Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 544 - 523: There are Benefits

Chapter 544: Chapter 523: There are Benefits

New York.

Gao Yi rarely visited New York, but this time he was meeting Panetta, and since the CIA headquarters wasn’t too far from New York, it became an almost inevitable meeting location.

As for Washington, it was too close to Lanli, making it unsafe.

Coming to the United States was essentially entering the stronghold of the Dark Web. Although Gao Yi had been careful to conceal his whereabouts, he still had to be extra cautious.

Accompanying Gao Yi were Yuri and Dani. Of course, Lucy was also there, and when it came time to find a place to stay in New York, Gao Yi realized how distinctively conspicuous everyone around him was.

Yuri was short, skinny, and small, while Dani was overly fat. Xinfeng seemed normal, but really, he was the only one who appeared somewhat ordinary.

As for Lucy, her problem was, of course, being too beautiful.

No wonder Yuri could only work behind the scenes; his appearance was beyond salvaging, even with makeup.

No wonder Lucy, despite her striking looks, was relegated to being "consumables." Her image was too vivid—after being used once or twice, she essentially lost the possibility of functioning as an assassin. Better to save her for one big job before retiring her entirely.

Normally, it didn’t feel like a big deal, but in the enemy’s stronghold, where their whereabouts needed to remain hidden, having companions with such distinctive traits was ultimately not a good thing.

Fortunately, Yuri had never publicly appeared before, and the Dark Web had no information on him, which meant there wasn’t any immediate danger for now.

As for Gao Yi and Lucy, they had no choice but to wear someone else’s face every day when going out.

The meeting with Panetta was scheduled for the day after their arrival, at the hotel where Gao Yi was staying.

Panetta came quietly and unaccompanied. He entered the hotel alone and met the heavily disguised Gao Yi.

Panetta truly seemed to be living the high life these days.

Yet in Gao Yi’s presence, Panetta displayed none of the arrogance typical of a superior. He wasn’t known as a particularly affable figure, but with Gao Yi, he appeared exceedingly approachable.

"You’ve worked hard."

"Not really, it’s fine. Please, have a seat."

The meeting felt slightly awkward. Gao Yi invited Panetta to sit down on the sofa, but for a moment found himself unsure what to say next.

Panetta casually glanced around and said, "Did you come alone?"

"No, I brought everyone with me. I thought we might need manpower here."

And there it was—the main topic. Gao Yi knew Panetta’s question was a probing one.

Panetta hesitated briefly before saying, "You handled the Russian matter beautifully this time. We’ve secured a loyal and powerful ally, but more importantly, you revealed a hidden threat—a traitor I’d never suspected before."

Gao Yi accepted Panetta’s praise and directly asked, "Who?"

"James Jackson. He’s not one of Mason’s men, but I never expected him to secretly target me, let alone to have already gathered a team."

Panetta seemed visibly annoyed as he said softly, "This bastard doesn’t even have any conflicts of interest with me. He can’t replace me or come close to my position. I don’t understand—why is he conspiring against me?"

"What’s his position?"

"The Chief Inspector General responsible for internal CIA discipline. He’s directly under me, yet I can’t figure out why he’d plot against me."

Panetta was clearly angry, but there was more confusion than anger. He exhaled and said in a low voice, "I’ve already started investigating secretly, but so far, I still haven’t found any clues or any reason why he’d want to target me!"

Gao Yi paused for a moment and couldn’t help but suggest, "Is it possible that..."

"What?"

"That he’s in charge of discipline and suspects you violated CIA regulations? So maybe he’s investigating you—targeting you—simply because he’s fulfilling his duties."

Gao Yi found the whole situation faintly amusing.

Was it really so inconceivable for a discipline official to investigate their superior?

Could the Chief Inspector General role actually be nothing more than a decorative position, a mere mascot, with no one ever actually fulfilling the responsibilities of the office?

Gao Yi’s remark made Panetta momentarily speechless.

Panetta fell into a brief daze.

Gao Yi said softly, "The CIA is a massive organization with tens of thousands of people. Surely there must be someone genuinely committed to doing their job."

Panetta took a long breath and said quietly, "Just doing the job? That’s possible, but unlikely."

"Then why not try transferring him out of the Chief Inspector General position? If he takes on a new role, maybe he’ll focus on that instead."

