not bring an end to the CIA matters; instead, it became even more complicated.

Even in suicide, he didn’t forget to notify his subordinates and convince them that their identities were not compromised. If Mason could manage this much, it meant he was not the type to sit idly by and await his fate.

Real and unreal, Mason’s action actually confirmed that he must have left something in place, but no one knew what his contingency was.

Panetta couldn’t possibly rest easy after this.

Gao Yi let out a bitter laugh, saying: "Whether Mason actually had any plans, by sending that email, he has already succeeded. As his enemy, I am deeply unsettled, and Panetta will be even more so."

Xinfeng turned to look at Gao Yi, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly said: "Actually, it’s a good thing. If everything had ended with Mason’s death, then your role would have been less important, and Panetta might consider getting rid of you, since you know too much and are of no use anymore."

The dead rabbit’s cook is unnecessary; Gao Yi of course understood this reasoning.

However, Gao Yi felt that the strongest bond between him and Panetta was not their common enemy, Mason, but money.

But before Gao Yi could speak, and actually he did not intend to say this, Xinfeng still confidently said: "Don’t say you can give Panetta a lot of money. Tell me, between safety and money, which do you think is more important?"

"Safety..."

"That’s it."

Xinfeng exhaled and said, "Compared to power, money is nothing; and when it comes to life, power is not that important either. If everything you know makes Panetta feel uneasy, then trouble will come sooner or later. So it’s good that Mason’s death left some uncertainty, at least it extends the stable period of your relationship with Panetta a bit longer."

That was the rationale, not because Xinfeng was so capable, but because it’s something anyone with a bit of experience would understand.

"Alright, now that Mason is dead and you’re off work, what shall we do? Do you need to make a trip back home?"

"No need to go back, as I can control everything remotely."

Xinfeng shrugged and said, "Panetta could solve all my problems with a single sentence now, but it wasn’t like this before. If you plan to fake your death to escape, you need to be well prepared."

"What have you prepared?"

Xinfeng smiled and said, "You’ll know soon enough. Do you have companions to meet up with?"

"Yes, they are driving behind us. We’ll take two cars to Frankfurt."

"Good, then there’s no problem."

Xinfeng didn’t say anything more. He drove onto the highway and as they left the urban area, he exited the highway, then took a side road without hesitation or the need for navigation.

It was clear that Xinfeng had the route memorized by heart. He drove the car into the grass on the side of the road and, after stopping, immediately took out a mobile phone, pressed a few buttons, then tapped a few times on the phone.

After a moment, Xinfeng turned the phone screen toward Gao Yi and said, "My house is on fire."

On the phone screen was a surveillance feed, where it was evident that a room that looked like a study had burst into fierce flames. The fire was intense, and then with a flash of red light, the surveillance feed disappeared.

Xinfeng took back his phone and pressed another button. He switched the surveillance view to a beautiful countryside villa, from whose windows billowed thick smoke. Soon, flames surged out of the windows, and the entire house was engulfed in fierce flames.

Normal fires certainly wouldn’t have this effect; Gao Yi was very curious and asked, "How did you do it?"

"Gasoline."

"How much gasoline would that require?"

"One thousand and forty-two liters of gasoline. I refueled every three days, always filling the tank to the brim, then each day I consistently siphoned off three liters of gasoline and stored it in mineral water bottles, and set up several electronic detonators. All it took to ignite the prearranged arson device was a phone call to a single number."

As Xinfeng spoke, his eyes were glued to the phone screen, apparently engrossed in some fascinating show, exhibiting no feelings of reluctance or regret. On the contrary, he was quite enjoying it.

Reading micro-expressions is a fundamental exercise in psychology, which Gao Yi had studied for quite some time. He couldn’t say he was an expert, but at least he wasn’t completely clueless.

Xinfeng really liked what he was seeing on the screen, showing genuine joy and satisfaction.

"You said you have some deviant hobbies; is arson one of them?"

"One of them, yes."

Xinfeng added without looking up, "Everyone has their unique hobbies. I could stare at the flames in a fireplace all day long. I like fire, or more precisely, I like to set fires. I relish the feeling of watching flames engulf everything, especially beautiful things. When I die, I definitely want to be cremated."

