Brown was somewhat confused.
A pleasant cooperation?
What was going on?
Shouldn't they have been at each other's throats, trading barbs?
Watching Darrell shake hands with another man, his face bearing a very strange smile that looked somewhat like crying, Brown was completely dumbfounded.
He didn't know whether he should sternly question them as he had planned, or first figure out what exactly was happening.
The emotions and momentum he had built up along the way began to dissipate again before he could release them, halted by this sudden turn of events.
"Director?" Darrell still wore a smile that looked even more like a cry as he instinctively greeted Brown. "You're here?"
"Mm..." Brown pondered for a moment and decided not to blow up just yet. "What's going on? I heard you mention cooperation. What kind of cooperation?"
"Hello, let me introduce myself. I'm Zhou Yi, an IRS Employee. You must be Director Brown, correct?" Zhou Yi said with a smile, extending his hand.
"Yes..."
As the saying went, you didn't slap a smiling face. Though he still hadn't figured out what was going on, seeing Zhou Yi's manner, Brown could only extend his hand and shake his.
"Here's the situation. This time, I came under orders from our IRS Director, Chris." After shaking hands, Zhou Yi continued smiling.
Hearing this, Brown instinctively narrowed his eyes, his expression turning solemn as he went on high alert.
Sure enough, this man was a smiling tiger!
First, he used that smile to lower my guard, then he would reveal his true purpose and strike at my confidence, making me expose a weakness afterward!
But he definitely won't expect that I've already seen through all his little schemes!
Hmph, just look at that hair... and that face. He's just a young man. Such petty tricks—ridiculous, truly ridiculous!
Brown thought confidently, fully prepared to launch a thunderous counterattack once Zhou Yi revealed his purpose!
Then, the confident Brown heard Zhou Yi's next words.
"The purpose of my visit is to arrange a friendly exchange between the IRS and the CIA, including exchanges in management systems, equipment technology, professional agent training, and other areas. To show our sincerity, the Director sent me to discuss this matter in person."
If this were an anime world, Brown would probably have turned to stone and shattered piece by piece.
Zhou Yi's words kept echoing in his ears.
Words like "friendly" and "exchange" kept surfacing in his mind.
After a long while, Brown turned his neck with a crack and looked at Darrell.
It seemed like... he had nearly made a complete fool of himself...
Feeling that sword-sharp gaze bore into him, Darrell didn't dare raise his head even slightly. He stared at the floor as though he found its patterns immensely fascinating.
Pretending not to notice the strange atmosphere in the conference room, Zhou Yi continued, "Director Brown, what do you think?"
After all, Zhou Yi wasn't the one feeling awkward, so why should he care?
"Then it's settled. I'm really looking forward to our exchange with the CIA!"
Zhou Yi greeted Brown, who wore a forced smile, and Darrell, who had kept his head lowered in silence the entire time. Then he got into his car and drove away.
Brown's smile faded in direct proportion to Zhou Yi's distance.
Once Zhou Yi's car was completely out of sight, Brown's face was as dark as thunderclouds.
"Darrell." After a long silence, Brown spoke.
"Director... I'm here," Darrell replied weakly.
"...Do you have anything you'd like to explain?" Brown took a deep breath and asked.
After driving for some distance, Zhou Yi pulled over at the roadside.
Humming a little tune, he accurately found several bugs and trackers. After tossing them into a passing truck, he leisurely got back into his car, started it, and drove off.
The CIA was an intelligence agency, after all. It was perfectly understandable for them to pull a few tricks.
Except...
Trying such tricks in front of a dignified Auto Mechanic like Zhou Yi—wasn't that looking down on his professional skills?
Advanced Car Mastery wasn't just an empty claim!
As Zhou Yi drove, he took out his phone and checked his messages.
Yinsen had sent several more messages.
Tom: "Next, I'm heading to Britain to make a deal with Max on a train. If you want that ten million dollars, you'll need to take part in the operation too. I need your help to make sure nothing goes wrong."
Tom: "If there's anything you need me to cooperate with for your operation, contact me in advance so I can make the appropriate plans."
Zhou Yi smiled and sent Yinsen a message.
FBI Employee: "Just follow your operation plan. I'm going to Wisconsin first. I'll be on the train when you make the exchange."
After a while, Yinsen sent another message.
Tom: "Wisconsin? What are you going there for?"
Zhou Yi turned the steering wheel and occasionally stepped on the gas, constantly finding gaps in traffic to push forward as he replied.
FBI Employee: "You don't think the CIA will really do nothing after you pulled something this big, do you? If I remember correctly, your parents are in Wisconsin?"
Yinsen replied almost immediately.
Tom: "They won't really make a move."
FBI Employee: "But they'll find some excuse to arrest your parents and put them in prison, then broadcast the news all over the world. Because only then can they make sure you find out."
Tom: "...What are you planning to do?"
Clearly, Yinsen had thought of what might happen then and was somewhat hesitant.
Who would want their parents falsely accused, thrown into prison, and have the entire world know about it?
People needed dignity just as trees needed bark. Though Yinsen knew that before he traded away or returned the list, the CIA definitely wouldn't dare cause his parents any substantial harm, did emotional harm not count as harm?
No one wanted to see their parents wronged or hurt because of them, unless that person had no heart.
A heartless man was a beast.
Of course, there were also cases where parents had treated their children so terribly that the relationship had completely broken down. Who was right or wrong in such cases was not something to discuss here.
Yinsen, however, wasn't in that situation.
He cared deeply for his parents.
FBI Employee: "There are many ways to send two people to prison, but if it has to be serious enough to be broadcast worldwide and still sound plausible, then it's either drug trafficking, fraud, or terrorism...
"And the ones that could be used in Wisconsin are only the first two."
Tom: "So are you planning to intercept them, or strike first?"
FBI Employee: "Please don't make it sound like we're bandits. We're a legitimate company with credentials. This should be called—legally exercising the authority granted to us by the federal government."
Just how extensive were the IRS's powers?
As long as someone had evaded taxes and there was evidence, they could arrest them—and even snatch them from the hands of the FBI or CIA!
And now, Zhou Yi planned to exercise his "legal authority" as an IRS Employee!
Apparently, tomorrow they were going to dismantle a giant turbo engine... What a pain. Another day where I was about to work myself to death... Good night, working people!
Before you continue