Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

Xu Congzhou was very efficient. The data from Rhodes Prison was delivered the next day at noon, and the same waiter from the previous night delivered it.

The materials were a mixed bag, with little valuable information and not even a single picture, but An Xiaohai knew very well that Xu Congzhou and the others had done their best.

"Xiao Hai, why are you so sure that Rhodes Prison is a hideout for the Flying Bird Gang?" Xu Congzhou asked while eating.

"I'm not sure, it's just my gut feeling..." An Xiaohai lied.

The reason behind this is actually quite simple: the Flying Bird Gang has established a complete and effective system in the First Prison of Deep Sea City, so they are very likely to replicate this system in other places.

The Flying Birds' market is in China, and they are well aware of the crackdown on drugs in China. They chose Rhodes Prison as their base to avoid being targeted.

Moreover, with prison as a cover, many things seem reasonable and justifiable.

If An Xiaohai had the choice, he would also choose this prison as his base without hesitation.

"Intuition..." Xu Congzhou nodded slightly. Intelligence work is different from other work, and intuition is often very important.

"Why did you come here in person, Mr. Xu? It's quite dangerous here," An Xiaohai said, worried about Xu Congzhou's identity. If his true identity were exposed, it would cause a lot of trouble.

"Can I not come in person? It costs so much money!" Xu Congzhou rolled his eyes.

"Are you... really that short of funds?"

"Of course we're short! We're desperately short!" Xu Congzhou sighed heavily. "Otherwise, where do you think this intelligence came from?"

"Wasn't this information gathered by our intelligence agents?"

"Heh!" Xu Congzhou rolled his eyes again: "You're overthinking it. Real intelligence work isn't what you imagine."

"I've never encountered this before. Could you tell me about it?"

"Sure, it'll be good for you to learn about this..." Xu Congzhou thought for a moment and then nodded: "I'll use the US's intelligence warfare against us as an example!"

Xu Congzhou stood up, paced back and forth a couple of times, and then said, "Under normal circumstances, if they want to gather intelligence on us in a certain area, they will first target our experts in that area."

They would use various professional organizations to hold various overseas events under various names, and then invite our relevant experts to participate.

They would first befriend these experts and then select candidates from among them. Those with weaknesses, who were easily corrupted, or who were not vigilant would become their targets.

Through long-term contact and infiltration, these people will continuously provide them with intelligence. Often, they don't need to know too much or understand all the details; they only need to know some key information.

The information their intelligence agencies receive is often vague and complex, requiring their intelligence personnel to carefully analyze and summarize it to filter out valuable intelligence.

Often, our comrades may not even realize that they have leaked secrets.

Such activities are difficult to investigate and catch.

This is the true face of intelligence warfare, not like what's portrayed in the movies. 007 doesn't exist.

Of course, for certain high-tech and cutting-edge technologies and specific key data, the methods used will be completely different and much more intense.

Furthermore, the core of intelligence warfare must be at the strategic level; it is difficult and unnecessary to be all-encompassing.

Maintaining an intelligence war requires an astonishing amount of money; it's a long-term, massive investment.

"I understand..." An Xiaohai nodded gently: "Rhodes Prison has no strategic value, so no one will build a network of relationships centered around it, making it very difficult to obtain detailed information about it."

"Yes, we have limited personnel and even more limited funds, so it's impossible for us to pay attention to every piece of information. In addition, we can't alert the enemy, so we can only try to find out through some indirect connections. It's already quite good that we were able to get this much information back."

Xu Congzhou paused here, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it silently.

An Xiaohai smiled slightly; he was beginning to understand Xu Congzhou more and more: "Mr. Xu, how much money did you bring this time?"

"One hundred million US dollars! That's all we have, and Director Ye even contributed a significant amount."

"Don't you get your expenses reimbursed?"

"The reports are too few."

Our intelligence work is primarily defensive in nature, with limited funding compared to countries like the United States. Moreover, the approval process is very rigorous, and the funding from higher levels alone is far from sufficient.

