Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 556 - 535: No Technical Content

Chapter 556: Chapter 535: No Technical Content

The parking lot at CIA headquarters is enormous.

Before entering the parking lot, one has to pass a checkpoint, but that’s too easy. Fisher stopped the car, allowed the first security guard to check inside, showed everyone’s ID, and then got clearance.

When entering the CIA headquarters building, everyone has to verify their identity, especially those who have never been there before. Their credentials need to be closely inspected.

However, Fisher led Gao Yi and his team through the back entrance—exclusively for catering staff, cafeteria workers, and janitors. It’s not a route for agents, but it serves people who support the agents.

It leads to the CIA headquarters just the same, and still requires inspection. Technically, it’s not considered a normal channel, but it’s not far off either.

However, entering at five in the morning makes one incredibly conspicuous.

The guards at the door wear military uniforms—three of them. They were utterly perplexed by the strange group showing up at this hour and, unsurprisingly, subjected Gao Yi and his team to strict examination.

"We’re here on a mission. Since it’s a mission, it’s perfectly normal for them to carry weapons, isn’t it?"

Everyone had to pass through an X-ray security gate. Only after passing could their IDs be presented and verified. Once confirmed, they could finally enter the CIA headquarters building.

Fisher, wearing a wrinkled suit that reeked of sweat, swayed slightly. His high-level badge dangled off his chest. Reeking of alcohol, he explained to the soldiers why these few people needed to bring weapons into CIA headquarters.

Gao Yi listened and felt like punching someone.

Who conducts a covert mission like this?

The sentinel guards seemed conflicted, hesitating over whether to report the suspicious activity and inform their superiors. According to protocol, that’s exactly what they should do.

But Fisher gestured toward Gao Yi and his team and continued to tell the guards, "Do a thorough check of their passes. Examine the clearance level. If you report and problems arise, they’ll be caused by you. Also..."

Fisher glanced uncertainly at Gao Yi and his team before saying to the guards, "There’s a mole in the CIA. This mole might use this door to gain entry. So, someone needs to stay here. Are you on duty all night? Have you encountered anything unusual—like strangers you’ve never seen entering through here?"

Fisher might be under investigation, but he’s neither foolish nor incapable.

At first glance, Fisher’s words seemed odd—on second thought, even odder. But the way he demanded cooperation from the guards made one feel the world is sometimes truly bizarre.

And yet, the guards acquiesced.

"Yes, at two in the morning, there was someone with a contractor staff ID claiming to be the night-shift cook. But I had never seen him before."

Fisher, maintaining his casual demeanor, replied, "He might just be the person we’re looking for. Describe his features; is there surveillance footage?"

"There are cameras here, but we definitely can’t view them. You’d need to go to the monitoring room to retrieve the footage. I can describe him, though—he’s about six feet two inches tall, burly, has a striking face, and sports a comical beard, like a wrestler. But his ID checked out, and the facial recognition system confirmed him. Overall, he didn’t seem problematic, but I think he’s quite formidable."

The sentinel guard explained to Fisher in earnest.

Why was this guard explaining so much to Fisher?

Gao Yi felt the world wasn’t quite right. Now, he was certain it was downright abnormal.

Fisher, however, looked as if he had anticipated everything. He nodded and said, "Great. If your information is valuable, you can expect a promotion."

Then Fisher turned to Gao Yi and his team and asked, "Who’s staying behind here? Whether another suspicious person tries to enter or the target attempts to leave, someone needs to stay behind and monitor."

Gao Yi thought for a moment and then looked at Dani.

Dani exhaled, scratched his head, and reluctantly said, "Fine, I’ll stay."

Fisher instructed the guards, "Give this guy a concealed spot to sit. If he needs to shoot anyone, you back him up. This is a special authorization."

"Yes, sir."

Fisher nodded and said to Gao Yi, "Let’s keep moving."

Dani stayed behind while Gao Yi and the others followed Fisher further inside.

Once inside the headquarters, there were no guards. Walking through the empty hallways, with no one in sight, Gao Yi asked Fisher again, "Why do the sentinels follow your orders so easily?"

"Because of my credentials," Fisher replied nonchalantly. "Didn’t you notice earlier? You all have access passes, but I have a work badge. My work badge has the highest clearance—even though it’s temporary. Uh, right now I hold emergency crisis authority. Pretty impressive."

"Then what about our passes?"

"Yours are visitor passes with the highest-access level—basically, equivalent to the President’s clearance."

Fisher pointed to the badge on Gao Yi’s chest and explained, "Signed directly by the director, handwritten. Swipe it on any machine—it’ll light up green. Quite powerful."

