Spy-x-War Showdown

This was not quite what Yang Yi had expected, but a commercial spy was still a spy, and Yang Yi had no other choice.

"Of course, sir, I look forward to your guidance."

John Jones took a deep breath, then said with a smile, "Very well, let me now explain our work, first of all, my team adheres to a principle of no violence and we only take on orders that can show results and yield benefits within a short period."

Yang Yi was paying close attention to every word John Jones said because he knew how precious they were.

Every word spoken by John Jones was his most guarded secret and now, John Jones had begun to tell him everything.

"As spies, especially as commercial spies without national backing, we obviously can't get orders from a country or higher-ups. In this regard, we're quite free, but we also have to be responsible for every decision we make, so as a leader, you must be cautious."

"I usually decide whether to take on an order, or let's say, a bounty, or perhaps a mission, based on several considerations. First, I assess the risk, then I see if the benefits are worth the risk we're taking, and finally, I consider the credibility of the employer or mission publisher, which is very important.

"If all three elements meet my criteria, I'll accept the order. If one assessment doesn't reach the minimum level I need, I won't take on the mission."

Seeing Yang Yi nod, John Jones said with a smile, "You might ask how we receive our missions. This is the core secret of most freelance spies, but to put it simply, there are several powerful information brokers who have built their own information trading platforms. It's just like a shopping website where people sell and buy things, and my partner is the intelligence group built by the Cicero Family, which doesn't belong to any country but is very strong."

John Jones stopped speaking, looking at Yang Yi and waiting for him to ask questions.

Yang Yi certainly had questions to ask, "Mr. Jones, what is a freelance spy?"

"The so-called freelance spy, uh, you must have heard of freelancers, freelance writers, freelance photographers, do you understand these terms?"

"I understand."

"It's the same, no matter what is being sold, it goes to whoever offers a higher price, but unfortunately, often being able to sell at all is a reason to thank God. So, although there are a few freelancers who do very well, the vast majority are at the bottom."

Yang Yi nodded and said, "I see. Then how about the publication of missions? Is it just posting intelligence requests on a website, then selling to whoever gets the intel, and also, does the published information become invisible to others once someone accepts the bounty?"

John Jones shook his head and said, "Let me explain to you, spies have access to the most advanced things, but they prefer traditional and reliable things. The approach to transactions is the same. The internet is wonderful, but I don't like it because there are no secrets on the internet, so missions are not published on websites at all."

Yang Yi nodded sincerely because he remembered the things Li Fan had done for him, so he very much agreed with John Jones's views.

"Of course, the internet is indeed very convenient, which is why some are now starting to use the internet to publish missions, but I would never entrust my livelihood to it. For instance, the Cicero Family occasionally publishes some intelligence missions on their dark web, but these are the lowest-level missions, part of the Cicero Family's exploration of the internet age. However, if it's a particularly important, dangerous, and sensitive task, they would never publish it online for the whole world's spies to see."

Yang Yi raised his hand and said in a low voice, "What is the Cicero Family, could you explain that?"

"I'll tell you more about that later, right now you just need to know that the Cicero Family is the largest intelligence intermediary. This family, has built a vast and comprehensive intelligence network, and even some of the world's major powers often need to use the Cicero Family's network to transmit and obtain intelligence. It's precisely because of this that the Cicero Family has been able to sustain itself up to this day."

"I understand."

"Let me continue explaining. Normally, if a company wants to know a competitor's secret, they would ask the Cicero Family's intelligence people, saying they're willing to pay one million British Pounds for the competitor's bidding plan. The intelligence people at the Cicero Family would then choose a team they think suitable and make a bid, like ours. If we think the offer is right and the risk is manageable, we'll take the mission. Completing the mission successfully means getting paid, and by the way, when dealing with the Cicero Family, you don't have to worry about their credibility or payment capability, the Cicero name is a guarantee."

"What if the mission isn't completed?"

"If the mission isn't completed? Then you won't get any money, but that's not the most important thing. The key is that you will lose your standing in the Cicero Family's intelligence system, which will result in not getting future missions. Of course, failure is inevitable, anyone can fail, but what determines a team's standing is their success rate. Conversely, the success rate is fundamental to whether a team can survive."

