Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 630 - 604 Intricate and Complicated

Chapter 630: Chapter 604 Intricate and Complicated

Panetta’s mood was quite complicated, because when he watched Gao Yi and Yuri disembark from the plane at the same time, he showed obvious hesitation and conflict.

The CIA has never had a particularly good reputation. Betraying its allies is the CIA’s creed, burning bridges is the CIA’s habit, so don’t say the CIA has no promise not to harm Yuri, even if they do, that’s not a reason for the CIA to let Yuri go.

Panetta was polite to Yuri, firstly, for the sake of Gao Yi, and secondly because Yuri’s background was a complete mystery to him.

The second point was the most important.

Panetta only hesitated for a very short time, then immediately showed a smile and warmly extended his hand to Yuri.

"You’ve had quite a task."

Panetta was making small talk, while Yuri, without any change in expression, caught on to Panetta’s words.

"It’s my duty, after preparing for decades, there has to be an opportunity to put it into use."

In truth, it wasn’t a profoundly deep conversation. Sometimes, both sides have prepared themselves mentally, but when it comes to speaking, they change their words. Hence, conversations that seem full of cleverness but actually reflect uncertainty on what to say occur.

Panetta politely smiled, then he did not shake hands with Gao Yi but instead made a gesture for them to talk aside.

Gao Yi followed Panetta to the side, and after walking a dozen meters, Panetta finally whispered, "This Yuri, I’m really not sure what to do with him now. What do you think?"

Gao Yi, without a change in expression, said, "Very dangerous, extremely dangerous. I can’t see through him. No, to speak frankly, I can’t see through him at all and have no idea what his backup plans are, so I can’t give any good advice."

"We need to interrogate Amos first. Since Amos is willing to cooperate with us, it means he should reveal everything he knows, but if Yuri allows Amos to cooperate with us, it suggests Yuri is not worried about Amos leaking any useful information."

Panetta sighed, shook his head, and said, "I’ve dealt with the KGB for many years, but I’ve never encountered someone like Yuri."

"That’s normal because Yuri is insane."

"Keeping him by your side is unsettling to me, but I don’t dare to get rid of him directly either; I’m afraid of very serious consequences."

Panetta was very candid, and he spoke from a position of siding with Gao Yi, so Gao Yi didn’t feel betrayed at all.

"Then let’s not worry about him for now. I don’t think Yuri will be a threat to me. I have that feeling, well, I have that confidence."

Panetta waved his hand and said, "Alright, let’s put him aside for now. What matters now is to completely eradicate the Andic Group and swiftly take over the Dark Web. Are you ready?"

"What do I need to prepare?"

Gao Yi spoke truthfully, and Panetta found it really difficult to answer Gao Yi’s question.

"Are your men ready?"

"These are all the people we have, everyone is here. I think relying on just a few of us to manage the whole Dark Web is unrealistic."

Panetta said in a low voice, "The Dark Web’s network architecture was actually designed by the NSA, and the servers are also provided by the NSA. If we really need to take over the Dark Web, actually, we just need to control a few key points, and the CIA’s network department will assist; it’s not a problem. We just need to find a few trustworthy people to actually control the Dark Web."

Gao Yi didn’t quite understand network matters, and Panetta wasn’t very knowledgeable either, but the CIA is big with many experts in various fields. As an intelligence unit, it has plenty of people proficient in network technology, so Panetta doesn’t need to understand everything because there are naturally people to explain things to him.

"Oh, are we taking over the Dark Web now?"

Gao Yi still felt a bit surreal, like a dream because everything was too simple; everything was achieved too effortlessly.

"Two choices: one is to change the current Dark Web’s name, alter the page, making it look like a completely different site but actually remaining the same old setup; the other choice is to completely abandon the Dark Web and create a new one, but most users would be lost, and everything would have to start from scratch."

Panetta naturally put his hand on Gao Yi’s shoulder and whispered, "My suggestion is to modify the name on the original foundation and use it. What do you think?"

"Alright, let’s just change the name on the previous foundation."

"I’m finding suitable candidates to assist you. You don’t need to worry about professional technical talents, as NSA and FBI will cooperate for now, not plotting anything secretly. Speed up, there is still plenty of time."

After Panetta finished speaking, he lightly patted Gao Yi’s shoulder with the hand resting on it and then said with a serious face, "There are now two very important matters: one is to find out whether the Soviet Restoration Committee has nuclear weapons in the United States. With the previous case of Ben and Russia, we are indeed scared, and now, you’re the most suitable person to investigate."

Panetta was hinting at Gao Yi.

Simply put, Panetta was so polite to Gao Yi, discussing everything with him because Yuri played a big role in it.

Even if Gao Yi really didn’t know much about Yuri, until now, Gao Yi was undeniably the person most influenced by Yuri. For this reason alone, until the absolute safety of America is confirmed, everyone would treat Yuri and Gao Yi with courtesy.

Gao Yi nodded and said, "No problem, I will have a good talk with Yuri."

"Alright, the second matter is to quickly find and eliminate Little Andic. We believe Little Andic is still in New York, and the Andic Group’s top levels have mostly collaborated with NSA in technology over the years, so they are closely connected now. The NSA’s operations to silence aren’t going smoothly, and they have been forced to reveal some information to me."

Taking the hand off Gao Yi’s shoulder, Panetta made a gesture and said, "Old Andic is in the hospital, already controlled by the Department of Homeland Security. Now the Department of Homeland Security has led the formation of an investigation team... Hmm, how to explain, there are people in Homeland Security trying to exploit this opportunity to create trouble."

Gao Yi felt overwhelmed and said, "Why is the Department of Homeland Security involved again?"

"It’s complex, very complex. Let me simplify it: no matter what’s happening, the crucial thing now is that Old Andic must die, and Little Andic must die too. It’s best if you handle this personally."

Panetta seemed a bit heavy-hearted. He looked around and continued, "The situation now is that everyone wants to control the Andic father and son in their own hands as a weapon against others. Now, NSA’s attitude is clear; they’re willing to cooperate with us. However, when it comes to domestic investigations and finding people, the combined resources of CIA and NSA are no match for FBI. I now suspect someone high up in the FBI may be protecting Little Andic, so I suggest you approach it from the ground level, leveraging your good relations with the FBI, not alerting their higher-ups, and swiftly find and eliminate Little Andic, and if possible, it’d be best to get rid of Old Andic too."

The reason Panetta entrusted this matter to Gao Yi is because, at this moment, Gao Yi is the person who wants the Andic father and son dead more than anyone else, without a second option.

"Alright, I’ll handle it immediately."

Panetta nodded and said, "According to information provided by the NSA, they are sure Little Andic is still on New York Long Island and hasn’t had the chance to escape, but it’s been a dozen hours, and he’s still not found. We can’t conduct a large-scale manhunt; we have neither the manpower nor the authority. So, it’s up to you, quickly find him."