Pacify the Interior Before Fighting the Exterior

"...Ah... ah—achoo!"

"Sniff... Why hasn't it arrived yet? At this time, Feng Taylor's private jet should have arrived..."

The night was bitterly cold and damp, with a fine drizzle falling from the sky. After sneezing, the ETO operative hiding beside the airport runway rubbed his runny nose and watched another plane land.

The powerful airflow whipped up by the landing aircraft made his face sting terribly. He felt that if he kept enduring this without doing anything, he would catch a cold before long.

"Are you sure the intel is right? Why hasn't Feng Taylor arrived yet? I'm practically freezing into an idiot here."

"Wait a little longer. I haven't received anything on my end."

The ETO operative hidden in the control tower checked the aircraft models listed there and confirmed that none of them was the private jet Lin Feng had boarded.

Damn it! There's no wind or rain where you are, so of course you can say that so easily! The operative hiding near the runway cursed inwardly.

But there was no helping it. A mission was a mission. Since he had taken on the task of blowing up the plane, he had to grit his teeth through however hard it was and wait for Feng Taylor's plane to land.

Yet after waiting all night, the ETO operative hiding beside the airport runway, shivering from the cold, still did not see the plane he had been eagerly awaiting.

"Damn it! Another one landed. It's almost dawn already—are you sure you didn't get it wrong? Don't tell me it already landed and you just missed it!"

"No. I've checked carefully many times."

"Then you remembered it wrong!"

"Impossible. I remember the registration number of Feng Taylor's private jet perfectly."

The ETO operative in the control tower replied innocently. This really was not his fault. He had repeatedly verified every plane requesting landing clearance, but Feng Taylor's private jet simply was not among them.

The two ETO operatives finally began to sense that something was wrong. According to the assassination plan, Feng Taylor's private jet was supposed to arrive at the airport before dawn. But now dawn was nearly here, and it still had not arrived.

"Abort the plan. Everyone leave immediately." King Arthur used Sophon to relay the evacuation order to the two of them.

As the leader of the assassination operation, King Arthur had the authority to directly command them.

"What?"

"What happened?"

Neither of them was willing to accept it. They had prepared extensively for this day, and the organization had invested heavily as well. Returning empty-handed like this was difficult for them to accept.

King Arthur's attitude was firm. "We failed. The plan has been leaked, and your current situation is very dangerous."

"Leave the airport immediately. The organization needs to preserve its strength. Do not make pointless sacrifices."

The assassination operation had been declared a failure, a heavy blow to the ETO.

Unlike before, they had poured enormous resources and manpower into this operation, only for it to fail anyway. It could not help but make these ETO members deeply suspicious of the organization's internal affairs.

"Who was it?! Who leaked the news?!"

"Impossible! We monitored every channel of information! No one passed on any messages!"

The two sides accused each other. King Arthur had been responsible for the assassination operation, while Newton had been responsible for sealing off information. King Arthur accused Newton of failing at his job and allowing the information to leak, while Newton accused King Arthur's group of being too conspicuous and exposing the plan.

"You must have missed something! Otherwise, how could Feng Taylor have detected our ambush in advance?"

"We have to find the traitor! Pacify the interior before fighting the exterior!"

King Arthur glared at Newton in fury. He believed Newton was very likely the traitor—or, even if he was not, someone under him was.

Newton shouted back, "Stop shirking responsibility! No one passed on any messages! I think your operation was too obvious and was detected by United States intelligence!"

"And you still refuse to admit your failure?"

Hearing Newton say that, King Arthur rose angrily to his feet.

"Say that again if you dare!"

"You're questioning our professionalism!"

Would this operation have failed if they had not botched the information lockdown and allowed the news to leak?

"And aren't you questioning our professionalism?"

Newton showed no fear as he shot back. To cooperate with the assassination operation, his side had not slept for days. And the operation still failed—Newton practically wanted to grab a chair and smash it over King Arthur's head.

"Enough! Instead of wasting time spouting nonsense here, think of a way to salvage the situation!"

"So what if Feng Taylor successfully returned to the United States? It only makes assassinating him more difficult. Does that mean we can't kill him?"

Qin Shi Huang tried to persuade the two men to sit down, but unfortunately, he did not command enough respect. They only slightly eased their tense, hostile stances.

King Arthur glared at Newton in displeasure. "Easy for you to say. That's United States territory. Ever since the previous leak, security at Feng Taylor's villa has been raised another level."

"Tch. Are you making excuses for your own incompetence?" Newton sneered.

"Say that again? I've tolerated you for a long time!"

The nerves that had only just relaxed tightened again. King Arthur slammed the table and pointed at Newton as he cursed.

Newton spread his hands and continued with a cold smile. "If you can't do it, then stop stubbornly pretending you can. We should use our method instead—wallbreaking Feng Taylor is the priority. Assassination comes second."

"What use is wallbreaking his plan? It's not like he has only one plan!" King Arthur said.

Newton stared at King Arthur as though he were looking at an idiot.

"Why the rush? If his plan is really what we think it is, no one will be willing to protect him anymore!"

"Then killing him will be easy, won't it?"

On the drive back, Lin Feng's taut nerves finally relaxed a little.

The presidential car looked no different from an ordinary vehicle on the outside, but that was only its appearance. In reality, it was comparable to a heavy armored vehicle.

"Did you catch those ETO members?" Lin Feng asked.

The CIA agent shook his head regretfully. "We arrived too late. They had already escaped."

In truth, Lin Feng was partly to blame for that. If he had informed the CIA while still on the plane, they definitely could have caught a large number of ETO members.

However, Lin Feng had his reasons for doing this. He was worried that the ETO might learn through Sophon that Liang Gong had tipped him off.

He could not save himself, then repay the person who had saved his life by harming her out of ingratitude, could he?

As for whether Sophon would find out about the tip-off in the game, Liang Gong had said she would not. Lin Feng did not understand much about that, but he figured Liang Gong would not sabotage herself, so he did not dwell on it.

"As expected of you. You noticed something none of us had, from across the Pacific Ocean." The CIA agent looked at Lin Feng with open admiration.

There were certainly exceptional figures among CIA agents, people capable of influencing the situation in turbulent nations and deciding victory from thousands of miles away. But a Wallfacer was an outsider. He was not a professional agent, nor had he received any training.

"It was just simple perspective-taking. I thought about what I would do if I were the assassin. Plans are dead, but people are alive. Only by adapting flexibly can I keep the enemy from grasping my thoughts. That is precisely a Wallfacer's job."

Lin Feng offered the explanation halfheartedly, but the CIA agent believed him completely.

"It seems you are extraordinarily gifted at counter-surveillance as well."

"Ahem, it's only counter-surveillance. I can't compare to professionals like you."

After coughing awkwardly, Lin Feng did not want to continue this topic. The more he said, the more troublesome it would become if he let something slip.

Suddenly, the agent in the front seat turned around and spoke to Lin Feng.

"It's a message from the team. Davis wants to establish a video call with you."

After receiving Lin Feng's permission, a black screen descended from the gap above the car window. Goring Davis's aged face appeared on the screen.