Several days later.
Yinsen stared speechlessly at the contact name on his phone, then pressed send.
Tom: "I met the arms dealer Max. I'm going along with her plan and preparing to get hold of the CIA agent list to pretend to sell it to her, so I can trick out information on that mole, Job, codename. Can you provide any help?"
Zhou Yi looked at the message on his phone and replied.
FBI Employee: "I assume you already have a plan?"
Tom was the contact name Zhou Yi had given Yinsen, while "FBI Employee" was the name he had saved on the phone he had given Yinsen.
Naturally, some small precautions had to be taken with things that might become evidence, including contact names.
There was no need to explain Tom. Probably only Zhou Yi understood what it meant. As for FBI Employee... after all, everything could be FBI. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Yinsen frowned, thought for a moment, and sent another message. "I do have a plan, but with your help, my operation could be much more convenient and simple."
Rather than having no idea when Zhou Yi might get involved, it was better to bring him directly into the operation. At least then Yinsen would know where he stood.
That was Yinsen's plan.
"Before that," Zhou Yi replied, "recruit your helpers first. Once you get to Langley, message me."
Yinsen stared blankly at the message on his phone.
How did he know?
Yinsen could not help looking around, beginning to suspect that Zhou Yi was hiding somewhere nearby or had installed some kind of listening device.
FBI Employee: "Relax. I didn't leave any surveillance equipment, and I'm not hiding near you listening in. Recruit your helpers first. I'm ready on my end and just waiting for you."
Yinsen: "..."
I don't remember telling you any of that.
And you still say you're not monitoring me? Do you take me for an idiot?
But Yinsen had no time to search for where Zhou Yi had hidden the listening device, or where he might be hiding after disguising himself to eavesdrop.
He was currently in a high-speed train compartment, preparing to interview the two helpers he had found.
In truth, those two "helpers" came from a Discredited List within the CIA.
However, everyone recorded on it possessed special skills while also having committed offenses.
The CIA monitored these people and kept their information updated. Whenever they were needed, or whenever they committed another offense, the agency could immediately find them or apprehend them!
Every intelligence agency had a similar list.
As the saying went, every profession had its specialty. Sometimes, formally trained people really could not measure up to those on this list in certain areas.
Used properly, these people could sometimes play an enormously important role, offering exceptional value for money.
Yinsen had taken advantage of this, selecting people directly from the list to ensure his operation had a certain level of technical support.
After all, this time he was going to break into CIA headquarters and steal the CIA's most crucial internal agent list from its most heavily guarded main server room!
If he was not careful with something like that, it would not only be disrespecting his own life, but also disrespecting the CIA.
After all, they were one of America's top intelligence agencies!
Though what Yinsen was about to do could hardly be called respectful to begin with...
Several more days passed.
Tom: "I'm in Langley."
FBI Employee: "Fine. Name a location, and we'll talk in person."
Soon, Zhou Yi drove directly to the location Yinsen had chosen: a coffee shop.
"Looks like you've been living quite comfortably lately." Zhou Yi sat across from Yinsen. "Found yourself a rich woman?"
"You mean Max? That's true enough. An arms dealer who can put up ten million dollars definitely deserves the title of rich woman."
Yinsen looked out the window, habitually sweeping his gaze around a few times. After finding nothing unusual, he looked back. "I thought you'd bring people with you."
"Was that necessary? Go through all the trouble of luring you to Langley just so the CIA could set up a massive net and arrest you in advance?"
Zhou Yi ordered a mocha and left a tip. After the waitress withdrew, he said, "If I'd really wanted to make a move, I would have caught you back in Prague."
"You're right." Yinsen took a deep breath. "I checked your records and discovered you really are an IRS employee, and a Kingsman at that. You once, within a single year, went from—"
"Did I come here today to listen to you recite my entire life story?"
Zhou Yi shook his head and cut Yinsen off. "Those are only the public records. I'm sure you know how much I've done beneath the surface."
"Yes." Yinsen nodded. "That's why I find it strange. Why didn't you act right then and there?"
"With the authority the IRS possesses, combined with your status as a Kingsman, you could have arrested all of us without bothering to gather so much evidence, then slowly interrogated us until you got it."
"You're right. I could have done that, but I never would," Zhou Yi said, phrasing it in a slightly roundabout way as he leaned back in his chair. "Do you know why?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be here." Yinsen spread his hands.
The morning sunlight streamed through the window and fell across their faces, creating a perfect division between light and shadow in the middle.
Two entirely different styles of handsome features looked, at that moment, like a perfect painting.
Men could be as beautiful as paintings too—truly beautiful, without the slightest trace of femininity.
"Because..." Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow and waved at the waitress beside them, who had just walked in with the coffee and frozen at the sight before her, signaling her to bring it over.
After taking it and having a sip, Zhou Yi waited until the flustered waitress hurried away before saying, "There wouldn't be enough profit in it."
"What?" Yinsen tilted his head.
"Profit," Zhou Yi repeated. "Dollars."
"..." Yinsen fell silent for a moment. "That direct?"
"What else?" Zhou Yi smiled, set down his coffee, and leaned back in his chair again. "What do you work for?"
"..." Yinsen thought for a moment. "Before, I might have said that I enjoyed the thrill of it. But now, with my teammates dead and an internal mole in the team responsible for it... I feel like it's meaningless."
"That's your answer. For me, it's money. Only with money and a life can you have the energy to consider other things, such as... ideals," Zhou Yi said. "That's my answer."
Of course, that was not true. He only wanted system experience to grow stronger... but that did not stop him from casually making something up and feeding Yinsen some inspirational nonsense, whether it was poisonous or beneficial.
"So... you're planning to embezzle it?" Yinsen frowned. "Those ten million dollars?"
"Yes." Zhou Yi nodded bluntly. "Yinsen, I'm curious. If I told you that the money I haven't turned over this past year exceeds ten million dollars, and you knew what I'd done, and you had enough power to punish me..."
"For example, if you were the IRS Director right now, what would you do?"
The exam is tomorrow... this is rough. I've spent these past few days reviewing, relying entirely on saved drafts to keep things going. Once the exam is over, I can get back to writing~
Before you continue