35: Chapter 35: Recruiting the Female Agent and Obtaining an S-Rank Intelligence Network

"Talk is cheap."

Chen Yuan casually picked up a military-grade laptop from the desk and tossed it into Natasha's arms.

The heavy metal casing slammed into her knees with a dull thud.

"Since you are a senior representative, you must have the key to log into the internal network."

Chen Yuan sat back in his boss chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest, his eyes playful.

"Now, show me your worth. Don't make me feel like that injection of nanites was a waste."

Natasha took a deep breath.

She looked down at her still-trembling fingers, then gritted her teeth and opened the laptop.

The sound of keyboard typing echoed in the silent office.

At first, it was a bit rusty, but it quickly became rapid and fluid.

As an elite meticulously trained by the KGB, her hacking skills, while not on par with top-tier geeks, were more than enough to infiltrate her own company's server through a backdoor.

A waterfall of green code danced across the screen.

"The Siberian Trading Company's firewall is military-grade, changing its algorithm every three minutes."

Natasha explained rapidly while operating, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

"I can only secure a two-minute window. If I exceed it, the tracking program will lock onto this location..."

"Two minutes? Too slow."

Chen Yuan shook his head and sighed with some disappointment.

"Alice, help her."

"Understood, Boss."

Alice's calm, synthesized electronic voice echoed in the air.

The next second, Natasha discovered in horror that the laptop screen suddenly went black.

Immediately after, a red hive icon lit up in the center of the screen.

The dozens of firewalls that she would have needed to manually crack were now like paper, torn apart in an instant.

Data streams poured in frantically.

The progress bar for the core database, which would have originally taken hours to download, was skyrocketing at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

"What... what is this?"

Natasha's hands froze on the keyboard. Watching the automatically running decryption programs on the screen, she felt her worldview collapsing.

"This is impossible! Even The Pentagon's supercomputing center couldn't be this fast!"

"Nothing is impossible."

Chen Yuan stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling holographic projection.

"Welcome to the future, Ms. Natasha."

"Hum —"

The holographic projection activated.

A massive 3D map covering the entire Northern Hemisphere hovered in the center of the office.

Countless red lines spread across the map like blood vessels; these were the trajectories of capital flows, logistics, and encrypted communications.

This was the Red Queen.

After obtaining the internal key provided by Natasha as a springboard, this artificial intelligence from the future finally bared its fangs, extending its tentacles into the dark side of the world.

"This is the intelligence you wanted."

Alice walked to the projection and tapped her finger lightly.

The map zoomed in rapidly, finally locking onto San Verde and the surrounding area.

Dense red dots were marked like viruses in every corner of the city.

Every red dot represented a lurking enemy, a secret armory, or a dirty deal in progress.

"The Siberian Trading Company transferred fifty million US dollars to South America three days ago."

"This money flowed into three accounts in batches through offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands."

Alice's voice was as cold as if she were reading a death sentence:

"The first account belongs to the late Guzman. But the money was returned."

"The second belongs to the largest gang alliance in Mexico, 'Black Sun'."

"And the third..."

Alice's finger traced an arc across the map, pointing to a luxurious manor in the city center of San Verde.

"Belongs to Don Miguel. Also known in the underworld as the 'Godfather'."

As she explained, several high-definition satellite surveillance photos popped up on the map.

In the photos, several Russians were carrying black suitcases, walking into the heavily guarded manor.

On the manor's helipad, several armed helicopters with their serial numbers painted over were unloading cargo.

Those crates of green ammunition looked particularly glaring in the sunlight.

"Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, heavy sniper rifles, and... C4 plastic explosives."

Natasha looked at the photos, her face pale.

"They are serious. That old bastard Miguel is planning to blow up all of San Verde."

Chen Yuan looked at the map, his eyes unusually calm.

Even with a hint of excitement at seeing the prey caught in the net.

"Interesting."

He walked to the holographic map and reached out to flick the red dot representing the 'Godfather's' manor.

"The Russians provide the money and equipment, the Mexicans provide the territory and the lives. What is this? A transnational joint strangulation?"

"They are afraid."

Natasha stood up and walked behind Chen Yuan, her voice low.

"Your rise is too fast; it has broken the balance here. Miguel has sat in this position for thirty years, and he will never allow an uncontrolled 'outsider' to reign on his turf."

"Furthermore, he controls all the underground passages to South America. If he seals the border, you won't be able to sell a single bottle of 'Dali'."

This was a hunt.

On one side were Russian oligarchs wielding vast capital and heavy firepower; on the other, a deeply rooted, all-powerful local warlord.

With the two sides joining forces, even a regular army would have to think twice.

"Blockade me?"

Chen Yuan acted as if he had heard a funny joke, a curve of arrogance tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He turned around and looked at Natasha, his pitch-black eyes burning with a flame called ambition:

"Natasha, do you know what is more important than intelligence in this world?"

Natasha was stunned for a moment: "What?"

"Guts."

Chen Yuan straightened his collar and strode toward the office door.

"Since they want to play, I'll play big with them."

"Instead of sitting here waiting for them to put a knife to my throat, I might as well visit them personally and ask this 'Godfather' if his neck is harder than my blade."

"You're going to Miguel's manor?"

Natasha's eyes widened, and she grabbed Chen Yuan's arm.

"Are you crazy? There's at least a battalion stationed there right now! And there are heavy weapons everywhere! You're just walking into a trap!"

"Walking into a trap?"

Chen Yuan stopped and looked down at the hand gripping his sleeve, his eyes mocking.

"No, this is called... delivering a funeral clock."

He gently pushed Natasha's hand away and snapped his fingers at the air.

"Alice, get the car ready."

"Oh, and there's no need to bring too many people. Just have the Tyrant Guard wait outside."

Chen Yuan walked to the door, suddenly turned back, looked at the shocked Natasha and Victor, and flashed a smile that was bright yet somewhat chilling:

"I think, since I'm visiting an elder, I should bring a gift."

"Bring out that newly modified armored vehicle."

"We're going to pay our early respects to this local warlord."