Moreover, many opportunities are fleeting, and there's no time to submit a report. If we don't have some cash on hand, we'll be stuck.

The country is just too poor!

Sometimes, it hurts to see so much money go down the drain.

There's nothing I can do!

Xu Congzhou lit a cigarette and started smoking. In An Xiaohai's memory, he rarely smoked.

"Mr. Xu, have you clarified the operating procedures this time?"

"Of course I asked! How could I not ask? This is a hundred million US dollars! Our entire fortune! If I lose it all, I'll have no face to go back!"

Honestly, are you even confident? I always feel like doing this is just too risky.

"Don't worry, it's not a big problem."

"..."

"How much leverage did you use?"

"Ten times leverage, I dare not go too high. A drop of 6 or 7 points will trigger forced liquidation. That's a hundred million US dollars! Damn, I've never seen so much money in my life!"

"Don't worry, it's not a big problem. Here's what you do: first, you bet 20 times, then keep an eye on Alai. Whenever he bets 30 times, you bet 50 times."

Alai is a conservative type; following him carries little risk.

"..."

"Stop staring at me, just do it this way. If you lose your $100 million, I'll make it up to you."

"Are you serious?!" Xu Congzhou's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.

"I'm serious," An Xiaohai nodded earnestly, "but this time, if you lose money, I might lose money too. I may not be able to come up with 100 million US dollars to make up for it right away, but I will definitely keep my promise within one or two years."

"You're not allowed to lie to me!"

Why would I lie to you? What good would it do me?

"That's true, damn it, let's do it!" Xu Congzhou gritted his teeth and stubbed out his cigarette, but the courage he had finally mustered immediately dissipated: "Xiao Hai, I'm still not sure..."

……

"How about this, you give the money to Alai to manage, and you come with me, we'll go to Parthia for some fun."

The reason is easy to find: I took your money, so you need to keep an eye on my people. Makes perfect sense.

"You mean you won't be here watching Alai operate?"

"Why should I watch him operate? I can't help him much anyway. The organization here is relatively formal, and having Ah Lai here is enough."

If I stay here, it's a waste of my time...

An Xiaohai stood up and walked to the French windows. Today is Christmas, and the streets are filled with joy.

"I don't even want to stay in Parthia. What I should be doing right now is figuring out the situation at Rhodes Prison... but I have no choice but to keep playing along here..."

"Aren't you worried at all about losing money?"

"Worrying is useless."

"Do you have any other sources of information?"

"No," An Xiaohai shook his head: "Actually, we can step back and look at this issue from a different perspective. These international capital groups are like bloodthirsty sharks. Once they smell blood, they will swarm in, tear the other party's body apart, and devour its flesh."

What they're doing here isn't new; they did it in Mexico a couple of years ago, and now they've set their sights on this place again.

Solo has already failed twice, so they will be better prepared this time. They are determined to win and they are throwing real money into it.

The T country government can't withstand it; they are too small. They barely survived the last shock.

Therefore, I judge that they will definitely succeed this time.

This is a high-stakes gamble. If you win, your assets will double; if you lose, you'll lose everything. That's the general direction, it's already laid out here. The specific operations won't have a big impact on the outcome; it's just a matter of how much you earn.

Once your position is forcibly liquidated, all other actions become meaningless.

If that's the case, what's the point of us keeping watch here? It would only add pressure to Alai, so why bother?

Let the professionals handle the professional tasks. We might as well find something else to do, or try our luck in Parthia, rather than just sitting here waiting.

"You're right! I'll make some preparations. I'll go to Parthia with you. I know a guy there who deals in antiques. He seems to be from Country Y. I'll take you to visit him. Maybe we'll find something unexpected."

"That's great!" An Xiaohai raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"What about Li Maocai? And what about those drug lords in the Golden Triangle? What are your plans?"

"We really need to think about how to utilize these people; we can't just waste money..." An Xiaohai thought, stroking his chin.