According to the usual practice in the intelligence market, Ning Zhiheng needs to pay 50% of the amount first, and the remaining half will be paid to Anderson after the intelligence is verified.
But this time Anderson wasn't in a hurry. He stretched out his hand and said, "Don't rush into the deal. We haven't finished our business today!"
Ning Zhiheng was not surprised. He knew this was the surprise Anderson had mentioned earlier, so he smiled slightly and nodded, saying, "I'm all ears!"
Anderson continued, "Today's situation is a bit special. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not referring to the intelligence itself, but rather its source!"
Anderson then began to explain the specifics. It turned out that one of Anderson's intelligence lines had gone wrong. One of his contacts was a department manager at a branch of Citibank in Wuhan. After the fall of Wuhan, the branch quickly became the forward command post of the Japanese Central China Army. After observing various parties, this contact selected a Japanese intelligence officer, catered to his preferences, and attacked his weaknesses. He spent a lot of effort and money to finally recruit him as a mole. From then on, this mole repeatedly passed on important intelligence, which also earned a lot of money for his contact and Anderson.
But now the situation has changed. This subordinate has been transferred back to the United States by Citibank headquarters, and time is tight. He has to give up this lucrative job and prepare to return home. However, he has this extremely valuable mole in his hands, and it would be a pity to give it up. So he plans to sell this mole's relationship to Anderson and make one last profit before returning home.
In the intelligence community, the biggest asset of intelligence brokers is their intelligence channels and the insider connections of these moles. If you have a valuable intelligence source, you have a huge resource. Therefore, the contact channels between your contacts and these moles are also very valuable resources.
However, Anderson had no intention of purchasing this resource. Although it was an extremely valuable intelligence source, Anderson had limited manpower and was unable to take over the intelligence from this source in Wuhan. The investment involved was substantial. For example, highly reliable personnel would need to be stationed in Wuhan, ready to meet with the source at any time and receive their intelligence. Dedicated radio stations would also need to be set up to transmit intelligence. Some intelligence could not be transmitted by radio, such as the military intelligence report today, which was too extensive to be transmitted by radio and could only be delivered manually as a film reel. In short, maintaining this intelligence line required too much manpower and financial resources. After careful consideration, Anderson felt that he did not have the ability to purchase this resource.
However, just because he lacked the ability did not mean that others did not. So he decided to act as a middleman and choose the best buyer for his subordinate. At present, in the intelligence community, the only one with the ability, financial resources, and reasons to take over this intelligence relationship was the intelligence department with a Chongqing background. So Anderson came to him and used this military intelligence as an excuse to connect the two parties and facilitate this transaction.
Anderson explained the whole story and then said again, "Mr. Lin, judging from the value of this intelligence, this mole will definitely be worth your investment. So, are you interested in taking over this mole?"
So that's how it is. That's why Anderson specifically requested that I personally come forward to negotiate.
Ning Zhiheng did not answer for the time being. His eyes were slightly narrowed as he quickly calculated in his mind.
According to Anderson, this mole was indeed valuable enough to warrant his involvement, and it was also a great thing. Wuhan had become the command center of the Japanese Central China Area Army, and all military decisions and plans were formulated and generated here. A mole who was lurking within the Japanese army in Wuhan and providing top-secret Japanese military intelligence was of extremely significant value to the Chinese military.
However, Ning Zhiheng also needed to take certain risks. First, could this mole be bait arranged by the Japanese? Even if it wasn't bait, Wuhan was thousands of miles away, and his own strength was somewhat limited. Under such circumstances, he should logically hand over this relationship to the Wuhan intelligence station, but Ning Zhiheng was unwilling to do so.
The Wuhan intelligence station was also a top-tier station of the Military Intelligence Bureau, and its chief officers were all the Bureau Chief's cronies. If it really achieved something, Ning Zhiheng wouldn't be so magnanimous as to spend money and effort to benefit others. The factional struggles within the Kuomintang were extremely brutal, and even Huang Xianzheng wouldn't agree to hand over such an important insider.
In the end, Ning Zhiheng quickly made a decision. This was a good opportunity, and he couldn't refuse this valuable resource.
More importantly, he wanted to follow this channel to find out the original source of this intelligence and find the mole hidden in the Chinese military, otherwise, if left unchecked, it would eventually lead to disaster.
Finally, Ning Zhiheng nodded in agreement, saying, "Alright, Anderson, I'm willing to take on this mole. Please make the arrangements for me."
Anderson was overjoyed upon hearing this. He immediately stood up and said to Ning Zhiheng, "He is preparing to return to China from Shanghai. He is here with me now. Please wait a moment."
Ning Zhiheng and Huo Yueze were taken aback. It seemed that Anderson was certain he would take over this mole today and had brought him along long ago.
Anderson quickly brought in a middle-aged white man and introduced him, "Miller, my friend, used to be a department manager at the Citibank branch in Wuhan."
Then he introduced Miller: "This is Mr. Lin, and this is Mr. Chen, who have always been our biggest buyers. Most of our previous intelligence transactions were with Mr. Lin and Mr. Chen. I can assure you that they are the best clients in Shanghai's intelligence community."
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