Panetta hesitated, thought for a moment, then nodded. "Let’s move him to a different position—a troublesome one. I’ll assign Joelson as the new Chief Inspector General."

Joelson was one of Panetta’s trusted inner circle, essentially a confidant. Assigning him to this relatively powerless but strategically significant Chief Inspector General role seemed a good call.

Still, Gao Yi was a bit puzzled. Curious, he asked, "The CIA’s Chief Inspector General—responsible for discipline—is that position really one the Director can appoint directly?"

"I get to decide the candidate."

Panetta looked at Gao Yi and thought for a moment before adding, "I need to keep investigating. If James isn’t just fulfilling job duties but is truly aiming to target me or has been bought off and controlled by someone else, then he absolutely can’t stay. More importantly, I need to find out who his accomplices are. If I need to go that far, I’ll require your help."

"No problem."

Panetta wasn’t relying on Gao Yi because he couldn’t manage the situation; it was simply that he didn’t want to involve people from within the system for this kind of operation. Since he was already deeply collaborating with Gao Yi, adding more life-and-death secrets to their partnership wasn’t a big deal. He’d naturally turn to Gao Yi.

Actually, Panetta was slightly shocked. His original plan was for Gao Yi to make a direct move. Since he couldn’t quickly uncover why James was plotting against him, he figured it might be simplest to eliminate James physically and resolve the problem completely.

As the saying goes, if you can’t solve the issue, then remove the person causing it.

But Panetta hadn’t truly considered the possibility that someone might simply be dutifully performing their responsibilities to secretly investigate and target him.

"James is indeed aware of Alekayev’s existence. But how did he leak the information to Prince? Why would he collaborate with Mason’s remnants? I don’t understand. This investigation will take time, but I don’t have enough time to wait. The threat must be dealt with in its early stages."

Panetta remained stern as he said quietly, "James isn’t a young man anymore. Without sufficient incentive, he shouldn’t intentionally target me. This means there must be someone else behind him. I’ll act quickly—meanwhile, you should prepare."

"Hmm. Extract the information directly from him?"

"Exactly. I’ll create the right opportunity for you. Wait for my signal."

This was the reason Panetta brought Gao Yi to the United States.

Panetta was a meticulous man. As soon as he detected something off, he would go all out and never give his adversary any chance to exploit the situation or grow stronger.

And for Gao Yi, this wasn’t really a complicated task.

"Since I’m already in the U.S., I’d like to investigate Rana Gadot. She’s a critical figure. I think we should find a way to get close to her—ideally, capture her and interrogate her thoroughly. However, that might have some serious consequences."

Panetta sneered coldly and said, "A celebrity? What serious consequences could there be? One fanatic armed with a gun is all it takes. Do as you please."

"Alright, I’ll get started immediately. I’m tracking her movements. I’ll approach covertly first—let’s keep the scene as low-profile as possible. Ideally, we could even turn her to our side."

Panetta nodded, then whispered, "I’ve got a lot of other matters to handle, so I must leave now. Act as you see fit. Be careful in the U.S.—the Andic Group remains a threat. Once we free up some resources, we need to eliminate this problem thoroughly."

"Alright, you handle your tasks."

Gao Yi got up to send Panetta off.

There wasn’t much formality or probing involved anymore. At this stage, their cooperation was deep, their connection tightly bound. Excessive decorum wasn’t necessary—they were entirely on the same side.

As Panetta reached the door, he suddenly stopped and said softly, "You need a public identity while in the U.S., not to expose yourself to the public eye but to ease collaboration with others. Take a few days to establish an identity."

As if creating a new character in a game, Gao Yi would need a fresh identity for his activities in the U.S.—one that facilitated future transactions and operations.

Gao Yi agreed readily. "Alright, I’ll create a new identity over the next few days. Is there anything specific I need to do?"

"Get an office, register a company, open multiple business accounts. Even if it’s just a shell company, it will come in handy later."

Clearly, Panetta wasn’t improvising. This was a well-thought-out suggestion. Yet, his casual tone implied he was worried Gao Yi might refuse, making his proposal sound almost offhand.

Gao Yi nodded. "No problem—I’ll handle it."

Panetta smiled, patted Gao Yi on the shoulder, and whispered, "We’re friends. You know I wouldn’t harm you. Goodbye."