Yang Yi and his group checked into a hotel in the downtown area of Kyiv, but after staying there for two days, they still hadn’t received anyone sent by Justin to take them out of Ukraine.
Someone was knocking at Yang Yi’s door. Lying on the bed and watching TV, he yelled in Ukrainian, "Come in."
The door opened and Xiao Ran strode into Yang Yi’s room, then rushed at Yang Yi, "Hey, I want to go out, is that okay?"
There must be rules to form a square, whether it’s the Organization of Water or Trident, or whoever it is, one simply couldn’t just get up and leave. No matter what one wanted to do, if it involved going out, one must get Yang Yi’s permission.
"To eat something delicious, to go shopping, to do whatever, I’m about to go crazy stuck in here."
"You can’t just go on a whim, who are you going with, Kate?"
Xiao Ran opened her eyes wide and looked at Yang Yi, "Why would I go out with her?"
"Then who are you going out with?"
Xiao Ran looked at Yang Yi with an annoyed expression, "What do you think I’m waiting here for? Are you coming or not!"
Yang Yi sat up from the bed with a helpless look and said, "Fine, let’s go! But we need to agree that we’ll come back soon."
"That’s more like it, change your clothes, and make it quick."
Xiao Ran closed the door with a stomp and left. Yang Yi found some casual clothes to wear; he couldn’t exactly go strolling down the street in full tactical gear.
Just as Yang Yi finished changing his clothes, someone knocked at his door.
Thinking it was Xiao Ran getting impatient, Yang Yi complained, "Aren’t you a little too anxious? I haven’t even..."
He opened the door, only to find Kate standing outside.
After looking at Yang Yi, Kate asked curiously, "Are you going out?"
"Can I join you? I came because I wanted to go out with you, it’s too stifling always being here."
Kate smiled slightly, "That’s great, I’m going to change my clothes and put on some makeup, I’ll be quick, wait for me."
After Kate left, Yang Yi stood at the door in a daze before he went to knock on Zhang Yong’s door.
"Heading out to have fun, want to come?"
"Fine, fine, I’ll go. Just give me a moment."
Yang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then he went to knock on Chris’s door.
The prospect of going out with both Xiao Ran and Kate was unimaginable to Yang Yi, but he couldn’t well accept Xiao Ran’s invitation and refuse Kate. Fortunately, he was smart and decided to bring a few more people along, so the atmosphere wouldn’t be too awkward.
Just then, his satellite phone rang.
The phone rang, signaling trouble on the horizon. Yang Yi answered swiftly, retreating to the privacy of his room and softly said, "Hello."
Tang Guo’s sweet voice emerged, lowering to a whisper, "Boss, we’ve got a recording that I think you need to hear."
"Okay, send it to my phone. I’ll listen to it."
After hanging up the satellite phone, an audio file was swiftly sent to Yang Yi’s cell.
The recording could only be from Arseny. Days had passed without any sound from the bug Yang Yi had planted in Arseny’s house, but today, there was finally something to show for it.
It started with the sound of a door opening followed by Arseny giving orders to his subordinates before quieting down again.
Yang Yi fast-forwarded until he was half an hour in, and then new noises bled through.
Footsteps and door-opening sounds preceded Arseny’s voice, "Hello, Roy."
A stranger’s voice responded, "Good day, Mr. Pavlovich."
"Is there something so pressing that we need to meet in person?"
The one called Roy said softly, "Now that you’re in power, I want to know how that matter is progressing. The higher-ups are paying close attention, as you know, we’ve already invested a lot into it."
After a moment of silence, Arseny whispered, "I have taken control of the National Bank, but isn’t it somewhat hurried to issue overly drastic orders now?"
Roy said in a low voice, "I don’t think it’s hurried at all. You should see it this way; it’s best to wrap this matter up quickly before the new order is fully established. If we wait too long, we might miss the opportunity, and now is the best time!"
Another pause, then Arseny whispered, "You’re right, okay. I’ve gotten a clear picture of the National Bank’s situation, and I can move the gold reserves. But how much can I take?"
Just then, the door burst open and Xiao Ran rushed in, "Isn’t it ready yet?"
Yang Yi hit the pause button and said to Xiao Ran, "Cancel the outing. Tell everyone there’s a situation now."
Though disappointed, Xiao Ran could only respond listlessly after seeing Yang Yi’s serious demeanor, "Oh."
Once Xiao Ran left, Yang Yi resumed the playback, and then heard Roy speak with gravity, "According to our intelligence, the gold vault of the National Bank of Ukraine holds forty-two tons of gold reserves."
"It’s not that much, only thirty-five tons, exactly thirty-five tons. There’s no mistake about it. The figure of forty-two tons is incorrect."
Roy said gravely, "Are you sure?"
"I’m absolutely certain!"
After another silence, Roy continued softly, "Ten percent, that’s three and a half tons of gold. With the current price of gold at approximately forty-five million US dollars per ton, if you want cash, that’s a hundred million US dollars."
"That much of a difference?"
"There’s no choice. The loss while liquidating gold has to be taken into account. If you have your own channels to liquidate, then you can handle your gold."
Arseny sighed softly, "I want cash! But I want the full value for three and a half tons of gold; that’s my only condition. You shouldn’t doubt that I’ve held any gold back. As I said, there isn’t forty-two tons in the vault, there’s only thirty-five!"
Roy responded quietly, "I’ll convey your request to the boss. If all goes well, he won’t refuse you. Now, when can we move the gold?"
Arseny said, "I’ll arrange it as soon as possible. It won’t take long, but you’ll be responsible for transporting the gold. How do you plan to move it?"
"By plane. I’ll arrange competent personnel to transport the gold back to the United States, and then you just wait to receive the money."
"Good, I’ll inform you of the exact time later."
"Don’t call. The Russians are watching closely, and the phone isn’t safe. We should still meet in a secure location."
"Then it’s settled; this place again. I’ll let you know as soon as I have any news."
With footsteps receding, the voices of the two men grew fainter until they disappeared altogether. Yang Yi turned off his phone and sat in contemplation for a moment before suddenly smiling and whispering, "Gold, interesting!"