Mercenary’s War

Chapter 2181 - 2158: Hm? Hm?

After Yarebin spoke, Gao Yang felt that this matter was indeed not complicated. Very simple, it should be just like this, and could only be like this, but why couldn’t they think of it before Yarebin’s simple analysis.

Speaking of it, this matter is indeed not complicated, judging by common sense, from Mario’s reaction, from the Cicero Family’s reaction, it should be such a simple matter, that is, Justin’s father must have left behind a force strong enough for Justin to stand his ground, and this power is the key figures within the intelligence network controlled by the Cicero Family.

Gao Yang looked at Justin, and Justin looked at Gao Yang. After the two of them were stunned and exchanged glances, Justin said very confusedly, "It should be like that."

Yarebin laughed: "Well, let’s talk about how the Cicero Family operates the largest intelligence system outside of national ones, what key positions it has, those key characters, and then you only need to identify the indispensable person who is absolutely loyal to your father."

Justin twisted his mouth, looking almost about to cry, then he said very dejectedly, "Uh, I don’t know that."

Yarebin’s cane paused slightly, shaking his head and laughing: "As expected, some people are only known by the family head, but you must know some people, right? And tell me how the Cicero Family’s intelligence system operates."

Justin thought for a while, then raised his head and said in a low voice, "This is the most core secret of the Cicero Family."

Yarebin pouted: "You can choose not to say."

Justin hesitated for a moment with his head down, sighed deeply, and said in a low voice, "Italy has three intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Defense Military Security Intelligence Agency, Ministry of Interior Security Intelligence Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation and Special Operations. As far as I know, we have people infiltrated in these three Italian intelligence agencies, but I only know one important person, the director of the Ministry of Interior Security Intelligence Agency. He’s one of ours. I wasn’t supposed to know this, but I found out."

Yarebin frowned: "Infiltrated so thoroughly?"

Justin said in a low voice, "Because the Cicero Family relies on intelligence to set its foothold, they have continuously tried for many years to place their own people within Italy’s intelligence agencies, whatever method may be used because it results in twice the effort for half the result, translating to more NATO and European Union intelligence being shared."

Yarebin laughed: "Indeed, very impressive. Now continue explaining how it operates."

Justin took a breath, looked up, and said, "If my father knew I said these things, he would crawl out of his grave to kill me. Okay, the Cicero Family acts more like a middleman. We don’t cultivate our own spies, but there are many spies in the world—national, corporate, some individuals living off collecting and selling intelligence. We just need to take over the resources these people hold and then sell them to those in need, and it works conversely too. When a client wants a certain piece of intelligence from me, we notify related personnel. If they have it, we buy it directly; if not, we let them go collect it."

Yarebin nodded: "No surprises there. Continue."

"Many state agency spies don’t mind exchanging the intelligence they hold for money, so who would they approach? The Cicero Family. If it’s popular intelligence, like intelligence on hot zone incidents, corporate secrets of major companies, important state intelligence, any aspect that has value and demand, we would purchase it and then instantly sell it."

Having swallowed and caught his breath, Justin wryly smiled and shook his head: "If it’s less sought-after intelligence, we don’t buy it ourselves but we register it. If someone seeks that kind of intelligence someday, we would contact the seller, and as for intelligence that buyers seek, it’s like that, with people requesting intelligence. If we have it, we sell it directly, otherwise, we issue a reward to have people seek intelligence."

Yarebin nodded: "The Cicero Family has a very good reputation. During the Cold War, both East and West had to buy intelligence from the Cicero Family, which is practically a miracle. But buying and selling intelligence isn’t the key. The key is how this enormous and intricate system operates. Is it that every transaction must involve the family head or key members of the Cicero Family? Surely not, so who handles these specifically?"

Justin said: "You’re right, we indeed operate like a company. We have region managers type positions, and for some large countries, there could be up to a few persons in charge, delegating down from level to level. Each person has control over their informants. Whoever has more informants and customers can earn more money and gain more status. My situation is relatively unique; I’m a main member of the Cicero Family, but I’m an illegitimate child, so I started as a small regional manager."

Yarebin frowned: "That’s not important. What’s important is that you’re personally involved in intelligence trading. So how do you obtain intelligence from within the Cicero Family or sell intelligence?"

Justin furrowed his brow: "My situation is very special. I started out from mercenaries and assassins. This market is very small, so having a few people can directly contact nearly all renowned mercenary groups. When selling intelligence, I directly contact mercenary groups; when buying intel, I seek from internal channels. For instance, I know a senior manager in the USA, but I rarely buy intelligence from him to sell to clients. It’s how my contact with Ram was established."

After finishing, Justin looked at Gao Yang and muttered: "Of course, mercenary intelligence is very straightforward. Like Ram, requiring varied, valuable intelligence is rare; hence, he’s my major client."

Yarebin laughed: "The crucial key figures you mentioned aren’t the director of the Italian Ministry of Interior Security Intelligence Agency, but those region managers whom you surely know a lot and can contact many."

Justin shook his head: "No, because nearly all of them are my brothers’ men. For example, that American region manager is controlled by Mario. He only listens to Mario’s orders."

Yarebin laughed heartily, staring at Justin: "Mario is his superior; does that absolutely make him Mario’s man? Hmm?"

Justin frowned: "But he was groomed by Mario singlehandedly, and almost every significant regional manager is the same."

Yarebin shook his head: "Above region managers, there’s a general manager; above the general manager, there’s a chairman. Are you certain every regional manager absolutely obeys the general manager? Hmm?"