1126: Chapter 1126: The Team, Faith, and Betrayal (Super Long Chapter, Asking for Monthly Tickets) 1126: Chapter 1126: The Team, Faith, and Betrayal (Super Long Chapter, Asking for Monthly Tickets) Upon hearing He Ao’s words, the faces of those seated around the office desk shook.
“I would very much like to tell you all that we are now living in a glorious era, a ti when people live in peace and contentnt, and society is flourishing,”
“In such an era, what we at the Federal Bureau of Investigation need to do is just to arrest so criminals who are innately vicious and evil, and obtain our dals of honor amid the cheers of the people.”
He Ao’s gaze swept across the faces of each individual, the sll of blood perating the eting room filled everyone’s nostrils,
“But regrettably, I think you all know what kind of era we are actually living in.
“Queke’s corpse is right beneath our feet.
Once, he was an FBI agent full of passion and hope for the future,
“And now, for his own benefit, he could cooperate with the believers of the Evil God, betraying the glory once his pride.
“So may think that this was his personal issue, but,”
He Ao’s tone paused slightly, his gaze becoming heavier, “From Dawn City to Vitland, from the East Coast to the West Coast, such characters are commonplace.
One person, we can say there was incidental infiltration of a bad elent within the FBI, but what about ten, a hundred?
“The artificially cultivated lons, in the southeast of the Federation where the sunshine is plentiful, are large and mouthwatering, sweet and full of juice; but on the northern icy plains by the border, they grow small and hard, sotis even failing to fruit at all.
“We all know that under the universal sunshine, fruits are more likely to synthesize sugar and beco sweet, and their leaves also tend to grow thick and broad, while in the cold regions shrouded in dense clouds, it’s difficult for fruits to grow.
“A person may inherently possess excellent qualities, but if they grow in a harsh environnt, facing the corruption of distorted external influences, can they still maintain their humanity?
“I am honored to be sitting here and talking with you all,”
He Ao looked at the varying expressions on the faces, and said softly, “You are the ones who have managed to keep yourselves clean in the dark dye vat of Minte City.
“I think you all are more aware of the power of the two big financial conglorates than I am, and you also know better than I do the size of the interests and chips they can offer.”
His tone paused again, “I asked Hel to summon the remaining thirty or so agents of the FBI, so of whom have directly ‘disappeared,’ so who could still be contacted before but have now ‘disappeared’ after seeing the security forces of the two big financial conglorates.
“Only you have finally made it here.
“I don’t believe that on your way here, you didn’t encounter any deploynts and obstructions by the two big financial conglorates, but still, you ca.
“But I don’t want to deceive you.
I can plainly tell you that death is now right before us.
“Once the two big financial conglorates are ready, they will ruthlessly purge the entire Federal Bureau of Investigation Building, eliminating all FBI agents who are still trying to resist the conglorates.
“You all have dealt with the financial conglorates for several years, more or less.
I believe you are very clear that in the eyes of the conglorates, there are only two paths: surrender and be their dogs, or resist and die.”
“I don’t want to talk to you about the future,”
He Ao stood up slightly, looking at the people present, “Only those who are alive have the right to speak of the future.”
His voice paused slightly, then he straightened up, “Now, may the agents local to Minte City or those who have settled down locally in Minte City raise your hands.”
The crowd was taken aback montarily, not knowing why he had asked this question.
To avoid influence from local powers, the FBI is keen on deploying agents from different regions, but of course, also retains so local employees to so extent.
After a brief hesitation, eight people slowly raised their hands, including Hel who was seated next to He Ao.
Out of fifteen people, plus Hel, making sixteen, half had raised their hands.
“Alright, thank you,”
He Ao nodded gently indicating that people could lower their hands, and then he continued,
“Ladies and gentlen, you have a relatively easy escape route, and that is to leave this place, sever ties with the FBI, or seek an opportunity to surrender to the two big financial conglorates,
“In doing so, after this incident, you will most likely continue to work as FBI agents, and you might even receive a ‘handsoly paid’ part-ti job.
