Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Take advantage of you? No, why would I dare to do that? Do I want to die?” James leisurely removed the pipe from his mouth and chuckled. He dug through his pockets and took out a thin envelope. “Didn’t you want to find out who the mole in the Hua Xia Empire is? This might help you.”
Huo Shaoheng appeared dubious as he accepted the letter from James and took out a piece of folded paper from inside. He opened it to read.
James whispered to him, “These are three departments from your nation. I tried my best and narrowed the area down to these three. That person should be within one of these departments.”
Huo Shaoheng actually didn’t expect the person to be so well hidden that even the Director of the CIA Asian Intelligence Branch didn’t know their identity. He looked down and read the three English names printed using an old typewriter: Department of Internal Affairs, Department of Justice, and Army General Hospital. Huo Shaoheng tightened his grip on the letter slightly. These three certainly took him by surprise.
Both the Minister of the Department of Internal Affairs, Bai Jiancheng, and the Minister of the Department of Justice, Tan Dongbang, were popular candidates in the Prime Minister election. However, the addition of the Army General Hospital was a strange one. Theoretically, the Army General Hospital didn’t really have much to do with intelligence agencies, but because most of its patients were high-ranking military leaders, and the doctors often had the opportunity to make house calls for high-ranking military officials, they were able to contact many important and powerful people. Consequently, the inadvertent leakage of intelligence was highly possible by infiltrating the Army General Hospital. Although Huo Shaoheng didn’t have much to do with the Army General Hospital, a certain person there was very close to him. This person had also been transferred to the Military General Hospital to the Special Operations Forces—Chen Lie.
As Huo Shaoheng contemplated the issue, although he very much wanted to eliminate the possibility of Chen Lie being the mole, his many years of professional training made him consider all the possibilities before gradually eliminating them one by one. He believed Chen Lie wouldn’t purposely leak intelligence, but what if he did it passively… Did that big mouth ever know when to shut up?
Huo Shaoheng flicked at the letter and said calmly, “Three departments? Isn’t the scope is too broad? J, do you know how many personnel are in these three departments? You are asking me to look for a needle in a haystack. Also, how can you prove the mole is in one of these three departments?” He was using counter-espionage tactics and believed James was no stranger to them, so he wouldn’t be led by the nose.
James smiled as he passed something else to Huo Shaoheng. “Look at this, and you’ll believe me.” It was a clipping of a photocopy of various internal CIA documents that were related to the most well-hidden mole in the Hua Xia Empire. From the intelligence provided by the mole, Huo Shaoheng confirmed they were probably from one of those three departments.
When two nations were at odds with each other in modern society, intelligence wasn’t just limited to the military. Internal politics and judicial science were also areas eyed by the other nation. And the higher the position within departments, the more likely they were able to get in touch with high classification secret information. Huo Shaoheng held the document as he read it over and compared it with the intelligence he already knew. He discovered that everything matched up, and his grip on the clipping tightened.
“Give it back to me. I can’t let you take it.” James reached out to take the clipping back from Huo Shaoheng.
Huo Shaoheng slowly folded it again but didn’t return it. “J, this is the more interesting bit. Otherwise, you really would be taking advantage of me.”
James couldn’t do anything about Huo Shaoheng refusing to return the clipping. He became even more cautious and whispered, “Keep this safe. I’ll also be discovered if anyone finds it.” Just like how the internal Hua Xia Imperial intelligence provided by the mole had exposed their identity, James’ clipping could also expose his position in the CIA.
For Huo Shaoheng, the clipping was more ammunition for future blackmail, so he would never let it go. “I know that, don’t worry. You’ll be safe, even if I’m exposed.” Huo Shaoheng smiled and casually held onto the clipping. He appeared so nonchalant that no one would imagine how important it actually was.
James saw that Huo Shaoheng was much more experienced than he was and sighed in relief. Putting the pipe back into his mouth again, he asked, “That’s good, then. What are you planning to do?”
Huo Shaoheng flicked ash from the cigarette and saw that it was nearly burned to the nub. He stubbed it out in the ashtray. “I have my own ways, but I’ll need your help with the next part. You can give me feedback when the time comes, and I’ll know where the mole is.” He was most worried that it was either Bai Jiancheng or Tan Dongbang, because they both had too much power supporting them. Even with General Ji’s support, Huo Shaoheng would have a hard time getting rid of either of them. Also, if either of them got elected, then it would be even more difficult to eliminate them. If one of them ended up being the mole, it would be a devastating blow to the Hua Xia Imperial national security.
