Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 488 - 467: Small Meeting (Three More Updates for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 488: Chapter 467: Small Meeting (Three More Updates for Monthly Tickets)

Research, meeting for research.

Huang Haisheng returned to his superior’s office at the highest speed. There weren’t many people in the office, but the three highest-ranking individuals were still inside waiting.

The three of them held a small meeting to discuss what exactly Mr. Gao had brought this time.

"I’m back! There has been a significant change, a major development."

One must explain things one by one, but certainly start with the most important. After much consideration, Huang Haisheng thought it best to clarify the composition of the people around Mr. Gao first.

"Our work was not up to par; we failed to clarify the specific identities of the people around Mr. Gao. At the banquet, due to a minor accident, Mr. Gao completely revealed the composition of his people, it could be said... a gathering of experts, a profound background."

Typically, when reporting, one does not implicate personal feelings or add any personal experiences, but Huang Haisheng’s use of two idioms was because it was the most straightforward way to explain.

"Oh, what do you mean by a gathering of experts? And what kind of backgrounds do they have?"

Huang Haisheng spoke solemnly: "One of them is a Senior Agent from the CIA, codenamed member of the Freedom Wind group."

"Sss... That’s a top secret operative member from Old Cai, we just recently learned about the codename Freedom Wind. How could someone from the Freedom Wind group be with Mr. Gao?"

Huang Haisheng said gravely: "I don’t know the details yet, and another member is a Captain from the UK’s Military Intelligence Sixth Department. If my memory serves me correctly, this Captain Britain should be a former action team captain of Military Intelligence Sixth Department, as he is the only one codenamed Captain in the UK intelligence unit... a legendary figure, famous, but specific deeds are not verifiable."

"Is there more?"

"Another codenamed guillotine, this person is French, has a big name in the European intelligence community, and is a Black Gloves of French Official, notorious but overly competent. Most importantly, he is highly regarded by the French; Mr. Gao mentioned that he is also considered a part of the Directorate-General for External Security, but further details are needed."

The three exchanged glances, one of them whispered softly, "Is it reliable?"

"Of course, it’s reliable."

"If it wasn’t reliable, we wouldn’t need the three of us sitting here waiting for the news."

A straightforward response and a more indirect response, but both conveyed the same meaning. If Gao Yi wasn’t trustworthy, they wouldn’t have prioritized this matter so seriously.

The deputy who first made contact with Gao Yi remarked emotionally, "I don’t understand, in our decades of service... no, not to say if we could achieve this, even if it were Old Cai, Old Ke at his zenith, or famous Old Liu, even with the national resources consolidated, could they form such an intelligence network?"

Huang Haisheng spoke softly, "It’s not an intelligence network, nor is it a cooperative group between allied countries, but an assassin organization. Mr. Gao is the Gardener of the Garden, and all three have joined the Garden, becoming assassins under the Garden."

"This is even more unlikely. No, don’t you find this amusing? How is this possible? Could this be a trap specifically set up against us?"

Someone must offer a counterpoint, someone must question everything, someone must point out the unreasonable factors in this matter.

Huang Haisheng continued, "Mr. Gao invited us to join, he told me he hopes we could send someone to his assassin organization, the Garden, and this person should preferably be the King of Soldiers, capable of controlling the other three. Moreover, he also wants to request someone from Old Ke."

"This is good news."

A deputy chimed in, expressing his views solemnly, "This indicates that Mr. Gao’s attitude is very proper. He not only leans towards us but also hopes that our person can play a leading role in this small group."

"Mr. Gao is looking to create an Inner Five Permanent then."

The second deputy smiled and gestured with his hand, saying, "He’s young but ambitious, also demanding experts; letting us send someone to work for him? However, I see no problem with this. Having our people inside will undoubtedly make it more direct and reliable. I think, we can carefully select someone to go over, and even if Mr. Gao is executing a conspiracy against us, there’s no need to worry with our people there. This is the best scenario. Mr. Gao’s proposal indicates his sincerity, and we should select the best candidate to send."

Two out of the three expressed their opinions.

However, the highest-ranking individual stood up from his chair, started pacing back and forth in the office.

Walking around, bowing his head in thought, he didn’t issue any comments, pacing a few dozen times near the desk, suddenly he stopped.

Thinking he was about to make the final decision, but he instead stretched out his hand, saying, "Give me a cigarette."

The boss, who usually doesn’t smoke, does smoke under extremely rare circumstances, such as during particularly brain-racking moments.

His longtime partner stood up, taking out a pack of cigarettes and lighting two, handed one to the boss, then lit it for him and also lit one for himself. Immediately, smoke began to swirl around.