“You might think I am mocking or laughing, but I can tell you with certainty that this is indeed my advice.
I indeed do not like, even despise this suggestion, but I won’t shy away from the reality of the situation.”
He looked at everyone,
“Of course, apart from this path, I have another ‘escape route,’ a route that can preserve your own honor.’
“Though, I would prefer to call it a ‘death route,’ because it seems to have no difference from seeking death.”
He braced his hands on the table, and said word by word, “This path is straightforward: stay here, pick up the knife and sword and tell the two big financial conglorates, ‘Back off.’
He lowered his gaze slightly, sweeping over the faces of those who had just raised their hands,
“Walking on this path, you might die at any mont; indeed, all of us might die.
And even death might not be the end, as your families could also be retaliated against by the conglorates.”
Upon hearing these words, the faces of those who had just raised their hands shifted subtly.
“Mr.
Suote, Chief of Staff, you are prepared to resist the two big financial conglorates,”
At this mont, the redhead man who first voiced dissent, He Ao, slowly began to speak, “What are you relying on?
Just us?”
Then his tone paused slightly, and he continued, “Do you have confidence?”
“My reliance is not limited to you all, and my enemies are not just the two major conglorates,”
He Ao said calmly, “And if you’re asking about my confidence, I do believe that we will ultimately be victorious, it’s just that we might not be able to witness that victory ourselves.”
“Why is that?”
A figure in the crowd questioned with bewildernt.
“Because death lies before us,”
He Ao glanced at the figure, then turned his gaze back to the crowd and answered calmly, “Not just before you and , but also before the thousands weighed down by the decay of this era.”
“When people no longer fear death, then nothing can threaten them; when there is nothing left for them to lose, they no longer fear loss.”
Upon hearing these words, everyone’s expression was shaken.
So were horrified, so sighed, so were resigned.
For so reason, they did not find these words to be alarmist; they were rely astonished that they ca from the mouth of a core high official from the Federation’s Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“So victory will ultimately co; I have never doubted that,”
He Ao hunched his body, calmly gazing at everyone, “But in the darkness before Dawn, many will perish.
We might see the Daybreak, but more likely, we will die before it, becoming one of the kindling that ignites the Dawn.”
He paused for a mont, raised his wristband, and checked the ti, “Our ti is limited, so you only have three minutes to think.
“In the next three minutes, if you leave this office, if you leave this building, I will not stop you.
If we et on the battlefield one day, I will not hold back,”
“Of course, even if you truly wish to defect to the conglorates, I still advise you to consider that after this incident.
“Don’t go and inform now, standing against your forr comrades.
During this ti, the conglorates’ attention will be focused on us, not on you.”
“After three minutes, those who remain in this office, I will take it that you have made your decision.
“If there are still thoughts of colluding with the conglorates, I will show no rcy to traitors.”
Having said that, he put down his wristband, turned around, and walked to the window, once again looking at the scenery outside.
An invisible silence spread around the office table.
The people sitting at the office table looked at each other, but not one spoke.
By disregarding the conglorates’ blockade and coming here, they already had certain inclinations.
But in the face of death, those inclinations didn’t seem as firm and pure.
In the end, out of the sixteen people, four stood up within those three minutes and bowed slightly towards He Ao’s back.
Then they turned around, crossed over the puddle of blood, and departed from the eting room.
Each one of them swore they wouldn’t defect to the conglorates or disclose any information about tonight’s eting; they just hoped to survive.
He Ao did not turn back, nor did he respond to them in any way.
It was as if he had never seen these four people, letting them leave as they pleased.
When the three minutes passed, He Ao returned to the eting table.
His gaze swept over those who stayed.
Two of those with families in Minte City left, and two without families there left as well.
There was still a balance maintained between the two groups.
The redhead man who had been questioning He Ao stayed, Hel also stayed.
He Ao’s gaze turned to those agents with families in Minte City and he asked softly, “Do you have ergency plans prepared?”
