A War Between Spies Chapter 117 - Special Administrative Area

There were some people who were just living shells. Deep down, they were already dead.

The sentence Zhang Yong had spoken left a deep impression on Yang Yi. He recalled the story about the hitman Zhang Yong once told him. At that time, he didn't understand why a successful hitman who was very rich and had a comfortable life would suddenly commit suicide during breakfast one morning.

Now that he finally understood the reason, he could somehow empathize with Zhang Yong's feelings.

Why would Zhang Yong hide in a prison? Although Yang Yi had his doubts, he still chose to believe Zhang Yong wanted to have an idyllic life in prison. After all, there were a lot of strange people in the world. It was possible that Zhang Yong was unable to find the peace he wanted on the outside. Because of that, he chose to hide in the prison so that no one could find him.

Now that he knew the full story, the reason was absurd. Zhang Yong was here so that he could kill someone he had a history with. He changed his mind because he believed the idea of Wayne the Beast living the rest of his life in prison was much worse than dying.

Although Wayne the Beast did have it much worse alive than he would dead, that wasn't the crux of the issue. One had to wonder how much hatred there was between them for Zhang Yong to willingly sacrifice his own freedom to keep track of Wayne.

Unless the person's will to live was gone. Not only was freedom meaningless, everything else would be meaningless as well. However, Yang Yi felt that Zhang Yong shouldn't live or continue living like that. Zhang Yong was the most capable man Yang Yi had ever met. He seemed to know everything and had very strong combat capabilities.

There was a reason why Zhang Yong could divert a conversation. It was because he always diverted it by raising an interesting topic. Yang Yi always found the story and experience Zhang Yong shared to be interesting and educational. They tended to expand Yang Yi's worldview, which is why Zhang Yong always managed to distract him.

Because of that, Yang Yi personally felt that a person as capable as Zhang Yong shouldn't remain in prison.

It was distasteful to intrude on others personal affairs. Yang Yi didn't really want to be hated by Zhang Yong and he didn't want to decide for him how he should live his life. It was just that Zhang Yong sacrificing his own freedom to punish himself was no different than committing suicide. (TN: Not sure if I can agree with Author's view on this.) As such, Yang Yi met up with Owen because he wanted to solve Zhang Yong's problem.

Killing Wayne the Beast on behalf of Zhang Yong seemed like a good idea to help him gain some closure. Zhang Yong would no longer have a reason to stay in prison once Wayne was dead. That's what Yang Yi had in mind. He directly made an offer with this thinking, “What do you think about a hundred thousand dollars?”

However, Owen refused much quicker than he anticipated. “No! That's not possible. You don't seem to understand this isn't a question of money.”

Yang Yi was there to discuss a transaction with Owen, that's why Owen dropped the attitude he used when talking to an inmate and approached Yang Yi. He then lowered his voice and said, “You need to understand, every inmate in the special administrative area is under FBI supervision. Even I only know why two of them are in there. I can do business with you but there's no way I'm going to risk my career and future doing so.”

Yang Yi just sighed before he looked at Owen and said, “Can you give me an example? I just can't imagine what type of inmates they keep there.”

Owen remained silent for some time before he answered, “There's a traitor who sold a huge amount of state secrets to foreigners over there. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. He needs to be kept alive because he still has a lot of valuable intelligence.”

Yang Yi was rather surprised. “A spy? If he's a spy, why would he be held here?”

Owen broke out in laughter. “Without a doubt, the CIA would usually keep spies in their own prison. However, you need to know this, there are no prisons in the world which are impossible to break out off. As an intelligence agency, the CIA will always be under the scrutiny of other foreign intelligence agencies.  So, they will secretly keep a few of their captives here.”

Yang Yi asked, “That's true? They even hold spies here?”

“That spy has been here for years now and he's one of the longest-standing inmates in here. He was already here before I started working here. Nowadays, most people have forgotten he's still in here. Regardless, they still keep a very strict surveillance on him to this day and the shackles he's been wearing have never left him since the day he was admitted. Can you imagine that?” After sighing, Owen just gave a bitter smile, “It's not that I don't want to earn your money but I really don't have the ability to earn it this time around. You need to know, not only does the special administrative area have very strict supervision, I have no authority in that area at all.

Yang Yi frowned when he said, “Two hundred thousand dollars. Give it some thought. There must be a way for you to help me without exposing yourself.”

Owen just shook his head as he reiterated, “You should stop. I have delivered on our agreement. You get to do whatever you want in the felony section. So, stop asking me to do something impossible. There's no way I can bear the consequences of you killing whoever it is in there.”

The Beast was just an alias while Wayne was most likely a fake name because he wouldn't use his real name in public. As such, Owen wouldn't know who he is. Without a doubt, there was also a possibility that Owen knew who Wayne the Beast was, but he refused to divulge the information.

Yang Yi gave it some serious thought before he finally said, “Five hundred thousand dollars.”

A reaction could finally be seen on Owen's face. Five hundred thousand dollars was equivalent to five years of his annual salary. Although he made some dubious side income, five hundred thousand dollars was not an amount he could easily dismiss.

“I'm not, particularly in a rush. So, you don't have to worry about getting tangled up in the whole mess while you're here. Aren't you getting a transfer soon?”

Owen looked at Yang Yi in the eye and asked, “Can you guarantee that?”

“Of course, I can guarantee it. You don't want to get into trouble while I have no intention of dying.”

Owen considered the whole proposal for a very long time before he finally said, “I will be getting a transfer in four months' time to a larger prison to be the head guard.”

“I'm well aware of the transfer. That's why you don't have much to worry about. I will only take action after your transfer.”

Owen smiled rather unpleasantly as he said, “I already guessed you came in here with a purpose. Later, I started to suspect it was to kill someone but I wouldn't have cared. However, it's different now that I know your target is in the special administrative area.”

Although Owen misunderstood the whole situation, Yang Yi didn't correct him because he needed this misunderstanding to be maintained.

After quite some time, Owen finally came to a decision. He just looked at Yang Yi and softly said, “Can you take action six months after I have transferred away? Or at the very least, please wait three months.”

“Sure. I can guarantee that.”

Owen's expression kept changing as he continued to contemplate the whole matter. He then looked at Yang Yi and said, “I will try to figure out a way to get you inside. You just wait for the time being until I find an opportunity to do so.”

Yang Yi then said, “If you find an opportunity to do so, let me know. I will transfer you the money the moment I get the news.”

Owen just nodded and said, “I hope I can find you this opportunity. You should go back now. Just wait for my news.”

Chapter end