Chapter 457: The Beginning of the Confrontation (Part 2)

"What are you referring to?"

"This dream."

Merkel looked around with his eyes. This was a clean and tidy doctor's office. The reason why it could be seen as a doctor's office was not only because Schiller in front of him was wearing a white coat, but also because of the many medical record books placed at Schiller's hand, the anatomical charts hanging on the wall, and a consultation bed beside the room.

This place was really very real, exactly the same as the offices used by most doctors Merkel had seen. The images and text on the anatomical charts were clearly visible, the metal reflection of the consultation bed legs reflected the color of the floor tiles, and all the details here were impeccably real, not at all like a dream.

Just now, Merkel witnessed that absurd scene in the banquet hall and saw that terrifying black tide and dazzling light. Merkel was a firm materialist, and his common sense told him that such things would not happen in reality, so there might only be one possibility: this was a dream.

The only question was, how on earth did Schiller create such a real but absurd dream, and how did he pull people into this dream?

Merkel felt that figuring out this question now was much more important than his original mission goal, because as far as he knew, human research on brain consciousness and dreams was still very shallow, and this would be a very important piece of intelligence.

"Haven't you already experienced it?"

"Are you referring to that bottle of wine?"

Schiller nodded and then continued: "Of course, the problem still lies here."

He pointed to his head with his finger and then said to Merkel: "You should understand that consciousness and dreams are products of the human brain. You must have a sufficiently smart brain to have enough capacity to run a huge and real dream."

"... Brain development?" Merkel obviously thought of something.

"It seems that you are not just a low-level spy who provides intelligence to the Soviet Union unilaterally. You should also know some intelligence about the Soviet side."

Merkel closed his mouth immediately. At the same time, he felt a bit annoyed in his heart, as if he had been tricked by Schiller.

Schiller shook his head and said: "You don't have to be nervous. I know better than you to what extent this subject has been studied, and to what extent it can be studied in the future."

"... To what extent?"

"To the extent of no progress."

Merkel moved his lips, as if he wanted to refute, but he was worried that he would leak more intelligence, so he said to Schiller: "You seem to have not answered my question."

"I answered. The answer is that bottle of wine plus my brain. Besides that, there is nothing else."

"I know you are considering how to take away that bottle of wine, or also considering how to take away my brain..."

"But I advise you not to do that. If either of these two things is studied separately, it may become a disaster."

"We are not afraid of any disaster."

Schiller opened his mouth. He found that he really couldn't answer Merkel's answer, so he could only say:

"Now it's my turn to ask the second question. What is your mission goal?"

Merkel frowned, as if he didn't expect Schiller to be so straightforward. He thought the two would at least test each other for two more rounds.

But this instead made him feel a little relieved. It seems that his previous feeling that Schiller's personality had changed was just his illusion.

"I am investigating a spy."

"Who is he?"

"This is our internal matter."

"Why do you want to investigate him?"

"Because for a long time, he has lost contact."

Schiller flipped the pen in his hand, looked at Merkel, and said: "Everything you said is the truth, but it is only a partial truth."

"You want to find the person who might have taken the Philby list, right?"

Merkel's pupils shrank. He frowned deeply and tried to keep calm. He wanted to deny it, but his reason told him that since Schiller had already said the name "Philby list," it proved that he knew a lot.

【Author's Note: "Walking Alone to Become an Immortal"】

"Where did you know this name from?"

"Is this your next question?"

"... Yes."

"Now, my body is in the mansion of the mayor of Metropolis. An accident just happened here. I won't say much about the specifics, but in short, a group of spies has blocked this place."

"Just now, the leader among them announced one thing in the banquet hall. He claimed that among the participants of the banquet, there was a Soviet spy who took the Philby list, and before finding this spy, the spies would not let us leave."

Merkel's face sank immediately. He almost couldn't control his facial expressions, and the anxiety in his heart was already written on his face.

"Who is he? Where is he now?"

"I don't know." After Schiller gave the answer, Merkel still stared at him dead. Schiller tapped the table with the tip of his pen and said: "Even CIA spies are not sure about this, how would I know?"

"Okay, I'll ask one last question, and answer your last doubt for the last time, and then I will put your consciousness back into your body."

Schiller looked into Merkel's eyes and asked:

"Why is the Philby list so important?"

Merkel pursed his lips. He was hesitating whether to tell Schiller this question. If he was really an enemy, after understanding the importance of the list, he might help CIA spies kill the Soviet spy who held the list.

He recalled some details of getting along with Schiller in his mind. He had to admit that Schiller was a very strange person. He was very different from ordinary Americans, and even different from the British and even Europeans. He was not a normal person, and his thinking was something normal people couldn't understand.

