A Bluff-This Had to Be a Bluff

Zhou Yi soon followed Darrell through the doors of CIA headquarters.

Just as they entered, the sound of a fire alarm approached from somewhere nearby.

Moments later, a fleet of fire engines arrived at the entrance to CIA headquarters, drawing everyone's attention.

"We received alarms in Zones 3, 7, and 12," three firefighters rushed to the front desk, and the lead firefighter asked, "Did you receive them here?"

"We did too." The receptionist checked the computer display, looking confused. "But the alarms aren't showing any response."

"Which section is the air-conditioning system in?" Yinsen, disguised as a firefighter, asked.

"Section 21, but there's no alarm in Section 21," the receptionist replied.

"I need to go in and check the situation," Yinsen said.

"I'm sorry, but areas without an alarm cannot be entered," the receptionist refused.

"Do you want the whole building to catch fire?" Yinsen asked.

"I'm sorry, but those are the rules. No one may enter an area without an alert unless..."

While the receptionist was speaking, Luther—the technician Yinsen had specifically recruited for this operation—was in the fire engine's trunk and successfully hacked the alarm system.

The alarm immediately began blaring.

"These are some seriously useful tools... Where did Yinsen get so many connections? He actually managed to get his hands on equipment like this?" Luther marveled at the gear Yinsen had brought back a few days ago.

What he did not know was that this equipment was newly developed gear Zhou Yi had directly obtained from the IRS Equipment Department.

Of course it worked well!

"Hey." Another receptionist patted the one still explaining things to Yinsen, then pointed at the computer screen Luther had just hacked. "There's an alarm."

Now they could not stop them anymore. The receptionist immediately said, "Follow me," and led Yinsen and the others inside.

This was Yinsen's plan for getting in.

First, they hacked the fire department's system and triggered a fire report at the location of CIA headquarters. Then, they replaced the firefighters on the way there and arrived without obstruction.

After that, the highly capable technician Luther hacked the alarm system here, giving them a chance to enter.

But honestly, this plan was riddled with so many holes that Zhou Yi could not even be bothered to criticize it...

First, when a fire alarm went off, it was already absurd that no one evacuated the building or sent someone to investigate.

Second, firefighters arrived, and then... they sent just one receptionist in with them to check the fire?

Were they really that short-handed?

Third, Yinsen and the others had been carrying out their operation for quite a while. They had been gone for so long, yet no one went to check on them?

It was as though everyone had simply forgotten about them.

Fourth, those damned ventilation ducts... This was the biggest and most classic problem.

Whether it was being wide enough for two people to pass through, sturdy enough to bear the weight of several grown men, or clean enough inside—yet somehow still having a rat in it—Zhou Yi could not even be bothered to complain about any of that.

The most ridiculous part was that the CIA had even installed a laser device at the ventilation outlet of the Main Switchboard Archives...

Since they had already considered that someone might use the ventilation ducts, could they not simply make the ducts smaller? Or at least make the outlets smaller?

Even assuming CIA headquarters had such a high population density that it needed ducts that large... whose ventilation ducts were really just ducts, without even a fan?

Were these ventilation ducts supposed to work through natural airflow?

It was utterly ridiculous!

Honestly, Zhou Yi felt as though his intelligence was being ground into the floor.

But...

Anyway, they were not his teammates!

The stupider the enemy, the better!

Although the CIA did not really count as an enemy, it was currently standing in opposition to what Zhou Yi wanted to do, so there was nothing wrong with calling them that.

Zhou Yi hoped every CIA employee would go blind so Yinsen could calmly take the item out and get those ten million dollars.

As for Zhou Yi, he would catch the mole, Jim, and hand him over to Yinsen, completing their deal.

So, despite the furious mockery in his heart, Zhou Yi showed no sign of it on his face. Instead, he said to Darrell, "Director Darrell, what were you saying earlier?"

"Huh? Ah?" Darrell had been about to ask what exactly was happening, but Zhou Yi's call snapped him back to his senses. He hurriedly answered, "We were talking about... about next year's CIA renovation plans!"

Zhou Yi: "...Huh?"

Since when were we talking about that?

"Yes, that's right. Perhaps you haven't heard yet, but the CIA is preparing to undergo a major renovation next year, making some changes to the current outdated building layout."

Darrell began demonstrating the ability to make things up on the spot that he needed as the head of the administrative department. "That includes many areas, such as the ventilation system. It will require a very substantial amount of funding..."

As he spoke, Darrell led Zhou Yi toward the reception room, unaware that he had just skirted the edge of death.

Honestly, when Zhou Yi heard Darrell mention renovations to the ventilation ducts, his first instinct had been that they had been exposed, and he had immediately begun considering whether to make a move.

But Zhou Yi quickly came to his senses.

Darrell was not that smart.

It was not that Zhou Yi was looking down on Darrell for no reason. The truth was that, from any angle, Darrell had neither the ability nor the information channels to know anything about Yinsen and his plan!

A bluff—this had to be a bluff.

Besides, Zhou Yi could not see anything unusual in Darrell's expression. And... even if they had been exposed, Zhou Yi would not necessarily have killed anyone outright.

The goal of this operation was simply to obtain that list. If things got out of hand and people died, it would be bad for everyone.

Zhou Yi was not afraid, but he still wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Yinsen naturally noticed Zhou Yi standing off to the side. However, given his current disguise, he obviously could not greet Zhou Yi. He simply followed the receptionist and ran toward Section 21.

Inside a car heading toward CIA headquarters, a man once again tried to make a phone call.

However, just like the dozen or so previous attempts, the call still went unanswered.

"Fuck!" The man flung his phone aside. "They're not answering. What are they trying to do?"

This man was Brown Carey, the director of the CIA.

After receiving a call from Darrell, the head of the administrative department, and hearing Darrell explain the situation, he immediately had his driver take him to headquarters.

As the director of such an enormous intelligence agency, Brown knew very well what the CIA did on a daily basis. He understood that the CIA truly could not withstand an IRS investigation.

However, he also knew that under normal circumstances, the IRS would not provoke them for no reason. Both sides were departments with real power, and both had compromising material on the other, keeping each other in check.

At most, there would be minor frictions.

But this time...

What was going on?

Were they turning hostile for no reason at all?

Brown was furious and completely at a loss.

I can do this. It's only eight thousand words a day!

Hmm... Did I reveal something?

I don't have any chapters saved up. Believe me!