Fisher moved with a loose, almost drunken slouch, mixing laziness and ease in a way impossible to replicate.

Yet strangely, walking inside CIA headquarters with Fisher felt like wandering down the street—completely deserted.

It might be five in the morning, but surely there should’ve been someone.

"You must be wondering why there’s no one around, right? It’s because we’re not in the office area. Still, in a building this big, there must be maintenance workers keeping things running. We’re in such a section now."

Fisher yawned, pointed to a door, and said, "Through that door is the office area, staffed around the clock. Some will be working overtime while the security division monitors everything from the first floor. Let’s find my buddy there and pull the entire building’s surveillance tapes to locate your target."

If things were this straightforward, that’d be amazing.

Fisher continued leading the way.

Xinfeng was also with the CIA, but compared to Fisher, he was far less familiar with headquarters.

Unable to hold back, Xinfeng asked, "Why are you so familiar with headquarters?"

"Because I used to work here," Fisher replied with a sway.

Arriving at a door with a security panel, Fisher swiped his card. After a soft beep, he pushed the door open, ignoring the two armed guards inside. He casually announced, "Office area."

The two guards looked startled at first but, upon seeing the badges worn by the group, refrained from asking too many questions. Instead, one reached out toward a machine and said, "Please verify your identities."

Fisher swiped his card again, then pressed his fingerprint and scanned his retina. His photo appeared on the screen, and Gao Yi’s eyes couldn’t help but glance—it turns out Fisher’s staff photo looked quite distinguished.

The guards meticulously checked Fisher’s information before politely addressing him, "Thank you for cooperating. Please proceed..."

"Shh... shh!"

Fisher placed his index finger on his lips, signaling the guards to remain silent. Then he casually asked, "Tonight, besides us, has anyone passed through this door? Any badge counts."

"Hmm, no, just you all."

Fisher raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, "No six-foot-two guy with a funny beard came through?"

"No, I’m sure. Since 8 PM, no one else has entered."

"Good. Thank you."

Fisher waved his hand and ordered Gao Yi, "Swipe your badge. Let’s go."

Gao Yi removed his badge. Unlike Fisher, he didn’t require fingerprint or retina scans. When he swiped his badge, a green light lit up, and two lines appeared on the screen:

VIP, authorized by the Director.

The guard saluted sharply to Gao Yi, handed him his badge with both hands, and respectfully said, "Please enter."

Fisher’s casual tone held authority as he instructed, "Don’t report anything that happens here tonight. But before your shift ends, if anyone walks through this door—doesn’t matter who they are, doesn’t matter what badge they’re carrying—trigger an alarm. Go for an attack alert. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

The guards complied without hesitation.

Why wouldn’t they? Fisher’s clearance left them no choice.

Fisher led the way as Gao Yi and the others followed. When Gao Yi reached Fisher’s side, the man was muttering to himself, "Odd. Why hasn’t anyone appeared yet? This door is the most likely route."

Gao Yi lowered his voice, "Can you explain?"

"Sure, but that’d take too much time. Generally speaking, if I were sneaking into headquarters to sabotage something related to the current director, I’d choose this route. This door has vulnerabilities known to only a few. Vulnerabilities require fixes, fixes require guards, and guards themselves effectively become vulnerabilities."

Gao Yi wondered if Fisher’s brain had gotten rusty after prolonged disarray; otherwise, his reasoning shouldn’t have been so bizarrely circular or muddled.

Yuri approached and cautiously asked Fisher, "Are you saying these guards were bribed?"

"Possibly—a bribe to deliberately let in who you’re searching for and keep us in the dark. Or there might be another pathway I’m unaware of that bypasses electronic security systems to enter late at night."

Fisher smiled faintly and added, "If neither of those is true, then the person you’re after might’ve used legitimate credentials, entered the building for overtime work, and my buddy can locate him."

Yuri thought for a moment before saying, "I think it’s the legitimate route."

"Perhaps—but I doubt it’s that simple."

Fisher shook his head, mumbling as he continued walking.

Gao Yi moved close to Yuri and whispered, "Can you explain?"

Yuri sighed, hesitated briefly, and replied, "Put simply, Wei Feng has clearance. He doesn’t need to exploit vulnerabilities to enter. But we possess greater access—not just to plug these vulnerabilities but to leverage CIA’s entire security infrastructure to pinpoint Wei Feng’s location in this building."

Gao Yi immediately felt disheartened. What had seemed mysterious—or perhaps overly theatrical—turned out to revolve around authorization levels. No skill involved, just pure bureaucracy.