Huo Shaoheng sat in the pavilion for a long time, even after James left. He was considering his next step. Now that the scope was narrowed down to the three departments, he was feeling both worried and relieved. He was worried that the mole was too powerful and would cause insurmountable damage to national security, but he was thankful that none of his main contacts from his Special Operations Forces and the military were involved. He felt more confident knowing that his fellow comrades hadn’t betrayed him.
Tan Guiren watched him from a distance for a long time and saw that he was sitting as motionless as a sculpture, but she didn’t dare to disturb him. It was not until the sky began to grow dark that she couldn’t help walking over and coughing quietly. “Do you want some fruit?”
Huo Shaoheng snapped out of his thoughts and rose. “No thanks, Miss Tan. I still have business to attend to.”
“Don’t call me Miss Tan, it’s too formal. You are my savior, please call me Cheryl.” Tan Guiren blushed faintly and appeared gorgeous under the setting sun.
“I don’t dare. That was my mission and responsibility.” Huo Shaoheng took a step back. “I’ll be rather busy for a while, so I won’t be visiting. If that gentleman comes again, tell him I don’t have anything else to say to him. He doesn’t need to come back anymore.” He had reached his goal for using Tan Guiren, so he didn’t want to meet James here again. They needed to meet at a different time and location now.
Tan Guiren was a bit disappointed. “Oh? Why is that? Did you just fight?”
“Yeah, did Miss Tan see it all?” Huo Shaoheng regarded her calmly. “Please keep this confidential. No one can know about this.”
Actually, it would be better for her to let other people know, but she expressed her determination once again. “Don’t worry, I’ll absolutely not let anyone else know!”
Huo Shaoheng replied, “Thank you for understanding.” Tan Guiren had no more value to him, so he didn’t explain any further. The rest would proceed the same whether she was involved or not. Tapping his forehead, he turned to leave.
Tan Guiren stopped herself from sending him off but leaned against the window as she gently bit her lower lip and watched his figure gradually disappear. Mrs. Fen followed Tan Guiren and secretly smiled when she saw her mistress like that. Her mistress was finally falling in love…
…
Huo Shaoheng returned to his rented New Jersey apartment to rest for two days and calm his mind. Although he had already been well tempered from all his experiences so he was not easily shocked by anything, the three departments James disclosed still managed to make things difficult for him. He wasn’t totally helpless, but the Special Operations Forces’ methods could not be used domestically, even on moles. They also couldn’t be too open about their operation because maintaining security of domestic institutions was rightfully the responsibility of the Secret Service, but now it looked like the Secret Service was completely useless.
Huo Shaoheng estimated that if he could successfully return after this, the Hua Xia Empire should also promote the same relationship between the CIA and FBI. The CIA was responsible for foreign intelligence work, which was the same as the Hua Xia Imperial Special Operations Forces. However, the FBI was in charge of domestic security work, criminal investigation, and also oversaw the CIA. Conversely, the CIA was also able to oversee the FBI. The two institutions mutually supervised each other to ensure the loyalty of ranks and prevent external infiltration, but the truth was, the CIA was as easily infiltrated as a sieve. However, they believed that “offense is the best defense,” so although they often had moles, they only had to repeatedly make waves abroad to basically negate the effects of internal moles.
The Hua Xia Empire was the only exception that failed to be affected by the CIA all these years, so they could only rely on deeply hidden internal moles to provide intelligence. The Special Ops and the Secret Service had to also mutually monitor each other from now on.
Huo Shaoheng took off the towel hanging on his neck and went to the apartment building’s gym. He appeared there in disguises, like a hooked nose and black framed glasses that could completely change one’s appearance. He was also adept at camouflage, so even if someone close spotted him, it would take them some time to recognize him. He worked out fiercely in the gym for an hour, then swam in the pool. He maintained high intensity training every day, and it was also a very good habit. After sweating a lot, his head felt a lot more clear. He had to be very vigilant to be the only person creating a careful plan to root out the mole who had betrayed him. Luckily, he had James as an informant, which lowered the difficulty of the game of cat and mouse considerably. Huo Shaoheng came out of the bathroom and had already finalized his plan.
The next day, he drove out to find the most inexpensive and inconspicuous apartments in the east, west, and north sides of New York. He used cash to rent three one-bedroom apartments with a six-month lease.