“I had my family hide before I arrived.”
The redhead man spoke up.
He was not a local of Minte City, but he had family there.
As he spoke, the other remaining few also spoke in turn.
Among the six people, two had already hidden their families upon arrival, three had ergency plans ready that would allow their families to rapidly hide in safe houses via phone contact.
The remaining one was Hel; he had always kept his family hidden in the safe house he had set up, to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
Surviving under Queke’s regi, there isn’t a single agent who is ordinary.
He Ao glanced at the remainder of the people.
In groups of four, he divided them into three teams.
This ti, the grouping went very smoothly, without any significance.
After just having gone through He Ao’s ‘high-pressure speech’, the will of those remaining was comparatively determined.
Of course, they might just believe themselves to be determined.
But even so, that was enough for the team to form an initial cohesion over a common goal.
This was the reason He Ao wanted to ‘filter out’ people.
In a high-pressure environnt, a small team assembled with a few individuals with aligned aspirations and stable ntalities is better than a larger group with a muddled mix of people.
Those with shaky wills, when faced with high pressure, can easily be broken down.
Even if they don’t surrender, they can still undermine the entire morale.
The more adverse the circumstances, the more useful elite teams beco.
After the teams were ford and had a brief chance to interact, He Ao’s gaze swept across the individuals, “Teams two and three stay here for now.
Team one, take the opportunity while the corporations have fewer people around and exit through the back window, try not to be detected.”
Team one consisted of four people, with the red-haired man as the leader, known as the most rebellious ones in the group and, according to the information left by Queke, among the most capable.
“Queke had sold your information to the corporations long ago,”
He Ao looked at the mbers of team one,
“When you ca in, you should have been noticed by the corporations.
I need you to hide near the buildings of Note Intelligence and West Steel, and figure out the situation with the decision-making echelons of the two corporations, whether through informants or observation.
Any questions?”
“No problem,”
The red-haired man said without hesitation, “This is our strong suit.”
The rest of the team one mbers nodded slightly as well.
“Be aware, the informant information you’ve disclosed may have already been given to the two corporations by Queke.”
He Ao reminded them softly.
“Don’t worry,”
The red-haired man stood up slightly, smiling, “We never trusted Queke anyway.”
Team one left swiftly; team two excelled in controlling equipnt.
He Ao had two mbers from team three, along with team two, making up six people in total, to go check and control the defense systems and, by the way, find a cleaning robot to tidy up the eting room.
In the end, only two mbers were left in team three.
One was team three’s leader Hel, as well as an agent related to building engineering.
“Mr.
Suote?”
Hel looked at He Ao with so confusion, unsure why He Ao wanted to keep them behind.
“I need your help in exploring a place.”
He Ao lifted his hand, and a set of architectural blueprints Eve dug out from the bottom layer of the Minte City Federal Bureau of Investigation’s system was sent to Hel.
Hel received the blueprints, a bit surprised, but he quickly nodded his head, indicating he understood.
As he was about to leave, he hesitated and asked, “Should we stop those four agents who have left?
Although they might not defect to the corporations, they do know our current situation…”
“No need, let them go.”
He Ao shook his head slightly.
Once the crowd had dispersed, He Ao returned to the director’s office, leaned back in the chair, slightly squinted his eyes, and fell into deep thought.
—-
Minte City·Downtown Villa District
An elderly man with graying hair was sitting on a soft leather sofa, perusing the information in his hands.
“Sir,”
At this mont, a middle-aged man ca walking quickly over, speaking swiftly, “We have just received the latest news, there are only twelve people left in the Federal Bureau of Investigation Building.”
“Hmm?”
The elderly man lightly raised an eyebrow, looking up at the middle-aged man, “Where did the news co from?”
“That Suote has gathered the remaining agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and in the end, only a dozen people ca.
He also put on so chaotic mobilization, scared away four people, leaving only twelve,”
The middle-aged man spoke with a hint of smugness, “I’ve managed to bribe one of those four people, and he’s told the exact situation inside.
