Chapter 513

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Evenson couldn’t help feeling that the universe was cheating.

He had stumbled across Killian by sheer chance, secretly observed his meeting, sensed the strange energy inside him, and finally pieced together the scraps of memory left over from his previous life before concluding that Aldrich Killian was the rival the Eredar Twins had mentioned.

He’d been planning to present that information as a major accomplishment and negotiate a larger allowance for next month.

And they’d already known.

Where was his reward for being one step ahead?

"We identified our competitor. Why is that surprising?" Olexis’s lazy voice drifted through the mental link. "You’re seriously underestimating the intelligence network we’ve built."

"Intelligence network?"

Evenson was driving toward Tony’s cliffside mansion, but his attention was suddenly elsewhere.

An intelligence network wasn’t something you could build simply by throwing money at the problem.

Money was necessary, of course. But it was only the beginning.

You needed trained operatives, and trained operatives couldn’t simply be recruited off the street. They needed the right instincts and talents, followed by years of specialized training.

Then you needed enough of them to build an actual network.

They had to establish contacts, infiltrate different levels of society, earn the trust of their targets, and maintain those identities without getting caught.

That kind of organization took years to construct.

The Eredar Twins hadn’t even been in this world for that long.

Umbrella Corporation hadn’t existed for very long either.

And somehow, they’d already established an intelligence network capable of identifying a corporate rival’s secret dealings.

Evenson shook his head.

Were they getting the full transmigrator protagonist package while he’d somehow been handed the discount version?

"You’re too focused on what’s directly in front of you sometimes."

Salora’s quiet laugh came through the mental link.

"If you dig a little deeper, you’ll often find things you never expected."

"Oh? Such as?"

Evenson frowned.

"Dottie Underwood."

"Her?"

Evenson’s expression shifted.

Dottie had practically become Tony’s honorary aunt at this point.

He’d never considered her more than an unexpected addition to their plans and a remarkably capable fighter.

If they wanted to dig deeper into her...

Well.

That was a completely different conversation.

"I know what you’re thinking," Salora continued. "To you, she’s an unexpected variable. At most, she’s a useful combat operative."

The twins were unusually busy that day, sitting in their office and working through a mountain of paperwork. They had to finish everything before leaving for a while.

Salora signed another document before continuing.

"But we’ve discovered that Dottie is far more valuable than that. She’s one of the most experienced living intelligence operatives in the world."

Evenson’s expression immediately became serious.

That was something he’d overlooked.

Among the surviving spies of this world, very few could match Dottie Underwood’s experience.

Peggy Carter was one of them.

There might have been other intelligence operatives who were older or had been active even longer, but most of them were probably long retired, confined to beds and counting their remaining days.

Dottie and Peggy were among the oldest still active in the field.

And Dottie had another advantage.

She was one of the founders of Leviathan and one of the early products of the Black Widow program.

That meant she should possess detailed knowledge of intelligence training methods.

With enough time, one Dottie could potentially train a whole generation of operatives.

But that wasn’t even the value the twins were talking about.

"For decades, Dottie lived under assumed identities," Olexis said, clearly pleased with herself. "But do you know how many connections she accumulated? How many intelligence channels?"

Evenson listened carefully.

"After revisionism took hold, Leviathan gradually declined. Then the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The organization essentially disintegrated in the upheaval."

She paused.

"Which leaves us with one important question."

Evenson immediately supplied the punchline.

"Who has the best hidden-spy storage?"

"Exactly."

Olexis didn’t miss a beat.

"After Leviathan collapsed, no one knew how many of its operatives were still hidden around the world, or what identities they had adopted."

Evenson nodded.

He had no trouble believing it.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, even nuclear weapons had ended up scattered beyond anyone’s control. He had personally confirmed that little disaster just two days ago.

Compared to that, losing track of a few undercover agents hardly seemed surprising.

"Dottie knows where some of them are?"

"Some."

The twins finished their paperwork and rose from their desks. They straightened each other’s clothes before leaving the office.

Unlike their usual glamorous attire, they were dressed with understated elegance.

"Most of those people continued living under their cover identities," Salora explained. "They became ordinary citizens. Others couldn’t tolerate an ordinary life and became freelance intelligence operatives who sold their services to whoever could pay."

She smiled faintly.

"But once Dottie contacted them, they were more than willing to consider earning some additional income."

"Fair enough."

The corner of Evenson’s mouth lifted.

"Who turns down easy money?"

Well, people could certainly turn down money if the alternative was having a report detailing their real identity delivered to the intelligence service of whatever country they’d spent decades hiding in.

That tended to put a damper on negotiations.

"Still, spies are slippery," Evenson said. "Don’t let them become double agents."

The carrot-and-stick approach wasn’t particularly reliable when dealing with professional intelligence operatives.

"You don’t need to worry about that."

By now, the twins had left their office on the top floor and entered the elevator.

Taylor, her body enhanced far beyond ordinary human limits, followed behind them carrying a briefcase.

"Those agents will soon be taking a series of trips. We’ll screen them individually and put them through another round of training."

That settled it.

Evenson nodded.

"So Killian’s information came from these people?"

"Of course."

The elevator descended.

"Leviathan was a Soviet intelligence organization. Whenever they deployed spies overseas, the United States naturally received their greatest attention. Over the decades, many of those operatives established themselves inside critical American institutions."

The elevator doors opened.

The twins continued toward the building’s entrance.

"They’ve confirmed that Killian’s organization has been secretly cooperating with certain people in the military for years."

"But..."

They reached the doors.

"There’s no need to spend much more effort on them now."

The twins stepped outside.

"I’ll be able to suppress him from every direction soon enough. Then we’ll acquire the organization ourselves."

Evenson stared.

"You’re that confident?"

"We’re going to meet the President soon."

The twins descended the front steps.

"And we’re going to secure his trust and support."

Their voices carried an unmistakable confidence.

"Umbrella Corporation is about to enter an entirely new era. Once our expansion gets underway, that man won’t be a threat worth worrying about."

"The President?"

Evenson frowned.

"That soon?"

The twins had mentioned during their previous meeting that Ross had managed to arrange an opportunity for them to meet the President of the United States. At the time, however, no specific date had been confirmed.

Apparently, things had moved rather quickly.

"Watch last night’s news."

The twins reached a waiting vehicle.

The seal of the United States Congress was displayed prominently on its door.

A pair of agents wearing sunglasses stood beside it and politely opened the doors for them.

Before stepping inside, the twins sent one final message through the mental link.

"We’ll be isolated for a while before the meeting. Don’t expect any ordinary communication from us."

A brief pause.

"But that shouldn’t affect you."

Then the connection went silent.