Yang Yi sighed and said, "I see, so our livelihood is in the hands of the Cicero Family; they decide who gets the work and who earns the money."

"That's right, but the Cicero Family is just one of my channels for missions. For some spy teams, information brokers are their only source of missions, but not for me, because I have my own regular partners. If my regulars have tasks, they come directly to me, and then we can negotiate the price ourselves. However, if you negotiate the deal on your own, then you'll have to take on some risks, like the client's ability to pay, among other things."

John Jones explained in detail, and after pondering, Yang Yi said in a low voice, "Then how do we make contact with the Cicero Family? Oh, you don't have to answer that question, sorry."

John Jones waved his hand and said, "Since I'm going to teach you, I'll tell you everything."

Yang Yi sincerely said, "Thank you."

"Every spy dislikes having too many people know their identity, so we try to keep contacts unilateral. I will only trade with one contact person, but what if this only contact person has an accident or even dies? It's easy to resolve. Because of the Cicero Family's particular identity and status, they will have a senior executive whose identity is public. You just need to find this executive, tell him your code name, and he will assign you a new contact person. Then everything will be the same as before."

Yang Yi exhaled and said, "So a very successful code name is very important, as it determines whether you can receive assignments or not."

John Jones smiled and said, "Of course, I have spent my whole life building my code name, and my greatest achievement in this life is having the highest success rate of any code name among commercial spies. It's time I told you, my team's code name is 'Singer'."

Now Yang Yi understood why his father had chosen John Jones, because even after eleven years, this man was still willing to help him.

Yang Yi was grateful to John Jones, but at the same time, he also thought about how sharp his father's eye must have been to truly have the ability to see through people's hearts.

"Singer?"

"Yes, Singer, the number one commercial spy in terms of success rate. In London, if anyone wants to get their hands on some commercial secrets, then Singer is the first choice."

Yang Yi often viewed things differently than others, so what concerned him was not how glamorous the number one commercial spy in the industry was.

"How do you know the success rates of your peers in order to know you're number one?"

John Jones laughed and said, "I don't know the success rates of my peers; that is a secret of the Cicero Family. But I know my own success rate is one hundred percent, so can anyone have a higher success rate than me?"

Yang Yi immediately had an epiphany and nodded, "A one hundred percent success rate is of course first, or at least tied for first."

John Jones nodded and said, "You'll see how a careful commercial spy organization operates through practice in the future. Leading a spy organization is also not that complicated. You just need to remember one thing, be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious."

Yang Yi exhaled and said, "Thank you for your teaching. When can I actually start doing something?"

John Jones spread his hands and said, "Go outside and be a good administrative assistant. Oh, and a reminder for you, please change out of the suit you're wearing. It's too expensive for an administrative assistant. Also, please buy a pair of leather shoes that match the suit you're wearing."

Yang Yi's suit, which he had bought with his credit card for several tens of thousands, was quite nice, and his plan to buy leather shoes with the card was thwarted, so his leather shoes were still only a few hundred pounds.

Yang Yi thought that mixing them together wasn't such a big deal, but he hadn't expected that John Jones would still notice.

"Alright, I'll change my clothes. But I still want to know when I can really get involved in spy matters. I'm somewhat impatient."

John Jones smiled and said, "That will depend on your luck. It could be tomorrow, or it could be next year, because tasks are not always available. When there's no work to do, you can only play the role of a trainee accountant. Just to let you know, our last assignment was eight months ago."

Yang Yi was disappointed; he thought he would be able to do some spy work as soon as he arrived. He hadn't expected that actually getting involved in spy matters might take even longer.

But just then, John Jones's phone rang.

Picking up his mobile phone, John Jones looked surprised before answering the call. After talking casually about the weather and food for a few moments, John Jones hung up the phone. Looking at Yang Yi with a half-smile, he said, "I really don't know whether it's your luck or mine that's good. You don't know anything yet, and you've already encountered a major assignment."

Yang Yi's eyes widened, and he said excitedly, "Is there an assignment?"

John Jones nodded and smiled, "Yes, there is an assignment."