The last time he smoked was three years ago. Indeed, deciding on Mr. Gao’s matter is tough, worth having a cigarette for.

The boss started pacing again, back and forth for a long time, finishing a whole cigarette that had burned down to the stub before he finally pressed the butt into the ashtray and said, "We can’t send someone to Mr. Gao."

Everyone thought it would be good to send someone, including Huang Haisheng, and they were all thinking about who to send.

Huang Haisheng exclaimed in surprise, "Why?"

"The reason is simple. If we don’t send someone, Mr. Gao is already one of us. If we do send someone, then Mr. Gao becomes the person with superior status. He won’t be one of us anymore."

The boss sat down, and said gravely, "Old Ye has a point. Mr. Gao is planning to establish an Inner Five Permanent. He even wants to recruit people from Old Ke’s side. If we send someone to join, it means Mr. Gao will lead these five people. Think about it, in such a case, couldn’t Mr. Gao just delegate many tasks to the person we send?"

Three people fell into deep thought.

"That’s true."

"Makes sense."

Huang Haisheng murmured softly, "Yes, if we don’t send someone, any issue will be handled personally by Mr. Gao."

The boss continued, "With the Inner Five Permanent, if we send someone, Mr. Gao will be the leader overriding this group of five. If we don’t, Mr. Gao will represent us."

"Makes sense! But then, it means we ultimately cannot fully trust Mr. Gao."

The boss shook his head, then whispered, "Listen to what he says, observe what he does. We don’t care what his real identity is. We only look at whether Mr. Gao can bring us the results we most desire. If he can provide us with what we most need, then what does it matter if he’s the core member of the CIA?"

"Alright, I agree not to send someone."

"I agree as well."

Huang Haisheng did not offer an opinion; he wasn’t qualified.

The boss continued, "Another factor, which I have always emphasized, is that we must ensure Mr. Gao continues to keep his image of a neutral stance. If we send someone, his core circle will have two people from Northeastern University. Such an organization, no matter how you look at it, appears biased towards Northeastern. This would reduce the cooperative value of Mr. Gao to the other four companies."

It must be acknowledged that some people can be the boss, because they really have the ability to be one.

The boss gestured with his hand and said, "We cannot destroy Mr. Gao’s image. He might not have thought about this layer. Xiao Zhao, talk to him and use this reason to refuse sending someone. Let him know that we trust him, and that we can just do business with him."

It’s only business, but in this way, Gao Yi would not be able to consider his relationship with Northeastern purely from a profit perspective anymore.

The deputy who liked to think from a conspiratorial perspective spoke softly, "Since we’re not sending someone, then we must tell Mr. Gao that we can offer him all the support he needs. This point must be expressed clearly and unambiguously to him. When needed, we can, no, we must be his strongest backing!"

"Good! Well said, we need to let Mr. Gao know this."

Huang Haisheng immediately said, "Yes."

The smoking deputy grabbed the clean ashtray from the boss’s desk, took out a cigarette, held the cigarette in his left hand and a lighter in his right, but hesitated to light up.

"Mr. Gao said he wants to find someone from Old Ke’s side. Can we invest effort in this aspect?"

Being long-time partners, the boss immediately understood his deputy’s intent.

The boss immediately shook his head and said, "That’s not good. Looking at Mr. Gao’s current team composition, they are all core members of several organizations, capable of directly contacting the headquarters. This is also why Mr. Gao is so efficient in handling matters. If we introduce someone from Old Ke to him, although it adds a layer of security, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits."

"Though I would also like to have someone by Mr. Gao’s side, since we’ve decided not to send anyone, then we shall completely refrain from doing so. Do not suspect the ones you use, and do not use the ones you suspect. Sending someone from Old Ke’s side wouldn’t be appropriate."

The deputy lighting the cigarette shook his head and said, "That’s not what I mean. I’m not talking about arranging our person through Old Ke’s channel. Honestly, I find Mr. Gao’s way of doing things a bit too... casual. He is still somewhat naïve."

"Indeed naïve."

"After all, he’s just over twenty. But then again, it’s probably because he’s naïve that he was chosen by his peers, right?"

The deputy holding the cigarette whispered, "I was wondering if we could recommend someone truly capable and powerful from Old Ke’s side to him. What do you guys think of that fossil from Old Ke’s side?"

The boss was momentarily stunned, then pointed at his old partner and laughed, "Smart Star, oh Smart Star, you truly live up to your name."

The other deputy frowned for a moment and then suddenly said, "I understand now, you’re talking about that person, right. Old Ke wouldn’t let go of someone mediocre, it must indeed be that fossil. Good idea, I think this could work, definitely has potential."