Facing such a person, it was hard to judge his ideology, and there was no way to judge what he believed in.

If it were in the past, Merkel would feel that his work was unfavorable and he hadn't collected enough intelligence, but now, it gave him a glimmer of self-deceiving fantasy. Perhaps, Schiller wouldn't completely lean towards the CIA, and perhaps there was still a glimmer of possibility to win help.

In the end, he still opened his mouth and said:

"Perhaps you should have heard on the radio that on the eve of Philby's departure from the UK, that is, between 1962 and 1963, he had been subjected to a lot of investigations. That period was extremely dangerous. Even though Philby had once held a high position, he didn't have full certainty to retreat unscathed."

"Philby once served as an important staff member of Section V of the British MI6, and the section chief of Section IX for anti-Soviet intelligence work. I think you should also know what this means."

"Section IX was responsible for intelligence work against the Soviet Union, but their section chief was one of our people."

"During this career, Philby obtained a large amount of intelligence. At the same time, he was also responsible for investigating spies that the Soviet Union might have buried in other countries. Using his position, he protected many of our comrades and ensured that their work could proceed smoothly."

"And at the same time, he also knew many spies and agents buried by other countries in the Soviet Union. If you have learned about spy work, you should know that sending spies is mutual, and there is no such thing as the Western countries say, only the Soviet Union is engaged in espionage work."

"Coming to Philby's position, the information he mastered was terrifying, and the most important information among them was the identities of Soviet spies and spies of other countries."

"When facing important investigations, Philby was not sure he could safely return to the Soviet Union. Even so, he hoped that the information he mastered could be passed back to the Soviet Union."

"But at that time, his every move was under close surveillance. The people responsible for investigating him wanted to find evidence of his crimes from his behavior. Philby knew that he couldn't contact Moscow directly. He had to adopt a more subtle method."

"So, there was the Philby list."

Merkel sighed. He put his hands on the table and then clasped them together, saying: "It recorded the identity information of all Soviet spies and spies of other countries that Philby could get with his ability."

"I think you should know how important this is."

"So, the CIA wanted to get this list, because it was very likely that it also recorded the list of spies they had buried. Although decades have passed, as long as the identity of a part of the people can be confirmed, they can follow the vine to find the melon."

"All intelligence agencies think so. They don't want any of their opponents or even teammates to get this list, which may cause a devastating blow to their intelligence network in a certain area."

"What you said, the more subtle method of transferring this list, what is it?"

Since things had been said to this point, Merkel didn't need to cover up anymore. He said: "It's the oldest method, find a trusted person, give it to him, and then let that person take it back to Moscow."

"But it didn't succeed in the end."

"No, it actually succeeded, or rather, although this plan didn't succeed, Philby got rid of the investigation and successfully returned to Moscow. Those materials were all in his head."

"So, the Soviet Union has already mastered the information?"

Merkel sighed and said: "Because of this, other countries want to find this list even more, because they are already in a weak position. In the years from Philby's return to Moscow until his death, Western countries can be said to have lost repeatedly in intelligence work, which is also the influence from Philby."

"They want to use this list to turn the tables?"

Merkel shook his head and said: "Actually, it's not. They just need something to hand in."

He stretched out a hand, gestured, and said: "The materials in Kim Philby's head and the content recorded on the Philby list should be about the same."

"As long as they can get the Philby list and prove that the materials on it are very detailed and can cause very great damage, then they can push the failure of intelligence work over the years to Philby and those who failed to try Philby."

Schiller understood immediately. Merkel's meaning was actually that these people were so desperate to find this list, actually just to explain that the opponent was too strong, rather than they were too weak.

As long as this list was found, and the list recorded very detailed spy information, then they could push that we were playing with open cards, how could we beat the opponent? In this way, the failure of intelligence work over the years could be written off.

"But why at this time?" Schiller asked again.

Merkel shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either. However, Schiller could understand. Does the CIA need to pick a time to shift the blame? Or rather, shifting the blame is their main business.

"Okay, you can ask me one last question, and then you can end this dream."

Merkel was silent for a long time. Just when Schiller wanted to remind him, he looked into Schiller's eyes and then said in a hoarse voice:

"Have you read 'The Communist Manifesto'?"

Schiller was silent for a long time. Then, he stood up, walked to the window, looked at the void scenery outside the window, and whispered:

"Do you know? CIA agents are outside my door. I just need to wake up immediately and tell him that you asked me this sentence, and you won't be able to survive this winter."

"I know..."

Schiller turned back. He saw that there was a kind of brightness in Merkel's eyes, brighter than the sun that had descended on the top of the high tower before.

"But I don't care." ===== CHAPTER 458 =====