Capítulo 1780: Chapter 789: Traitor! (Part 3)
Then, the voice on the other side appeared again, gently indicating that they didn’t need him to do any major harm to xico, just so small secrets.
Like paraters of new weapons and so on.
Miguel was terrified, but he dared not make a sound, much less report it.
He had a loving wife, two school-aged children, and a respectable job with a promising future. He couldn’t imagine the scene of his reputation ruined and family broken.
Under imnse fear and a sense of luck, he compromised. So far, he has made three “minor” adjustnts as instructed, passed on two parts of non-confidential information from public bidding docunts, and received a “consulting fee” transferred into his distant cousin’s account.
Each ti after he’s done, he suffers tornt but keeps comforting himself: it’s nothing, not involving core secrets, no substantial harm…
But now, Gals has been caught!
The Anti-Corruption Bureau is obviously serious! What if they trace back sothing? What if things go wrong in the United Kingdom? Or, this is simply the beginning of an internal purge, will he be implicated?
Fear overwhelms all reason.
He abruptly opens the bottom layer of the drawer and takes out a brand new phone hidden in the flap of an old notebook.
His fingers tremble as he dials the number rembered in his mind.
The phone rings several tis before being answered, with no sound on the other end.
Miguel lowers his voice, speaking incoherently and almost in tears: “It’s… it’s ! Things went wrong, our director was just taken away by the Anti-Corruption Bureau! Right at the office! Taken publicly! They must have found sothing big, the atmosphere is too tense! I… I can’t stay here! Prepare money for , arrange a route, I need to go! Imdiately! Right away!”
The other side remains silent for a few seconds, and a slightly distorted male voice says: “Miguel, calm down. Explain clearly, under what grounds was the Anti-Corruption Bureau taking him away? Did they ntion you? Or, is there any indication that the investigation involved foreign intelligence?”
“I… I don’t know what grounds! The Anti-Corruption Bureau people only said to cooperate with the investigation, the gendars even ca! Didn’t ntion , but… but they’re so sudden, they must have sothing! I’m scared! Gals knows many things, what if he can’t hold up…” Miguel is almost collapsing.
“Listen to , Miguel.”
The voice on the other end remains steady, “If the Anti-Corruption Bureau is targeting you or our line, you wouldn’t have the chance to make this call now. They arrested Gals probably due to internal corruption or other issues. If you panic and run, it tells everyone you have problems. What about your family? If you run, the suspicion becos solid, we’ll try to help you, but if you blindly act now, the risk of exposure will multiply.”
“Then what do I do? Wait here to die?” Miguel yells despairingly.
“Go to work as usual, act as normal. The calr you appear, the better. Gals’s situation has nothing to do with you; you are just an ordinary engineer. Continue completing those ‘harmless’ small tasks we agreed on earlier, it will prove your ‘normalcy.’ We will assess the situation, if evacuation is needed, we will provide you the most secure and thorough plan. But for now, you have to maintain your composure.”
“Think of your wife, your children. Your panic now is their greatest danger. Calm down, Miguel. You are not alone.”
These words feel like a splash of water, slightly calming Miguel’s pounding heart, but the fear does not go away.
He breathes heavily, clutching his hair: “You… you guarantee? If things don’t look right, you must help !”
“We guarantee it, your value and our earlier investnt don’t allow us to easily abandon you. Keep this phone open, but don’t contact us unless it’s an ergency. Wait for instructions.” With that, the other party cleanly hangs up the phone.
Listening to the busy tone in the earpiece, Miguel collapses in his chair as if drained, and the phone slips from his sweaty hand.
He stares blankly at the ceiling. The other side’s calm analysis makes so sense, but he can’t dispel the coldness in his heart.
Gals’s downfall seems like an ominous sign, foretelling a storm he cannot control brewing.
“Damn… damn it!” He grits his teeth but doesn’t know whom to curse.
So regret sets in!
London, MI6 Safehouse.
The agent who answered Miguel’s call, codenad “Tailor,” puts down the communication device with multi-layer encryption transfer and looks at the other two in the room – his superior and the colleague responsible for action planning.
“‘Clock Swing’ is panicking.” “Tailor” succinctly puts it, “his superior, Equipnt Director Gals, seems to be publicly taken away by the xican Anti-Corruption Bureau for so reason. He fears implication and requests urgent evacuation.”
The superior is a middle-aged man, “the data he provides are quite useful, the whole world is researching them; where did those damn xicans get those weapons!”
“Could it be that they really received help from God?”
“Many weapons are even more sophisticated than the United States.”
“Miguel is still useful, we must protect his life.”
The action planner frowns: “But evacuating now is very risky, the xicans just moved against their equipnt director, internally they must be on high alert, border and immigration checks will only be stricter. ‘Clock Swing’ is emotionally unstable, prone to making mistakes during evacuation; once he’s captured, it may implicate many people, and our cover identities in xico City could also be threatened.”
“The risk indeed exists.”
The superior muses, “but ‘Tailor’ is right, if he’s the target of internal anti-corruption now, he should have already lost his freedom. Since he can still make phone calls, it shows the fire hasn’t yet reached him. However, his panic itself is a huge risk. We cannot let him do stupid things out of fear and expose himself.”
He pauses for a mont, makes a decision: “Temporarily enter silent mode, cut off all contact with ‘Clock Swing’ except ergency communication. Implent ‘appease-observe-backup evacuation’ plan for ‘Clock Swing’. You are responsible for continuously calming him, creating the impression ‘we value him highly and are formulating a perfect plan’, stabilizing his emotions, anwhile extracting more information on their internal anti-corruption action, even if it’s just rumor.”
He looks at the other person: “anwhile, initiate research on preparatory evacuation channels.”
“What if he loses contact or it’s confird he’s captured?”
“Standard procedure. Break the chain, clean all traces that may point to us. Everyone needs to prepare to temporarily leave the xico area.”
The superior is professional, the CIA is pretty formidable too.
“But, before a final decision, try to keep him. It’s not like before now, our intelligence network in many places worldwide is under pressure. Every valuable informant, every nail that can root, becos more precious than before. It’s too easy to abandon, but too difficult to rebuild. Let those working for us feel, as long as they have value and follow rules, we won’t easily forsake them—even this requires taking so calculated risks, paying so extra costs.”
“Yes, officer!”
“Go to work, stay vigilant.”
“By the way, the superior has instructed us to carry out assassination on xican scientists, you also need to be prepared to discard those nails.”
The subordinates nod to each other, “All for the Sun Never Sets!”
After they leave, the superior takes out a book from the drawer, with a badge clipped inside.
It turns out to be from the “Phoenix Society”!
“All for Her Majesty the Queen!”
…
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