"Uh, liking arson... well, this hobby... is okay, I guess."

"I had no intention of hiding it from you," Xinfeng said indifferently, "Because letting you know the secrets in my heart helps build your trust in me. Do you know how I joined the CIA?"

"How did you get in? It’s not in your file."

"I was an arsonist. At thirteen, I burned my stepfather’s family to death, including my mother, a half-sister from my mother’s side, and two brothers who were not related to me by blood."

As Xinfeng spoke these words, he didn’t look up; he continued admiring his destroyed home from every angle.

"It was a perfect crime. I had the perfect alibi, and the fire department’s investigation into the cause pointed to a gas leak—a very perfect case of arson, although executed simply, but with exceedingly great effect!"

Exhaling contentedly, Xinfeng continued, "Then, I was adopted by a foster family, a very nice one. My foster father belonged to a high-income group, and my foster mother was a kind woman. I spent four wonderful years until I went to college, where someone tried to sully my reputation. I broke his legs and doused him in gasoline before burning him alive."

"Uh... Seventeen years old?"

"Yes, then I enjoyed another two beautiful years until I met a girl, and she slept with a black guy from the football team. That could have been overlooked, but when I lost my reason for the first time in anger, that black guy and his teammates even beat me up in the college hallway."

Finally, Xinfeng looked up, gazing at Gao Yi and said, "Then came the only time in my life when I acted irrationally; I burned that black guy and his friends to death in their own house, during a party. I created the biggest arson case in Los Angeles history—twenty-two people were burned to death."

Gao Yi exclaimed in shock, "That many people? Uh, and then you got caught."

"No, I fled. I escaped to Moscow and forged an identity. Using a false identity, I studied in Moscow for two years. After graduation, thanks to my outstanding academic performance, I was recruited by the CIA."

Legendary, miraculous.

Greatly astonished, Gao Yi asked, "How did you manage that?"

"The United States’ registration system isn’t that perfect. Identity theft like this can be easily achieved. I only mentioned burning the black guy and his friends, but did I say that I was also on the guest list that night? Besides, that was a post-graduation celebration party."

Xinfeng laughed ominously and said with a smile, "I waited nearly two years. During that time, I found a perfect scapegoat. He had no passport, no driver’s license, meaning no fingerprint records on file. And he was from Kentucky. Best of all, he only had an alcoholic father. I could take his place, and as long as I never showed up in front of his familiar classmates, no one could expose me."

"You mentioned losing your rationality; I thought you sought revenge immediately."

"If I were rational, I wouldn’t have burned them to death, would I?"

Xinfeng’s argument seemed so logical that Gao Yi found himself at a loss for words.

Continuing in a bland tone, Xinfeng said, "I joined the CIA and hid my propensity for arson. I started learning professional killing techniques, becoming an excellent agent. But I increasingly realized that working for the CIA, I would never be able to commit a perfect act of arson. But working for you, I presume you wouldn’t object to my little hobby, right?"

"Uh, well, it depends. If permissible, I won’t stop you."

Xinfeng sighed and said, "My house has burned down completely, perfectly. I’m very pleased to witness this scene after so many years. Now, it’s time to burn my car."

"Could you explain in detail how you did it? I’m really curious. How did you escape, complete your studies in Moscow, and, most astonishingly, get into the CIA? Don’t they do background checks?"

Xinfeng shook his head, opened the car door, and said, "Get out of the car. Your curiosity is a bit too much; that’s not good. But I can tell you this: when I made up my mind to burn the black guy alive, that’s when I started learning Russian. That was the beginning of everything. In fact, I learned seven languages because at the time, I didn’t know I would flee to Russia—I just learned every language that might be potentially useful. The CIA took an interest in me because of my linguistic talent; I can speak eight languages fluently."

Xinfeng continued to speak as he walked, with Gao Yi following. After moving about thirty meters away from the car, Xinfeng stopped and said, "Don’t worry. It’ll be a deflagration, not an explosion; this distance is safe. You can enjoy the sight with me with peace of mind. Come on."