Suote took out Queke and Queke’s n, but now he’s got nobody left to use.”
His eyes shone as he said, “Sir, at this mont the building is hollow inside; we don’t need to wait for the rcenary Corps to co in, we can take care of it ourselves quickly.”
“Can you defeat Queke?”
The Elderly man withdrew his gaze and continued flipping through the docunts in his hands.
The middle-aged man’s face stiffened, and he said softly, “I can’t.”
“And yet you still firmly believe that you can defeat Suote, who managed to kill Queke?”
The Elderly man spoke calmly.
“That Suote endured so many battles, by now he must be at the end of his rope.
It’s not like before; I can surely kill him now,”
The middle-aged man imdiately replied.
“Queke probably thought much the sa before he died.”
The Elderly man remarked casually.
The middle-aged man’s words choked off, and then he imdiately said, “We have so many security mbers and so many weapons.
Against a C-class, we could simply kill him with gunfire.
They have fewer people; we have more.”
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been building that war fortress for so many years, along with an Automatic Defense System.
You think it’s just for show?”
The Elderly man continued to browse through the docunts, “The heads of the Minte City Federal Bureau of Investigation over the years have been greedy, but not incompetent.
They’ve never stopped strengthening the defense system.”
“But they have fewer people…”
The middle-aged man hesitated to say.
“Your way of thinking would have fit in rather well in the early Era of the Great Cataclysm,”
The Elderly man calmly continued, “After all, in that era there were hardly any firearms, and battles relied on well-developed muscles in the brain.
Just one machine gun could turn a charging tribal group into a sieve.”
Caught in a brief silence, the middle-aged man rasped, “So, are we just going to let this opportunity pass?”
“You think this is an opportunity?”
The Elderly man lifted his head to look at him, saying calmly, “Suote had the ability to easily kill Queke and rcilessly wipe out all of Queke’s n.
Why would he leave four agents who might betray him alive?
Did he suddenly beco law-abiding?”
“You an,”
The middle-aged man was taken aback, “This is a trap?”
“The defense system of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Building is more than sufficient to drag out the ti.
Once the news breaks out, the group and the board will be put in a passive situation, instead providing him with an opportunity to counterattack and survive.”
The Elderly man said calmly, “Sotis you should use your brain a bit more when doing things.”
“Is he deliberately attracting us to attack?
Then, what should we do?”
The middle-aged man hesitated before asking in a low voice.
“A trapped beast still fights, it just makes people laugh,”
The Elderly man tossed the docunts onto the table in front of him, “Send more people to surround the Federal Bureau of Investigation Building.
Ti is on our side.
As long as we and the West Steel rcenary Corps enter the city, even if he has great intelligence, he will be of no use.
“Your information did tell us one thing: Suote has retreated back into the Federal Bureau of Investigation Building.”
“Ah?”
The middle-aged man was stunned, “He left before?
Wasn’t he always there?
My people have been properly watching the main entrance, and I never saw him leave.”
The Elderly man lifted his head, silently gazing at the middle-aged man.
After a brief silence, he took a deep breath, “Seal all exits—doors, windows, rooftops—and send extra personnel.
Do not let a single person leave that building, especially Suote.”
“Yes!
I’ll go do it imdiately.”
The middle-aged man responded at once, then turned and left.
Watching the middle-aged man’s retreating figure, the Elderly man took a few deep breaths again, then he raised his wristband and dialed a number, his voice hoarse,
“Lokte has beco too greedy.
Let’s et and talk,”
At this point, he paused slightly, taking a long breath before continuing, “Also, after this is over, have soone above you make an effort to transfer his nephew to either Ains or Vitland.
Don’t let him work under anymore.”
——
anwhile, outside the villa, the middle-aged man raised his wristband and said viciously, “Where is that Informant waiting for his money?
To hell with it, daring to Deceive !
Hang him up and beat him!
Beat him hard!
I want to know the real news!
What exactly is Suote planning!”
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